Song for today...
End Transmission
Friday, 13 December 2019
The Morning After
It's the centrists who lost us this election. The centrists (or Blairites) within the party pushed hard for us to reverse our position to abide by the Brexit vote in the 2017 election to become the party of Remain and the party of a People's Vote. We tried to ride two horses and it was impossible. Brexit will be an utter nightmare, but if Corbyn had stuck to his guns and if the Blairites would have, just for once, given him a fucking break, we would have built on what we gained in 2017. Look at the votes; traditional Labour constituencies in the North East voting Tory because they want Brexit. MP's and prospective MP's who were emphatically remain up and down the land, gone or sunk. MP's who listened to their constituencies demands for Brexit, safe. This isn't rocket science, but it is now those same centrists who are trying to claim that it wasn't their preoccupation to Remain that lost us this, it was Corbyn. Alan Johnson raging at Momentum's Jon Lansman was the most ridiculous sight last night. If people like him truly believe that policies that say a private NHS, homelessness, austerity, benefit cuts and privetisation are 'unpopular' or 'student politics' that the working class - the very people those policies affect - can't get behind, then he has no right being in the Labour party. I'd laugh at his gammon faced ranting, if I didn't know that, once again, these centrists will have their way. Corbyn's decision to step down in the near future is already seeing them moving centrist Blairite candidates into position as his successor.
Just a couple of hours after the exit poll last night, someone arrived at my blog to condemn me. They called themselves UK Labour (a hastily created profile made this month alone, I suspect just last night to be honest) and demanded that I show humility for losing this election by adhering to a so-called cult of Corbynism. This attitude, along with that of Alan Johnson, Margaret Hodge, Ruth Smeeth to name but a few Blairites with an anti-Corbyn agenda, is the real threat to the Labour movement, because it wants us to step away from genuine left wing socialist policies to occupy the kind of middle ground that has just made Jo Swinson the shortest-serving Lib Dem leader ever. They claim that Corbyn is stuck in the '70s, yet fail to realise they are stuck in the '90s. The movement has changed. The desire for socialism is here. The policies did get through to people, and those people will rue opting for a single issue like Brexit once a Tory majority government begins to do its thing. People will suffer and it breaks my heart. But I know that we on the left are a movement, not a moment, and we will still be here doing what is right. I will not apologise for saying austerity kills or that the NHS is in very real, clear and present danger. I will never apologise for wanting a fair and equal society.
But it wasn't just the centrists in the party who are responsible for this loss. It's the centrists in the mainstream media too. At every turn, the media has spent all of Corbyn's tenure slandering, smearing and ridiculing the man in line with Blairite and Tory wishes. They pushed Boris Johnson's message of 'Get Brexit Done' routinely as a matter of course and raised an eyebrow and pulled a face at the positive policies of Corbyn. Look at Sky News' election coverage last night; they called it The Brexit Election. It perfectly chimed with Boris Johnson's message. They took the PM's sloganeering and echoed it to the masses - where's the impartiality in that? They should have called it the NHS Election, because that is truly what this was, but that's not the Tory message is it? They rigged this in their favour, and they will have blood on their hands in the years to come.
Just a couple of hours after the exit poll last night, someone arrived at my blog to condemn me. They called themselves UK Labour (a hastily created profile made this month alone, I suspect just last night to be honest) and demanded that I show humility for losing this election by adhering to a so-called cult of Corbynism. This attitude, along with that of Alan Johnson, Margaret Hodge, Ruth Smeeth to name but a few Blairites with an anti-Corbyn agenda, is the real threat to the Labour movement, because it wants us to step away from genuine left wing socialist policies to occupy the kind of middle ground that has just made Jo Swinson the shortest-serving Lib Dem leader ever. They claim that Corbyn is stuck in the '70s, yet fail to realise they are stuck in the '90s. The movement has changed. The desire for socialism is here. The policies did get through to people, and those people will rue opting for a single issue like Brexit once a Tory majority government begins to do its thing. People will suffer and it breaks my heart. But I know that we on the left are a movement, not a moment, and we will still be here doing what is right. I will not apologise for saying austerity kills or that the NHS is in very real, clear and present danger. I will never apologise for wanting a fair and equal society.
But it wasn't just the centrists in the party who are responsible for this loss. It's the centrists in the mainstream media too. At every turn, the media has spent all of Corbyn's tenure slandering, smearing and ridiculing the man in line with Blairite and Tory wishes. They pushed Boris Johnson's message of 'Get Brexit Done' routinely as a matter of course and raised an eyebrow and pulled a face at the positive policies of Corbyn. Look at Sky News' election coverage last night; they called it The Brexit Election. It perfectly chimed with Boris Johnson's message. They took the PM's sloganeering and echoed it to the masses - where's the impartiality in that? They should have called it the NHS Election, because that is truly what this was, but that's not the Tory message is it? They rigged this in their favour, and they will have blood on their hands in the years to come.
Thursday, 12 December 2019
Out On Blue Six: Grace Petrie
Because we all need to do the right thing today.
We need to vote the Tories out.
We need to vote the Tories out.
End Transmission
Wednesday, 11 December 2019
RIP David Bellamy
I haven't seen anything on the news as yet, but I have it on good authority from the Conservation Foundation that David Bellamy passed away today at the age of 86.
A mainstay of television for anyone of a certain age, the botanist and environmental campaigner was an avuncular figure of boundless energy and enthusiasm whose broadcasting and activism helped to shape young minds. I would imagine that many of the most fervent climate change campaigners now were set on this path as a result of Bellamy featuring large on their TV sets back in the 1970s and '80s, which makes his subsequent stance on climate change (he dismissed it as 'poppycock') all the more saddening. Nonetheless, he was an influential personality, a giant in his field and a true English eccentric. I remember a visit he made to my school, opening up our new garden space back in the '80s.
RIP.
A mainstay of television for anyone of a certain age, the botanist and environmental campaigner was an avuncular figure of boundless energy and enthusiasm whose broadcasting and activism helped to shape young minds. I would imagine that many of the most fervent climate change campaigners now were set on this path as a result of Bellamy featuring large on their TV sets back in the 1970s and '80s, which makes his subsequent stance on climate change (he dismissed it as 'poppycock') all the more saddening. Nonetheless, he was an influential personality, a giant in his field and a true English eccentric. I remember a visit he made to my school, opening up our new garden space back in the '80s.
RIP.
Out On Blue Six: Roxette, RIP Marie Fredriksson
Deeply saddened to hear that Marie Fredriksson of Swedish rock duo Roxette lost her seventeen-year battle with cancer on Monday at the age of 61.
End Transmission
RIP
Tuesday, 10 December 2019
The Photo Boris Johnson Didn't Want To See
Vote Labour to put an end to the willful destruction of our NHS that resulted in four-year-old Jack Williment-Barr being forced to lie on the floor of his local hospital whilst awaiting treatment.
We are the third richest country in the world, and this is how we treat the sick and vulnerable. Do more than Boris Johnson; look at this photograph and consider the words of the UN report "Considering the significant resources available in the country and sustained and widespread cuts to social support, which have resulted in significantly worse outcomes, the policies pursued since 2010 amount to regressive measures in clear violation of the country's human rights obligations"
The Tories have had nine years to recover from a global economic crash they continue to erroneously blame Labour for. When they've had that long and still done nothing, how can anyone believe them when they say they will right these wrongs now? How can anyone believe them when they refuse to even look at photographic evidence of such wrongs and dismiss the UN's findings as inaccurate. How can anyone believe the intentions of a party who, when confronted with this photo, resorted to spreading lies and smears to cover their own hides?
To make the change we need, to stop our children and the sick and the vulnerable from suffering, vote Labour on Thursday.
Monday, 9 December 2019
Laura Kuenssberg's Spreads Misinformation, Again
The big news story today of course is the fact that Jack Williment-Barr, a four year old boy with suspected pneumonia, was forced to lie upon a pile of coats on the floor at Leeds General hospital. An utterly tragic state of affairs that can only be changed by voting Labour on Thursday.
Twitter knows that this is today's big story, because a video of Joe Pike from ITV Calendar's attempting to hold our alleged PM Boris Johnson to account about this has been watched by (at the time of writing) 4.8m people.
One person on Twitter however refuses to acknowledge that this is today's big story and that person is Laura Kuenssberg, the alleged political editor from the equally alleged impartial public service broadcaster, the BBC. Kuenssberg's refusal stems from the fact that this story is damaging for the Conservative government. So what does she do instead? She proceeds to spread outright lies and smears about activists bussed, at Labour's expense, to Leeds Hospital to confront the Health Secretary Matt Hancock. More, she claimed that one of Hancock's advisors was physically attacked by one such advisor. Why did she do this? Because the Tories told her too. Because it would damage the Labour party. Robert Peston also swallowed the lie and quickly, dutifully spread it around Twitter.
But none of this was actually true. Subsequent video footage shows no hundred of activists (and how can you know for certain that they had been transported by Labour anyway?) and no punch.
Once again, Laura Kuenssberg has swallowed whatever her 'senior Tory source' has told her to report. How many more times must we complain about this blatant propaganda masquerading as political journalism? I'm afraid we must do so once more at least. Please make a complaint to the BBC, let them know that this kind of behaviour from their staff cannot be tolerated. We pay a licence fee for impartial news, not to simply repeat the fantasies of the Conservative government. We need a promise that this mysterious 'senior Tory source' will no longer be listened toby their news team. More, we need that source to be identified. We also need Kuenssberg to apologise and resign. If she refuses to, then she should be sacked.
What Kuenssberg, and Peston, have done here is similar to the despicable stance The S*n took when reporting about the Hillsborough tragedy. The establishment have fed them a line that suits their own interest and rather than investigate it like real journalists would, they have simply reported it as fact. The S*n now sells less than 2,000 copies on Merseyside per day as a result of such slanderous smears. Is boycotting the BBC the way forward?
Twitter knows that this is today's big story, because a video of Joe Pike from ITV Calendar's attempting to hold our alleged PM Boris Johnson to account about this has been watched by (at the time of writing) 4.8m people.
One person on Twitter however refuses to acknowledge that this is today's big story and that person is Laura Kuenssberg, the alleged political editor from the equally alleged impartial public service broadcaster, the BBC. Kuenssberg's refusal stems from the fact that this story is damaging for the Conservative government. So what does she do instead? She proceeds to spread outright lies and smears about activists bussed, at Labour's expense, to Leeds Hospital to confront the Health Secretary Matt Hancock. More, she claimed that one of Hancock's advisors was physically attacked by one such advisor. Why did she do this? Because the Tories told her too. Because it would damage the Labour party. Robert Peston also swallowed the lie and quickly, dutifully spread it around Twitter.
But none of this was actually true. Subsequent video footage shows no hundred of activists (and how can you know for certain that they had been transported by Labour anyway?) and no punch.
Once again, Laura Kuenssberg has swallowed whatever her 'senior Tory source' has told her to report. How many more times must we complain about this blatant propaganda masquerading as political journalism? I'm afraid we must do so once more at least. Please make a complaint to the BBC, let them know that this kind of behaviour from their staff cannot be tolerated. We pay a licence fee for impartial news, not to simply repeat the fantasies of the Conservative government. We need a promise that this mysterious 'senior Tory source' will no longer be listened toby their news team. More, we need that source to be identified. We also need Kuenssberg to apologise and resign. If she refuses to, then she should be sacked.
What Kuenssberg, and Peston, have done here is similar to the despicable stance The S*n took when reporting about the Hillsborough tragedy. The establishment have fed them a line that suits their own interest and rather than investigate it like real journalists would, they have simply reported it as fact. The S*n now sells less than 2,000 copies on Merseyside per day as a result of such slanderous smears. Is boycotting the BBC the way forward?
Sunday, 8 December 2019
Are You Watching Marr, Peston, Kuenssberg, Bruce, Neil etc?
Because this is proper political journalism right here...and it's from the North West of course.
Granada Reports own Hannah Miller met with Boris Johnson in Cheadle this weekend to ask him what the Conservatives plan to do about children's services being at breaking point. As you can see, Johnson began his usual waffling response, pulling out impressive sounding sums of money which are nowhere near the sums his government has cut in the last nine years, talking about the economy, before finally pulling out the inevitable, it's all the fault of the last Labour government line.
But Miller, who has proved herself a tenacious and highly skilled political correspondent on Granada Reports in recent moths, refused to let him off the hook. Like any good journalist, she challenged him, held him to account and kept him on topic, and she did it all in a polite, yet firm manner.
This is the type of journalism we need right now. We need to put an end to these fawning enablers who are blatantly impartial, middle-class, right wing snobs, who consider themselves above reproach as they hide behind corrupt BBC editorial guidelines drafted up by former staffers of David Cameron, and who love the sense of privilege they get because they're in the same atmosphere as politicians, all in return for giving them an easy ride at the next round of interviews.
Johnson flails under such scrutiny. All he can do is bluster, smirk, lie, make excuses and dominate her personal space. And ultimately, he cannot promise anything. Like all the pledges he has made in this election campaign, this funding cannot make up for what has been slashed already from such integral public services. Vulnerable children will still be in dire straits, needing help and resources that simply are not there because of Tory cuts.
Do you really want this man to still be the PM at the end of the week?
If not, then vote Labour.
Vote Labour to say enough of this uncaring, selfish government.
Why Jeremy Corbyn - Vote Labour on Thursday
This weekend I thought I'd try and put something into words that would hopefully answer the kind of questions you hear from people who may right now be undecided about who to vote for on Thursday. My intention here was to bloggerise some of the experiences I've had canvassing and, just like I've attempted to do face to face, alleviate any concerns that people may have about the Labour party or Jeremy Corbyn and reassure them that the most sensible thing to do this week is to vote Labour.
Then I saw that that excellent protest singer and beautiful comrade Grace Petrie had already done this on Facebook and far, far better than I could ever have hoped to. So please, just go and read that instead.
What I will add is that there seems to be this idea that Boris Johnson will, as he is always telling us, 'Get Brexit Done'. He won't. As Boris Johnson has consistently proven, he cannot be taken at his word. He lies, he cheats or he simply moves the goalposts. John Major knows that Johnson cannot deliver on Brexit. But the simple truth is that we cannot trust Boris Johnson on anything (and we certainly cannot trust him with the NHS) so why place your trust in him on Brexit? Far better to vote Labour. They will get a significantly better deal and they will put it to the people. If you still want Brexit, vote for that deal. If you don't want Brexit, vote to remain. Simple.
Please do not vote for a fascist who believes inequality is essential in our society. He says this because he knows he has had the good fortune to be born into privilege. Boris Johnson believes in inequality so much that his party have said that people with learning difficulties should be paid less because "they don't understand money". His party repeatedly deny they are racist and, when they are caught out being racist, they refuse to apologise - yet they intend to give the police greater laws in removing Roma families and traveller camps. Just like Hitler did.
Why vote for that, when you can vote for a party that wants everyone to have better lives, more pay, more leisure time and a healthcare service that is free at the point of use for all?
Vote Labour on Thursday...or, if you live in a contested marginal, vote tactically for the best way to keep the Tories from returning to power.
Let's not wake up on Friday regretting the opportunity we had to make our country a better place for all.
Then I saw that that excellent protest singer and beautiful comrade Grace Petrie had already done this on Facebook and far, far better than I could ever have hoped to. So please, just go and read that instead.
What I will add is that there seems to be this idea that Boris Johnson will, as he is always telling us, 'Get Brexit Done'. He won't. As Boris Johnson has consistently proven, he cannot be taken at his word. He lies, he cheats or he simply moves the goalposts. John Major knows that Johnson cannot deliver on Brexit. But the simple truth is that we cannot trust Boris Johnson on anything (and we certainly cannot trust him with the NHS) so why place your trust in him on Brexit? Far better to vote Labour. They will get a significantly better deal and they will put it to the people. If you still want Brexit, vote for that deal. If you don't want Brexit, vote to remain. Simple.
Please do not vote for a fascist who believes inequality is essential in our society. He says this because he knows he has had the good fortune to be born into privilege. Boris Johnson believes in inequality so much that his party have said that people with learning difficulties should be paid less because "they don't understand money". His party repeatedly deny they are racist and, when they are caught out being racist, they refuse to apologise - yet they intend to give the police greater laws in removing Roma families and traveller camps. Just like Hitler did.
Why vote for that, when you can vote for a party that wants everyone to have better lives, more pay, more leisure time and a healthcare service that is free at the point of use for all?
Vote Labour on Thursday...or, if you live in a contested marginal, vote tactically for the best way to keep the Tories from returning to power.
Let's not wake up on Friday regretting the opportunity we had to make our country a better place for all.
Saturday, 7 December 2019
Out On Blue Six: New Order
I had completely forgotten that Fine Time had a Christmas-themed music video until it popped up on this week's repeat of Top of the Pops on BBC4 dating from 8th December 1988.
End Transmission
Wednesday, 4 December 2019
Out On Blue Six: Madness
The Nutty Boys sticking it to The Bullingdon Boys. Great song, great video
Vote Boris and his bastards out on December 12th
End Transmission
A Fistful of Dynamite (1971)
"I know all about the revolutions and how they start! The people who read the books go to the people who can’t read the books, the poor people, and say, “We have to have a change.” So, the poor people make the change. And then, the people who read the books, they all sit around the big polished tables, and they talk and talk and talk and eat and eat and eat. But what has happened to the poor people? They are dead! That’s your revolution!"
Read my full review at The Geek Show
Read my full review at The Geek Show
Sunday, 1 December 2019
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