Like all bullies, the EU backs down in the face of courage

Little Macron, we are told, his delicate heels perched on his shoe-lifts, will now permit the United Kingdom to remain in the EU for a little bit longer than 31st October. Yes, he did stomp those same diminutive feet not so long ago and proclaim "Non! Non! Non!" to suggestions that Mrs May might be given a year or more to change Britain's mind about leaving. But that, his supporters say, was just for the benefit of the Euro elections. In other words, Le Petit was happy to trade the future welfare of all the nations in Europe for his personal political advantage. It's not a good look. Not that we want, or can be forced to take, an extension; we will leave when we said we would.

Anti-democrats determined to stop Brexit are now all out in the open, and have even stopped pretending in most cases that they are just concerned about 'no deal'. Our exit is looming, and it is their last chance to sabotage our leaving. So ex-PMs Blair and Brown work openly with the Brussels bullies to help them defeat the UK, and Major, the hypocritical architect of the entire mess, does so less openly but to the same effect. Why he and Heseltine are still permitted to remain members of our party defeats me.

Everyone knows the thing about bullies. They respect only courage, and a refusal to cow before their threats.

For the first time in nine long years of Conservative government, we have an executive imbued with the courage to lead the people of Britain in mounting a gallant challenge against the bullies. Boris has barely been in office for a month, but it feels as though he has done more in that time than the all the long years of Cameron and May together. It is truly refreshing and morale boosting.

And the bullies are, as bullies do, backing down. Little Macron may have to stand on his tippy-toes to try to match the stature of our PM; let him stand on a shoe-box if he must, or a tea-chest. We no more want France to look up to us than we want to look down on France - we want just what we've always wanted, a political relationship of respect between equals. The jejune bullying and intimidation of the Berlaymont has no place in international politics. 

When shoe-lifts are not enough - Macron stands on tippy-toes to look Boris in the eye

Peak Petulance next week

Hard lefties are in ecstasy right now that this might be THE MOMENT when the people rise up against capitalism, permitting the Glorious Revolution to take control; McDonnell is in tears, never imagining he would see it in his lifetime, and Magic Grandpa has mobilised his Momentum troops to occupy roads and bridges.

We can expect these warriors, overwhelmingly white, middle class and with beautifully spelt and punctuated placards in a variety of Farrow & Ball shades, to stock up on Waitrose quiche and Langoustine and Quinoa nibbles and head off to battle. Awkward and effete young men with pink hair will attempt to Twerk for the news cameras, young women still in their Zara summer frocks will take a break from Instagramming their legs and take their M&S Prosecco onto the streets.

There will, no doubt, be several thousands of them. Blocking roads, trains and stations, causing great inconvenience. They will cause the greatest annoyance to ordinary folk trying to get to work, do their jobs or on their way to collect their kids, ordinary folk who will not be exclusively white and middle class or with time on their hands. That Corbyn is firmly behind actions that will block emergency ambulances, lock minimum wage workers into packed buses crawling through traffic, keep surgeons from their lists and leave restaurant waste piled on the footways could not have been better; public anger will swiftly turn against the delusional street warriors, just as it did against the climate fanatics. Now that Corbyn has firmly identified Labour with the mass disruption, it will cost him a couple of million votes in the coming election and will split his party even further - you really can't see Emily Thornberry, Lady Nugee, planting her noble rump on Tottenham Court Road, can you?

And of course it will make absolutely no difference to anything at all.

No, no, .... it couldn't be ..... it almost seems designed by Dominic Cummings to play out this way

Tarquin and Justin will create another exquisitely kerned placard next week

The meltdown continues

I don't normally 'do' Twitter these days (though I keep it ticking over ready for the election campaign) but yesterday produced a couple of corkers. Dear Piers Morgan wrote "What this Brexit situation definitely needs though is more woefully ill-informed Remain-voting celebrities screaming ever more hysterically about stuff they don’t understand because they didn’t get what they wanted in the Referendum.". I don't think I can improve on that. 

Oh, and the anti-democrats are back to their dirty tricks again -

Yep, keep up the fake signings, Lads - it won't make a scrap of difference, and will keep your hands busy for the day.

Incidentally, I suspect all those whining now about the current session being ended after more than two years are the same voices who whined back in 2012 about the length of Cameron's first session. Yes, dears, Parliament is generally suspended every year.

... And We're Off!

Parliament is due to be prorogued in about two weeks - to sit again on 14th October.

This is quite a normal process, and usually happens every year. Nonetheless, some folk seem upset for some reason ...

(I've nicked this from Guido's comments ...)

Labour furious as Conservatives improve education

Not only is Michael Gove's time at the Education department beginning to pay off, but the improvements are set to continue with even more investment in the nation's intellectual capital stock and measures to force drippy 'all shall have prizes' educationalists to reintroduce discipline to unruly children.

Labour of course are furious. Under Labour, the People's schools were designed to keep the working class, particularly the northern working class, of whom Labour is terrified, in their place - with little ability for a financial independence from the Socialist slave-state. Dear God, start educating the working classes, Labour capos believe, and they might even start voting the wrong way ...

Unfortunately, the British people are seeing clearly the contempt in which they are held by Labour. They may not like Boris much, but they loath Corbyn as much as Lord Starmer and Lady Nugee. Farage and TBP still have a vital role to play in keeping Boris on course. A much-needed election will not only clear all the shite from the Commons - including the collaborators, turncoats and Quislings from the Tory Party - but restore in some measure democracy to voters from whom it has been tricked and subverted by an anti-democratic political class.

My voting finger is itching. 

People's Peers to re-capture the House of Lords

The House of Lords is the prime example of what Betz and Smith termed 'State Capture'. For decades now, the old land-owning peers whose names resonate down British history have themselves been made relics by a new vulgar breed of the undeserving political class -

With the rise of the new political classes, a different political dynamic is emerging. Drawn from similar backgrounds (often middle-class, university educated, with little prior career experience outside politics itself), members of parliament increasingly sound alike, think alike and act alike. The evolution of a monochrome political establishment is producing a radical disconnect, which the Brexit denouement is throwing into stark relief. What we appear to be witnessing is the corrupt mutation of the notion of the representation of the people in parliament, into the substitution of the will of the people by the interests of the political class. We are entering the realms, no less, of state capture.

Lords reform has become even more necessary since the popular Brexit vote, a vote that that the political class anti-democrats in the upper chamber are determined to overturn. Well, there's not time in the next few months to reform the chamber, so Boris must fall back to Plan B, oft recommended here, to flood the chamber with People's Peers.

The Express reports (the old Crusader seems to get many more juicy stories these days than the Daily Remain. I wonder why..) that Boris is considering Tim Martin amongst others. The 'spoons boss is surely more deserving than anyone of a red dressing-gown - he went out on a limb for Brexit.

But most delicious of all will be the combination of Boris' People's Peers with Failure May's resignation list. She is reported to have left Hammond off the list in revenge for the Treasury refusing to bung her £25bn of tax money to create a 'legacy' in her final weeks. Watching Hammond being frozen out whilst Brexit heroes such as Tim Martin are ennobled will raise a smile on millions of faces.

Lords remainiac Rennard has been dogged with allegations of groping his young staffers - is it time-up for his kind?

BBC Charter renewal 2027

The BBC's charter - the agreement that allows the organisation to collect income from a TV Tax - is due for renewal from 2027. Since the millennium, the world has moved on rapidly. The way in which people obtain and use broadcast output has shifted radically. Technology has enabled low cost, high quality commercial streaming; device quality and capability has made quantum leaps. We started the millennium watching Blair and the BBC bring in the new year on a TV set in the corner of the room; today, the flat screen mounted on the chimney-breast shows only Netflix.

Many are now questioning whether it's not now time to end the BBC charter. It's time to start the national debate. So let's kick off with the Five 'Public Purposes' which have been at the heart of the BBC's unique and privileged position and see how they've been doing. Here are the objectives, and here are my rankings. What are yours?

The Public Purposes of the BBC are as follows. 

(1) To provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them: the BBC should provide duly accurate and impartial news, current affairs and factual programming to build people’s understanding of all parts of the United Kingdom and of the wider world. Its content should be provided to the highest editorial standards. It should offer a range and depth of analysis and content not widely available from other United Kingdom news providers, using the highest calibre presenters and journalists, and championing freedom of expression, so that all audiences can engage fully with major local, regional, national, United Kingdom and global issues and participate in the democratic process, at all levels, as active and informed citizens.

(2) To support learning for people of all ages: the BBC should help everyone learn about different subjects in ways they will find accessible, engaging, inspiring and challenging. The BBC should provide specialist educational content to help support learning f or children and teenagers across the United Kingdom. It should encourage people to explore new subjects and participate in new activities through partnerships with educational, sporting and cultural institutions.

(3) To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services: the BBC should provide high-quality output in many different genres and across a range of services and platforms which sets the standard in the United Kingdom and internationally. Its services should be distinctive from those provided elsewhere and should take creative risks, even if not all succeed, in order to develop fresh approaches and innovative content.

(4) To reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions and, in doing so, support the creative economy across the United Kingdom: the BBC should reflect the diversity of the United Kingdom both in its output and services. In doing so, the BBC should accurately and authentically represent and portray the lives of the people of the United Kingdom today, and raise awareness of the different cultures and alternative viewpoints that make up its society. It should ensure that it provides output and services that meet the needs of the United Kingdom’s nations, regions and communities. The BBC should bring people together for shared experiences and help contribute to the social cohesion and wellbeing of the United Kingdom. In commissioning and delivering output the BBC should invest in the creative economies of each of the nations and contribute to their development.

(5) To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world: the BBC should provide high-quality news coverage to international audiences, firmly based on British values of accuracy, impartiality, and fairness. Its international services should put the United Kingdom in a world context, aiding understanding of the United Kingdom as a whole, including its nations and regions where appropriate. It should ensure that it produces output and services which will be enjoyed by people in the United Kingdom and globally.

Globalism is still destroying America

No apologies today for letting another voice do the speaking - in this case the distinguished American economist Paul Craig Roberts, writing for Zero Hedge:-

I have reported for years that US jobs are no longer middle class jobs. The jobs have been declining for years in terms of value-added and pay. With this decline, aggregate demand declines. We have proof of this in the fact that for years US corporations have been using their profits not for investment in new plant and equipment, but to buy back their own shares. Any economist worthy of the name should instantly recognize that when corporations repurchase their shares rather than invest, they see no demand for increased output. Therefore, they loot their corporations for bonuses, decapitalizing the companies in the process. There is perfect knowledge that this is what is going on, and it is totally inconsistent with a growing economy.

As is the labor force participation rate. Normally, economic growth results in a rising labor force participation rate as people enter the work force to take advantage of the jobs. But throughout the alleged economic boom, the participation rate has been falling, because there are no jobs to be had.

In the 21st century the US has been decapitalized and living standards have declined. For a while the process was kept going by the expansion of debt, but consumer income has not kept pace and consumer debt expansion has reached its limits.

The Fed/Treasury “plunge protection team” can keep the stock market up by purchasing S&P futures. The Fed can pump out more money to drive up financial asset prices. But the money doesn’t drive up production, because the jobs and the economic activity that jobs represent have been sent abroad. What globalism did was to transfer the US economy to China.

Roberts' conclusion is not positive. "The conclusion is that the United States is locked on a path that leads directly to the Third World of 60 years ago. President Trump is helpless to do anything about it."