SATURDAY FOLK/ROCK: Roy Harper, by JD

Of the generation of troubadours who came of age in the London folk clubs of the 1960s, some have passed away, while others have surrendered to the regurgitation of the blandest form of acoustic folk music. But among the survivors, there is one figure whose body of work, comprising 23 studio LPs and almost as many live and compilation releases, has come to stand for a particularly single-minded form of integrity. That man is Roy Harper.

Now officially ‘retired’, and living in a secluded corner of Ireland, Harper has recently been hailed as a key influence by a much younger generation of devoted starsailors who instinctively recognise his innovations, his refusal to compromise and his visionary world view. The likes of Fleet Foxes and Jim O’Rourke are avowed fans; and in previous decades he has enjoyed public endorsements and tributes from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Kate Bush, Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour and many more.

It’s been a damned good innings and he’s still not out. In January 2013 Harper received the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Lifetime Achievement Award. In September 2013 Roy Harper: Man & Myth - The Documentary, directed by George Scott, was broadcast on Sky Arts and his first album in thirteen years, ‘Man & Myth’, was released on Bella Union followed by three special concerts. The album received rave reviews.

https://www.royharper.co.uk/

Roy Harper - When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease (Remastered)

'You' - Roy Harper, Kate Bush & David Gilmour

Roy Harper ► McGoohan's Blues [HQ Audio] Folkjokeopus 1969

Jimmy Page & Roy Harper - St Ives, UK 1984 (Same Old Rock)

At the flicks - PMQs 7th May 2025

Supporting Programme

Last week Labour lost nearly 200 seats in the council elections. The PM said it meant he should go ‘further and faster’ because he was ‘acutely aware that people aren't yet feeling the benefits.’

Another one with a tin ear is House Leader Lucy Powell, who exploded on-air when a Reform spokesman dared to raise the subject of rape gangs two days after Kemi Badenoch completely failed to nail Sir Keir in PMQs on the need for a national enquiry.

A propos, Private Eye (issue 1648, p.7) suggests Speaker Hoyle is a little too cosy with the Starmerites. The magazine claims he ignored ex-Labour MP Rosie Duffield who wanted to address trans rights in that session and that Labour whips have advised their flock not to trouble him on the subject of his expensive foreign jaunts.

Political economist Richard J Murphy says the Government is already collapsing, partly because of Number Ten’s Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney, who he says allows Ministers no autonomy.

However Murphy also sees Starmer as moving towards the ‘far right’ ! Maybe that is correct, if smashing the country’s cohesion is far-right. The Government makes a show of tackling illegal immigration yet is working on a ‘youth mobility scheme’ to let in thousands of young European workers; the EU is being punitively awkward at this stage but who knows, we may end up with a switch from rubber-boaters to officially-Eurodocumented young men born outside the EU.

Main Feature

Starmer opened by boasting of his new trade deal with India. This further undermines employed Brits with a three-year NIC exemption for Indian workers coming to the UK, the Chancellor’s job tax hike for the domestic workforce having taken effect only last month.

The PM also registered concern about ‘tensions between India and Pakistan [that] will be of serious concern for many across Britain.’ Perhaps that was a ‘dog-whistle’ to alert us to the possibility of (more) inter-ethnic conflicts here.

Such potential is not lacking, thanks to the immigration policies of both major parties and their consequent need to cultivate minority votes. For example, five years ago Jess Phillips MP declared her support for Kashmiri separatists, apparently unaware that in addition to competing territorial claims by India and Pakistan, that region is bordered on its northeast by Aksai Chin, whose possession has been disputed by China since 1959, together with part of Kashmir itself. Last year she nearly lost her previously very safe Labour seat over another local/international ferment, this time over Gaza.

That last continues to vex. In this PMQs Leicester’s Shokat Ali (Independent) called on the PM to ‘end all UK military co-operation with Israel’ in the light of the latter’s ‘extermination’ and ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Gazan civilians. Starmer replied that much of what Ali said was ‘simply not right’ and reiterated his standard line on the two-state solution, with humanitarian aid and the release of hostages. The prospects for success there - and for controlling Muslim dissent here - seem as slim as for putting out a Tesla battery fire.

Speaking of EVs, Mike Wood (Conservative) pointed out that Parliament has banned them in its underground car park for safety reasons yet the new Planning and Infrastructure Bill inhibits local authorities from banning the construction of battery energy storage systems near sensitive areas. Sir Keir said the Bill (which has power to override local objections and nature safeguards) would ‘drive’ the economy and that the OBR identified it as the ‘single biggest driver of growth.’

Power devolved is power retained, as the saying goes. There is a tension between Labour’s plans for progressive devolution and its appetite for authoritarian centralisation. The result is a growing public perception that we are a sham democracy.

This is why Prime Minister’s Questions are so important, and so disappointing. We are in the 64th month of our freedom from the EU and our representatives are still fluffing opportunities to call reinvigorated national power to account.

Last week the Leader of the Opposition’s inquisitorial failure was about the great scandal and cover-up of ‘grooming gangs.’ Today, the principal exchanges were about energy policy; they swirled around the now-cancelled winter fuel allowance, employment, the cost of domestic heating, ‘clean energy’ and so on. The PM countered with his measures to alleviate pensioner poverty, the Conservatives’ poor economic record and what they themselves had previously said about Net Zero, and how much Labour was spending into the economy.

Kemi did briefly quote Tony Blair’s comments about Net Zero (‘irrational’, ‘doomed to fail’) but Blair, who says he talks frequently to Starmer, was himself an early ‘global warmist.’ It may that Blair was airing his latest view for tactical reasons pre-May the First, hoping to persuade the electorate that Labour does indeed listen (and so should remain in power to complete his program of constitutional disruption that will make a return to small-c conservative values impossible.)

The Tories need to come clean and say:

‘Yes, we were wrong then and so are you now. Without abundant cheap energy our economy faces collapse. Like the US, we have to exploit fossil fuels heavily while we manage a transition to something more sustainable such as nuclear reactors and hydroelectric plants. Even windmills and solar panels are not ‘green’ when you take into account recycling issues, and the recent blackouts in Spain and Portugal show the strain on power grids caused by erratic inputs.’

Something along those lines. It is not just about oldies eating cold food with mittened hands, it is a national emergency.

Where is the focus, the drilling down that is needed to discomfit the PM (and his strange Energy Secretary) so that his replies can be exposed as inadequate prevarication to protect an unreflective dogmatism? Our ‘red-green’ leader needs to be roused from his woke slumber, before he wrecks the country beyond recovery.

Is Kemi Badenoch the best person to do it?

Shorts

‘Private Eye’ may gently cast doubt on the Speaker’s neutrality, but it would help matters if he were to permit - as he may - non-party leaders to ask supplementary questions when the reply they receive is not good enough; perhaps the reader may see some examples below. On a number of occasions a question with possible significant depths has come at or near the end of PMQs and received short shrift.

Now comes a selection of other queries in this session, again grouped by Party.

GREEN: Siân Berry asked about benefits for the disabled. The PM gave a generic response about support plus help into work.

SNP: Stephen Flynn mourned job losses in Scotland’s energy sector, contrasting this with the rescue of Scunthorpe; Starmer reprised his customary attack on the SNP’s failings in this area, plus education and the NHS.

CONSERVATIVE: Matt Vickers raised the plight of pubs as a result of increased NIC and reduced small business rate relief. Unhelpfully, ‘Sir Beer’ said no-one liked pubs better than himself and that the Tories were unwilling to say they would reverse the NIC increase. Aphra Brandreth asked the PM for an assurance that he would not hand over sovereign powers to the EU including controls over fishing waters; Starmer claimed he would always act ‘in the national interest’ and went on to speak of trade deals and a ‘reset’ with the EU.

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT: Party Leader Ed Davey complained of the loss of the Winter Fuel Payment and delays in improving social care; as to the first, the PM twitted Davey on the Lib Dems’ unwillingness to support the Government’s fund-raising measures and as for the second he said it would take time. Mr Davey then turned on President Trump’s tariffs, and the British film industry that would defeat the President’s assaults with ‘James Bond, Bridget Jones and Paddington Bear’; Starmer argued for pragmatism. Tessa Munt invited the PM to the unveiling of a memorial to our wartime photographic and interpretative service people. Dr Roz Savage spoke of inequality and poverty and asked Sir Keir to reverse changes to ‘the personal independence payment, the winter fuel allowance and the two-child benefit cap’; instead the PM replied on school breakfast clubs, increases to the minimum wage and the ongoing work of the child poverty taskforce.

LABOUR: Matt Western asked the PM to support British car-makers in discussions with the US President; Starmer criticised Reform’s proposals to tear up multilateral trade/tariff agreements and said his deal with India would be good for British jobs. Jack Abbott asked the PM for a final investment decision on Sizewell C for the sake of energy security and employment for young people in his constituency; Sir Keir said this would come in the spending review. Michelle Scrogham thanked the PM for his recent visit to Barrow where nuclear-armed submarines are being built; Starmer said it illustrated the benefits of Labour’s increased defence spending. The PM agreed with Dame Meg Hillier that social housing was a priority, as were housebuilding and tackling homelessness. Connor Naismith asked the PM for his support for an extension to HS2 to enhance Crewe’s strategic value; Starmer said it was under review and noted Labour’s decision to invest in the trans-Pennine route.

Scotland, already the subject of comments today, was mentioned in other exchanges involving Labour MPs north of the border. Elaine Stewart contrasted the falling NHS waiting lists in Wales and England with the healthcare mess left by the SNP; Sir Keir concurred. Glasgow’s Maureen Burke lamented the shortage of social housing in Scotland; again, the PM said a new direction was needed there. Another Scottish MP Kirsteen Sullivan highlighted the value of mental health support for children and Starmer spoke of Labour’s ongoing improvements in provision. For Na h-Eileanan an Iar (formerly Scotland’s ‘Western Isles’) Torcuil Crichton worried about reduced media coverage of Parliament because of Press Association redundancies; the PM praised Britain’s ‘free press and independent journalism’ (but Peter Oborne has a different view, criticising what he calls ‘client journalists’).

- And out we come into the sunlight, blinking...

From Wolves of Westminster

Views of London: pick one

In 1984 the then Prince Charles called a proposed modern-style extension to the National Gallery ‘a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend.’

Here’s a view of the London skyline today:

Here’s how it might look without so much award-winning work by trendy architects:

Which looks better?

In 1802 William Wordsworth stood on Westminster Bridge and thought ‘Earth has not any thing to show more fair.’ A contemporary painting by William Daniell gives us a notion of what the poet saw:

Granted, the population of the City of London, urban Middlesex, and Southwark was then only about 1.1 million; about triple that, now. But couldn’t development be more harmonious?

After the Nazis destroyed 85 per cent of Warsaw ‘with the intention of obliterating the centuries-old tradition of Polish statehood’, the Poles rebuilt the Old Town ‘in its historic urban and architectural form’ to assert their unconquered spirit.

Why is our own country delivered over to vandals, not merely in architecture but in politics? Is there some malevolent Principle at work?

Forensic failure - PMQs 30th April 2025

When will the Leader of the Opposition learn that the only way to get a straight answer out of Sir Keir Starmer is to give it to him?

Mrs Badenoch’s topic today was the explosive one of official cover-up in the ‘child rape gang scandal,’ as admitted in Parliament two days earlier by Jess Phillips MP. She noted that the initial commitment to a fresh public enquiry had been watered down to five local ones (without the legal power to compel witnesses), then further to merely providing resources for local authorities to use as they see fit. It is easy to suspect that the Government would like this river to run into the sands and evaporate.

To her question ‘Why will he not have a national inquiry?’ the PM replied ‘We have had a national inquiry’ and diverted the discussion into his past prosecutions of some offenders and the Conservatives’ failure to implement the recommendations of The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which - after eight years and several changes of Chair - delivered its final report in the Autumn of 2022.

‘These are just distraction tactics,’ said Kemi. Correct, and her job is to cut through his obscurantism. What she needed to do, and didn’t, was to say exactly why a fresh enquiry must happen: it should explore the wide penumbra surrounding the darkness of the ‘grooming gangs.’

One shadowy aspect is the virulent religious bigotry of some of the perpetrators. A child victim was told ‘we’re here to f*** all the white girls and f*** the government.’ This was reported to Parliament by Katie Lam MP (Con). Implicitly, ‘white’ here means ‘non-Muslim’ and so inferior, deserving nothing better than humiliation.

But ‘the government’ is also the target of a religion that does not recognise national boundaries and secular legislation. The Home Secretary herself said (24 February) ‘We are clear that the primary domestic terrorist threat comes from Islamist terrorism, which comprises three quarters of the MI5 caseload and 64% of those in custody for terrorism-connected offences.’

Until this challenge is publicly confronted by the authorities and the rule of Parliamentary law firmly reasserted it remains a great danger to our society. Fortunately most Muslims here are not extremists but their holy book and the accounts of their prophet’s witnesses contain passages that are unequivocal in their call for violence against unbelievers. This is why ex-Muslim Ayaan Hirsa Ali is calling for a religious reformation in Islam, so that peace can be possible. If this country were still run by Christian fundamentalists we would be shunning bacon sandwiches and putting ‘witches’ - Satanists, New Age worshippers etc - to death. No more burnings in Smithfield market, thank you.

Another aspect of a putative second inquiry ought to be about official and political ‘cover-up’ in the places where these gangs have been, and still are, operating. The reason for the failure to act in what are mostly Labour-run areas is obvious, but the failure calls justice itself into question and threatens social cohesion in a country bound together by what should be impartial institutions. Untended, that infection may become a lethal gangrene for a Party that once fought for ordinary people.

Thirdly, since the PM’s grand plan for the UK is further devolution, it risks creating more opportunities for corruption and cover-up unless core values are enforced from the centre. There can be no political immunity from prosecution, neither for criminals nor for those with the power to intervene who culpably stand by passively, or even collude.

In blandly stating that an inquiry had already been conducted - one that was about child sexual abuse in general and how to tackle it - the PM was slithering away from those three most important issues.

It needed a barrister’s cross-examination skill to cut through to the hard truth. Kemi has a qualification in law through part-time study, but it is not enough for the rapier work required in the high court of Parliament. Starmer joked that after the London Marathon the shadow Justice Secretary (Robert Jenryck, a potential contender for the Tory leadership) was ‘still running’; perhaps the PM was mentally thanking his lucky stars that he was not facing Jenryck - a former solicitor and corporate lawyer - on this occasion. Instead, Mrs Badenoch boiled it all down to ‘better services under the Conservatives.’

Before we go on, it should be said that the potential ramifications of this scandal and related matters of sexual exploitation are not limited to one political party or to local affairs. There are dark historic rumours about Westminster itself - political figures protected, files lost. Could we have a thorough national Augean cleansing without triggering widespread unrest?

We now turn to other PMQ questions, grouped by political party:

Liberal Democrats: Clive Jones (Wokingham) is introducing a Bill to grant Parliament the final say on trade deals; his Party leader Ed Davey repeated the demand, requiring a yes or no response; both received a foggy procedural reply. Mr Davey also asked about the right to mental capacity assessment, for lack of which an autistic youngster had been exploited and murdered; Starmer sympathised. Eastleigh’s Leigh Jarvis criticised the performance and expense of Southern Water; the PM referred to the new Water Act, the banning of bonuses and so on. Paul Kohler (Wimbledon) deplored loud music on public transport; Starmer chided the Conservatives for laughing. Layla Moran (Oxford and Abingdon) spoke of the misuse of Non-Disclosure Agreements to gag victims of workplace sexual misconduct; the PM said it would be looked at.

Conservatives: Sir Bernard Jenkin advertised tickets for Parliament’s own VE Day celebration next week. Mark Francois asked for support for a memorial to Dame Vera Lynn, the ‘Forces’ Sweetheart’ who the freethinking PM said was ‘sewn into our nation’s soul.’ In this context it is worth remembering that when Parliament last adjourned someone asked why the traditional term ‘Easter’ had been omitted. Also the DUP’s Jim Shannon was urging a posthumous VC for the SAS war hero Blair Mayne (at a time when other SAS soldiers face possible prosecution for alleged military misconduct; by contrast some IRA murderers had previously been given ‘letters of comfort’ to assure them that they would not be put on trial.) We recall too how the Lord Chancellor turned her back to the Monarch at the King’s Speech last July. Straws in the wind.

DUP: Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) criticised the Government’s Net Zero policy. The PM interpreted Tony Blair’s recent comments as support for carbon capture, whereas this writer sees ACLB’s intervention as a misleading reassurance - just before the 1st May local elections - that Labour is capable of listening to the people.

Reform: Nigel Farage (Clacton) asked whether the PM’s pledge to ‘smash the gangs’ trafficking illegal immigrants had merely been a slogan. In the course of a barrage counterattack Starmer said Reform had opposed his Borders Bill; this characteritically slid over the reasons why, which included that the Bill cancels the Labour Government's obligation to remove illegal immigrants. Perhaps Farage could have worked that point into his question.

Labour: Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) praised Labour’s work on child poverty; Jane Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) praised renewable energy in Cornwall; Josh Simons (Makerfield) celebrated Labour’s local developments in community healthcare; Sam Carling (NW Cambs) gifted the PM a question on policing and police recruitment; Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) gifted him another on school breakfast clubs; Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill) asked the PM to outline what Labour was doing to help renters, which Starmer was happy to do; Sarah Hall (Warrington South) asked for help with her proposed scheme for new local NHS facilities; Deirdre Costigan (Ealing Southall) helped the PM celebrate Labour’s actions against fly-tippers; Adam Thompson (Erewash) helped him criticise Derbyshire County Council’s failures re potholes; Alex Ballinger (Halesowen) welcomed the Government’s rescue of British Steel and asked for more investment in Black Country industry, giving Starmer the opportunity to talk about his new hub for small firms seeking defence contracts.

Labour outliers: Josh Babarinde (Eastbourne) explained how military compensation for injuries resulted in a reduction in pension credit for one of his constituents (who was in the Gallery); the PM promised a meeting with the relevant Minister. Dan Tomlinson (Chipping Barnet) attempted a puff for voting Labour on May the First to stop a Reform/Conservative pact, but the Speaker stopped his question as not relevant to the PM’s duties; there is another who still has to learn the job.

FRIDAY MUSIC: Billy Cowie, by JD

I have featured the music of Billy Cowie before. It is time for another sample. Since the previous feature, more information is available about the man and his inspiration - https://www.billycowie.com/

Bus Stop from Tangos Cubanos (premiere)

Tangos Cubanos 1 (sad story)piano piece by Billy Cowie for Danza Contemporanea de Cuba

De Lo Alto de Altos Edificios

dancer Luciana Croatto, choreography, texts and music Billy Cowie, voice Clara Garcia Fraile.

romance3.mov

Leyna Gonzalez in Llorando from Danzas de Amor que se Fue for Danza Contemporanea de Cuba. Choreography and music Billy Cowie, Text Garcia Lorca, Voice Daphne Scott-Sawyer, Visual Design Silke Mansholt

Narciso from Danzas de Amor que se Fue

Garcia Lorca Auditorium, Gran Teatro de la Habana - Billy Cowie's new choreography and music for Danza Contemporaneo de Cuba 2019. Text Lorca. Singer Daphne Scott-Sawyer. Visual Art Silke Mansholt. Filming Adolfo Izquierdo.

Tiempos de Tango Adolfo Izquierdo 2015

The first and last videos are the same tune but style and mood are completely different, I'm not sure which I prefer but I love both of them which is why they are both here.

Blair the false moderate

Tony Blair is quoted as saying the Net Zero policy steered by Ed Miliband is ‘irrational, hysterical and doomed to fail.’

What matters is not the truth, which was obvious long ago, but the narrative. Blair has said these things with only a couple of days to go before Labour gets what Northerners call a ‘threaping’ at the polls in the local council elections.

Similarly Blair the senior statesman was advising Starmer last July to be ‘tough on immigration, crime and wokeism’ as Labour List reported it.

It’s only the resistance to those things that counts. The enemy is ‘the forces of conservatism’ or in other words, the ordinary British people; people who want peace at home and abroad, the rule of law and the chance to earn a living and raise their families.

He still wants the Revolution and to prevent the possibility of small-c conservatism ever resurging. He is just applying the brakes now to make the crash quite certain; to slow down our drive to destruction so his Party doesn’t frighten the populace into an uprising.

Dimming the Sun pays dividends...

*NEW* The Government's plan to #DIMtheSUN has already inspired a Spanish tour company to market short breaks in the UK: