559 Responses to Midweek 19th July 2023

  1. Yasser Dasmibehbi says:

    Three by-elections! Reform score 3.7 in Selby and Ainsty, 3.4 in Somerset and Frome and Laurence Fox for reclaim snatches 2.3%.

    Something is dreadfully wrong with the Reform Party. It was supposedly polling 10% nationally. My fear is that it is very resistant to the idea of becoming a mass party. There is no desire to have a ‘peoples army’ which Farage used to promote the rise of Ukip back in the good old days.
    Europe is swinging to the populist right big time. Britain despite being invaded daily, votes for Left loonies.
    Did Reform bother to campaign with boots on the ground in the constituencies, or was that considered too plebian?
    Anybody know?

       25 likes

    • Scroblene says:

      Yes, I’ve been pondering this as well, Yasser…

      My only bet will be to vote for an alternative crowd we have in Tunbridge Wells, known as ‘The Alliance’, as the Conservatives got knobbled by them at the local elections a couple of years ago, and nobody with any sense votes for any of the others!

      Neither Senora O’Blene or I want to vote Conservative any more, they’re making a mockery of our immigration fiasco, and our shores – and taxes – get the brunt of all these illegals pinching everything we want for our own county’s people.

      I really haven’t a clue what Reform or the equivalent around here wants to do – perhaps if they’re reading this, they could get out and about a bit…

         24 likes

    • Thoughtful says:

      Britain unlike other nations is effectively a one party state and although the other parties are notionally tolerated they cannot gain any realistic traction.

      There is little point in voting when what ever you choose is going to make so little difference anyway that it’s pointless.

      Fox doesn’t help himself by pulling stupid stunts like calling some lunatic drag queen a paedo and then losing a libel case, or setting fire to pride flags.

         6 likes

  2. Guest Who says:

    BBC and politics.

    And politicians.

    The irony of saying ‘playing to their own base’ on a restricted thread that gets almost no engagement bar a few groupies should see the old bat on QT for perpetuity.

       22 likes

  3. Guest Who says:

       18 likes

  4. Guest Who says:

    One reaction per hour in 20 hrs.

    Not all positive.

       18 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Weather Channel Responds To Claims Reporter Was Faking Coverage Of Hurricane Florence

         6 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      @GuestWho the @Naplaus tweet has been deleted
      What was it ?
      was it mockng BBC temperature tweet by showing the Pharmacy neon sign in Corsica reads 32C whilst the TV reads 42C ?

      The observation temp did reach 42.8C apparently but not for long cos the 4pm temp was above 42C just and 5pm was 41.6C

      https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F1lkqyxXwAALHtD?format=png&name=orig

         0 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        Right now in the WOW website No active station is shown for Corsica
        one in a Sardinia station reads 39C
        another 3 miles away reads 34C (its name is the Latin for hills)

           0 likes

  5. Guest Who says:

    Six reactions in 21 hrs. Only comment seems to be spam.

       8 likes

  6. Guest Who says:

    It is pathetic. No one rational cares.

       9 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      NEW IDEAS FROM LABOUR…

      Labour conference: Wrong to say that only women have a cervix, says Keir Starmer
      MP Rosie Duffield staying away from Brighton gathering over online threats

      Andrew Woodcock
      Political Editor
      Sunday 26 September 2021 13:54

         7 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      LISA NANDY … MONEY MAKER … NOVEL WRITER …

      1. Employment and earnings
      Payments received from Harper Collins Publishers, 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF:
      17 November 2022, received £5,000 royalty payments for writing a book. Hours: approx.100 hrs between February 2021 and October 2022. (Registered 23 December 2022)

      https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/24831/lisa_nandy/wigan#register

      Name of donor: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
      Address of donor: The Chandlery, 50 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7QY
      Estimate of the probable value (or amount of any donation): For me and a member of staff, flights, in-country transport, accommodation, translation and meals, total value £2,800
      Destination of visit: Berlin and Thuringia, Germany
      Dates of visit: 6-8 July 2022
      Purpose of visit: Participation in a German-British dialogue programme.
      (Registered 05 August 2022; updated 12 August 2022)

         5 likes

  7. Guest Who says:

    20hrs, 1 comment.

    The cumulative staff salary: audience ratio is impressive.

       6 likes

  8. Guest Who says:

    3 likes.

    Lucky the funding is ‘unique’, and from here.

       5 likes

    • JohnC says:

      The big question is why they are making such a big story about it.

      I wouldn’t even care if he was English.

      It’s being rammed down our throats for reasons not yet revealed. It seems like the classic BBC trick of softening us up to support the real agenda piece. No doubt the next follow-on story will give us a clue.

         16 likes

  9. Fedup2 says:

    Today watch
    The bbc loved bi elections . It was put out the ‘big guns ‘ -comrade Robinson and the Asian bloke assuming a blue labour wipe out . But it didn’t happen

    I got it wrong too . I knew ULEZ was unpopular but didn’t realise it would allow blue tories – sadly – to keep the seat .

    So the comrades in the BBC are muted . The emir of londonistan will be keeping his head down . I bet he’d been ready to have his 4×4 convoy turn up to crow about his ULEZ .

    Some predicted that the result would be ‘honours even’ – which sadly is what it is .

    Meanwhile – anyone seen Simon jack ? Is he in the same ward at Huw ? Will he apologise to mr farage . I bet the sh-t doesn’t …

       24 likes

  10. Guest Who says:

    2 comments.

       10 likes

    • JohnC says:

      I see ‘Radio Solent’ are upholding the BBC values of sexist discrimination in their recruitment.

      But where are the BAME ?. Questions will be asked.

         12 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        John I don’t see that sexist Radio Solent recruitment advert you mention
        but I do see a recent totally frivolous sexist case.
        It’s their weird mentality an assistant producer mentions the word leprechaun once
        and the Irish presenter starts suing for racism 1.5 years later.

        An Irish radio host has unsuccessfully tried to sue the BBC after his colleague branded him a leprechaun after he posted a saying in Gaelic.
        David Hedges claimed he had been subjected to racist abuse at BBC Radio Solent in Southampton after an assistant editor there commented the in his eyes ‘racist’ message on a social media post Hedges created three years ago.
        He sued the BBC and said at the resulting employment tribunal that he had posted a picture of an Irish landscape, captioned with a saying in Gaelic.

        Hedges’ colleague reportedly asked him: ‘Is that the call of a leprechaun?’ – a mystical figure often pictured with a cocked hat, a leather apron and a crock of gold -, which upset the radio host.

        However, Hodges only filed an official complaint after 18 months had passed, which was rejected.

           1 likes

    • digg says:

      Gravy train running out of gravy with 500,000 less license fee payers. These folks need to go looking for a real job now!

         4 likes

  11. JohnC says:

    BBC headlines:

    ‘Bruising by-election results for Tories after two losses’

    ‘Labour loss in Uxbridge blamed on Ulez expansion’

    Totally different tone between the two and absolutely sums up the political reporting of the BBC for the last few years.

    Luckily for them, OFCOM are full of the same type of people.

    If anyone really wanted to prove the bias of the BBC, they would do a survey of the political preferences of all their employees.

    I am absolutely certain they would be <10% right wing.

    Which of course is why they never will.

       27 likes

  12. Fedup2 says:

    Today
    Just a reminder of how poor Uk politics is with Fick Ang turning up to cheer for their pretty modest bi elections . She blames the government for not funding the scrapage scheme that their boy Khan is forcing on us Londoners .

    She seems not to know that ULEZ is a labour tax. £12.50 a day for using ‘unapproved’ cars – like mine .

    Labour would do well to bury khan and fick ang as they remind decent people of what red labour really is .

    I understand that the reform party – whatever that is – got nothing . They need Farage or will get no where .

       23 likes

  13. JohnC says:

    Cluster bombs: Ukraine using munitions ‘effectively’, says US
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66262164

    I see the BBC are now pro-cluster bombs. It’s all good news according to this article.

    The only good thing about these bombs is that they have shown just what complete hypocrites the Left are. Everything the BBC say is driven by their own agenda and can change overnight if it suits them.

    Not an ethic to be seen.

    The most important line in that article is swiftly brushed over:

    ‘Putin said his country had similar weapons and they would be used “if they are used against us”.’

    Unrestricted cluster bomb warfare. With the BBC’s support.

    You can be confident that in the years to come as civilians and children get legs blown off, the BBC will have forgotten their support and will be blaming everybody else.

       21 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      ‘Some might say ‘ that the need to use cluster bombs suggest desperation on behalf of Ukraine …… and it is a bit much for the BBC – always on its high moral ground – being uncritical of the use of such ‘banned ‘ weaponry .

      Elsewhere …. Rice exports banned in India – wheat exports banned by putin in Ukraine – doesn’t bare well for falling food prices and thus inflation …..

         14 likes

  14. tomo says:

    The new David Attenborough opines on the Farage affair

       28 likes

  15. tomo says:

    I wonder how many other instances of this there are out there today?

    Selective-reporting.png[/url]

       14 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Omission is the greatest lie

         6 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      BBC also did the fakenews claim that Reform didn’t beat the LibDems

         14 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        YOUR COMPLAINT:

        President Trump’s 100 Days President Biden’s 0 Day 

        Dear Winston Smith in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth,

        You covered President Trump’s 100 Days and then produced a Beyond 100 Days to hold power to account.

        Why have you not done the same for President Biden to hold power to account?

        ‘Omission is the greatest form of lie.’ 

        ———-

        Thank you again for contacting us,

        BBC Complaints Team
        http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

           3 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        “Sky listing the Uxbridge results in the order they wished had happened!

        1 second placed Labour first
        2 the Conservative win,
        3 the fifth placed Lib Dems,
        4 the third Greens
        5 the fourth placed Reclaim party!
        .. https://twitter.com/AKAMaryPalmer/status/1682265152911990784

           11 likes

  16. Fedup2 says:

    Today
    An ex BBC comrade called Paul mason ( mental issues ) pops up with a screwy Corbyn style message about red labour having to go Very Far Left .
    Looking for evidence of BBC Far Left bias ?2 words – Paul Mason …

       17 likes

  17. Flotsam says:

    Anyone noticed the cancellation of the Norfolk offshore wind farm project?
    When I Googled offshore wind farm cancellation I found it’s a worldwide phenomena.
    The facts are that offshore wind farms are hideously expensive to install and run and the harsh environment means it’s all life limited. I am far from convinced that it’s carbon neutral (not that I think it matters).

    Offshore wind= greenwashing, green crap.

       27 likes

  18. JohnC says:

    From the DT:

    After sharing details of a Coutts dossier that criticised his political views, Mr Farage wrote to Mr Sopel: “Hi Jon. Who is the Charlie now? Looks like it’s you for swallowing the Coutts PR spin. I look forward to your apology.”

    Pretty sure THAT won’t be in the BBC report.

    Did you miss it Guest ?

       17 likes

  19. AsISeeIt says:

    The jokey blokey tabloid Daily Star purports to be our Home Of Fun Stuff – no wonder the title so often brings up the rear in our miserablist BBC’s daily press line-up – the cheerful claim has somewhat more appeal than that bold masthead motto, that may turn out to be a millstone around the neck of the Daily Express: United with the people of Ukraine

    Ukraine’s counteroffensive is being slowed by Russia’s vast minefields that destroy Nato-supplied armour, maim soldiers and sap morale (FT)

    Cluster bombs: Ukraine using munitions ‘effectively’, says US… The Ukrainian counter-offensive has been slower than many hoped… Cluster bombs scatter multiple bomblets and are banned by more than 100 states due to their threat to civilians. (BBC)

    We’ve come rather a long way since the west apparently held the moral high ground with that now familiar US double whammy strategy of provoke the war then welcome the refugees – gosh, haven’t we been there several times before.

    Moral high ground

    Take the High Ground! starred Richard Widmark and Karl Malden as two former Korean War combat veterans who work at Fort Bliss, Texas, as drill sergeants and fall in love with the same woman.

    Widmark as Sergeant Ryan in the 1953 movie has the line: “This is your rifle, and not your gun; it’s made for shooting, and not for fun!”

    In media matters military one recalls with a smile all those BBC so-called war correspondents who tend blithely to term every tracked vehicle a ‘tank’ albeit an infantry fighting vehicle or self-propelled gun.

    Think tank

    A think-tank said Kyiv’s challenge is “breaking through with enough gas in the tank to exploit that breakthrough” (FT)

    Not enough gas in the tank

    Tesla’s margins decline… the electric car-makers profit margins slipped as price cuts hurt earnings (FT)

    Perhaps we’ve reached a turning point – a 1943 Kursk moment?

    British Challenger 2 tanks arrive in Ukraine to join fight against Russia… and will soon begin combat missions, the country’s defence minister has said. (Independent, March 2023) – oh no they didn’t.

    Ukraine will not rush deploying Western battle tanks in counter-offensive, defence analyst says… Very little information has surfaced from Kyiv, or its forces, about what’s going on. Russia, however, is in information overdrive. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed his forces had inflicted nearly 1,000 casualties and destroyed 33 Ukrainian tanks, but the claims cannot be verified. (Forces Net, June 2023)

    Back to the fun stuff at the Star – or not, as the case may be…

    Daily Star thought for the day: Don’t you just love a council jobsworth?

    Council crackdown on fun as they ban kids from flying kites and feeding ducks… Councils across the UK have issued Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) and are fining the public for some of a kid’s favourite activities… A Freedom of Information request discovered a record 13,443 on-the-spot fines have been issued for “petty” offences, including penalties for busking, cycling and tossing bread to birds. (Star)

    Speaking of overbearing council: ….petty restrictions on almost any conceivable activity…

    Despite a 6.7% swing to Labour, the Tories managed to capitalise on local anger over the the planned expansion of the Ulez Ultra Low Emissions Zone to outer London under Labour mayor Sadiq Khan (BBC)

    No Moët et Chandon or Bollinger then, just empty bottles of cheap Prosecco lining the corridors of Broadcasting House this morning?

    It was dissappointed

    Labour made history, overturning a 20,137 majority to take the Yorkshire seat of Selby and Ainsty. But it was disappointed as the Tories clinched Uxbridge and South Ruislip. (BBC)

    What price cheap woke propaganda gestures?

    Farage bank: It was big mistake (The Sun)

    Just stop foiled… Eco activists ‘kettled’ by rival group (freebie Metro)

    Public sector pensions bill excedes economy… after ballooning to more than £2.3 trillion post-pandemic (Telegraph) – excuse my little editorial adjustment there: after ballooning to more than £2.3 trillion post-pandemic post-Lockdown

    Talking of ballooning: Girl with Balloon Screenprint in red and black, Banksy (b.1974) 2004 Est. £60,000 – 80,000 (+fees) (ForumAuctions advert frontpage of the Financial Times)

    Vattenfall halts off-shore wind project in setback for renewable energy plans… Developers say fixed prices too low (FT)

    It’s not so much we’re saying that it’s all part of a clever high level semi-secret globalist technocrat conspiracy – it’s more like an often cack-handedly improvised and haphazardly implemented plan – but it is elite designed and undemocratically middle-managerially controlled – eh, Rishi?

       19 likes

  20. tomo says:

    By-elections

    None-of-the-Above is still the majority with 53.9% of registered voters.

       14 likes

    • AsISeeIt says:

      One recalls a line from the masterful poet and jazz-funk-rap pioneer Gil Scott-Heron’s 1981 track B-Movie

      “Well, the first thing I want to say is: Mandate my ass!”

      Which would seem to apply to both of our dead-beat political parties

         12 likes

      • Terminal Moraine says:

        Won’t Get Fooled Again?

        “Meet the new boss… same as the old boss…”

           9 likes

  21. Flotsam says:

    Starmer. What do I think when I see or hear him? A: Nothing, a vacuum I really don’t think he believes in anything other than his ego which wants him to be PM. One big problem for us is that Politics abhors a vacuum, It will suck in all the dross around him, the loonie lefties who will turn this country into the third world.

       33 likes

  22. tomo says:

    Impartial, reporting everything without fear or favor

    https://twitter.com/LozzaFox/status/1682160253901602816

       8 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      At the count. Our media team have approached the
      @bbc
      and been told there are “No circumstances whatsoever” in which they would speak to me.

      “Even if we won?” Said my media staff.

      “Even if you won.” Said the
      @BBC

      (I am aware we are not going to win btw)

      But that is the state propaganda service for you.

      The
      @bbc
      are rigging elections.

      #DefundTheBBC
      Last edited
      11:47 pm · 20 Jul 2023
      ·
      727.7K
      Views

         6 likes

  23. tomo says:

    Harrabin elaborating (I think…) the BBC worldview that they are above politics and presume authority in all things …

    Harrabin-01.png

    Is the embed of Fox’s commentary on his people’s treatment by BBC peeps at the by-election count working for everybody?

       16 likes

  24. digg says:

    Snivelling, mumbling grunting reluctant low noise coming from Coutts and the BBC over the Mr F cock-up.

    In my view Coutts should reveal the names of all the individuals who marked his card and got him ejected. They should then be made legally liable personally for six figure compensation payments and ejected from the Company and not hide them behind a wooden figurehead. Then Coutts should put a large wad into Mr F’s reinstated account, enough in fact to take him back into their fabled, imaginary financial threshold for holding a Coutts account.

    This does indeed amount to open slander by all those individuals involved to try to inflict as much damage as possible. In no way was it a Corporate act in the interests of that corporation.

    It was spiteful, hateful and very very deliberately aimed at causing havoc to an innocent customer because he was someone they despise.

    Someone needs to walk!

       41 likes

  25. Emmanuel Goldstein says:

    I despair over the voters in the UK.

    Parties such as Reform and UKIP are offering all the solutions to all the main problems we are facing yet get next to no votes.

    It’s common knowledge that both legal and illegal immigration is far too high and everyone knows that both red and blue labour will do nothing about it.
    Most are against all this green crap and miscellaneous net zero stuff yet both labour parties fully support it.
    Most are sick of all this woke rubbish and all these woke people contaminating the high levels of business forcing their policies onto us.
    We are sick of the war against motorists with money raising schemes like ulez, 20mph (or you are fined) zones, the daft electric car dream.
    Just listen to Ben Habib, he talks so much common sense and is spot on with his comments.

    So many things that are going wrong and these Reform type Parties offer solutions yet people still vote for the two labour parties (and, the libdems)
    Is it really everyone voting for one party solely to keep the other one out, the least worst option, and that a vote for Reform may let the wrong Labour Party in.

    I’m so disappointed in the very poor percentages of votes for any of the real conservative type Parties.
    Would PR solve this?
    Would Nigel be able to get a result?

    As it is, I despise both the labour parties (apart from a handful of true Conservatives who somehow slipped through the screening and got voted in)
    First step is to get all these squabbling smaller Parties together as one Party and I reckon only one person can do that.

       31 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Vote Labour for ladies to get their own entrances to mosques.
      FUJ4HT2WQAAW8mm.jpg

         6 likes

      • Flotsam says:

        David Lammy. What a plonker, a loudmouth.
        It’s said the electorate get the representation they deserve. Looks to be true.

           12 likes

    • G says:

      Yes, Emmanuel,

      We can all despair at the UK voting population and their fixed and very assured choices. ‘First Past the Post’ and all that.

      I also despair, indeed boredom sets in, with the media reporting. Almost word for word the coverage is identical at times like this over the decades. You have to be old to understand that, ‘Same old, same old’. Everything but the scenery changes. Ah that background scenery the government of the west are, collectively and seriously right now, preventing the peoples seeing.

      The World will be a hugely different place after the meeting of the BRICS in S Africa, I believe that’s the 22 to 24th August. But no mention of the 8,000 tons of Gold the US will shortly have to account for having issued thousands of leases over the decades on the same Gold. Right now, the BRICS increasing membership are demanding the US repatriate the US’ ‘Safekeeping’ of their ‘real’ gold. Nothing less. No IOU’s i.e. further leases. Any and every rope can only be so long. Silence in the UK Treasury also. 22 to 24th August will be significant historically.

         13 likes

  26. Fedup2 says:

    The likes of Reform / UKIP – really need to find a way to bi pass the msm ignoring ‘ cancelling them to get to their voters .
    If it’s Farage – so bit – if not – there must be a way . I will vote for them if they stand – if only to save the deposit ….

    I’d prefer a party further to The Right though …

       16 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Choosing Islamic Conservatism
      Choosing Islamic Conservatism: Muslim Youth in Europe and the UK and the Question of Social Cohesion (CIC) aims to understand the appeal of prominent Islamic movements to young Muslims in the UK, France, Germany, Austria and Bosnia.

      https://www.qeh.ox.ac.uk/content/choosing-islamic-conservatism

      Working within theories of institutional persistence and change, complementing them with a focus on understanding the significance of ethical and moral agency as discussed in recent studies in the anthropology of Islam, and taking cues from the growing interest in the role of neighbourhoods in religious socialisation, the project will develop a unique approach to understanding the ‘stickiness’ of Islamic conservatism in the West.

         6 likes

      • G says:

        MM,

        I guess that the other muslim ‘plant’, Dr Mona Sadiqui is connected with this as well………… Financed by Saudi I believe.

           9 likes

        • MarkyMark says:

          Saudi is winning – just bought all the Golf stars – money buys influence they have found out.

          China paid £500K for Barry Gardiner

             2 likes

          • Mustapha Sheikup al-Beebi says:

            What handicap does Gardiner play off these days? Oh wait, sorry!

               2 likes

    • Yasser Dasmibehbi says:

      I’m losing what hope I had for Reform. They stood in two of these by-elections, and got absolutely nowhere. This is the party the keeps jabbering on about standing 600 seats in the next general election.
      I’m tempted to ask “why bother?”. If they can’t score well in by-elections they will have no show next year.
      Where is the energy?

         18 likes

      • StewGreen says:

        Yasser I don’t think you understand how small parties and tactical voting work

        This morning ULEZ supporters are pointing out that votes went to libDems and Green and if instead they had gone to Labour, Labour would have won.

        Likewise David Cameron realised he had to offer a Brexit vote to stop a few Tory voters voting for Ukip and letting Labour in.

        .. https://twitter.com/Rob_Kimbell/status/1682257229871824896
        @Rob_Kimbell tweeted

        Reform UK: Challenger party @reformparty_uk outperformed Labour at the Somerton & Frome parliamentary by-election yesterday and outperformed the LibDems at the Selby & Ainsty by-election.
        Reform UK did not contest Uxbridge & South Ruislip,
        standing aside instead for Reclaim.

        Reform UK’s performance in both seats it contested was adequate to make a mark and to act as a base from which to build support in the months ahead

           7 likes

        • Yasser Dasmibehbi says:

          Stew, you are simply not convincing. Tactical voting is something you do when you don’t have the guts to vote for the party of your choice. For the moment let’s say you are right when it comes to Uxbridge but the bald fact is that Reform has not shown any progress in any of the by-elections in the last two years.
          Your tweet by Mr Kimball who sees this as “adequate” is laughable.
          Face the damn truth. By-elections in the first past the post system are chances for upcoming third parties to shine. Their vote usually drops when the general election comes around. that’s part of the problem smaller parties have to deal with.
          As it is if the vote for Reform drops much lower they will find themselves outshone by the Monster Loony Party.
          Whoopy do!

             3 likes

      • Kaiser says:

        @yasser

        the number of people who still dont know reform exists is massive , mentions of them in the MSM are vanishingly rare.

        Im hoping they are keeping their powder dry and building up a big fighting fund for a big general election push

        I remain hopeful but fully expect to see starmer in number 10 and things get a lot worse before they get any better

           8 likes

        • Yasser Dasmibehbi says:

          Kaiser, thank you for your reply. I can well believe that a lot of people don’t know that Reform exists. I also share your hopes that they do well in the coming GE.
          As someone who has worked on the executive of a minor party I know the problems they face. Every time a by-election comes up there are always one or two clowns at a strategy meeting who say “by elections don’t matter and let’s not spend money on them” and some even say “don’t contest them.” Normally saner heads prevail.
          What concerns me about Reform is I think that those sort of thinkers are in control. I could be wrong. I will be delighted to be proved wrong. I am following British politics at a distance,( I’m still a Brit) so some things are hard to determine. If someone can tell me what sort of effort Reform are making to connect with the people other press statements that would be interesting.
          The Reform Party was an offshoot of the Brexit Party which was an elite party which was set up after Farage had had enough of Ukip with its ordinary members. Has Reform any intentions of becoming a mass party with branches, regions etc ? That’s what I would like to know. If it doesn’t then it is not worth bothering with imho.

             1 likes

    • G says:

      Fed,

      I’ve seriously taken this problem into consideration as regards my own vote. Right now, the only safe option is to spoil the ballot.

         11 likes

    • Flotsam says:

      Ed Milliband. What a plonker. I’d love to know where the Ed stone got to.
      It says a lot about Smarmer that a failed twerp like Milliband finds a place in his line up.

         11 likes

    • Greencoat says:

      Sorry, but I just hate that pathetic ‘pointing with the thumb’ thing that politicians do because pointing properly with the forefinger might be seen as (ooh mumsy!) ‘aggressive’.

         7 likes

  27. StewGreen says:

    Simon Jack’s non-apology

    The headline on the Farage story has been clarified and an update posted.
    It should have been clearer at the top that the reason for Mr Farage’s account being closed was commercial – was what a source told the BBC.
    That has been corrected

    .
    That Harrabin type slime has been ratioed 8:1

    Reply

    Translation: I’m so thick that I repeated a lie with no verification whatsoever.
    Now the truth has emerged I should apologise unreservedly to Nigel Farage.
    But of course as a BBC employee I will never do that.
    I spread lies all the time .
    It’s the BBC way….

    https://www.twitter.com/DickFbpe/status/1682332918138511360

       26 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Farage replied

      If @BBCSimonJack thinks this is all over,
      I have some bad news for him.

      His colleague @BBCRosAtkins has already admitted on air that his original reporting was inaccurate.

      My formal complaint be lodged accordingly.
      I want an apology.

         23 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      BBC rules on apologising and impartial tweeting
      .. https://twitter.com/EuRollout/status/1681980253659357184

         7 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        Hi BBC Verify and
        @BBCNews
        . Can I point you to your own editorial standards documentation on “Correcting Mistakes”. You have sixty people in BBC Verify twiddling their thumbs, here’s something for them to do…

        Correcting Mistakes

        3.3.28 We should normally acknowledge serious factual errors and correct such mistakes quickly, clearly and appropriately. Inaccuracy may lead to a complaint of unfairness. An effective way of correcting a serious factual error is saying what was wrong as well as putting it right.
        11:51 am · 20 Jul 2023
        ·
        7,390
        Views

           12 likes

  28. Terminal Moraine says:

    BBC still pretending it’s 46°/47° C in Sicily with lots of fear laid on:

    “There has been a 20% increase in the number of patients being admitted with heat-related symptoms, according to the health ministry. We are seeing an increase in admissions of patients with headache, tachycardia, dehydration and confusion,” said Dr Tiziana Maniscalchi […] She said some of her patients had died, with exposure to extreme heat a contributing factor.”

    Contributing factor? Excess deaths? Hadn’t realised the BBC understood these concepts for the last two years.

    (Meanwhile it’s actually 37° today and 36° tomorrow in Palermo.)

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66242277

       16 likes

  29. Up2snuff says:

    Selby and Ainsty By-Election

    Is the winning Labour Candidate legally old enough to stand? Have you not got to be over 18 years of age?

    I must be getting old. He looks about 17 years old.

       11 likes

    • BRISSLES says:

      You’re being generous Snuffy I thought he was about 14. Has he started shaving?

         5 likes

    • Flotsam says:

      He obviously hasn’t grown up, he believes in a Smarmer led Labour Party.

      As an interesting aside, Labour are talking about votes for 16 year olds, something that already happens in Scottish assembly elections. Would that mean possible 16 year old MP’s

         8 likes

      • Scroblene says:

        Many years ago, when Private Eye was funny, witty and investigative, they ran a great front page on Bernadette Devlin being elected to the HoC at the age of 21.

        I didn’t understand the politics back then, and really can’t be arsed nowadays, but the speech ‘bubble’ from an elderly MP talking to her in the chamber stated, “And what do you want to be when you grow up”!

        Next year will mean utter chaos for the UK when Starmer gets in to No 10. Just imagine Crayons and Abbott acting at some sort of job!

        The new kid will probably be Children’s Minister.

           10 likes

        • Lefty Wright says:

          Scroblene
          I am ancient enough to remember Labour MP/PM Harold Wilson saying “One mans pay rise is another mans price rise.”
          So come on Sir Keir please relay that message to all of your supporters in the Marxist Club (you know who they are and so do we} who are hell bent on ensuring a Communist victory at the next General Election and erasing the last vestiges of our English traditions and culture.
          Sod the rest of the world, the workers of England will be watching and listening.
          P.S. I was a Labour voter for nigh on 50 years but the regime of Tony Bliar cured me from that particular delusion.
          Mother Nature is not compatible with Socialism whether it be the National or International variety.

             8 likes

          • Fedup2 says:

            I’m still surprised that blue labour held on to Uxbridge – with an enormous recount majority of 500 .

            Even if a large number of people have fallen for the ‘man made climate change ‘ lie – there are plenty who see the fanatical imposition of taxes and levys and laws to change our behaviour as just too much …..

            The emir of London is desperately trying to raise funds using green crap as his shield . Huge cities generate bad air – its 9 million or mor people . Maybe cities should be banned .

            Maybe blue labour will ‘read the room ‘ regarding Uxbridge – but they have too many lefty green disciples to do what the electorate want … on so many fronts …

            Burn that diesel , gas , coal …

               11 likes

  30. Dickie says:

    This is just one of the rats leaving a sinking ship:

    https://tapnewswire.com/2023/07/uk-parliament-ben-pinochio-wallace-im-not-out-looking-for-war/

       4 likes

  31. StewGreen says:

    In case you missed
    July 4th expert James O’Brien spoke
    https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1676167456140800000

       3 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      OFCOM:

      Light-hearted news on social media drawing Gen Z away from traditional sources

      Not because the serious stuff on ‘traditional sources’ like BBC and LBC is being proven over and over to be ideologically motivated utter juvenile pants on your watch?

         11 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        “Light-hearted news” …

        MODERN LIFE ….

        Woman trapped in window trying to retrieve poo after Tinder date
        Published
        5 September 2017

        https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-41167296

        A woman who threw her poo out of her date’s toilet window because it “would not flush” had to be rescued after she got stuck trying to retrieve it.

           0 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      “As I said, that people still take anything Nigel Farage says at face value is a mark of just how broken public discourse has become. It was even on the front page of today’s Mail.”

      2371769d-73a0-4441-aa9b-ff10875bf410._CR0,0,970,300_PT0_SX970__.jpg

         1 likes

    • tomo says:

      We have not gone far beyond the lane when we hear the unmistakable whine of an approaching shell and I am on my hands and knees in the mud as it explodes a stone throw’s away to our left’, Richard writes.

      umm… you don’t get to hear the one that hits you…?

         7 likes

  32. tomo says:

    josh-wevvah.jpg

    sods at Twitter seem to be blocking selected embeds?

    https://twitter.com/Cartoonsbyjosh/status/1682415025389010944/photo/1

       10 likes

  33. digg says:

    Has anyone seen the armegeddon, deadly, life-threatening, human toasting, scorchio heat bomb last spotted in Southern Europe. I seem to have mislaid it. I’ve Looked everywhere including the BBC!

       15 likes

  34. Fedup2 says:

    I’m sure Simon jack is now on an extended holiday. Perhaps he will read the piece in the DT about him- and his failure to apologise to Mr Farage over Coutts – has dame wots her name gone yet ?or is she on holiday with Mr Jack ?

    STARTS
    The senior BBC journalist who claimed Nigel Farage had his account closed by Coutts for commercial reasons has failed to apologise over his reporting.

    Simon Jack, the BBC’s business editor, issued a clarification to his story claiming that the former Ukip leader’s account at the exclusive lender was shut because he fell below the financial threshold.

    However, both Mr Jack and the corporation have refused to apologise after The Telegraph revealed the bank shut Mr Farage’s account after deciding his views “do not align with our values”.

    Mr Farage first revealed his bank was being shut by the 330-year-old lender at the end of June 2023 and said he believed this was over his political views.

    The move prompted several other Brexit supporters to reveal their accounts had been shut by high street banks.

    However, six days after Mr Farage went public about his account the BBC ran a report quoting people “familiar” with the situation saying it was a “commercial decision”.

    The story, authored by Mr Jack, said that the Breexiteer fell below the financial threshold to hold an account at Coutts, founded in 1692 and now owned by Natwest.

    Dame Alison Rose, Natwest’s embattled chief executive, has been forced to apologise after admitting comments made about Mr Farage were “deeply inappropriate”.

    The Telegraph revealed earlier this week that his account was closed in part because his political views did not align with those of the bank.

    On Thursday the BBC finally issued a correction to its story. On the Six O’Clock News bulletin Ros Atkins, the analysis editor, told viewers Mr Jack had “quoted a source who rejected the notion that the decision to close [Mr Farage’s] account was in any way political. ‘It was for commercial reasons’, the source said. But what the source said wasn’t accurate – nor was the BBC headline.”

    He added: “The BBC source said that politics had nothing to do with it – we can see that it did.”

    Mr Jack, who became the BBC’s business editor in 2016, remained silent until Friday morning when he admitted the story “should have been clearer” that it was from a source and not fact.

    “The headline on the story has been clarified and an update posted. It should have been clearer at the top that the reason for Mr Farage’s account being closed was commercial – was what a source told the BBC. That has been corrected.”

    On Wednesday, The Telegraph revealed Mr Jack sat next to Dame Alison at a charity dinner the night before the story was published.

    Mr Farage challenged the BBC on Twitter on Friday, saying that if Mr Jack “thinks this is all over, I have some bad news for him” and said he would be lodging a formal complaint with the corporation.

    “Simon Jack’s briefing that I had been de-banked as a result of lack of funds was taken by mainstream media to be the truth,” he told The Telegraph. “Subsequently I received the information from Coutts which showed a plan to de-bank me because I did not align with their values.”

    He added that “across the spectrum” people had retracted claims based on Mr Jack’s story but the BBC had been “very slow to react to the facts”.

    Mr Farage said that he had “to publish the full report which was abusive and humiliating to me as a person” to set the record straight.

    “At no point has Simon Jack or the BBC offered me an apology. Many of the allegations are untrue, have been disproved in court, and are frankly libellous.

    “I am an owed an apology, not just a hesitant retraction, I am owed a full public apology. I have had to humiliate myself to prove I was right and they were wrong. The outstanding question is who briefed the lie to Simon Jack?”

    ‘BBC must apologise’
    Richard Tice, the leader of Reform UK who is complaining to his own banks after his accounts were shut for what he believed were political reasons, said the BBC must apologise.

    “The BBC’s stance is appalling and unsustainable. Any well run business would have told managers or the journalist behind the story to apologise. It is a non-apology that makes the director general look weak and Simon Jack has come across as dishonest and discourteous.”

    Gareth Johnson, the Conservative MP for Dartford, said the BBC had been too quick to report favourably on Coutts’ handling of Mr Farage’s account.

    “What seems to have happened to Nigel Farage’s bank account is outrageous. The BBC were too quick to try and justify the actions of Coutts and they clearly owe Nigel Farage an apology for wrongly defending them.”

    The BBC has been contacted for comment.ENDS

       12 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Fed, I wonder if Simon Jack will be ‘thrown to the wolves’ following the ‘Edwards scandal’ and dismissed by the D-G ?

         10 likes

    • Thoughtful says:

      Interesting that Dame Rose lives in the Highgate area of Hampstead and area known for champagne, unrealistic Socialism, and that she has written several documents on Ekwalitee which have been of course to her particular benefit.
      No surprise to find that she was so pally with the BBC

         12 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      Saying sorry and apologising has legal ramifications as it opens up the floodgates to compensation claims.
      So people may feel unable to apologize.

         4 likes

  35. Charlie Farley says:

    BBC non reporting of Lawrence Fox and refusing to interview him In Uxbridge….obviously his appearance on Question Time with all his wrong thoughts is one of many reasons and like Nigel the Banks have been against him………Orwells 1984 is really with us , so glad I have been licence free for many many years now !

       18 likes

  36. Up2snuff says:

    BBC WEB-SITE Watch #1 – interesting use of words

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business: ‘The bank boss caught up in the Nigel Farage row’. Ahem! Whatever happened to Chief Executive responsibility and ‘The buck stops here’ ? Oh Alison Rose is a wimmin, she has to be excused responsibilities; she might be menopausal. No excuse for Philip Auger (expert on banking) who got things the wrong way round this morning on TOADY. The FCA deals with customer complaints, Philip, the Bank of England is the regulator for the banks themselves – or should be.

       11 likes

  37. Philip_2 says:

    Meanwhile as the UK Liberals claim the prize of Somerset, its not going down too well in San Francisco. A few years under ‘Labour’ rule with ‘Liberal’ run Councils we can soon expect this kind of mayhem to cross here. Its only a matter of time… A weird mix of Gay rights and Black rights matter combo.. liberals…and Marxists. Who would want to go there… look what they have done to Brighton!

    ‘We’re all getting a piece of that pie!’: the slavery reparations battle that could bankrupt San Francisco

    A new Telegraph documentary explores San Francisco’s proposals to hand its black residents millions of dollars in reparations for slavery …

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/21/reparations-inside-the-battle-for-black-america/

       7 likes

    • Thoughtful says:

      San Fransicko is broke anyway and they will never accept responsibility because Socialists never do, they just blame other people.

         10 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      It’s a clickbait headline for a 40 min documentary
      The attack bit it tiny about 13m40s in
      .. https://youtu.be/r93D5bWD3iI?t=820
      They are filming in a drug dealing area, suddenly a bottle smashes their car window and they drive quickly away, safely

         0 likes

  38. StewGreen says:

    Dan Wootton’s crowdfunder to sue the Byline Times already has £13K
    https://democracythree.org/stop-dan-wootton-being-cancelled-by-far-left-online-smears

    PR exercise I suppose cos he and GBnews surely have enough resources to sue the Byline Times cultists already

    @DouglasKMurray provides context

    A reminder that four years ago the co-founder and “executive editor” of the blog in question, @peterjukes
    was forced to apologise and pay a significant sum in settlement to me for spreading malicious libels.

       13 likes

  39. tomo says:

       10 likes

  40. tomo says:

    hmm…

    JSO tweet I just commented on dropped 150 (out of 500 ish) likes and replies after I replied…

    New Twitter the same as the old Twitter

       4 likes

  41. andyjsnape says:

    bbc likes this..

    Lesbian couple drop NHS fertility treatment legal challenge
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-66277858

    Anyone else bothered, other than the lesbian couple called Bacon-Evans lol

       3 likes