Tag: Boris Johnson

A Second Chance

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Lockdown 2.0 is coming. France and German signed up last week. Athens will this week. England will be joining the club in the coming days. Scotland is persevering with it’s tier system instead with no regions currently in tier four and lockdown but it’s likely a watch this space thing. Politically if Scotland’s approach doesn’t work it will have a lasting effect on the Scottish elections in May next year but equally that is a long time in politics. As this most remarkable of years has shown; a lot of the unexpected can happen in a short space of time. Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, met with Micheal Gove the other day, along with the leaders of Wales and Northern Ireland to discuss the differing approaches and the potential financial aid necessary. He suggesting the government were listening and would give it some thought. Gove the ultimate in parodies, giving the perfect non-committal politician response. Issues have started to arise as it appears funding to prop up jobs UK-wide only seems to be on offer when the English in the south-east start to find themselves in need. The Tory government propping up their heartlands. It is an easy accusation to make but equally a very believable one on which they have form.

How then are people planning on experiencing these lockdowns. Boris Johnson says it’ll be only for four weeks but the previous one was only supposed to be three weeks and it ended up being three months. If people living in the Arctic circle can not just endure but actively enjoy a few months of winter darkness then surely we in the UK can survive some bleak skies for a bit. Apparently one method they have for remaining happy in these long winters is to find excitement in the things they can do instead which they can’t in summer months. They ski, they make fires, they go for night walks, they do indoor things. In Scotland because the weather can be so volatile it has always felt necessary to make the most of good weather and complete outdoor tasks, or even just enjoy the outdoors. When it’s raining and cold we do the jobs we have put off inside the house. It may not be the most exciting prospect but it creates a wealth of opportunities. With many having already experienced one lockdown in Spring they will be either daunted and fatigued by the prospect of a second or excited at being even better at their second attempt. What didn’t we get to learn in the first one, what didn’t we manage to watch on Netflix, what books didn’t we manage to get through and so on. Modern life has meant people rarely get to spend lengthy periods of time with themselves but it is crucial in our self-development as people. Aren’t we lucky we get a second roll of the dice. A hard six perhaps? What a glorious opportunity we have.

Life & Death

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The refugee crisis never really went away, it just calmed down a little and was forgotten about. People are still dying on a daily basis. Children are still drowning and we’re continuing to let it happen because of ideological beliefs, ignorance and our own self-serving desires. With the names, ages and photographs of the dead Kurdish-Iranian family being realised there is finally a human face being put on those desperate enough to risk their lives because what they leave behind is worse. Not since Alan Kurdi washed up on that Turkish beach over five years ago have refugees been treated like human beings. It is such a rarity, it stands out as novel. And here we are; Rasoul Iran-Nejad, 35, Shiva Mohammad Panahi, 35, Anita, 9, Armin, 6 and Artin, 15 months. Victims.

It would be easy to blame the current Government, they make it easy. Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, Dominic Cummings, the man with the advice. They’re responsible. The leader of the opposition Keir Starmer, he’s responsible. They are culpable but to turn this into a piece going on about particular politicians or leaders doesn’t do a dead family any honour. If anything they just get used so a point can be made. It doesn’t respect them it just makes them pawns and objects in this continued war for power. They have power, we don’t like how they use it, we think we could do better, we use a dead family as a stick and next week we find something else. We just use them. We use them in the same way the other side would use the highjacking of the oil tanker by Nigerians seeking refuge earlier this week. Desperate people getting used in desperate moments.

How then can we create legitimate discussions about the deaths of these people and find a culpable party or argue about how and whether people should be able to move freely on this planet, without using examples of those who died as a consequence of a series of decision based upon those arguments. We must be able to discuss it. Is it blame? Do discussions fail the moment we allow blame and guilt in? People make errors and there will always be repercussions but it feels like both sides of the argument, the accuser and the accused, don’t want to find a resolution, or at least a resolution that doesn’t perpetuate the cycle of suffering.

In that case we, us, me, I am just as responsible as those previously mentioned leaders. Their job is to be the face of guilt and when that guilt becomes too much they’ll be replaced by a fresh face and so on. We continue to perpetuate this by deluding ourselves into believing the next fresh face will be the good one yet we don’t even know what that means because we ourselves don’t behave or exist in any morally virtuous way. But then we’re human and we’re fallible. We need to forgive ourselves for this too and accept these ideas of good and bad are simply ideas, nothing more. In the meantime a young family have died and while young families have always died and young families will always die let’s not make their death pointless. Life is never worthless and death will always be it’s equal.

Subsidised Injustice

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Marcus Rashford is kicking arse again. Well Tory arse. And sort of. They don’t seem to be doing as his star appeal demands which was inevitable, they couldn’t be seen to bow to him or anyone in his position too many times. While that was inevitable, it was also always going to be the case in doing so they would be shamed in the process. It isn’t even him shaming them though, he’s just making a series of valid points, it’s their reaction, they’re shaming themselves.

They’re shaming themselves because they deny children food, they let innocent children go hungry when they spend and waste not just millions but billions of pounds. The money wasted during the pandemic on them being ill prepared and then on them continuing to behave in a manner which could only be described as incompetent. The twelve billion pounds wasted on a failed test and trace system. The contracts given out to friends, associates and Tory donors, many of whom had none or little experience in what they were being paid to do. We could discuss Brexit and the utter bankrupting shambles that it has inevitably shown itself to be. We could discuss the HS2 vanity and cronyism project that does nothing to improve the infrastructure of another failed privatisation experiment. We could go on and on but this isn’t a dissertation, I haven’t enough words.

Rashford is simply stating the obvious and the Tories are doing everything else to themselves. There have been photos going around social media this week of the menu for the restaurant in The House of Commons. Whether this menu is accurate is not important, the truth is that this is a subsidised restaurant, a restaurant taken advantage of by millionaires who happily allow their lunch to be subsidised by the tax payers. This is a link to a website with a long list of the Tory MPs who voted against feeding hungry children. There are three MPs who claimed over eighty thousand pounds in expenses this last year. That is the equivalent of over four people on the minimum wage and doesn’t include the basic eighty-one thousand pound salary MPs are paid. What on earth do they need to claim that much on. Interestingly my local MP The Right Honourable John Lamont claimed seventy-six thousand pounds. He may just be due a letter from one of his constituency. I wonder why he doesn’t feel the need to feed hungry children. Interestingly Jacob Rees Mogg claimed nothing. Doesn’t change anything though, he still thinks kids should go hungry.

They say the existing benefits system is in place to compensate for and cover these costs and to feed the children. That would be fair enough if the current benefits system hadn’t been obliterated in the last ten years of Tory rule, resulting in over four million children finding themselves in poverty. That is between a quarter and a third of all British children which is just remarkable for a country that prides itself on being at the forefront the developed world. You may not see things with your own eyes but the numbers are staggering. It’s not supposed to be this way. Steaks should not be subsidised when young bellies remain empty. They certainly shouldn’t be subsidised for the ones actively keeping those bellies empty. This, this is an injustice and it’s subsidised by us.

Anger & Despair

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Tonight was very nearly going to be a little rant. It’ll likely still contain elements of one of course but there is now more calm in the mental air surrounding my mind. Anger and despair. This was what I was feeling. Anger and despair at the immediate and direct consequences of political decisions made by the people masquerading as the leaders of my country. Anger and despair that my passport is now useless. Of course that’s not entirely true and I will not cry at my own limited suffering when people can still not enter Europe despite escaping war, violence, poverty and the early affects of a future climate catastrophe. We need perspective and my complaints pale into comparison and I’m aware I sound like a spoilt child having his special privileges taken away but the fact they’re clearly only privileges in the first place shows how utterly wrong the whole thing is. It’s just so completely pointless and self-inflictingly stupid.

Yes I’m taking about Brexit. And no I don’t believe the EU is some kind of beacon of hope and goodness, but I do think it’s a hell of a lot better than the alternative on offer. There is still time and today’s little video by a remarkably happy looking Boris Johnson is likely part of negotiations. It still makes you worry. Mainly because this mob have given every indication so far that they would actual prefer a no deal Brexit. Come the end of this year and with no agreement in place British people will be able to spend no more than ninety days in every one hundred and eighty within countries in the EU. This is how it is for Americans, Canadians and others outside of the Schengen or EU and those fortunate enough to be able to get holiday visas for Europe. I spent time in Greece with friends who had to go to Turkey for a few months before coming back or who just stayed illegally. I generally spend more than half the year within European Union countries. This is a direct and immediate consequence of Brexit.

That’s the thing, when we put aside ideas of what will happen from leaving the European Union, be those positive or negative and be those coming from leave or remain, they are simply ideas. It’s all hypothetical. People may have a fair idea but unexpected events can alter the moment very easily, look at this last year for example. We must understand things by real and measurable events. Freedom of movement is gone. The pound is getting weaker, thankfully we’re dragging the euro with us but that won’t last forever. The general economy has nosedived. Brexit has already cost us more money than we have ever put into the EU since we first entered, that’s not even counting the divorce bill. The benefits are only going to be seen in the long term they’ll say but long term is only an idea. Their dreams are not my dreams. All I know is the direct and completely unnecessary repercussions I can see, experience and measure. So yes I am still feeling a little anger and despair. But you know what, England, you can have yourself. Enjoy your American canned whole chicken and pig shit sandwiches, not to mention the chlorine and hormones. 58% and rising in support of Scottish independence. If it carries on like this there’s no way we’ll be stupid enough to believe the lies a second time. You’re on your own lads.

Boris Johnson’s Dystopian New Jerusalem

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As Boris Johnson talks about building a ‘New Jerusalem’ I remind myself of any dystopian story I have ever read. I’m not sure I want to be part of his New Jerusalem. Anyone professing to be the architect of a new society makes me instinctively cautious. Someone with his track record for incompetence and general indifference to the wellbeing of the populace is someone whose Jerusalem reeks of inevitable failure. These are the type of people who will hoard the lifejackets as the ship sinks, or who in actuality are already hoarding the lifejackets as the system sinks.

I haven’t been getting caught up in cries of fascism and autocracy by the state but this lot in power at the moment are not playing by the rules of old. If they were anarchists decentralising and creating community I would be fine with it but when they’re right wing wannabe despots in the making it is more concerning. Teachers can’t teach about anti-capitalism anymore. The police have been given draconian powers to enforce their will on the people. Powers are rarely given up once they’ve been received. The opposition exists in name only. There are real and concerning things going on in the UK at present. Once we leave the EU this power grab will only be intensified.

Talking of the ‘opposition’, only twenty of them, one of whom was Jeremy Corbyn, voted against the Covert Human Intelligence Sources Bill. Officially this “authorise(s) conduct by officials and agents of the security and intelligence services, law enforcement, and certain other public authorities, which would otherwise constitute criminality”. In layman’s terms the state and it’s enforcers are now above the law. Effectively this allows the government a license to kill whoever it deems a danger to it’s existence. The US and Canada have similar laws but they specifically exclude certain crimes like murder and torture. This one rushed through Parliament omits such exclusions. Remarkably the bill extends these powers to various government bodies such as The Competition and Markets Authority, The Environment Agency, The Financial Conduct Authority, The Food Standards Agency and The Gambling Commission.

The bill allows for state actors to break the law in three scenarios – in the interests of national security, for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime or of preventing disorder and in the interests of the economic well-being of the United Kingdom. What is clear from this though is the ambiguity involved. ‘Preventing disorder’ seems as all encompassing as ‘breach of the peace’, what exactly is classed as disorder? And someone can be killed to protect the economic interests of the UK. Does this mean I can sign up for the police and kill the leaders of Brexit? But seriously if we think of the new teaching rules on sugar coating capitalism and then this, it’s clear who and what this mob represent.

Former Tory leader and Brexit Minister David Davis and former Tory Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell have even called the government out on there being a “whole series of weaknesses in (the bill), which at the end of the day will impinge on innocent people” and on the dangers of “granting such powers in a free society” respectively. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Unions such as Unite have also heavily cautioned about the dangers involved with passing such legislation. As ever the media have been silent. Not even a mention of Keir Starmer whipping his MPs into abstaining against the vote. Love or loath Corbyn, at least he was a man of integrity and one who actually acted as a real opposition. Like I said, I don’t usually get caught up in genuine despotic outcries but this is concerning and this is a system looking increasingly less capable of maintaining and standing up for itself by the day.

Biden And The Trumpet

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When we – the Brits – had our General Election last December I got excited. I even got caught up in it a little. Deep down I don’t think I ever really expected Corbyn to win, there were just too many things against him such as half his own party, all the other MP’s and the entirety of the mainstream media. But I had hope. He was a man offering something different to this neoliberal shit show we as a people have been enduring since before I was born with the election of Margaret Thatcher. He seemed to actually give a shit about people and that it turns out is an extremely rare quality in a politician, at least a successful one anyway.

I watched some of the debates between him and the Conservative candidate Boris Johnson. There were moments the whole thing frustrated me, mainly Johnson being his buffoonish self but I was also frustrated with Corbyn for not just turning round and calling him a total lying prick. He didn’t even call him a buffoon. Corbyn it turns out was a man of integrity, he refused, even when it could have benefited him. Last night, Joe Biden had no such problems.

I didn’t watch the whole debate because I’m on Greek time and have better things to do than rise at whatever ridiculous time it would have been. I did watch the highlights and I know that makes it seem even more exciting than it really was, but wow, it was exciting and offensive. Trump behaved as everyone expected him to. He behaved as he always has. Biden didn’t seem to expose his aging mind, which is the main accusation levied against him. He also didn’t get a chance to with the constant interruptions, and constant may even be an understatement. That was no debate, it wasn’t even an argument, it was two men shouting at each other.

Trump was clearly bullied when young, probably by his father, about being dumb. His response to the smart jibe was classic “I’m like the smartest President in the history of Presidents” as he convinces nobody but himself. His “Stand back and stand by” message to the far right Proud Boys was concerning. It definitely seemed like an order to mobilise and be ready. But then Biden is awful too, it would be like voting for Keir Starmer and the only thing worse than that would be voting for Boris Johnson.

But this is politics now. Trump is a star of reality television and politics nearly everywhere has already gone down the cult of personality route, why not take it further and turn it into a reality television series. It’s great entertainment though, that is the truth. He get’s good ratings. American politics is going to have to completely reinvent itself after he’s gone because they can’t try and make it even more exciting but it can’t become boring either. Some middle ground respectability just to give everyone a break and a chance to breathe. It even makes our politics and politicians seem credible, and they’re not, not even in the slightest. There are five weeks until the election, the game has now really begun and it’s going to get messy(er).

The Post-Post-Brexit Phoenix

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Boris Johnson today suggested he was attempting to break international law in an effort to protect Britain’s “economic and political integrity”. For those who have travelled outside of the UK and actually had a conversation with anyone whose first language is not English, it has been pretty clear now for about four years that we as a country have little political integrity left. In 2016 shortly after the fateful day I was surrounded by utterly bemused Greeks, Spanish, French and Germans unable to make sense of what we had done to ourselves. For them, like most people I’ve met who are not of a particular ideological standing, the reaction has generally been a bemused one. Today, while I like to think I understand this Brexit issue from all angles, the truth is I too remain bemused. Since the referendum I haven’t felt compelled to jump on the “EU is perfect” bandwagon because firstly it isn’t, and secondly this level of fervent belief doesn’t appear to be that far removed in structure to the Brexiteers we’re fighting. The truth is always in the middle. Sort of.

I have recently been discussing the financial ramifications with a Brexiteer. I won’t go into particulars but this person has seemingly lost a rather large number of digits on the value of their wealth. This is mainly down to the falling value of the British economy and market in these last four years. With others I know losing in real time half the value of their estates, Brexit is very much something they can tangibly measure. I remember a few months ago reading about the cost of Brexit so far being the equivalent to all the money the British state – us – had so far paid to the EU since it’s inception, this loss is felt by all. The money the NHS was going to receive never existed, it was always a lie. Covid-19 will likely mask, or be used as a mask by the government and the media, the full extent of what is likely a no deal Brexit but it’s something no mask will manage to cover in our own life. While Boris attempts to convince his chums to embrace their inner teenager and break the law, we’re all left to pick up the pieces.

Make no mistake all we have left is pieces. The hardcore admit the economy will take a hit but that it will be worth it in the long run. Well what is the long run? For my generation, and the one after that, if not the one after that and possibly even the one after that – fifty years until we really see the benefits as Jacob Reece Mogg suggested last year. Great, I should be eighty-three years old by the time the country has fully recovered. Is ideology really worth that much? Myself and god forbid if I have children, them too. At least we won’t have to deal with the bureaucrats in Brussels as we fill out forms for bread.

There is so much lately that I just struggle to understand. Attempting to look compassionately from the other perspective seems completely futile now that the other perspective is hell bent on persevering with such a suicidal approach. Do we accept defeat and leave. Learn Mandarin? All this proves is that not only have we as a people failed to accept the defeat of our own empire roughly one hundred years ago but that we’re willing to go down with the worlds current self-defined ‘only’ superpower. Not only is it confusing it is depressing. We need to reinvent ourselves. Thankfully the ashes don’t appear that far away.

The Law Breaker Part Two

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If only I was in a position to go out and party this weekend I know I would be tempted. With new laws coming into force on Monday on there being no more than six people in one group at the same time, the media are reporting a police union’s fear that those reckless and irresponsible young people previously deemed wholly responsible for the spread of the virus, might take advantage of one last weekend of relative freedom. With the threat of all fun being put on hold until the spring can people really be forgiven. I know I would. And if there is such a fear of this happening then why have this new law start on Monday, why not Friday. Let’s all blame bureaucracy of course, but who’s willing to put a little cash on the Daily Mail, Daily Express and Daily Telegraph writing a piece on these devilish party folk and referencing this weekend if the government continue to fuck up at every opportunity and numbers increase. Scapegoat anyone? Ready made excuse. They’ll probably find a way to blame these revellers on the fact people had to drive hundreds of miles for a test. Or that Matt Hancock is still bizarrely in a position of power despite, well, everything he has done for the last six months. Saying that Boris, Dom and Mikey Gove are still the bouncing around full of beans. What’s that phrase about bad smells?

On a law breaking note, apparently Boris’s plans to avoid anymore of the “miserable squabbling” over Brexit, in other words do as he says or he’ll continue to squabble. He only plans on breaking international law in a “specific and limited way” as opposed to randomly and completely which presumably would be the bad way. The rumour is that the rebels in his party seem to be inconveniently perturbed by their own party damaging the integrity of the UK by “protecting the integrity of the UK” as Gove called it. It appears not even a stonking majority will allow this lot to completely do as they feel and in total disregard for the recognised ways of law abiding. The miserable squabbling appears to be returning as the rest of the country rejoices that not everything is going as planned. Is this the first step in a slight rebellion against a still perplexing government. The government has already had to make numerous u-turns since coming to power. If they are seen to be defeated by their own MPs then it quite significantly makes it clear to those in the party who don’t enjoy seeing their leader behaving in a less than legal and democratic way as being capable of crumbling. It may take time but once something can be seen as possible it inevitably becomes real. Time to get that deck chair out and prepare for the show.

The Law Enforcing Law Breakers

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The British Government are on fire today. We have new Covid-19 laws, in particular one which bans more than six people being together as a group. There are some credible arguments for this but seeing as they’re not applying it to work, shops, sports and a few other financially driven things, it does suggest that while they are concerned with peoples health, they’re more concerned about money. Don’t get me wrong, I am aware of the long term damage done to people’s mental and physical health by shutting down the economy. Restructuring the economy so it was perhaps a little more sustainable and less capitalistic would probably help a lot more in the long term and this is the ideal opportunity but that’s never going to happen at present.

In regards to large changes, I would be curious of the affect of this new law on protests. As a thick line has been drawn on anything that doesn’t make money or involves the arts, surely protesting is now also illegal. After last weeks revealing outrage and ludicrous free speech outcry over Extinction Rebellion’s blockade of certain media outlets known for their rather unscrupulous approach to reporting, as well as their less than compassionate views on poor people and those in need, what would that mean for similar such actions. How do you then define a group? What if a large enough amount of individuals just happened to come together in one spot independently of each other. Anyway, depending on how long this new law is in place, there may be a lot of legal unknowns ahead.

Talking of breaking the law, while our Government is ready to come down hard on us for visiting grandma and taking too many of the children, they’re more than willing to break international law when it suits them. It appears one of the main pillars of their argument on why they should have been reelected may not be so strong after all. Having rushed through the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU just so they could say they had one in place for the election, they have decided to go back on one of the main points of agreement. Apparently their will be no customs checks between Northern Ireland and the British mainland as had been agreed so as to prevent a hard border with the south. This point was critical in getting the Republic of Ireland to agree to the deal because of legitimate fears over it’s affect on the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement.

It’s all part of the governments attempts at pushing through the Internal Markets Bill, which the Scottish and Welsh governments also view as a power grab and one which directly challenges elements of their respective devolution’s. One Welsh Conservative MP has already resigned over the issue. They knew they would never be able to come to an agreement with the EU before the election so they just agreed to anything for the sake of reelection. Now they will become law breakers on the very day they demand real sacrifices from their own people under threat of the law. If one day could ever be used to define this government it would be this one. I’m sure it’s not the first time I’ve thought that though. This is only going to get uglier. Watch this space.

The Wrong Herd

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There are times we must question whether we are right. Nobody is ever one hundred percent right of course but let’s say more right than wrong. Someone who goes through life always believing themselves to be right in everything may not end up with many friends but could likely have successes in other respects. If someone goes through life always believing themselves wrong, would it be the opposite outcome? Probably unlikely. It must be important to be aware that we may just be wrong though. Is that humility? Maybe self-awareness?

I was thinking of discussing something in the news. One of those fallback pieces in which I decide to deride some politicians for their ineptitude, or an evolution in something on a geopolitical level that arouses some dissatisfaction within me. Usually a complaint of some sort. We’re less likely to be drawn to stories that have a positive and happy narrative remember. Maybe there’s something in that we could learn from. We’re drawn to stories of misery while living lives of misery. Like creates like as they say. Perhaps I should do a new ten day challenge and only write about happy positive things. I’ll probably pass on that one.

Usually the political stories I’m drawn to involve ones bashing the current government in the UK or the US, and commonly the opposition to both governments too. As you can imagine I’m not full of much belief in the political legitimacies of these two countries. Other people though must be. I say must be because not only did enough people vote in the two buffoons holding power but it also appears enough people want to vote in the establishment representatives who will most likely replace them at the next opportunity. When we see a large group of other people doing things we’re inclined to believe they may just be right and we may just be wrong. Herd mentally amongst many other names. It is easy to dismiss these people voting for these two sides as adherents of such a mental state but it’s likely I’m just swayed by another herd that I want to be part of. It’s likely a much smaller herd and one that feeds certain things in my fearful sense of survival but it’s a herd none the less.

With all this then we must all admit we’re being played one way or another. This huge game of power is rattling away as different groups battle it out for moral superiority and likely financial gain one way or another. Money corrupts, power corrupts, everything seems to corrupt, especially morality. Perhaps we’re just a corrupt species and we need to accept it. Or maybe we just need to stop worrying about whatever wrongs are happening in the world and focus on life as it unfolds before us. One extreme to the other yet again. It’s just exhausting that these arseholes continually manage to win power. More so when they’re clearly morally bankrupt and doing a bad job. It’s even possible to imagine things like this could finally defeat me and I stop giving a shit about the world. Maybe just give a shit in a different way. A detached way perhaps, or one that doesn’t get caught up in the hyperbolic nature of power. Or even my own perceived role within all this power. There’s got to be an answer somewhere. I’m sure we’ll see it too when we can finally figure out what it is that has been in front of our eyes all this time.