As ever you hit all the nails on the head. I’m a die hard small c conservative at the right wing end of the spectrum who’s voted for the Big C Conservative Party at every general election since first eligible in 1983. My views haven’t changed much fundamentally in the subsequent 40 years but I’m not voting for them any longer.
While I utterly despise Labour and fear the climate change obsessed wokefest we will have to endure it’s time to lend my vote, at least tactically initially, to Reform, just as I lent my vote at all Euro ejections from 1994 to UKIP. Whether the tactical vote eventually does any good is an open question but we can’t carry on with the present pretence of having a centre right party. I never expected the tactical vote for UKIP to get anywhere, so there’s hope even in unlikely circumstances.
Exactly this Paul. The Tories have been riding the ‘But Labour will be worse’ train for too long. It’s time to get off. Or are we the ones getting off?!? I’m not sure of the analogy now. All I know is it’s time to get off that train!
Thanks once again for a great article. To quote from Karl Popper, we suffer from the "paradox of tolerance."
The paradox of tolerance states that if a society's practice of tolerance is inclusive of the intolerant, intolerance will ultimately dominate, eliminating the tolerant and the practice of tolerance with them. Karl Popper describes the paradox as arising from the seemingly self-contradictory idea that, in order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must retain the right to be intolerant of intolerance.
We have to be intolerant of Muslim fundamentalism, criminals and economic chancers trying to steal from us, and biological men in women's spaces (from boarding schools to prisons), ESG, DEI and climate change.
As for Rwanda, it was blindingly obvious that, whatever its travails in the House of Commons, the bill would never get through the Labour controlled House of Lords. I wonder whether the whole point of pushing this was simply to expose Starmer's utter opposition to anything that will restrict immigration. I can't see any other benefit to it. Most people would just have rubbished his idiotic "plan" to "crush the criminal gangs." Our police do nothing about crime in this country, never mind overseas, and for every one of these criminals arrested, two others will step in, which of course is why the so-called "war on drugs" is an abject failure.
Rwanda itself is not stated to be an "unsafe" country by the UN. The UNHCR have been putting asylum seekers there for years. The key difference is that UNHCR control the application process, which our government want Rwanda to control.
The solution to illegal immigration is simple. Send them back to France. Micron may object, but if we kept that up for just a couple of months, they'd get the message that forking out a few grand for a round trip in the Channel is not a great idea.
100% agree with all of this Jeremy. Especially your last point. Yes. The solution lies in France, not Africa. Your Popper point was also well made by others regarding the recent attacks on Substack. Hopefully those are over for now, though the intolerant never seem to run out of energy, or bile when dealing with the perceived faults in others. Thanks for a great comment.
Popper's "paradox of tolerance" perfectly describes the situation in Canada. We're accustomed to "going along to get along", watering down principle in the process. That leaves us vulnerable to a PM pushing ignorant climatism with complete disregard for people's well-being, schools that favour gender ideology over fundamental education, and professional bodies upholding "DEI" and trans ideology over important practical standards and even scientific reality (https://thepostmillennial.com/montreal-doc-suspended-for-referring-to-transitioning-woman-as-female).
Yes Mrs Bucket. Carbon capture seems like a waste of time. But of course it does have some benefits. It costs huge amounts of our money and makes some people close to the government very rich. So who cares that it is little more than yet another exercise in pointless virtue signalling?
Just think of the dozens of new millionaires thanks to that other pointless National Debt pumper, HS2. Some execs there on a million quid a year. And today's Labour MP 'OTT' (on the take) > https://youtu.be/JqZoUwDWTrs?si=JHXreq4mya88vHl4
I love your take on British politics, but please indulge a question from across the pond (I know, we are a royal mess as well): Why would the British public, even as fed up as they are with the Tories doing nothing, be looking to overwhelmingly send in Labour to likely double down with much more of the same? Are there promises that Labour is making that are getting voters to overlook that?
Thank you AMP. Thats very kind. Your question is the only question that really counts in British politics right now. The fact is that the British public as a whole is sick of the useless Tories and will vote for ‘change’ in whatever form it comes. And traditional Tory voters feel so betrayed by the Tories, who have allowed the country become less free and poorer, while at the same time ushering in institutional forces which plainly hate the country, its history, its legacy and most of all, the people who live in it. Plus there is a sizeable minority (about 25%) who know no history,(not really their fault, see above-institutional capture) and so think that their salvation lies in socialism, segregation and stagnation. Thats a toxic combination, and it will very probably deliver Labour a large majority. Does that help? Best to you AMP.
Thanks AMP. What state are you in? I was looking on my Sub stats and was surprised and delighted to have so many American readers. I’m a huge fan of your great nation. Good luck to all of us.
I am in the Volunteer state - Tennessee. I believe there is a large population in the US that watches UK politics with attention and concern. The history of our two nations has not always been of the "special relationship" we have now, but what Britian does has often had a reverberation over here. In the seemingly ever shrinking world of Western liberal thought, we need Britian to be a strong leader and alluly. And besides, where would American TV be if we could not copy all the best British TV?
Well good morning AMP! Yes. There is a real flourishing of broadly conservative co operation between us at the moment. So many inspirational figures on the US scene. Long may it continue. You might copy some of our TV, thanks for that, it brings money to our industry, but we have rarely equalled the best of yours. Have a great day.
Until there is a well funded alternative people will flip flop between the two. They'll vote Labour this time to ensure the tories can't slip through the middle but once they're gone it leaves space for an alternative, credible, well funded party with a charismatic leader to destroy Labour. Unless something changes in the next few weeks it'll be a 2 election cycle process.
Only 10 conservatives, the DUP, Andrew Bridgen and another independent, voted against the Energy Bill. The rest are not fit to be called conservative. That is the depth of the problem. https://votes.parliament.uk/Votes/Commons/Division/1628#noes
While many Reform candidates have no experience of government, the same is true of Labour, and the conservatives have proved incapable of governing. We have to start the demise of the Labour Conservative two party system. Reform is the only way to start that. My fear is that if Labour get in, Starmer will widen the voting franchise to include 16/17 year olds and migrants, seeking a permanent majority.
Oh yes. We have to start somewhere. I share your concerns about votes for 16 year olds and foreigners. I’ve written a tiny bit about it. I fear it’s inevitable. ‘Scotland has votes for 16 yo. We’re just making it consistent across the UK.’ It’s a ratchet. We’ll never be rid of them.
I remember a few years back. Might have been early 2010’s, all in the news were students taking GCSE’s talking about their stress and mental health problems due to the pressure of the exams.
This is why I don’t understand why they would lower voting age, placing more stress on them.
Can you say more about your concerns for votes for foreigners, LSO? Are you referring to the proposal to allow EU citizens who have lived here for almost a decade to vote?
It seems like a fine idea to me but, unfortunately, it's not Labour policy.
Jeremy didn’t make it up Ragged. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65590121.amp yes. It’s a proposal. Not yet a policy. I don’t think non uk citizens should be able to vote in uk elections regardless of how long they have lived here. I think that undermines the notion of what a nation state actually is. And I don’t believe Starmer puts much value in Britain as a nation.
Sorry but at this point after decades of lies by all parties, only a fool would still “trust” the current system, especially when a PM can be parachuted into position without consent.
Excellent Low Status! At least you manage to give us a wry laugh at the laughable state that British society has got itself into. Your "....‘International Law’, the ECHR, activist human rights lawyers, a hostile civil service, limp ‘One Nation’ Tories, and a border patrol which is more farce than force...." in particular, packs volumes of truth into just a few finely honed barbs.
And so to the dark side: Britain's middle and upper class establishment is now so university-sheep-dipped, so lawyer-infested, so morally-bankrupt and so culturally-philistine that the only way forward is some kind of eventual ugly civil war. I am just grateful to have lived the bulk of my 73 years before the deluge.
Thanks Graham. But let’s be positive. The progressives captured the institutions without a civil war. We can do the same. Do you know of Cristopher F Rufo? He’s pretty good on how we can turn this around. Also, 73, no way!, I would have put you down as early 60s. There you go. Hope that’s cheered you up this morning. Best to you!
Yes I regularly post comments on Chris Rufo's Substack. And good luck to him. But I'm a Spenglerite pessimist - as in nothing is forever....not even Western Enlightenment Liberalism.
Early 60s Eh?..... that's because I put Botox in my Substack posts!
The latest ploy to hole the Rwanda nonsense below the water line: nick a chocolate bar to ensure return to Blighty.
Let's face it,the Rwanda plan is a farcical piece of window dressing, not even a drop in the ocean of mass migration, but what will Starmer offer?
More of the same, as we slowly sink under the weight of overcrowding, ghettoisation, impoverishment, cheap labour, the destruction of the little that remains of our manufacturing industry, Nut Zero madness,Islamist entryism, rampant anti- Semitism and buckling infrastructure: have any if the demented halfwits responsible for this disaster considered the growing strains on our sewerage systems?
They rely on pumping and filtration facilities, which are powered by electricity : so, will renewables rise to this essential challenge,as seawge volume increases with population density?
I doubt it,I doubt it.
Finally, Her Eminence the Bishop of Gloucester does not give her blessing to the Rwanda plans:
Ha Ha yes I saw Tim Stanley wrote about that this morning. The whole scheme is clearly there to say ‘look at us trying to do something! We want to stop the boats but X won’t let us!!’ It’s pathetic. X, whoever you pick, Labour, Lords, lawyers etc can thwart it because it’s a stupid, expensive idea that clearly won’t work.
Another great article, LSO, reminds me in some ways of the brilliantly biting comedy we used to have that showed the absurdity of our political class, e.g. Yes Minister (at the milder end!). Problem now is that was then absurd is now taken as the ideal by that same class and it’s no longer funny. I personally think we’re looking at 10 years of Labour misrule before a new insurgent party could come to power, if there is still a country left by then.
Thank you so much P. Yes. Being at the coal face I can confirm that ‘satire’ has been transformed over the last twenty years. It used to be that every politician or public figure was a target regardless of party of political allegiance. Now good luck on getting any joke into the mainstream which doesn’t insult the Tories and Trump. Religion (apart from Christianity), trans absurdities, immigration, DEI itself are all strictly off limits except in the mildest terms. Now an ‘edgy’ joke doesn’t get a laugh from a mainstream audience. You see them looking at each other instead, looking for permission to laugh or seeking guidance from others about how to react. Having said that. It is not true that comedy is dead. Far from it. It’s in rude health. It’s just that you have to look away from the mainstream. Plenty funny stuff out there!!
I suspect the UK will go the way if Poland, where a hapless "conservative" government was booted out in favour of Leftoids who are currently speed running the country through the globo-homo agenda.
The Polish situation is very interesting Sathanas. PIS remains the largest party, and it seems that the EU were making it clear to voters that a huge amount of ‘EU money’ was contingent on them going with Tusk. Whatever the details. The election was clearly not quite the rejection of ‘right wing populism’ as depicted in the media.
I think legal immigration is worth talking about separately.
Before Brexit, we used to have a lot of young, educated people who would come from France, Italy, Spain and Poland. They would do casual bar and restaurant jobs for a couple of years and then go home. A lot of them got jobs in the NHS.
Now that we have taken back control, those people don't come any more. Instead, we have record immigration from India and Pakistan. Instead of young workers looking for casual jobs, we have families who come and stay forever.
Yes. But just as you don’t want to conflate legal and illegal immigration. I think it is wrong to conflate Brexit with what the Tory government has done (failed to do) with the powers granted it by Brexit. Brexit isn’t the ‘cause’ of these problems. The government is. A government which claims to believe in British national sovereignty but which has done absolutely nothing since 2016 to prove that. (And begrudgingly enacting the instruction of the voters because if it didn’t it would be turfed out of office, doesn’t count! )
Yes, the Brexit campaigners promised that Brexit would not affect our membership in the Single Market. That we ended up withdrawing from the Single Market was down to the Tories.
I agree with the rest of what you say about the Tories' lack of respect for national sovereignty.
I don’t think it was in the Leave campaigner’s gift to promise anything. Only the government could do that. And the government blew it. It should have said, as neutrally as possible (like in 1975) if you vote X these are the practical steps we will take the next day, if you vote Y then these are the practical things which will happen. But they didn’t do that.
Cameron even refused to allow any planning for a Leave Vote. He conceded that ground to his enemies.
And look how that turned out, now seven years on neither of us are very happy!
Loved the Nando’s analogy for immigration - though if you encounter someone so dim that they need it explained in these terms, there is already little hope for them.
It's simple human nature, to seek to thwart those whom you believe have made the wrong decision. But who else could implement Brexit? Having read a lot about all the lies and machinations by both sides (a government who had blamed the EU for its failures for so long that it only had Project Fear left as a plus, versus a bunch of chancers making egregious lies on the side of a bus), I reached a very simple conclusion. Brexit is best because it stops us ever being in the eurozone, as Blair wanted.
As ever you hit all the nails on the head. I’m a die hard small c conservative at the right wing end of the spectrum who’s voted for the Big C Conservative Party at every general election since first eligible in 1983. My views haven’t changed much fundamentally in the subsequent 40 years but I’m not voting for them any longer.
While I utterly despise Labour and fear the climate change obsessed wokefest we will have to endure it’s time to lend my vote, at least tactically initially, to Reform, just as I lent my vote at all Euro ejections from 1994 to UKIP. Whether the tactical vote eventually does any good is an open question but we can’t carry on with the present pretence of having a centre right party. I never expected the tactical vote for UKIP to get anywhere, so there’s hope even in unlikely circumstances.
Exactly this Paul. The Tories have been riding the ‘But Labour will be worse’ train for too long. It’s time to get off. Or are we the ones getting off?!? I’m not sure of the analogy now. All I know is it’s time to get off that train!
Love your articles so much, LSO - they are packed with such acutely observed, hilarious one-liners - genius!
Hi Bettina! Thanks so much. Always great to hear from you. Hope all is good with you.
Well, laughter is always the best medicine, so thanks Doc! 😉
Ever heard of "weapon of mass distraction"?
Because that's all this Rwanda claptrap is.
Spot on David.
👏👏
Thanks once again for a great article. To quote from Karl Popper, we suffer from the "paradox of tolerance."
The paradox of tolerance states that if a society's practice of tolerance is inclusive of the intolerant, intolerance will ultimately dominate, eliminating the tolerant and the practice of tolerance with them. Karl Popper describes the paradox as arising from the seemingly self-contradictory idea that, in order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must retain the right to be intolerant of intolerance.
We have to be intolerant of Muslim fundamentalism, criminals and economic chancers trying to steal from us, and biological men in women's spaces (from boarding schools to prisons), ESG, DEI and climate change.
As for Rwanda, it was blindingly obvious that, whatever its travails in the House of Commons, the bill would never get through the Labour controlled House of Lords. I wonder whether the whole point of pushing this was simply to expose Starmer's utter opposition to anything that will restrict immigration. I can't see any other benefit to it. Most people would just have rubbished his idiotic "plan" to "crush the criminal gangs." Our police do nothing about crime in this country, never mind overseas, and for every one of these criminals arrested, two others will step in, which of course is why the so-called "war on drugs" is an abject failure.
Rwanda itself is not stated to be an "unsafe" country by the UN. The UNHCR have been putting asylum seekers there for years. The key difference is that UNHCR control the application process, which our government want Rwanda to control.
The solution to illegal immigration is simple. Send them back to France. Micron may object, but if we kept that up for just a couple of months, they'd get the message that forking out a few grand for a round trip in the Channel is not a great idea.
100% agree with all of this Jeremy. Especially your last point. Yes. The solution lies in France, not Africa. Your Popper point was also well made by others regarding the recent attacks on Substack. Hopefully those are over for now, though the intolerant never seem to run out of energy, or bile when dealing with the perceived faults in others. Thanks for a great comment.
Intolerant tolerance, conspicuous compassion and humourless emotional incontinence are now the order of the day.
Popper's "paradox of tolerance" perfectly describes the situation in Canada. We're accustomed to "going along to get along", watering down principle in the process. That leaves us vulnerable to a PM pushing ignorant climatism with complete disregard for people's well-being, schools that favour gender ideology over fundamental education, and professional bodies upholding "DEI" and trans ideology over important practical standards and even scientific reality (https://thepostmillennial.com/montreal-doc-suspended-for-referring-to-transitioning-woman-as-female).
Add this to the list, £40bn of taxpayers money for the utterly pointless, insane 'carbon capture' system for Drax power station. IT WILL ACHIEVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING except to the loons who believe the Chinese/Marxist bullsh*t about CO2 affecting climate; that has been disproven by countless good scientists. For a start 97% of CO2 (plant food) is created naturally and the UK only produces 1% of world CO2 anyway. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/16/drax-gets-go-ahead-for-carbon-capture-project-at-estimated-40bn-cost-to-bill-payers#:~:text=Drax%20has%20received%20permission%20from,payers%20more%20than%20%C2%A340bn.
Yes Mrs Bucket. Carbon capture seems like a waste of time. But of course it does have some benefits. It costs huge amounts of our money and makes some people close to the government very rich. So who cares that it is little more than yet another exercise in pointless virtue signalling?
Just think of the dozens of new millionaires thanks to that other pointless National Debt pumper, HS2. Some execs there on a million quid a year. And today's Labour MP 'OTT' (on the take) > https://youtu.be/JqZoUwDWTrs?si=JHXreq4mya88vHl4
Yes Mrs Bucket. The bigger the system, the more ways emerge, to game that system. That’s another reason why they like to grow the state.
I love your take on British politics, but please indulge a question from across the pond (I know, we are a royal mess as well): Why would the British public, even as fed up as they are with the Tories doing nothing, be looking to overwhelmingly send in Labour to likely double down with much more of the same? Are there promises that Labour is making that are getting voters to overlook that?
Thank you AMP. Thats very kind. Your question is the only question that really counts in British politics right now. The fact is that the British public as a whole is sick of the useless Tories and will vote for ‘change’ in whatever form it comes. And traditional Tory voters feel so betrayed by the Tories, who have allowed the country become less free and poorer, while at the same time ushering in institutional forces which plainly hate the country, its history, its legacy and most of all, the people who live in it. Plus there is a sizeable minority (about 25%) who know no history,(not really their fault, see above-institutional capture) and so think that their salvation lies in socialism, segregation and stagnation. Thats a toxic combination, and it will very probably deliver Labour a large majority. Does that help? Best to you AMP.
It does, thank you. I will keep my fingers crossed that Britian finds its way, and that we do too.
Thanks AMP. What state are you in? I was looking on my Sub stats and was surprised and delighted to have so many American readers. I’m a huge fan of your great nation. Good luck to all of us.
I am in the Volunteer state - Tennessee. I believe there is a large population in the US that watches UK politics with attention and concern. The history of our two nations has not always been of the "special relationship" we have now, but what Britian does has often had a reverberation over here. In the seemingly ever shrinking world of Western liberal thought, we need Britian to be a strong leader and alluly. And besides, where would American TV be if we could not copy all the best British TV?
Well good morning AMP! Yes. There is a real flourishing of broadly conservative co operation between us at the moment. So many inspirational figures on the US scene. Long may it continue. You might copy some of our TV, thanks for that, it brings money to our industry, but we have rarely equalled the best of yours. Have a great day.
Until there is a well funded alternative people will flip flop between the two. They'll vote Labour this time to ensure the tories can't slip through the middle but once they're gone it leaves space for an alternative, credible, well funded party with a charismatic leader to destroy Labour. Unless something changes in the next few weeks it'll be a 2 election cycle process.
Oh yes, the same Globalist/Communist 'mass unvetted immigration' is being applied to th eUSA, 8 million and counting during Biden's reign: https://youtu.be/RBbanEJRi7o?si=xBQ3_yBcMAmpUAWq
I’m voting reform. Anything apart from labour or the Tories.
I’m not sure about Reform longer term. But I might throw in with them for this one. Definitely won’t be voting Tory.
Only 10 conservatives, the DUP, Andrew Bridgen and another independent, voted against the Energy Bill. The rest are not fit to be called conservative. That is the depth of the problem. https://votes.parliament.uk/Votes/Commons/Division/1628#noes
While many Reform candidates have no experience of government, the same is true of Labour, and the conservatives have proved incapable of governing. We have to start the demise of the Labour Conservative two party system. Reform is the only way to start that. My fear is that if Labour get in, Starmer will widen the voting franchise to include 16/17 year olds and migrants, seeking a permanent majority.
Oh yes. We have to start somewhere. I share your concerns about votes for 16 year olds and foreigners. I’ve written a tiny bit about it. I fear it’s inevitable. ‘Scotland has votes for 16 yo. We’re just making it consistent across the UK.’ It’s a ratchet. We’ll never be rid of them.
I remember a few years back. Might have been early 2010’s, all in the news were students taking GCSE’s talking about their stress and mental health problems due to the pressure of the exams.
This is why I don’t understand why they would lower voting age, placing more stress on them.
Like you said. It would be labour seeking power.
FM Yousaf is hoping to hold talks with Starmer:
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24064204.yousaf-invites-starmer-respectful-bute-house-independence-talks/
Can you say more about your concerns for votes for foreigners, LSO? Are you referring to the proposal to allow EU citizens who have lived here for almost a decade to vote?
It seems like a fine idea to me but, unfortunately, it's not Labour policy.
Or was it something else?
I raised it. I don't trust Labour. I can see them giving votes to anyone resident here.
And you raised it based on what? It doesn't seem helpful to just make stuff up.
We have a system of government based on promises and people who vote for them. Do you not trust in the system?
Jeremy didn’t make it up Ragged. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65590121.amp yes. It’s a proposal. Not yet a policy. I don’t think non uk citizens should be able to vote in uk elections regardless of how long they have lived here. I think that undermines the notion of what a nation state actually is. And I don’t believe Starmer puts much value in Britain as a nation.
Sorry but at this point after decades of lies by all parties, only a fool would still “trust” the current system, especially when a PM can be parachuted into position without consent.
No. I have seen enough Labour governments never to trust them. Nor do I trust the current so called conservatives.
But Labour are so lovely.... https://youtu.be/JqZoUwDWTrs?si=JiKllsuMSXsw8vRl
Excellent Low Status! At least you manage to give us a wry laugh at the laughable state that British society has got itself into. Your "....‘International Law’, the ECHR, activist human rights lawyers, a hostile civil service, limp ‘One Nation’ Tories, and a border patrol which is more farce than force...." in particular, packs volumes of truth into just a few finely honed barbs.
And so to the dark side: Britain's middle and upper class establishment is now so university-sheep-dipped, so lawyer-infested, so morally-bankrupt and so culturally-philistine that the only way forward is some kind of eventual ugly civil war. I am just grateful to have lived the bulk of my 73 years before the deluge.
Thanks Graham. But let’s be positive. The progressives captured the institutions without a civil war. We can do the same. Do you know of Cristopher F Rufo? He’s pretty good on how we can turn this around. Also, 73, no way!, I would have put you down as early 60s. There you go. Hope that’s cheered you up this morning. Best to you!
Yes I regularly post comments on Chris Rufo's Substack. And good luck to him. But I'm a Spenglerite pessimist - as in nothing is forever....not even Western Enlightenment Liberalism.
Early 60s Eh?..... that's because I put Botox in my Substack posts!
Yes. I think we’ve both been on his comments now I think of it.
Ha ha. Well whatever it is Graham, it’s working!
Correction: I meant philosophically-bankrupt, not morally-bankrupt.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/01/22/mandelson-gives-evil-eye-to-backers-of-migrant-offshoring/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-onward-journey
The latest ploy to hole the Rwanda nonsense below the water line: nick a chocolate bar to ensure return to Blighty.
Let's face it,the Rwanda plan is a farcical piece of window dressing, not even a drop in the ocean of mass migration, but what will Starmer offer?
More of the same, as we slowly sink under the weight of overcrowding, ghettoisation, impoverishment, cheap labour, the destruction of the little that remains of our manufacturing industry, Nut Zero madness,Islamist entryism, rampant anti- Semitism and buckling infrastructure: have any if the demented halfwits responsible for this disaster considered the growing strains on our sewerage systems?
They rely on pumping and filtration facilities, which are powered by electricity : so, will renewables rise to this essential challenge,as seawge volume increases with population density?
I doubt it,I doubt it.
Finally, Her Eminence the Bishop of Gloucester does not give her blessing to the Rwanda plans:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/22/treaty-rwanda-not-safe-bishop-gloucester-lords/
Farewell, Blighty, I no longer recognise you
Ha Ha yes I saw Tim Stanley wrote about that this morning. The whole scheme is clearly there to say ‘look at us trying to do something! We want to stop the boats but X won’t let us!!’ It’s pathetic. X, whoever you pick, Labour, Lords, lawyers etc can thwart it because it’s a stupid, expensive idea that clearly won’t work.
Another great article, LSO, reminds me in some ways of the brilliantly biting comedy we used to have that showed the absurdity of our political class, e.g. Yes Minister (at the milder end!). Problem now is that was then absurd is now taken as the ideal by that same class and it’s no longer funny. I personally think we’re looking at 10 years of Labour misrule before a new insurgent party could come to power, if there is still a country left by then.
Thank you so much P. Yes. Being at the coal face I can confirm that ‘satire’ has been transformed over the last twenty years. It used to be that every politician or public figure was a target regardless of party of political allegiance. Now good luck on getting any joke into the mainstream which doesn’t insult the Tories and Trump. Religion (apart from Christianity), trans absurdities, immigration, DEI itself are all strictly off limits except in the mildest terms. Now an ‘edgy’ joke doesn’t get a laugh from a mainstream audience. You see them looking at each other instead, looking for permission to laugh or seeking guidance from others about how to react. Having said that. It is not true that comedy is dead. Far from it. It’s in rude health. It’s just that you have to look away from the mainstream. Plenty funny stuff out there!!
Another belter. Thank you.
Thanks Dominic.
I suspect the UK will go the way if Poland, where a hapless "conservative" government was booted out in favour of Leftoids who are currently speed running the country through the globo-homo agenda.
The Polish situation is very interesting Sathanas. PIS remains the largest party, and it seems that the EU were making it clear to voters that a huge amount of ‘EU money’ was contingent on them going with Tusk. Whatever the details. The election was clearly not quite the rejection of ‘right wing populism’ as depicted in the media.
I think legal immigration is worth talking about separately.
Before Brexit, we used to have a lot of young, educated people who would come from France, Italy, Spain and Poland. They would do casual bar and restaurant jobs for a couple of years and then go home. A lot of them got jobs in the NHS.
Now that we have taken back control, those people don't come any more. Instead, we have record immigration from India and Pakistan. Instead of young workers looking for casual jobs, we have families who come and stay forever.
I preferred the way it was before.
Yes. But just as you don’t want to conflate legal and illegal immigration. I think it is wrong to conflate Brexit with what the Tory government has done (failed to do) with the powers granted it by Brexit. Brexit isn’t the ‘cause’ of these problems. The government is. A government which claims to believe in British national sovereignty but which has done absolutely nothing since 2016 to prove that. (And begrudgingly enacting the instruction of the voters because if it didn’t it would be turfed out of office, doesn’t count! )
Yes, the Brexit campaigners promised that Brexit would not affect our membership in the Single Market. That we ended up withdrawing from the Single Market was down to the Tories.
I agree with the rest of what you say about the Tories' lack of respect for national sovereignty.
I don’t think it was in the Leave campaigner’s gift to promise anything. Only the government could do that. And the government blew it. It should have said, as neutrally as possible (like in 1975) if you vote X these are the practical steps we will take the next day, if you vote Y then these are the practical things which will happen. But they didn’t do that.
Cameron even refused to allow any planning for a Leave Vote. He conceded that ground to his enemies.
And look how that turned out, now seven years on neither of us are very happy!
I was there was a 'sad' icon instead of 'like'.
Loved the Nando’s analogy for immigration - though if you encounter someone so dim that they need it explained in these terms, there is already little hope for them.
Thanks so much Miles. But not for dimmoes. Just a bit of fun. And it genuinely helps me to distill these issues into silly analogies in my own mind. To get my thoughts in order. If I like them I sometimes pop them in. Did you read Why Brexit is Like PlayStation? That was a fun analogy. https://open.substack.com/pub/lowstatus/p/why-brexit-is-like-playstation?r=evzeq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Just read your Brexit/PlayStation piece. Masterful!
Thanks Rocio! Luckily I am a grown man. So I have a PlayStation and as many games as I like!
Writing is very much how I get my own thoughts in order.
I have not read that - but now I shall.
It's simple human nature, to seek to thwart those whom you believe have made the wrong decision. But who else could implement Brexit? Having read a lot about all the lies and machinations by both sides (a government who had blamed the EU for its failures for so long that it only had Project Fear left as a plus, versus a bunch of chancers making egregious lies on the side of a bus), I reached a very simple conclusion. Brexit is best because it stops us ever being in the eurozone, as Blair wanted.
Another priceless piece of wit and wisdom. Thank you for the smiles.
You’re super welcome Alexei. Thanks so much for your support.
Another excellent piece! Your best yet! Thank you 🙏🏼
Thanks Ady!
You’re starting to turn into my favourite weekly read. I’ll have to start paying you some money soon if you’re not careful! 😉
Ha ha. Thanks! If I turn on payments Ady I’ll come knocking!