#FuckBoris

Utterly disgusting display from the alleged PM tonight. If proroguing parliament wasn't about Brexit (yeah right) then how come the Tories are banging on about the supreme court blocking Brexit? FFS, at least Thatcher's mob were actually good at lying. 

But worse was to come. To sit and listen to the impassioned pleas to moderate his dangerous language from Paula Sherriff and Tracey Brabin, and then to dismiss the former with "I've never heard so much humbug in my life" and the later with the idea that the best way to honour their friend and colleague Jo Cox's memory is to "get Brexit done" is shameful, disgraceful, unfeeling and morally bankrupt. Jo Cox was murdered by a far right terrorist who condemned her in his tiny, sick mind as a traitor for her campaign to remain in the EU. Boris Johnson continues to call MP's who do not back his disastrous plan for a no deal Brexit 'traitors' who are intent on 'surrender'. There is a clear line here between his words and some very dangerous actions and he knows that is the case deep down, it's just that he doesn't care. How many people must die or come to harm to ensure that his dream of a hard Brexit and a subservient brown-nosing bromance with Trump comes true?

Every Tory MP who applauded their dictator tonight, every supporter out there who thinks he's standing up for them (he's really not you know) should hang their heads in everlasting shame. This man is sowing the seeds of division and hate across this land and breaking the law. Why? Because it suits him to. It is he and his privileged chums alone who will prosper from a No Deal Brexit not 'the people' they keep referencing who they actually care very, very little about. 

Putting it simply, this man was never a clown. He was never a bumbling oaf. He was never a bit of fun and he is certainly not some kind of champion against the establishment, because he is the establishment. he is Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson and he is a...

Out On Blue Six: Justin Hayward

*Firstly apologies for the radio silence on this blog for the last week. I spent most of it planning for or standing in city centres waving placards around. All to preserve democracy you understand.

You hear a lot of stupid things on the TV news lately, but one that really got up my nose last week was when one of the presenters said something along the lines of "I love this time of year, autumn". 

No, no, no, NO! 

This is not autumn!

Autumn - this week apparently.

Autumn doesn't start the first week of September, it starts at the end of the month. What next? If we have a sunny day this week, will the proclaim it an Indian summer?! Of course, the conspiracy theorist in me can't help but think that this kind of comment, along with them now starting the football season in the middle of August is all some plan to condition us into thinking that summer ends much earlier, so they don't have to acknowledge the impact climate change has upon our seasons and weather. Pretty soon the summer months will be classified as May (when we seem to experience some of our hottest weather these days) to July, whilst autumn will commence sometime in mid August and last until October 1st when they'll announce that winter is upon us and shan't give up its icy grip until March. Spring will be approximately last for a fortnight in April. There, that'll keep the climate change deniers and governments of the world happy won't it?

But I guess the truth is that presenters of live TV often say stupid things just to fill the time. For that person, here's a suitable track... 

End Transmission

Out On Blue Six: Bucks Fizz

There are a few murmurs of surprise today at the news that Bucks Fizz star Jay Aston is standing as a parliamentary candidate for the Brexit Party in Kensington.

I don't know why the surprise - after all, they did sing The Land of Make Believe

Of course, there's an irony here; The Land of Make Believe was written by Pete Sinfield (formerly of King Crimson) as an anti-Thatcher/Conservative party policy song. The same policies that Aston will now be saying we should return to. And of course there's the irony that she only found fame in the first place because of the Eurovision Song Contest!

End Transmission

The Prat and The Canary

Because you just have to wonder Silly Rachel Riley got against The Canary, a Newsgaurd trustmarked, independently regulated, openly funded and accountable news outlet.

It's not 'fake news' simply because it's news that doesn't fit your own rampant Tory, anti-Corbyn agenda. Read more about it and subscribe to The Canary to keep a genuinely free press here - also, if you have some spare cash, support Mike Sivier in his legal battle against Riley.

*EDIT TO ADD: Within a week The Canary secured unprecedented numbers of subscriptions, and Rachel Riley received several thanks on twitter as a result - not the outcome she wanted! Altogether now, Silly Rachel Riley!

Out On Blue Six: Reverend & the Makers

Sending solidarity vibes to Reverend frontman Jon McClure who has left twitter this week due to aggression and threats he received there for speaking his mind and talking sense.

End Transmission

We Need to Talk About Karen

Following her disgusting comments in the House yesterday, Karen Bradley's position as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is no longer tenable.

To be fair, her position should never have been considered tenable the moment she uttered this startling omission;

"I freely admit that when I started this job, I didn't understand some of the deep-seated and deep-rooted issues that are in Northern Ireland. I didn't understand things like when elections are fought for example in Northern Ireland, people who are nationalists don't vote for unionist parties and vice-versa. So, the parties fight for the election within their own community...That's a very different world from the world I came from"

She showed her ignorance even further yesterday when - just a week before the PPS intend to announce whether prosecutions can be brought against the soldiers involved in the Bloody Sunday killings - she said;

"Over 90% of the killings during the Troubles were at the hands of terrorists. The under 10% that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes...(but were) people acting under orders or instructions, fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way"

This inflammatory comment shows she has no understanding of the events in question or the shoot-to-kill policy and collusion between our security services and paramilitaries like the UVF, nor did she have a grasp on basic law.

Today she has issued an apology, another example of an MP who has somehow 'misspoke' (see the Independent Group's Angela Smith and her 'funny tinge' comment), but it's not enough. To my mind, Karen Bradley's comments - indeed her role as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland - shows the profoundly cavalier attitude that the Tory establishment have for Ireland, an attitude that has recently been at the fore of the Brexit backstop issue, with Jacob Rees-Mogg's belief that Troubles-era border checks should become commonplace again being exactly the kind of comment one expects from a privileged, self-entitled man who wouldn't have to experience them himself, whilst Boris Johnson dismisses these concerns as "small"

If you agree that Karen Bradley is not fit to serve Northern Ireland then please sign this petition demanding her resignation.

Good Riddance

To the not so magnificent seven who have jumped ship from the Labour party today to form their new 'centrist'* party, the Independent Group, I say this

*Can you really claim to be 'centrist' when you backed the Iraq war and refused all investigations into it, when you disagree with public ownership and putting an end to austerity or when you (Gavin Shuker) threaten to resign if gay marriage becomes law? Hmm.

Of course there'll be much waffle from the right wing press and the BBC about how great it is that these MP's have taken a stand (as opposed to the simple truth, which is they're protecting their own interests) and indeed the split has been welcomed already by Katie Hopkins and Nigel Farage, which tells you all you need to know, but remember this; some people are like clouds. Once they've gone, it's a beautiful day.

Now they should do the decent thing and allow by-elections in their constituencies - they were democratically elected as Labour MP's and they must go back to their constituents now they have chosen not to represent the Labour party. That they refuse to do this once again shows how they are only interested in themselves because, the chances of them winning a by-election, are very slim indeed.

That this should happen in the wake of the death of Paul Flynn speaks volumes. Flynn is the only great loss to the Labour movement today.

Silly Rachel Riley's Own Goal

Recently Rachel Riley, best known for picking vowels and consonants and adding numbers up in various skimpy dresses on Countdown (yeah, it's still going!), decided that she should be the one to stamp out antisemitism in the UK - or more particularly, the perceived antisemitism in the left of politics.

Taking to twitter she has smeared everyone from Jeremy Corbyn, Ken Loach and - most bizarrely of all - Noam Chomsky, as being promoters of antisemisitm. 

This stance last night afforded her the ultimate accolade of being interviewed about her position by Channel 4 News anchor and Riley colleague (and "swinging dick", according to Lucy Porter on yesterday's Richard Herring podcast) Krishnan Guru-Murthy. It should have gone swimmingly - except Riley fell at the first hurdle.

When asked by Guru-Murthy what her Jewish identity was, Riley - this staunch fighter of A/S remember - replied; "You wouldn't know, I don't look like a typical Jew, or anything like that" (you can see it here) before conflating Jewish people with Israel.

Oh dear. I'm sorry Rachel but that really is not Numberwang. In fact I feel that is, by IHRA definition, A/S of itself.

The great Michael Rosen, a voice of sanity in the open sewer that is the A/S debate (or, to give it it's proper term, the establishment and trendy wendies stick-the-boot-into-the-left moan) on social media, was quick to point out Riley's error, demanding to know what facial or body characteristics a 'typical Jew' may possess. I doubt she will respond.

King Gary? 'king Awful! and The Unfunny List

Bit of a quiet night on the tele last night (besides part two of The ABC Murders that is) so I decided to catch up a little on some of the things my TV planner has been recording for me over the festive period. One such offering was King Gary, a one-off half hour sitcom from BBC1 that is presumably hoping to get a commission for a full series at some stage in the future. Well, having now witnessed it, I for one say that I hope the BBC have second thoughts, because it was diabolical.

Billed as a 'larger than life working class sitcom with a big heart', King Gary is written by Murder in Successville's Tom Davis (who also stars as the titular Gary King) and James de Frond, who also directs. It tells the story of Essex geezer Gary King and his wife and childhood sweetheart Terri (Laura Checkley) as they plan their neighbourhood's first official BBQ of the summer. Gary's something of a drama queen, eager to please his father 'Big Gary' (Simon Day) and be socially accepted in suburbia, but his plans are thrown into disarray when new neighbour Stuart (Romesh Ranganathan) plans a BBQ for the same day.

King Gary was lauded in many circles, with the Christmas Radio Times in particular singling it out for praise, so I thought I'd give it a go. Alarm bells should have rung though when RT referred to it in the same breath as Gavin and Stacey, but I still thought I'd try it. I have to say I wish I hadn't. I didn't laugh once. It was crude, brash, nonsense that bore no relation to my own working class experience and was populated by large caricatures whose world seems to exist of minor cosmetic surgery and anal sex.

If my alarm bells should have alerted me about the Gavin and Stacey comparison, they really should have rang off at Tom Davis. I have never found anything this man to be responsible for to be remotely funny. Don't get me wrong, he's appeared in some good stuff, but when he's written it I usually find it about as funny as toothache. Murder in Successville may be a BAFTA winner but I find it embarrassing and Action Team was just as excruciating from the one episode I saw of it. The end credits of King Gary announced that some additional material was provided by professional gammon, Geoff Norcott. Now, I understand that an openly Conservative, Brexiteer comedian is bound to be someone I won't exactly find amusing, but this man is seriously, utterly unfunny. A recent appearance on Mock the Week saw his 'jokes' met with silence and, in the final 'scenes we'd like to see' round, he was clearly reading material off the back of his hand before heading to the mic!

The result of this woefully unfunny, irritating and offensive half hour led me to consider comedians I do not find in the least bit funny or even feel outright hostility towards. As we're approaching the end of the year and compiling lists becomes de rigueur, here's a list of those comedians I will switch off if I see on TV;

Tom Davis (if it's his own material)
Geoff Norcott
David Baddiel
David Walliams
John Robbins
Russell Howard
James Corden
Michael McIntyre
John Bishop
Jimmy Carr
Alan Carr
Rufus Hound
Chris Addison
Alan Davies
Ben Elton
John Culshaw
Jan Ravens
Debra Stephenson
Rory Bremner
Matt Forde
Brendan O'Carroll aka Mrs Brown
Keith Lemon
Paddy McGuinness
Adam Hills 
Patrick Kielty

Woman or People?

Yup, that's apparently the big news today. Did Jeremy Corbyn say 'Stupid woman' during PMQs in relation to Theresa May, or did he say 'Stupid people' as he claims.

Right now the government's flagship propaganda daily sneer, Newsnight, sees a gloating Emily Maitlis discuss this 'important' news item, asking what people think he said. The real question of course, is why is this actually news? What is this faux outrage from the notoriously misogynistic Conservative government (they readmitted sex pest Andrew Griffiths and alleged rapist Charlie Elphicke back to the party just last week, they kowtow to Saudi Arabia and they had no concerns with the filibustering of Christopher Chope and Philip Davies when they nixed the upskirting bill and domestic violence legislation respectively) deflecting attention away from? Right now, the Tories are so up to their necks in Brexit they're happy to seize upon any muck to sling Labour's way. The anti-semitism angle seems to be coming back into play on Twitter but, as an extra insurance it seems, they're hoping to run with Labour are women-haters too.

It's all exceedingly tiresome and I nearly didn't blog about this non-story because I don't believe it deserves anyone's attention. For the record though, it looks like 'people' to me, and it does to a deaf lip reading teacher on twitter who has written a very interesting thread explaining why she believes this is all 'fake news'. The one thing to take from it is, as this lady says, a greater understanding of the issues faced by the deaf and hard of hearing in society. It won't be taken though, the media are too happy spreading shit at the beck and call of their Tory masters. 

And lastly, even if he did say 'stupid woman' so what? It's what we're all thinking about Theresa May anyway, as she is a woman who is acting very very stupid. 

Doctor Who - Happy 55th Anniversary!

Today marks the 55th anniversary of a TV show that has meant a HELL OF A LOT to me for all of my thirty nine years on this spinning rock we call earth.

It is of course, Doctor Who, which first hit our screens on a chilly Saturday evening on the 23rd November, 1963. 55 years and 13 (give or take) Doctors later and it is still going strong.

There are of course those who claim that the show isn't going strong right now. Those who refuse to accept that the ratings are some of the best the show has ever seen and who believe the show has become an SJW feminist ethnically diverse PC disaster simply because the show has dared to cast *gasp* a woman in the role of the Doctor and a black man and an asian woman in the role of companions. Based on some of the absolute tripe I have been reading online on YouTube and the like, these people on the whole appear to be gammon style brexiteers and 'mericans. Basically, people with an agenda and little actual understanding of the show's 55 year history. Doctor Who has always been about social justice, it has always been about politics, about being the best we can be, about fighting injustice and tyranny and demanding equality and fair play, and it has always, always been educational.

So, to those people who don't understand this and who spend their days attacking it online I say this;

A History Lesson For Boris Johnson

He's spent the week comparing Russia's hosting of the World Cup to Nazi Germany's 1938 Olympics, so it's time to remind him of a couple of things:

1) 20 million Russians were killed fighting the Nazis during World War II, so to liken them to Hitler's Nazis is both ignorant and disgusting.

2) Here's a photograph...

It shows the England football team ahead of a game in Berlin in the '38 Olympics, giving the Nazi salute.

They were instructed to perform the salute by the then British government...which was, of course, the Conservative party.

But what about the Russians, you might ask, did they give the Nazi salute to appeal to their hosts too?

Um no, Russia opted to boycott the '38 Olympics, seeing Nazism for exactly what it was.

The Facts Behind The Hysteria

With all the mass hysteria going on at the moment, you'd be forgiven for missing this damning letter to the Times; 

Sir, 

Further to your report ('Poison exposure leaves almost 40 needing treatment', Mar 14) may I clarify that no patients have experienced symptoms of nerve agent poisoning in Salisbury and there have only ever been three patients with significant poisoning. Several people have attended the emergency department concerned that they may have been exposed. None has had symptoms of poisoning and none has needed treatment. Any blood tests performed have shown no abnormality. No member of the public has been contaminated by the agent involved.

Stephen Davies,

Consultant in emergency medicine, Salisbury NHS foundation Trust

It's also worth pointing out that the government's line that the nerve agent is 'a type developed by the Russians' doesn't mean made or used by the Russians. And in the midst of the attacks against Corbyn for advising caution (including the 'impartial' BBC's decision to photoshop him as a Russian stooge behind a USSR backdrop last week) how come no one is concerned with the £30,000 donation made to the Tory party by the wife of a former Putin minister - just one of many donations from Russians in recent years. Even Litvenyenko's widow is talking about this, but the media don't seem to want to give her views an airing.

Once again, my advice is look to the truth and not what the government are saying. This is May's Falklands moment and she's loving it, as is the odious Boris Johnson who seems to think he's his beloved Churchill; just in time for The Darkest Hour buzz. Why? Because just like Thatcher's government in '82, it gives them the perfect excuse to bury the real unrest and disasters occurring under May's premiership and the chance to boost her ailing approval ratings with the sheep like contingent of the general public. Brexit, Grenfell etc can all be ignored while they wave what remains of the Union Jack against the menacing Soviet bear.

Why Rees Mogg's Hair Getting a Teensy Bit Ruffled Is a Step Towards a Fascist State

The BBC was all over one incident  yesterday: the sight of Tory backbencher Jacob Rees Mogg getting caught up between squabbling students following a speech at Bristol University.

As this blog article points out there's something very fishy going on regarding the attention this little scuffle attracted. For a start, the BBC - showing their complicity with the government - refused to report on the mass demonstration in London that occurred yesterday against cuts in the NHS, but now it seems that the whole Rees Mogg incident was not just a convenient decoy but a handy PR exercise on many counts too. It was actually Rees Mogg supporter who started the squabble and the whole event was captured by Ben Kew, a reporter at the right wing Trump friendly Breitbart news who was conveniently in attendance. It ought to come as no surprise that Breitbart would want to capture someone as ultra right wing and odious as Rees Mogg in a (staged) positive light. His politics are right up their street and this incident can only further his strange appeal amongst the extreme conservatives and those who think he's a 'character'. 

But the media, including the BBC, have spun this in a completely different manner. They've chosen to ignore the fact that the instigator was a supporter of the Tory MP's and once again the cry has gone up about the threat of supposedly violent far left Corbynistas and Momentum members out to destroy our democracy. That this White Elephant continues to exist in the wake of both one right wing lunatic committing a political assassination of Labour MP Jo Cox, and another attempting to target Jeremy Corbyn himself with his attack on Finsbury Park is nothing short of astounding. The reality of where the threat truly is is right before our eyes and yet the media and government continue to deflect it and point their accusing fingers at the very people who are most in danger. 

Perhaps most telling of all is the fact that Rees Mogg's little fracas, which did nothing more than ruffle his hair a little bit, coincides with Theresa May's plan to announce a new law next week making it an offence to intimidate those in public life. 

Now on the surface, this proposal sounds like a good idea. Surely it would help protect targeted MP's such as Diane Abbott and Cat Smith, two female Labour MP's who are routinely subjected to threats of violence and a stream of abuse online. But let's look at this more closely: May's law would allow the police powers to arrest anyone protesting against the actions of a public figure. In other words, if Breitbart pin up Donald Trump were to visit the UK and be met with a mass demonstration against himself and his policies, Theresa May will have allowed the police powers to quell this democratic right by rounding up the most vocal protesters and imprisoning them. In short, Rees Mogg's little stunt has set us on the way to becoming a fascist state where dissent is outlawed. Once again, the real threat to democracy comes from our own government. It comes from the right not the left.

And don't even start me on how disgustingly opportunistic May is being raising this crackdown on the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote. That May will push her desire to create a fascist state whilst paying tribute to the suffragettes - as if there's some common link - is nothing short of offensive, hypocritical politicising. If Theresa May truly thinks she can be considered in the same breath as the suffragettes, if she truly believes she is a feminist, then why has she spent her political career shutting down Sure Start centres, women's refuges and rape crisis centres and making brutal cuts to any service that provides a service and security to women?

Don't be fooled. This is pure political puppeteering and it's time we severed the marionette's strings.

Arselick Robinson

Take a look at this nugget of wisdom from your wonderful, impartial bastion of free speech, the BBC

Nick Robinson there still buying the spoonfed line of warm diarrhea that is 'Strong and Stable' and turning yet another scandal for the Tory government into a positive for its weak and ineffectual leader whose days are almost certainly numbered. 

If she truly was as strong as this Goebbels-like act of propaganda implies then she'd have sacked Damian Green's sad arse for having a crafty wank at work and believing he's somehow above the rules and laws that everyone else has to comply with, and for trying to discredit the very officers of said law who were onto him.  

But no, sacking him would mean he'd loss everything: his standard duties, his privileges, and most importantly his big fat pension. So let's just allow him to resign instead, like Priti Patel and Michael Fallon before him. Yeah, really strong move that.

Nick Robinson? More like Arselick Robinson.

Of course, Brexit minister David Davis has backtracked spectacularly on where he stood regarding Green. Having previously threatened to resign if Green went, he's now staying comfortably put, once again proving that he's a born liar*

*other lies you may like from Davis is the claim he made that his grandfather was among the Jarrow marchers at Aldermaston (um, the march didn't go anywhere near Aldermaston) and everything he's ever said about Brexit.

Rita, Sue and Bob Too Is Too Controversial For London

Just a couple of months ago I had the great pleasure and privilege of seeing the revival of Andrea Dunbar's play Rita, Sue and Bob Too at the Liverpool Everyman.

Today it has been announced that the Out of Joint Theatre Company production will no longer end its national tour at London's Royal Court in light of the company director Max Stafford-Clark's resignation following allegations of sexual harassment. A joint statement from Out of Joint and the Royal Court has been released; 

"The departure of Max Stafford-Clark from Out of Joint and the recent allegations in the media have coincided with Royal Court's response to the spotlight on our industry and the rigorous interrogation of our own practices. On our stage we recently heard 150 stories of sexual harassment and abuse therefore the staging of this work,with its themes of grooming and abuses of power on young women, on that same stage now feels highly conflictual"

I have to say I am deeply disappointed by this decision. It may come from a very sympathetic and well meaning place but it doesn't mean it is the right thing to do. Plays are there to make people think and removing a contentious play from the season at a time when he subject matter is at its most relevant is, to my mind, a very simple and somewhat appeasing solution to a situation that demands attention and discussion. This decision feels like a rejection of the authentic voice of a truly great and original playwright who dared to write about real life issues that she personally experienced. To censor those who shine a light on the truth is not how anyone should deal with those who instigate abuse or treat young women in an exploitative manner. 

But most of all I feel it is a terrible decision for the extremely talented cast and production team who have done nothing but entertain audiences and bring plays to the people, yet they are being punished for the actions of their former company director. I think it is a great pity that their hard work and commitment has been treated in such a manner and I think it a real shame that there are audiences out there who will not have the opportunity to see a truly remarkable revival of an '80s classic that really deserved attention and acclaim. 

A theatre is not meant to be a safe space. The stage is not an area where concerns and issues are to be shied away from, it ought to be the home of unpalatable truths and a place to provoke thought, reaction and comment. Entertainment doesn't have to be disposable fluff, and the Royal Court need to realise that.  

Nigel Farage Thinks His Followers Are Idiots

I'm currently reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In it, there's a line of dialogue that goes something like this: "'Intellectual' became the swear word it deserved to be" and that's a quote that immediately springs to mind when I think of the kind of world Nigel Farage, Donald Trump and the Alt Right are trying to create.

This week the World Health Organisation welcomed the decision to ban cigarette sales in the Vatican as of next year, reminding us all that, as tobacco kills 7 million people per year, this is a wise move.

Nigel Farage, a survivor of testicular cancer himself, took to twitter to say this in response:

"The World Health Organisation is just another club of 'clever people' who want to bully us and tell us what to do. Ignore"

For a long time now I've spoken on this blog about 'the rise of the idiots' (a reference to the Chris Morris/Charlie Brooker sitcom Nathan Barley) and I believe it really is coming to fruition with the rise of the alt right, because they are hell bent on making 'intellectual' a swear word; something to discredit, something to hold in utter contempt. They're creating a fairytale world where anyone who doesn't share their world view is a middle class, nanny-state loving, PC-gone-mad snowflake whose read far too many books and never done a decent day's work in their life - it's you against them in a fight for our 'freedoms'. But just what is it that has made them spin intelligence and expertise as a negative, whilst the possession of criticism and contempt for it is a positive trait to any character?

And just why do their followers accept this constant reinforcement of an idea that they are barely educated everymen facing off against 'clever' bullies? Do you have to be an idiot to be a UKIP voter? Nigel Farage seems to think so, and yet consistently calling these voters 'idiots' doesn't actually turn anyone away. In that regard, they really must be idiots then. Either that or people who just don't mind being considered as such.

The catch 22 of all this of course is that the more insulting and absurdly, wilfully ignorant comments Farage et al makes the more those of us on the left react by pointing out how stupid they are being. And the more we point this out, the more ammo the alt right have in claiming we're part of a 'clever club' who believe they have the power to tell people what to do and think.

It's a vicious circle. But please, if you have ever felt that the politics of Farage and the like personally offer something to you, take a moment to consider how it feels to be basically called an idiot by the man you're giving your vote to. 

Out On Blue Six: Nena/Ultravox/Frankie Goes To Hollywood

Watching the Top of the Pops repeats on BBC4 can sometimes feel very strange. We're in 1984 now, which means Nena's 99 Red Balloons, Ultravox's Dancing With Tears In My Eyes and Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Two Tribes are all big hits. Of course they are, they were responding to the fact that 1984 was a very scary time to be alive as the threat of nuclear war seemed increasingly imminent. But they seem prescient now, almost like these transmissions from 1984 are tapping into and reflecting the present world in some strange semi-conscious way, because these tracks feel just as timely now in the frightening current world climate.

End Transmission

Every Picture Tells a Story...

...Although that story is not always the one the storytellers who have a vested interest in the Tories winning the election want to tell properly.

Take this picture for example. It's a photograph that is certainly doing the rounds now that The S*n and various other Tory papers want to push the idea that Jeremy Corbyn sympathised with and supported the IRA. 

Now, seeing that photo alongside the words 'Corbyn' and 'IRA' does seem pretty damning doesn't it?

But let's look at the facts here. Because, if you are to damn Corbyn for this, then you must damn the people in the following pictures too

Because that Corbyn and Adams photograph was taken, just like the photos of Adams with Blair and with Prince Charles, AFTER the ceasefire.

You see, what The S*n etc do is very clever; they source a photo of both men looking quite young and implicitly use that to suggest to their readers the picture is damning evidence that it must have been taken during The Troubles. It wasn't; it was taken in 1995, after the ceasefire and the Downing Street declaration. Hell, it was taken in the House of Commons!

Are these facts reported? No.

I'm not disputing that Corbyn met with Adams whilst The Troubles were ongoing either. Corbyn has always said that to achieve peace you must negotiate and enter into a dialogue with the other side, and it is through that relationship that Corbyn played a special part in achieving peace, having worked alongside Mo Mowlam in the run up to the Good Friday agreement.

But The S*n are now claiming that Jeremy Corbyn did no such thing. Indeed, they've even spoken with terrorists who claim never to have seen him involved in any such talk or perform any such work. One of these is Sean O'Callaghan. But what The S*n refuse to report is that O'Callaghan was a double agent for the British security services who was paid handsomely to report on the activities of the IRA. It's clear he's being paid handsomely now too, to discredit Jeremy Corbyn for the establishment with his lies.

Let's use the old prosecution lawyer argument here, are we really supposed to take the word of a self confessed liar and criminal over the word of a respectable man who has held the honourable position of a Member of Parliament for over thirty years?

It's also worth remembering that Gerry Adams has always maintained he was never a member of the IRA, and has never conclusively been proven otherwise. He is a member of Sinn Fein, and there is a difference - so that's another lie in the message of Corbyn and the IRA.

Lastly, this photo doesn't do the rounds much these days does it?

Strange that.

Corbyn and The IRA: The Tories Mud Slinging Avoids The Truth

"I condemn all the bombing by both loyalists and the IRA"

That's what Jeremy Corbyn said to Sophy Ridge on Sky News yesterday. He also said;

"You condemn the violence of those who laid bombs that killed large numbers of people as I do"

So how come Sky News headline was Corbyn Refuses to Condemn IRA - even though the article quotes those comments?

How come Andrew 'Brillo Pad' Neill at the Bias Broadcasting Corporation and those jokes at The Daily Fail are all reporting this outright lie?

Because the Tories are running scared.

They know now that Labour is performing well in the polls and reaching out to people with their manifesto and positive message about ending austerity and governing for the many, not the few.

How much more does Jeremy Corbyn need to say to lay this IRA ghost to rest?

Well, let's wonder what Tory councillor Maria Gatland said to lay her own links to the IRA to rest, shall we? Because in the 1970s Gatland went on an arms buying mission to Zurich, Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris in an attempt to smuggle guns for the IRA to use on military and civilian targets. She has even said; "I agreed with the shooting of British soldiers and believed the more who were killed the better" 

Let's wonder what unelected Tory peer David James said to receive forgiveness from the party over his laundering of IRA money?

The truth is that Jeremy Corbyn openly negotiated with Sinn Fein (not the IRA) for a peaceful settlement, and he did so when Margaret ''we do not negotiate with terrorists'' Thatcher was doing it in secret, just as her predecessor Edward Heath had, and long before Corbyn's leader Tony Blair did in the spotlight.

If Corbyn's actions are unforgiveable and worthy of our contempt - despite his repeated public condemnations of terrorism - then why are actual Tory party councillors and peers given a free pass for their genuine terrorist sympathising actions?

This is nothing more than the press indulging in a spot of Tory authorised mud slinging.