This is What a Hypocrite Looks Like

I mean, if you weren't convince that this perpetrator of austerity (which has been proven to impact upon women hardest of all) wasn't actually a feminist at all then her decision to award Geoffrey Boycott, a man with a conviction for punching a partner twenty-two times, a knighthood ought to remove you of any doubt that actually Theresa May is what a hypocrite looks like. 

That she followed up one of her last acts as PM, the introduction of a domestic abuse bill (a last ditch attempt to secure some kind of legacy) with an act of disgusting cronyism that affords a wifebeater a knighthood, along with her former advisors and staff Robbie Gibb, Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, is utterly sickening and says all that we need to know about this Tory government. 

As for Boycott himself, well his words say it all really. On Radio 4's Today programme Martha Kearney began "The Chief Executive of Women's Aid has said -" to which he interrupted with "I don't give a toss about her, luv. It was 25 years ago" It's also worth remembering that Boycott once remarked that he would have to "black up" to receive a knighthood, arguing that they were handed out to West Indian cricketers "like confetti".  That is most emphatically not what a sporting hero looks like and it certainly shouldn't be what a knight of the realm (if we have to have them) looks like either.

50 Times Jeremy Corbyn Has Supported Jewish Causes

There's a lot of chat these days about the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn being anti-semitic. Indeed, some of his staunchest critics like Silly Rachel Riley feel it perfectly acceptable to point the finger of anti-semitism at Corbyn on twitter. The less than impartial BBC's Panorama recently presented a highly distorted programme about the issue and today these allegations culminated in Theresa May, at her final PMQs, calling on him to apologise for anti-semitism. 

But here's 50 pieces of evidence that prove Corbyn hasn't got an anti-semitic bone in his body.

They've thrown so much mud at Corbyn since he became Labour leader that eventually some of it was bound to stick in the public's mind. Anti-semitism is that mud, but it's just as incorrect as all the rest.

The End of May

I guess you expected word from me about this before now eh?

The truth is, I'm not that jubilant. Whilst May's resignation has finally, thankfully come at last, I am concerned about what the future holds.

Nothing will improve if the only option is yet another Tory government. And if that government is led by current front runner contender Boris Johnson then the country will be in an even worse mess than the one it is now.

The only recourse, the only light at the end of the tunnel, is a general election that will bring Jeremy Corbyn to Number 10.

As it stands what I will say about May's resignation is this; she cried. But she didn't cry over the deaths that happened in Grenfell, in the terrorist attacks in Manchester and London, or in the needless and estimated 120,000 deaths that have occurred because of her austerity measures.  

And that tells us all we need to know about Theresa May. No one should feel sorry for her because she never felt anything for any of us - just herself. A typical Tory then.

Brexit: BBC News Continues to be Stupid, or Deliberately Wrong

Just sat watching the BBC's North West Tonight to hear their political correspondent Nina Warhurst claim that our region is a hit confused about the EU elections tomorrow because the two main parties have been pretty absent.

Now I know that the Tories don't seem to be putting much into their campaign (as I blogged at the weekend, they are the only party I haven't received any correspondence from) but Labour missing from our region? Erm, here's a picture of Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking to an audience of hundreds in Bootle on Saturday...

Perhaps North West Tonight didn't get the memo?

Warhurst then went on to say that the region is further confused by Labour's vague stance regarding the EU and a second referendum. Again the BBC don't seem to want to acknowledge that Labour has whipped for a so-called 'people's vote' twice now, but there isn't a sufficient majority for it to pass in the House, which is why it isn't happening.

Let's be clear about the second referendum; Theresa May's latest deal (aka the same as it ever was: why is it we have to respect the result of the Brexit ref, yet she will not respect the result of her first, second or even third attempt at getting her deal through?) claims that parliament must have a vote on whether there will be a second ref, but they have to vote on her deal first. It's a ploy to push her deal through and a meaningless sop towards another vote as she knows damn well there isn't a majority for one. The only way we can get another vote is if the PM backs one. 

Meanwhile tonight, Theresa May is sitting behind the sofa of Number 10 with her fingers in her ear and the door barricaded. She is a PM that neither the country nor her own MPs want and, in typical Tory fashion, she's refusing to acknowledge reality. How very strong and stable.

And the European media? Tonight they're discussing the UN Report into UK poverty which estimates a staggering 40% of our children will be living in poverty by 2021 as a result of the Tories austerity policies. Are our media talking about this? Are they bollocks. We just get the same old Brexit chat and the same old lies. Ignore them. Get out and vote tomorrow - and vote Labour - because we need to send a clear message that we can no longer tolerate what this government has done to us and will continue to do unless there's a General Election and a Labour victory.

I Believe That Children Are The Future...

...so the song goes, and today we have seen that to be the truth as an estimated fifteen thousand children from around the UK went on strike from school to demand that the government urgently take the climate emergency seriously.

This movement all began with fifteen-year-old Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg who began skipping classes last September to protest outside government buildings. It's an inspiring movement and a delight to see, but of course Downing Street have criticised it, saying that the disruption to planned lesson time was damaging. 

Um, not have as damaging as doing bugger all about this huge threat! 

Indeed Thunberg herself tweeted that whilst Theresa May claims this day of action wastes lesson time, "political leaders have wasted thirty years of inaction. And that is slightly worse".

It comes as no surprise that Jeremy Corbyn and Caroline Lucas were the only leading political figures who stood in solidarity with the children of the UK today. 

These children are facing detention for their actions but are not to be deterred; there is talk of regular strike action to achieve their demands, and I hope that is the case.

Children are the future. They need to know that our planet has one too. 

No Confidence

The biggest defeat for a serving PM since 1924, it was inevitable that Theresa May would fall flat on her face tonight. It's time for a real government, one that actually puts the concerns of ordinary people first. In the face of this Brexit nightmare, Jeremy Corbyn has tabled a vote of no confidence in the calamitous Tory government that has brought us to this farce, and Momentum are asking for your support. Please sign this petition, show that we need an election that delivers a Labour government and let's take back proper control.

Jeremy Corbyn | Something I Didn't Say

Possibly the real reason the government got their gun dogs in the press to obsess over something Corbyn DID NOT say...

A homeless man had died on the very steps of Parliament that very day.

The Daily Mail called the day a 'shameful day for Labour' but it's clear where the real shame lies. 

Disgraceful behaviour.

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. 

Out On Blue Six: The Police

This track is dedicated to Theresa May who, in her decision to defer the crucial Brexit vote that was due to take place tomorrow, has revealed that she really can't stand losing

Not since a school sports day in the mid 1980s, when Andrew Sheridan bawled his eyes out because he had been placed in a race he had no chance of winning (and subsequently got re-positioned into a race that I was participating in and had been clear favourite...until he rocked up) have I seen such a clear case of cowardice and manipulation in the face of defeat. 

Unfortunately the real losers here are us, the public because, whether you voted to remain or to leave, it seems no one has got what they wanted under this disastrous Tory government.

End Transmission

Our Contemptible Government

This week, Theresa May the cunt and her cabinet of little cunts became the first in history to be found in contempt of parliament for refusing to publish legal advice pertaining to Brexit. Whilst Paris erupts with the yellow vest protests, the UK seems to meekly shrug and accept this disgusting antics of its government. Why is that?

I mean, I get that we are all sick to death of hearing about Brexit, I honestly do. I am too, but the fact remains that, even if you are happy to accept a government so corrupt as to become the first to openly show contempt for the democratic process of parliament, are you really happy to sit back and accept all the other times Mrs May's government have shown their contempt for this country and its citizens?

What about the contempt they have shown for the UN, rejecting their damning report on the austerity measures the government have needlessly put in force since 2010? Their actions have increased homelessness, child poverty, food bank usage and suicide. Why do we think we can afford to let this continue?

What about the contempt this government has shown towards the Windrush generation? A blatant example of institutionalised racism that they attempted to pass the buck by spurring their right wing press baron acolytes into action with a series of 'Labour are anti-semitic' non-stories.

What about the contempt they hold for the environment, continuing to push fracking in areas that had democratically opposed the introduction of such a dangerous and untested process?

What about the contempt they show for the disabled and the unemployed with their continued pursuit of Universal Credit, despite the facts that the new benefit is harming people and simply isn't working?

And these are just the examples that are still happening. What about those examples of contempt they've shown that were mercifully challenged, such as their defeat in the Supreme Court to sideline parliament and due democratic process to get their Brexit deal passed unchallenged? Their benefit cap which was defeated in court because it impoverished single-parent families for no good reason? Their policy of free labour for Workfare, also defeated by the courts? Their plan to shut down Lewisham hospital, again defeated in court? And their attempts to challenge the condemnation of their track record with air pollution in court for a total of three times, the result of which was £500,000 of public money wasted in their defence?

They may look like it, they may even act like it, but this Conservative government is not a joke. They are corrupt, dishonest, barbaric and cruel and their only desire is to serve their own self interests. The joke is on us, because we sit back and let them do it to us. 

But, if May's Brexit deal is voted down on Tuesday, we could see a vote of no confidence in the house. If that follows, she has just 14 days to form a new government before parliament is dissolved and a general election is triggered. We need to do all we can to say that 2018 is the end of May. 2019 needs to be the year of Corbyn and a government who genuinely want to heal and improve society. Please, do what you personally can; if there is a demo or march near you, go to it. Sign petitions and write to your MP. Join the opposition and turn up at you local branch office and ask what you can personally do. Join Momentum or make a donation to them to prepare them for the likelihood of a general election in the new year. But above all, when (not if) there is a GE, vote. Vote for Labour and make a difference, because remember this - after 18 months of Macron's centrist policies that have attacked the living standards of the French, the people have risen up in protest. In just eighteen months. The Conservatives have been doing the same thing to us for eight years. And we have re-elected them for it twice. Never again, please. Never again.

Jumping Before He Was Pushed

The notion that the Labour party is riddled with anti-semitism continues again today as it is revealed that veteran Birkenhead Labour MP Frank Field has resigned his role as the Labour whip.

This really is a non story. The Brexiteer Field was within a gnat's whisker of being deselected on account of his decision to vote in favour of propping up Theresa May's weak Tory government. It's as simple as that really.

He's currently mouthing off on the BBC's Northwest Tonight about 'political thuggery' within the party against anyone who is not on message with Corbyn, adding that Westminster is a place that hates him, whereas Birkenhead is a place that embraces him. This is nonsense. Field's constituency placed a vote of no confidence in him following his decision to support Theresa May, securing her future with a margin of just three votes. It is not 'political thuggery' to demand that your MP represents the views of your constituency and opposes the government. If you ask me, the sooner the selection process is fully implemented within the party once again the better.

As for the anti-semitism slur Field makes, well it is becoming increasingly clear that this is a Trojan horse used by the Blairites within the party who wish to see Jeremy Corbyn removed from the leadership. Statistically, it is proven that Labour has actually become less anti-semitic under Corbyn's leadership and is certainly still less anti-semitic than the Tory party (who also have a troubling issue with Islamophobia which the press are conveniently ignoring) and Field's decision to cite it as a reason why he - a man whose views on immigration and the EU make him less Blue Labour and more Redkip - resigned today is extremely shallow and deeply convenient for the plotters. 

Theresa May's Death Stare: Spinning a Weakness as a Strength

Much as been made this past week of something called the Theresa May death stare.

On The Andrew Marr Show last week, May claimed she was "not conscious" of shooting daggers at Jeremy Corbyn and other members of the opposition during PMQs. "Somebody else actually yesterday talked to me about this thing they call the sort of death stare" she said.  "I'm not really conscious that I'm doing it at the time"

Bollocks.

This 'death stare' is nothing but a spin doctor's idea to save May's arse during the heated debate of PMQs. It has clearly originated from the fact that the PM simply does not have the same debating skills or quick witted flair that many other parliamentarians have, including the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn. Indeed, she often struggles to string a sentence together! Simply put, when Corbyn challenges her she often has no response to offer and so this 'death stare' has been manufactured and sold to sympathetic journalists in the media to then peddle as a strength rather than the weakness it so clearly is.

The 'Brexit Dividend': The Curious Timing That Means We Should Beware Tories Bearing Gifts

We're hearing a lot from government this week about a so-called 'Brexit dividend' that will go to the NHS. 

What we're not hearing however is that this extra £20bn won't even begin to cover the cuts to the NHS that the Tories have overseen these last 8 years. That an increase of NHS spending to 3.4% is nothing like the 4%+ increase that the think tanks have calculated and have been campaigning for. 

We're also not hearing anything about the timing of Theresa May's pledge. If Brexit falls apart for this government, May will be forced to go to the country once more in the oft-rumoured snap election pencilled in for the autumn. With that in mind, this extra £20bn sounds increasingly like a sop to the electorate in the hope that they'll forget all the Tories failings and vote for them once more. Beware Greeks bearing gifts...or should that be Tories? Timing is everything, clearly.

So don't fall for their bribes and lies! It's all very well saying Brexit will allow us to spend more on the NHS (and we all know we've heard that before, or rather we've seen it before; a lie writ large on the side of a bus!) but if Brexit ensures that we can no longer employ the migrant workforce that keeps the NHS alive, how can the service ever truly improve?

Every Loser Wins: The Fake News Around The Election

The BBC today have widely announced that Labour had a 'disappointing' local election yesterday. Their 1 o'clock news bulletin, read by Kate Silverton, reported that Labour didn't win any of their target seats...which is strange, considering that my local news bulletin which immediately followed Silverton's rundown, announced that Labour did indeed take Trafford - a key seat that was on a knife edge here in the North West. Labour securing Trafford means that the whole of Greater Manchester is now Labour run. Labour even gained Plymouth too; another key seat. So why have the BBC's national news been making out that Labour - and particularly Jeremy Corbyn - lost yesterday?

In fact, Labour have seen their councillors increase by 3%. That's a net gain of 55 councillors compared to the Tories net gain of just one seat. The truth is this was a very poor turn out for the Tories, comparable to 2014's election which saw the Torygraph demand that the then PM, David Cameron, assuage the voters rage. Once again, the MSM have given Theresa May's noxious austerity-driven, racist government a free pass. If this government were a person, it would be on life support and everyone would be trying to make out it was fit and healthy, despite the obvious truth staring you in the face. In fact, when it comes to the Tories and the MSM trying to kid us everything is OK, I'm reminded of this classic scene

I'm not saying this was an incredible victory for Labour, after all even Jeremy Corbyn called some of the results 'disappointing'. Much is being made here in the north about Pendle, a skin of the teeth triumph for the Tories that sees them take control of a council that has, for almost 40 years, been Labour run. But the councillor the Tories put up here has previously been suspended from the party for racism, so you really have to ask yourself what kind of party allows such a person to remain in their ranks. I've heard this make the news on local TV, but it hasn't seemed to reach down to London for the national broadcasts, who prefer to spin the Blairite lie that the only racism in politics is the alleged anti-Semitism problem within the Labour party. A scandal that has been manipulated and fueled by those 'Red Tory' MP's who wish to overthrow Corbyn.

 Whatever you do today, please do not take the MSM's reportage at face value because they're only telling you what the government want you to hear. Theresa May can say Labour have lost until she's blue in the face (which would be quite nice for her I'm sure) but the fact is Labour performed incredibly well. They manage to achieve what they have achieved in the face of a complete collapse of the UKIP vote - a vote which was widely predicted as being taken up by the Tories. These 100 net losses for UKIP has not transferred over to the Tories, they helped boost Labour and even the Lib Dems. 

But let's not be too hard on May's chief propagandists at Auntie Beeb. They're not placing it front and centre in their reports, but their digest of these results have shown an interesting projection if this were a general election

Please Vote Today

Today is the day to cast your vote in the local elections up and down the country. Please do so

And use your vote for good; send a message to Theresa May's austerity driven, racist, corrupt, blood-on-their-hands government that their days are numbered. Vote Labour

Meet The Old Boss, Same As The New Boss

So Amber Rudd has finally gone after 'inadvertently misleading' to parliament (that's lying to you and me) and Sajid Javid is her replacement as Home Secretary.

Smug Karl Pilkington roundhead-alike Javid claims he will be a break from the past. But how can you really be a break from the past when your voting record shows you have consistently voted in favour of this disgusting hostile environment agenda? And is a man who called Jewish Labour activist Jon Lansman a 'neo fascist' in the House really the right man for issues relating to immigration?

Javid's move to the post of Home Secretary is a blindingly obvious one from the Tories. Horrified that their inherent racism has come to the fore, they've promoted their pet 'brown face' in an attempt to prove they are anything but racist.

Javid may bang on about how horrified he was by the hostile environment and the terminology itself, and how he felt that, as the son of immigrants, it could have been his own family being asked to leave the country they have contributed so much to, but it's all just lip service and empty platitudes. 

Nothing will change for anyone until the architect of this disgusting intolerable policy, the former Home Secretary Theresa May, is ousted from Number 10 and her whole rancid party is forced into opposition. 

This Thursday (3rd May) is the day of local elections across the country. Please vote for Labour and deal a devastating blow to the Tory government that tells them their days are numbered.

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.

Send a Message to the Saudi Tyrants

18 young people could be beheaded at any time for the 'crime' of protesting against the Saudi government. Some were sentenced to death for attending protests when they were children. All were brutally tortured into confessing.

Tomorrow, loathsome Tory PM Theresa May will welcome Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman with open arms. This is our chance to send a message to the Saudi government that says whilst our government welcome them as friends, we - the general public - find their behaviour abhorrent. If you sign this petition you can make our voice heard, you can save lives. Do it today - it will be delivered to the Saudi prince tomorrow.

Do The Tories Think We Have Short Memories, Or Do They Just Think We're Stupid?

Theresa May took to the comfy sofa of Philip and Holly's This Morning today (and people say she's afraid of tough interviewers?) to express her concern at student tuition fees and to assure us that her government will do something about it. What they plan to do is look into it for a year. Hmm... 

But what really irks me about this whole thing is that Theresa May clearly thinks we either have very short memories or we are completely stupid. She's counting on us forgetting that one of her first acts as PM was to abolish the maintenance grants for the poorest of students. She's hoping we're stupid enough not to realise that in 2009 she voted in favour of the of tripling tuition fees to the £9,000 per annum figure she now expresses concern over, along with her vote to approve the rip off inflation measure of +3% on any subsequent debt incurred. 

Don't be fooled. This Tory 12 month review into tuition fees is nothing but a sop in the face of the forthcoming local elections and an attempt to try and wrestle a popular manifesto pledge from Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party.

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.