WEEKENDER: Spiral 2, by Wiggia

The spiral of decline is fast becoming an everyday reality, no longer can obfuscation, divergent tactics and outright lies from our elites? Alter that fact.

On every level we see malfeasance, corruption and groups of ideologues pretending all is well and if we all pull together things will improve, never mind the simple fact they put nothing in motion to achieve that illusory aim.

The state gets ever bigger: 70 new quangos since this Labour government took charge; the demand for further layers of state-backed positions, such as regional mayors and the accompanying offices to add to the already burgeoning civil service that has been added according to a recent report, The report includes sobering figures about the degrees of churn among both ministers and civil service, but also the scale of civil service expansion. The SCS is nearly 70% larger than in 2012, and the policy profession larger by 94% since 2016.

One has to ask why is there this push to devolve power and add layers of government, such as the regional mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners. Our local PCC has an office of thirty people, the original PCC had eight? Is there any justification for the increase? None at all: she is invisible and pointless and never had a proper job before becoming the Labour party sticking plaster. There was a rumour that the local unitary authorities will do away with PCCs and the newly elected mayor will do the job; why and how is this necessary, to get rid of one layer of government and then create another? This as now will be a political appointment yet if needed at all it should be be an independent position.

Yes, we need an accountable diligent and successful CS but like the NHS it has an awful lot of people who contribute little and the tax take from the private sector to maintain all this just keeps rising. Value for money? I think not, a DOGE is desperately needed.

Along with the costs of our open borders policy we are sinking in debt and this government has hardly got off to a good start on the economic front. Rachel From Complaints was hardly a star in the banking world, though compared with the rest of her front bench team she did at least have some experience outside of politics; not that it seems to have stood her in good stead as the bond market goes even lower than when the-short lived Liz Truss government was blamed for ‘trashing the economy.’ There are times when being tight lipped until you have a favourable result is the route to take.

We now have various political parties all blaming one another for the country’s woes. Nothing new in that except the scale of such which is futile and endless. None of them have listened to the electorate, all are playing board games with the country going to the dogs at an ever increasing rate, still they put personal political survival and party before the country, hence the back door moves to rejoin the EU, a failing entity on all fronts.

Have we ever heard so many foreign voices spelling out our demise? It is no good saying they should all be quiet as it is nothing to do with them. Not that long ago we had influence in the world; now we are kidding ourselves. Our press, or what is left of it, is generally compliant with all that goes on, little of value is printed these days and they are generally behind the curve when they do write something of note.

They did as told during Covid and continue to toe the line to a large degree. When was the last time a member of the press called out a politician at one of their asinine press conferences? It is not as though there has been a lack of opportunity.

Two recent voices partly explain much that is obvious.

Perhaps some of this would be useful:

And on a more peaceful but succinct note (re the r*pe gangs):

https://x.com/i/status/1876952358455824697

And to think there was a time when the map of the world was mainly coloured pink and despite mistakes was enhanced by our presence.

A *forthright* summation of what our country has come to:

https://x.com/i/status/1883800332691710299

and more from David Starkey who has been sidelined because he exposes the obvious and they the elites don’t like it. “Brexit… was simply the beginning of the process of reclaiming this country”:

https://x.com/i/status/1929143136372097221

For the general public and taxpayer it has become a bore and is draining the life from what is left of Britain. Rachel Reeves’ speech in Rochdale said it all with the dragooned masses behind her showing no sign of approval of the monosyllabic monologue she delivered, Andrew Laurence does a good skit of the same here.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1930589458467799135

The quality of leadership is truly dreadful. Two-tier policing and judiciary are evident despite denials we can all see what is going on. Lucy Connolly is just an unfortunate demonstration.

There is even denial among politicians that there is a groundswell of rising disquiet, most is total BS - https://media1.tenor.com/m/j5YcO9slE7YAAAAd/leslie-nielsen-nothing-to-see-here.gif:

The CEO of our local NHS hospital trust emerged in public to say that the trust will be ignoring the Supreme Court ruling on trans men in women’s spaces. Not unexpected, from a trust that in the past has festooned the main building with rainbow flags and has all noticeboards with PRIDE slogans at every turn. Just get on with your job trying to provide health care for those who pay your inflated salary and dispense with virtue signalling about something that is irrelevant and outside your remit. Perhaps you should make a trip to A&E and see as I did a couple of weeks ago thirty plus people sitting on the floor as they had run out of space and chairs! A third world service with all the trappings is now normalised for the indigenous population; as many have realised, arriving by dinghy by-passes all this hassle; priorities, priorities.

The scale of the discontent in this country is not being exaggerated. The historic ruling class has been rumbled yet the lies keep coming.

Something eventually will have to give. Time is running out for meaningful change. The mealy-mouthed “change” utterances of this government don’t even scratch the surface.

Sunday Sipping: A Matter of Taste, by Wiggia

I haven’t commented on here very often in the last three years, for a variety of reasons, one being health. A brief summary follows, I have written in detail about my experiences within the NHS organisation, the good the bad and the ugly-plus an extra ingredient I won/t elaborate on again just about covers it.

Three years ago I collapsed and woke up six weeks later having undergone two brain operations within 24 hours and a serious bowel operation a week later. Fortunately I was sedated during my time at Addenbrokes Hospital in Cambridge so knew nothing about what had happened and the subsequent procedures. I was then transferred back to the Norfolk and Norwich where I eventually started to recover, after catching Covid and contracting a bowel infection that was supposed to finish me, a change of doctor (long story) and a change in medication and treatment.

The reason I mention all this was that what happened to me and what happens to other people if brain surgery is involved: one suffers a change or loss, temporary or otherwise of faculties, memory, smell, taste.

At the time wine was not on the list of things I should be worrying about, far from it. Various tests and exercises brought about improvements in memory function, at first even my birthday was beyond recall and constant illusions muddied the progress, seeing the four horsemen of the apocalypse at the bottom of one’s bed as I did earlier is not to be recommended when you are trying to be positive!

After rehab home at last and the question of food that I could eat and the thorny question of what I could drink came to the forefront. The food was relatively easy: no spicy items, very little green stuff and a lot of trial and error was involved.

Now to the drinking. I was told no problem with wine in strict moderation, so I started to sample and the fun started.

At first red wine caused problems so was cut out completely, later to be reintroduced a little at a time, so white wine was my staple, again in moderation.

All my long held preconceptions went out of the window. Some had no smell, some had no taste, those that did have one or both had changed completely from my inbuilt conception as to what they should taste or smell like. In many cases the taste or smell was amplified way beyond that which my memory could remember, particularly fruity reds such as certain Rhone varieties with matching sometimes glorious over-the-top aromas.

As for my extensive Riesling collection many, but not all of the trocken/dry wines became dull and lifeless and it became a case of suck it and see.

Two things came out of this for me.

Firstly there was a period of seeing where all this was going, i.e. would my tastes get back to something like the previous normal? They did with most foods, and did settle with wine, but not as before, so after much consideration I made the decision to sell all that which was obviously out of kilter with my new tastes. So out went what was left of my Bordeaux - I had previously offloaded nearly all my stored ‘en primeur’ of the region anyway, Chianti tasted like battery acid and Barolo was not far behind. The list is too long to expand on here but you get the picture. In whites many became just dull; for Riesling spätlese seems to be the sweet spot, no pun intended, and buttery Chardonnays over the leaner versions; acidity over other components is now a no-go area, though not totally.

The second part is interesting in that it assumes there is a right and wrong appreciation of wine virtues/values, but if I had been born with the appreciation of wine I have now my outlook and taste would be totally different from that which has guided me for the last fifty years. No longer can I say that such and such lacks x because now it doesn’t. Is it a dilemma? No, it is simply another’s view of the same product; in some ways I have been lucky to have two bites of the same cherry.

This is no different to the way the brain interprets sound and vision. Illusions cause the brain to come to different conclusions. It all brings the tasting both amateur and professional into focus, it matters not a jot what someone else says about a wine food music etc, it is what gives you pleasure at any given moment.

To finish a short story, my oldest fiend died of dementia recently in Adelaide, Australia. We had known each since we were five years old so a long relationship. In ‘95 my wife and I managed to get three months of holiday during the winter and went on a world wide trip including six weeks plus in Australia and stayed with my friend for three weeks+ in Adelaide.

He was not into wine other than drinking it! but we stayed in the Barrosa for some days and visited some forty wineries in the Barossa and sub regions…

Back home the following Christmas a case of wine arrived from my friend from Aus. He knew little of wine but a friend of of his did so it was selected by the friend on his behalf. It seemed a good idea at the time if this was to be made an annual event, so a sum was agreed which I sent him and some suggestions for the case; wines unavailable here in the UK, would be included.

This worked well for years but recently as the dementia took hold he started to make mistakes and the last case before I stopped the exercise showed why. Virtually the whole sum allocated was spent on one bottle, I had to make good the shortfall.

The bottle as below:

Out of curiosity I looked up to see if this was available in the UK, and B&B have it at around £350 a bottle. I would never pay that for any wine, though in the past I pushed the boat out before wine prices hit the stratosphere.

Was it any good? A lot of hype surrounds it. In my current phase of appreciation the nose was phenomenal, a glorious sniffer; in the mouth for me it was a tier class Bordeaux so probably not the best person to judge that aspect now, or maybe I am?

And yes, it is a screw top.

Anyway a glass was raised to my old friend.

And a glass was raised to my consultant who explained it all to me.

A sporting oddity from my past, by Wiggia

A short tale away from the usual doom and gloom that daily saturates opinion columns to a degree that is unprecedented in my lifetime.

This came about after Rolf. knowing that I raced bicycles on the track/velodromes many years ago, asked if I had seen a recent episode of the Antiques Roadshow on the Beeb, that had been broadcast from Roundhay Park in Leeds. I hadn’t but naturally looked on iPlayer for the episode and there it was, the only banked grass track as far as I know in the UK and probably the world.

Still in use, it has been there since 1894 and still remains part of the sports complex in the park. It was built at a time when cycle racing was attracting large crowds. Road racing did not really get going until the turn of the century and this was a relatively cheap way of providing a track. 1,200 unemployed men were used by the council to build the track and other facilities, and as well as being banked it is almost certainly the only permanent grass track still in situ.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001w2vs/antiques-roadshow-series-46-14-roundhay-park-leeds-3

This also gives a short history of Beryl Burton, probably the greatest woman cyclist we have ever produced (at 15.10).

I did compete very often on grass tracks. All were simply grass athletic tracks with bikes on them, not easy to ride as with no banking the bends are not easy to navigate at speed and with fixed gears as all track racing bikes have there was a danger with the lean angles on bends, of pedals digging in.

In the early days wooden rims were used as they had more ‘give’ on the bumpy surface and Dunlop actually produced a special tubular tyre for grass track racing, more of a sort of ‘off road’ tyre that gave much better grip. These were much coveted as Dunlop stopped making them through lack of demand.

But there was another side to grass track racing. During the summer fetes and galas all over the UK would include grass racing among various other events. These were much sought after as they actually gave worthwhile prizes that in many cases could be traded back for cash or sold; remember this was an amateur sport then.

Were there any really good riders on grass? Well one springs to mind: Neville Tong who was selected to ride for England in the Commonwealth games in ‘58 in the kilometre. This is a very hard solo time trial from a standing start against the clock. He won the gold medal in this event with a record time, he was then taken under the wing of legendary Reg Harris at Fallowfield track Manchester in an attempt to convert this grass track strength into a hard track sprinter. Sadly the attempt failed and Tong went back to what he was good at, grass track racing.

Below he is seen at the Maindy Stadium Cardiff taking his lap of honour, and below on his beloved grass.

My infrequent forays into grass track racing were rewarded in an outing to Hertford fete in ‘59 - was it really that long ago? - when I won the star event, the five mile scratch race and took home for my mum a silver tea service, which adorned the sideboard for a few years.

(Excuse the old faded press cutting.) From memory this was my last effort on grass, not many events in 

southern England and the hard track took priority. Nonetheless the Antiques Roadshow revived some old and pleasant memories.

WEEKENDER: The Future - A Stateless World? by Wiggia

The recent elections in the USA resulted in Trump sweeping the board, this despite the impression given in all the media that Harris was going ahead in a tight race to the White House. As with so much these days the direction the media wish to take us is not necessarily that which is a true reflection on what is actually happening.

That in itself is a worrying trend. There was a time when the media was fairly impartial in its opinions, now not nearly so much: like everything else it is divided into entrenched camps.

This is not only giving endlessly false readings on events but in many cases it feels, rightly, that opinion is being driven by vested interests.

A good example of that was the unanimous push of government advice during Covid, regardless of any misgivings from many of a different opinion who were completely sidelined.

To a degree one can understand why the dead tree press would obey. The sales of newspapers are but a fraction of a few years ago and many titles are struggling to stay alive, never mind relevant.

The pouring of huge amounts of government money into advertising would make anyone think twice about bucking the trend and losing all that ‘gifted’ revenue.

Elsewhere the feeling with hindsight is that there was a lot of leaning on individuals and corporations to toe the official line and the ‘nudge’ unit did its part in orchestrating all this.

A comment by Pat Condell on X summed up the current thinking among governments and elites at this moment in time:

“The European Union is a model for the planned borderless world run by an unaccountable politburo. Its core purpose is to eliminate the countries of Europe and transform a diverse continent of sovereign nations into a single homogenous political bloc governed by a committee of unelected bureaucrats fronted by a cosmetic rubber stamp assembly.”

Despite the vision of remainers that all who voted for Brexit were knuckle-dragging morons who should not be allowed to vote on anything, many of us shared this view of the EU then and it has been reinforced since Brexit.

We are beginning to see the scales falling from the eyes of many, but not yet enough. This statement has much in it which should be refused but still few in power even acknowledge what is going on yet alone raise doubts and reasoned argument…

“Canadian citizen receives a standing Ovation after laying out Klaus Schwab’s plan to enslave the world: https://x.com/i/status/1848610733980062118”

Another small taste of what certain politicians regard as the future for us. This has been erased since but was archived by someone who believed it would stand the test of time:

“Remember that time when Hillary Clinton introduced her friend GeorgeSoros and his interest to get involved in US elections? The Internet sure doesn't. Why? Because it has been wiped from existence for the most part. Turns out I found a copy of the file I had archived years ago: https://x.com/i/status/1851690476463628780”

So many paths lead back to Davos; even our new PM has said he prefers Davos to Westminster:

Is he saying that our own democracy is a poor substitute for the elites of Davos? If he is then he has no right to be in the position he now finds himself in, he is a fraud; but then most of them are. Of the current incumbents, the front bench has only one person who has ever worked in the real world for a living, and that one has jusr resigned for a fraudulent crime in the not so distant past. Are any of the others suited to the positions they are hold or are given? As the years pass ever fewer have worked in the private sector in any capacity. This does not bode well.

But then we knew that. His pre-election pledge that the NHS would not receive any more money without reform was ignored like everything else, and a consultation is to be commenced on the reforms that will likely, as with all consultations and inquiries, outlast the government’s tenure.

David Icke is not for me usually a go-to person, yet here he nails it re the farming shut down that appears to be happening simultaneously all over the west.

https://x.com/i/status/1852870877144113446

Back to the NHS. Endless adverts appear telling us that breakthroughs are occurring in the treatment or cure of various diseases, new testing procedures should be insisted on and again all are rightly advised to get tested and pop down immediately to see their GP…

I cannot see all this money spent on advertising as any more than a distraction to the fact that the NHS is failing in many areas and very little will be achieved while waiting lists for standard procedures stretches out into, in many cases a time when the patient will be gone. Perhaps this is the plan; it is a fact that the last six months of anyone's life is the most expensive for the NHS should they need care.

Perhaps the assisted dying bill being presented to Parliament is part of the planned process to eliminate old people before they become a burden on the state.

My own views on this aspect of medical care (sic) have been aired on here in detail, so I won’t be going over old ground, but just a point: the ‘end of life bill ‘ before Parliament and which has just been passed, has no mention of the fact that lives are ended in hospitals and care homes on a regular basis with none of the ‘safety’ provisions that are being put before Parliament in this private member’s bill. That is happening and to say the situations are not comparable is a lie in many cases. It leaves a huge loophole in the law that can be, as during Covid, be exploited. Those responsible for that lawful murder have walked away untouched with their gold-plated pensions intact, and now that ability to end life has been extended.

Old people have very little future to look forward to. They have been discarded or are being so little by little. This once great nation has currently, despite all the bluster to the contrary, probably the worst pensions in the so called advanced western nations, and the withholding of the Winter Fuel Allowance was a deliberate mean act to a group who if they were still workng would be classified as existing well below the poverty line.

These are people who have done more than their bit for this country, paid their taxes, are crapped on from above and are now being told their lives have no value as they are a drag on the State.

And the lies, the endless lies… this from someone who claims there is an imaginary black hole in the finances, yet manages to find billions for nonsense schemes in Africa, public sector wage increases, billions for illegal migrants who get free private health care and free heated hotel rooms plus plus plus…

Can’t say she never acted!

What the hell has happened to us as a nation when this bleak and unholy future is all that can be offered?

WEEKENDER: Energy, by Wiggia

Why is it that so many of the promoters of green policies and in particular purveyors of climate change are so stereotypical in the way they speak and promote their ideology? The examples below are typical and now we have the Edstone in charge of the nation’s energy supply and our net zero ‘obligations.’ None of it bodes well for the future of this country.

Ed Miliband is one of the eco loons who frequent the TV screens and spread the ‘save the planet’ gospel on a regular basis. Needless to say like all of them they have skin in the game, running an eco audit firm. He also tells porkies as well as spouting nonsense such as this:

https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/environmental-activist-says-we-should-give-up-pets-to-save-planet-b2183768.html

He is also of the ‘give up meat for the same reasons’ brigade as well as the usual ‘cycle everywhere and don’t drive a car.’

Not quite sure how they will get anyone else to give up cattle. Somehow I think Argentina and India for different reasons will say no - and as we speak an offshoot of the green movement has introduced bison into wildest Kent, and they are thriving; a clash of ideologies is imminent, and I put money on the bison.

The ‘don’t drive’ comment is interesting. Only a few weeks ago in one of his interviews he stated he had never owned a car, yet only two weeks previously on the same program he proudly stated he had managed to go a whole year without driving his car? The car he had never owned? Or like so much else he made it up.

Meanwhile whilst talking about cars he stated a few days ago that EV sales were up something like 26%. The truth is somewhat different. Overall the market relies on subsidies for sales, but it is not just the inflated price of these vehicles but the lack of infrastructure, as with everything else, and the belief, rightly that any price advantages of today will disappear when EVs become the majority vehicle of choice as our green governments hope they will: the lost fuel tax that EVs represent can not be sustained ‘as any fule kno.’

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/electriccars/article-13390757/UK-car-sector-downgrades-EV-sales-expectations-2024-public-demand-plummets-EVs.html

Other facts come to light as the number of these EVs gains a foot in the market place: their propensity to simply carry on burning should they catch fire, and the fact that should an accident damage the battery, meaning a total write off, means insurance quotes have ballooned out of all recognition in the last couple of years to cover the costs; this of course affects all types of vehicles. Not only should Milliband not be allowed anywhere near the control of the UK’s energy but he is also a danger to the food industry. In fairness to him he could have been distracted when spellbound by Greta Thunberg along with others of equal persuasion:

 



It’s good to know that our energy policies are in such good hands. He has indeed returned, putting out the most condescending video, treating all as five-year-olds:

https://x.com/i/status/1837781253992419453

There seems to be no end to these loons. Jim ‘jail the deniers’ Dale, a comedy turn who when challenged as to what his qualifications were by someone who had them in spades, mumbled eventually that he had several years as a meteorologist. It seems that in a later interview he mysteriously claimed to have obtained qualifications. Yet these people want climate change to be accepted on their terms; any other opinion even when backed by the ‘same’ science is immediately slammed as a form of heretic nonsense.

Below is a good example:

dailysceptic.org/2024/10/18/scientists-find-no-change-in-global-warming-rate-since-1970-despite-hottest-year-ever-in-2023/

Had he been arpound at the same time Jim Dale could also have been a stand-in for Jimmy Durante…

And finally there is Dale Vince who has made millions out of government subsidies and as is typical with all these zealots talks rubbish. His claim that wind now accounts for 46% of the load base is reliant on the wind actually blowing. Again when confronted with the fact that the wind is not reliable he said we can overcome the odd day the wind does not blow…

The odd day…

As can be seen from a typical graph of the wind blowing over a calender year there are more days when the wind hardly blows at all than any over 40% peaks. Still he has done very nicely out of it.

It is easy, very easy to be cynical with such people promoting all that needs to be done in order to meet the targets for the mythical net zero, but when we are lied to by these cultists, for that is what they have become it is difficult (beyond the desire to clean the planet up e.g. cleaning rivers) to see most of it as anything other than a giant scam. As with Covid any dissent is rubbished, and look how many so-called conspiracy theories are coming true in that area. The presumption that so many factors are indicating the end of the world is simply not true, the list of predictions that never happened lengthens by the year. It’s time to get real on all this.

For if climate change is happening as it has over the millennia then nature will win. Sitting on the beach at Brighton like Canute saying ‘go away’, or shutting down power stations or throwing paint over Van Gogh's paintings will not make a jot of difference.

WEEKENDER: The degrading of the Olympic Games, by Wiggia

 

My original thought was I felt sorry for the organisers and participants at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in gay Paree. After watching for some time my mood changed to one of NGAF based on what I saw.

Difficult to know what was the intention of all this but it has nothing to do with sport unless of course Paris is being lauded as some sort of capital of perversion.

 
https://x.com/i/status/1816931037055775055

As a young child in simpler times I used to love the Olympics and remember my father taking me one day to watch the games at Wembley. The only person that sticks in my mind was the ‘Flying Housewife’ Fanny Blankers – Koen winning one of her four gold medals, but that was in more enlightened times when an Olympic gold really meant something other than an opening to wealth creation.

But inevitably the games became professional as the eastern block and others did not play fair and actual amateurs stood little chance against government sponsored athletes and government approved drug programs, not just the eastern block either.

As a track cyclist in the late fifties and sixties I was more than aware of the drug problem my sport had then and still has, though to be fair the testing in the sport today is almost non stop which is more than can be said for many other sports.

I did compete abroad a couple of times, and in those days even Olympians had to pay for travel in some sports, but few minded as the fact one was representing the country was reward enough. Not a lot of support then in fact virtually none; today for the current background team:

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/getinvolved/article/20181114-about-bc-static-British-Cycling-Talent-Development-Team-0?c=EN

The above was non existent in those days, never mind nutritional experts and help in all areas of mind and body on hand. It was as with so much a very different world.

Yet looking back I have more respect for the few successes we had then as they were against the odds, very much a case of surmounting difficulties that today would not be countenanced..

The going professional era changed all that in the Olympics and world championships in all other sports. Sponsorship pulled in money and the world of sport changed. Much was good as the artificial amateur was confined to the dustbin of history and everyone knew where they stood.

But back to the Olympics. This edition as with all has had its downsides, probably more than others recently, apart from the dreadful, on so many fronts, opening ceremony. Whole teams have been seeking hotel accommodation to avoid the cardboard beds, the supplied vegan meals have been supplemented with supplementary foods flown in in some cases, the Australians had a ton of meat flown in for instance, and several triathletes have become ill after competing with the merde in the Seine, and we have a boxing competition that has been totally hijacked by a couple of men fighting women, a ridiculous situation that should have been sorted in all sports long ago, only the woke agenda in some hierarchies of sporting institutions keep this nonsense alive.

There have been reams written about this subject, but in the end in a contact sport particularly, it is not only an advantage but dangerous, and of course you never see the reverse with women wanting to compete in male sport, I wonder why .

And to top it all the IOC seem determined to dilute the games by expanding into areas that are difficult to see as legitimate sports, such as break dancing? Strange rock climbing competitions, surely no rope should be allowed for realistic reasons, skateboarding at a time when the craze for skate parks for kids is waning and they become white elephants, BMX cycle racing which does not involve a lot of pedalling and the riders should grow up and ride proper bikes, downhill racing known as ‘gravity’, Golf, please, kite surfing where the only physical attribute is to gain weight that gives more speed, pie eating medals, trampoline etc etc.

There have and still are sports that have little in the way of promoting inclusion and diversity as is so popular these days. The equine events are hardly likely anytime soon to be seen in African countries are anywhere else, they are hugely expensive and confined to mainly rich western societies. They have their own championships anyway, so called new team events that involve numerous mixed men and women events by nature favour countries that have a depth of talent like the USA, smaller countries can never put together a team of equals from such limited resources.

They seem intent on diluting the games so a gold medal is within reach for all regardless of worthiness. Many will disagree with me but I would like the games to get back to basics, it is primarily a track and field event and so it should be.

I am not anti Olympics, far from it but it is straying far away from the original ideals and including what many would call ‘mickey mouse’ sports or what were recently leisure activities does the organisation and sport no favours.

More!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! by Wiggia

The more they get the more they waste…

Currently we are getting more of everything that is bad for us. How that will evolve over the coming months and years can only be guessed at. The ones who tell us otherwise, are still adding to the never ending pile of unnecessary legislature and administration all of which has little or no effect on everyday life and despite never ending assurances has no bearing on any progress. In this miserable downhill world, more is added daily to help with our demise. Surely things are not that bad? Well convince me otherwise.

Starmer offers us change. Where have I heard that before and has anyone ever meant it or achieved it?

Between December 2023 and March 2024 the number of public servants increased by 27,000. Will we see a cull as needed? And likewise in the NHS bureaucracy, our gay health minister in waiting, I mention his sex choice because before he barely scraped home in Ilford he managed to get his gay boyfriend on the candidate list, as did many others like Sue Gray’s son now an MP. Nothing really changes does it Keef? Favours, narcissism, nepotism all are still rife in politics.

At the same time Michael Gove, remember him after 14 years in government? suggests cuts: ‘Michael Gove joins a think tank, recommends civil service be slashed.’ He always was good for a laugh.

Just in…

More taxes, as expected. Total denial by the Labour Party in the run up to election day that taxes will go up on top of the current record level we already pay, but they have no money. The country is bankrupt. all that is left are areas that can be regarded as non taxes on paper but in reality are. Get ready after the honeymoon period, if there is one this time, for the likes of fuel duty pay per mile, new forms of council charging. They will try to not use the word ‘tax’, yet it has been said in the past that politicians would tax the air that we breathe if they could - but they are, the ULEZ scheme does just that in London, soon to be followed by councils everywhere who are bereft of any original ideas other than paying themselves inflated salaries to run quite large organisations badly, see Birmingham, London etc etc.

Our local council is reducing payments to the genuinely disabled. This is the same council as with all others who quietly put thousands of asylum seekers aka economic illegal migrants into rented accommodation at our expense. Here in leafy Norfolk it seems every bus stop has a migrant waiting to taken into town while using their free mobile phones. I am sure that Keef will smash the gangs and stop all this nonsense pronto, for he has spoken.

Will the new government do anything about the water companies other than agree that they can fleece the public even more as monopolies who put dividends ahead of providing a decent commodity and service? Of course re nationalising has ben mentioned and who will pay for that? The working public silly, same with the railways should they go this route.

But with the debt mountain we have there is no money other than extra raised from tax on everything.

Even with their backs to the wall pre voting day Boris is wheeled out to save the nation and the party, party first of course, more lies from a serial liar come from him during his speech.

I really can’t be bothered to dissect his diatribe. This from the man who must be the first leader to annexe part of his country, N Ireland, in order to get a poor deal from the EU; that alone should see him never returning and worse to politics, and yet the nodding donkeys love him, God help us.

Did David Cameron’s ‘bonfire of the quangos’ ever achieve anything? Initially it was believed 180+ quangos had been abolished but further investigation found new ones had sprung up and many others had been moved into existing ones and expanded. This was repeated in 2015 and then Rees-Mogg had another bite in 2022. None have achieved any visible decline and there are now more than ever disguised as companies or outsourced and privatised,

The seemingly ever increasing desire for devolved areas and yet more government has resulted in what exactly? Can anyone point to any improvements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? All that has been achieved is further layers of government and bureaucracy with the accompanying costs which are not small. Not content with that more layers are suggested by forming yet more mayoral roles across the country in areas and cities.

More mayors are wanted according to our rulers. All that will come of that will be more and bigger offices full of more people shuffling papers and demanding we pay more to keep the whole thing afloat. All this watering down of Westminster’s responsibilities gives the powers that be the ability to shrug off responsibility when things go wrong, the classic ‘not my fault guv’ rather like the attitude when dealing with the EU that they can’t wait to go back to.

Naturally all parties promise the earth in election run ups, little of substance ever emerges on the statute books.

Perhaps they should change the regulatoryexemption that political parties get with advertising. The fact that only political advertising is exempt from the legal requirement of the Advertising Standards Authority should a client make a claim means that anything said or promised in print is just words.

More seats in Parliament: Labour as with the previous government has gained enormously by our ridiculously biased first past the post system, though unlike with Brexit you will not have those same baying mobs demanding another referendum (because they lost in a record turn out) calling for the same when Labour got a smaller percentage of the vote than Jeremy Corbin did but ended up with 411 seats. Sadly proportional representation is just as flawed because ‘populist’ parties are so often squeezed out as undesirable by coalitions, so expect more of the same.

Is there a solution. Probably not one that would solve all the faults of the two systems used by most countries. The days of a “fair fight” for representing us are long past. Any method that keeps any incumbent in power is now fair game. By contrast the Swiss have a hybrid that though not perfect does allow the people to say no or yes occasionally.

Meanwhile in the Netherlands …

https://x.com/i/status/1804084121477554618

Btw, if our politicians can go back 50 years to prosecute our soldiers in Northern Ireland, then there should be no problem going back twenty years and prosecuting the politicians responsible for Iraq.

Our new leader has started as he intends to carry on in this as he resolves the migrant crisis…

https://www.amren.com/news/2024/07/starmer-appears-on-bangladeshi-tv-after-illegal-migrant-comments-spark-backlash/

Expect more Lords appointments soon. They will need an overflow building to accommodate all these extra Lords and the Exchequer will have to find even more money to look after all the freeloaders that sign in and then go home.

How long have both parties when in power spoken of reforming the Lords, with no intention of doing anything as it suits the current system of government. Unless of course it is about something sensible such as solving the migrant crisis: ‘that’s different!’

Change, eh, Mr Starmer?