- “Sir Ed Davey criticised for election ‘buffoonery’ by former sub-postmaster” – A former subpostmaster who lost his livelihood in the Horizon scandal has accused Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey of “buffoonery” for his stunt-laden election campaign, reports the Irish News.
- “Key seats where Labour could get a ‘super-majority’” – The rise of Reform threatens to turn an already healthy majority for Labour into annihilation for the Tories, says the Mail.
- “Suella Braverman launches new TikTok account for the General Election” – Social media users have taken to X to share their opinions on Suella Braverman’s new TikTok account, reports the Mail.
- “Tories accuse BBC of ‘lefty Blairite bias’ over Laura Kuenssberg panel” – The BBC has been accused of “lefty Blairite bias” as it was criticised for selecting a panel of Rishi Sunak critics to join its flagship Sunday politics show, says the Telegraph.
- “Beware Farage’s £40 billion raid on banks – there is no such thing as a free lunch” – Does the Reform leader’s policy offer an attractive option for a cash-strapped country? asks Roger Bootle in the Telegraph.
- “Labour’s century” – In City Journal, Theodore Dalrymple recaps the rise and ultimate demise of the British Labour Party over the course of the past century.
- “David Cameron is a disgrace to Britain” – “Smug, complacent and snobby, he [David Cameron] has convinced me I was right to offer Britain a stronger alternative to a hopeless Tory opposition,” says Nigel Farage in the Telegraph.
- “NHS waiting lists – don’t mention lockdown!” – The lively election “debate” over NHS waiting lists provides an excellent illustration of the way in which false narratives can be created and then acted out by devious politicians colluding on both sides of the political divide, writes the Thinking Coalition on Substack.
- “COVID-19 advocacy bias in the BMJ: meta-research evaluation” – A new study on medRxiv investigates whether the BMJ showed bias during the Covid pandemic by favouring publications from advocates of aggressive Covid measures.
- “Tory identity crisis” – The Conservative Party’s failure to address British populists’ concerns offers a warning to centre-Right parties elsewhere – including Republicans in the United States, writes Fred Bauer in City Journal.
- “A different conservatism” – Just how ‘far-Right’ are these insurgent national conservative parties? Not very, says Dr. Campbell Campbell-Jack in TCW.
- “Hundred Scottish churches up for sale as U.K. turns away from Christianity” – The Church of Scotland is selling 100 historic buildings to free up funds after a drastic decline in the number of worshippers and ministers, reports the Telegraph.
- “Is France’s Left-wing coalition more dangerous than Le Pen?” – The radical Left-wing ‘New Popular Front’ is a more potent threat to French political and financial stability than Le Pen, warns John Keiger in the Spectator.
- “Marine Le Pen calls opponents ‘Islamo-Leftists’ and an ‘abomination’ for France” – Marine Le Pen has accused France’s new Left-wing bloc of being “Islamo-Leftists” who want to strip the French of their freedoms, reports the Telegraph.
- “Net Zero or feeding ourselves? We can’t do both” – If you have to go through life producing no carbon dioxide, it means you will be cold, lonely, poor, unhappy and covered in weeping sores, writes Jeremy Clarkson in the Sunday Times.
- “Climate change has decimated societies around the world” – Anyone arguing CO2 is driving all the extreme weather events are either very ignorant of weather dynamics, or dishonest grifters trying to manipulate your support for their political agenda, says Jim Steele in WUWT?
- “Coal trains vs high speed rail – here’s how big oil can sleep at night” – Two wild train projects bookend the energy scene perfectly, writes Terry Etam in the BOE Report.
- “I’m not opposed to assisted dying, says Sunak” – Rishi Sunak says he is not opposed to assisted dying in principle ahead of an expected vote on the issue in the next parliament, according to the Guardian.
- “Uefa bans ‘L’amour toujours’ song at Euro 2024” – UEFA has banned a popular song from the European Football Championships in Germany due to its association with xenophobic sentiments, says Brussels Signal.
- “Scottish political staffer who threatened violence against women critical of gender ideology convicted of sexually assaulting six people” – A former SNP Equalities Officer who threatened to “beat the f**ck out of some TERFs and transphobes” has been convicted of sexually assaulting six young adults, reports Reduxx.
- “The truth about woke” – ‘Wokeism’ is an insidious, illiberal ideology that has nothing to do with protecting the marginalised, says Helen Pluckrose in Spiked.
- “The March of Dimes syndrome” – The better things get, the more desperately activists struggle to stay in business, observes John Tierney in City Journal.
- “Global majority: what the new buzzword says about our world” – Turbocharged by the war in Gaza, the new term ‘global majority’ rethinks the ‘ethnic minority’ designation and puts ‘white British’ in its geopolitical place. Is it more than just jargon? asks Will Lloyd in the Sunday Times.
- “Scottish hillwalkers told not to call women hikers ‘sweetheart’ or ‘darling’” – New guidance for male mountaineers in Scotland advises not to call women hillwalkers ‘darling’ or ‘sweetheart’, nor to lecture them on how to read a map, reports the Telegraph.
- “The indispensability of men” – In the Free Press, Douglas Murray pays tribute to Camille Paglia’s brilliant, unapologetic defense of masculinity.
- “AI will change everything – so why is the election ignoring it?” – There is a looming revolution coming with Artificial Intelligence. So why hasn’t a single politician mentioned it? asks Sean Thomas in the Spectator.
- “The U.S. town being sued for racism… for paying black residents” – Evanston – an affluent suburb of Chicago – is being sued for exhibiting exactly the sort of prejudice it decries, says Evaristo Alves in the Bongtimes.
- “‘On day one…’” – Speaking at ‘The People’s Convention’ in Detroit, President Trump spells out what he intends to do on day one of his re-election, including cutting federal funding for any school promoting critical race theory or transgender ideology to children.
WINNING: "On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content onto our children."pic.twitter.com/fMWAVxzKFA
— Christopher F. Rufo(@realchrisrufo) June 16, 2024
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Be sure to read Farage’s comments about Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton. They are spot on for accuracy and just delicious to fread.
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Speaking of France’s radical Left-wing, this particular Leftard demonstrates to us once again how they will always be the champions of projection;
”Those who consider themselves “native French” represent a “serious problem” for social cohesion, far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon declared as he laid out the vision for the “New Popular Front” alliance in the snap legislative election called by President Emmanuel Macron.
Former French presidential candidate, leader of the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party and effective head of the New Popular Front leftist election alliance, Jean-Luc Mélenchon hailed the demographic changes in his country while attacking the native population of France in a speech to supporters on Friday.
“When I was born, one in ten French people had a foreign grandparent, now it’s one in four. Consequently, those who call themselves native French pose a serious problem to the cohesion of society,” he said in comments reported by Le Journal du Dimanche.
“In the Paris region, there are thirteen million of us, including at least eight million immigrants: Corsicans, Bretons, Malians, Algerians, Moroccans… Everyone was torn from the environment from which their parents or grandparents came and put against the wall to build a society.”
Mélenchon, a 72-year-old Morocco-born Spanish-heritage far-left politician who is often compared to Britain’s Jeremy Corbyn or America’s Bernie Sanders, is a controversial figure in France, with many accusing him of downplaying antisemitism and courting radical Islamist elements in the country, notably in the wake of the October 7th Hamas terror attacks on Israel which saw over 1,200 innocent people slaughtered and hundreds taken captive by jihadists.”
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/06/16/native-french-pose-serious-problem-for-social-cohesion-says-far-left-leader-melenchon/
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/06/15/world/europe/ukraine-russia-ceasefire-deal.html
What’s really going on?
Content of the unpublished 2022 peace terms:
Both sides agreed to exclude Crimea from the treaty, leaving it under Russian occupation without Ukraine recognizing Russian sovereignty over it.
The status of Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine was to be decided in later talks between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine offered to abandon aspirations to join NATO or any other military alliance, but the treaty allowed Kyiv to enter the EU.
Russia also demanded the lifting of all sanctions, repealing Kyiv’s laws related to language and national identity, and limiting Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
Ukrainian negotiators agreed to this in principle but called for higher caps than those proposed by Russia.
U.S. and Polish officials were reportedly alarmed at these terms, with one senior American official calling it “unilateral disarmament.”
The most important sticking point was connected to security guarantees under which powers like the U.K., the U.S., China, and France would come to Ukraine’s defence if Ukraine was attacked.
Russian representatives reportedly demanded veto power on these guarantees, meaning they could block international intervention if Moscow itself decided to invade again.
With this demand, the Ukrainian team “had no interest in continuing the talks’.
It was a very ‘soviet’ negotiation on both sides, unclear as to whether Putin, who was “micromanaging” the Russian negotiating team, was serious about the treaty and:
“We couldn’t tell, on either side of the fence, whether these people who were talking were empowered”
https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/dvostoronnya-bezpekova-ugoda-mizh-ukrayinoyu-ta-spoluchenimi-91501
What’s really going on?
The U.S. “commits to support Ukraine in developing a modern, NATO-interoperable force that can credibly deter and, if necessary, defend against future aggression”
This includes developing Ukraine’s air and missile defense, cybersecurity, and maritime capabilities.
The U.S. also commits to working toward procurement of squadrons of modern fighter aircraft, “including, but not limited to, F-16s’
In addition to defense and security cooperation, the U.S. and Ukraine agreed to work on economic recovery and reforms.
This includes supporting Ukraine’s energy security and its vision of a modern and decentralized energy system integrated with Europe, as well as seeking opportunities to provide technical assistance to support the country’s economic needs stemming from Russia’s war.
The parties also aim to work on projects to support Ukrainian and American economic development in the areas of defense production and infrastructure.
A separate article of the deal is devoted to Ukraine’s institutional reforms in accordance with democratic principles and EU and NATO standards.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/draft-joint-communique-ukraine-conference-switzerland-2024-06-15/
What’s really going on?
Ukraine will present an action plan to Russia at a second peace summit once a peace formula is decided.
Russia is uninterested in peace and that summit participants should decide together how to achieve peace “in a truly lasting way” under the UN Charter.
“When the action plan is on the table, agreed by all, and transparent for the peoples, then it will be communicated to the representatives of Russia….so that at the second peace summit, we can fix the real end of the war.”
“Our most important goals for this weekend are to inspire a process leading to a framework for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace for Ukraine based on international law and the UN Charter,”
The action plan will include punishing those responsible for war crimes, withdrawing all Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine, restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and the release of all prisoners of war and deportees.
The proposals also call for ensuring energy security, food security, and nuclear safety.
“When all the antiwar measures are implemented, when security and justice begin to be restored, a document confirming the end of the war should be signed by the parties.”
Russia is uninterested in peace on the West’s terms.
InstitutionalDelusional reforms.But What Next
For sure the history of events may be complex and unsavoury but surely we need to focus on what happens next and achieving the best outcome possible. For what it’s worth here are a few links to press reports on the Swiss Peace Summit;
https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-war-ukraine-peace-summit-kyiv-volodymr-zelenskyy-un-charter-general-assembly/
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202406/1314221.shtml
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202406/1314237.shtml
One of the weird things at the Swiss Peace Conference was the various speakers urging that Russia should be broken up and that Russia should be forced to surrender and yet these speakers were from countries who are not at war with Russia (allegedly!) and whose armed forces are (again allegedly) not participating in the war. To my mind some of these comments at the Swiss Peace Conference came across like kids spectating at a school ground fight urging on the fighters to slog it out!
It seems to me that following this Peace Conference and the rejection of Russia’s settlement terms, Russia will grind on with this war and with appalling loss of life slowly edge across to capture all of the annexed territories. Maybe if it thinks the timing is right it may up the ante and advance quickly? And so back to my question, what happens next? are NATO/USA/Europe/UK going to allow this to happen? If not, what are they going to do? and what will be the effects of that action?
Punishing those responsible for war crimes, withdrawing all Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine, restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and the release of all prisoners of war and deportees is what happens next.
How on earth is such a Utopian result going to be achieved? Does anyone think that Ukraine on its own can force such a conclusion? Is there any possibility of achieving such a result without the direct intervention of NATO and the massive escalation of this conflict? Would this be a price worth paying? or would some compromise be a wiser route to take?
To be clear, I am just as interested, arguably more interested, in peace in Europe than most on this site, for reasons that I have previously alluded to.
But, for those very same reasons, I have strong and not necessarily uninformed views about how peace might best be achieved and, just as importantly, sustained.
There was a good reason for posting about the 2022 negotiations at the same time as Ukraine’s current position regarding future negotiations.
2022 indicates that Crimea could be parked, demilitarised and disputed parts of Eastern Ukraine demilitarised whilst nominally remaining as Ukrainian territory within some kind of devolved, perhaps federated, status.
The sticking point is that Russia has been clear that it intends imperial expansion into a Union State incorporating Ukraine (partially achieved), Belarus (already achieved), Moldova and the Baltic States. It may never be disabused of that idea. So it must be dissuaded. That is what is happening at the moment, in particular because neither the U.S. nor China have any interest in peace right now.
However there may very well be a new U.S. President shortly. It now seems clear that will not be to Russia’s advantage. Putin cannot mobilise; his troops are demoralised, deserting. He is scraping the barrel for new recruits. By next year, he will be running short of equipment.
By end 2025, some kind of circumstances may therefore obtain that favour negotiations for both sides. Clutching at support from North Korea simply demeans his office in the eyes of his fellow Russians.
So, until end 2025, what happens next?
You’re looking at it.
Every war is won by superior weaponry. Russia has vastly superior weaponry, both technically and numerically, than Ukraine, i.e. than USA, UK, EU and NATO put together.
Secondly, Russia held totally democratic referendums in all its ‘annexed’ or new territories, asking the voting population if they want to join Russia or remain as part of Ukraine. The overwhelming majority voted every time for Russia, which is hardly surprising since the neo-Nazis in the Ukrainian military have been shelling those regions of Ukraine since 2014, i.e. shelling civilian towns and cities, so schools, hospitals, markets, residences and so on, in an attempt to ‘cleanse’ them of ethnic Russians.
Without USA wanting to enforce its hegemony over Russia, Ukraine would have been of no interest to anyone and this war would never have started. Putin has given the world another unique opportunity to instantly stop hostilities but our glorious politicians have less sense than a common housefly and just echo whatever the demented US President has been told to say: we will fight to the last Ukrainian!
And the utterly nonsensical claims that Putin wants to conquer the world are clearly contradicted by the progress of the Russian operation in Ukraine: see, for example, https://www.youtube.com/@militarysummary. You will claim that Russia is weak and therefore the conquered territory is so small but that is not the case. Russia is not interested in destroying cities (which it could easily do with or without nuclear weapons). Russia is not interested in subjecting citizens to living under Russian control if they do not want it. Russia only wants to protect itself and its people, which is why Putin has always been offering peace negotiations and he has always been serious.
If the current peace offer is not accepted then Russia will next reclaim Odessa, thus cutting Ukraine off from the Black Sea. Then Ukraine will become an insignificant, land-locked country. The west should hurry to negotiate peace before there is nothing left to claim.
The Military Summary channel comes from Belarus, now part of the Russian Union State.
I look forward to revisiting your post in twelve months time.
But, for the time being, let us consider the following:
Ukraine’s partners are now starting to provide sufficient ammunition and training support to the AFU to enable the blunting of Russian attacks this year.
Consequently Russia is unlikely to achieve significant gains 2024/2025.
If Russia lacks the prospect of gains in 2025, given its inability to improve force quality for offensive operations, then it follows that it will struggle to force Kyiv to capitulate by 2026.
Beyond 2026, attrition of systems will begin to materially degrade Russian combat power, while Russian industry could be disrupted sufficiently by that point, making Russia’s prospects decline over time.
That is precisely the U.S. strategy.
Meanwhile Russia’s attempts to conclude a major gas pipeline deal with China have run aground over what Moscow sees as Beijing’s unreasonable demands on price and supply levels, according to three people familiar with the matter. Beijing’s tough stance on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline underscores how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has left President Vladimir Putin increasingly dependent on Chinese leader Xi Jinping for economic support.
That is precisely China’s strategy.
And that is why we are where we are.
Both the U.S. and China want a weak Russia………..
Let us also consider what Ukraine’s partners have already provided and seen destroyed or frittered away in failed attempts to advance and at the cost of hundreds of thousands dead and maimed Ukrainians from 25 up to retirement age.
They have so few potential combat troops left that their “partners” are pushing them to lower conscrition ages. No matter how good the training (and I believe that tactically, the training is stuck in the ’90s) you cannot turn raw recruits into effective combat troops in anything less than months.
Just to add that they have now boosted their armed forces with over 1000 jailbirds with several more thousand planned. Wasn’t there a lot ridicule over the claim that Russia (actually Wagner Group) was doing just that.
You mean the unconditional surrender of the winning side – a novel concept in international diplomacy.
Looking at all of those articles, it highlights what an absolute mess we are in.
Feels like end times … still, endings are also beginnings so it’s just a question of how much chaos there is before a new order emerges and what that will look like.
You sound overly optimistic to me….
“New guidance for male mountaineers in Scotland advises not to call women hillwalkers ‘darling’ or ‘sweetheart'”
Other men tend to call me “mate” or “guv” or “buddy”, “cock” and very occasionally “bro”. Women often call me “dear”, “love”, “duck”, “darling”, “pet”. Both sexes sometimes use “friend” or “sir”. All of these terms are intended to express friendliness. If people are thinking too hard about them then I worry that they have missed the point of how we are supposed to be spending our limited time on this mortal coil.
I wonder how many men pretending to be women actually walk the hills. i assumed they mostly frequented urban bars.
Isn’t this just yet another example to be added to the collection called: ”How to create an issue out of thin air?”, which is happening all the time, all over in Clown World nowadays. Things and behaviours that have been perfectly acceptable since time immemorial are suddenly deemed problematic. Did they do a survey of women hikers and find out that these terms were offensive to them or something? Well I’d rather be called ‘sweetheart’ than ‘fat-arse’.
Growing up in Newcastle, aside from the unisex ‘pet’, females ( particularly girls ) got referred to as ‘flower’, as a term of endearment. Might just be a Geordie thing..
Happening all the time, yes. Sad.
I’ve not had “flower” I don’t think. Maybe “petal”. But then my contact with your home city has sadly been limited to passing through on the train and watching “Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?”.
Yes “flower” too although not as ubiquitous as “love.”
Richard Hawley, one of my all time favourite artists has a new album out entitled ” In this City They call you Love.”
The city is his home town of Sheffield.
In the North to address someone as “love” is nothing more than friendliness and good manners. We are not on first name terms but we feel no need for formal salutations. It is used everywhere: shops, pubs, offices, gyms. Everywhere. It is ubiquitous. I cannot imagine how often I use the word on a daily basis.
“Love” even crosses genders although a bloke wouldn’t address another bloke as “Love.”
In the North East the equivalents would be “pet” and “man.” Mogs could explain this better than me.
Long may it continue
If some busybody wants to direct the way I address people they will be given the Foxtrot Oscar treatment.
Compelled speech – one more step on the road to totalitarianism
Indeed, which is why I refuse to conform.
Does anyone actually know what happens if one doesn’t follow “guidance”?
Probably not much in this case
In the workplace I think it’s different because if there is some kind of incident and you’ve not been following guidance your employer will be worried that they will be sued
“The rise of Reform threatens to turn an already healthy majority for Labour into annihilation for the Tories, says the Mail.”
That’s the idea.
On one hand we get lectured on the need to protect our precious democratic system and then we get harangued for actually considering voting for our preferred choice of candidate and policies!
As is usual these days, when people talk about “protecting democracy” you can be fairly sure they mean the opposite.
Its not our democratic system Steve, it’s theirs – version of.
The answer to that is in the hands of the Tories not Reform.
It has been in their hands for decades- too late now. Let’s say they had a manifesto exactly like that of Reform – who here would believe them?
Sounds good to me.
The left will be going ballistic, saying how Trump is a fascist who hates blacks, gays, trans etc.
The hilarious thing is that he’s not saying he’ll ban any of the things he mentions. All he is saying is that he won’t give them any federal funds.
That is how far collectivism has gone. If you don’t allow collectivists to take your money and then spend it on their social transformation projects and force their agenda down your throat, then you’re a bad person.
I’m reminded of something I just posted on LS
”Dinner with some friends the other night.
Friends: Various bien-pensant platitudes about Trump
Me: I’d vote for him in a heartbeart
Friend: F*** off
I went to bed without further ado. I really can’t be arsed with most people these days, especially people who have brains but choose not to use them, and are then just plain rude. They would probably regard themselves as well above your average Sun reader in their level of political sophistication – “f*** off” being an example of their great intellect.
I was at a dinner party recently. Bloke next to me was a big supporter of Ukraine, he’d driven an ambulance there in the early days of the war. Adamant that we support them defeat Russia. It them transpired that he was currently hosting a Ukrainian draft dodger. “Exactly who do you expect to do the fighting?” I asked.
Of course, everyone there wanted a ceasefire in Gaza, but war in Russia.
I had that yesterday, and pointed that he wants votes in the US, not the UK, and, for some reason, they like him. Puzzling, isn’t it?
Precise synopsis , it’s exactly my thoughts ! The question is ( to these people ) leave Trump out of the equation & then Explain just HOW Biden is POTUS & tell us anything good that has happened since he took over !!
I asked someone to name an actual policy or executive action taken by Trump that they disapproved of- they were unable to. Most of these people despite considering themselves educated and informed don’t even understand the US structure of government, that the President doesn’t make laws and is not some kind of dictator, the role of the states and the constitution.
When Farage got a handful of wet concrete chucked at him, there were a number of other protestors, spotty youths really, who were there to ‘oppose fascism’. I wonder who amongst them could even tell me the first thing about Fascism, where it originated, who it was led by, and what its objectives were, and how that parallels onto Farage and the Reform Party.
I keep coming back to all these kids having the means to access all human knowledge in their pocket, but how few of them seem to be willing to understand what they are fighting for or against (sometimes at the same time…).
Some friends of ours said something about Meloni along the lines of “oh she’s far right” – I asked what their definition of far right was and how she fitted in- apparently she might be a threat to democracy.
I joined Reform this morning, paid my £25.
It’s only the 2nd time I’ve become ‘political’, last time was UKIP.
The battle over the next 5 years is as pivotal to our nation as Waterloo, Trafalgar, Battle of Britain and Brexit.
I won’t stand on the sidelines.
“after a drastic decline in the number of worshippers”
Oh, I wonder why?
The flock is probably fed up with all the rainbow flags draped across the alters!
“I’m not opposed to assisted dying, says Sunak”
Neither am I, on a case by case basis, not a one size fits all!
Its a door that we should think much more carefully about, before we open it. Unless Sunak is talking about himself. When the election result comes through, I would have thought suicide would be the least we should expect of him.
Is Fishy going to lead the way?
Fine chap.
“The indispensability of men”
Quick lesson in common sense,
Dispense with men/women ,and we will no longer exist within one generation!
Also, if we were all gay, same result
“AI will change everything – so why is the election ignoring it?”
Artificial intelligence does not exist! Thank f@#k
Augmented intelligence does
Rant over, dippy eggs and soldiers this morning, if that’s not too racist ?
Dippy eggs suggest that they are suffering from some mental illness, and you really shouldn’t make fun of that.
Anyway, I just have to do the joke. Two eggs in a pan, and one says ‘Feck me its hot in here’, and the other one says, ‘wait till they get you out, they bash your head in’.
Could also be a metaphor for the election of a Labour Government, thinking about it…