MEME MONDAY #87

A busy week for Karl, with migrant crime fuelling many of his efforts - from Southampton and Manchester, to Belfast and Dundee.

Mon 8 Jun - 65 shares

Mon 8 Jun - 319 shares.  This replaced an earlier version,
which erroneously stated that both brothers were 'free'.  In
actual fact, the younger brother is still remanded in custody
awaiting sentencing.  Apologies for the error

Tue 9 Jun - 17 shares

Tue 9 Jun - 2,510 shares

Tue 9 Jun - 2,160 shares

Wed 10 Jun - 229 shares.  Dave tied himself up in knots
during a round of interviews last weekend, admitting that he
would not 'take a knee' for Henry Nowak and failing to
coherently explain why his call for 'righteous anger' over
George Floyd's death was somehow justified, but Nigel
Farage's 'cold rage' remark in response to Nowak's death
is somehow abhorrent

Wed 10 Jun - 12 shares

Thu 11 Jun - 105 shares.  Both Healey and his underling Alistair Carns - who
resigned hours later - quickly moved up in the betting markets for Starmer's
replacement.  They both overtook Shabana Mahmood, with Carns
currently 16/1 and Healey 33/1 at Ladbrokes  

Thu 11 Jun - 1,716 shares

Fri 12 Jun - 60 shares

Fri 12 Jun - 11 shares

Sat 13 Jun - 67 shares.  Media outlets have reported that the culprits are simply
'Bulgarian nationals'.  That may be the case, but they are not ethnic
Bulgarians.  The brother and sister are Roma gypsies, a distinct and
separate non-Slavic group who largely reject authority and live outside the
norms of the mainstream societies they inhabit.  Of course, the main thing is
that the couragious Scots girl Sophie has been vindicated in defending her wee
sister from their advances

Sat 13 Jun - 131 shares

Sun 14 Jun - 25 shares

Sun 14 Jun - 325 shares

Sun 14 June - 155 shares.  Yes, we know the Argentines were largely conscripts,
but that doesn't change the outcome of the conflict.  It was a decisive and
hard fought victory in the face of greater numbers on both the ground and in
the air

Sun 14 Jun - 440 shares.  An astonishing amount of money, this ought to be a
national scandal

Sun 14 Jun - 53 shares.  When Spencer first posted this picture, attention was
drawn to her legs in various comments.  The incredibly knobbly knee, combined
with what appear to be varicous veins below it, are not a great advert for a
vegetarian diet - she is only 35 and has the anatomy of an old woman!

Karl had a busy week on Facebook Stories, showcasing six across our two Facebook pages.

Like what we do?  Want us to do more?  You can help by purchasing a couple of metaphorical pints here or by donating via PayPal.  This helps fund our campaign and serves as a vital morale booster.  We can't do this without your support.

Thank you.

STARMER BACKS TWO JOBS MP (AGAIN)

Keir Starmer has once again brazenly disregarded his second jobs policy.  The Labour leader has repeatedly committed his party to a ban on MPs having second jobs, most recently in January this year.  However, that didn't stop him from attending another book launch for one of his frontbenchers, Nick Thomas-Symonds.  The latter was promoting a revised edition of his Clement Attlee biography and his party leader was happy to help with the promotion.

Nick tweeted his obvious delight in the relaunch of his 2010 work.

This is the second time the Labour leader has endorsed a book for Thomas-Symonds.  Last year he not only attended the launch of his Harold Wilson biography, he provided a quote for the front cover of promotional copies.  It appears that Starmer's second jobs policy will either be kicked into the long grass when he enters Downing Street, or it will contain so many exemptions as to render it pointless.  If he had any principle on the matter, he would have already implemented a ban on his own MPs taking second jobs.

In January of this year, when Starmer was challenged about Dave Lammy's array of secondary incomes - primarily from LBC - the Labour leader replied: "I think David does a lot of media work, and I think media work and writing books is all part of the political process".  Lammy is Labour's highest earner from secondary income, collecting more than £200,000 since 2019 - in addition to his MPs' salary.  He has pocketed thousands as a guest speaker for various organisations, including Facebook and Google.  

The Rhondda MP Chris Bryant has also made thousands from speaking engagements, including £2,000 from investment bank Goldman Sachs - a statement of how far modern Labour has diverged from the Labour of Attlee.

Loudmouth gobshite Jess Phillips is also making a mint from second jobs, having picked up £162,000 since 2019.  Her appearance as guest host on Have I Got News For You stretches Starmer's media exemption a bit thin.  And what of other Labour MPs raking it in?  There are plenty of them, with 38 per cent of all Labour MPs having declared additional incomes in the current parliament.

Margaret Hodge collects a £20,000 salary from her role at Royal Holloway University, where she is the chair of its governing council.  Khalid Mahmood (Birmingham Perry Barr) takes home £25,000 a year advising the conservative think tank Policy Exchange (yes, you read that correctly).  Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting) tweeted in support of Starmer's proposed second jobs ban earlier this year, but in the same tweet contradicted herself by declaring: "I'm proud to do occasional shifts on the NHS front line".  Admirable, maybe, but still a second job.

Perhaps the worst offender of all Labour's additional earners is Dan Jarvis.  Despite being elected mayor of the Sheffield City region in 2018, picking up a £79,000 salary in the process, he went on to seek re-election as the MP for Barnsley a year later.  He served a four year term as mayor, while still an MP, eventually deciding to stand down and pursue a career on the Westminster gravy train.

Money talks, no matter which side of the floor an MP sits.  That is unlikely to change when Keir Starmer enters Downing Street.

STARMER AT FRONTBENCHER'S BOOK LAUNCH

Keir Starmer has doubled down on his second jobs hypocrisy by attending a book launch by one of his own frontbenchers.  Nick Thomas-Symonds had spent the last fortnight promoting his 544 page biography of Harold Wilson, for which Starmer had already provided a quote for the cover.  On Wednesday night the Labour leader joined Thomas-Symonds for the official launch of his book (the book itself had already been on sale for a week).

Thomas-Symonds was also joined by Sky News presenter Wilfred Frost (son of David).  Frost appeared to throw his impartiality out of the window by praising the book and its author in a tweet.  "A great launch for a fabulous book, which I highly recommend. Congrats Nick!" he wrote.

Keir Starmer has repeatedly called for the banning of second jobs for MPs, with 'limited exceptions for public service'.  A good example of such an exception would be NHS doctor Rosena Allin-Khan, who is also a Labour frontbencher.  However, is a biographer or author really a 'public service' role Sir Keir?

Two other Labour frontbenchers - Anneliese Dodds and Catherine West - didn't take exception to Nick's second job as the latter proudly tweeted her attendance along with a photo posing with the author.

Keir Starmer at the book launch, while the author (left) and Wilfred Frost
(right) look on

Labour frontbencher Catherine West poses with the author while her colleague
Anneliese Dodds can be seen in the background (red dress)

Rampant hypocrisy in action.

NICK'S BOOK AND PROMO TOUR

Labour frontbencher Nick Thomas-Symonds is the latest MP to draw howls of hypocrisy over secondary income.  Despite Labour's policy on banning second jobs - with 'limited exemptions for public service' - Thomas-Symonds has proudly unveiled a biography he's written about Harold Wilson.  

Not only has Thomas-Symonds since embarked on a busy media tour to promote his book, his party leader heaped further mockery on his own second jobs policy by providing a quote for the front cover of the book!  Thomas-Symonds even thanked Starmer for the quote in a tweet.  However, the quote is strangely absent from published versions of the book and only appears on the promo copies unveiled by the author in the above photograph.

Nick has used various radio appearances to promote the book including Radio 4, Times Radio, Talk Radio Europe and he'll also be pushing it at the Gloucester History Festival in September.  He has already received more than £4,000 as an advance from his literary agent.

Thomas-Symonds was elected for the Torfaen constituency in 2015 and has held various front bench roles in both the Corbyn and Starmer shadow cabinets.  He was appointed to his most senior position when Starmer was elected Labour leader in 2020, holding down the role of shadow home secretary for 18 months before being demoted to shadow international trade secretary.

The Wilson biography is the third he's written, albeit the first published during his time as an MP.  His previous biographies were also about Labour politicians (Clement Attlee and Aneurin Bevan).

STARMER'S McDONALD'S HYPOCRISY

Following his resignation from Starmer's front bench, Andy McDonald was given a hero's welcome at a conference fringe event on Monday night.  Jeremy Corbyn appeared on the same bill.  The row over a £15 minimum wage policy intensified following McDonald's resignation and far left activists were quick to point out an acute hypocrisy of Keir Starmer dating back two years.

Ironically, it was McDonald's (the restaurant) that provided the ammunition.  Photos and videos were shared featuring Starmer posing alongside fast food workers with a banner calling for... a £15 minimum wage!  Starmer himself tweeted about his involvement at the time.

By Tuesday afternoon even Diane Abbott was mocking Starmer.

Diane's successor as Shadow Home Secretary was asked about the McDonald's hypocrisy by LBC's Nick Ferrari on Tuesday morning.  In a performance worthy of Diane herself, Nick Thomas-Symonds couldn't even say what the current minimum wage is.  Click below for his car crash interview.

Oh dear, Keir.  Still, only half a day left and your dreadful conference will be over.

STARMER DELETES MASKLESS PIC

Keir Starmer has deleted a tweet in which he and his Shadow Home Secretary posed indoors with seven union reps and not a face covering in sight.  The nine men are pictured seated around a table in a room with no windows, spaced slightly apart (but not two metres).  Nick Thomas-Symonds (pictured front right) thought better than to tweet the picture, but it was shared to Facebook by the official Unite page.

Following a backlash from Twitter users, Starmer deleted the tweet and reposted the same message - without the picture.  However, many had already saved the image or screencapped the original tweet and the new tweet was inundated with comments reminding him that the internet doesn't forget.

Given that Starmer, his party and its middle class base are such staunch advocates of Covid rules and restrictions, this all smacks a little of rules for thee, but not for me.

LABOUR BACK THE MIGRANTS

The migrant invasion via the English Channel is being welcomed by many in the Labour Party and any attempts to stem the flow is predictably being met with criticism.  Once again Labour shows its true colours and provides a timely reminder that however unable and/or unwilling this Tory government is to stop the boats - if Starmer was in Number Ten he would probably be offering to collect the migrants directly from Calais.  After all, in the eyes of the left these are the Labour voters of tomorrow.

On the Twittersphere many Labour MPs and activists are signalling their support for the illegals.  While Starmer himself has said little about the situation, his Shadow Home Secretary has written to Priti Patel denouncing the government's 'lack of compassion' for the migrants.  Nick Thomas-Symonds' letter can be seen below (click to enlarge).  It was retweeted by Starmer.

The hard left Socialist Campaign Group has put out its own statement regarding the situation, declaring 'solidarity' with the migrants.  The statement has been signed by all the usual suspects - Corbyn, McDonnell, Abbott, Burgon, Butler and 26 others (see below).

Many of those named above have tweeted incessantly about the situation in recent days, but support for the invasion is not limited to the hard left.  Here's a selection of tweets from Labour MPs including those from both the hard left and the centre, proving that open door migration is a unifying aim of the party whoever is in charge...

Before you decide all that matters is to stop the boats, ask if you are confident no one in them should be given sanctuary here from the horrors that made them get into them in the first place. #refugeeswelcome https://t.co/vGtERRzrF1

— stellacreasy (@stellacreasy) August 11, 2020

Who will speak up against the demonisation of migrants? ⁦- @OwenJones84⁩ https://t.co/AVGNpbW3ht

— Clive Lewis MP (@labourlewis) August 12, 2020

Imagine your son or daughter was on that boat. Stop sensationalising this.

These are people fleeing dangerous and difficult situations at home and are putting their lives at risk to get to somewhere safe. We have a duty to help and not be voyeurs. #RefugeesWelcome https://t.co/EiInhuzkae

— Anna McMorrin MP 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇪🇺 (@AnnaMcMorrin) August 10, 2020

It should not take an ice cream brand to call on the government to show compassion and decency towards people fleeing war, torture and climate change.

We deserve better from our government https://t.co/nm1Yls9pz2

— Navendu Mishra MP (@NavPMishra) August 11, 2020

Love this thread! 👇🏾 https://t.co/VF1sDsTWQ2

— I can’t breathe...Abena Oppong-Asare MP (@abenaopp) August 12, 2020

As quoted by Maya
"People can't be illegal" https://t.co/UqMMhSBMgR

— Kate Osamor MP for Edmonton || (@KateOsamor) August 10, 2020

We have a legal & moral responsibility to refugees fleeing famine, war and violence. They are not the problem. The problem is the dangerous routes they must take.

We should be looking at safe and legal routes, not intimidating them with Navy ships. https://t.co/6vEBDaYSxx

— Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP (@BellRibeiroAddy) August 10, 2020

This isn’t what responsible journalism looks like.

These are some of the most vulnerable people in the pooorest vessels crossing one of the busiest stretches of water in the World.

Sky News are doing this without consent its the worst form of journalistic voyeurism https://t.co/0CbwrLwnLy

— Alex Sobel (@alexsobel) August 11, 2020

This is an excellent letter from @NickTorfaen to the Home Secretary about her dog whistle rhetoric on adults and children crossing the English Channel in desperate circumstances. The emphasis should be on humanitarian dialogue with other countries to find solutions. https://t.co/k4kRhTQ10T

— Jo Stevens (@JoStevensLabour) August 12, 2020

People fleeing war, famine and persecution shouldn't be confronted by gunships and hostility, but instead offered safe, legal routes to asylum.

Our common humanity demands nothing less.

— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) August 10, 2020

Its ludicrous to suggest vulnerable migrants pose a threat to our security, economy or social life

This is classic Tory divide & rule

Attacks on working class come from the billionaire class who stash their wealth in tax havens, not refugees fleeing persecution, death & famine

— Claudia Webbe MP (@ClaudiaWebbe) August 11, 2020

Nigel Farage recently visited Merseyside. He sought to foment hatred against refugees, foster division, and promote his racist agenda.

I'm so proud of our community's tolerance and compassion. Refugees are welcome here. As @mayor_anderson said, Nigel Farage isn't.

— Mick Whitley MP (@MickWhitleyMP) August 11, 2020

Once again the Labour Party are misjudging voters.  A YouGov poll released earlier this week suggests 50 per cent of Brits don't believe the UK has a responsibility to protect those making the crossing, compared to 35 per cent that do.  While most current Labour voters may support the migrants, the party cannot win an election by further alienating the people who once upon a time elected a Labour government - the working classes.

The final destination for migrants will not be the communities where Labour MPs live.  The metropolitan elites who dominate today's Labour Party will not suffer the consequences of the actions they support.  It's the working classes who will compete for hospital beds, school places and jobs.  These are the people who are outraged at what is happening in the Channel and if the Tories don't get hold of this problem then Nigel Farage will fill a political vacuum - again.

Last weekend the Labour Party in Bath found out just how strongly people really feel about the situation.  They decided to take up the old communist standard of whipping up hatred against the rich, but their Twitter poll backfired spectacularly - yes, even on the predominantly left-wing platform of Twitter...

The final result of their poll is not available, because they deleted it.  Needless to say, overwhelmingly white and affluent Bath is not going to be a recipient of most of the so-called 'refugees' landing in Dover.

Make no mistake, a Labour government would open the floodgates - again.

JUMPING ON THE LFC BANDWAGON

We all know that the city of Liverpool is renowned for being red, politically anyway.  Football wise there is a huge portion of blue in there, so perhaps it is for the former reason that so many Labour politicians - far and wide - were lightning quick to heap praise on the new Premier League champions.  They're not Scousers, some of them have probably never even been to a football match, but they're on the Liverpool FC bandwagon and they want some of that glory...

I’m an Arsenal fan, but huge well deserved congratulations @LFC! Fantastic season despite all the challenges. https://t.co/7XR3f2ZR3H

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) June 25, 2020

To be fair to Sir Squeaky, when he was asked earlier this year what the most exciting thing he'd ever done in his life was he replied that it was "going to football with my kids".  Enough said about that.  Next bandwagon jumper...

I was 9 yrs old when @LFC clinched the title on 28 April 1990. This team-that clinched the title on 25 June 2020-compares to any in @LFC’s history: strong defensively, playing with intensity & attacking brilliance, managed by the great Jurgen Klopp #PremierLeagueChampions #YNWA

— Nick Thomas-Symonds MP (@NickTorfaen) June 25, 2020

Ah, the Shadow Home Secretary, who is still less recognisable than someone who came last on Big Brother twenty years ago.  His assessment of the Liverpool team from his home in south Wales will of course be of great comfort to Liverpool fans.

Get in there....Champions!!!

Not the circumstances in which I wanted @LFC to do it but what an achievement from this incredible team & that includes the manager

🏆 #YNWA https://t.co/NeKFeSUNms

— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) June 25, 2020

Sadiq sucks up to every other minority in London, so why not the three Scousers who have settled there too?  At least Everton fan Andy Burnham was a bit more genuine about his feelings...

🤦🏻‍♂️

— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) June 25, 2020

Congratulations @LFC.
Well deserved @premierleague champions, after a 30 years wait - they have been scintillating this season.
Breaking records along the way, including becoming the first team to win the title in June! 👏🏼 👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/DfHQbv86oP

— Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP (@TanDhesi) June 25, 2020

Tanmanjeet was born in Slough, so obviously he's a Livepool fan.

Get the prosecco out!!! 🍾🎉 Cheers Chelsea for allowing us to start the celebrations a few days early 👏

That guard of honour at the Etihad is going to be a thing of beauty ❤️#YNWA #CHEMCI #Champions @LFC pic.twitter.com/pNpj7oibBD

— Alex Davies-Jones MP/AS (@AlexDaviesJones) June 25, 2020

Alex comes from a village halfway between Cardiff and Swansea who don't have football teams apparently, so naturally she chose the next nearest team 200 miles away.  Poor effort!  Compare and contrast with the savvy Birmingham-raised Sultana who has provided photographic evidence of her life-long association with LFC.  Who needs Birmingham City or Aston Villa eh Zarah?

I’ve been waiting for this my whole life #YNWA pic.twitter.com/nmJ3Gjfne9

— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) June 25, 2020

Finally, one of the sleaziest tweets came from Bournemouth posh boy communist Aaron boring Bastani, who for all we know may well have spent more time watching croquet than footy...

Congratulations to the scousers for winning the title. Liverpool is a great city with the best people in the country. Thoroughly deserved #YNWA

— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) June 25, 2020

Doesn't all this smack of cultural appropriation?  Cancel, cancel!

WHAT ABOUT WALES NICK?

The Shadow Home Secretary was tasked with a very poignant question from Andrew Marr on Sunday.  Nick Thomas-Symonds, who also represents a Welsh constituency, was asked about the performance of the Labour government in Wales during the pandemic.  Marr brought up the Welsh government's poor record on care homes and potential probe by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.  He failed to mention also that testing in Wales is the lowest across the four nations to the extent that Welsh DWP staff were recently advised to get tested in England.  The Welsh government has also botched the dispatch of letters to vulnerable citizens - sending out thousands of letters to the wrong addresses - not once, but twice.

Thomas-Symonds responded to Marr's question was disingenuous to say the least.  Labour politicians in Westminster have been unrelenting in their criticism of the UK Tory government throughout the pandemic, but faced with criticism of the Labour government in Wales, Nick says "nobody is suggesting this isn't challenging for all governments across the UK".  He then instantly reverts to point scoring against the Tories by claiming that excess deaths in Wales are lower than in England.

We live in eternal gratitude that these people are not overseeing the pandemic across the UK.

NICK'S GOT THE CLAP AND HE'S NOT HAPPY

Lots of MPs and celebs are very keen to have their NHS applause filmed and posted on social media.  They can barely contain their glee at being part of something so virtuous.  That is, it seems, except the new Shadow Home Secretary...

We can only imagine what happened immediately prior to 8pm in the Thomas-Symonds household, but there's some intensity in those eyes.  He's clapping, but he's not happy.