DOUBLING DOWN ON 20

Of all Labour's oppressive nanny state laws throughout the history of our nation, there are seldom few more unpopular than the blanket 20mph mandate in Wales.  Although the policy did feature in their 2021 Senedd manifesto, the reality for drivers when it was introduced two years later has been insufferable.  Longer journey times, increased traffic, an even greater threat of speeding fines and all round frustration.

As Labour looks set to fall from its 27 year grip on the Senedd, its politicians are beginning to reflect on the inevitable.  Of course they are not issuing any apologies, in fact quite the opposite - the narcissist control freaks are doubling down.  Ex-first minister Mark Drakeford told WalesOnline last week that he had 'no regrets' over Labour policies, including the 20mph mandate.  He said:  "We know from the latest figures there are people alive today who would not have been alive if we hadn't changed that."

He goes on to say that there have been '100 fewer life-changing accidents' as a result of the policy.  His colleague Julie James echoed the claim in a defence of the policy last week.  Addressing the Senedd, the minister said people opposed to the policy 'should be thoroughly ashamed', while making the bizarre claim that 'women and children' were now safer (apparently men's lives don't matter).  However, what Drakeford, James and their comrades conveniently fail to factor in is that ambulance times - in fact response times of all the emergency services - has increased thanks to growing congestion and heavier traffic resulting from the policy.  How many lives has that cost?

And what about the claim that the policy has 'cleaned up the air'?  James made the claim twice in her speech, without zero evidence to support it.  Repeated studies have found that the policy has had virtually zero effect on air pollution.  We would argue that increased road congestion, with engines idling in stationary traffic, cannot possibly result in 'cleaner air' - in fact quite the opposite.

Watch the clip below (one minute watch)

Of course the saddest thing about the outcome of the 2026 Senedd election is that despite Labour's demise, nothing will change.  Welsh voters look set to replace Labour with an equally damaging leftist successor - Plaid Cymru.  Worse still, Plaid will probably have to reach out to other leftist parties in order to form some kind of coalition government.  This could include Labour, but there will also be an option to include the Greens.  All three parties strongly support the 20mph policy, while the Greens want even tighter restrictions on motorists in order to get them off the road entirely.

Both Reform and the Conservatives have pledged to scrap the 20mph policy.  Hopefully, Welsh voters will wake up before May, but the likelihood suggests they face yet another five years of nanny state policies.  Vote better next time!

MEME MONDAY #72

From Tuesday onwards, this selection very much becomes all about the Gorton and Denton by-election...

Mon 23 Feb - 175 shares.  A couple of people in the comments took this as an
opportunity for some Welsh-bashing.  Just a reminder that most Welsh people
don't vote Labour and they are about to give Welsh Labour the biggest
kicking in their history this May!

Mon 23 Feb - 667 shares.  The scandal that won't go away.

Tue 24 Feb - 26 shares.  Never trust a socialist with your hard earned cash.

Tue 24 Feb - 37 shares

Wed 25 Feb - 40 shares.  No-one was threatened or injured in the mosque
incident, but with Labour struggling in Gorton and Denton, they leapt on it to
try and influence the result.  Labour MP Imran Hussain gave such an
impassioned speech about it the next day in the Commons that he almost
burst into tears.  Performative victimhood.

Thu 26 Feb - 191 shares

Thu 26 Feb - 281 shares.  Operation Unity Over Division swung into action
on Gorton and Denton election day, with dozens of Labour MPs posting the
phrase in social media posts.  Never mind...

Fri 27 Feb - 7 shares

The original version of the previous meme, until it became abundantly clear to
Karl that the by-election was going to be stolen by colonists.

Fri 27 Feb - 20 shares

Fri 27 Feb - 26 shares

Sat 28 Feb - 8 shares

Sat 28 Feb - 64 shares

Sun 1 Mar - 34 shares.  Polanski was confronted about the omission by Sky
News presenters, but flat out denied it despite it being demonstrably true.
  Meanwhile, reporters from The Daily Sceptic interviewed Muslim voters in
Gorton who instantly regretted voting for the Greens upon learning what
the debauched party actually stands for.

Last week's trio of Facebook Stories had a Pakistani theme running through them...

Want to support our campaign?  You can buy us a metaphorical pint each here - it may not seem much, but it helps us pay for things like the binlabour.com web domain, software, ads and our X subscription (we may have to scrap the latter this year, due to an ongoing lack of donations).

Thank you.

WOKE WEDNESDAYS #48

The Welsh government has a plan to eradicate racism in Wales by the year 2030 (yes, that year again).  As part of formulating their master plan, the government paid a group called Climate Cymru BAME (Black and Minority Ethnic) to conduct a study and report back.  The report ends with a series of recommendations, one of which is the creation of 'dog-free areas in local green spaces'.  However, the report does not provide a solitary clue as to how restrictions on dog walkers will contribute to 'ending racism'.

The Independent reported that the possible source of the recommendation is another report, this time from a group called the North Wales Africa Society.  However, the canine issue is attributed to one single contributor - a black female who said she 'felt unsafe in the presence of dogs'.  So are the Welsh government going to take on board this recommendation and create an apartheid system that discriminates against dog walkers, based on the concerns of one solitary black female?

It really wouldn't surprise us.

Last week's nautical meme generated 23 comments and two shares on Facebook.

TOON TUESDAY #78

Andy Davey of The Daily Telegraph has been on good form and dominates this week's selection, which includes Red Rachel's looming budget, Labour's Caerphilly car crash, the election of Lucy Powell and the scandal of asylum hotels...

Andy Davey for The Daily Telegraph

Ben Jennings for The Guardian

Andy Davey for The Daily Telegraph

Matt Pritchett for The Daily Telegraph

Peter Brookes for The Times

Nicola Jennings for The Guardian

Andy Davey for The Sunday Telegraph

Nick Newman for The Sunday Times

Andy Davey for The Daily Telegraph

Andy Davey for The Daily Telegraph

Morten Morland for The Sunday Times

Andy Davey for The Daily Telegraph

Matt Pritchett for The Daily Telegraph

ROYAL WELSH POLITICAL ANIMAL

Earlier this week Richey attended the Royal Welsh Show with his partner and spoke with various activists on our wavelength, while Labour kept a low profile.  He summed up his observations in the following YouTube video...

While Kemi Badenoch, Nigel Farage and Rhun ap Iorwerth (Plaid Cymu) attended the show this year, they were the only major national party leaders to do so.  Starmer could not possibly have attended, even if he had wanted to, on safety grounds.  Labour's disgusting treatment of farmers meant that he would have been given a frosty reception at best.  Likewise, we can find no record of a Green Party presence, which sums up their own hard left attitude to agriculture.

In fairness, First Minister Eluned Morgan was in attendance, although she appears to have been kept away from the public as much as possible - not that many people would recognise her in any case.  She must be the most anonymous First Minister since devolution began!

WOKE WEDNESDAYS #32

Despite the Supreme Court ruling on the trans issue, the leftist establishment are continuing with their misogynistic agenda regardless.  Earlier this week BBC News presenter Martine Croxall defied her employers and corrected an autocue script that described 'pregnant people'.  "Women" she declared, while struggling to stifle her amusement at the absurdity of having to do so.

The viral clip is discussed by Richey in the following YouTube video. 

Martine is obviously the exception to the rule at the progressive Beeb, which has jettisoned feminism in favour of airbrushing women from existence altogether.

Like the terms 'birthing people' or 'birthing person', 'pregnant people' is intended to degrade the sanctity of womanhood and, specifically, motherhood.  Progressives argue that such 'gender-neutral' language is necessary, as the language we have been using for almost two thousand years excludes trans and 'non-binary' people.  So in order to be 'inclusive' towards a miniscule proportion of society, we must denigrate around one half of society - ie. biological women?  The objective is to dehumanise women, to render their immutable characteristics meaningless and make them feel worthless.  It is the same reason men are being increasingly demasculated and the sanctity of marriage undermined.

The goal is communism.

This is why such language flourishes on the left.  Take the current First Minister of Wales.  As a health minister in Wales, Eluned Morgan referred to 'birthing people' multiple times.  She was quoted using the term in a January 2022 press release, and again in May that year in a cabinet statement.  The quote featured in the meme below is from an April 2024 cabinet statement.

Sorry Eluned, but you're fooling nobody.  Trans people who were born male cannot give birth and nor can 'non-binary' people who are biologically male.  In short, there is only one type of person who can give birth - a person with xx chromosomes - in other words a woman!

Last week's Rob Schneider meme generated nine comments and 25 shares on Facebook.

A TALE OF TWO FACES

As Keir Starmer handed a brutal reposte to Plaid Cymru's Westminster leader, the reactions of the women seated either side of him were polar opposite.  Flanked by Reeves and Rayner, the PM faced a question from Liz Saville-Roberts regarding his recent 'hard line' speech on immigration.  The member for Dwyfor-Meirionnydd pointed to previous remarks made by Starmer supporting migrants and freedom of movement, contrasting them with quotes from his speech earlier this week.

"Is there any belief he holds which survives a week in Downing Street", she asked.  Starmer rose to his feet and delivered a robust and uncharacteristically humorous response: "Yes, the belief she talks rubbish".

The response to his quip from Reeves and Rayner couldn't have been more different.  Reeves burst into animated laughter, slapping her thighs and turning to colleagues on her left to share in the amusement.  Rayner, meanwhile, sat emotionless and barely moved.  There was a faint hint of a smirk breaking out initially, but she contained it and ended up looking almost bemused, slightly annoyed even.  One would be forgiven for thinking that Starmer had just insulted her own mother (while Saville-Roberts is as English as Rayner, despite her adopted party, she is no relation).

Watch the clip below.

What can we read into Rayner's reaction at PMQs?  Is her relationship with Starmer strained?  Does she have aspirations for the top job?  Was she merely a feminist upset that Starmer had made a disparaging remark to one of the girls?

One thing is for certain, Starmer needs to watch his back if he is to survive this parliament.  If the vultures come for him, make no mistake there will be a member for Ashton-under-Lyne circling with the rest of them.

VAUGHAN GETHING RESIGNS

Vaughan Gething has resigned as Welsh Labour leader and First Minister of Wales after just four months in the roles.  Gething had been dogged by corruption scandals from day one of his short tenure, albeit he continued to deny wrongdoing in his resignation speech.

Gething announced his decision after four members of his cabinet resigned on Tuesday and publicly called on him to go.  Mick Antoniw, Lesley Griffiths, Julie James and Jeremy Miles all quit and posted their resignation letters to social media.  Gething was left with little option.

In a four minute somewhat narcissistic resignation speech, Gething made clear that he had hoped the scandals would blow over:  "I had hoped that over the summer, a period of reflection, rebuilding and renewal could take place under my leadership.  I recognise now that this is not possible".  He then went on to list his supposed achievements, before flat out denying any misconduct:  "A growing assertion that some kind of wrongdoing has taken place has been pernicious, politically motivated and patently untrue".

Gething's full resignation speech can be seen below.

The main sticking point in Gething's tenure was his relationship with environmental convict David Neal, who had donated £200,000 to Gething during his leadership campaign.  Gething had also lobbied for Neal and his waste company in past dealings as a Welsh minister.  There were also awkward questions about deleted WhatsApp messages from Gething's phone during the period of the Covid scamdemic.

The resignation also reflects badly on Keir Starmer, the new PM having publicly backed Gething throughout.  Labour will now seek a third Welsh leader since the turn of the year with Jeremy Miles, who was narrowly defeated by Gething in March, an early favourite.

Amid the turmoil, Plaid Cymru called for a snap election two years ahead of schedule.

CELTIC CALCULATIONS

Polling day is here and we'll be churning out some more quickfire seat predictions before polls close.  Here we'll take a look at some of the intriguing contests taking place in the Celtic nations of Great Britain.  We won't be delving into Northern Ireland, as those seats will not have a direct bearing on who enters government tomorrow.

Here we go...

SCOTLAND

Airdrie & Shotts

Narrowly held by the SNP since 2015, this marginal was the scene of a by-election in 2021 in which the young candidate (a former general secretary of Muslim Friends of Labour) emerged with a 1,757 majority.  It's too narrow a margin for a party in decline and Labour will take this one.

BTLP seat prediction: Lab GAIN from SNP

Dumfries & Galloway

Since its creation in 2005, this seat has been held by Labour (2005-15), the SNP (2015) and since 2017 by the Conservatives.  Its MP Alister Jack is one of many Tories who jumped ship at this election, sensing the inevitable.  However, a Tory loss is not set in stone.  They have a small majority of 1,805, but that is against the declining SNP.  Labour were a distant third in 2019, but could potentially surge through the pair of them.  Debutants Reform could be king makers here.  Tough one to call...

BTLP seat prediction: Con HOLD

Edinburgh South West

SNP bigwig Joanna Cherry won Alistair Darling's old seat from Labour in 2015 and is now defending an 11,982 majority.  The Tories have finished runners-up here since 2017, leaving Labour with a mountain to climb to dislodge Cherry.  Cherry will hang on, probably.

BTLP seat prediction: SNP HOLD

Glasgow North East

Glasgow used to be a Labour stronghold, but that all changed in 2015 when the SNP swept the board and won every seat.  Since then, only Glasgow North East has changed hands - Labour regained it in 2017 and then lost it again in 2019.  The SNP will be defending a marginal 2,548 majority this time round and given all their recent woes this has Labour gain written all over it.

BTLP seat prediction: Lab GAIN from SNP

Livingston

This is going to be a tussle between Labour and the incumbent SNP.  Hannah Bardell is defending a 13,435 majority, but the question is how many of her voters will abandon the SNP and revert back to the party that held this seat prior to 2015?  The result is likely to be very tight here.

BTLP seat prediction: SNP HOLD

North East Fife

The Lib Dems have held this seat at every election since 1987, with the exception of 2015 and 2017, the latter of which the SNP held it with a majority of just two votes.  The Lib Dems are defending a majority of 1,316 today, but with the SNP in decline and no other clear challengers - they're clear favourites.

BTLP seat prediction: LDem HOLD

West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine

This is an intriguing contest between two struggling parties.  The SNP gained this seat in 2015 from the Lib Dems, but lost it to the Tories in 2017.  The Tory incumbent defends a tiny majority of just 843 votes going into this election and it's difficult to see the second placed SNP not retaking it.

BTLP seat prediction: SNP GAIN from Con

WALES

Vale of Glamorgan

This seat has repeatedly changed hands over the years between Tories and Labour, albeit the Conservatives have held it longer overall.  Tory incumbent Alun Cairns has held the seat since 2010 and thinks he can win again, despite a relatively small majority of 3,562.  The Reform vote could be decisive here, tipping the balance either way.  Despite discontent with Drakeford and Gething, Labour will just about take this.

BTLP seat prediction: Lab GAIN from Con

Wrexham

This was a surprise gain for the Conservatives in 2019 and they are defending a marginal 2,131 majority.  The incumbent clearly thinks she has a chance this time, but she is almost certainly a goner.  Voter discontent with Labour in Cardiff won't save her.

BTLP seat prediction: Lab GAIN from Con

Ynys Môn

Anglesey (its English name) has gone through cycles over the decades - Labour (1951-79), Conservative (1979-87), Plaid (1987-2001), Labour (2001-2019), Conservative (2019).  It was a tight three-way contest in 2019, with the Tories victorious on a narrow 1,968 majority.  This time around it will be a two-horse race between Labour and Plaid.  Very difficult to call this one, but we feel that Reform are going to take votes from Labour and give Plaid Cymru the win.

BTLP seat prediction: Plaid GAIN from Con

CORNWALL

North Cornwall

Scott Mann has held this seat for the Tories since 2015, winning it from the Lib Dems.  Mann is defending a 14,752 majority over the Lib Dems and this could be a tight contest.  It will be interesting to see what bearing Reform's debut presence has on the outcome, but the result will likely be a Tory defeat.

BTLP seat prediction: LDem GAIN from Con

Truro & Falmouth

This constituency was drawn up in 2010 and has returned a Conservative MP at every subsequent election, peaking with a 14,000 majority in 2015.  The Tory majority being defended this time is 4,561 and second placed Labour will be looking to overturn it.  They will.

BTLP seat prediction: Lab GAIN from Con

GETHING LOSES CONFIDENCE VOTE

Vaughan Gething has lost a no confidence vote at the Senedd, less than three months into his tenure as First Minister of Wales.  The motion passed 29-27, with two Labour Assembly Members absent through illness - one of whom being the minister Gething controversially sacked last month.  The Tory motion was passed with Plaid and Lib Dem support.  There were no abstentions.

Although the motion is non-binding and Gething has already indicated his intention to cling on, it will exponentially increase pressure on the scandal-hit leader.  Gething did himself no favours in the chamber during the debate, breaking down in tears as one of his colleagues spoke.  He then stood and gave a speech in which he tried to distract from his own corruption by attacking Westminster Tories.  This what-aboutery was followed by a desperate appeal to his former coalition partners Plaid Cymru not to take up sides with the dastardly Conservatives.  When the vote came, it was clear Plaid had ignored him.

Gething's desperation in the chamber - including those crocodile tears - will not have gone down well with Welsh voters, none of which have yet to cast a single ballot in favour of or against Gething's administration.  These were not the actions of a leader.

The First Minister also brazenly told the Senedd that he would 'not shy away' from ongoing questions about his dodgy donations from convict-businessman David Neal - this, despite his no show at a debate about this very topic only last month.  Gething is not only dishonest, he is shameless.

Awkward questions have also been raised about his WhatsApp messages from the period of the scamdemic, when he was health minister in Wales.  Gething has told the UK Covid Inquiry that all his WhatsApp messages were deleted during a 'security rebuild' in 2022.  During questioning he also threw his predecessor Mark Drakeford under the bus.  Drakeford had previously told the Senedd that he 'didn't use WhatApp' and yet Gething confirmed that he was in a WhatsApp group with none other than Mark Drakeford!

If Labour cannot be trusted in Wales, God help the rest of us when Starmer takes up residence in Downing Street next month...

GETHING NO SHOW SPEAKS VOLUMES

David Neal and Vaughan Gething: The convict and the politician

With Humza Yousaf on his way from power after just 13 months, attention has quickly refocused on Britain's other first minister.  Vaughan Gething has been at the Cymreig helm for just six weeks and an issue which dogged his leadership election campaign is being brought to the fore once again.

Gething received two hefty donations during that campaign, totalling £200,000, from a company run by convicted criminal David Neal.  Gething had previous dealings with Neal and his then company - Atlantic Recycling - dating back to at least 2016 when he was a Welsh government minister.  Neal had been convicted of illegally dumping waste on a conservation site in 2013 and ordered to clean up the mess, but Gething later repeatedly lobbied Wales' environmental regulator to suspend work on that site.

Neal was convicted again in 2017 for failing to clean up the site and Gething stepped in again a year later, writing to Natural Resources Wales on Neal's behalf.  Gething also stood for the Welsh Labour leadership later that same year and received a £38,000 donation from companies linked to Neal.  Something stinks, and it's not just David Neal's fly tipping!

Things are now complicated further by a planning application that has been put in by another of Mr Neal's ventures - Dauson Environmental Group.  It was in Dauson's name that the most recent donations of £200,000 were made to Gething's leadership campaign.  The size of the planning application, which is for a 'solar farm', would require Welsh government approval and as we know - Mr Gething is now the most senior figure in said government.  What's more, the money to fund the purchase of the site came from the Development Bank of Wales - a public body overseen at that time by none other than the Welsh minister for the economy, one Vaughan Gething!

With an obvious conflict of interest and a stench of corruption, the Welsh Conservatives tabled a debate in the Senedd that took place on Wednesday.  However, there was a notable absentee from said debate - the First Minister and the person at the centre of the debate no less!

Watch below as Tory leader Andrew RT Davies opens the debate by asking whether they 'should wait for the First Minister'.  He then reacts with dismay as he is told that Gething has not even provided a statement, much less actually show his face.

This is not the behaviour of a political leader responsible for governing a nation.  By refusing to attend and take responsibility for his actions, Gething has portrayed himself as a coward with something to hide.

During the debate, Gething was heavily criticised by one of his own colleagues.  Lee Waters remarked: "For me, this is not an issue of confidence, but it is an issue of conscience.  We look to our leaders to model behaviour we want to see, to reflect our nation and to set an example.  The first step to solving any problem is to acknowledge that there is a problem.  And it would not be a sign of weakness to say that it was a mistake to take the donation and, now all the facts are known, to give it back."

Waters is well known throughout Wales as the main architect of the despised anti-motorist 20mph scheme, so his diatribe in this instance did not carry the weight he may have hoped.  In any case, the Tory motion was defeated by 27 votes to 25.  Gething finally appeared in the dying minutes of the debate and did not speak.

Gething will face questions about his dealings with David Neal and it could yet prove his downfall.

TOON TUESDAY #3

This week we're featuring Matt Pritchett of The Daily Telegraph and three of his most recent send-ups of Labour and the nanny state...

GETHING REPLACES DRAKEFORD

Vaughan Gething has won the contest to become Labour's next leader in Wales, inheriting the role of First Minister in the process.  Gething narrowly defeated his opponent, education minister Jeremy Miles, with 51.7% of the vote.  Welsh Labour are very secretive about their membership numbers, so the exact number of votes was not released.  This was Gething's second punt at the leadership, having contested the previous leadership contest, in 2018.  Gething finished second of three candidates and some way behind the victor, Drakeford.

There was little to choose between the candidates, with both dedicated to the net zero plan to enslave humanity.  Both acknowledged the widely despised blanket 20mph policy during the campaign, but both stated they would not reverse it.  The war on the motorist in Wales will continue with pay per mile technology, to be implemented by the end of the decade.  There is nothing to suggest Gething will waive this policy either.

The media heralded Gething's victory as 'the first black leader of Wales', or 'the first black leader of a European country'.  Racist twaddle, which ignores the fact that Gething is the product of a Welsh father.  Born in Zambia and raised in Dorset, Gething joined the Labour party in 1992 and later studied law at Aberystwyth University.  Despite qualifying as a barrister, Gething decided to follow a career in politics.  He was an unsuccessful Labour candidate in the first Welsh Assembly (as it was then known) election in 1999.  He later became a councillor on Cardiff City Council, before successfully entering the Welsh Assembly in the 2011 election.

Gething would become a mainstay of the Welsh government, under the leadership of Carwyn Jones and Mark Drakeford.  He was minister for health during the scamdemic and recently appeared before the UK Covid Inquiry, where he described missing WhatsApp messages as a 'real embarrassment'.  Like their Scottish counterparts, Welsh government ministers - including Drakeford - could not provide their WhatsApp messages to the inquiry.  As for Gething, he claims that his messages were 'wiped' when he handed his phone in for maintenance in 2022.

Gething's missing WhatsApps are far from the first controversy to afflict the minister.  During the first lockdown in May 2020, he was photographed with his family eating chips at a picnic table in Cardiff.  This act contravened Gething's own lockdown rules, but Drakeford's government defended him and declared that as this was a 'takeaway meal' it was permissible.

During the same period, Gething was also caught swearing about one of his own colleagues, MS Jenny Rathbone.  Gething failed to mute his microphone during a video call and was heard to say: "What the f*** is the matter with her?", much to the amusement, bewilderment and horror of the participants (video below).

In 2017, Gething was being interviewed by ITV Wales and walked away after the reporter asked him about his failure to hold an inquiry into allegations that a hospital worker had sexually abused vulnerable patients.  Background checks had not been carried out prior to the man's employment and he would later go on to murder his next door neighbour.

More recently, Gething was found to have received a £200,000 donation towards his leadership campaign from controversial businessman David Neal.  Neal had been convicted twice of illegally dumping waste and Gething had earlier lobbied on his behalf, namely to get regulators to ease restrictions on Neal's company, Atlantic Recycling.  The whole affair stank of more than just waste.

Gething Walks Away Mid-Interview

Gething Swears During Video Call

Vaughan Gething is expected to be sworn in as First Minister next week, but will not face the electorate until 2026, when the next Senedd elections are due to be held.  With all three of Great Britain's main political leaders now from a non-white background, it remains to be seen whether the hysterical left will continue to portray our nation as 'institutionally racist'.  Of course they will!

SHEERMAN LOSING PLOT

At 83 and still clinging to the Westminster gravy train, Huddersfield's Barry Sheerman appears to be losing the plot.  On Thursday evening a bizarre tweet appeared from his Twitter account, a photograph of a meme that was on a laptop screen.  The meme in question has become very popular in Wales thanks to recent events, but it seems that old Bazza hadn't seen it before and was clearly quite taken by it (see below).

The problem for Barry is that the meme is used by opponents of Mark Drakeford's absurd 20mph decree - a Labour policy.  It's not clear if Sheerman was aware that Labour govern Wales or whether he is just past caring with his time on the gravy train (finally) drawing to a close at the next election.  Either way, he deleted the tweet a few minutes later - but not before a screen grab by BTLP.

What a clown?

LABOUR CRUSH SNP

Labour's crushing victory over the SNP in the Rutherglen by-election has implications far beyond the Scottish borders.  The SNP's persistent electoral successes have been a major hindrance to any hopes of a Labour general election victory since 2010.  Gordon Brown left office with 41 of the 59 Scottish seats still in Labour hands, but Ed Miliband lost 40 of those in 2015.  Labour never recovered from that crushing blow and prior to Rutherglen still had just one MP north of the border.

They now have two MPs in Scotland, thanks to a huge 20 per cent swing in Thursday's by-election.  If such a colossal swing were to be repeated in the next general election, Labour would surge back in Scotland and potentially deliver the keys of Number Ten to Keir Starmer.

However, things are not all gloomy for Westminster Conservatives.  While Labour may be on the up as a result of SNP free fall, things are not so rosy for them in Wales.  It is yet to be seen just how fierce the electoral backlash will be in the wake of Mark Drakeford's absurd 20 miles per hour scheme.  If Labour were to haemorrhage seats in the still standing 'red wall' of South Wales that could wipe out a potential advance in Scotland.  The more densely populated Valleys account for more than half of Wales' 20 Westminster seats and all but two are currently red.

Labour's war on the motorist in Wales, London and beyond could yet be Starmer's undoing.

Rutherglen & Hamilton West Parliamentary By-Election

Michael Shanks (Lab) 17,845 (58.6%) +24.1%

Katy Loudon (SNP) 8,399 (27.6%) -16.6%

Thomas Kerr (Con) 1,192 (3.9%) -11.1%

Gloria Adebo (LDem) 895 (2.9%) -2.3%

Cameron Eadie (Grn) 601 (2.0%) New

David Stark (RefUK) 403 (1.3%) New

Niall Fraser (SFP) 319 (1.1%) New

Bill Bonnar (SSP) 271 (0.9%) New

Colette Walker (ISP) 207 (0.7%) New

Christopher Sermanni (TUSC) 178 (0.6%) New

Andrew Daly (Ind) 81 (0.3%) New

Ewan Hoyle (Volt) 46 (0.2%) New

Prince Ankit Love, Emperor of India (Ind) 34 (0.1%) New

Garry Cooke (Ind) 6 (0.1%<) New

Lab GAIN from SNP

This month's Time magazine celebrates Humza Yousaf, in
remarkably poor sense of timing

A WELSH REBELLION?

A petition set up on the Welsh Senedd website has quickly become the most signed in the history of Welsh government.  Having gathered more than 100,000 signatures since Sunday, it is - not surprisingly - about Mark Drakeford's absurd 20 mile per hour speed limit.

The daft law designates a default 20mph limit for every road in a built-up area, with a handful of exceptions where local authorities have applied for exemptions.  The law was brought in on Sunday and affects around 3 per cent of all Welsh roads.  Needless to say, the law has provoked widespread dismay among drivers and the many businesses who will suffer as traffic backs up and deliveries are delayed.

The petition against 20mph has - at the time of writing - surpassed a quarter of a million signatures.  That's a whopping eight per cent of the entire population of Wales and far outstrips the previous record, which was set in 2020 and again, in opposition to another outrageous Drakeford imposition.  During the scamdemic, Drakeford declared a two week 'firebreak' lockdown and ordered supermarkets to bar the sale of non-essential items.  This led to a bizarre situation in which people were allowed to buy wine, beer and spirits (already subject to astronomical price rises thanks to Drakeford's minimum alcohol price) while being unable to purchase clothes for their children.  The petition against this decree garnered almost 68,000 signatures, a figure now dwarfed by the 20mph petition.  A Facebook group set up in opposition to 20mph has swelled to almost 50,000 members.

The 20mph law is inspired by the same mindset that gave Londoners ULEZ and increasing numbers of UK cities 'clean air zones'.  It has nothing to do with health and everything to do with the imposition of so-called '15 minute cities' where our movements are controlled by the state.  We can but hope the Welsh rise up and fight 20mph just as the infamous 'blade runners' are doing against ULEZ in Greater London.

Some of the new 20mph signs have already been vandalised

BY-ELECTIONS 20.07.23

The comprehensive Tory disaster that was widely anticipated on Super Thursday did not materialise thanks to a surprise result in the one seat that, on paper, they were most likely to lose.  A backlash against Khan's despicable ULEZ expansion saved them in Uxbridge, albeit with a reduced majority - down from 7,210 in 2019 to just 495.  Despite the backlash, Labour still piled on almost six percentage points.  Everyone else lost their deposit.

In the other two parliamentary elections, the Conservatives suffered crushing defeats.  In North Yorkshire they lost a seat they had held since its inception in 2010, with Labour overturning a 2019 majority of 20,137.  Their 25-year-old candidate comfortable surged past his Tory opponent with a 4,151 majority of his own, instantly replacing Nadia Whittome as the new Baby of the House.  The third placed Green Party candidate was the only other to save his deposit.

In Somerset the Lib Dems ploughed resources into a seat they had previously held between 1997 and 2015.  Since then the Tories had created a solid majority which stood at 19,213 in 2019.  On Thursday the Lib Dems decimated the Conservative lead and returned to Somerton and Frome with an 11,008 majority.  Again, the Green Party saved their deposit in third place.

Turnout was predictably low in all three seats: 44.8% in Selby, 44.2% in Somerton and 46.2% in Uxbridge.

Selby & Ainsty

Keir Mather (Lab) 16,456 (46.0%) +21.4%

Claire Holmes (Con) 12,295 (34.3%) -26.0%

Arnold Warneken (Grn) 1,838 (5.1%) +1.9%

Mike Jordan (Yrks) 1,503 (4.2%) +0.8%

Dave Kent (RefUK) 1,332 (3.7%) New

Matt Walker (LDem) 1,188 (3.3%) -5.3%

Nick Palmer (Ind) 342 (1.0%) New

John Waterstone (SDP) 314 (0.9%) New

Sir Archibald Stanton (Loon) 172 (0.5%) New

Guy Phoenix (Herit) 162 (0.5%) New

Andrew Gray (Ind) 99 (0.3%) New

Tyler Wilson-Kerr (Ind) 67 (0.2%) New

Luke Wellock (Clim) 39 (0.1%) New

Lab GAIN from Con

Somerton & Frome

Sarah Dyke (LDem) 21,187 (54.6%) +28.4%

Faye Purbrick (Con) 10,179 (26.2%) -29.6%

Martin Dimery (Grn) 3,944 (10.2%) +5.1%

Bruce Evans (RefUK) 1,303 (3.4%) New

Neil Guild (Lab) 1,009 (2.6%) -10.3%

Rosie Mitchell (Ind) 635 (1.6%) New

Peter Richardson (UKIP) 275 (0.7%) New

Lorna Corke (CPA) 256 (0.7%) New

LDem GAIN from Con

Uxbridge & South Ruislip

Steve Tuckwell (Con) 13,965 (45.2%) -7.5%

Danny Beales (Lab) 13,470 (43.6%) +5.9%

Sarah Green (Grn) 893(2.9%) +0.6%

Laurence Fox (Rclm) 714 (2.3%) New

Blaise Baquiche (LDem) 526 (1.7%) -4.6%

Steve Gardner (SDP) 248 (0.8%) New

Kingsley Hamilton Anti-Ulez (Ind) 208 (0.7%) New

Count Binface (Bin) 190 (0.6%) +0.5%

No-Ulez Leo Phaure (Ind) 186 (0.6%) New

Richard Hewison (Rejoin) 105 (0.3%) New

Piers Corbyn (LLL) 101 (0.3%) New

Cameron Bell (Ind) 91 (0.3%) New

Enomfon Ntefon (CPA) 78 (0.3%) New

Rebecca Jane (UKIP) 61 (0.2%) -0.4%

Ed Gemmell (Clim) 49 (0.2%) New

Howling Laud Hope (Loon) 32 (0.1%) -0.2%

77 Joseph (Ind) 8 (0.1%<) New

Con HOLD

There were also three council by-elections on Thursday, one each in West Wales, Swindon and Worcester.  The Lib Dems narrowly held off a Plaid surge in Ceredigion and Labour scored an easy hold in Worcester.  In Swindon there was an intriguing result as the Conservatives gained a seat from Labour.

Llanfarian, Ceredigion County Council

LDem: 298 (48.2%) -19.8%

Plaid: 290 (46.9%) +15.0%

Con: 30 (4.9%) New

LDem HOLD

St Margaret & South Marston, Swindon Borough Council

Con: 1,143 (50.6%) +2.1%

Lab: 1,118 (49.4%) -2.1%

Con GAIN from Lab

Nunnery, Worcester City Council

Lab: 1,048 (59.7%) +11.9%

Con: 518 (29.5%) -2.8%

LDem: 102 (5.8%) -0.5%

Ind: 88 (5.0%) -0.1%

Lab HOLD

Abbreviations

Lab = Labour

Con = Conservative

Grn = Green

Yrks = Yorkshire

RefUK = ReformUK

LDem = Liberal Democrat

SDP = Social Democratic Party

Loon = Monster Raving Loony

Clim = Climate

Herit = Heritage

UKIP = United Kingdom Independence Party

CPA = Christian Peoples Alliance

Rclm = Reclaim

Bin = Binface

Rejoin = Rejoin EU

LLL = Let London Live

Plaid = Plaid Cymru

Ind = Independent

A BIT RICH, COMRADE

There aren't many days on which the First Minister of Wales doesn't take aim at UK government policy on Twitter.  Following the failure of the Rwanda policy it was suggested that some of the migrants could be given electronic tags, so that they don't abscond from bail.  They have, after-all, entered the UK illegally.  This was all lost on open borders enthusiast Mark Drakeford who lambasted the very suggestion...

Of course not so long ago the Welsh Commissar effectively closed the Welsh border several times and told, specifically, English people to stay away.  What if they too were 'seeking safety and sanctuary' Mr Drakeford?  Does this sanctuary of which you speak only apply to foreigners?  Or was this merely an opportunity for you to flex your socialist nanny state muscles, an opportunity that no comrade could fail to seize with both limp-wristed hands?

As for treating people with 'dignity and respect'.  Was it not only a few months ago that people in Wales who had not received an experimental and potentially fatal Covid vaccine were largely excluded from society?  They were treated like second class citizens, criminalised and barred from hospitality.  Meanwhile, the compliant ones were forced to present their papers or digital ID in order to participate in society and failure to do so would relegate them to the lowly status of the unjabbed lepers.

Those who may be tagged by immigration officials have entered this country illegally Mr Drakeford.  They may well pose a threat to the security and safety of our citizens - as with the abhorrent bombing of the Manchester Arena that cost so many lives.  What is abhorrent about looking after the safety of your own citizens?  Is that not what you were doing with your over-the-top Covid restrictions?

We strongly suspect it was more likely that you merely leapt at the chance to stamp your socialist authority on the proletariat and when some refused to comply you created an apartheid society.  You will undoubtedly be gagging to do so again, especially seeing as Covid restrictions in Wales are 'paused' as opposed to 'ended'.

An apartheid regime Mr Drakeford, really?  What would Jeremy say?

LET THEM EAT BUGS

Mark Drakeford has tweeted a picture of himself tucking into some 'delightful Welsh produce' less than two weeks after it was revealed a pilot scheme in Welsh primary schools would introduce children to the somewhat less delightful concept of eating insects.

Pupils aged 5-11 at four primary schools will take part in the scheme and will be offered insect protein in the form of mince made from the likes of grasshoppers, locusts and mealworms.  If only we were making this shit up.

Bug-eating and plant-based alternatives to meat are being increasingly pushed by the global establishment as part of their crazed 'net zero' and 'zero carbon' agenda.  One of the motives for pushing insects is that they produce less CO2 than cattle and poultry.  On the same day Drakeford was pretending to indulge Welsh farming, the government in New Zealand announced plans to tax farmers on gases emitted from burping cattle.  If only we were making this shit up.

The long-term intention is that farming as we've known it for centuries will largely go to the wall, while consumers are forced to choose between plants and bugs for dinner.  Of course, not all farmers will go under - a few will be retained in order to provide the global elites with all the finest cuts of meat, while we tuck into our reconstituted mealworm goop.

As with Covid, the bourgeoisie socialists in Wales are prepared to go further and faster in this course of action, while not practicing what they preach.

DRAKEFORD BANS SMACKING

Socialist Wales has become the second part of the UK to outlaw all physical chastisement of children - after socialist Scotland, naturally.  The new law criminalises parents who hit, smack or shake their children.  First Minister Mark Drakeford tweeted that he was 'really proud' of the new law and describes it as 'an historic achievement'.  He also released a video in which he quoted a UN convention on children's rights.

Drakeford says: "The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child makes it clear that children have the right to be protected from harm and from being hurt and this includes physical punishment".  However, Article 19 to which he is referring does not specify smacking or shaking.  The charter states: "Governments must do all they can to ensure that children are protected from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and bad treatment by their parents or anyone else who looks after them".

Smacking a naughty toddler on the bottom is an 'act of violence' only in the twisted minds of the left, who seem to think they have a right to intrude on how parents raise their children.

Watch below as commissar Drakeford takes great delight in announcing his latest act of social engineering.

This is the nanny state of the socialist.  Commonsense dictates that there is a clear difference between minor physical chastisement and violent abuse.  Unfortunately, there is no commonsense where socialists prevail.