Ridiculously good LSO, best read in Britain, better than anything in any newspapers. You need your own TV show. Now there's a thought, shouldn't this by on YouTube, the numbers of views that some people get is incredible, 1000 times what their substacks reach. But you need a strict 5 minute rule to REALLY go places.
You are right as always. For what it's worth, I suspect that a lot of ordinary Muslims in this country who just want to get on with life will be unenthusiastic about this nonsense from Rayner, which will just give the real racists and bigots an extra excuse to attack all Muslims. At the other end of the scale, we all know appeasement encourages extremists. So I don't think this will help consolidate the Labour Muslim vote, because it will lead to more racism and bigotry, and probably the formation of a Muslim party, which will be ruinous for labour's prospects in the long run.
I couldnāt agree more on both counts Jeremy. The Muslims I interact with everyday are just ordinary folk going about their perfectly normal business. This sort of thing only drives a wedge between sections of society. But thatās the whole point of identity politics I think.
I also agree about the formation of a specifically Muslim party. There already seems to be something like that forming with Corbyn, inevitably involved. Sectarian politics is never a good idea. Youād have thought Northern Ireland would have taught us that.
> I suspect that a lot of ordinary Muslims in this country who just want to get on with life
Sure. But let me draw a dark analogy: In Germany in 1932 most Germans just wanted to get on with life too. Nazis got 33% of the vote but less than 1% were party members. The 'real' question is not how many people are true believers, but how many people are willing to take a stand against the true believers. In Germany the number of 'ordinary' people who were willing to resist Hitler was insufficient to stop him. When he came to power, most Germans -- almost all of them -- went with the flow.
So the question to ask about our Muslim neighbors is not whether they are jihadis themselves but whether -- to take things to their apocalyptic conclusion should the plot of 'Submission' be realized -- our Muslim neighbors would risk their lives fighting for civilization or whether they would go with the flow and rededicate themselves to Islamic fundamentalism in the new caliphate. The answer is obvious.
So the holy war of race/religion breaks out: Mr. Aziz is a very decent guy and, given his honest choice would prefer civilization notwithstanding that he's a nominal Muslim. (After all, he became an immigrant to get *away* from his culture/religion and to get *in* to infidel society.)
But, if he sides with civilization, firstly half of 'our side' will consider him the enemy by virtue of his race -- this is very unfortunate but likely to be true. (Note that in WWII patriotic Japanese Americans could only fight in Europe and only in their own regiment, the famous 442.) Secondly, should he be captured by the jihadis, Mr. Aziz would be viewed not just/only an infidel but an apostate and ISIS showed us how true servants of Allah deal with apostates, didn't they? Thirdly most of Mr. Aziz' family have sided with the caliphate, will he break ranks? Fourthly, Mr. Aziz might be genuinely disgusted by the decay of the West and feel that Islam has a brighter future notwithstanding the current fundamentalism. Once the caliphate has been declared (he thinks ahead a few years) perhaps a new golden age will dawn. Why not? Islam was where civilization flourished for a thousand years. The West is finished, he says.
... Hey ... I'm talking myself into joining the jihad ... better stop now.
In more realistic situations: The town in which he lives has elected a Muslim mayor and council and sharia law has been declared. (The Labor or Tory government (it doesn't matter which) smiles at this because it's shows 'vibrant multiculturalism' and besides, resisting it would be racist.) All Christians, and all infidels in general have been invited to leave the town. Will Mr. Aziz join them, or will he retain his grocery shop and fit in with the new situation? The answer is obvious.
I said that they would be unenthusiastic, because it is precisely this sort of action (making them a special case as a minority) that generates the conditions where that choice has to be made. As you say, we know how they would choose. That is one reason why this appeasement will lead to the growth in demand for a Muslim party.
Ultimately our governments should be looking for ways to bring its citizens together and create bonds between disparate ācommunitiesā where necessary. Our government, Tory, now Labour, seems desperate to do the opposite. To create division, mistrust, rancour and a society stratified on a hierarchy of grievance. All decent people, regardless of their background/religion should reject that.
This is what the left simply don't get. They suffer from an inbuilt racism, not in the sense necessarily that they count themselves as superior, but rather that they take for granted that members of minorities need help to overcome the "prejudice" against them. They fail to see how this exacerbates feelings against minorities, as it is easy for people to believe all minorities only thrive with positive discrimination, as opposed to their own merits.
Yup. In the States right now it's almost funny. Nobody admits that DEI had or has anything whatsoever to do with the hiring of any *specific* person -- *everybody* individually, is where they are on MERIT, red in tooth and claw. Yes, they want to keep DEI, but for others -- *they* were the best candidate anyway.
... but the dilemma is that the 'harmony' that the Muslims want is the harmony of appeasement. Our governments *think* that what they are doing will lead to harmony, don't they? We see the folly of it, but they don't. I maintain that true harmony is achieved only when a country unites on a common set of values and when those who do not share those values are either asked to leave, or are reminded that those values are not negotiable.
Funny and trenchant as ever, thank you. On the matter of Keir Starmer's voice: If I were casting an actor to play the part of an empty cardboard box, I know exactly who I'd call first.
I understand Starmer has been using this particular voice coach for some time. I suggest he is entitled to a full refund. As an aside, is she the same coach Rachel uses?
Thanks for a very amusing article, you really couldn't make it up, the Labour Party provide such good material. Sadly I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry! Unlike Starmer. keep it up. The good work I mean.
This is quite a reality check for an American who is reveling in Trump's FAFO. I can only say, identify the candidates who will change this and make sure they get elected. Retire the awful ones and make sure everyone knows why. Getting rid of USAID should take a lot of wind/Ā£ out of their sails. Praying for you.
My brother and I had a conversation last night about how we could improve life for British folk. The talk went round in circles a bit but he hit the jackpot as far as I'm concerned. He recommends building a series of stocks the length of Downing Street and locking the entire cabinet in them; onlookers would then be provided with tomatoes to throw at them. He then added, "In tins - can't afford fresh 'uns".
Ha ha no-one. To be honest Iād just be happy if they admitted they werenāt as clever as they obviously think they are and slunk back under their rock to let us get on with our lives in peace. I donāt want revenge. I just want rid. ATB
Youād be very welcome anyway Michael. You can still have some turkey dinner. Weāll give you an extra Yorkshire to make up for the pigs-in-blankets.
Love it. No doubt midnight mass consisted of, Oh Come All you Faithful, He came upon a midnight clear, O come O come Emmanuel, after which they raised glasses and toasted Alluah Akhbar, and Allez Rouge?!
Starmer really is the most abject politician on the planet.
That a friend couldn't visit her terminally ill father on Christmas Eve, yet Sir Keir had a voice coach travel miles to give him personal attention makes my blood boil. No apology and no investigation by the Met.
It perturbed the nation, yet he gets away with it. Again.
If I were the voice coach of that adenoidal creep I'd have determined he needed help with his breathing and rammed Vick's menthol inhaler sticks up both his nostrils so hard breathing would never be problematic again. Ever.
Thanks Dee. Yes. He is so sanctimonious he genuinely seems to believe the rules donāt apply to him. A superior being shouldnāt feel shame or make apologies I guess.
Thanks Alexei. Oh donāt worry. Weāll be promised it will only take another few billion in taxes to āfinallyā sort it. Just like every other time that didnāt finally sort it.
As l have said before Starmer was an idiot to have taken on the job of PM. After 1 week he should have called a general election because our country is in such a mess after 14years of total mismanagement by the Con party, that would have shown the real cause of our troubles. God only knows who would have got in then, probably The Monster Raving party. Even they could not have cocked it up as bad as we have become.
Ridiculously good LSO, best read in Britain, better than anything in any newspapers. You need your own TV show. Now there's a thought, shouldn't this by on YouTube, the numbers of views that some people get is incredible, 1000 times what their substacks reach. But you need a strict 5 minute rule to REALLY go places.
Iām happy here Mrs Bucket for now. But thank you so much for saying so. I really appreciate it. š
You are right as always. For what it's worth, I suspect that a lot of ordinary Muslims in this country who just want to get on with life will be unenthusiastic about this nonsense from Rayner, which will just give the real racists and bigots an extra excuse to attack all Muslims. At the other end of the scale, we all know appeasement encourages extremists. So I don't think this will help consolidate the Labour Muslim vote, because it will lead to more racism and bigotry, and probably the formation of a Muslim party, which will be ruinous for labour's prospects in the long run.
I couldnāt agree more on both counts Jeremy. The Muslims I interact with everyday are just ordinary folk going about their perfectly normal business. This sort of thing only drives a wedge between sections of society. But thatās the whole point of identity politics I think.
I also agree about the formation of a specifically Muslim party. There already seems to be something like that forming with Corbyn, inevitably involved. Sectarian politics is never a good idea. Youād have thought Northern Ireland would have taught us that.
> I suspect that a lot of ordinary Muslims in this country who just want to get on with life
Sure. But let me draw a dark analogy: In Germany in 1932 most Germans just wanted to get on with life too. Nazis got 33% of the vote but less than 1% were party members. The 'real' question is not how many people are true believers, but how many people are willing to take a stand against the true believers. In Germany the number of 'ordinary' people who were willing to resist Hitler was insufficient to stop him. When he came to power, most Germans -- almost all of them -- went with the flow.
So the question to ask about our Muslim neighbors is not whether they are jihadis themselves but whether -- to take things to their apocalyptic conclusion should the plot of 'Submission' be realized -- our Muslim neighbors would risk their lives fighting for civilization or whether they would go with the flow and rededicate themselves to Islamic fundamentalism in the new caliphate. The answer is obvious.
So the holy war of race/religion breaks out: Mr. Aziz is a very decent guy and, given his honest choice would prefer civilization notwithstanding that he's a nominal Muslim. (After all, he became an immigrant to get *away* from his culture/religion and to get *in* to infidel society.)
But, if he sides with civilization, firstly half of 'our side' will consider him the enemy by virtue of his race -- this is very unfortunate but likely to be true. (Note that in WWII patriotic Japanese Americans could only fight in Europe and only in their own regiment, the famous 442.) Secondly, should he be captured by the jihadis, Mr. Aziz would be viewed not just/only an infidel but an apostate and ISIS showed us how true servants of Allah deal with apostates, didn't they? Thirdly most of Mr. Aziz' family have sided with the caliphate, will he break ranks? Fourthly, Mr. Aziz might be genuinely disgusted by the decay of the West and feel that Islam has a brighter future notwithstanding the current fundamentalism. Once the caliphate has been declared (he thinks ahead a few years) perhaps a new golden age will dawn. Why not? Islam was where civilization flourished for a thousand years. The West is finished, he says.
... Hey ... I'm talking myself into joining the jihad ... better stop now.
In more realistic situations: The town in which he lives has elected a Muslim mayor and council and sharia law has been declared. (The Labor or Tory government (it doesn't matter which) smiles at this because it's shows 'vibrant multiculturalism' and besides, resisting it would be racist.) All Christians, and all infidels in general have been invited to leave the town. Will Mr. Aziz join them, or will he retain his grocery shop and fit in with the new situation? The answer is obvious.
I said that they would be unenthusiastic, because it is precisely this sort of action (making them a special case as a minority) that generates the conditions where that choice has to be made. As you say, we know how they would choose. That is one reason why this appeasement will lead to the growth in demand for a Muslim party.
Ultimately our governments should be looking for ways to bring its citizens together and create bonds between disparate ācommunitiesā where necessary. Our government, Tory, now Labour, seems desperate to do the opposite. To create division, mistrust, rancour and a society stratified on a hierarchy of grievance. All decent people, regardless of their background/religion should reject that.
This is what the left simply don't get. They suffer from an inbuilt racism, not in the sense necessarily that they count themselves as superior, but rather that they take for granted that members of minorities need help to overcome the "prejudice" against them. They fail to see how this exacerbates feelings against minorities, as it is easy for people to believe all minorities only thrive with positive discrimination, as opposed to their own merits.
Yup. In the States right now it's almost funny. Nobody admits that DEI had or has anything whatsoever to do with the hiring of any *specific* person -- *everybody* individually, is where they are on MERIT, red in tooth and claw. Yes, they want to keep DEI, but for others -- *they* were the best candidate anyway.
... but the dilemma is that the 'harmony' that the Muslims want is the harmony of appeasement. Our governments *think* that what they are doing will lead to harmony, don't they? We see the folly of it, but they don't. I maintain that true harmony is achieved only when a country unites on a common set of values and when those who do not share those values are either asked to leave, or are reminded that those values are not negotiable.
Hard to believe that Starmer's voice is the new, improved version! Your fantastic tragi-comedy substacks are gradually turning me into an anarchist, LSO - how can these corrupt clowns be in authority over the rest of us?! A Ball of Worms (Ā©Elon)
I know Bettina! He has all the humanity of a Speak and Spell Machine. Alexa exudes more empathy.
I wonder what he was like in court when he was practicing as a barrister. I imagine he sent judge and jury to sleep so the accused just went home.
Ha ha! No wonder he got so many crooks off.
Funny and trenchant as ever, thank you. On the matter of Keir Starmer's voice: If I were casting an actor to play the part of an empty cardboard box, I know exactly who I'd call first.
I understand Starmer has been using this particular voice coach for some time. I suggest he is entitled to a full refund. As an aside, is she the same coach Rachel uses?
Thanks for a very amusing article, you really couldn't make it up, the Labour Party provide such good material. Sadly I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry! Unlike Starmer. keep it up. The good work I mean.
Thanks Geoff!
This is quite a reality check for an American who is reveling in Trump's FAFO. I can only say, identify the candidates who will change this and make sure they get elected. Retire the awful ones and make sure everyone knows why. Getting rid of USAID should take a lot of wind/Ā£ out of their sails. Praying for you.
Thanks Implausibly. Sounds like a plan! šŗšø
My brother and I had a conversation last night about how we could improve life for British folk. The talk went round in circles a bit but he hit the jackpot as far as I'm concerned. He recommends building a series of stocks the length of Downing Street and locking the entire cabinet in them; onlookers would then be provided with tomatoes to throw at them. He then added, "In tins - can't afford fresh 'uns".
Ha ha no-one. To be honest Iād just be happy if they admitted they werenāt as clever as they obviously think they are and slunk back under their rock to let us get on with our lives in peace. I donāt want revenge. I just want rid. ATB
Well, I'm Jewish and I don't celebrate Christmas. So I am really buggered!
Youād be very welcome anyway Michael. You can still have some turkey dinner. Weāll give you an extra Yorkshire to make up for the pigs-in-blankets.
If I could have some Hannukah donuts afterwards, then that would be very tempting.
Great! See you there.
Ha!
Love it. No doubt midnight mass consisted of, Oh Come All you Faithful, He came upon a midnight clear, O come O come Emmanuel, after which they raised glasses and toasted Alluah Akhbar, and Allez Rouge?!
Who paid for Sir Keith's voice coach?
Also, stop using "Kier.". Not sufficiently disrespectful and, let's face it, he is a Keith.
š¤£ Noted Peregrinus. Apologies.
Bloody good piece again LSO.
Starmer really is the most abject politician on the planet.
That a friend couldn't visit her terminally ill father on Christmas Eve, yet Sir Keir had a voice coach travel miles to give him personal attention makes my blood boil. No apology and no investigation by the Met.
It perturbed the nation, yet he gets away with it. Again.
If I were the voice coach of that adenoidal creep I'd have determined he needed help with his breathing and rammed Vick's menthol inhaler sticks up both his nostrils so hard breathing would never be problematic again. Ever.
Bit harsh maybe.
Roll on next Christmas, eh?
Thanks Dee. Yes. He is so sanctimonious he genuinely seems to believe the rules donāt apply to him. A superior being shouldnāt feel shame or make apologies I guess.
TouchĆ© and hilarious! But Iām wondering if the NHS is starting to run out of anti-depressantsā¦.
Thanks Alexei. Oh donāt worry. Weāll be promised it will only take another few billion in taxes to āfinallyā sort it. Just like every other time that didnāt finally sort it.
As l have said before Starmer was an idiot to have taken on the job of PM. After 1 week he should have called a general election because our country is in such a mess after 14years of total mismanagement by the Con party, that would have shown the real cause of our troubles. God only knows who would have got in then, probably The Monster Raving party. Even they could not have cocked it up as bad as we have become.
I'd recommend a crucifixion of Starmer in the largest circus in London.
Different sort of racism - perfectly acceptable.