I stayed up late to watch the much-delayed Joe Biden Press Conference, which kicked in at about 00:45. I wish I had a pint of whatever juice they’d given him before he went on—or possibly it was a full blood dope—whatever, it worked. He appeared fluent, cognitive, and old. He’ll be older in three or maybe even four years, and the Democrats have no choice but to keep up the meds. If he stays in the running, Trump must surely be a shoo-in.
I wonder whether we will look back at this time in the next decade and wonder what might have been. Have we been perhaps collectively thinking that back in Blighty, it would be like 1997, a Centrist Labour government controlled by a pragmatist with a firm hand and strict control of party discipline? That all would be OK, and perhaps it wouldn’t be too bad after all?
Perhaps we shouldn’t be worried when we realise that Peckham’s new MP, who has five days of parliamentary experience, has been appointed a Minister of State in the Department of Energy. Miatta Fahnbulleh is the former head of the New Economics Foundation, which, under her leadership, advocated the nationalisation of banks and the creation of new “green” banks with taxpayer funds. She also wanted to ban private banks from providing loan facilities to any organisation with a “large amount of greenhouse gas emissions” and that additionally, banks would face various penalties for providing “…too many carbon-intensive loans”. She will be the brains behind British Energy, which she hopes will provide everyone with FREE basic energy.
Simultaneously, Ed Miliband immediately banned all new oil and gas drilling. Bids for 35 areas were meant to be up for grabs, confirmed by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA). Various forecasts have pointed out that this policy will not create new jobs but will lose 100,000 jobs by 2029. Worse than that, the £20bn reduction in investment will lead to a 50% reduction in production by 2030, and a 25% increase in gas imports. That means increasing imports by CO2-producing tankers.
Meanwhile, in Downing Street HQ, Starmer has hired as Downing Street’s “Director of Trade Union Relations“ Claire Stewart, a former Unison organiser and key aide to general secretary Christina McAnea. It is probably coincidental that Unison called for a four-day working week in the run-up to polling day.
So, as the lights begin to flicker and Les Miserables drift towards the barricades, the rental market is already in a downward spiral as the great sell-up begins. Private landlords are keen to avoid a raft of new proposals, including a total ban on Section 21 “no Fault” evictions, a ban on landlords from selling a property in the first two years of a new tenancy, the abolition of “persistent rent arrears” as cause for eviction, and so on.
We desperately need houses, and destroying the housing market will highlight that need! Vote for Christmas; Vote for Socialist Turkey!
Ensuring adherence to these proposals will be the new SecState for Justice Shabana Mahmood, who in 2014 led a protest backing the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, forcing a Sainsbury’s in Birmingham to close for hours. She later boasted of the Sainsbury’s shutdown at a rally: “Last week, I was with 200 activists outside in the centre of Birmingham, and we lay down in the street, and we lay down inside Sainsbury’s to say that we object to Sainsbury’s stocking goods from the illegal settlements and that they must stop. We closed that store for 5 hours at peak time on a Saturday. This is how we can make a difference.” So cutting productivity for a cause is OK, or was that then and now you won’t?
In the Guardian, ultra-socialist Toby Jones is writing;
“Those surrounding Starmer are too politically defined by their hostility to the left to learn… There will be precious little conciliation: quite the reverse. In the coming years, growing numbers of voters will be driven to the Greens and other leftwing formations. As long as leftwing forces in Britain build on this moment and find common cause… then this could be a new beginning indeed.”
I would suggest that far from the suggestion that “those surrounding” Starmer are hostile to the Left, many of them are, in fact, of the Left. Their ministerial actions are part of a slowly worked weft, dipping in and out of the warp of Labour’s new policies. Only in time will we see the fabric these zealots have woven, but I fear it will be the winding cloth for our country, culture, and way of life.
Talking of a slow death by numbers, here are some tips for Day 2 of the July meeting.
1:50 bet365 Hcap Cl2 (3yo 0-105) 1m2f ITV 10 run
INVOLVEMENT 4 pts Win – CANDLE OF DUBAI 2 pts e/w
2:25 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes (G2) (Fillies) Cl1 (2yo) 6f ITV 11 run
HEAVENS GATE 5 pts Win – MIGHTY ERIU 2 pts e/w
3:00 bet365 Trophy Cl2 (4yo+) 1m6f ITV 12 run
ONE FOR THE GUTTER – TENERIFE SUNSHINE – KNIGHTSWOOD 2 ½ pts e/w each
3:35 Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes (G1) (Fillies & Mares) Cl1 (3yo+) 1m ITV 7 run
PORTA FORTUNA 5 pts Win
4:10 Weatherbys British EBF Maiden Stakes (Colts & Geldings) Cl3 (2yo) 7f RTV 13 run
THUNDER WONDER 3 pts e/w
4:45 Federation Of Bloodstock Agents Hcap Cl3 (3yo+ 0-90) 7f RTV 13 run
GISBURN 3 pts e/w
5:20 Blake-Turner Solicitors Hcap Cl3 (3yo+ 0-90) 5f RTV 11 run
GOOD GOOD GOOD 3 pts Win