Nigel Farage will attend the launch of Liz Truss’s new ‘Popular Conservatism’ movement, known as ‘PopCons’, seen as a platform for Right-wing Tory MPs to advocate for hardline policies. The Times has the details.
The former UKIP leader is among several hundred guests expected at the event in Central London on Tuesday.
The movement, dubbed “PopCons”, is the latest initiative launched by Truss since she was forced from office in October 2022 and is seen as a vehicle for Right-wing Tory MPs. The group is expected to use it as a platform to lobby for more hardline policies, including on immigration and tax cuts, in the Conservatives’ next election manifesto.
Truss will be a headline speaker alongside her political ally Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former Business Secretary, with Lee Anderson, the former Tory Deputy Chairman, also due to speak.
Mark Littlewood, who was credited as the architect of many of Truss’s libertarian economic policies in No. 10 and was unsuccessfully nominated by her for a peerage, will be director of the movement. He is the outgoing head of the libertarian think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs. David Canzini, a former senior aide to both Truss and Boris Johnson, has been assisting with the launch.
Farage’s attendance will anger party moderates, who already suspect that Truss is using the project to stage her revival. It comes after it emerged that a small cabal of Conservative MPs and special advisers were attempting to oust Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister.
One source claimed the PopCons appeared to be an attempt to build up a database of Tory supporters, with its new website inviting people to register their details for future updates.
Worth reading in full.
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Happy Easter everyone! Have a peaceful and restful Easter holiday.
Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us to celebrate Christ’s birth, death or resurrection.
The Apostles didn’t, and neither should we.
And they certainly didn’t celebrate the OCCULT HOLIDAY CALLED “EASTER”, with Eostre the Sex Slave, her Fertility Eggs and her Satanic Rabbit!
This is an interesting one.
Our current woeful crop of MPs seem to happily pass new laws including those laws which empower non-parliamentarians to set the rules we have to live by. But they’ve abrogated their duty as the supposed ultimate authority in the Kingdom to adjudicate in contentious cases
I almost always agree with Hitchens but not sure what his point is. It’s the job of the judiciary to interpret legislation and say how it applies to specific cases. Parliament can, should it choose, amend the Equality Act to say clearly how it applies to sex and the made-up concept of “gender”.
I think the point is that when acting as place of last appeal, the HoL was acting in a Parliament that was supreme. It’s decisions carried proper weight.
The Supreme Court is a bunch of self selected, generally left of centre, well fed elites who apply their own political values and no one can stop them. More correctly, no one in Uniparty Parliament wants to stop them.
Sure, though these days the HoL probably isn’t much better – Lord Young and possibly others excepted.
I agree.
Net Zero No Growth No Wealth – latest leaflet to print at home, deliver to neighbours, forward to your bad MP & friends online. Start a local campaign. Deliver 100 leaflets a week (5200 a year). Over 300 leaflet ideas on the link on the leaflet.
I’m just disgusted at how many women have taken part in these protests across the UK. Women out protesting against women’s sex-based rights and safety, WTAF has the world come to? And the irony that one is holding a placard stating, ”The biggest threat to women has always been men”. Yes, predatory men, enabled by a Clown World law and woketard government, posing as women as a way to gain access to female spaces, you utter fecking moron. But the level of betrayal on display by one’s own sex, not to mention narcissism and delusion, is off the scale. Shame on all the men and women who took part, but I’m most disgusted by the back-stabbing ‘handmaiden’ women;
”Thousands of trans rights activists have been demonstrating in central London and Edinburgh, days after the Supreme Court ruled the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex.”
https://x.com/SkyNews/status/1913654791907008918
https://x.com/Ellie_Angharad/status/1913689090504933421
The report says they defaced the statue of a leading suffragette – yeah those horrid transphobic suffragettes, whose main focus was destroying “trans rights” (whatever they are) and not fighting for votes for women.
There were even women who opposed the Suffragettes back in the day. It would appear that certain women, past and present, are actively working against women’s rights. They’ll be the submissive ‘shut up and put up’ type who love a bit of subjugation, who I have zero time but much contempt for.
Nuance is needed there – a majority of the women’s movement were not suffragettes, who advocated violent protest and law-breaking, but instead wanted change by democratic means – and would probably have achieved it pretty quickly, judging by the records of the time.
I wasn’t there, but I imagine many women were bounced out of “votes for women” by the antics of the suffragettes, just as Extinction rebellion probably produces more deniers than eco-warriors. I suspect we’d all be more sympathetic to those suffering gender dysphoria if the trans activists weren’t aiming to destroy reality.
Putin’s Easter truce is a ruse which changes nothing
‘The White House would be well advised to view it as the propaganda play that it really is, and as a strong indication of Putin’s need to keep Trump engaged. Right now the Trump-Rubio stick seems to be working better than the carrot.’
‘So far, none of these agreements have taken effect, as each time discussions begin within commercial or diplomatic frameworks, Russia makes new demands, trying to extract additional concessions. Still, it seems that long-range strikes create diplomatic pressure and yield certain results’
General Wesley Clark
‘China will reduce the retail prices of gasoline and diesel on Friday based on recent changes in international oil prices, the country’s top economic planner said Thursday.
Gasoline prices will be slashed by 480 yuan (about 66.59 U.S. dollars) per tonne and diesel prices by 465 yuan per tonne, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
Under the current pricing mechanism, prices of refined oil products are adjusted in accordance with changes in international crude oil prices.’
http://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0418/c90000-20304077.html
‘Send not to know for whom the bell tolls…….’
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-putin-is-keeping-trump-waiting/
The ‘truce’ is simply an Easter bunny pulled out of a ushanka.
‘We could distract ourselves with the illusion of a peaceful oasis in the distance, even though we really knew we were in for a long march through the desert.’
What is Putin really interested in?:
‘How will they be writing about me in a hundred years?’
So
‘Putin is selling the sizzle, not the sausage – and the great value of the sizzle is that you can always and easily make more. This is presumably the calculation, that even if no deal can be struck by 30 April, all he needs to do is provide a little more sizzle and keep Trump’s mouth watering. It may work, it may not.’
It won’t work, Witkoffery isn’t working.
The U.S. knows that ‘Russia’s true strategic goal remains Odesa. The main efforts are likely still focused on the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Mykolaiv directions, with further advancement towards Odesa. From Russia’s perspective, capturing Odesa would mean the end of the war and a de facto victory.’
Putin will not stop before then….unless he is forced to stop……:
‘In the first quarter of 2025, the volumes of coal transportation by Russian railways to the ports of the Azov, Black, and Baltic Seas significantly decreased……The main reason for this decline is the inability of coal companies to provide the declared volumes of supply.
The share of coal not provided for transportation reached 30% of the pre-ordered amount. As a result, the railroad monopoly is forced to maintain extra railcars that are not in use…..the excess of railcars in Russia has reached 295,000 units…….this creates additional pressure on the infrastructure and increases maintenance costs…..sanctions and export issues to traditionally high-margin markets will continue to complicate the functioning of the industry.
The deepening of the crisis may not only collapse the coal industry but also the entire transportation system of Russia’
Oops!
The 36 hour truce was offered to allow the marking of Easter. Other similar offers have been made for Christmas in the past. It is up to Ukraine to accept or not. It was not a unilateral offer and indeed Ukraine didn’t, so nothing happened.
Update: Apparently Ukraine did accept and is complaining about Russian action in their own (Russian) homeland.
Putin’s offer was to cease offensive action, not defensive.
The White House has never been well advised, least of all by the retired general and former US presidential candidate who supports the Democratic party, Wesley Clark.
‘The timing, the brevity, the sudden, unilateral nature of it all. If Ukraine’s allies needed proof of Moscow’s wild cynicism when it comes to peace, the announcement of an immediate truce for Easter provided just that.
It came mere hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his boss President Donald Trump said they would need in the coming days an urgent sign that the Kremlin was serious about peace.
For Russia’s proponents, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement on Saturday looked like a nod to Trump – but the sudden declaration is so riddled with practical flaws, before it even gets out of the box, that it is likely to be simply used by Putin to support his false notion Kyiv does not want his war to stop.
A genuine truce requires negotiation with your opponent, and preparations for it to take hold. The sudden rush of this seems designed entirely to placate White House demands for some sign that Russia is willing to stop fighting.’
CNN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IUioSSqLw8
If this definition is correct how does it explain the Christmas truce in the trenches of France when the opposing forces temporarily laid down their arms and indeed engaged in social events with “the enemy” for that one day?
The only cynism on display is that of commentators who want to deny the Christianity of even the top Russian and his gesture of good will.
Dictionary definition of truce is “an agreement between enemies or opponents to stop fighting or arguing for a certain time.” A truce, by definition, cannot be unilateral although the suggestion of a truce can only come from one side or another, and is up to the other side to accept or ignore.
19th April statement from the President of Russia (http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76727):
Today is the eve of Easter and I would like to congratulate on this bright holiday, first and foremost, servicemen who are Orthodox Christians and who have been fighting for Russia. I would like to wish a happy Easter to everyone in our country and around the world who celebrates, observes and respects this holiday.
Guided by humanitarian motives, the Russian side announces an Easter ceasefire from 6 pm today to 12 am Monday. I hereby order all military operations ceased for this period. We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops should be prepared to repel possible ceasefire violations and provocations by the enemy, as well as any aggressive acts on their part.
We are well aware of the fact the Kiev regime, as you reported to me, violated agreements on refraining from targeting energy infrastructure facilities more than a hundred times. Therefore, I ask you to be extremely attentive and focused to be ready to strike back in full.
Our decision on the Easter truce will demonstrate whether the Kiev regime is sincere, ready, willing and able to comply with the agreements, to participate in peace negotiations aimed at addressing the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis. For our part, we have always been ready to move in this direction and strongly welcome the aspirations of the United States, President [of the United States] Trump, our Chinese friends, the President of the People’s Republic of China, the BRICS countries and all supporters of a just and peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.
‘As Stanley Weintraub explored in Silent Night: The Remarkable Christmas Truce of 1914 (2001), there is evidence to suggest that there were a number of football matches in no man’s land between the British and the Germans, however, it was not widespread.
Weintraub pointed to examples where the Germans refused to participate and the British played the matches alone……the soldiers of 1914 were just ordinary men fighting a war that they did not want, forced to fight by politicians who did not understand, or care, about the horrors of war.’
Such politicians as Biden (now Trump), Starmer, Macron, and those leading the Baltic States.
Sorry, I forgot von der Leyen and now the Danish Prime Minister, who apparently also wants to send his troops to die in Ukraine.
Yes, this is the Unelected Harridan in charge of the EU:
Ursula von der Leyen’s army so under-equipped it used broomsticks instead of guns | World | News | Express.co.uk
“URSULA VON DER LEYEN’s German army was so under-equipped during her time as Defence Minister it had to use broomsticks instead of machine guns.”
“Bundeswehr troops tried to hide their lack of arms by replacing heavy machine guns with broomsticks during a NATO exercise.
After painting the wooden sticks black, the German soldiers attached them to the top of armoured vehicles, according to a confidential army report which was leaked to German broadcaster ARD.”
And one of the Baltic nations has just cancelled its order of 1500 sabres because of cost.
The sword not the aircraft.
‘On Friday, in New York, the Russian UN ambassador stated: “A ceasefire at this time in Ukraine is unrealistic.’
‘From day one, we were taught that Russia is and must remain a derzhava — a “great power.” Not just one country among many, but a pole in a multipolar world. A country destined to challenge the West. That belief — fused with resentment, imperial nostalgia and a constant sense of grievance — forms the backbone of Russian diplomacy.
Enter the Primakov Doctrine.
Yevgeny Primakov, a former foreign minister, offered an answer to U.S. unipolarity: a “strategic triangle” of Russia, China and India. This wasn’t diplomacy as dialogue but powerbalancing disguised as vision — a blueprint for rivalry. His ideas shaped generations of diplomats who came to see the world as a chessboard of empires.’
https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2019/06/the-primakov-not-gerasimov-doctrine-in-action?lang=en
Putin is not interested in peace. He is interested in Odessa and the Suwalki corridor.
He has four years (maybe, Novichok allowing) and by then Russia itself will be in ruins……
Europe is now on its own!
No-one in Europe can say that they were not warned!
Many have been speaking out since 2014!
‘In Europe and Eurasia, geography, history, and politics present Russia with undisputed advantages that effectively serve as force multipliers for its hard and hybrid capabilities; in more distant locales, their utility is diminished. In many such situations—like Syria or Libya—Russia has been able to insert itself as a party whose interests have to be taken into account. But it has so far been unable to impose its preferred solutions.
The key questions for the Kremlin now are whether to push for greater capabilities and a bigger role in the Middle East and on the world stage or to be content with remaining an “indispensable nation”; to take greater risks or to continue the practice of carefully calculating the risks and benefits of a given course; to follow the Primakov doctrine or to pursue a more robust set of global ambitions.
There have been occasional hints that some in the Russian national security establishment are harboring such ambitions, but there is little concrete evidence to suggest that the Kremlin is prepared to act on them. Russia’s far-flung engagements—in Venezuela, in the Central African Republic, in Libya—are more indicative of its agility and ability to seize opportunities when they arise than of a long-term muscular pursuit of a global agenda. The risks, thus far, have been modest and appear calculated, while the long-term benefits have yet to be realized.
The older generation of Russian leaders, like Putin, cannot help but be mindful of the experiences of the Soviet Union—its arms race with the United States, the quagmire in Afghanistan, and ambitious schemes that reached far-away corners of the map. However nostalgic they may be for the former glory of the Soviet Union, their posture so far has been careful, calculating, and risk-averse.’
‘New generations of Russian leaders may be less mindful of Soviet history and, instead, may be more heavily influenced by the successes of Crimea and Syria, more inclined to take risks, and more ambitious in their global vision.
How they address these ambitions and exercise Russian hard power will have major consequences for the future of Russia, Eurasia, and the world.’
Carnegie Endowment 2019
Russia believes and acts according to the principles of the UN which, unfortunately, is often heavily influenced by USA. Russia welcomes the development of good economic relationships with any country and avoids involvement in internal conflicts, i.e. believes sovereign countries should sort out their own problems. The days of USSR are long past.
You always quote US articles which, as I wrote below, are convinced of US supremacy and its right to rule the world. The article criticizes past engagements, primarily of USSR, but never asks just what in the world was USA doing in so many distant countries?
Named after former foreign and prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, the Primakov doctrine posits that a unipolar world dominated by the United States is unacceptable to Russia and offers the following principles for Russian foreign policy:
Russia should strive toward a multipolar world managed by a concert of major powers that can counterbalance U.S. unilateral power.
Russia should insist on its primacy in the post-Soviet space and lead integration in that region.
Russia should oppose NATO expansion.
Without reading the rest of the article, please explain what is wrong with the above.
With the disastrous series of wars, regime changes, sanctions and destabilisation efforts carried out by USA in numerous areas of the world since WWII, is it not about time somebody countered the USA’s presumptuous claim it has the right to rule the world?
One can hardly argue that Russia is not a major power in the group of countries which previously formed the USSR, so is it not completely understandable that Russia should attempt to entice those countries to remain primarily friends with it, rather than, for example, joining groups or organizations which are, if not enemies of Russia, determined to weaken the country? Is it not the declared intention of USA, UK, EU and NATO that Russia’s democratically elected President should be overturned, that the country should optimally be divided up to gain easy access to its various resources?
And of course Russia should oppose NATO expansion, which means nothing other than opposing the placement of nuclear missiles aimed at Russian cities being placed on its border.
‘Recognizing also that the unprecedented challenges now facing Europe following the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and against Georgia prior to that and the cessation of the membership of the Russian Federation in the Council of Europe call for strengthened cooperation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe, notably in order to promptly restore and maintain peace and security based on respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of any State,
ensure the observance of human rights and international humanitarian law during the hostilities, provide redress to victims and bring to justice all those responsible for the violations of international law, acknowledging in that connection the establishment by the Council of Europe of the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, whose statute refers to General Assembly resolution ES-11/5 of 14 November 2022, entitled “Furtherance of remedy and reparation for aggression against Ukraine”, which is intended to constitute the first component of a future international comprehensive compensation mechanism,
and acknowledging also the contribution of the Council of Europe to the work of the core group towards the establishment of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, and its willingness to examine possible options to provide expert and technical support for the establishment and, as appropriate, operation of such a special tribunal,
Recalling that, although the Russian Federation ceased to be a High Contracting Party to the European Convention on Human Rights on 16 September 2022, it remains bound by obligations under the Convention to abide by all final judgements and decisions of the European Court of Human Rights
and that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe continues to supervise their execution, recalling also that the Reykjavik Declaration stressed the need to make every effort to ensure the execution of the Court’s judgements by the Russian Federation, including through the development of synergies with other international organizations, such as the United Nations, and considering that the Russian Federation remains a member of the United Nations and a Party to a number of United Nations human rights instruments’
8 April 2025
‘The resolution was backed by 105 countries at the UN General Assembly meeting on 16 April. The nine that voted against it are Russia, Belarus, North Korea and the United States.’
‘At MGIMO, we were taught to cite international law while violating its spirit, to defend norms while dismantling them and to speak of peace while justifying and waging wars. Georgia. Syria. Ukraine. These weren’t deviations. We deployed whichever claim of “Territorial integrity” or “self-determination” suited the day’s talking point.
This is Russian anti-normism in action.’
Rumbled!
Council of Europe? You are joking. What are their latest concerns? “I deeply regret the adoption of a constitutional amendment on 14 April in Hungary that enshrines the recent law banning the organisation of Pride and similar events under the pretext of protecting physical, mental and moral development of children.” Living together in diversity. The participation of the Secretary General in the Antalya Forum … reflects the Council of Europe’s determination to actively contribute to a global diplomacy rooted in human rights, democracy and the rule of law – even in the most unstable contexts. I wonder if they listened there to Jeffrey Sachs’ speech accusing USA of being responsible for 600,000 deaths in Syria.
If they support the idea of “redress to victims and bring to justice all those responsible for the violations of international law”, then they should perhaps listen to the atrocities committed by Ukraine against civilians both in what was originally Ukraine and in Russia as recently listed by the Russian Foreign Ministry (https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/2009791/). For example:
In the early hours of April 15, Ukrainian nationalists executed a cynical terrorist attack using kamikaze drones equipped with shrapnel munitions against civilians in Kursk and its suburbs. Strikes were precisely aimed at residential blocks and social infrastructure. According to local authorities, 24 apartment buildings sustained damage, three of them severely. Six of the nine injured were hospitalised, and an elderly woman perished. One strike was deliberately directed at an ambulance station – targeting those tasked with aiding the wounded, among others. Eleven specialised vehicles were damaged in the attack. Can anyone believe these drones struck ambulances by accident? This was a calculated, orchestrated terrorist attack on civilian medical infrastructure…
In particular, the survivors from the Guyevo village said that the Banderites shot down six local Russian nationals who tried to evacuate, dropped ammunition on residential buildings, and were engaged in widespread looting.
Evidence was received that Ukrainian Nazis threatened to rape a mother of many children in Kazachya Loknya while her young children watched.
The death of nine people from Makhnovka village, Sudzha District, killed by Ukrainian nationalists in March, is being investigated. Gunshot wounds were discovered on six bodies. One of the victims was an elderly woman who was shot in the head.
Such unspeakable crimes are committed by those you praise on a daily basis.
And nations representing more than half the world’s population abstained
The ravings of a Putinversteher — German shorthand for those who rationalize Putin’s actions under the guise of understanding.
Reality:
‘At 8 a.m. on Easter, civilians were evacuated from the Zori Illinivska community — two elderly people and two families who were driving their cars behind the Proliska mission vehicle.
When he and his men were hiding from Russian drones in the bushes, they saw a third drone “finish off the car.” A fourth drone was also flying.
A chaplain came to pick up the people and took them away in another car.
“Grandpa had a heart attack, the woman had a shrapnel wound in her leg, and I also had one in my leg,” the volunteer said. Yevhen Tkachev clarified that the injured people were taken to the hospital.
Persistent failures in Ukraine beg a critical re-examination of the Kremlin’s vaunted narrative of invincibility.
Weak, pusillanimous and cowardly leadership rarely ends well……
I am puzzled how an idea can be false. An idea may turn out to be wrong but it is still an idea.
“Labour councils use petrol-guzzling tools despite Net Zero pledges” – Councils that claim to be tackling global warming by creating clean air zones are also using “high-polluting petrol-powered” tools in public parks, the Telegraph reports.
What a surprise.
Let me guess: The battery powered tools are far more expensive to buy and run, more inconvenient to use and keep powered for a full days work, and only displace where any CO2 emissions occur from the actual work site to the power stations. Sounds familiar?
I do use battery-powered hedgecutter, chainsaw, lawnmower and strimmer – lighter weight and less maintenance than petrol equivalents, and same batteries fit all tools. Adequate for modest garden, but would be non-starters for a public park.
All about right tool for the job – netzeroism and fake-pollution are all guff.
The power cord on mains powered tools is frankly dangerous and inconvenient. Petrol powered tools are very noisy and antosocial.
Most tools are not used continuously and batteries are available in a choice of capacities; two batteries will keep a tool running non-stop with a fast charger in use. Since power tool batteries have been upgraded fron NiCd and NiMH to lithium I have experienced zero battery failures over a ten year period, and some of my tools are in almost daily use.
We have tried using battery tools for heavy construction work, we have found they are not suitable, the batteries lose power before the spares have been able to charge.These tools need to be in use all day, every day.
There is also an issue when you have large numbers of tradesmen, all trying to recharge their batteries on often a relatively small number of power outlets,
We normally end up running petrol tools, or running air tools using a diesel powered compressor or 110v electric via a diesel/petrol generator.
On a mere 2.5 acre rough pasture/woodland plot, battery tools work for minor tree work and blowing leaves… but having two batteries would require 1/2 hourly treks back to the charger.
For mowing an entire meadow or brush cutting a hillside, or even trimming boundary hedges, 2- or 4-stroke tools are far more practical. The same is likely to be true for any park groundsman.
“and whether he can persuade the King on Net Zero”
Why would Farage have to persuade Charles on Net Zero? He’s (supposed to be) a Constitutional Monarch and should therefore stay out of politics and do as “his Government” instructs him.
Or is this an admission that Charles does not behave in accordance with our Constitution and blatantly interferes in political issues?
Thought for the day. Do hot cross buns discriminate against non-Christians? Should they also offer hot crescent buns or is that what croissants are?
Maybe you already know, but croissants were reputedly developed to celebrate the relief of Vienna from invading Muslims. But to answer your question, I’m sure the big bakers (who long ago decided that a hot cross bun isn’t just for Easter, but for life) will have a sudden burst of DIE conscience, work out that leaving off the cross will slightly increase their margins, and start selling packs of four “Spring Spiced Buns.”
And they won’t be charging one-a-penny and certainly not two-a-penny.
I’m sure everyone has noticed that bizzare flavours of hot-cross buns are now available. I’ve noticed rhubarb and custard ones and our local M&S have a window poster showing something absolutely revolting looking with what looks like a creme egg in the middle. Aldi have gone as far as making ‘mystery’ flavour ones – I’m not sure but I think it’s some sort of an online challenge to identify them. I’ve not been tempted by any of them. I do like a traditional one though – or at least what I think is traditional.
The King must accept whatever advice his Prime Minister gives. He may not speak out against the government’s policies.
As to the BBC, I look forward to hearing about its attempt to present free market capitalism. When will they find all the boy actors to climb up chimneys.
The King does NOT have to accept any advice from a Prime Minister who is holding that post ILLEGALLY, as did Catholic Truss, Hindu Sunak & Jewish Starmer.
The Law of This Land states clearly that NO CATHOLIC, JEWISH, or by extension Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Maori Cannibal or anyone other than a
PROTESTANT may legally hold the posts of
MONARCH and MONARCH’S PRIME MINISTER.