Happy New Year!

I thought I’d end 2024 and begin 2025 as ever – mischievously provocative or maliciously incendiary, depending how tetchy you’re feeling. You might consider this blog to espouse minority views, or to be so out-of-court that I should be diagnosed as neurodiverse. In either case, on the altar of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, my blog should be tolerated, accommodated, widely disseminated and added to the school curriculum. On that note, Happy New Year to:

The British Empire
I’m proud to be a patron of the Free Speech Union, which does what it says on the tin. (I have their lawyers’ phone number on speed dial.) I attended a couple of FSU events in 2024 and was treated to speeches from Dr David Starkey and soon-to be-ennobled Professor Nigel Biggar. Apparently, Prof Nige, and FSU’s founder Toby Young, were nominated for peerages by Kemi B. Well done that lady. Anyway, Prof Nige and Dr Dave know their onions – history, ethics, the UK constitution, and more. Analyse their authoritative and watertight utterances then deny, if you dare, that 1) British colonialism was on global-balance (not in toto) a force for good, of which Brits should be proud, and 2) Brexit is Blighty’s God-given democratic right and destiny.

The State of Israel and the global Jewish populace
Let’s face it, western governments have failed to stand up to Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthi and hell’s other heinous helpers, while Israel has literally gone for their jugular, thus making the world a safer place. As Lord Roberts of Belgravia said recently, “War is hell, and every individual civilian death is a tragedy, but – I speak as a military historian – less than 2:1 [ratio of civilians to Hamas terrorists killed] is an astonishingly low ratio for modern urban warfare where the terrorists routinely use civilians as human shields. It is a testament to the professionalism, ethics and values of the Israel Defense Forces.”

The water companies
They’re keeping their heads when all about them are losing theirs. If you read the collective cogitations of Government, regulators, media, campaigners and toilet-seated commentators, the water industry is broken, not fit for purpose, negligent, criminal, greedy, failed, dishonest, opaque. Yet, with the exception of a teeny tiny percentage of instances, the companies consistently deliver the best quality drinking water in sufficient quantities. Sewage is treated in ever-increasing volumes despite ever-increasing problems caused by everyone else – excessive consumption and waste, concrete-carpeting, miscreant flushings, and misconnections. Success and progress are in the bag, despite investment and customer bills being politically constrained, which is commercially and environmentally indefensible. Indeed, it’s not the water industry that’s broken but the intellect of its detractors.

Elon Musk
When Musk rejigged Twitter’s algorithms to be more accommodating to a wider range of opinions, self-indulgent and thin-skinned Twits realised that not everyone agreed with them, complained that they were no longer allowed a monopoly of thought, and left in their droves. Good riddance. Then Musk started to comment negatively on Britain’s Labour Government and positively on Reform UK. The left was outraged at such foreign interference in British politics. Funny that, given how much the left welcomed foreign criticism of Brexit and a less Keynesian approach to the economy. Yes, HNY to Musk: long may he expose hypocrisy.

Reform UK
While the Tories have been navel-gazing and the Lib Dems, Greenies and other lefties have been munching on bean curd, Reform UK has held the fledging, feeble, failing Labour Government to account, exposing their incompetencies, lies and gas-lighting at every turn. You know Reform’s doing a good job because, in desperation, Rachel-from-accounts accused Farage of being clueless about the economy. Pot Kettle Black, Dearie. Good ol’ Nige. He keeps smiling and joking and pushing forward, despite being the lilliputians’ fall guy, whipping boy and bogeyman. I criticise the heck out of Nige when he deserves it, whereas lilliputians castigate him for sneezing into his hankie the wrong way, and for being:
• A toff (his grandad was a private in WWI, his dad a stockbroker and then an antiques’ dealer, and his mum a typist)
• Privileged (he left school at 16 and worked his way up as a commodities trader)
• Fascist (he adheres to the peaceful democratic process to ‘get his way’)
• Xenophobic (his partner is French)
• Racist (he says often that everyone should be judged on merit, not skin-colour)
• A member of the establishment (despite being a thorn in its side)
• A rebel (which by definition means he’s anti-establishment)
• A rebel by pretence (whatever that means)
• Absent from his constituency (despite evidence to the contrary)
• Around his constituency but at the ‘wrong’ event (e.g. Boxing day hunt).

Boris Johnson and Liz Truss
Who would have blamed them had they kept a low profile after being removed from office so humiliatingly? Except, they know that compared to the current miscreant incumbents, history will judge them kindly, and they’re happy and confident and brave enough to continue in the public eye. They each have a pair, unlike The Blob that did for them. Cambridge.org defines 'blob' as "a fat, round drop, usually of something sticky or thick." Close enough.

Mayor Ben of Teesside
A Labour MP, while hiding behind the skirts of parliamentary privilege, accused Houchen of wrongdoing but refused to repeat such accusations outside the House. Private Eye published selective evidence and incoherent analysis against Houchen. The FT also tried to bring him down, relying on its (fast-fading) reputation rather than flawless journalism to make its case. As sure as eggs is eggs, an independent expert-inquiry sufficiently exonerated Houchen so that he lives to fight another day for his constituents. Is he guilty of something? Probably, but he does have the right for all the evidence to be intelligently, forensically and objectively assessed, and to be judged impartially, which is beyond the capabilities and morality of Labour, Private Eye and the FT.

JK Rowling, Jo Phoenix, Hilary Cass
In fact, any and all ladies who stick up for the rest of us against perverts and bullies, whose purpose in life is the death of women’s and children’s rights, health and dignity.

Queen Camilla
Just because.

Political prisoners
These include anyone who’s fast-tracked through the ‘justice’ system without competent legal representation and / or jailed for disproportionate terms compared with those who err to a similar extent but are punished less severely because they don’t wear perceived right-wing sentiments on their sleeves. Two shoutouts in this category: Peter Lynch RIP, and Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, a.k.a. Tommy Robinson, currently doing time for contempt of court: making a video and disobeying court orders not to broadcast it. He’s been in trouble with the law before; I think mortgage fraud is on his rap sheet. He’s certainly not someone I’d want my Goddaughters to date, but I’d be happy to head down the pub with him because I can look after myself.

My initial draft of this blog concluded that Robinson had broken the law with his video, and that a prison sentence was harsh compared to that which is handed down to those guilty of actual bodily harm. Simple as that. But then I stumbled on a recording, featuring political commentator Douglas Murray, which makes me think I ought to do a bit more digging to better understand Robinson’s actions and motives, and the level and diversity of his support. For now, I’ll flag that the problem might not be that Robinson is sentenced more harshly than others, but that the justice system goes hunting for his misdeeds, any misdeeds, even those not connected with his political activities, in order to find an excuse to incarcerate him. A bit like Al Capone being jailed for tax evasion because he couldn’t be nailed for murder. In actuality, it looks as if the authorities expend energy finding ways to bring down Robinson, but Robinson is not the primary problem of this pertinent aspect of societal instability. He’s the reaction to the primary problem. He’s not the initial link in the chain, the underlying causal mechanism, the head of the Hydra. Robinson wouldn’t be a problem without the primary problem, which is the unacceptable face of Islam – Sharia law, violence, misogyny, fraud, anti-British, antisemitism, subversion, terrorism. Because of this, for every Robinson who’s put away, another will spring up in some form. Without the unacceptable face of Islam, there’d be no secondary or reactionary problem in the form of Tommy Robinson or his like. The unacceptable face of Islam, not Tommy Robinson is, in this context, the root of all evil.

So, while I'm comfortable wishing Tommy a Happy New Year, I pray that the unacceptable face of Islam is terminally ravaged by a severe case of metaphorical acne.