POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

THIS BBC In Depth article is worth reading if you are trying to understand Trump.

[Tripps]

Simon Webb who is more perceptive than most - has spotted that the other members of the new group will be - Zarah Sultana, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, and Iqbal Mohamed.
[/quote]

Iqbal Mohamed is Independent MP for Dewsbury. He has spoken in Parliament in favour of first cousin marriages.

Billy Moore has just visited Dewsbury which he found was home to one of the largest mosques in Europe. Well worth a look.

Google 'Deobandi Dewsbury' for more detail about the town and its mosque and its Islamic learning establishments.

Pay no attention to the abandoned vandalised buildings in the town centre, and the fly tipping - that's of no consquence. 'Part and parcel' as Sadiq Khan was once heard to remark.

There were disturbances in Oldham on Friday Oldham riots

[Stanley]

Speaking of new political parties..... Have a look at THIS report from the US.....
Updated 36 minutes ago
US President Donald Trump has hit out at former close ally Elon Musk over the multi-billionaire's plan to launch a new political party. "I think it's ridiculous to start a third party," said Trump, speaking to reporters on Sunday before boarding Air Force One. "It's always been a two-party system and I think starting a third party just adds to the confusion." After teasing the idea for weeks, Musk posted on X over the weekend that he had set up the America Party to compete against the Republican and Democratic parties. Trump and Musk were formerly close allies, with the Tesla boss leading the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), which is tasked with helping to cut federal spending. Trump also posted on his Truth Social platform on Sunday: "I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely 'off the rails,' essentially becoming a train wreck over the past five weeks." The post took aim at Musk's push for an "Electric Vehicle (EV) Mandate", saying it would have "forced everyone to buy an electric car in a short period of time."

[Stanley]

See THIS report on the visit by President Macron.
4 hours ago
King Charles III will say the UK and France must stand together in the face of a "multitude of complex threats", when he speaks at a state banquet for French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron and his wife Brigitte will be welcomed by the King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales, as they arrive for a three-day state visit. The state banquet will be a highlight of the trip, with famous faces, a showcase menu and a message from the King about the "shared history and culture between our two peoples". This is the first state visit by the leader of an EU country since Brexit and the King will emphasise the need to work together on issues from military threats to climate change.

[Tripps]

I'm giving you a lot of homework today, and don't expect anyone to do it all - but give it a skim.

I miss Kate Andrews of The Spectator who has now moved back to the USA. She was a regular on UK talk shows until recently and then as now, spoke a lot of sense.

The 'takeaway' from her long interview (for me) is "the state pension is no longer affordable". She should have added "in its present form" but didn't - so no change will happen. The triple lock is of course, and quite correctly, doomed.

However any Government that messes with the state pension - meagre though the basic level is - will find itself rebelled against; as recently with the scandalous PIP payments. Remember we are the world's sixth largest economy therefore can do as we please.

I think the reckoning is beckoning, and won't be too long coming.

I might just patent that. . . .

[Stanley]

You could be right David. Like HS2 and abolishing the two child cap on child benefit a decent state pension or the NHS is unaffordable while the real money is being spent on Aircraft carriers defence and nuclear deterrents......
I saw THIS blast from the past in the political news this morning.
Norman Tebbit, who served as a cabinet minister in Margaret Thatcher's government, has died aged 94. Throughout the 1980s he worked as the chairman of the Conservative Party and led the departments of trade and industry and employment. A loyal ally of Thatcher, Lord Tebbit backed her agenda, bringing in laws designed to curb union power - including making them liable for damages if they did illegal acts.
I can't say that I will miss him......

[Stanley]

See THIS report on the latest Israeli initiative in Gaza.....
Israel's defence minister says he has instructed its military to prepare a plan to move all Palestinians in Gaza into a camp in the south of the territory, Israeli media reports say. Israel Katz told journalists on Monday he wanted to establish a "humanitarian city" on the ruins of the city of Rafah to initially house about 600,000 Palestinians - and eventually the whole 2.1 million population. He said the goal was to bring people inside after security screening to ensure they were not Hamas operatives, and that they would not be allowed to leave. If conditions allowed, he added, construction would begin during a 60-day ceasefire that Israel and Hamas are trying to negotiate. One Israeli human rights lawyer condemned it as nothing less than an "operational plan for a crime against humanity". "It is all about population transfer to the southern tip of the Gaza Strip in preparation for deportation outside the strip," Michael Sfard told the Guardian newspaper. he UN has also previously warned that the deportation or forcible transfer of an occupied territory's civilian population is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law and "tantamount to ethnic cleansing". Later on Monday, during a meeting at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about US President Donald Trump's proposal that the US take over post-war Gaza and permanently resettle its population elsewhere. Netanyahu said: "I think President Trump has a brilliant vision. It's called free choice. If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave... "We're working with the United States very closely about finding countries that will seek to realise what they always say - that they wanted to give the Palestinians a better future."
I think I have just seen the Israeli government propose a Final Solution for the Palestinian problem and they have the backing of the United States.
Unbelievable!

[Stanley]

See THIS latest atrocity in Gaza.
At least 15 Palestinians, including eight children and two women, have been killed in an Israeli strike while queuing for nutritional supplements in front of a clinic in central Gaza, a hospital says. Video from al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah showed the bodies of several children and others lying on the floor as medics treated their wounds. US-based aid group Project Hope, which runs the clinic, said the attack was a blatant violation of international law. The Israeli military said it struck a "Hamas terrorist" and regretted any harm to civilians. They were among 66 people reportedly killed in Israeli strikes on Thursday, as Israel and Hamas continued talks on a ceasefire deal. Despite optimism expressed by the US, which is acting as a mediator along with Qatar and Egypt, they do not so far seem to be close to a breakthrough.
Do these lives not matter?

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the continuing row over the proposed 'concentration camp' being proposed by Israel in Rafah......
For Gazans, a 60-day ceasefire being negotiated between Israel and Hamas would be a lifeline. A window to bring in large quantities of desperately needed food, water and medicine after severe – and at times total - Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries. But for Israel's defence minister Israel Katz a two-month pause in military operations would create an opportunity to build what he has called a "humanitarian city" in the ruins of the southern city of Rafah to contain almost every single Gazan except those belonging to armed groups. According to the plan, Palestinians would be security screened before being allowed in and not permitted to leave. Critics, both domestically and internationally, have condemned the proposal, with human rights groups, academics and lawyers calling it a blueprint for a "concentration camp".
This is possibly the most insensitive political initiative I have ever seen.