Babar Ahmad appeals for trial to be held in UK “I absolutely reject any allegation that I supported terrorism in any way, in any place, whether in Afghanistan, Chechnya or any other part of the world. I believe terrorism to be wrong and I believe the targeting and killing of innocent people to be wrong.”   Oops….. Extradited Briton Babar Ahmad admits terrorism offences A British man who spent … Continue reading →

  The last Open Thread filled up faster than the showboating politicians’ seats at Mandela’s memorial service…so here’s a new one….

    Emily Maitlis not really on the ball:   Massive respect for Charles walker mp honesty – " I'm not going to be holier than thou and say I won't take the pay rise " #newsnight — emily m (@maitlis) December 9, 2013 "We are hurtling towards having a parliament of the independently wealthy "- charles walker on the refusal of MPs to accept pay rise. — emily m … Continue reading →

  High population  (High fertility, High life expectancy, High migration)        Result:    Population……131,871      This is from the Office of National Statistics so the BBC can’t shout ‘racist’……. UK population could hit 132 million, warn official figures New Office for National Statistics data predicts Britain’s population could surge even faster than previously thought The population of Britain could more than double in the next century unless immigration is tightly … Continue reading →

    The BBC’s basic instinct kicked in today when it had to report this from the OECD: Labour energy freeze plan ‘could bankrupt investors’   As said this report came from the international OECD, the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development……listening to 5Live report this story their conclusion was that…the OECD is a fan of the  market economy and so would be expected to be philosophically opposed to Miliband’s … Continue reading →

  This morning on the BBC’s ‘Wake Up to Money’ they talked about this: Growth in job vacancies hits ’15-year high’   That came from a report by KPMG   You would think that such a positive statement on the economy would be headline news….but the report on ‘Wake Up To Money’ was the last I heard of the subject. It hasn’t been mentioned once as far as I know … Continue reading →

The week begins, and so a new open thread … enjoy … And as the Mandelathon continues, just remember that I’m sadder than all of you, I’ve shed more tears than all of you, so therefore I’m better than all of you. “Mandela touched everyone who met him.” So did Jimmy Savile…

        “She is an enemy of apartheid……We have much to thank her for.”   Guido has linked to the letter Mrs Thatcher sent to P.W Botha setting out her vision for ending Apartheid.   My rebuttal of the case for sanctions rested on two main premises: that sanctions do not work, indeed are likely to be counter-productive and damaging to those they are intended to help: and that it … Continue reading →

    Cutbacks at the BBC…they’re even repeating the News now…… Ed Balls had a bad performance during the Autumn Statement showdown this year but isn’t this BBC  ‘Ed Ball’s’ story from last year’s Autumn Statement?: Ed Balls explains hesitant Autumn Statement response   Last year he blamed his bad performance on his stutter…perhaps the BBC didn’t have the heart to ask him what the cause was this year and … Continue reading →