IN NEED OF PEAS & AR MONEY

We've not heard much from Labour's Paulette Hamilton since she was first elected to Parliament in 2022.  It was her selection for the Birmingham Erdington by-election that drew attention to her black power 'ballot or the bullet' speech in which she said: "I'm not sure we will get what we really deserve in this country using the vote".  Her predominantly white working class constituency wasn't swayed by the controversy and elected her to succeed the deceased Jack Dromey anyway, with an almost identical majority.  She went on to buck the urban trend in last year's general election, more than doubling her majority.

Paulette was back on our screens this week, appearing on Jeremy Vine's Channel 5 daytime show.  One of the topics up for discussion with Vine's stand-in Matt Allwright was inevitably the Ukraine, which has predictably become an opportunity for yet more Trump-bashing.  To be fair to Matt, he repeated the Donald's point that the war has dragged on for three years without so much as an olive branch from any Western power, something that has changed rapidly with his return to the White House.  However, the conversation quickly reverts back to the establishment line that the war must go on and Russia is a threat to us all.

Presenter Matt then ratchets up the fear level by raising the spectre of conscription, in order to 'put British boots' on the ground in the Ukraine.  Now Paulette belongs to a party that openly mocked Rishi Sunak when he proposed national service as one of his party's pledges ahead of last year's general election, a policy that was never going to happen - win or lose (but he knew he was going to lose anyway).  Now, in response to Matt's question, Paulette was suddenly open to conscription which she said invited 'serious discussion'.

Deary me.  The scares are coming thick and fast now that the Ukraine money laundering scam is under threat.  That is not to say that Paulette - or Matt - are directly profiting from the Ukraine, but they are both useful idiots in the bigger scheme of things.  Hilariously, Paulette backs up her case for conscription by saying that 'our borders are being threatened'.  Unfortunately, the (imaginary) threat of which she speaks is from Russia, and not from wave upon wave of illegal migrants sailing across the Channel!

Paulette does makes a valid point about '70 years of relative peas and ar money' coming about on the back of the sacrifices made by our forefathers.  That's peace and harmony to the non-Brummies out there!

Watch below...

COUNCIL BY-ELECTIONS 20.02.25

Six results to report this week, with most of the action taking place in the Labour strongholds of Greater London.  Four of the six took place there and were all holds - three for Labour and one for the Lib Dems.  One of these London contests (Brent) took place on Tuesday.  All four saw Labour's percentage vote share down by double digits.

The Colchester seat was a Conservative hold, but interesting to note that the double digit swing away from Labour was split almost evenly between Reform and the victorious Tory candidate.

In Scotland there was a technical gain for the SNP, where the outgoing (deceased) Labour councillor had been previously elected in second place to take the second of three seats.

Whalebone, Barking & Dagenham London Borough Council

Lab: 625 (54.9%) -15.6%

Con: 287 (25.2%) -4.2%

Grn: 117 (10.3%) New

LDm: 109 (9.6%) New

Lab HOLD

Tiptree, Colchester City Council

Con: 1,089 (55.3%) +10.8%

Ref: 567 (28.8%) +9.9%

Lab: 167 (8.5%) -15.6%

Grn: 81 (4.1%) -2.1%

LDm: 66 (3.4%) -3.0%

Con HOLD

Kilmarnock North, East Ayrshire Council

(first preference votes)

SNP: 748 (35.8%) -11.8%

Lab: 582 (27.8%) -0.1%

Ind: 277 (13.2%) +5.1%

Ref: 212 (10.1%) New

Con: 159 (7.6%) -6.2%

Grn: 75 (3.6%) New

LDm: 37 (1.8%) New

Ind: 2 (0.1%) New

SNP GAIN from Lab (elected at stage 8)

Hammersmith Broadway, Hammersmith & Fulham London Borough Council

Lab: 578 (53.4%) -18.2%

Ref: 148 (13.7%) New

Con: 144 (13.3%) -5.5%

LDm: 135 (12.5%) +2.9%

Grn: 77 (7.1%) New

Lab HOLD

Lillie, Hammersmith & Fulham London Borough Council

Lab: 466 (40.4%) -22.5%

Con: 352 (30.5%) +4.9%

LDm: 212 (18.4%) +6.9%

Ref: 123 (10.7%) New

Lab HOLD

The following election was held on Tuesday

Alperton, Brent London Borough Council

LDm: 1,743 (48.5%) +2.0%

Lab: 827 (23.0%) -18.3%

Con: 740 (20.6%) +8.4%

Ref: 286 (8.0%) New

LDm HOLD

Abbreviations

Lab = Labour

Con = Conservative

LDm = Liberal Democrat

Grn = Green

SNP = Scottish National Party

Ref = Reform UK

Ind = Independent

WOKE WEDNESDAYS #18

A 36-year-old Afghan woman living in Warwickshire was convicted of terrorist offences last week after being accused of a plot to enlist her children in the Islamic State terror group.  Farishta Jami came to Britain in 2008 and has since given birth to four children, all of whom she wished to take to Afghanistan with the ultimate intention of turning them into martyrs for the regional Daesh group known as IS-K or Islamic State - Khorasan Province.  The single mother is said to have been fascinated by the use of children in warfare and police found videos showing children executing prisoners.

Following her conviction, West Midlands Police released a mugshot of Jami.  However, the strict Muslim was not at all happy and demanded that the mugshot be retaken, allowing her to be seen wearing her niqab face veil.  Her solicitor said: "Reports of the verdicts yesterday used an image of my client, released by the police, in which her head wasn’t covered.  This has caused her some considerable distress and the police are going to release a different image.  We would request that is used instead."

West Midlands Police released the new mugshot within two hours of the request, but the judge batted away Jami's demand and said it was up to the press which image was used.

While only her eyes are visible in the new mugshot, it was noted that Jami only wore a headscarf during her three week trial, suggesting that she is not all too proud of her actions after-all.  She won't like you sharing the above meme, so please share away at your leisure!

Sentencing has been adjourned until a further date.  We can only hope that upon her release, she fulfills her wish to return to Afghanistan - never to return to these shores again!

Last week's trans Oscars meme generated 40 comments and 13 shares on Facebook.

MENSTRUAL CRAMPS, ANYONE?

Jeremy Corbyn pictured with The Menstrual Cramps

As with many political leaders, when Jeremy Corbyn stood down as Labour leader in 2019 he searched for a new project to sink his teeth into and, dare we say it, further his multi-millionaire wealth?  A new venture was made all the more pressing when the resulting leadership campaign was not successful for his anointed successor Rebecca Long-Bailey.  The victor wasted no time in sidelining the Socialist Campaign Group and Corbyn soon found himself outside of the party for the first time.

While Starmer's attempt to eradicate Corbyn for good came to nothing - the Islington MP was re-elected last year as an independent - the Westminster gravy train can never provide enough wealth once its passengers are on it, regardless of their 'socialist' values.

So it came to pass that Corbyn founded The Peace & Justice Project, a reasonable endeavour judging by its name.  Sadly, the organisation is just more of the same anti-white, open borders, climate lunacy, Palestine-obsessed and progressive social justice (for minorities only) that one comes to associates with the modern left.

Among the events organised by Corbyn's project is 'Music for the Many', which gathers various fringe far left misfits together for what must be a very painful gig for anyone who appreciates music.  One of the recent headliners were The Menstrual Cramps.  Yes, seriously, that is a genuine band name.  The Menstruals (or shall we call them the Cramps?) stylise their name with an anarchist symbol, which represents a political movement that can be hard to fathom for those on the libertarian right.  We are talking about an ideology that seeks to unite anti-government libertarianism with socialism, which primarily relies on the state to enforce its will!

If we look into some of the songs penned by this band, which describes itself as 'queer punk from Bristol', the titles suggest something far from the 'kinder, gentler politics' once famously espoused by Corbyn and anything but libertarian values.  Surely there can be little ambiguity in the songs "Tory Scum", "Cull the Tories" and "We Hate You, Please Die".  Lovely!

Other titles from these degenerates include "Class War", "Abortion", "My Bush Ain't Ur Business",  "Mutual Masturbation", "Frack Off" and "JC Our Saviour".  Of course the last one is not referring to the JC most of us are familiar with as 'our saviour'.

We're not convinced that the one on the far right has ever suffered a menstrual cramp, just saying...

TOON TUESDAY #45

It was another bad week for Red Rachel, with Britain's economic woes continuing and more CV shenanigans exposed, plus revelations about her expenses while employed at HBOS.  The conwoman is on borrowed time, but for Starmer to fire her would be to admit that she hoodwinked him also.  That is, assuming, that it was not the plan all along to trash the economy...

While most cartoonists have been spent the last week banging the drum of war now that Ukraine peace talks are on the horizon, thankfully we can rely on the Telegraph's array of talented artists to keep focos on the Labour shitshow...

Andy Davey for The Daily Telegraph

Patrick Blower for The Daily Telegraph

Matt Pritchett for The Daily Telegraph

MEME MONDAY #23

Unfortunately Karl became unwell towards the end of last week and has been unable to contribute over the last few days, so this week's edition is very thin on the ground.  Normal service will resume shortly!

Mon 10 Feb - 232 shares on Facebook

Wed 12 Feb - 77 shares

Thurs 13 Feb - 335 shares

Fri 14 Feb - 180 shares

VANCE SLAMS EURO TYRANNY

While the international media has focused on President Trump and his DOGE supremo Elon Musk, other important figures in the new US administration have been pushed to the periphery, awaiting their moment to shine.  On Friday it was very much Vice President JD Vance who took the spotlight, with a blistering 20 minute address to assembled European dignitaries in Munich.

The Munich Security Conference was meant to reflect a globalist agenda, with a set guest list of anointed puppets who would otherwise listen to the same message being trotted out by a set of puppet speakers.  Unfortunately for the organisers, there was a cat let loose among the globalist pigeons and it came in the form of JD Vance.

The US VP began his speech by referencing the horrific vehicle ramming attack that had taken place in the host city just 24 hours earlier.  Two of the victims of that incident are now dead, as is a victim of another migrant terrorist attack in neighbouring Austria a day later.  Vance said that the Munich victims were in American prayers, which drew applause.  He then joked that he hoped it would not be the last applause he heard, knowing full well that the speech he was about to deliver would not be well received by those present.

One of those in the audience was Peter Kyle, the UK Secretary of State for Science and Technology.  The camera panned to Kyle a couple of times during Vance's speech, including a rare moment when a handful of delegates managed to halfheartedly clap their hands.  At that point Kyle was completely motionless, like the vast majority of those present.

Why?

Because JD Vance spoke for 20 straight minutes defending a number of old European values that are anathema to the globalist establishment.  A rapid decline in free speech and democracy, tied with open borders, were high on Vance's agenda.  It was not so much that the organisers and delegates feared his words, in so much as they feared his words would be heard by their voters.  They know that most people across Europe would wholeheartedly agree with Vance's words, only many are afraid to say or repeat them for fear of being labelled 'racist', guilty of 'disinformation' or worse still - arrested.

Watch the full glorious speech below.

COUNCIL BY-ELECTIONS 13.02.25

Six by-elections were held on Thursday and it was a mixed bag of results with four of the six changing hands.  Labour's vote share was down in all five English seats, including a routine hold for them in north London, whilst in Scotland their vote was up slightly in a complicated contest.  Technically it was a gain from the Lib Dems, but the Lib Dem incumbent had been elected having finished third, as three seats were up for grabs on that occasion.

Labour lost two seats elsewhere, one to Reform in the red stronghold of south Wales and one to the Greens in leafy Warwick.  Reform pushed Labour into third in the latter as they continue to clock up some impressive new entries.  Their results are certainly beginning to measure up to recent polls that show them leading Labour nationally.

Burnt Oak, Barnet London Borough Council

Lab: 1,064 (45.0%) -18.2%

Con: 501 (21.2%) -2.7%

Ref: 434 (18.4%) New

Grn: 202 (8.6%) -4.3%

LDm: 93 (3.9%) New

REU: 68 (2.9%) New

Lab HOLD

Kirkintilloch East & North & Twechar, East Dunbartonshire Council

(first preference votes)

Lab: 958 (30.2%) +2.0%

SNP: 726 (22.9%) -16.0%

LDm: 677 (21.3%) +2.6%

Ref: 476 (15.0%) New

Con: 131 (4.1%) -7.9%

Grn: 128 (4.0%) New

Alb: 63 (2.0%) New

Sov: 18 (0.6%) New

Lab GAIN from LDm (elected at stage 8)

Bransgore, Burley, Sopley & Ringwood East, New Forest District Council

Con: 997 (60.0%) +32.5%

Grn: 314 (18.9%) -11.9%

Ref: 257 (15.5%) New

LDm: 52 (3.1%) New

Lab: 42 (2.5%) -5.1%

Con GAIN from Grn

Manor, Stevenage Borough Council

LDm: 760 (55.6%) +0.1%

Ref: 320 (23.4%) New

Con: 139 (10.2%) -5.2%

Lab: 101 (7.4%) -12.3%

Grn: 46 (3.4%) -6.0%

LDm HOLD

Trevethin & Penygarn, Torfaen County Borough Council

Ref: 457 (47.0%) New

Lab: 259 (26.6%) -49.2%

Ind: 117 (12.0%) New

Ind: 114 (11.7%) New

Grn: 25 (2.6%) New

Ref GAIN from Lab

Warwick All Saints & Woodloes, Warwick District Council

Grn: 719 (34.9%) +22.1%

Ref: 450 (21.8%) New

Lab: 399 (19.4%) -24.7%

Con: 383 (18.6%) -15.7%

LDm: 110 (5.3%) -3.5%

Grn GAIN from Lab

Abbreviations

Lab = Labour

Con = Conservative

Ref = Reform UK

Grn = Green

LDm = Liberal Democrat

REU = Rejoin EU

SNP = Scottish National Party

Alb = Alba

Sov = Sovereignty

Ind = Independent

WOKE WEDNESDAYS #17

The most prestigious awards ceremony in the film industry takes place next month and the nominees follow in the footsteps of greatness.  This will be the 97th edition of the Academy Awards, better known as 'the Oscars', and the recent nominations revealed the front runner for headline glory - and potential record breaker.  Unusually, it is a French film.  Even more unusually, it is a Spanish-language film.  The film's name is Emilia Pérez and the reason for its 13 nominations will soon become clear...

Now, a film with 13 nominations is always in with a chance of making history as the current record number of Oscar wins is 11.  That record was set in 1960 by Ben Hur and has since been equalled by Titanic (1998) and The Return of the King (2004).  Only three films have received more nominations than Emilia Pérez - the aforementioned Titanic, plus All About Eve (1951) and La La Land (2017) all received a record 14 nominations.  Therefore, you would think that Emilia Pérez is one Hell of a film, especially given it is a foreign made and foreign language film?  Right?

Wrong!

Despite being a Spanish-language film set in Mexico, Emilia Pérez has been universally panned in that country.  At the time of writing it has a woeful 17 per cent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and, despite its subject matter, only 72 per cent among establishment critics.  It's hardly a ringing endorsement of the most Oscar-nominated foreign language film ever, is it?

So, what is the film about?  And herein lies the reason this dreadful production got 13 nods - for Emilia Pérez is about a man who 'transitions' to a woman.

You think it's bad that the Oscar committee chose a film purely to push a political message?  Wait until you hear who it put up for 'best actress'... that's right - the biological man who plays the title role!

Unfortunately for the Oscars, their decision to push the woke agenda backfired spectacularly, when the aforementioned lead male was found to have posted numerous tweets daring to criticise Islam and Saint George Floyd among others.  Oh dear.  Having previously promoted the musical trans film and its lead, the establishment campaign screeched into a 180 degree turn now that the tranny was revealed to be a huge racist!  Netflix airbrushed Carlos Gascón aka 'Karla' from posters and the actor deleted his X account.  It remains to be seen whether the film will win any of the awards it was no doubt previously destined for...

The Oscars have form when it comes to political nominations.  The most obvious example of this came in 2019 when a film called Black Panther gained seven nominations, including best picture.  Superhero films seldom gain recognition at the Oscars and no comic book adaptation had ever been nominated for best picture prior to this.  For those who don't know, Black Panther is based upon a black Marvel comic hero who rules over an isolationist and technologically advanced fictional African nation (yes, that synopsis alone is a can of worms).

Black Panther was part of the mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe and was its 18th film production.  It would become the first MCU film to win an Oscar - three in fact - despite not generally considered by fans to be the best in the series.  Better films, such as Captain America: Winter Solder and Avengers: Endgame, received two nods between them and zero wins.  Finally, and here's the kicker, the only other film in the history of the MCU to win an Academy Award is... Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - the sequel to Black Panther!

Last week's Captain anti-America meme generated 51 comments and 12 shares on Facebook.

11 WHATSAPP COUNCILLORS SUSPENDED

Cllr Allison Gwynne joins her husband as one of those suspended in the wake of
the WhatsApp scandal

The fallout from the WhatsApp scandal continues, with eleven councillors being suspended by Labour on Tuesday.  The eleven are members of the Greater Manchester councils of Tameside and Stockport.  Andrew Gwynne's wife, Allison, is among the Tameside suspended.  Also suspended in Tameside are the former council leader Cllr Brenda Warrington and Cllr Claire Reed, a member of Labour's 'National Policy Forum'.

Tameside appears to be the main focus of the WhatsApp group, with a further three Tameside councillors stepping aside earlier on Tuesday pending a party probe into the scandal.  Another former Tameside council leader - Cllr Gerald Cooney - claims he warned party officials about the WhatsApp group 'over a year ago'.

The full list of those suspended is as follows.

Cllr Allison Gwynne (Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council)

Cllr George Jones (Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council)

Cllr Holly McCormack (Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council)

Cllr Charlotte Martin (Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council)

Cllr Jack Naylor (Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council)

Cllr George Newton (Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council)

Cllr Claire Reid (Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council)

Cllr Vincent Ricci (Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council)

Cllr David Sedgwick (Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council)

Cllr Denise Ward (Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council)

Cllr Brenda Warrington (Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council)

The eleven councillors join MPs Gwynne and Oliver Ryan on the naughty step.  Ryan is also a former Tameside councillor.  More than 40 people are said to have been members of the WhatsApp group.

ANDERSON MOCKS LLAMA LOSER

Lee Anderson, Ashley Dalton and... a llama

Reform's Lee Anderson had the perfect response to news of Andrew Gwynne's replacement as public health minister.  In the Commons on Tuesday, Anderson took the Health Secretary to task over freshly unearthed comments by Ashley Dalton.  It turns out that Dalton, who looks like she is fresh off a parade of Alphabet People, was an early proponent of trans nonsense.  In 2016 she was asked if people could identify as llamas and she responded: "Yes, and treat them with respect and dignity".  She also called for the abolition of gendered bathrooms, despite the very obvious threats to women that such an act would generate.

Anderson rose in the Commons to ask Ms Dalton's new boss: "What I want to know is if I have a family member, who presents as a llama, suddenly becomes ill in the middle of the night, do they send for a doctor, a vet or a straitjacket?"  The chamber erupted in laughter, while Streeting struggled to muster one of his clever ripostes.

This was Anderson at his straight-talking best, watch the clip below.

Starmer must be running out of sane backbenchers to fill these roles now, but the truth is that his party were more than willing to get this lunatic into the Commons for many years.  She was the candidate for Rochford and Southend East in both the 2017 and 2019 general elections, finishing the runner-up on both occasions.  In 2023 she was chosen to succeed Rosie Cooper in the West Lancashire by-election, holding comfortably and then increasing her majority in the 2024 general election.

TOON TUESDAY #44

It's been a busy week for cartoonists with plenty of material from the Labour shitshow.  While most left-wingers tried to deflect attention by focusing on Trump's braindead proposal for Gaza, the Telegraph's finest gave both barrels to Starmer and his posse of delinquents.

In the past week there has been the lockdown voice coach scandal (retrospectively mocked by Josh in his reference to the Downing Street parties scandal), the WhatsApp scandal and a damning new YouGov poll showing that Reform UK now lead both the Tories and Labour.

But first up is Blower with a deportation story that has to be seen to be believed...

Patrick Blower for The Daily Telegraph

Dave Brown for The Independent

Matt Pritchett for The Daily Telegraph

Josh on X

Matt Pritchett for The Daily Telegraph

Andy Davey for The Daily Telegraph

Graeme Bandeira for The Northern Agenda

Morten Morland for The Times

Patrick Blower for The Daily Telegraph

Matt Pritchett for The Daily Telegraph

 

Guy Venables also covered the Andrew Gwynne WhatsApp scandal in this week's Metro

JOHNSON & GWYNNE COMEDY GOLD

With Labour's Andrew Gwynne at the peak of infamy, we thought we'd look back at what was probably his finest hour - as part of a hilarious double act with the then Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

Johnson was being interviewed by Sky News during the 2017 general election campaign when Gwynne gatecrashed proceedings, claiming that he had been excluded from what was supposed to be a debate.  With no ear piece, Gwynne could not hear presenter Dermot Murnaghan, adding to the chaos and confusion that followed.

Watch below and listen out for Gwynne's suggestion that pensioners could lose their winter fuel allowance under the Tories.  That hasn't aged well, Andrew...

SECOND MP IN WHATSAPP PROBE

It has emerged that Burnley MP Oliver Ryan is one of the other members of the WhatsApp group that brought down minister Andrew Gwynne.  In an 'apology' issued through his social media channels, Ryan has sought to limit the damage to himself.  Unlike Gwynne, he has not deleted his Facebook page, but has blocked users from commenting on his 'apology'.

Ryan deploys two lines of defence in the opening line of his statement, arguing that he left the group three years ago (before he became an MP) and sows another by pointing out that the group was created by his then employer (Gwynne).  Ryan is said to have mocked Labour colleagues in the group, including a suggestion that a serving Labour MP is secretly gay.

Mr Ryan doesn't 'regret' not speaking out, he regrets being found out.

Ryan has not been suspended as yet, but Labour's chief whip is due to meet with him today and 'all options' are on the table.  Ryan is a new MP, having gained Burnley from the Conservatives last July.  At 29, he is one of Labour's youngest MPs, and if there's worse to come from his WhatsApp exploits then he could be one of the shortest-serving Labour MPs...

MEME MONDAY #22

Another week in Clown World UK, with a couple of post-Biden US memes to rub it in for good measure...

Mon 3 Feb - 132 shares on Facebook

Mon 3 Feb - 309 shares

Tues 4 Feb - 142 shares

Wed 5 Feb - 47 shares

Wed 5 Feb - 262 shares

Thurs 6 Feb - 196 shares

Fri 7 Feb - 261 shares

Fri 7 Feb - 528 shares

Sat 8 Feb - 503 shares

Sun 9 Feb - 102 shares

Sun 9 Feb - 248 shares

Feel free to download and share any of our memes, but please ensure that you retain our watermark.  Thank you!

GWYNNE REGRETS... BEING FOUND OUT

Labour's Andrew Gwynne has issued an empty apology for what looks to be a hugely damaging exposé by The Mail on Sunday.  Gwynne has apparently been mouthing off in a Labour WhatsApp group for some time (since at least 2019) and someone in that group has recently leaked those messages.  The group is said to include more than a dozen Labour councillors, party officials and at least one (as yet unnamed) fellow MP - all based in Greater Manchester.  As news broke on Saturday, Starmer wasted no time in dispensing with his public health minister and suspended him from the party.

At the time of writing there is only one full WhatsApp message that has been revealed, a hypothetical response he made towards an elderly voter who had contacted one of the councillors in the group regarding bin collections.  It's not clear yet if this is the worst of the messages, but surely it can't get much worse than this: "Dear resident, fuck your bins.  I’m re-elected and without your vote.  Screw you.  PS: Hopefully you’ll have croaked it by the all-outs".

He is also reported to have joked about a constituent who was campaigning for more cycle lanes being 'mown down' by a truck while cycling.  He also made anti-Semitic remarks and even took aim at Commons colleagues, specifically Diane Abbott and fellow Greater Manchester MP Angela Rayner.  These remarks are thought to be of a sexist and, in relation to Abbott, racist nature.  Gwynne and others in the group are said to have mocked the then Shadow Home Secretary when she took PMQs for 'Black History Month' in 2019.

Gwynne's response to his firing came in two posts on X, on which he blocked users from commenting.  He also appears to have deleted his Facebook account.

Gwynne doesn't regret his comments or 'commments' as he put it.  He regrets being found out.

An MP since 2005, for the Greater Manchester seat of Denton and Reddish (now redrawn as Gorton and Denton), Gwynne's career is now over.  There is no coming back from this.

RAJA MIAH: INSIDE MAN

Anyone who has taken an interest in the criminal activities of Pakistani rape gangs will have no doubt come across the name Raja Miah (pictured, above).  He is a Muslim activist from Oldham who has for some years now been trying to draw attention to the gangs, how they operate, how they continue to get away with it and the related corruption that permeates their enablers in the Labour party.  As a member of that community, with his own historical links to Labour, he is perhaps more well placed than anyone to perform such a dangerous task.  And he performs it very well.

In a recent podcast interview, Raja speaks at length about the gangs and how they are intrinsically linked to the Labour party.  The discussion runs for 1 hour and 20 minutes and is well worth a watch, especially for anyone who wants to understand how and why Labour politicians - from governement ministers right down to local councillors - continue to aid the gangs.

Watch below, but please note that the word 'rape' censored is by YouTube, which can be a little grating when you have a video that is all about rape...

If you appreciate Raja's work, please be sure to follow him on his social media channels, where he is also known as 'Recusant Nine'.  Links below.

X

Facebook

YouTube

LUCY LASHES OUT

Labour's Lucy Powell had a car crash exchange with opposition frontbencher Richard Holden earlier this week.  The pair appeared on the Beeb's Politics Live show where they sparred over Labour's disastrous sellout of the Chagos Islands.  Powell became enraged by what she perceived as Holden talking over her, snapping at him several times as if he were a disobedient child.

Watch below.

Note Powell's assertion that 'it's not a good look' to talk over her, as if there was something misogynistic in it.  Until a time in which Labour declare that women can't have penises, men cannot use the ladies and compete in women's sports - they have abandoned the right to take the high ground on feminist issues!

COUNCIL BY-ELECTIONS 06.02.25

Five council contests were held on Thursday, with six vacancies on offer.  It was a stunning night for Reform UK, with three gains across the five seats it contested - all for the first time.  Two of those victories was a double gain over Labour in Kent, while they also took a Conservative seat in Essex.

All but one of the by-elections took place in the south of England, so it was perhaps indicative of yet another dismal night for Labour that the Tories swiped the only northern seat on offer - in Lancashire.  Labour trailed in third there, behind newcomers Reform.  The Labour vote share was down by more than twenty percentage points in all but one of the elections (Berkshire).

Baxenden, Hyndburn Borough Council

Con: 406 (35.7%) -13.2%

Ref: 368 (32.3%) New

Lab: 328 (28.8%) -22.3%

Grn: 36 (3.2%) New

Con GAIN from Lab

Gillingham South, Medway Council

Lab: 706 (37.4%) -20.7%

Ref: 506 (26.8%) New

Con: 330 (17.5%) +0.5%

Grn: 167 (8.8%) -4.6%

LDm: 99 (5.2%) -6.3%

SDP: 69 (3.7%) New

Hrt: 12 (0.6%) New

Lab HOLD

Rochester East & Warren Wood, Medway Council

(two seats)

Ref: 870 & 802 (36.7%) New

Lab: 781 & 717 (32.9%) -22.0%

Con: 479 & 432 (20.2%) -5.8%

Grn: 141 & 109 (5.9%) -6.3%

LDm: 81 & 80 (3.4%) New

Hrt: 21 (0.9%) New

Ref GAIN from Lab (x 2)

The Bentleys & Frating, Tendring District Council

Ref: 432 (45.3%) New

LDm: 328 (34.4%) +15.9%

Con: 163 (17.1%) -30.9%

Lab: 31 (3.2%) -7.6%

Ref GAIN from Con

Winnersh, Wokingham Borough Council

LDm: 1,177 (52.7%) -7.2%

Con: 833 (37.3%) +10.7%

Lab: 126 (5.6%) -5.1%

Grn: 99 (4.4%) New

LDm HOLD

Abbreviations

Con = Conservative

Ref = Reform UK

Lab = Labour

Grn = Green

SDP = Social Democratic Party

Hrt = Heritage

WHIP RESTORED TO FOUR REBELS

Ian Byrne, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Richard Burgon and Imran Hussain

Four of the seven hard left MPs suspended from Labour have now been readmitted.  The seven members of the Socialist Campaign Group had the party whip removed last July as Keir Starmer sought to take a hard line against backbench rebels at the first opportunity.  That chance arose when the seven voted in favour of an SNP proposal to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

The four restored are Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby), Rebecca Long-Bailey (Salford), Richard Burgon (Leeds East) and Imran Hussain (Bradford East).  The hierarchy was clearly in no rush to readmit the rebels as the initial six month suspension had already overrun, while it remains unclear when or if the remaining three will regain the party whip.

Those not readmitted at this stage are Apsana Begum (Poplar & Limehouse), John McDonnell (Hayes & Harlington) and Zarah Sultana (Coventry South).  The trio are particularly vocal on the question of Palestine, alluded to in a post by Sultana on X.  Begum and McDonnell also responded to their continued suspensions on X.

Sultana had posted twice leading up to the news, both of which were attacks on the UK in relation to Gaza.  On Wednesday morning she accused the UK and other Western nations of being complicit in 'genocide'.  Late on Tuesday she challenged the UK government to condemn President Trump's proposals to resettle Palestinians outside of Gaza, which she quite correctly described as 'ethnic cleansing'.

It's a shame Zarah cannot represent the majority of her constituents, who are more concerned with what's in their wage packets and being able to walk the streets safely - than events taking place thousands of miles away.

Her comrade Apsana Begum chose to dial down the Palestine cause in her response.  She repeated her opposition to the two-child benefit cap, but her post garnered a strong backlash with many users critical of benefits culture: "Have fewer children so you can afford to feed them" was one such comment.

Begum was the focus of a protracted effort to remove her as a Labour candidate in the years prior to the last election.  The precise motives for specifically wanting her out were never clear, but in the end it came to nothing as she was re-selected and then re-elected in July, albeit with a majority slashed by more than half.  For whatever reason, the Labour leadership want Begum out.

The case for McDonnell's continued suspension is more cut and dried, as he (and his pal Corbyn) were recently interviewed by Met Police in light of a police confrontation with pro-Palestine protesters.  The pair were accused of being part of a group that allegedly pushed through police lines during a demonstration in the capital last month.  Both men deny that version of events, but McDonnell appears to be content with his extended suspension as he awaits news of potential police charges.

McDonnell will be well aware that as a close friend and comrade of Jeremy Corbyn, he does not have to step too far outside of the line for Starmer to expel him permanently.  McDonnell would find it much harder to get re-elected as an independent, a feat achieved with relative ease by Corbyn last year.

WOKE WEDNESDAYS #16

For many years the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was a box office triumph, with success after success after success.  Beyond the big name Avengers, the franchise even managed to make blockbusters from lesser known characters who most audience members had never even heard of.  And then, slowly but surely, the woke crept in and the hits began to dry up.  Recent small screen adaptations have fared even worse, with producers Disney pushing an increasingly far left political agenda in front of good storytelling and entertainment.

As Disney's political agenda became more and more obvious in its productions, the cast and crew grew more political.  As most Hollywood actors lean left anyway, it was perhaps no surprise to find the main cast getting directly involved in endorsing opponents of Donald Trump.  Lesser known cast members, writers and directors on Marvel TV shows went much further - lashing out at fans when their productions failed to gain traction with viewers.  The same fans that had driven the MCU to the highest grossing franchise of all time were now being labelled 'racist', 'sexist' and 'homophobic' because they did not approve of the new direction.  Remember, it was not the fans who made the decision to make Marvel woke - it was the activists at Disney who imposed it upon them!

Step forward Anthony Mackie, a long-term cast member mostly associated with the Captain America and Avengers films.  Mackie plays Sam Wilson, better known as 'Falcon'.  As the name suggests, Falcon's special ability is flight, albeit only through the use of a mechanical suit with wings.  Unlike his close ally Steve Rogers (Captain America), Falcon possesses zero super powers.  When Rogers retires at the end of the most recent Avengers film, more than a few eyebrows were raised when he passes his famous shield and identity to Falcon, as opposed to his best friend Bucky Barnes (aka the Winter Soldier).  

Unlike Falcon, the Winter Soldier is a super-powered character and took on the mantle of Captain America in the comics during a popular story arc titled The Death of Captain America.  Falcon briefly assumed the same title later on during a woke Marvel rebrand.  In Disney's new world of identity politics, it was a no-brainer to opt for Sam Wilson as the new Cap - for he is black.

Now Mackie had largely stayed out of the Trump-bashing antics of Avengers co-stars such as Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson, but it appears that the influence of Disney has rubbed off on him.  During a recent press interview to promote his forthcoming film debut as Captain America, Mackie had this to say:  "For me, Captain America represents a lot of different things and I don't think the term 'America' should be one of those representations".  Oh dear.

Mackie then doubled down on his apparent anti-America stance by saying this:  "It's about a man who keeps his word, who has honour, dignity, and integrity".  So the man who will soon be seen wearing America on his sleeve (literally), does not associate America with those values.  Wow.

It's fair to say that this latest MCU product is probably going to bomb hard.

Last week's BBC 'inspiring women' meme generated 213 comments and 69 shares on Facebook.