Sir Mark Lyall Grant was born with so many silver spoons in his mouth it is a miracle he didn’t choke. The National Security Adviser is, surprise surprise, an Old Etonian. He is also one of the nastiest people I have ever met.
In 1999 within the FCO he tried to remove me from my position as Deputy High Commissioner in Accra because, in a speech at an anti-corruption conference, I had stated that British firms too were sometimes involved in corruption. My speech had in fact been cleared in advance by DFID, and I survived. But Lyall Grant was dismissive of my argument that it was intellectually bankrupt to attend anti-corruption conferences and pretend corruption was just something foreigners did. In a very frosty interview, he told me my job was to promote British interests, not promote the truth.
I survived Lyall Grant’s attack only by appealing to the Head of the Diplomatic Service, John (now Lord) Kerr, in a minute in which I complained directly of Grant’s unpleasantly aristocratic attitude towards me, and used Hazlitt’s words about Byron applied to Lyall Grant “This spoil’d child of fortune…”. The entire episode was published in detail in my memoir “The Catholic Orangemen of Togo.”
Lyall Grant is now National Security Adviser and made responsible by Cameron for persuading Labour MPs to bomb Syria. A disagreement has arisen tonight over whether he admitted or not that a great many of the “70,000” are “extreme Islamists”.
But one thing that should be very well understood, is that I can personally testify that Mark Lyall Grant has no respect for or attachment to the truth. He directly told me that furthering the British interest is more important than truth. In that case, he was taking the interest of corrupt British companies – especially BAE – as being identical with the national interest.
In the current case, I have no doubt he will be conflating the interest of his fellow old Etonians in government and again of the arms industry with the national interest. I can guarantee nothing will pass his lips undistorted to suit that agenda.
That a truly obnoxious man like Mark Lyall Grant is such a senior official is the most complete proof you could have of the rottenness of the United Kingdom.
Vote out all the Mark Lydall Grant sympathisers. When Scotland has tax raising powers tax all the evading Tory/Unionists who voted No. To make up the deficit they have caused fighting illegal wars. They will pay the price.
John Goss,
Morocco is in the wrong hemisphere.
This explains why
“On the 8th Day – Nuclear Winter Documentary (1984)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCTKcd2Ko98
Virtually all the nuclear targets are in the Northern hemisphere. If you actually survive the nuclear attacks an enormous dust and smoke cloud will completely blot out the sun from The Northern Hemisphere and it will get exceedingly cold for many months. Nothing will grow. If the radiation doesn’t kill you, you are most likely to freeze and starve to death.
Your best chance of survival is very far south. Christchurch in New Zealand might be survivable – well for a year or so if you are lucky, but if you are serious about it you need to move now.
Once it hits virtually nothing will move. It won’t be like the first world war when incidentally my grandmother took my mother to New Zealand almost exactly 100 years ago.
Tony
Sir Mark Lyall Grant is a ‘toff’ with the same mindset and way of thinking as agent Cameron, Murdoch’s oil stooge – quite simply a Bullingdon sort of person who in the face of chagrin resorts to language making it sound like he is the only one who is right.
A ‘toff’ with his head up his own posh backside.
“Vote out all the Mark Lydall Grant sympathisers. When Scotland has tax raising powers tax all the evading Tory/Unionists who voted No. To make up the deficit they have caused fighting illegal wars. They will pay the price.”
But back in 2013 Alex Salmond didn’t seem to think that an independent Scotland would be against military action in Syria.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/syria-action-backed-under-independence-salmond-1-3071423
SNP guide to MPs on voting. Humour or many a true word? We shall see.
https://twitter.com/ScottyNational/status/671815381863038977
I vaguely recall someone clever saying something about tragedy repeating itself as farce. What happened to that guy? Dim Dave is such an un-serious person; a chump. I really can’t believe he’s PM, still. He’s now Blair in caricature, leading us to war for risible, farcical reasons. We don’t even know who we’re bombing, which should be a massive red flag.
He’ll have to resign if he loses this one. Finally. His network of Omen-like connections can’t save him this time, because he can blame nobody but himself. I suspect he’ll scrape it, but noises from the Tory Party are somewhat intriguing. Open goal for the Labour Party, which they have contrived to miss, as usual.
Well, Even – God forbid – that Cameron gets the vote..to play with his war toys… how dose that make it Legal, it won’t be. And now we are all terrorist sympathizers.. little cnut. Evil.
from Alex Salmond –
Alex Salmond MP said:
“We are seeing an arrogance from David Cameron who believes his ill-conceived plans to add more planes to the 10 countries already bombing Syria will make a difference.
“Support for this amendment against Syria air strikes is cross-party, and so far has 110 signatories. Of course everyone wants to see the end to Daesh, but the UK government has been running scared from scrutiny on their plans which don’t stack up.
“We don’t know how the UK government plans to secure peace in Syria and what ground forces there will be. We know the UK previously spent 13 times more bombing Libya than on its post conflict stability and reconstruction.
“And just two years ago the Prime Minister urged us to bomb the opponents of Daesh that would have likely strengthened this terrorist organisation.
“The influential Foreign Affairs Committee took a wide range of evidence from military experts, academics, lawyers, the Foreign Secretary and Syrian groups. As a result a number of questions were presented to the Prime Minister and today a majority of committee members agreed that these questions had not been answered.”
ALEX SALMOND: UK GOVERNMENT RUNNING FROM SCRUTINY ON SYRIA
110 MP SIGNATORIES FROM 6 PARTIES BACK AMENDMENT AGAINST SYRIA VOTE
http://www.alexsalmond.scot/press-releases/2015/12/1/110-mp-signatories-from-6-parties-back-amendment-against-syria-vote
“Alex Salmond MP said:”
The Alex Salmond who grabbed £65,000 of tax payers money for a resettlement grant when he wasn’t leaving politics. the Alex Salmond who has been receiving two salaries from the tax payer to be MP in Westminster and Holyrood. The Alex Salmond who claimed he was giving £50,000 and one of the salaries to his mother’s charity?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/SNP/11281111/Alex-Salmond-refuses-to-repay-65000-golden-goodbye.html
Well just take a look at the accounts of that charity and ask yourself if you don’t put too much store in what Alex Salmond said.
http://www.oscr.org.uk/search-oscr/charity-details?number=SC038686
Hieroglyph: “I vaguely recall someone clever saying something about tragedy repeating itself as farce.”
You’re thinking of a quote – by Marx? – that history repeats itself first as tragedy, then as farce. Presumably it goes downhill from there on subsequent repetition.
Shouldn’t all MPs find out what their constituents want or is democracy appointing one person to make decisions for thousands. I find all this talk of MPs following their conscience so patronising. Fcuk their conscience—-we don’t want war.
I’m sure that Mark’s grandfather several generations back, Sir Alexander Grant, would be most disappointed b his performance.
Sir Alexander presided over thee massive corruption scandal of the Arigna Iron and Coal Company, leading to the retirement of the infamous private legislation Chairman of the House’s Ways and Means Committee, James Brogden.
As a result, the Old Tory [arty broke up. and liberal Tory George Canning became Prime Minister, thanks particularly to the covert efforts by barrister Henry Brougham
THe Arigna case started the slow, painful process, led by Brougham, to reform the most corrupt system of passing private legislation.
he told me my job was to promote British interests, not promote the truth.
But the odious manner of the person you mention, aside, is he not correct is asserting that to lie for his country as serves the national interest is required of any ambassador?
While I can see that fulfilling such a role would be repugnant to some, the requirement must surely be known to anyone accepting appointment as an ambassador. And really lying seems no big deal when you think that countries will cheerfully bomb one another’s civilian populations to hell if it serves the moneyed interest in any significant way.
CanSpeccy
Over many years as a Muslim working on building sites I have observed that on good Zionist UKUSIS war days, my fellow workers are extremely nice to me, smiles, greetings etc but on bad Zionist war days they make vicious personal attacks. C’est la vie.
But you turning up on the wave of 70000 prostitutes assigned to give USUKIS Al Qaida footsoldiers Aids and STD, all agreeable, non-racist and sane is a sea-change from your usual racist crap. Can you please stay nice when RAF jets bombing Damascus get shot down by russian fighter jets?
If parliament fails to pass the memory test, re Afghanistan 2001, and Iraq 2003, it might be necessary to declare the entirety of them suffering from senile dementia and memory loss. In the event of a dementia moment in the debate on wednesday it will be necessary for the UK population to declare their MPs unfit to govern.
You can forgive your 85 year old mum accidentally flooding her neighbour’s flat by leaving the tap on and the sink blocked by a washing up bowl, but it’s hard to forgive the well-salaried MPs deliberately feigning ignorance about USUKIS setting up and supporting Al Qaida and IS, who are essentially one and the same people and ideology, and forgetting Blair’s lies to parliament.
Parliamentary democracy will not only be brought into disrepute, but it will cease to be a viable system of government. Is that the real purpose of the Etonian elite?
Rather than engaging in a parliamentary pissing contest, Corbyn could lay groundwork for future reforms by guiding deliberations toward a detailed test of Cameron’s plan for armed attack against the criteria of Rome Statute Article 8,
http://crimeofaggression.info/role-of-the-icc/definition-of-the-crime-of-aggression/
Lawmakers’ intent regarding compliance with UN Charter Articles 46 and 47 would be grist for definitive ICJ judgements. Later, when the dust settles, the basis for Cameron’s magic number 70,000 can inform investigations of G-20 states sending armed bands, groups, irregulars or mercenaries into Syria. The government’s mounting hysteria stems from indirect threats to its impunity for the gravest crimes. Time to make the threats more explicit and direct.
Craig,
1 -I am not sure whether you are saying that there has been an admission
a) that of the 70K some 40K are moderate and 30K are extremists, or whether
b) 40K are moderate and there are some extremists but the total is not 70K, but 40K+
2- Habba,
Do I detect some degree of sympathy with Craig’s position?
3 – Generally: I don’t understand the subtleties of war and propaganda, but I would like to understand what is really going on here. It appears at first glance that both the UK / US and Russia have a common enemy in ISIS, but at the same time Russia is in Syria at the request of the Assad regime to prop it up whereas we obviously have not really moved away from our position of seeking the removal of Assad. So are we proposing to intervene simply to remove a cancer of ISIS as it were and if so do we then intend to get out and let ISIS be or are we in for the long haul i.e. purge ISIS and crack on with the so called 70K to remove Assad and if so will not that put us at war with Russia? Further, what is Russia’s position towards the 70K: do they treat them as enemy?
If these issues are not cleared up then are we not sleepwalking into war with Russia?
Is it as if we propose to walk along the street with Russia and then at some point we are to find ourselves no longer walking alongside but face to face? If so what then: resumption of cold war or worse?
In any event could economic war, bribery, blackmail and special ops alone be enough to win a war against ISIS.
I have reposted but with a correction in point 3 re who it is we might leave in peace after purge of ISIS:
Craig,
1 -I am not sure whether you are saying that there has been an admission
a) that of the 70K some 40K are moderate and 30K are extremists, or whether
b) 40K are moderate and there are some extremists but the total is not 70K, but 40K+
2- Habba,
Do I detect some degree of sympathy with Craig’s position?
3 – Generally: I don’t understand the subtleties of war and propaganda, but I would like to understand what is really going on here. It appears at first glance that both the UK / US and Russia have a common enemy in ISIS, but at the same time Russia is in Syria at the request of the Assad regime to prop it up whereas we obviously have not really moved away from our position of seeking the removal of Assad. So are we proposing to intervene simply to remove a cancer of ISIS as it were and if so do we then intend to get out and let ASSAD be or are we in for the long haul i.e. purge ISIS and crack on with the so called 70K to remove Assad and if so will not that put us at war with Russia? Further, what is Russia’s position towards the 70K: do they treat them as enemy?
If these issues are not cleared up then are we not sleepwalking into war with Russia?
Is it as if we propose to walk along the street with Russia and then at some point we are to find ourselves no longer walking alongside but face to face? If so what then: resumption of cold war or worse?
In any event could economic war, bribery, blackmail and special ops alone be enough to win a war against ISIS.
Groucho Marx
‘Ambassador Trentino: I am willing to do anything to prevent this war.
Rufus T. Firefly: It’s too late. I’ve already paid a month’s rent on the battlefield.’
~~~~
Gen Dannatt retd, now i/c The Tower of London for Her Maj with one of those nice grace and favour pads thrown in free and gratis, keeps popping up on the media to give out the message – You Know It Makes Sense.
He looks so apoplectic and hypertensive, I fear for his health. Or perhaps he’s just been on the claret.
Thought I would check on the Twitter of Twit ex Ambassador Charles Crawford, GMG but should not have wasted my time.
On hols in S Africa don’t you know so photos of hippos. Some compulsory knocking stuff on Jeremy Corbyn’s sartorial style and some football. All v lightweight as befits him. He is odious and very much up his own whatnot.
His recent piece in the Torygraph headed
Uniting Russia and the West – a diplomat’s guide
Ever since the Cold War ended, Western and Russian leaders have failed to build and sustain trust
would not appear for some reason.
He did not go to Eton. Some private school (the oldest school in the world!) in St Albans and then St John’s, Oxford.
Meanwhile, it’s all normal in Israel.
‘Israeli military forces have shot and injured three young Palestinian men in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.
On Tuesday evening, Israeli soldiers opened fire at youths in the Tel Rumeida of al-Khalil (Hebron), situated 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of al-Quds (Jerusalem), leaving one in serious condition with gunshot wounds in his abdomen.
Witnesses said the other two Palestinians were shot in their legs.’
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/12/02/439989/Israeli-forces-Palestinians-injured-alKhalil
Press TV banned on UK Freeview but viewable live online.
http://www.presstv.com/Default/Live
Britons split over UK air raids in Syria: Poll
Wed Dec 2, 2015 7:03AM
‘According to the poll results, a clear majority of Scots, that is, 72 percent, are against airstrikes that are possible to intensify the hatred of Daesh towards the UK. Most of those polled in Scotland said they were against the air raids as they could worsen the current situation by intensifying Daesh terrorists’ hatred towards Britons.
This is while about 54 percent of voters in England are in favor of the air attacks in Syria, saying that the campaign, which would be an extension of the UK’s air assaults against Daesh in Iraq, would be aimed at weakening the militants operating in Syria and neighboring Iraq, as well as in other countries.’
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/12/02/439982/UK-David-Cameron-Syria-Daesh-Iraq-Scotland-England
Always happy to help our Irish-American Friend:
“On the other hand, isn’t MI6 part of the Foreign Office”
_______________________
No.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
” don’t its officers often operate under diplomatic cover?”
____________________
Yes.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Keep asking!
Tony Op_Moc
“Your best chance of survival is very far south. Christchurch in New Zealand might be survivable”
_____________________
Not an original idea – Neville Shute’s “On the beach” refers.
Today’s the day we update the list of which MPs are bought and paid-for stooges, most of them come cheap, some cost nothing at all, mere sycophancy motivates, others secrets they’d rather never got out keep them in line.
I assume that the MPs who claim to be hesitating and stricken with conscience are driving up their price.
With the economic system we have the interest and principal on the ‘debt’ created will be met by the taxpayer. They pick our own pockets to pay the bribes that corrupt.
Hemispheres are a cartographers convenience, lethal radiation is no respecter of them.
How very Old Etonian. We should remember remember that the school exists to produce exactly this kind of person. They are not as others are. They’re special. I’ve met a few, and, although some may attempt democracy, the sensation that you are not, and never will be, part of their scheme of things is never quite absent. Eton’s a creche for top dogs. It’s what it does. I would like to raze it to the ground and sow the ruins with salt, putting its alumni to work emptying bins for a living*, personally. However, it’s not central to the
corruption which is now endemic in the UK – and pretty well worldwide. Old Etonians can be bought and sold as readily as anyone else, and they are merely a commodity.
*Or perhaps not. I’d hate to make the job any more unpleasant for those doing it already.
I’m sure the reason these Eton chaps are now openly running the country again is because things are bad.
Very bad.
Can’t trust to oiks on auto pilot in times such as this.
Oh, no.
The country now needs its brightest and best helmsmen on the bridge.
‘Forward, the Bright Brigade!’
Craig said: “That a truly obnoxious man like Mark Lyall Grant is such a senior official is the most complete proof you could have of the rottenness of the United Kingdom”.
A UK political establishment that are totally in the pocket of the USA (to put it politely), a USA that includes batshit crazies like these…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/29/us-mideast-crisis-usa-military-idUSKBN0TI0US20151129
Al Jazeera’s take on all this has been interesting to watch. Al Jazeera, of course, is based in Qatar and receives its funding from there…
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/12/usa-special-forces-iraq-151201160932529.html