CORBYNISTAS SWING INTO ACTION

It's going to be a long, hard summer recess for Sir Keir Starmer.  Following yesterday's £370,000 settlement with the anti-Semitism whistleblowers he told the Commons at PMQs that the party was 'under new management'.  Indeed, but the old management have no intentions of going quietly.

For the first time since he returned to the backbenches, Corbyn himself lashed out publicly against the new regime.  His followers rallied to him with cries of solidarity and supportive hashtags have been trending on Twitter for the past 24 hours.  Corbyn's statement on his Facebook page (see below) demonised the whistleblowers using the infamous leaked Labour report, suggesting they themselves were guilty of racism.

The leaked report was always intended to defend Corbyn's leadership and attack his enemies.  The fact that it was leaked little more than a week after Starmer took over the leadership is no coincidence.  The moment Starmer's victory was sealed he was designated enemy number one in the mind of Corbyn's followers.  The Great Leader may have fallen, but his leadership and his legacy are still of paramount importance to them.  They are genuinely more concerned with destroying a moderate Labour Party than deposing a Tory government.

The BBC reporter behind the Panorama documentary is now reportedly planning to sue Corbyn, the mere suggestion of which has swung Corbynistas into a fundraising campaign for his legal costs.  A GoFundMe site has been set up and has raised more than £30,000 in just a few hours.  Bear in mind that Corbyn is a multi-millionaire and is not exactly destitute, a fact that his comrades don't like to address.

The fallout from this may well pale into insignificance as there is a bigger flashpoint on the horizon.  The Equality and Human Rights Commission report on Labour anti-Semitism has yet to be officially released.  The leaked Labour report will again be brought out in defence of Corbyn and to demonise his enemies.  Considering that these enemies all possess Labour membership cards makes this yet another internal conflict, something that seems to follow Corbyn around like a bad smell.  Division dogged his leadership and now he is keen to make trouble for his successor.

At one point yesterday there was media speculation that Starmer would remove the whip from Corbyn.  It may yet come to that.

CAMPBELL'S HIGH HORSE OF HYPOCRISY

It wasn't so much what was in the Russia report that set Remainers' tongues wagging, rather what wasn't in it.  Four years on there is still no proof whatsoever that Russia interfered in the EU referendum, but that didn't stop remoaners from surmising that a failure to investigate it meant it happened!  As per usual, whenever there is a question over Brexit the mainstream media call on their favourite correspondent to angrily tell viewers that Remain was robbed.  "Lies" and "fraud" were buzz words as Campbell ranted about a decision that was made by voters years ago in a referendum in which his own side lied - and threatened - aplenty.  Cameron even called in the US president to tell Brits that they would be put at the "back of the queue" if they dared to vote Leave.  How's that for foreign interference Alastair?

Of course it's always the height of hypocrisy to have a man responsible for one of the most devastating lies of the 21st century lecturing people about lies...

PRIME MINISTER'S QUESTIONS 22.07.20

This is the final PMQs before the summer recess.

STARMER'S MASK INCONSISTENCY

Keir Starmer in Gedling last week

Last week Keir Starmer visited Gedling in Nottinghamshire and sat outside in a park where he chatted to several care workers.  Despite being outdoors and socially distanced, Sir Squeaky wore a full face visor like some of those he was with.  Less than a week later he was back in the Midlands, this time visiting a school and a college in Coventry.  However, these visits were both indoors and face coverings were nowhere to be seen (see pictures below).

Starmer was joined on his visit by Labour MPs Liam Byrne and Kate Green, neither of whom were wearing face masks either.  For a party that is so enthusiastic about mandatory face coverings (except in Wales, for now) this all looked rather odd considering just a few days ago Starmer was wearing a full face visor - outdoors.

DANCE IN DENIAL

Seb Dance with Labour MP Catherine West at an anti-Brexit rally in 2019

Former Labour MEP Seb Dance was understandably gutted to have been out of a job in January.  Like his Remain colleagues he had fought for three and a half years to overturn the Leave mandate and was a prominent figure in the so-called 'People's Vote' campaign.  However, his motivation for stopping Brexit ran much deeper than just merely retaining his income.

Despite being born in Wandsworth and raised in Surrey, like many on the left Dance refuses to accept his British identity.  He reportedly has one Irish grandparent and used this to obtain Irish citizenship.  On his Twitter account he describes himself as a 'proud Londoner, European, Irishman' and displays three flags - the EU flag, the flag of the Irish Republic and a rainbow flag.  No mention of the country of his birth, which appears to disgust him.  On Brexit Day he wrote an article in which he described his Irish passport as his most cherished physical item.  Dance still lives in London - the city of his birth - he was elected for the London region and as such he was a British MEP.  Why can't he fly his own national flag?

Despite the realisation of the Leave mandate, Dance cannot let go.  Recently he has been espousing the cause of face masks and, naturally, he opts for a design that embellishes his love for anything but Britain.

 

ON THIS DAY IN 1981, CORBYN'S MATES...

The Provisional IRA shot dead a Protestant man in Maghera, Co Londonderry.  43-year-old John Hazlett, a local handyman, was killed outside a shop in Bank Square.  He was helping to renovate the property.  Just after 09:30 in the morning a blue van pulled up outside from which a gunman emerged and fired six times at Mr Hazlett.  The handyman died almost instantly.  The van, which had been hijacked, was later found abandoned.

Neighbours told reporters that Mr Hazlett was not politically active and the police said there was no obvious motive for the IRA to have killed him.  An IRA statement later claimed that the murder was "an accident due to mistaken identity".  This led to the suggestion that the terrorists' original target was a former part-time member of the Ulster Defence Regiment who had also been working on the renovation, but who wasn't there on the day of the attack.  It was never never proven that this was their intention, although as the man was no longer a serving soldier it appears that either way the IRA were out to kill a Protestant civilian that day.

The IRA statement was condemned at Mr Hazlett's funeral.

"Such a dastardly deed as has taken place can never be excused, even by someone making the profound observation 'We have made a mistake'.  Friends, some mistakes are so permanent and so final that they cannot be rectified.  Apologies cannot exchange the coffin for the chair, they cannot give sparkle to a tear-dimmed eye, nor bring joy to a desolate and broken-hearted family".

Presbyterian minister at John Hazlett's funeral

John Hazlett was survived by his wife and two children.

MOST SHARED: WEEK 274

News that Shamima Begum could return to the UK thanks to treacherous judiciary naturally provoked national outrage.  Feelings are particularly high because we all know that once she is back she will be back for good.  Furthermore, there is little confidence that she will face justice for her crimes.  While her membership of Daesh is not in any doubt, this wouldn't put her away for long.  As for other terrorist offences it would be almost impossible to prove guilt in a UK court.  The crimes occurred thousands of miles away, there is no physical evidence and many of the witnesses would either be dead or languishing in refugee camps in the desert.  Put simply, we are going to have to get used to the idea of her living out the rest of her days in this country at great expense to the taxpayer.  Thanks again, judges.

The following meme is still viral, but at the time of writing it has been 50,764 times via Facebook page.

DARLING LOSERS

The 'darling of the left' is a title generally bestowed on a loser.  It is someone who the left aspire to one day become a great leader, but who is destined to languish in opposition.  Zarah Sultana is the current occupant of the title and, like her predecessor Laura Pidcock, no-one outside the left-wing bubble takes her seriously.

In any other circumstances Sultana would never have been selected, but the loony left were running the show in 2019.  At the next election she could find herself following in the footsteps of Pidcock by serving just one term.  Whereas Pidcock had an almost 9,000 majority going into her December 12 defeat, Sultana will be defending a paltry majority of 401 going into the next election.  Given her dedication to overseas causes that don't concern the overwhelming majority of her constituents, perhaps she will also be consigned to the scrapheap of left-wing darlings.  Best not tell Howard Beckett that - he thinks she's a future PM.

Zarah Sultana,

It was said that when Jeremy became leader he’s greatest achievement would be that someone he inspired would one day be Prime Minister. I believe that person will be you.

To receive these words of endorsement from you leave me speechless. pic.twitter.com/vCGUfndAT9

— Howard Beckett (@BeckettUnite) July 16, 2020

The semi-literate Beckett is favourite to take over from Len McCluskey as Unite's next general secretary.  McCluskey is reportedly stepping down next year and if Beckett's glowing endorsement of Sultana is anything to go by then the union could be headed for yet another red at the head.

STARMER BACKED BEGUM'S RETURN

There has been a deafening silence from the Labour front bench over the return of Shamima Begum since the appeal court ruling last Thursday.  However, when Keir Starmer was previously asked about the case he expressed support for Begum's return.

On 10 March last year Starmer appeared on Sophy Ridge on Sunday and was asked if he thought Shamima Begum had been 'failed by the government'.  His immediate response was to denounce the decision of the then home secretary Sajid Javid: "Well I think the decision by the Home Secretary was the wrong decision and I think it was a rushed decision".  Starmer tried to evoke sympathy for Begum by twice referring to the death of her child.  He didn't refer to the ethnic cleansing or any other atrocities carried out by the organisation that Begum was breeding children for.

Starmer made it clear that he wants Begum to return and if there is not enough evidence to prosecute she could be made liable to a prevention order.  Of course this will all come at great expense and as we have seen in the past - to deadly effect - our police and intelligence services are already overwhelmed by the sheer number of dangerous Islamists at large in Britain.  Why does this one individual matter more to Labour than the safety of the British people?

As with his reprehensible support for Black Lives Matter, there's no escaping from his support for Begum either.  Watch below.

GUARDIAN CARTOONIST BINNED

Steve Bell

Controversial newspaper cartoonist Steve Bell is to leave The Guardian after 39 years.  Following news of job cuts at the troubled newspaper it has been confirmed that Bell's contract will not be renewed.  Bell has attracted criticism over the years for various cartoons, most notably several depictions of Benjamin Netanyahu that drew accusations of anti-Semitism.  In 2012 he depicted Netanyahu as a puppet master holding Tony Blair and the then Foreign Secretary William Hague.  In 2019 he repeated the 'puppet master' trope, this time drawing Boris Johnson and Donald Trump as Netanyahu's puppets.  That cartoon also featured Labour's Tom Watson as a 'witchfinder' character who was hunting down anti-Semites in the party (see below).

Among Bell's defenders was none other than the then Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell.

In recent years Bell's trademarks have been his renderings of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.  He always draws the US president with a toilet seat for a head while Boris has a backside for a face.  The PM appears like this in what is perhaps Bell's most infamous cartoon - his unashamedly racist depiction of the current Home Secretary.  In March this year he drew Priti Patel as a cow, an animal that is sacred to Hindus.

The newspaper refused to remove the cartoon from its online content and neither Bell or his employers apologised.  Would they have dared publish a cartoon of a Muslim politician as a pig?

Bell's contract doesn't finish until next year, so Guardian readers will have to endure his shite cartoons for a while longer - unless the rag goes bump between now and then.

THE WEEK IN CARTOONS 12-18 JULY 2020

12.07.20 - Nick Newman, Sunday Times

12.07.20 - Morten Morland, Sunday Times

13.07.20 - Steve Bright, The Sun

13.07.20 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph

14.07.20 - Morten Morland, The Times

14.07.20 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph

15.07.20 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph

15.07.20 - Jeremy Banks, Financial Times

16.07.20 - Bob Moran, Daily Telegraph

16.07.20 - Graeme Bandeira, Yorkshire Post

16.07.20 - Matt Pritchett, Daily Telegraph

16.07.20 - Peter Brookes, The Times

17.07.20 - Matt Pritchett, Daily Telegraph

18.07.20 - Bob Moran, Daily Telegraph

18.07.20 - Kipper Williams, Spectator

18.07.20 - Nick Newman, Spectator

18.07.20 - Morten Morland, Spectator

HIGH PRAISE FOR BRILLO

End of the road for yet another Andrew Neil vehicle

When the BBC announced 520 job cuts in its news division it was perhaps no great surprise to see Andrew Neil's show was one of the casualties.  His latest show was only commissioned last autumn and had not broadcast since March.  In recent years Neil's presence on the Beeb has become increasingly sparse.  Daily Politics was canned in 2018, This Week finished a year later and he is seldom seen at the helm of Politics Live these days.

As is always the case when there is any suggestion Andrew Neil is binned, there has been a backlash.  The BBC have stressed that they are in talks with him about a new venture, but there are rumours that the 71-year-old has been approached by other broadcasters.  Presumably ITV are one of those clamouring for his services.  We can only hope they are lining him up to replace the awful Robert Peston!

Prominent figures in journalism and across the political divide heaped praise on Neil following news of the BBC cancellation.

https://t.co/tY26mBlNYC
As @amolrajan writes: "In one particular style - forensic, unrelenting scrutiny and interrogation of those in power - @afneil is the best in the business".

— Alastair Stewart (@AlStewartOBE) July 15, 2020

In @afneil the BBC has Britain’s best interviewer. Scrapping his show is a further flashing light on the dashboard - warning us that the Corporation no longer understands what public service broadcasting looks like https://t.co/VZW3YAIzNd

— Tim Montgomerie 🇬🇧 (@montie) July 15, 2020

The cancellation of @afneil's show is great news for those in power wishing to avoid scrutiny and a shame for everyone else. https://t.co/2yRL5O8Jrf

— Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) July 15, 2020

The Cancel Culture Gang - who claim cancel culture doesn't exist – will be delighted Andrew Neil has been cancelled

The BBC splurges £100million on "diverse" content, then axes their No1 political journalist

Total madness!https://t.co/GwJpluYXS0

— Martin Daubney (@MartinDaubney) July 15, 2020

Andrew Neil is by some distance the best journalist working at the BBC - it is shocking, and stupid beyond belief, that this brain-dead corporation pays six figure salaries to mediocrities who would perish and die in the open market place and yet have no place for @afneil

— Tony Parsons (@TonyParsonsUK) July 15, 2020

If @afneil no longer on the BBC makes it much easier to stop watching ANY of their political coverage @DefundBBC Latest BBC Cuts https://t.co/im3TPwgz7T via @guidofawkes

— Kate Hoey (@CatharineHoey) July 15, 2020

Some on the hard left were less complimentary, because their little spiteful minds can only recall instances when Neil has mauled their idols.  But let's not forget that following his decimation of Jeremy Corbyn ahead of the election, Boris Johnson avoided Neil like the plague and never did sit down for an interview.  He wouldn't have refused to meet Neil if he thought his interviewer was going to give him an easy ride.

Remain campaigner Femi Izawally invoked Neil's ire with a tweet in which he labelled the broadcaster "biased and scarily right-wing".  Bad move.

We've never met or talked. You have no idea what my views are on any major issue today, tho you think you do. To call me "scarily right-wing" is inaccurate, a smear and a hard left trope. You should withdraw it. https://t.co/gOf3XQjGln

— Andrew Neil (@afneil) July 15, 2020

As for Little Owen, who has been involved in a long-running spat with Andrew Neil, some would have expected a gloating response.  However, Jones has his own problems worrying about job cuts at The Guardian.  Jones tweeted: "Andrew Neil falsely claimed that I repeatedly tried to get his BBC career cancelled.  He's still refused to withdraw this claim.  So let me put on record that I don't support this decision, while standing by holding Neil to account for his public record".

The ever classy Neil later tweeted that The Spectator was a broad church and didn't see why Jones couldn't work for the rag if he got the boot from The Guardian.

We are a broad church of many faiths and none. Paul Mason writes for us. So why not? It's up to the Editor. Not me. https://t.co/tIgtXMRvoP

— Andrew Neil (@afneil) July 18, 2020

This seems as good a time as any to revisit their famous bust-up on This Week...

On Saturday morning Neil tweeted that The Spectator was booming while other media outlets are in decline.  He notes that his newspaper now outsells weekday editions of The Guardian.  Brutal as ever.

GERVAIS SLAMS CANCEL CULTURE

It's hard to believe that Ricky Gervais endorsed Jeremy Corbyn in 2017.  The multi-talented comedian/actor/writer/director just speaks far too much sense these days.  Perhaps in hindsight he might appreciate how fortunate we all are to have avoided a Corbyn coalition of chaos.  Speaking to Kevin O'Sullivan on TalkRadio last weekend he obliterated the cancel culture of the left, labelling it 'fascism'.  O'Sullivan had asked Gervais if he thought The Office could be made in today's woke climate to which Gervais declared that the 'fascists' would ensure it wouldn't: "It's mob rule and that's what would compromise the comedy.  It's not that people wouldn't get it and love it, it's that the people in charge would be bullied".

Discussing the notion of 'offence', Gervais said that people who were constantly offended were dumbing down the ability to form a counter-argument: "Offence is good, because it makes you think and makes you come up with an argument.  What's happened recently is 'I'm offended' has replaced an argument".  Gervais finished by denouncing the absurdity of political discourse on social media: "If you're mildly left-wing on Twitter you're suddenly Trotsky and if you're mildly conservative you're Hitler.  And if you're centrist and you look at both arguments you're a coward".

Watch below.

HYPOCRITE COUNCILLOR'S BLM SPEECH

Last weekend there was a Black Lives Matter march in Brighton that was attended by up to 2,000 people (local news) or up to 5,000 (national news).  Note the discrepancy.  The march ended in a city park where protesters listened to speeches that included Labour councillor Nick Childs.  His speech was so extreme it could have come from any of the Marxist organisers of BLM.  He railed against capitalism, linking it intrinsically with (anti-black) racism.  He criticised the police and urged marchers to 'challenge police violence' and make things 'intolerable' for them.  He also urged white people to 'read' and challenge their 'own inevitable racism'.

Watch below.

Note that Childs doesn't say 'some' white people when he's referring to 'inevitable racism'.  He objectifies white people as a collective, an act of demonisation that is in itself racism.  This was just one of many ironies in his speech.  Just a few weeks after Gandhi's statue was vandalised in London by BLM supporters who designated him a racist - Cllr Childs opts to finish his speech with a quote from... Mahatma Gandhi.

It was also breathtaking how this patently middle class latte lefty chose to paint himself as one of the workers.  Last year it was revealed that the Corbynista sends his daughter to the most expensive private girls' schools in the country - the £40,000 a year Roedean School.  The revelation was brought to the attention of the public after the newly elected councillor had campaigned prominently against school privatisation.  When the Daily Mail approached him for comment he confirmed that one of his children attended a 'local independent school', but that this was 'not up for public debate' and his own views on privatisation 'should not be confused with my family's personal decision'.  Sound familiar?

Diane Abbott, Emily Thornberry, Shami Chakrabarti, Cllr Nick Childs - it never ceases to amaze how many of those who so publicly rail against capitalism secretly reap its benefits.

Cllr Nick Childs with local Labour MP and fellow Corbynista - Lloyd Russell-Moyle

RUSSELL-MOYLE QUITS

Lloyd Russell-Moyle

The hard left continue to cancel themselves as another member of Starmer's front bench departs.  Lloyd Russell-Moyle has stood down as Shadow Minister for Natural Environment and Air Quality blaming the 'right-wing media' for causing him 'stress'.  His appointment to Starmer's front bench raised a few eyebrows at the time given his past behaviour.  In December 2018 he grabbed the ceremonial mace in the Commons and marched off with it before handing it back and being thrown out.  A year later following his re-election as the MP for Brighton Kemptown he gave an extraordinary acceptance speech in which he ranted and raved like a lunatic.  In the last few weeks he has issued two apologies - one for a spat over trans rights with JK Rowling and the other for comments on Jewish claims to Israel.

Russell-Moyle has released the following statement on his resignation.

Russell-Moyle is the second double-barrelled departure in less than a month following Rebecca Long-Bailey's sacking.  The mini-exodus leaves a tiny handful of Corbyn loyalists on Starmer's front bench, the most senior of which is Andy McDonald (Shadow Secretary of State for Employent Rights and Protections).

Corbyn critic and former Labour MP Ian Austin mocked Russell-Moyle's decision on Twitter, calling it 'heartbreaking'.  The Jewish Labour Movement also welcomed his departure, releasing the following statement.

DUMPED IN A SKIP

At around 05:30 this morning Bristol City Council workers arrived in a recycling lorry to remove the illegal Black Lives Matter statue from the Colston plinth.  Watch below.

The Mayor of Bristol defended the swift action on Sky News this morning, but was careful not to upset BLM supporters.  Labour's Marvin Rees said: "It's important the way you describe it.  I prefer to say we're not taking down a statue of a Black Lives Matter, we're taking down the work of a London-based artist who erected it without permission".  Lo and behold the authorities treat BLM with anything other than baby gloves...

MAYOR COMMITS TO STATUE REMOVAL

Bristol's elected mayor has confirmed that the Black Lives Matter statue erected on the Colston plinth will be removed.  Labour's Marvin Rees did not refer to such a decision in his statement on Wednesday morning, but later tweeted that it would be the case.  How soon it will happen is not clear, but the sooner the better.

WHITE PRIVILEGE CLOWNS EXPOSED

What exactly is white privilege?  We hear about it all the time these days thanks to whiny middle class social justice wankers who have enthusiastically jumped on the Marxist anti-white BLM bandwagon.  American documentary film-maker Ami Horowitz has decided to put the question to people who preach about white privilege and should really know what it is.  This is how he got on...

"Sorry, I'm not good at thinking" says one of the snotty runts.  You couldn't make it up.  The straight-talking black people of Harlem spoke more sense than the condescending white lefty snobs who think they are their saviours.  Remember this video next time some student brat tells you to 'read some books' or 'educate yourself'.

BRISTOL MOB REPLACE COLSTON

The Colston plinth has a new statue, a sculpture of Black Lives Matter
protester Jen Reid who stood on the plinth after Colston was toppled

The erection of a Black Lives Matter sculpture in place of the Colston statue should come as no surprise to anyone.  The Bristol mob has been empowered at every turn ever since Avon and Somerset Police allowed them to topple Colston and drag him down to the harbour.  Despite the incident being filmed and broadcast to the world, the local police have not charged anyone.  An 18-year-old who handed himself in was merely given a caution and absurdly told he must attend a meeting to discuss the future of statuary in Bristol.  So a man who took part in an act of vandalism against one statue gets a say on the future of other statues?  This is a reward, not a punishment.

Following the removal of the Colston statue there followed a blitzkrieg on all references to him across the city.  Street names were painted over and institutions swiftly moved to rename their buildings.  Within four days of the fall of the statue the owners of an office block called 'Colston Tower' removed his name from the building.  One pub changed its name while another hastily covered up its name and erected a Black Lives Matter sign outside as a way to placate the mob and try and protect his business from attack.  Stained glass windows in honour of Colston were removed from one church while the Diocese committed to removing others saying that the toppling of Colston was a "signal for it to act".  Despite Bristol having benefited from the philanthropy of Edward Colston, his name will probably disappear altogether by the end of this year at the behest of a mob.  This is a shameful act of historical revisionism that should concern us all.

Colston Street was one of many vandalised signs in Bristol

The dawn erection of a BLM statue on top of Colston's plinth is the latest episode of this worrying saga.  However, it is not the first time a sculpture has appeared at the site since the toppling.  Last month leftists dumped a sculpture of a white working class male on top of a wheelie bin opposite the Colston plinth.  This vulgar act failed to draw the attention of the national media, but they were there on cue to celebrate the erection of a black power monument in the early hours of Wednesday.  Channel 4 News didn't just turn up to see it erected, they had such advance warning they had made a mini-documentary showcasing its construction with a voice-over from the sculptor.  "In with black power" they announced on Twitter...

Out with the slave trader, in with black power.

The statue of Edward Colston has been unofficially replaced with a sculpture of a Black Lives Matter protester. pic.twitter.com/32kst0HOjr

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) July 15, 2020

Other news channels followed suit with a number of interviews, all of which were supportive of the new statue and all of whom wanted it to stay.  "Hope flows through her" announced the sculptor in an interview with The Guardian.  No, hate flows through her.  That's what Black Lives Matter is built on - hatred and division - although you'd never have known it from the one-sided coverage of the mainstream media.  Their propaganda has been tangible throughout this Marxist insurgency and their gleeful coverage of the new sculpture will only serve to embolden the mob further.

The mainstream media should be careful what they wish for.  CNN in America followed the same pro-BLM narrative and ended up having their headquarters in Atlanta trashed by the mob.  When protests re-erupted several weeks later CNN put up fencing around their building to protect it from the same violence they helped foment.  And for those who think this is just a passing fad for Britain and we will not suffer the same fate as so many US cities have done, this is the incendiary speech a BLM activist gave in London only last weekend...

The protesters have not gone away and we are only half way through our summer.  In addition to the London event there was a huge BLM march in Brighton on Saturday after a black man was restrained by officers in the city last week.  Media coverage of the march conveniently failed to mention that a missing vulnerable teenager had been found at the man's property leading to his arrest.  A Labour councillor who addressed the Brighton crowd told them that white people needed to "challenge our own inevitable racism".  Cllr Nick Childs also condemned capitalism as the source of racism and left the marchers in no doubt that to defeat racism they needed to overthrow capitalism.  These are dangerous people.

It remains to be seen as to how long the new statue stands on Colston's plinth, but Bristol's elected mayor has confirmed that permission was not given for it.  Labour's Marvin Rees did not explicitly state that the new sculpture would be removed, only that the "future of any plinth and any memorial must be decided on by the people of Bristol".  Rees has previously justified the toppling of the Colston statue.  Would he justify the toppling of the BLM statue?  Would Avon and Somerset Police be as forgiving to anyone who attempted to topple it?  It's there illegally after all.  It simply must come down, otherwise the mob will win yet again and who knows where they will go from there and what they will do next.

PRIME MINISTER'S QUESTIONS 15.07.20

LAME BLAME GAME IN LAWLESS LEICESTER

The scandal of illegal sweatshops in places like Leicester has sparked a lot of finger-pointing between Labour and the Conservatives.  After the Covid spike in Leicester exposed the issue it was claimed that the practice was an 'open secret' in the city.  Following criticism the local Labour-led authorities tried to shift the blame and said they had alerted central government, but nothing was done.  The problem is that it had nothing to do with central government.  Leicester has a directly elected mayor and a directly elected police and crime commissioner (both Labour).  Leicestershire Police are headquartered in the city and if sweatshops were acting illegally during the lockdown they had powers to close them down - there's no need for the Home Office.

TalkRadio's Julia Hartley-Brewer discussed the issue with Tory MP Andrew Bridgen on Tuesday.  She drew parallels with the grooming gang scandal and didn't find much resistance from Bridgen.  He claimed that the Covid flare-up had occurred in the Leicester East constituency and that up to 40 adults had been found living in a single property there.  Curiously he names Keith Vaz very prominently during the interview, although he doesn't provide a reason as to why this is relevant other than he used to represent the seat.  Leicester East is now represented by hard left Corbyn loyalist and perennial race-baiter Claudia Webbe.

Is there yet another dodgy side to 'Jim the washing machine salesman' we don't know about?  Bridgen certainly appears to know his stuff, although it should be pointed out that his claim to represent the "only seat in Leicestershire not to border the city" is not true.  His North-West Leicestershire constituency is actually one of three that do not border the city - the others being Loughborough and Bosworth, also both Conservative.  As for Leicester itself, the city is represented by three Labour MPs - the aforementioned Webbe, 2015 leadership candidate Liz Kendall and the Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth.

Click below for Bridgen's full exchange with Hartley-Brewer.

ELEANOR'S 'RACIST FLAG'

It may be a little known event outside the West Midlands, but today is Black Country Day.  The date recalls the inauguration of the regional flag on 14 July 2012.  Ahead of the event most of the region's MPs gathered for a photoshoot in Westminster, something that twelve months ago would have required significant more Labour involvement than it did this time around.  Prior to the general election Labour held eight of the thirteen seats, but were left with just three on December 13.

Warley's Labour MP John Spellar joined seven Tory MPs for the photoshoot, posing with a flag that one of his former colleagues dubbed 'racist' in 2017.

Black Country MPs pose with the regional flag, including Labour's John
Spellar (middle, left)

Every aspect of the Black Country flag symbolises the region's industrial past.  The black third represents the name for which the region is known, from the soot that is said to have blackened the sky.  The red third represents the sky at night, from the many burning furnaces.  The white cone shape that is formed in the centre of the flag represents the glass-making industry, while the chains represent another Black Country industry.  It was the chains that upset former Labour MP Eleanor Smith.

Smith represented Wolverhampton South-West for one brief term between 2017-19.  Just weeks after she was elected she slammed the local flag on Black Country Day itself and demanded that it be scrapped and redesigned in order to represent the region's multi-cultural communities.  Smith was not a Black Country native and saw the flag completely differently to everyone else, espousing views that would be perfectly at home in the Black Lives Matter cancel culture of 2020: "I have serious concerns about the racist connotations of the flag, particularly the fact that chains are being used to represent the Black Country.  The white on black imagery used together with the chains... when you break it down I’m not going to pretend it doesn’t worry me as a black person.  People have to understand that it can be seen as offensive".

Labour's Eleanor Smith

Smith continued her daft assault on the flag: "I understand the flag was designed by a young person, and I don’t for one minute think they realised its connotations.  I think it is time for an intelligent conversation about the flag.  I would look to have it changed.  Why can’t we have a flag that represents all of us united as a collective rainbow of people?  In my constituency there are 130 different languages spoken.  Let’s get a flag that actually says we are proud of where we come from".

Smith was roundly mocked by local people and she didn't garner any support from her Parliamentary colleagues who were only too happy to pose with the flag.  Perhaps it was no surprise that on December 12 her 2,185 majority was overturned as the Conservatives regained a seat they'd lost in 2015.

Labour MPs Ian Austin, Tom Watson, Pat McFadden and Adrian Bailey in
2017.  After the 2019 general election only McFadden remained in office.

ON THIS DAY IN 1984, CORBYN'S MATES

The Provisional IRA murdered two British soldiers in a landmine attack near the Irish border.  Eight members of the Ulster Defence Regiment were patrolling near the village of Castlederg in County Tyrone when the 200lb device was detonated.  The mid-morning attack was carried out from the safety of the Irish Republic, a few hundred yards away.  After triggering the device the terrorists opened fire on the stricken UDR patrol as they radioed for help.

Private Norman McKinley, 32, was killed instantly in the explosion.  His colleague, Corporal Heather Kerrigan, died en route to hospital.  She was 20.  Both soldiers were local Protestants and came from Castlederg.  Cpl Kerrigan's brother was also part of the patrol and was seriously injured.

David Kerrigan holds a picture of his murdered sister

Cpl Kerrigan's brother-in-law, also a member of the UDR, was murdered by the IRA four months earlier.  No-one was ever brought to justice for any of these murders, but in 2016 David Kerrigan told the media that he believed Martin McGuinness had information about the landmine attack.  Mr Kerrigan said that nothing happened on the Tyrone-Donegal border without McGuinness knowing about it.  McGuinness died a year later.

In 2014 - following a service to mark the 30th anniversary of the attack - a makeshift memorial was vandalised and a sign erected in its place that read "IRA 2 UDR 0".  The police removed the sign and said they were treating it as a hate crime.  Mr Kerrigan said the memorial was also desecrated five years earlier on the 25th anniversary of the soldiers' deaths.

O'BRIEN BOTTLES FOX CHALLENGE

James O'Brien and Laurence Fox

Smug radio presenter James O'Brien has been challenged to a head-to-head debate by the anti-woke actor Laurence Fox.  The challenge arose from a tweet in which O'Brien sneeringly referred to Fox as 'the lad from Lewis' - the TV show for which he is most famous - before proceeding to mock his real-life character.  The tweet came amid a Twitter spat between Fox and Owen Jones over 'cancel culture'.

Fox retweeted O'Brien later that evening with a challenge.

When there was no immediate response from O'Brien, Fox followed up with a direct address.

Fox has previously offered to face some of his other detractors and met with Bonnie Greer pre-lockdown.  Four days on O'Brien has not responded to Fox's challenge, which is somewhat odd for someone who sees himself as the intellectual almighty.