Tuesday 31 August 2021

NOVARA NARCISSISTS IN MALTA


The Marxists at Novara Media got together over the weekend for fun and frolics to celebrate the nuptials of Aaron Boring Bastani.  Bastani married Portsmouth Labour councillor Charlotte Gerada on Saturday in a very lush Maltese setting - one can only assume that Cllr Gerada suffers from chronic insomnia and she has finally found a cure in Bastani.

The social media accounts of Bastani, Owen Jones and friends were awash with photos of their exploits, including topless group photos from the beach.  The hideous narcissism on display was something to behold.  "Socialism has never been sexier" declared little Owen as he retweeted Grace Blakeley's photo of mostly white metropolitan Marxists on the beach.  "Strike a pose for Moët Marxism" wrote Matt Cole as he posted a photo of Blakeley and a female comrade.  Blakeley posted a photo of herself laying next to a rooftop pool with the 'hilarious' caption: "Novara Media Annual Conference 2021 - Luxury Communism".

"The hunk left" wrote Bastani as he shared little Owen's Instagram photo (pictured above) of four topless twats trying to look dashing, including the usually bespectacled Michael Walker (far right).  In another Instagram post, little Owen proclaimed his love for Ash Sarkar, while in yet another he poses with a book on trans issues while Ash looks on in the background.

From the one photo of the ceremony itself we are provided another dose of hypocrisy as the Bastanis appear to have been married in a religious service.  The century of terror endured by faith leaders and worshippers under communist rule is well documented.

Also, we couldn't help but notice the almost universally white bourgeoisie demographic on show - with the obvious exception of Sarkar.  Does this London-based media outlet only employ one brown face?  The hypocrisy is staggering.


George Galloway, no fan of the wee lad Owen, chipped in with a cryptic dig at the self-adulation...


It is clear from this photo that Owen's love for Ash is eclipsed only by the love she has for herself!

Monday 30 August 2021

THE WEEK IN CARTOONS 22-28 AUG 2021

22.08.21 - Nick Newman, Sunday Times
22.08.21 - Seamus Jennings, Sunday Times
23.08.21 - Ben Jennings, Guardian
23.08.21 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph
23.08.21 - Peter Schrank, Times
24.08.21 - Ben Jennings, Guardian
24.08.21 - Steve Bell, Guardian
24.08.21 - Josh, Twitter
24.08.21 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph
25.08.21 - Morten Morland, Times
25.08.21 - Brian Adcock, Independent
25.08.21 - Paul Thomas, Daily Mail
26.08.21 - AF Branco, Legal Insurrection
26.08.21 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph
26.08.21 - Andy Davey, Evening Standard
26.08.21 - Morten Morland, Times
26.08.21 - Paul Thomas, Daily Mail
26.08.21 - Ben Garrison, Grrr Graphics
27.08.21 - Jimbob, Instagram
27.08.21 - Kevin Kallaugher, Economist
28.08.21 - Robert Thompson
28.08.21 - Ben Jennings, i

Saturday 28 August 2021

TURNER'S HUNT FOR EMPTY SHELVES

Remoaner Labour MP Karl Turner came unstuck this week after tweeting a photo showing empty supermarket shelves.  Remainers have been trending on Twitter all week with accusations that Brexit is behind a shortage of lorry drivers and claiming that supermarket shelves are bare.


Unfortunately for Karl, eagle-eyed Twitter users clocked that the photo was from last year's panic-buying spree ahead of the first Covid lockdown.


When Twitter users rumbled the Hull MP and accused him of perpetuating fake news, Turner took off to his local Asda in an attempt to show them the real thing.  In a barely literate tweet, Turner attached three photographs showing a grand total of seven empty shelves.


Hardly the apocalyptic scene from his original tweet!  Furthermore, we will never know if this was the first supermarket he had visited or whether he had spent hours trawling across various Hull supermarkets to try and find proof of the elusive Brexit apocalypse.

In a final humiliating blow to Turner's self esteem, Asda themselves then got in touch with the MP...


Brutal.

Last month Turner's colleague Chris Bryant was forced to apologise after he tweeted a doctored image of empty shelves plastered with messages labelling Brexit voters 'thick twats' who 'probably voted Conservative too'.  However, Bryant's apology only related to the use of foul language and not the general message itself.

Shouldn't the bitterness of Remainers be receding by now?  It's been five years!

Friday 27 August 2021

COUNCIL BY-ELECTIONS 26.08.21


This week saw the Conservatives defending three seats, plus an open contest in Cumbria where the seat had been vacated by an independent.  The latter was a head-to-head battle in which the Lib Dems easily defeated the Conservatives.  Elsewhere, the Tories held in Newport, but had mixed results in Medway where they lost a seat to Labour.

Corby & Hayton, Cumbria County Council

LDem: 857 (71.0%) +60.8%
Con: 350 (29.0%) -6.0%

LDem GAIN from Ind

Princes Park, Medway Council

Con: 961 (67.4%) +19.6%
Lab: 313 (21.9%) -5.6%
Grn: 52 (3.6%) New
Ind: 51 (3.6%) New
LDem: 49 (3.4%) New

Con HOLD

Strood North, Medway Council

Lab: 913 (37.1%) +5.5%
Con: 728 (29.6%) -2.4%
Grn: 565 (23.0%) +11.0%
Ind: 216 (8.8%) New
LDem: 39 (1.6%) New

Lab GAIN from Con

Graig, Newport City Council

Con: 610 (50.2%) -0.7%
Lab: 534 (44.0%) +3.8%
LDem: 71 (5.8%) +0.9%

Con HOLD

Abbreviations

LDem = Liberal Democrat
Con = Conservative
Lab = Labour
Grn = Green
Ind = Independents

Thursday 26 August 2021

TOGETHER DECLARATION


BTLP are fully behind the #Together declaration against the imposition of domestic vaccine passports.  What was dismissed as a 'conspiracy theory' at the turn of the year is now perilously close to reality after this despotic government reversed all its previous assurances that such a measure would never happen in the UK.  Vaccine uptake in this country is among the most extensive in the world and in any case, we now know that Covid vaccines do not prevent the spread of the virus anyway.  So what is this all about if not about some form of social control?

It is also becoming clear that the vaccinated will be required to take regular booster shots, so does that mean that in future their vaccine passports will expire like an MOT or an insurance policy?  Will liberty hang on an annual booster shot?  What next?  Are we heading towards a social credit system of total state control, like in China?  Sorry, but didn't the British people reject communism at the 2019 general election?  What happened to our libertarian Prime Minister who once declared that he would destroy any ID card foisted on him by the Brown government?

These are very serious questions with very serious implications for the future of our country.

The leading light of the Together declaration is Alan D Miller, a London-based businessman who represents several organisations including the Night Time Industries Association.  He chaired the launch of the declaration on Wednesday and spoke alongside Laura Dodsworth (author of A State of Fear), consultant surgeon Dr Anthony Hinton, TV presenter Tonia Buxton, barrister Francis Hoar, entrepreneur Dan Astin-Gregory, Anglican priest Rev Jamie Franklin and restaurateur Alex Proud.

Martin Daubney also spoke briefly at the event.  After months of being seen in the shadow of Laurence Fox, the former Brexit Party MEP has now officially been unveiled as Fox's deputy leader.  Both Reclaim and Reform UK have backed the declaration, as has David Kurten's Heritage Party.

The full press conference can be seen here.

Needless to say, the pro-lockdown media gave the declaration a wide berth.  Thankfully, it did feature on GB News, a media outlet that has been a Godsend for rational and uncensored debate in the last few months.  Alan Miller appeared on Dewbs and Co on Wednesday and there was unanimous opposition to vaccine passports on the panel (watch below).


The #Together declaration is as follows.
We the undersigned reject vaccine passports or any similar form of medical certification in the United Kingdom and invite you to add your voice to ours by signing this open letter.

Together, we represent more than 100 organisations, business groups, campaigners and professionals who have come together because we are gravely concerned about where the introduction of vaccine passports could lead.

In the UK, we enjoy many hard-won liberties and rights, all fought for and defended by our ancestors. These rights are not only fundamental to our understanding of democracy, they are rights we believe all humans should have.

Some of us are lucky enough to have been born with these rights, but others have experienced the perils of segregation, suppression, and surveillance first hand.

However with vaccine passports in the picture and digital IDs under consideration, some of our hard-won rights are now under serious threat.

We have already come together and made incredible sacrifices throughout the Covid-19 crisis. What began with ‘three weeks to flatten the curve’ turned into months of isolation with millions missing out on medical treatment, children deprived of education, businesses and livelihoods lost, families unable to visit elderly loved ones, and weddings, funerals, and social gatherings restricted or cancelled.

The glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel — ‘15 million jabs to freedom’ to protect the most vulnerable — soon faded as the goalposts kept on moving. When ‘freedom day’ finally arrived, the accompanying announcement of vaccine passports meant the prospect of returning to ‘normal' had once again slipped away.

We are human. We know this makes us seek safety above everything else. We seek it for ourselves, we seek to protect those we love, and we strive for a safe world for our children — and sometimes rules and restrictions can help us to feel safer.

But we also know life is about balance and catching ourselves when we go too far in response to our own fear.

Being ordered to produce medical certification at pubs, clubs, theatres, on public transport, at schools, universities, or anywhere else, is unwarranted and risks deepening the inequalities already present within our society.

Today it could be a vaccine passport to enter a pub, but what could it be tomorrow?

We can already see from where these measures have been introduced elsewhere in the world that they lead to many a free society would wish to avoid. Among the consequences are segregation, suppression and surveillance, being unable to dine together, long queues to enter venues, children barred from taking exams or socialising, and the nightmare scenario of being denied access to healthcare

We want a free, fair and open society for ourselves, our friends and our families. We want to eat, work, dance, and pray together. We want our children to be able to play, learn and grow together.

This is therefore the moment when we must catch ourselves, when we recognise we are going too far by requiring medical certification just to participate in normal life.

Now it is our turn to protect the freedoms our forebears sacrificed so much to protect - for ourselves, for our children and for our communities. Now is the time to say ‘no’ to any mandate requiring permission to participate in everyday life.

If you agree that now is the time to work together to help keep each other safe whilst also safeguarding our democracy and normality, then this is your opportunity to make your voice heard.

Please join us by signing below and let's send the message loud and clear: No Vaccine Passports Anywhere.

We can change this, together.
If you support this, please sign the declaration here

BAD DAY FOR RED LEN

Len McCluskey and Sharon Graham

The Unite union leadership contest hasn't quite gone according to plan for outgoing general secretary Len McCluskey.  Red Len's anointed successor was supposed to be Steve Turner, but the surprise victor turned out to be the outsider Sharon Graham.

The result is likely to have been greeted with relief from Keir Starmer.  Graham is thought to have little interest in internal Labour politics and would mark a significant departure from the troublesome Corbynista McCluskey.  The only moderate pro-Starmer candidate in the election - Gerard Coyne - finished third.

Both Starmer and Corbyn congratulated Graham on her victory.



The result was as follows.

Sharon Graham 46,696
Steve Turner 41,833
Gerard Coyne 35,334

Turnout was less than nine per cent, suggesting that rank and file members have little interest in their general secretary.

Wednesday 25 August 2021

BURNHAM'S CRINGE MOMENT

Andy Burnham with singer-songwriter James Holt

The Mayor of Greater Manchester is a legend in his own mind.  The bookies' favourite to succeed Keir Starmer is probably the only person who could watch his musical performance earlier this week and think that it was anything other than toe-curling.  On Monday Burnham was at the launch of the Greater Manchester Music Commission, a scheme to support the region's music scene.  Burnham said: "Greater Manchester is a global capital of music, but we must always be wary of trading on past glories and resting on our musical laurels".  Music lovers in Austin, Nashville, Vienna and closer to home - in Liverpool - may dispute that assertion.

At the end of his speech Burnham picked up a guitar and strummed aimlessly while asking the audience for song suggestions.  In the end the actual musician stood next to him suggested the Oasis hit 'Wonderwall'.  After trying briefly to play the riff he handed the guitar to the professional and said: "I'll sing if you play".  Panic then set in as he realised he didn't know the lyrics and searched for them on his phone.  In the end, he still got it wrong.


A longer version of the above clip can be found at the Manchester Evening News.  One reader commenting on the article wrote: "He needs a wonderwall built around him, so he can't do any more damage".

One other thing to note about Burnham's latest ego-driven appearance was the complete lack of Covid measures in place.  You may recall that Burnham was one of those Labour politicians who hit out at the removal restrictions last month, face masks in particular.  Was he wearing a mask at this indoor event?  Rules for thee, but not for Andy.

Sunday 22 August 2021

THE WEEK IN CARTOONS 15-21 AUG 2021

15.08.21 - Brian Adcock, Independent
16.08.21 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph
16.08.21 - Andy Davey, Evening Standard
16.08.21 - Graeme Bandeira, Yorkshire Post
16.08.21 - Mahmoud Rifai, Cartoon Movement
16.08.21 - Peter Schrank, The Times
17.08.21 - David Simonds, Independent
17.08.21 - Ben Garrison, Grrr Graphics
17.08.21 - Steve Bell, Guardian
17.08.21 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph
17.08.21 - Michael Ramirez, Las Vegas Review
17.08.21 - Graeme Keyes, Irish Daily Mail
18.08.21 - Guy Venables, Metro
18.08.21 - Cian Ci, Twitter
18.08.21 - Ben Garrison, Grrr Graphics
18.08.21 - Paul Thomas, Daily Mail
19.08.21 - Jeremy Banks, FT
19.08.21 - Jimbob, Instagram
19.08.21 - Paul Thomas, Daily Mail
20.08.21 - Tina Garrison, Grrr Graphics
20.08.21 - Morten Morland, The Times
20.08.21 - Ben Garrison, Grrr
21.08.21 - Ben Garrison, i
21.08.21 - Kevin Kallaugher, Counterpoint
21.08.21 - Matt Percival, Spectator
21.08.21 - Matt Pritchett, Daily Telegraph
21.08.21 - Stephen Hutchinson, Spectator
21.08.21 - Steven Camley, The Herald