- “A death knell for Civilisation: today’s vote is a dark day for Britain.” – Today parliamentary assent to the assisted dying Bill is a dark day for Britain, says Laura Dodsworth on her Substack.
- “History will not be kind to the MPs who backed assisted dying” – In the Spectator, Yuan Yi Zhu criticises those MPs who backed the assisted dying Bill, starting with Kim Leadbeater.
- “Assisted dying won’t work” – Catholic writer Melanie McDonagh says in the Spectator that any attempt to restrict assisted dying to just those with six months to live is bound to fail.
- “The elderly may be coerced into assisted dying” – In the Mail, Renee Hoenderkamp GP worries that the elderly who don’t have much longer to live may be forced into opting for assisted dying.
- “The Commons has voted for assisted dying – we are not the same country we were yesterday” – According to Tim Stanley in the Telegraph, the debate over assisted dying clarified the deep divides within both main parties – between libertarians and conservatives, progressives and socialists.
- “Every time ‘hypocritical’ Starmer called for softer rules on immigration” – The Prime Minister has criticised the Tories’ border control policies, but that contradicts his previous comments calling for border controls to be relaxed, repots the Telegraph.
- “The public have been lied to by Tories and Labour alike on immigration” – Our political system is heading for a major shake up that will cast away the old Establishment, says Nigel Farage in the Telegraph.
- “Labour ‘hit job’ against Louise Haigh had been brewing for months” – Insiders believe the Left-wing MP had a target on her back since “going rogue” with an unauthorised pay deal for train drivers, reports the Telegraph.
- “Louise Haigh quit because she ‘had not told Starmer full story of fraud conviction’” – “More information came to light,” No. 10 sources claim, following Louise Haigh’s resignation, according to the Telegraph.
- “Haigh’s resignation shows Starmer is always in the dark when it suits him” – The Prime Minister’s knack for being ignorant of important information has followed him into politics, says Gordon Rayner in the Telegraph.
- “Revealed: Sir Keir Starmer’s guilty secret – he doesn’t like politics” – In his Telegraph column, Charles Moore says Starmer’s guilty secret is that he doesn’t like politics.
- “U.K. industrial electricity prices highest in Europe” – New data from the Government shows the U.K. has the highest industrial electricity prices in Europe, says David Turver on his Substack.
- “Thousands sent eye-watering bills after switching to smart meters” – Thousands of customers have been sent inaccurate energy bills after switching to a smart meter, reports the Telegraph.
- “How net zero accelerated Britain’s national decline” – Across the Atlantic, Britain’s drive for “decarbonisation” is increasingly seen as an economic experiment – one that risks tipping the U.K. into full-scale decline, according to the Telegraph.
- “The electric car drivers with buyers’ remorse” – Motorists who embraced the EV revolution are now counting the cost, says the Telegraph.
- “Decommissioning old nuclear sites to cost £130 billion in blow to Miliband” – The cost to the taxpayer of cleaning up former power plants is higher than previously estimated, reports the Telegraph.
- “Top Labour donor Dale Vince seeks to buy the Observer” – The renewable energy tycoon is a keen reader of the Observer and wants to buy it if its sale to Tortoise Media collapses, according to the Telegraph.
- “Some of my companies may not survive Labour, warns Gail’s chairman” – Luke Johnson has warned MPs that some of his companies “might not survive” as he attacks the Government’s workers’ rights plans, reports the Telegraph.
- “How parents of Labour’s poshest MP put acres beyond taxman’s reach” – The family of Henry Tufnell, Labour’s poshest MP, took steps to minimise inheritance tax on their land ahead of Rachel Reeves’ Budget, reveals Guy Adams in the Mail.
- “The ‘Call a General Election’ petition: If it hits 10 million, Starmer really is in trouble” – Anthony Webber in the Conservative Woman says if the ‘Call a General Election’ petition attracts 10 million sigantories, Starmer really could be in trouble.
- “Why Royal Society scientists want to kick out member Elon Musk” – Members of the Royal Society tell the Telegraph they oppose the recent attacks on Elon Musk by prominent members, but are too scared to speak out.
- “Mark Zuckerberg can see that the DEI game is up” – The Meta head’s meeting with Donald Trump exposed how skin deep corporate America’s liberalism really is, says Matthew Lynn in the Telegraph.
- “‘Islamophobia’: The death knell for free speech?” – The defining question of our time is whether Islam will adapt to Western values – or our cowardly leaders will force Western values to adapt to Islam, says Frank Haviland on his Substack.
- “Gregg Wallace’s friends blame ‘inappropriate behaviour’ on autism” – A therapist friend of Gregg Wallace’s says the MasterChef judge may have autism and that could explain his bad behaviour, reports the Mail.
- “Why does the British Establishment ignore one of our greatest cultural ambassadors?” – The Establishment’s refusal to honour Iron Maiden is baffling, says C.J. Strachan on his Substack.
- “Telling someone you can’t understand their accent may be harassment” – Elaine Carozzi took the University of Hertfordshire to the Employment Tribunal, claiming she suffered race discrimination and harassment over comments about her accent, says the Mail.
- “Irish general election: race too close to call, exit poll reveals” – Sinn Fein holds a narrow lead over rivals while the ‘Godfather’ and a host of independents threaten to steal in, reports the Times.
- “Ireland’s liberal fantasy” – In UnHerd, Tom McTague says Ireland imagines it can combine the best of America’s economic dynamism with Europe’s social conscience, but it’s a dangerous fantasy.
- “Rebels storm Assad troops in Aleppo as Syrian war reignites” – Dozens of villages are captured from Russian-backed forces near the country’s second-largest city during the heaviest fighting in years, reports the Times.
- “University of Cambridge students told how to use stairs in posters” – Cambridge students are being told how to walk down stairs in new health and safety posters, according to the Telegraph.
- “I was ousted as a charity trustee for saying biological men shouldn’t join our breastfeeding meetings” – Ruth Lewis was forced to resign from the board of a breastfeeding charity after saying she didn’t think men should attend breastfeeding, says the Telegraph.
- “The 1954 book that inspired the police to question Allison Pearson” – In the Telegraph, Ian Hollingsworth does a deep dive into The Nature of Prejudice, Gordon Allport’s book that inspired the NCHI regime.
- “Anti-UK Irish rappers take ‘King’s stash’ after court victory over funding refused by Badenoch” – The hip hop trio Kneecap are to be paid £14,250 by the Government after winning a court case, reports the Telegraph.
- “How Rachel Maddow is dragging MSNBC down” – With the rise of Donald Trump, Rachel Maddow and MSNBC are haemorrhaging viewers, according to the Telegraph.
- “We are the safeguard, this place, this parliament, you and me” – Listen to the conclusion of Danny Kruger’s powerful speech in the House of Commons yesterday opposing the assisted dying bill.
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“Keir Starmer doesn’t like politics”. There are two types of people who don’t like politics: Libertarians and Authoritarians.
“Telling someone you can’t understand their accent may be harassment”.
Re-runs of Little Britain not on the cards, then?
Then telling someone who is hard of hearing that “Telling someone you can’t understand their accent may be harassment” may be harassment.
Why does anyone need assistance to die when all that is required is to stop eating, which doesn’t require any assistance?
Speed up the process?
Would it not be better to have a good long time to think about it – and an opportunity to change your mind – rather than making a quick, possibly impulsive, irreversible decision?
Unless your paraplegic or in some way cannot physically stop people feeding you!
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Rebels storm Assad troops in Aleppo as Syrian war reignites
President Trump’s global strategy to put pressure on Putin unfolds.
Military disasters in Syria and Mali make Russia look weak across the developing world.
‘Drill, baby, drill’ deflates oil prices, striking at Russia’s faltering economy.
Meanwhile, Ukraine, flooded with U.S. weapons, has evolved a devastating air strike strategy against Russia, using three-step tactics, first launching expendable drones to find the locations of Russian air defences, next attacking Russian air defence systems capable of shooting at incoming drones, and finally sending in waves of kamikaze drones or, more rarely, high-tech cruise or ballistic missiles through the gap created in Russian air defenses.
Dozens of long-range Ukrainian kamikaze drones hit Russian military and infrastructure targets hundreds of kilometers apart on Friday, in one of the most ambitious air strike operations yet launched by Kyiv against Russia.
Hits and damage were confirmed by multiple sources following attacks against a critical Russian air defense site on the western shore of the occupied Crimea peninsula and at a refinery in Russia’s Rostov region, on the other side of the Black Sea.
And Ukraine offers a resolution. An end to this debacle of Russia’s own making is within sight.
The Ukrainian President has suggested that a ceasefire could be achievable if NATO extends its protection to the parts of Ukraine under Kyiv’s control.
This would allow for a temporary resolution to the war, with a negotiated return of occupied territories through diplomatic means in the future, once Putin has left the scene.
Putin may not be interested in peace, but peace is interested in Russia.
And the winner is?
America’s strategy of weakening Russia so that it can no longer invade its neighbours has proved astonishingly successful.
I am unable to comment on any of the details regarding this war but what I would say is that I feel incredibly sad and rueful that it has all come to this. After the Soviet Empire gave up in 1991 I had some small experience of developing trade with the new Russia, it was difficult but possible and I did note that people from the UK and Russians seemed to get on well together. Perhaps not all that surprising when you think that Russia has a huge important cultural history with strong links to European and UK culture.
Then somewhere along the line, this promising new world order all went wrong, why did this so promising start fizzle out? I am sure you could write a book about the reasons for this failure and I am sure there is huge blame to be attributed to many parties.
But I do feel that Putin rose to fill the vacuum that was created by our collective failure to trust the new Russia and build on the initial potential of strategic, trade and political links with the new Russia. Consequently when you say ”America’s strategy of weakening Russia”, I take no delight in your comment, it did not have to be like this. We could have had a strong Russia as a strong partner with the UK and the West. To my mind there is no black and white with this Ukraine war, it is not a case of Russia bad, NATO and the West good, it seems to me to be an case of an abject failure of statesmanship, politics, diplomacy and leadership on all sides all of which is probably made worse by vested greedy interests seeking power, wealth and control.
I am an incurable optimist and would like to think mankind could learn from this and not get into such a mess ever again. But history suggests this is a forlorn hope.
Whilst still in uniform, I had the great pleasure of meeting Colonel Volkov of the Soviet Army on neutral ground, serving with the U.N. in Cairo, many years ago now. He was a splendid fellow and, within the constraints of no common language, we got along famously. There is absolutely no reason why Britain and Russia could not co-exist peacefully.
I agree that no-one comes out of this debacle at all well. The air campaign against Serbia (when a perfectly good deal was available at Rambouillet) in 1999 set a very dangerous precedent in Europe. As with so much else, the trail leads to Clinton and Blair. A more disastrous pair of national leaders for America and Britain would be hard to imagine.
But nothing justifies Putin’s barbaric imperialist aggression. Nothing justifies Russians being murdered on their doorsteps for daring to dissent. Nothing justifies the rampant corruption that has condemned hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers to disfiguring injuries and untimely death as a consequence of poor or malfunctioning equipment. And, most particularly, nothing justifies the killing of a British citizen on British soil; the use of radiological and chemical weapons by Russian agents in Britain.
Putin is most definitely not to be admired ‘as a political operator because he’s managed to take control of running Russia.’
How can you talk such sense in your first two paragraphs and then go off on a rant of hatred against all Russians in your last two?
Barbaric imperialist aggression? Putin protecting his country against NATO expansion? Putin stopping the Ukrainian Banderite/Nazis from murdering their own citizens in eastern Ukraine? How about US barbaric imperialist aggression? Work through https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States. Russians murdered on doorsteps? People are being murdered on doorsteps every day all over the place. Rampant corruption – Ukraine or Russia? Or USA, whose DoD has failed its audit for the seventh consecutive time? The killing of a British citizen on British soil? How many Iraqis have been killed by the British on Iraqi soil? Or Serbians killed by the NATO (including RAF) bombing spree on Belgrade?
Just where does your so selective hatred of all things Russian come from? And the vast majority of Russians support Putin: are they really all so misled, or corrupt, or what?
Before the SMO my son was a regular visitor to Moscow and Rostov on Don. He regularly spoke warmly of the life of everyday Muscovites, and how, with the exception of one spook who shadowed him for a couple of days, were very friendly to him. He commented how even on a Saturday night families would stroll around Moscow on a summer night, unintimidated by drunken young people as is the norm in most British towns and cities.
He also commented that interactions on Russian Tinder were altogether more civilised than in UK (he has provided many amusing anecdotes about the latter) and has now been partnered with one of his Russian contacts for the last 3 years, living happily in a third country.
An excellent post Steve.
“Why Royal Society scientists want to kick out member Elon Musk”
Members “too scared to speak out.” Fellahs, you are in that exclusive club only because your scientific credentials are unimpeachable. Therefore, the only motive to keep silent is to avoid losing your prestigious club membership, which is cowardly and unscientific.
You have a very romantic and idealistic view of our institutions if you think the people in them are there because of their worthiness.
The people may be toadies, but as I wrote, the credentials are unimpeachable. Let the behaviour match the credentials, or let the RS die.
The Euthanasia Law, then, is dependent on doctors being able to see into the future that a patient has six months to live. That is in itself impossible.
The conversation that ought to be had (but won’t, any more than most doctors discuss number needed to treat for statins or vaccines) is as follows:
Patient: How long have I got, Doc? Maybe I’d prefer to be put to sleep.
Consultant: I estimate six months, but I’ve been wrong so often that I’d be lying to say it’s any more than a rough guess. Would you still go for assisted dying if you knew you may have two years of useful life left?
Patient: Well, that puts a different light on it. In two years I may see my first grandchild – and maybe I could fit in a last trip to see the Grand Canyon.
Of course, the euthanasia bill also reduces the pressure on government to get hospice services in order, so the same lack of palliative care knowledge that existed when I qualified, before Cicely Saunders’ movement had spread, will adversely affect the calculus, too.
And the new law requires doctors to become murderers. Doctors were originally supposed to save lives.
Quite so. Either they have trouble persuading enough doctors to comply, or (as seems to have happened wherever euthanasia becomes legal) you select for the kind of doctor you may not wish to manage your health.
Its a Pandora’s box of a decision. I do think we should have the discussion, but rushing the bill through without adequate discussion or consultation is a bit strange. Why is it a Labour priority with so much else to ‘fix’..? I am also suspicious of who has put up the considerable funds to lobby for this. I read that the Dignity lot have broken all records with Facebook advertising in the last month, 600 plus. Cui bono..?
Another odd thing is how the press always reports horror stories about the harrowing nature of US executions, whilst euthanasia is pictured as a merciful and dignified release.
Now it may be, I suppose, that manufacturers won’t supply happy dream drugs for capital punishment so they have to inject cyanide or toilet bleach, but it might just be that the “Dignity lot” aren’t being completely upfront about the business.
“Ireland’s liberal fantasy”
Irelands modern foundations are built on sand
Ireland is enjoying wealth beyond its means
If Trump lowers America’s corporation tax to 15% the games up for Ireland, its back to selling potatoes
Amazon, Microsoft, apple and all the other tax paying behemoths will high tale it back to the mother land in a split second!
Irelands frivolous dreams of net zero and statesman like importance will disappear in a flash!
My local Councillors could not understand the strength of objections to their Local Plan. It authorised thousands of houses on what had been Green Belt.
In a display of their disinterest in the future of our people they observed that we would all be dead before these houses were built.
So with MPs and legal suicide. They hood the scandals and disgrace can be put off by “enquiries” after they have left politics.