591 Responses to Weekend Open Thread 25th May 2018

  1. Loobyloo says:

    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44256820
    Tight swimming trunks UK’s ‘most hated clothing’

    Another beauty from the envy of the world. Seems to me like an excuse to show pics of men in speedos, especially their favourite, Tom Daly (why he??)

       7 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Supply meets demand. Apparently. And saves leaving the building.

         12 likes

  2. Holly Selassie says:

    The BBC seem awfully pleased about Ireland voting to kill lots more babies earlier than previous, and develop a home-grown specialism that-of course-they`ve not been doing for years anyway.
    But when all your knowledge of abortion comes from Sinead O Connor, Christy Moore and Steve Coogan-then that`ll be great news for them.
    And isn`t paying for Irish students to go home to vote by our NUS called bribery in other guises?
    Ah well, at least the emerging sex gangs and Somali Muslims of Dundalk won`t have to be sought for maintenance now.
    Ireland-used to be a country once didn`t it, as opposed to a Sweden with shillelegaghs. The EUs bitch, top to bottom, tragic really.
    But beyond repair now.

       28 likes

    • Rich says:

      And it seems that they, egged on by the not-Irish bBbc, are intent on dragging us in Northern Ireland, not the fuckin’ ‘North of Ireland’ as they insist, further into the shit with them.

         15 likes

  3. Guest Who says:

    Not sure how many countries benefit from the BBC No. 1 diverse faith community, but it could end up a very long month.

    BBC News

    Fasting for 22 hours a day – how do Muslims in Iceland cope during Ramadan? (via BBC Lifestyle & Health News)
    bbc.in/2IOqDYd

    As to coping mechanisms, I have seen some articles where the community leaders have demanded the host nation head back to less productive times back in the old country with them to even things out.

       14 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      It’ll be similar at the Orkney Islands mosque
      ..which is probably that most “Muslims” don’t actually bother too much about fasting, once they are in a free environment.

         16 likes

  4. Deborah says:

    5pm Saturday news programme with Chris Morris. Chris was interviewing the man John something or other who led the anti-abortion campaign in Ireland. John was silly enough to say that Ireland was a democratic country and that his side had lost. Chris M didn’t half shut him up quickly before anybody could even think the same about Brexit.

       22 likes

  5. Fedup2 says:

    The Londonistan evening standard is reporting the demonstration in support of Tommy Robinson . Obviously all the demonstrators are described as “far right” but at least something is being reported .

    On line breitbart is reporting it along the lines of “Tommy xxxx has been xxxxxx for contempt of xxxxx ” which sums the frightening restrictions now being imposed on free speech . Won’t be too long before all trials have reporting restrictions on them in case any one gets ‘ alarmed or distressed ‘.

    I hope I’m wrong but al beeb wil report it as traffic congestion in Whitehall “

       49 likes

  6. BRISSLES says:

    Tight swimming trunks UK’s ‘most hated clothing’…….

    I’d dispute that. I’d say its men’s sandals that show hairy toes to an unsuspecting world, normally coupled with calf length shorts that make an appearance once the sun is out for more than 2 hours. (don’t get me started on football shirts worn away from football matches)

       20 likes

    • Lock13 says:

      B – I think they meant Tom Daley is Britain’s most hated person . They couldn’t show us enough shots of the little turd in his speedos. Wonder how motherhood is treating him?

         16 likes

    • Mrs Kitty says:

      Socks and sandals (shudder)

         12 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        I’ve got to say that the Irish pro abortion supporter who said on the al beeb 6 Pm news that the vote represents freedom for future generations might want to work out that future generations might not be as big as they might have been . Life is cheap when people choose.

           28 likes

        • Ian Rushlow says:

          future generations might not be as big as they might have been
          No problem. The Irish government could just import more people from, say, Somalia, Eritrea, Nigeria, Albania, Vietnam and Iraq etc. They could even Do The Jobs That Irishman Don’t Want To Do ™ and Look After Us In Our Old Age ™, just like in Britain.

             34 likes

          • Fedup2 says:

            Ian
            The outcome of the Irish referendum is unclear – yes they ve decided on pro abortion but not what kind of abortion or what abortion really means and maybe there should be another vote once they put it through the Irish Parliament . Maybe their upper house is against abortion and will attempt to stop it.
            I’m sure , too , that the state broadcaster – al rte will be pro abortion but swear to god that it’s impartial .

               26 likes

            • taffman says:

              What’s with Al Beeb?
              They appear to be obsessed with abortion and sex. Their front page is presently plastered with it.
              Is it because they think the propaganda that they promulgated on the subject has been a success?

              The service is a failure. It tries to influence the news when it should just report it. It has become a Frankenstein, out of control.
              It is a swamp that needs draining but our leader is afraid of doing it.

                 19 likes

            • Emmanuel Goldstein says:

              Surely the Irish referendum must be done again because the people didn’t understand what they were voting for.
              Get Gina Miller over there to stop what the people voted for.

              If we had another Brexit referendum I’m sure we would increase our majority to leave but that would not stop the remoaners. They wouldn’t just go away. They would carry on delaying and trying everything to overturn the result.
              That is why another referendum is pointless.

                 14 likes

          • Lobster says:

            Ian
            I wonder who does all those jobs that no one wants to do, and looks after the old ones in Japan?
            The Japanese presumably, seeing that they have virtually zero immigration.

               24 likes

            • Mrs Kitty says:

              They’re also developing automation at a fast pace.

                 12 likes

            • BRISSLES says:

              Lobby, I was in Japan a few years ago, and honestly? their work ethic is such, that there is no job that is ‘beneath’ anyone over there. And their elderly live to such a great age, that its the ‘young’ elderly who look after them ! (as an aside, I can say hand on heart, I have never come across such pristine clean public toilets anywhere else).

              I have visited many places in the world, but Japan is the only place I would ’emigrate’ to in a heartbeat. Politeness is second nature, a healthy eating regime and lifestyle, extremely low crime rate, no migrants trying to change the place, two main religions – Shinto and Buddhism that co-exist harmoniously, and stunning scenery every which way. Oh and taxi drivers wear suits and white gloves, and once you get past the odd sight of the population wearing white masks, its all quite delightful.

                 8 likes

              • Lobster says:

                Brissles
                It’s a place I’ve always wanted to visit before I pop my clogs (or end up in a Thermidor!), but it sounds just like I imagine. I was totally impressed when I learned that the bosses of Toyota, Honda etc. all wear the same uniform or overalls as those doing the lowliest of tasks – no “us and them” attitude at all, apparently.

                   5 likes

  7. ScottishCalvin says:

    Quick update on Korea for y’all:

       12 likes

  8. Lobster says:

    I just popped over to Guido’s site and I noticed that comments are off for all the Saturday 7-Up items, and that comments are now longer accepted for any of the other threads.
    Something very odd is going on there.
    How to kill a website in one easy lesson …….

       30 likes

    • G.W.F. says:

      Lobster

      Two rumours, repeat rumours.
      1. Guido’s site is going to be sold.
      2. Guido has information of big leadership changes in the Tory Party and is staying out of controversy

         24 likes

      • AaronD says:

        If the site is going to be sold, it’s not going to be worth twopence h’apenny before long. Hurtling down the crapper and taking its credibility with it.

           15 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Intriguing actions both by buyer and seller if so.

        Given what made the site valuable, namely the non-establishment scoops and the febrile comment threads, ditching both makes the sale and presumed purchase intention bizarre.

           13 likes

    • Roland Deschain says:

      The 7-Up thread was being used to discuss [redacted] so Guido zapped the comments. I’d imagine everyone went to the next thread down and carried on.

      His site, his rules. But if you’ve positioned yourself as the anti-establishment place for all the political gossip, it’s a bit rich to ignore what may turn out to be one of the most important political stories of the year.

         23 likes

      • ScottishCalvin says:

        The Saturday ‘no comments’ rule is more just an extension of the recent heavy moderation and to be honest, I’m on Guido’s side. It’s a bit annoying if you have a story about, eg the army, and the comments are 1000 people posting 3rd party articles about anything from Trump to Owen Jones to Islam who demand their ‘right to free speech’ on a privately owned website.

        If every evening a momentum supporter demanded that you open your door so that he could come into your house and spend hours switching every conversation towards being about how great Jeremy Corbyn was, you’d likely (rightfully) tell him to shove it.

        I post links to my cartoons and bits and pieces occasionally but only here because it’s a general discussion or on Guido’s ‘Monday cartoon’ thing because it’s on topic. It would be nice if Guido had an AI to filter our stuff that was off-topic but that’s just 5 years and/or $1m away so it’s easier to just turn comments off or have a heavy handed approach.

           10 likes

        • Roland Deschain says:

          Normally I’d agree with you (though think Guido is a tad hypocritical as he used to encourage the irreverent comments) but I think this is a different case.

          In this instance, the one person who should be talking about it isn’t. He’s made great play in the past of being based in Ireland and beyond UK courts’ jurisdiction, but when it comes to what seems at face value to be an abuse of process by the British State against an inconvenient individual, he clams up. Remember when Rolf Harris was being investigated and though he wasn’t allowed to mention that, he had several threads about an unnamed celebrity being investigated for child abuse. “Can you tell who it is yet?” Not a peep from Guido, when similar oblique references could easily have been made.

          People want to talk about it, that’s for sure, but can’t find anywhere to do it and bring it to wider attention. There’s a lot on Twitter where it seems likely that Twitter are suppressing the #FreeTommy hashtag from trending. I believe the Government may have badly misplayed this one, especially if something happens to Mr Robinson in prison.

             27 likes

  9. Skeldings says:

    Any Questions this afternoon largely followed the usual narrative whomsoever was speaking across the “left-right” spectrum. I did notice, though, that Ruth Dudley-Edwards conceded what amounted, for a BBC contributor, to a little echo of faintest praise for President Trump when she averred that his “controlled unpredictability” kept foes on their toes, whereas “being nice” as Clinton and Obama had been had got neither of them anywhere. Possibly Ms Dudley-Edwards meant the aphorism as an insult but I suspect not. She had, however, previously described both the President and Mr Kim as “narcissistic children”. Any Questions could not be allowed to pass without some opprobrium being hurled at the President. But she is not a card-carrying member of the BBC nomenklatura and provided a rare modicum of difference of perspective from what usually passes for “wide-ranging discussion”.
    Any Answers, by far the best part of the show, has improved noticeably since the temporary replacement of Anita Anand by Andrea Catherwood. Ms Catherwood, whose pleasant Ulster lilt I enjoy listening to, is far less keen to intrude her own views than her predecessor, who had a Maitlis-like tendency to add a little coda of her own to any view expressed that was not part of the BBC narrative, as if to say “You may well think that but the correct answer is…..” But I imagine the rather headmistress-like Ms Ananad will be back ere long.

       26 likes

    • Mustapha Sheikup al-Beebi says:

      This is interesting and I have felt something similar in the recent past.

      I hardly ever listen to “Any Questions?” now because, in my view, the spectrum of opinions is too narrow and skewed to the Left. “Any Answers?” is better, as callers have some freedom to “ski off piste” if you like. I know of Andrea Catherwood but can’t comment on her for lack of sufficient listening experience.

      But I do recall on a few occasions feeling that Julian Worricker made a refreshing change as a stand-in for Anita Anand. He was polite and fair, encouraging callers with strong opinions to consider the other side of any argument; he was a good Devil’s Advocate. Also, we didn’t get that kind of summarizing tail-piece which you describe well in your penultimate sentence. He was professional and the broadcast was never about him or his opinions.

         10 likes

      • taffman says:

        Mustapha Sheikup al-Beebi
        Life is too short , why waste your time listening to the rubbish ?

           6 likes

      • montmorency says:

        I used to be an avid listener to Any Questions and Any Answers. Skeldings sums up Anand perfectly, about the time I stopped listening. I have to say that I don’t share any optimism about callers skiing off piste because, the BBC is very rapidly retaining only a self-selecting audience, and you’ve got to get through the producers first!

           1 likes

  10. Guest Who says:

    The petition regarding the release of [redacted] looks set to hit 100,000 pretty soon. That, I would suggest, is a fair rate.

    Be interesting how the politico-media estate ignores it as it climbs.

    But I am sure they will try.

       22 likes

  11. vlad says:

    Only tangentially related to the Evil Beeb: I’ve just watched an excellent mini-series on Netflix. I’d never heard of a single actor of the multinational cast, but they were all outstanding.

    I draw two conclusions:

    1. Channels like Netflix make the beeb redundant, may it die a rapid but painful death.

    2. There are vast numbers of first-rate non-Hollywoood actors, who are not entitled, spoilt, depraved, smug, self-important, coke-snorting, immoral, amoral, leftie, egomaniacal virtue-signalling luvvies.

    Please Donald, clear that swamp too while you’re at it.

       41 likes

  12. Moodswing6 says:

    8pm on the BBC’s twin channel 4. A promo by Baroness Warsi. A voice over with some image on the screen. As if announcing that she was from the house of Lirds I meant Lords wasn’t enough to send me explosive, she then ever so sweetly (yuk) went on to say (not exact words) we’re thinking about Ramadan. Followed on by some insignificant waffle.

    I bloody well wasn’t thinking about it.

    While I’m exploding I might as well go all the way. Has anyone else noticed a London bus carrying a full ad for an Islamic charity. In big bold letters ‘For the love of Allah’

       27 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Mood – yes I have sat behind a bus carrying that add. Made me feel at home .

         17 likes

      • Skeldings says:

        We have buses carrying this advertisement here in Manchester. We also have bus advertisements for “The Number 1 Urdu News Channel”. I regret to say I am not a subscriber.

           17 likes

    • Emmanuel Goldstein says:

      Moodswing6,
      It might be a good idea to use these buses with that name along the side as they may be safer than buses without that name on them if you know what I mean.

         6 likes

  13. Dover Sentry says:

    If Tommy Robinson had been part of a white British gang in court for serious and repeated sex offences against young muslim girls,

    the police would NOT have arrested a muslim man in the street outside the court for expressing his concerns.

    Why not, I wonder?

       59 likes

  14. Mustapha Sheikup al-Beebi says:

    From the Independent (25/5/2018) Letters page:

    “Banish ‘Today’ and smile again”

    I gave up on the wretched ‘Today’ programme years ago. I was recovering from clinical depression and found its presenters’ (always negative) obsessions with politics, politicians and economics were the last thing to listen to first thing, or anytime.

    I’d read advice to avoid news generally but the ‘Today’ programme is spectacularly bad, particularly with the current batch of presenters. I found peace on returning to Radio 7 (sadly renamed Radio 4 Extra) where humour, drama and no news were perfect medicine.

    Give me Kenneth Williams, Tony Hancock, Peter Jones and Nicholas Parsons over Nick Robinson et al any day.”

    Stephen Cameron (Leeds)

       27 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Musty
      I get your drift but noticed that 4x has gone down the cancerous road of correctness . God it even puts an extended news quiz on to make people even more angry at the collective smugness of it .

         17 likes

  15. Fedup2 says:

    I was musing over the reaction of beeboids to the decision of President Trump to abandon the North Korea meet . They still have the mindset that he is a career politician who reacts accordingly when he is actually running a White House in a way that the likes of Sopel, katty , Comrade snow and others can’t get .
    The meeting may well go ahead but even if it does President Trump will never get the Nobel prize for peace as he is outside the establishment bubble
    I was going to leave a bit of bait for maxi but he/she is too tiresome to bother about – particularly when the sad sop is awake at 3 in the morning .

       21 likes

    • Roland Deschain says:

      I actually take some amusement in Jon Sopel and Katty Kay’s tweets about President Trump. They simply don’t want to understand how he works despite it being pointed out them on several occasions.

         33 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        I think it’s great that BT ran the European cup final on YouTube for free. I don’t pay for tv – certainly not for al beeb but putting a footy game like that on for nothing shows a degree of grace which al beeb would never show in its current format. Perhaps it is the sign – together with flixnet – that al beebs future existence is not assured – however many Attenborough naacherr programmes it comes up with .

           21 likes

        • Ian Rushlow says:

          The football match may have been free and nothing to do with the BBC, but you still needed a television licence to legally watch it in the UK. A full digital record is left behind (IP address from your ISP, MAC address of the device, locational information etc) which could then be correlated with the licence address database to determine whether the premises were licenced. The BBC have done this in Northern Ireland, using provision in the Regulatory of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. RIPA 2000 was introduced with the intention of fighting terrorism and criminality, which gives a good idea of how the BBC views TV licence refuseniks.
          https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/bbc-uses-ripa-terrorism-laws-to-catch-tv-licence-fee-dodgers-in-northern-ireland-30911647.html

             10 likes

          • Fedup2 says:

            Ian I’m glad I wasn’t watching it in Blighty then – thanks- I use one of those blocker things as well but I’m sure the tv licensing section at gseheadquartersq – as corporal jones would say – would track me on the licensing reaper drone .

               0 likes

          • ToobiWan says:

            Get yourself a VPN, Ian and connect through foreign servers.
            RIPA has also been used to fine people for using schools outside their catchment area and I’m sure it was mentioned in a case where someone put the wrong rubbish in their recycling bin.

               2 likes

  16. BRISSLES says:

    Seems like some middle class right wingers have given the press a touch of the vapours………………

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5773155/The-Hipster-Fascists-Meet-Britains-sinister-far-Right-group.html

       16 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Bris
      I wonder what the current definition of “ far right” is ? . ( I put this one on as a teaser for you Maxi )

         15 likes

      • taffman says:

        Fedup2
        “I put this one on as a teaser for you Maxi”
        😀 😀 😀

        Is he back ?

           9 likes

    • Dave S says:

      The usual bad journalism from the MSM. The writer mentions that a Mr Dupre has been sacked because of his views? Maybe or maybe not but the journalist should be clear.
      Most importantly the main thrust was that the so called facists were concerned about the demographic decline of ethnic English in London and other cities. No attempt to investigate or give any figures.
      In other words a MSM hatchet job and useless as information.
      Zero out of ten

         26 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      The DM seems to have managed quite the pole vault over a shark pool.

      Admiration for Enoch Powell gets propelled to such hyperbole?

         12 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Brissles by amazing coincidence last Sunday’s Times had a story
      The ‘hipster fascists’ who anti-racism campaigners say are breathing new life into the far right
      \\Forget bomber jackets and beer bellies, Britain’s far right is rebranding with skinny jeans, trainers and honeyed words //
      by Andrew Gilligan
      https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-05-20/news/the-hipster-fascists-breathing-new-life-into-the-british-far-right-6hvtmq63k

      ..And I thought this looks like a CutNpaste job from the St Brendan’s Hatey No Hopers

      There is a serious problem in British journalism in that we cannot see where HnH start and journalists ends
      They appear to be the same people

      Whilst overseas I am accustomed to seeing Ruling Party controlled media, run mostly normal stories interspersed with propaganda of the mode ‘look at those nasty people over there, don’t look at the way our govt department just screwed up’
      These UK hitpieces against boo-word “far right” are of the same pattern ie massively propaganda-ry
      ie the Times article goes big on Generation Identity UK, something to me which appears exceeding small
      … then smears Tommy Robinson and then purports to give us a run down on the scene, but doesn’t even mention For Britain pr Anne Marie Waters

      .. The Times article gets a kicking in the comments

         28 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        Hey synchronicity spotters what are the odds that I just happen to be reading a week-old Times article and then open BiasedBBC to tell you guys about it ..only for the first thing I see to be a NEW comment by Brissles about a DAILY MAIL article of the same title ?…uncanny.

           10 likes

        • G.W.F. says:

          Looks to me as if the media are trying to please the new Moslem Home Secretary and encourage his fight against infidels (oops, extremists)

             7 likes

        • BRISSLES says:

          Nah Stew – its just that you and I are on the same page. 🙂 (duh!)

             2 likes

  17. Fedup2 says:

    So Liverpool lose the footy final – who gets blamed ?
    1- Hillsborough
    2- hiesell stadium ( al beeb forgot that one )
    3-brexit
    4- the ‘cuts ‘
    5-Muslim paedophile rape gangs
    6- Tommy rxxxxxxx

       33 likes

  18. Fedup2 says:

    Referendum result in euro.
    Turn out 64%
    Pro abortion 66% anti 33%.

    Not sure what the gender breakdown of the 64% might be but could guess that those with skin in the game might be more likely to vote . ( data source – irish times ).
    I only write about this because it’s a referendum and compare it with the treatment of msm and the brexit vote . If the Irish can’t keep their legs shut or need to kill their babies that’s their business .

       24 likes

  19. StewGreen says:

    Bear in Mind that the current UK population is 65.6million
    Look at the Times list on BBC viewing figures
    BBC1′ top prog didn’t get close to ITV’s
    BBC seems to serving 10% of population. What about the other 90% ?

    BBC1 viewing figs (million)
    1 EastEnders (Tue) 6.48
    2 The Split 5.97
    3 Countryfile 5.70
    4 Antiques Roadshow 5.67
    5 BBC News (Mon, 6pm) 4.93
    6 Have I Got News For You 4.84
    7 The Woman In White 4.70
    8 Casualty 4.55
    9 Ambulance 4.16
    10 Holby City 4.13

    BBC2
    1 Gardeners’ World 2.95
    2 University Challenge 2.72
    3 Hospital 2.34
    4 Only Connect 2.26
    5 Britain’s Biggest Warship 2.18
    6 Top Of The Shop 1.87
    7 Cunk On Britain 1.47
    8 Antiques Road Trip 1.46
    9 Assassination/Versace 1.40
    10 Secret Agent Selection 1.36
    ITV
    1 Britain’s Got Talent 10.71
    2 Coronation Street (Mon) 7.94
    3 Emmerdale (Mon) 6.58

       24 likes

    • taffman says:

      StewGreen
      With all the alternative channels now available, their viewing figures must be drastically down or they have been ‘adjusted’?

         15 likes

      • G says:

        Taff,
        Always wondered how they determine numbers of viewers. Speculation and/or lies?

           5 likes

        • Ian Rushlow says:

          Viewing figures are calculated by an organisation called BARB (Broadcaster’s Audience Research Board). They have equipped 5100 households with meters and other tools that track TV usage. These households are considered to be ‘representative’, with the figures scaled up by a factor of 5000 to reflect the entire country. So if, for example, 1000 of the households were watching the Royal Wedding on BBC1, the calculation would be that 1000×5000 or 5 million households had done so. Potentially, it could be the case that only those 1000 households had watched the ghastly spectacle, but for most statistical purposes it is considered accurate, at least within the broadcasting and advertising industry.

             9 likes

          • G says:

            Thanks Ian.
            Involving television broadcasters particularly the BBC, I would want to define, “representative”. Could that be like the ‘representative’ audience at Question Time? I’ll stop with, lies.

               7 likes

      • MartinW says:

        I recommend You Tube Rumpole of the Bailey and Colditz (and many others) – so much more worthy than almost all the current fare on the Bee Bee Cee.

           10 likes

    • Ian Rushlow says:

      Good job that the BBC is ‘financed in a unique way’ (i.e. the threat of prosecution and imprisonment) so it’s existence is not dependent on viewing figures…

         15 likes

    • EnglandExpects says:

      Perhaps that 10 per cent would like to cover the BBCs costs by a subscription for viewing while the rest of us are freed from the TV tax.

         11 likes

    • BRISSLES says:

      Just shows the mentality of Sun reading Britain when the largest viewing programme is the puerile BGT. I can just picture it, obese mum and dad with a bucket of KFC weighing down the sofa with their kids who are swilling down the Coke. I can’t go on……..

         5 likes

  20. taffman says:

    https://www.change.org/p/theresa-may-mp-free-tommy-robinson
    151,248 have signed
    Will Al Beeb report it ?
    Support the man .
    Support Freedom of Speech!

       25 likes

    • OldEngineOil says:

      Just signed myself this evening. It’s at 164,978 but of course the BBC will ignore it.

         19 likes

      • G.W.F. says:

        Just a handful short of 200,000

           10 likes

        • Fedup2 says:

          Heading for 250 000 which in Diane abbot would is nearly 3 million – or I haven’t got the numbers with me – or I don’t want to get bogged down in numbers – or I’ve been ill I’ve got diabetes you know .

             3 likes

  21. StewGreen says:

    The Breitbart story adds humour to Tommy’s sad situation
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/05/26/redacted-arrested-for-redacted-outside-redacted-leeds-crown-court-issues-media-ban
    ===============

    BTW As ever take internet pictures with a pinch of salt, and I don’t know about reporting restrictions, but a foreign site shows pictures of people looking out of court windows whilst Tommy was arrested.
    https://samnytt.se/video-medborgarjournalist-arresterad-utanfor-domstol-rapporterade-om-rattegang-mot-groominggang/

       15 likes

  22. taffman says:

    “Brexit: UK is playing hide and seek in talks, says EU negotiator”
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44266857
    Stop playing games, the Tories need to get us out now or get a new leader.
    We voted OUT two years ago and our PM is dragging her feet to buy time.
    Jacob Rees Mogg your time is now, ‘up and at em’!

       22 likes

    • EnglandExpects says:

      Watch the manoeuvres starting to evict May once the Article 50 notice expires next March. Gove being touted, Rees Mogg moves house to within 350 yards of The Palace of Westminster.

         11 likes

      • Emmanuel Goldstein says:

        I had high hopes for JRM and agree with his views on the eu however he is coming over as a bit of a paper tiger.
        He keeps backing May even though we can all see she is dithering her way to a brino.
        Being polite,very clever and right about the eu is all very well but he is lacking the killer instinct to take the power which most of us want to see him do.

        I would love to see someone like Philip Davies in the forefront.
        Full of piss and vinegar and an in your face brexiteer.

           13 likes

        • Guest Who says:

          You may have a point.

             5 likes

          • G says:

            GW,
            PM?: ‘Poisoned Chalice’?

               1 likes

            • Guest Who says:

              Certainly a well the incumbent has well and truly left barren.

                 3 likes

            • BRISSLES says:

              I would say so G ! TM gets a lot of flack – on here too, but really ? I cant remember Cameron having so much to deal with during his tenure. She’s had bombings, Grenfell, knifing atrocities, Brexit, a dire General Election, scandals, and been criticised so much that it would leave a stronger man crying into his beer. Short of the plague breaking out, I’m surprised she hasn’t gone gaga.

                 1 likes

      • G.W.F. says:

        EnglandExpects

        Word I have been hearing is that Sajid Javid is involved in talks for a peaceful transition.

           4 likes

  23. StewGreen says:

    S Times : Police prepare for Muslim extremist clashes on Anjem Choudary’s Release
    Anjem Choudary, 51, who was jailed in September 2016 for urging Muslims to support the terrorist group Isis, is expected to be released on licence in *October* halfway through his 5½-year sentence.
    Anti-terrorism officials at Scotland Yard are concerned Choudary’s release will heighten community tension, given his history of radicalising young Muslims and agitating far-right groups.

       22 likes

    • EnglandExpects says:

      This shows how ineffective our criminal justice system is in dealing with the Muslim terrorists who don’t commit the murders but incite others. It took years to convict him, he got a light sentence considering his links to so many murderers and he’s out in half the time. Will this licence really inhibit him from resuming his ways? Of course not. There’s no prospect of us defeating Muslim terrorism.

         23 likes

      • Emmanuel Goldstein says:

        EE,
        Any trouble from him (AC) and I expect plod to arrest him immediately, get him into court within the hour and send him down for 13 months with a full media blackout on this news.

           18 likes

        • Guest Who says:

          Speaking of mobile providers, this is some top media buying:

             5 likes

        • montmorency says:

          Plus of course, his very effective personal lawyer must be misinformed that he’s going to be released to ensure s/he doesn’t turn up and get in the way of justice in action.

             6 likes

      • G says:

        EE,
        I have a vivid recollection of a Sci-fi ‘Zombie’ type film in which Milla Jovovitch starred. I think it was, ‘Resident Evil’. In one passage of the underground facility being overrun by the zombies there was a corridor. As soon as flesh and blood (in the form of a human) entered this passage they were, (my expression) ‘sliced and diced’ by lasers. I retain this picture in my mind and relate that ‘passage’ to the criminal laws that have been introduced since the last World War. Fact is, that if the police take a ‘liking to you’ in their increasingly arbitrary way, you are already ‘sliced and diced’ by existing laws designed to, ‘get you, come what may’. This is exactly what’s just happened to ‘Amy’ and now TR. Expect more.
        I can only see this phase ending in bloodshed.

           10 likes

      • G says:

        EG,
        This whole ‘slide’ seems to have commenced by the introduction of Human Rights in 1953 by the ‘Council of Europe’. Whether the original signatories to it were unaware of how this area of law would develop amorphously allowing for anyone to drag it in so many previously unseen or distorted ways, or it was hijacked by the liberal left early on. From that genesis the elasticity has known no bounds.

           6 likes

      • G.W.F. says:

        Sajid Javid, Moslem Home Secretary, supporting his own kind.
        Choudary might even be awarded freedom of the city of London.

           7 likes

      • Demon says:

        It beggars belief that those who argue against terrorism and invasion are banned from coming into the UK, whereas we are not deporting this unquestionably evil man. I don’t care if he has a British passport, he hates this country and all of its values. He is therefore not British.

        On the day of his release take him in a paddy wagon and stick him on the next flight to Karachi or wherever he’s from. Worry about the legal repercussions later. In fact don’t worry about them, just ignore them and treat any lawyers who fight for this scum in the same way as the journalist Tommy Robinson.

        It’s time to treat the alt-left fascists in the same way they are treating decent citizens now. Their gloves are off, we need to do the same before it’s too late.

           15 likes

  24. StewGreen says:

    middle of Rod Liddle’s column
    \\ No defence for West Yorks plod
    The English Defence League founder, Tommy Robinson, turned up in Leeds on Friday to film people going into the trial of several Asian men accused of “grooming” white girls.
    He did not speak, chant, accost anyone or do anything but point his phone at attendees from a distance.
    Still, several coppers bundled him into a police van, accusing him of a breach of the peace.
    I’m not remotely a fan of the unpleasant Robinson.
    But wouldn’t it have been lovely if West Yorkshire police had acted with as much rigour and alacrity when, in an earlier case, they were told of the horrific sexual assaults taking place on their patch? //

       58 likes

    • MartinW says:

      Good and sensible views, as ever, by Rod Liddle. The only thing I disagree with is the appellation ‘unpleasant’. Robinson was unpleasant, but he is a reformed character and to me now seems nice enough.

         18 likes

      • Alicia Sinclair says:

        Thanks to our friend here who`s posted Tommys talk with James Delingpole.
        Robinson is growing into a giant, his take on Army Recruitment, Mark Rowley, the flip flop nature of the Mail etc -as well as telling us that 27 out of 29 on trial in Leeds aree Muslims, 8 called Muhammad.
        He`s been doing his homework, has papers with the CPS and the media about how h`e being used as a scapegoat and fall guy for Common Purpose.
        Do listen stuff the snobs like Liddle, and(dare I say) Oxbridge toffs like Delingpole, good as he is to put this out.
        My vicar said nothing today over coffee about this too-expect a call from the police myself at this rate.

           2 likes

  25. Loobyloo says:

    The young Welsh Muslim women gaining confidence http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-44195275
    It never stops! See if you can get past the first sentence.

       19 likes

    • EricW says:

      Second story includes this gem.

      “We’re not oppressed and if a Muslim woman doesn’t talk, it’s not because of her religion, it’s because she is shy or quiet or scared of being called a terrorist.”

      So we are the ones silencing muslim women? I should have known. Nothing to do with fundamentalist fanatics at all.

      Words fail

         20 likes

  26. Moodswing6 says:

    Loobyloo the headline was enough for me.

       18 likes

  27. Dover Sentry says:

    BBC Online News ( Box Ticking Par Excellence ).

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-africa-44216461/i-want-to-be-the-first-wheelchair-user-in-space

    “”In his own words, Eddie Ndopu is “unapologetically brilliant, black, queer and disabled”.””

    …..and he wants to be the first wheelchair user in space. He’s destined for any job he wants in the Christian western world. But not elsewhere.

       22 likes

  28. Guest Who says:

    The state broadcaster of the United Kingdom knows what’s what (and, of course, what’s not, including to be talked about).

       6 likes

  29. EnglandExpects says:

    A man can get arrested on false charges and have a suspended prison sentence enforced, all within a few hours. And the government doesn’t want anyone to know about it. This is chilling and shows what kind of state we now live in. The states determination to protect Muslim offenders and to shut down debate on islamification of Britain is going to make the fight back very difficult.

       53 likes

    • G says:

      EE,
      I have a different ‘take’ on it.

      I see this Tommy Robinson (et al. e.g. ‘Amy’) affair differently. There is no doubt in my mind that the Western World is under attack from those ‘Western Leaders’ who, mistakenly, wish to islamicise the West. without any debate. Hence the total silence on what is the object, process and final end game. The draconian laws they now put in place is merely the beginnings of the same laws in, for example, Saudi Arabia. All designed to, ‘keep the lid’ on the public before the introduction of Sharia. A slow exposure to what’s coming. They are being surreptitiously introduced piecemeal doubtless by agreement with the UN and Saudi Arabia which has been financing most of the transition. Expect more because islamisation will need the sorts of control exercised in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East. Women watch out: they will be coming for you soon…………..

         22 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        2 days before TR arrest
        That’s weird Real Based Amy gets a cop opening her house window from outside , not knocking, she grabs her video camera and so catches the cops coming in and roughly arresting her .
        Only to then release her 10 hours later .. uncharged.
        They’d arrested her for PCJ on the grounds that after police had asked for her story on “Have a gay day”, she gone back to ask the witness what was going on and why he’d now given a weird story

           3 likes

  30. Jeff says:

    On a slightly less serious vein, regarding the Irish abortion result.
    Do you think we’ll be hearing that the Russians had a hand in it?
    Maybe Facebook…
    Will Gina Miller be sticking her snout into the debate?
    I wonder what Anna Soubrey makes of it.
    We’re bound to discover that people were lied to; facts were “manipulated”.
    Some folk have said that men shouldn’t have been allowed to vote because we’re unlikely? to need an abortion.
    And yet the Irish Prime minister, Leo Varadkar, is gay, so why’s he even taking part in the debate?
    No, the whole thing is a complete mess.
    Quite clearly there’s only one thing to do.
    A second referendum…

       31 likes

  31. Oldspeaker says:

    Any chance of
    https://www.change.org/p/theresa-may-mp-free-tommy-robinson
    getting its own thread, preferably pinned at the top of the menu?

       14 likes

    • Roland Deschain says:

      Now at 187,000.

         10 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Old – it crossed my mind but I thought I’d leave it to D Vance or Rufus as I don’t want this site to fall foul of any retribution by those with the power to do that to mr Tommy xxxxxxson

         11 likes

      • montmorency says:

        Fed, completely respect your desire to protect the site – but can somebody explain, a legal eagle perhaps, why it is ‘forbidden’ to be talking about TR? He’s been tried, sentenced and he’s in gaol, so how is this sub judice? Genuinely confused.

           13 likes

        • StewGreen says:

          See the Ezra Levant video
          Since he’s based in Canada he explains the full thing
          The second trial had finished the third one start in Sept
          Maybe best leave Tommy issues to off shore based weblogs cos of the way UK based Antifa are so vicious and don’t hesitate to cheat.

             2 likes

          • montmorency says:

            I hope you’re being ironic Stew. Understand the reporting restriction on the ‘alleged’ rapists, which is ongoing because they’ve had to group them to try them, still don’t understand the restrictions on reporting on the done deal of TR in the clink. No reason for us not to talk about it right here in the UK.

               1 likes

  32. Guest Who says:

    The politico-media establishment has a bit of a credibility problem looming.

    https://twitter.com/imamofpeace/status/1000495544895078400?s=21

    Variable proportionality issues can apply elsewhere, BBC.

       49 likes

  33. Marion says:

    Somebody posted a YouTube video recently of a couple of fly tippers caught red-handed.

    Just came across this:

    Bradford tops worst fly-tipping list:

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/965624/bradford-fly-tipping-tops-worst-list

    The video is included in the article.

    No doubt West Yorkshire Police are trying to blame Tommy Robinson.

       35 likes

    • Tabs says:

      A great example of cultural enrichment bringing their #shithole country with them.

      I’ve think I’ve mentioned before here that if you search for a postcode of a Mosque then look up that local area with Google Street View you will see rubbish, mattresses, weeds, uncut lawns and other crap dumped in their gardens and their local area.

      An Google Street View example here, just 400m from Bradford’s Al-Jamia Suffa-Tul-Islam Grand Mosque
      Street view link

      and another

         24 likes

    • Jeff says:

      I heard it was all down to Brexit!

         8 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      At the very least tipping off the BBC Blue Thunder unit.

         2 likes

  34. fakenewswatcher says:

    The BBC has been elated at the Irish abortion referendum result; it has dominated all their news bulletins for the last two days. As usual, they (and YES voters) have hijacked language.
    If you are a ‘NO’ voter, you must surely be ‘against women’ who are supposed to have control ‘over their own bodies’. So it’s apparently not about killing the bodies that are alive within the bodies of women when they are pregnant.
    I guess the aged will be next. They too, will be in the way. So get rid of them?
    The BBC has lost not time spearheading the campaign for a similar outcome in Northern Ireland. ‘Senior women MPs’ have as well, at Westminster, they hasten to report. You can feel a big campaign coming on. Poor Ms May.
    I’m sure she would like to burnish her ‘progressive’ credentials, but in Northern Ireland she has a problem. And that could put her out of power.
    At the moment, Paddy O Connel is pouring out his poison on’ Broadcast house’. Like the rest of the BBC, he is celebrating this as a moment of ‘great enlightenment’. And, like the rest of the BBC, he has seen the opportunity of using this issue to undermine the government, reliant as it is on DUP votes. And the latter don’t want to be bullied by the ‘liberal’ media.

       29 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Clearly an issue of importance and interest.

      It has been noticed that the scenes of wild celebration and joy seem somewhat at odds with the actual circumstances.

      Very odd, in fact.

         26 likes

      • fakenewswatcher says:

        Very odd indeed. Who would have thought that being given the opportunity to murder the unborn on demand would lead to such scenes of wild celebration?
        Quiet reflection may have been expected, after the ‘great victory’.
        But no…

           40 likes

  35. thirdoption says:

    Why are the BBC and the other left-wing media outlets using pictures of young woman cheering and hugging each other after the Irish abortion vote?

    Are they all pregnant and now able to terminate? Are they all unable to obtain conventional contraception and are now looking forward to having sex for the first time, knowing that they can pop down to the local clinic when they get tubbed?

       28 likes

  36. theisland says:

    Petition update (now over 203K) by Mark Dimberline:

    “I would ask that you all sign and share a new petition, set up to help keep Tommy safe in prison

    https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/220809/sponsors/new?token=6HSJ07E1lEDXuDBsTRon

    Jonathan Wong’s petition:
    Provide Prison Protection to Tommy Robinson (Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon)
    Highly polarising activist Tommy Robinson has just begun his prison sentence, where his safety is in jeopardy due to his political views. We hereby petition for him to be segregated, thereby protecting his right to life under Article 2 of The Human Rights Act, for the duration of his sentence.”

    When you click the link to Jonathan Wong’s petition it reveals it is being checked to see if it meets the petition standards and to try again in a few days. Huh.
    https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/220809/moderation-info

       17 likes

  37. wronged says:

    Somebody tell me why Prime Minister May won’t throw the border problem back into the hands of the EU.
    We need to say- we won’t put a border there so it is up to you to put one up if that’s what you want.

    JRM this morning reaffirmed this morning on BBC Marr programme just how weak she is in refusing to play this very important card which would play to our benefit.

    Is she completely dim?
    We are Eire’s largest trading partner, of course they’re going to cave into this.

    She is so incompetent. No doubt taking bedtime anti Brexit advice from Remainer husband cityboy Phil.

       39 likes

    • Lobster says:

      We all thought John Major was useless, but she takes it to a whole new level.

         26 likes

    • G.W.F. says:

      wronged

      I think more attention should be paid to her city boy husband.
      Does he still say Hello Playmates?

      Co9qjtHXgAA1Z3s.jpg

         7 likes

  38. Alex says:

    I am getting sick and tired of the establishment-controlled media ignoring immigration and health tourism in debates about why the NHS is collapsing. I mean how f******** stupid do they think we are? Do they seriously think that the public aren’t aware of the devastating impact unfettered immigration is having in our public services? We’re being treated like primary school pupils. Stop unskilled immigration, deport illegals, stop foreign aid, privatise the bbc and then we’ll see how the nhs fares.

    While we at it, deport the vile Liebour Party too!

       48 likes

    • wronged says:

      Alex, spot on.
      ‘I am getting sick and tired of the establishment-controlled media ignoring immigration and health tourism in debates about why the NHS is collapsing’

      EU countries are some of the worst offenders of health tourism. This country always pays up, EU countries have never been very good at the reciprocation. They need to pay up.

      …and let’s not forget how much the buyers for the NHS are paying exhorbitant amounts for drugs which other retailers charge for next to nothing.

         25 likes

    • Ian Rushlow says:

      It is not so much that they think we are stupid (although they do), it’s more that they simply do not care about what the majority population think or want. However, eventually a tipping point will come. Consider the collapse of the Soviet Union. There were numerous reasons for this, but one factor was that the disconnect between reality and the propaganda became too obvious by the mid-80s and people knew they were being lied to. Sitting in front of their television sets watching Vremya (state news) at 9.00pm each night, they could not fail to notice that the world of plenty it depicted had no resemblance to their daily experience of shortages, empty shops and hardship. Once you get a trigger event: one foreign adventure gone wrong; one government scandal too far; one terrorist atrocity too great; one martyr too many (Tommy Robinson), then the edifice can come crashing down.

         31 likes

      • wronged says:

        I watched the Sunday Politics programme today.
        I never realised the government acronym Customs and Regulations Alignment Period would be so accurate.
        It reads
        CRAP

        And these people lead us. Blood and sand.

           26 likes

      • NameNotNumber says:

        Ian, they certainly do think we’re stupid. As Edward Lucas wrote in his Saturday review of David Runciman’s book ‘How Democracy Ends’ for the Times yesterday:
        ‘Recent electoral upsets, such as Brexit, can be blamed on wicked people winning by lying to stupid people’. In a nutshell, Lucas thinks that the majority of those who voted in the referendum are stupid. It seems to me that Lucas is a prime example of ‘arrogance personified’ and a typical representative of the entrenched elite he purports to oppose.

           25 likes

    • G says:

      Alex,
      But last week, it was all the fault of ageing. Nothing more. No mention of the millions of immigrants from economies where there is virtually no health system so they all pile in on arrival to get all the issues they have sorted. Prime example: FGM.

         12 likes

  39. Guest Who says:

    Is there anything the dead hand of the BBC cannot drag down?

    https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2018/05/27/bbcs-climate-change-and-me-series-blasted-by-booker/

       11 likes

  40. BRISSLES says:

    We are all aware that the advertising industry has to show a 50/50 split of b/w in our everyday life. Sadly this hasn’t reached the Chelsea Flower Show !! Twitter has gone into melt down with the usual cries of ‘waycist’, because some poor old sod, – a photographer commissioned by the Guardian, has indicated that its mainly ‘old England’ with perms and dresses who attend the show, and few BAME’s that he’s seen. Apparently the RHS are trying to do something about the lack of diversity in the horticultural industry.

    Er, really ? how are they going to do that then ? Growing ‘stuff’ is alien to them, unless its something that can be smoked. Hands up those who have seen a BAME own an allotment, and how many wander around our garden centres, cos I’ve never seen any. The same at Crufts – brown people do not have animals as pets, and no amount of living here for generations will make them change.

    Lovely team picture on Countryfile though, a black, brown and a mixed race who doubles up as a sports reporter, so they must feel out of place, despite hard pushing of the BBC.

    The Twitterati ought to just shut up, because they couldn’t see the truth if it bit them on the arse !

       35 likes

    • imaynotalwaysloveyou says:

      I was always bad at biology, especially botany..but aren’t there any exotic black or brown flowers they could carpet the entire show with – to show ‘solidarity’ ? They could at least sack anyone white connected to the event.

         9 likes

      • Despairada says:

        Chocolate cosmos is brown and actually smells chocolately! It’s a good plant to have one or two of as a novelty. Chidren are amused at the smell. You wouldn’t want to plant the whole garden with it though.

           4 likes

    • G says:

      Brissles,
      I recall seeing a BBC trailer for some programme where we see the BAME in majority tending allotments. Surely if its broadcast by the BBC its a true reflection?

         4 likes

  41. Eddy Booth says:

    s3doc8ot.jpg

       25 likes

  42. AsISeeIt says:

    The weather forecast will be mixed… …mixed race

    BBC Weather Watchers have previously been busy sending those not-so-subtle racial messages – you must have seen the smiley asian woman in her sunny garden next door to her glum middle-aged white male neighbour under his raincloud.

    Well now we have the BAME Broadcasting Corporation’s Weather Watcher family. Black father, white mother and mixed-race son.

    This sort of propaganda is particularly potent as it is so hard to challenge without the inevitable cry of ‘racist!’

    In fact it is almost designed to provoke reaction: either the approving purring lefty liberal reaction; or a sullen silent but resigned acknowledgment of the inevitable.

    In this way the BBC is free to relentlessly chip away at the psyche and soul of the nation until (they hope) – like that awful Blue Mink song – we’re a great big melting pot turning out coffee-coloured people by the score…

       23 likes

    • Pat..original says:

      Have you seen our esteemed broadcaster’s pic on their Homepage illustrating last night’s storms? What else!
      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44269304

         11 likes

      • Ian Rushlow says:

        Decidedly Islamophobic – someone at the BBC has clearly made a cockup. Clearly shows God – our one, the real one – sending down lightning to destroy the heathen building.

           9 likes

    • G says:

      Al,
      Simply don’t watch.

         3 likes

    • BRISSLES says:

      …we’re a great big melting pot turning out coffee-coloured people by the score……

      I remember being told in the early 1970s, that unless migration is halted, we shall all end up being a khaki coloured peoples. Here we are, nearly 50 years later, and despite being a 70/30 nation, we ain’t far there !!

         7 likes

      • Alicia Sinclair says:

        We still allowed to sing that one Brissles?
        One very dated line about the Chinese as I recall.
        Fancy being the new Abba with me hun?

           1 likes

        • BRISSLES says:

          Oky dokey, although we might be banned from singing this which we should put on Twitter and watch the fall out 🙂

          “Curly Latin kinkies
          Mixed with yellow Chinkees
          If you lump it all together
          Well, you got a recipe for a get along scene….”

          and then there’s this……….

          “Brown girl in the ring
          Tra la la la la
          Look that brown girl in the ring
          Tra la la la la la
          Brown girl in the ring
          Tra la la la la
          She looks like a sugar in a plum
          Plum plum”

          I never did get what a sugar in a plum was.

             2 likes

  43. theisland says:

       40 likes

    • AsISeeIt says:

      ‘…disgraceful headline from @BBCNews…’

      At least the BBC are letting us know exactly where they stand. In a sense their increasingly blatant bias is self-defeating. They take the left liberals along with them of course but the BBC will increasingly lose the middle gound as that legendary BBC trustworthyness is thrown to the wind.

         20 likes

    • ray_f says:

      It’s not a bbc web page. It’s made to look like one. The page design copies an old BBC design from several years ago, and has no links to other bbc stories. They are obvious clues to anyone. the bbc.com instead of bbc.co.uk in the web address is another clue. It’s a single web page with links to the BBC web site. It’s an example of how easily people can be fooled, and has dangerous connotations, eg handing over bank details, passwords etc. Before accepting a web page is real, always triple check the details

      Here is the spoof
      https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/uk-england-south-yorkshire-44208512
      Here is a real BBC page
      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-44271127

      See the subtle differences. It’s no different from spoof twitter users. I think the /amp/ is also a throwback to how the bbc used to store its web pages.
      Try https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/ you get a 404 error.
      Type https://www.bbc.com/news/ it will redirect you to https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

      That’s not to say the story isn’t true. In fact, it most certainly is. But would the bbc really bring attention to another muslim paedo court case anyway? would they report something that is clearly anti-muslim?

         11 likes

      • ray_f says:

        The fact that leave.EU has fallen for it proves my point about checking the validity of a source.

           5 likes

        • theisland says:

          ray
          I just found this
          http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-44208512
          Looks ok?
          I agree about checking sources.

             6 likes

          • ray_f says:

            Now that’s real. I stand corrected. Holy shit, the BBC are that bad!
            Rotherham child sexual abuse claim ‘made up to boost EDL cause’ says the BBC
            I think the BBC just needs to die! Can they stoop any lower? I notice the report is anonymous as usual.

               17 likes

            • montmorency says:

              Utterly disgraceful. Our national broadcaster undermining the credibility of the witness and by implication suggesting that there is no rape scandal, it’s all made up by the EDL. Even by BBC standards this is sickening. They should be utterly ashamed.

                 13 likes

              • Tabs says:

                The BBC hate anything British or patriotic such as the English Defense League or UKIP.

                In this case they have descended to a new low. I’d put in a complaint but the BBC would only respond with their standard “we made a balanced article where the reader could decide the facts”.

                   7 likes

                • Alicia Sinclair says:

                  I`ve got my potatoes on as I write this.
                  Coming to a rolling boil, and I think that is what happening at the moment.
                  On the day an English patriot gets ghosted to jail-and lets hope nothing happens to him eh Sajiv? Theresa? Amber?
                  The BBC glory in Irish girls being able to kill more foetuses-and THAT is their news.
                  As I say, a rolling boil-I foresee rivers of jus this summer…
                  Noticing too that it`s been harder to get his sausages these last few weeks at Tescos.
                  Bet that`s Islam compliance coming, I sense that his booze runs will be getting harder to do for Qatar 2022.
                  Russia will be his last chance in a few weeks, I fear…are we still going after what they did in Salisbury-and, if so, why?
                  To keep Lineker in a job is it?

                     4 likes

            • StewGreen says:

              FYI BBC.com is a BBc official website usually for overseas
              https://www.newssniffer.co.uk is a tool for checking BBC edits
              – as is https://twitter.com/bbc_diff
              Both fail to see any edits to this story

                 2 likes

    • ToobiWan says:

      From the article’s tweets.
      Stitch up of massive proportions?
      DeMlkMLW4AAO1pv.jpg

         11 likes

      • Roland Deschain says:

        If that turns out to be true would it not be attempting to pervert the course of justice?

           7 likes

        • Guest Who says:

          “It’s something they might have thought they could get away with”

          paraphrased (c) BBC Editorial Guidelines.

             3 likes

          • montmorency says:

            Exactly. If the BBC with a global audience of millions can name the defendant mid-trial and put a slant on court proceedings which seems to demonstrate sympathy with the defence and undermine the witness, a child sex abuse case no less, how has TR erred so badly? It seems to be down to a technicality to do with precinct, for which his sentence seems harsh especially given that he clarified his physical position with the police at the time and they gave him the nod. Any half-decent lawyer could have wrestled with that, if his half-decent lawyer hadn’t been deceived to keep her from defending him. Starting to feel like a set-up.

               0 likes

  44. Lucy Pevensey says:

    Wikipedia shamefully describes Tommy Robinson as “far right” as though it’s fact.

    I suggest this alternative.
    http://www.conservapedia.com/Free_speech

    Free speech
    Free speech is the right to express your opinions out loud, in public or private, in print, by mail, or online. It is essential to democracy, and along with the right to keep and bear arms is the greatest deterrent to tyranny. The United States is unique in protecting a full right of free political speech under the First Amendment.

    Leftists are the biggest opponents of free speech, as they demand liberal censorship of views they do not like, especially Christian, patriot, conservative, or libertarian ones. Such views are often demonized in the liberal media with its media bias. Ironically, however, Leftists used free speech to orchestrate the French Revolution by publishing damaging lies against King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette,[1] as well as ensure the promotion and domination of destructive ideologies such as Communism and Socialism during the Free Speech Movement of 1964. Generally, the Left only favors free speech when it is convenient to them, but they are quick to demand that anyone who simply disagrees with their views and opinions be stripped of the right to free speech and, in violation of the First Amendment, illegally try to do so through corrupt liberal public officials and leftist activists with the use of deceit (including false claims of “hate speech”[2]), threats, intimidation and criminal tactics.[3][4][5][6] In fact, federal law makes it illegal for anyone to conspire to suppress free speech or any other freedoms enjoyed by the public under the Constitution or federal law,[6] although leftists in the public sphere have gone out of their way to ignore such laws as not being convenient to their goals.

    Free speech is threatened by “hate speech” codes favored by the Left which define certain types of statements as “hate crimes” (as defined by liberal politicians). While supposedly protecting vulnerable groups (such as “questioning gay teens”) from verbal abuse, rules and laws provide no clear distinction between “hurtful” speech and simply expressing one’s opinion. Religious people, accordingly, worry that hate crimes legislation in America will be used to stop preachers and others from saying out loud or in print that homosexuality is evil.

    Not every form of expression is protected as free speech. For example, statements connected with unlawful conduct are typically illegal.

    They have an entry concerning TR on the page under:
    ‘Examples of restrictions and/or censorship of free speech in the West’

    Despite allowing Jihadists who had joined ISIS re-enter the country, in 2018, the United Kingdom banned several conservative activists from entering simply because of their views.[20]

    Conservative journalist and activist Tommy Robinson was illegally arrested on May 26, 2018 for filming members of an alleged Islamic child grooming gang as they entered a court for trial, and the judge presiding over his case illegally ordered all details related to his arrest and trial, including his identity, to be banned from being published by the country’s media.[21] In response to the illegal actions of the police and the corrupt judge who sentenced Robinson, the politicians standing behind those actions and the liberal media complicitly covering for them by their refusal to report on both the trial and on Robinson’s illegal arrest, thousands of British citizens have begun protesting outside of British Prime Minister Theresa May’s residence at 10 Downing Street in London and outside the British Parliament to demand Robinson’s release.

       16 likes

    • G says:

      Surely Wikipedia is an amalgam of contributors. So someone got there first.

         4 likes

  45. theisland says:

    Apologies for another tweet but this is important

    It looks like private prosecutions are the way to go (funds permitting of course).

       36 likes

    • G says:

      theisland,
      Problem with private prosecutions is the fact that the ‘State’ can decided to take over the case at any point. Aka. ‘bin it’ or re-engineer it……………..

         5 likes

  46. Skeldings says:

    An interesting piece in this morning’s Mail on Sunday in which Peter Hitchens introduces a different perspective to the recent controversy over the claims of alleged bullying by Speaker Bercow. Unfortunately I am not technically competent to provide a link to the piece.
    I am no particular fan of Mr Bercow, considering him achingly politically correct (recall his appalling words over the proposed visit of President Trump) and undoubtedly possessed of an annoyingly bumptious personality.
    Hitchens points out, however, that he has been one of the few Speakers of modern times who has made great efforts to bring power and influence back to the House of Commons and to hold an over-mighty Executive to account. These efforts have met with at least modest success and Secretaries of State have been required to attend the House and explain decisions and answer difficult questions in ways that other Speakers have not been so rigorous about.
    What has this to do with BBC bias? Only that for several evenings Newsnight’s Policy Editor Chris Cook ran a number of interviews with people who had been subjected to alleged bullying, shouting and so forth by Mr Speaker, even including a former Black Rod; but at no point in Mr Cook’s reports was anything said about any aspects of Mr Speaker’s work which reflected anything positive about his role in returning the House of Commons to the primacy in British political life which it should enjoy and as it should have done since Speaker Lenthall.
    It seems to me that this is, once again, bias by omission on the part of the BBC: something of which it is guilty all too often.

       10 likes

  47. Thatcherrevolutionary says:

    No expert on abortion, or really any firm opinion on it, no experience of it.
    But given the BBC’s reaction to the vote in Ireland, I now automatically assume their position is the wrong one.

       15 likes

    • Roland Deschain says:

      If I’d had a vote I probably would have voted Yes.

      Because my automatic reaction is also to assume that the BBC’s position must be wrong, I find myself disappointed at the result.

         3 likes

  48. scribblingscribe says:

    Curious table from our friends in the EU:

    http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=File:Current_healthcare_expenditure,_2015_FP18a.png

    As a percentage of GDP the UK spends 9.9% on health care, more than countries such as Spain, Italy and Portugal. We are slightly behind the expenditure of France and Germany, both at 11%.

    But here is the intriguing point: Comparing Euros spent per inhabitant, the UK figure of 3913 is higher than France and just slightly lower than Germany at 4140.

    Now Germany and France have health systems that work perfectly. So why doesn’t the NHS? What is the one difference between the state run UK system and the professionally run European systems?
    Current_healthcare_expenditure%2C_2015_FP18a.png

       17 likes

    • ToobiWan says:

      I wonder what proportion of “managers”, bean counters, seat polishers, zampolits, et al, exist in the world class NHS, compared to health services in other countries?

         15 likes

    • Doublethinker says:

      Scribble,
      There is often a flaw in these health care comparisons, a flaw which makes the NHS appear more efficient than it really is. Because France and Germany have quasi private providers of health care they have to pay local taxes on their buildings and of course insurance etc etc. but the NHS doesnt. If it did have to pay these charges then UK spending would increase appreciably and further narrow the spending gap between Uk and France and Germany. Of course the gap in quality of care would remain.

         5 likes

    • EnglandExpects says:

      Sooner or later a government is going to have admit that the problem isn’t primarily money, but the inefficiency of the nhs as a health service deliverer. What other service where markets clearly work is delivered by a public sector monopoly and why do other countries not use the nhs model?

         5 likes