Recently an Angus mother of three infant children was separated from them and jailed for ten months for over-claiming £10,000 per year in benefits. Meanwhile the Duke of Westminster evades £3.6 billion in inheritance tax through a transparently fraudulent use of trusts which “have the option” to give the money to someone else instead.
The United Kingdom is a socially backward and sometimes vicious polity, an island which prides itself on the state enforced conservatism which allowed it to evade intellectually motivated reform and retain a historical legacy of gross injustice and privilege.
For historical reasons land reform is an immensely popular cause in Scotland, and one of so many areas where SNP timidity is a deep, deep disappointment. The fact that they are covered in buildings does not make the vast London estates of the Grosvenors any more acceptable than the unnecessarily empty Highland estates where golden eagles are destroyed so the chinless wonders, hedge fund managers and sheikhs can blast away at tame grouse.
The late Duke of Westminster is characterised as a “philanthropist” by mainstream media even though the percentage of both his income and his wealth he gave to charity was less than most ordinary people’s mite, myself included, and I am willing to bet that what he did do, was tax-deductible. That a parasite who sat on £9 billion of unearned money in a country where disabled people commit suicide from poverty, and who got two O levels from Harrow, was Prince Charles’ closest friend, cuts through the lying propaganda about the Royal family we are constantly fed.
The political class have a deliberate will not to enforce inheritance tax on the super wealthy. They have a political will not to tackle landlordism, which as it affects both residential and commercial tenants is a fundamental malaise of the British economy. Neither problem is technically difficult. The problem is that the political class as a whole are in the pockets of the super-wealthy, promote their interests and ache to join them.
Which is why in the UK it is important that the threat to them posed by Corbyn is maintained, and why in Scotland it is essential that the SNP membership now push their own leadership into bold action on fundamental land reform and Independence. To call the current SNP approach to both issues desultory would be excessively polite.
Anon1
August 17, 2016 at 10:16
Anjem Choudary tweeted one year ago:
“Muslims DO NOT want to INTEGRATE into a culture of
Alcohol
Porn
Gambling
Free-mixing
Promiscuity
Homosexuality
Usury
Insulting the Prophet
…………………………………………………………………………….
I think you’ll find Anon1 that many, if not most, Christians; Jews and Tories would agree with his statement as far as the top six points go.
You left out the part where I said Choudary would be enjoying his time in prison. 😀
michael norton
August 17, 2016 at 12:21
“He [ Choudary] sparked outrage when he refused to condemn the murder and described his follower Adebolajo as a “man of impeccable character”.
…………………………………………………………………
The Home Office runs the BBC Michael and they were keen to have him on air so shortly after the murder of Rigby. What happened next?
………………………………………………………………………..
“Then Home Secretary Theresa May weighed into the debate, announcing plans to ban hate preachers from television.”
………………………………………………………………….
It’s all part of the state manipulation of the media.
The Home Office runs the BBC
It does? Since when?
Everyone is accountable, Tony Hall and Rona Fairhead, are not the exception, the question is who are they accountable too, certainly not the the public that’s for sure.
Whilst we’re on the British equivalent to Sputnik, I have to add that not only is the BBC a propaganda tool for Westminster, its all an illegal extortion racket. Forcing people to pay for something they do not want or need, the BBC use the government, (a mutal and profitable relationship I might add) to administer the full force of the law on those who don’t pay the illegal forced tax.
In some cases people have actually been imprisoned, by the state, for not paying the BBC’s extortion fees. It’s ridiculous that the BBC with the help of their partners in crime the Westminster government can be allowed to continue to run the racketeering charade, that is the BBC licence fee.
Finally the so called Royal Charter that defines the BBC and its goals, is ultimately decided by the BBC and the government of the day, is anyobe surprised? No? Me neither.
the BBC’s extortion fees
Shocker, my left-wing friend wants stuff, but doesn’t want to pay for it.
What do mean by stuff, if you’re referring to the BBC’s output, many people don’t want it.
To understand the true nature of the beast (BBC) one should read GA Ponsonby’s book London Calling.
There’s plenty of folk North of the border who don’t want or need the BBC.
I say encrypt the BBC, in a similar fashion to Sky, and if someone wants to watch the BBC’s output they can then pay for it.
I say encrypt the BBC, in a similar fashion to Sky, and if someone wants to watch the BBC’s output they can then pay for it.
Capitalism FTW! Who cares about all this public goods nonsense!?
“.. those who don’t pay the illegal forced tax.”
_______________________
You’re being dafter than usual today, RoS.
The TV licence fee is neither a tax, not it it forced and it cannot be illegal since it is provided for in law.
It’s one thing watching state propaganda on the BBC, it’s another thing entirely being forced to pay for it under threat of imprisonment.
Habb, if by chance you reside in the dis-United Kingdom, (which debatable to say the least) try not paying the forced tax, and see what happens.
And I thought Martinned acted the fool on occasion, come back Martinned all is forgiven.
“Did you know that everyone owning a computer, radio and or TV has to pay? No I thought not, so much easier to talk bile.”
You do not need a license for a computer unless you use it to watch live television broadcasts.
You do not need a license for a radio.
You do not need a license for a TV unless it is installed for receiving live television broadcasts, if it can only be used for watching DVDs or as a monitor for games or CCTV you don’t need a license.
The singer-songwriter, who has previously expressed his admiration for Ukip leader Nigel Farage, railed against the British media’s “refusal” to accept the EU referendum result.
In an interview with Israeli website Walla!, the former frontman of The Smiths claimed the BBC had “persistently denigrated” Leave supporters following the historic vote to quit the EU on June 23.
The BBC denied the claims, branding them “inaccurate” and insisting its coverage had been impartial.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/700702/Morrissey-BBC-treatment-Brexit-voters-refusal-accept-EU-referendum-result
Morrissey said: “I am shocked at the refusal of the British media to be fair and accept the people’s final decision just because the result of the referendum did not benefit the establishment.
“It was a shock to hear how the BBC persistently denigrated everyone who voted to Leave.
“They have managed to accuse, judge and convict the majority as racist, drunk and irresponsible.
“On the other hand I did not hear the BBC question the decision of Remain voters.
“It just goes to show how the BBC, like Sky News and Fox News, did not really tell us the news, but tried to influence us with their opinions, which goes against the moral duty of the news networks.”
The BBC now do not give you news, but they give you their opinion, and therefore they give anyone a very hard time if that person does not suit the convenience and prejudices of the established elite.
“Therefore liberal educators such as George Galloway and Nigel Farage are loathed by the BBC because both men respect equal freedom for all people, and they are not remotely intimidated by the BBC.”
Therefore liberal educators such as George Galloway and Nigel Farage
That’s honestly the funniest thing I read today since I saw what it takes for a German footballer to be allowed to put their nickname on their jersey.
Doug.
I won’t stray into the “Rigby event” far to many anomalies,,anyway Adebolajo was a recruiting target (whether or not he was recruited is debatable) for MI5.
When asked to confirm this Whitehall refused to clarify the matter. The man who released the information that Adebolajo had previous contact (how much is unknown) with MI5 was promptly arrested after revealing the information.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22664468
There had been speculation that Adebolajo worked for MI5, in Kenya as far back as 2010.
UKIP ‘almost unravelling’ amid rows
Nathan Gill leaves UKIP assembly group to sit as independent
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-37105782
Nathan is becoming an independent to sit in the Welsh Assembly but will remain an MEP under UKIp.
Seems like shenanigans are afoot in UKIP
as well as in NULABOUR
I suppose this may be that UKIP are a real party now?
Martinned
August 17, 2016 at 17:24
“The Home Office runs the BBC.”
“It does? Since when?”
………………………………………………………..
I didn’t mean officially Martinned. Don’t be so naïve .
“The BBC has always claimed “political neutrality” and independence from the state, but we doubt many people were surprised when Stuart Hood (ex-Controller at the BBC) was quoted by Channel 4 as saying “there was traffic between the security services and the BBC on appointments and matters of that kind.” Apparently MI5 held lists of people it didn’t want appointing to senior positions in the BBC, and had final say on vetting.”
(C4, The History of Surveillance, 12/8/2001)
MI5 secretly vets thousands of BBC employees. In 1983, for example, 5,728 BBC jobs were subjected to “counter-subversion vetting” by MI5. Senior BBC figures “covered up” the link with the intelligence agency – leaked documents refer to a strategy of “categorical denial”. (Daily Telegraph, 2/7/06)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/02/nspy02.xml
My mistake, I thought you were interested in facts, but clearly you’re only looking to talk about silly conspiracy theories.
“MI5 secretly vets thousands of BBC employees.”
___________
Doug.
Absolutely spot on, (Martinned is out of his depth, yet again) Isabel Hilton, was vetted and the BBC were told not to promote her above certain pay grade.
Why? Well she explained that she was earmarked by MI5, and put on their “Christmas tree list” because she spoke Chinese, and spent time in China corresponding.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Hilton
Whitehall and the BBC go hand in glove.
RoS
You have already claimed you are more intelligent than Boris Johnson.
Since you have now accused Martinned of being out of his depth “yet again”, perhaps you could tell us whether you consider yourself more intelligent than Martinned?
(I’ll admit you’re a much better cutter-and-paster)
Habb.
Lets not squabble here’s a sight for sore eyes in Glasgow tonight, I’m sure you’ll agree. ?
https://mobile.twitter.com/Liam_O_Hare/status/765988449820282884
So Obama, is making noises about closing Guantanamo Bay detention camp, meanwhile Trump and the Republicans want to keep it open and well occupied, by reluctant guests, from near and far.
The camp costs £345 million a year to run, and of the 799 men that have been unfortunate to have passed through it doors since, since its opening in 2002, not one has ever seen a guilty verdict returned gainst them. Yet they were and are still detained for years, tortured and questioned relentlessly, Amnesty International has described Guantanamo Bay detention centre, as a “modern gulag.”
Westminster has played its complicit part in those mens torture and incarceration, by allowing rendition flights to land on British soil, on their way to and from Guantanamo Bay.
Then again I recall Craig penning a thread on the imprisonment, of Abu Qatada in Britain, for years without charge, or conviction.
I believe the initial function of Guantanamo Bay was to be a place where enemies of the US would be given a show trial, with a pretense of appeals for some, all couched in legal terms like “due process” but most of them would have been executed; an extermination camp. Not just for fighters captured in the field who couldn’t be turned but financiers and spokesmen too. And not just Muslims. In the unlikely event the US becomes unassailable Guantanamo will likely liquidate hundreds each year. Short of world war who could stop them?
I think the resistance to the US proved too strong for them to liquidate people with impunity, as it risks direct action against US politicians and Pentagon staff in Washington DC. Car bombs, letter bombs, gunmen riding pillion and the like, similar to an IRA campaign.
Two interesting articles if you want an education re how the Extreme Left became the Extreme Right…which of course almost completely invalidates the left right political compass.
I actually used to like some of the stuff that the Trotskyite Janet Daley wrote on the Telegraph, whilst vehemently disagreeing with some of her views that were the very similar to some what Trotskyite Melanie Phillips wrote in the Daily Mail (and vice versa)
But both these people are assumed to be very right wing.
I am not. I am objective, and have no political allegiance, except I really like a lot of what Thierry Meyssan writes..about Trots and Neocons
God save us from them. These people are Authoritarian Maniacs and Psychopaths.
You will need to click if you are the slightest bit interested in reading more than the length of a text message .
“Leon Trotsky was our hero once – but he was a ruthless warlord, not an innocent martyr” – Janet Daley
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/16/leon-trotsky-was-our-hero-once–but-he-was-a-ruthless-warlord-no/
“NED, the Legal Window of the CIA”
http://www.voltairenet.org/article192992.html
Tony
SNP may have passed the high water mark
The SNP group on North Ayrshire Council – which includes Nicola Sturgeon’s mother – has given up control of the authority after a by-election defeat.
Labour became the largest party on the council last week after taking a seat from the SNP. The losing SNP candidate was Ms Sturgeon’s father, Robin.
The first minister’s mother, Joan, has now stood down as Provost after the SNP resigned from the administration.
The decision paves the way for Labour to try and form an administration.
Following the by-election last week, Louise McPhater became Labour’s 12th councillor to the SNP’s 11.
BBC
Note to Nicola
( Oil almost $50/barrel)
Oil at its highest point
since June
this may be your high water mark
GO FOR IT
LOL. It’ll never happen. The little Bravehearts simply don’t have the balls to vote for their independence in the same way the UK did.
The little Bravehearts did vote for Independence. I was totally convinced of that within 24 hours of the Result. It took me 18 months to be 100% sure about 9/11 – but some of you are so thick you still don’t get it.
So far as BREXIT is concerned – well they pulled their little psyop – you know with Jo – and thought that would do it – and bent it a bit – but not enough…
Even I was gobsmacked at the morning of the Result
You Neocon Loonies can can Fck with The Scottish – but you have got to try a bit harder with us English and Welsh.
I posted this at about 7:45 am on the morning of the Result of BREXIT
It just kind of summed everything up
It will change everything…they just haven’t worked it out yet…
and no I haven’t watched the Olympics (not had the time) – how many golds has our local girl got?
“You Were Only Supposed To Blow The Bloody Doors Off! – The Italian Job”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_PX1cVuaVA
Great Britain 1 Globalists 0
Tony
Britain is a vassal state of America, or haven’t you proud patriots noticed this yet?
(what do you think the unprecedented hate campaign against Corbyn is all about)
No British politicians are controlled by Psychopaths in Washington, who themselves are controlled by This World Wide Elite consisting of only a Few Hundred People who have various labels.
Their origins are all about to do with Religion..mainly The Catholics Vs Protestants (Christian (in label mainly)) especially in England, Scotland, France and Germany.
Virtually no other historical religion -Judaism or Muslim was ever involved in this Western Control – for hundreds of years.
So far as us English are concerned – we sent the Criminals to Australia – and The Religious Lunatics to America
I’m not totally convinced that it was the best decision we ever made.
But at least we got rid of them for a bit.
Tony
China, to openly aid Syria, in humanitarian areas and training, things just got a little bit more difficult for the Western backed “moderate fighters.”
According to the report, Chinese public opinion, is one, of siding with the Syrian government, which makes it easier if the Chinese wish to seek deeper involvement.
However like the USA, I doubt the Chinese government give two hoots about what the public think with regards to foreign intervention.
https://www.rt.com/news/356161-china-syria-military-training/
Yes, because if there’s one thing we know about the Chinese government it’s that they worry about public opinion!
Well done Celtic fans
I don’t see what it’s got to do with Police Scotland. There are no law and order issues. It’s not the police’s job to enforce EUFA rules.
Half time and Celtic are winning 2:0.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/celtic-face-yet-another-uefa-8650376
Hah, 3:0 by the time I wrote that ^.
Football Karma.
Cheers for that Node…Christ every other day a video pops up showing idf .. And settlers cowardly violence.
P.s..are you heading back to the Edinburgh Fest.. if so try this oot –
http://www.taiko.co.uk/dates/2016/taiko-drumfest-st-john's-church,-edinburgh
Check the bit out from around 14 mins…Just WtF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcVytIz1gCE
Node.
The fans of Celtic, fly the Palestinian flag regularly at Parkhead, they have an affinity with the Palestinian people. After many years of oppression of their Irish forefathers by Westminster.
The club was fined £16,000 quid awhile back for the fans flying the Palestinian flag. However I’m not really a football fan but I recall, Glasgow Rangers, and their fans flying the flag of Israel.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Liam_O_Hare/status/765988449820282884
As do the fans of Ajax Amsterdam, many of whose founders were Jewish, which in turn leads to fans of Feyenoord Rotterdam taking the opposite stance, not by flying Palestinian flags, but by making hissing sounds. (Which then gets interpreted as anti-Semitism, when in fact it’s just tasteless anti-Ajax sentiment.)
Dysfuntional Scotland
Drug deaths in Scotland increased by 15% in 2015
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-37100716
A total of 706 people died as a result of drug abuse last year – the largest number ever recorded, according to a report by the National Records of Scotland.
It represents a 15% increase on the figure for 2014, when 613 people died.
‘High-ranking North Korean diplomat in London defects to South Korea’…
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/16/north-korean-diplomat-in-london-defects-says-south-korean-media
By way of balance, Assange has just passed his fourth year as an asylum seeker in the Ecuadorian embassy in London (you couldn’t make that one up!), and of course Snowden has been in asylum in Russia for almost as long.
Do you think you live in a free and open society..?
Think again.
RobG, have you ever noticed the similarity between UK and North Korea? Ruled by an unelected dynasty…
you couldn’t make that one up
Indeed. If I didn’t know what I know about Rafael Correa, I’d be at a loss to understand why Ecuador didn’t kick him out years ago.
Why would anyone wish to defect from North Korea?
When the people of NK have such vainglorious leaders, or should I rephrase that tyrants.
The history books on those tyrants must make for fabulous bed time stories, with the likes of Kim Jong Il, said to have been born under a double rainbow, a glowing star, and be a descendent from a mythical tree situated on mount Baekdu.
Wouldn’t it be worth the harsh authoritarian regime just to read of, how intellectual Kim Jong Il was, writing 1,500 books and six operas, over a period of three years. According to the Kim Il Sung university,the six operas are better than any others written in the whole of history, and that goes for the musical score as well.
Oh to reside in a land previously ruled by such a divine artist, must be fulfilling, finally it seems fitting to add Kim Jung Il’s sporting prowess, now the Olympic games are in full flow.
In 1994, Pyongyang media reported that the first time Kim picked up a golf club, he shot a 38-under par round on North Korea’s only golf course, including 11 holes-in-one. Reports say each of his 17 bodyguards verified the record-breaking feat. He then decided to retire from the sport forever.
Kim Jung Un, certainly has a lot to live up too, but when you’re the son of a demi-god, it really shouldn’t be that hard. ?
The Dysfunctional French Republic now has chainsaw-wielding migrants hurling concrete boulders at cars and throwing Molotov cocktails into road. It sounds really dysfunctional.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3745717/British-motorist-attacked-Calais-gang-chainsaw-wielding-migrants-hurled-concrete-boulders-car-warns-holidaymakers-stay-away.html
A good book on the CIA’s Operation Mockingbird program for bribing journalists is The Mighty Wurlitzer: How the CIA Played America by Hugh Wilford. I do not have the time to reread the book, but I suspect the comment about how cheap it was to buy journalists is to be found in it.
In this site on Operation Mockingbird is to be found this:
You could get a good call girl for a couple hundred dollars a month??? Where? Clearly I need to move there…
I see Wishbone Ash are playing. And the Boomtown Rats, which means Geldoff will be complaining if you wear good clothes 🙂
@ Republicofscotland August 17, 2016 at 20:57
‘Node.
The fans of Celtic, fly the Palestinian flag regularly at Parkhead, they have an affinity with the Palestinian people. After many years of oppression of their Irish forefathers by Westminster.
The club was fined £16,000 quid awhile back for the fans flying the Palestinian flag. However I’m not really a football fan but I recall, Glasgow Rangers, and their fans flying the flag of Israel.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Liam_O_Hare/status/765988449820282884 ‘
I wonder if they fined Rangers? Doubt it.
Here’s a good organisation, who are trying to get Apartheid *srael kicked out of the football associations; here are their demands re Apartheid etc.:
‘OUR DEMANDS:
An end to discrimination in football
• We want institutional racism out of the FA, UEFA, and FIFA as well as the Met Police
• We fight against all forms of discrimination on grounds of race, gender, creed, sexual orientation, disability, and we celebrate our differences.
• We want procedures in place at the FA to redress the imbalance of white male dominated hierarchy, and football management to be a fair reflection of our multi-cultural society.
• We agree Arsenal / Spurs or fans at fans call themselves anything they like. Yid, Yid army, is anti-anti-Semitic and rhymes and imitates Red, Red Army. Football wit and fun. But it’s certainly NOT alright for Arsenal fans or any other fans to racially abuse Spurs fans, or indeed any anyone, any where.
• We respect Jewish people and we champion Jewish anti-Zionist campaigners Miko Peled and Ilan Pappe and others who want sport and football in particular to be seen up front opposing racist Apartheid and racist Zionism. (Both Peled & Pappe have written excellent books on the subject).
Activism in football
• We plan joint demonstrations of unity of Football Against Apartheid with home and away Anti-Apartheid banners at as many League Matches as possible every week to inform fans, about apartheid. Local rivalries occur naturally in football, but anti-apartheid fans at all clubs unite to campaign against the evil of Apartheid racism and ethnic cleansing at all our clubs.
• As the World Cup approaches Football Against Apartheid will highlight the dangers of racism, fascism and apartheid and campaign world-wide to kick them out of football, and call on people around the world to sign the petition to EXPEL Israeli Apartheid from world football: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/643/930/477/expel-israeli-apartheid-from-fifa-world-and-uefa-european-football/
• We call on all football fans to ensure that fascists never again get a foothold in our sport
https://footballagainstapartheid.wordpress.com/petitions-please-sign/
Let me add my voice to the thronging crowds of commenters here wishing to congratulate the State on eventually cornering that hate preacher Anjem Choudhary. About bloody time too.
To think that you claimed earlier to be on this plane of “higher intelligence”, but now you have proven yourself to be just another dumbfuck lackey to the state.
ROFLMAO
@ Doug Scorgie August 17, 2016 at 18:00
‘Martinned
August 17, 2016 at 17:24
“The Home Office runs the BBC.”
“It does? Since when?”
………………………………………………………..
I didn’t mean officially Martinned. Don’t be so naïve .
“The BBC has always claimed “political neutrality” and independence from the state, but we doubt many people were surprised when Stuart Hood (ex-Controller at the BBC) was quoted by Channel 4 as saying “there was traffic between the security services and the BBC on appointments and matters of that kind.” Apparently MI5 held lists of people it didn’t want appointing to senior positions in the BBC, and had final say on vetting.”
(C4, The History of Surveillance, 12/8/2001)
MI5 secretly vets thousands of BBC employees. In 1983, for example, 5,728 BBC jobs were subjected to “counter-subversion vetting” by MI5. Senior BBC figures “covered up” the link with the intelligence agency – leaked documents refer to a strategy of “categorical denial”. (Daily Telegraph, 2/7/06)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/02/nspy02.xml ‘
THE BLACKLIST IN ROOM 105:
http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/mi5.bbc.page9_obs_18aug1985.html
‘Today ‘The Observer’ reveals that MI5 have been vetting BBC appointments, basing their operations in Room 105 in Broadcasting House. DAVID LEIGH and PAUL LASHMAR report.
ONLY A YEAR after he had graduated from his art college in London, John Goldschmidt, a bright, young film director, was asked to make a film for the BBC ‘Omnibus’ series. Goldschmidt could not believe his luck. The year was 1969 and the film was to be about the occupation by students of the Hornsey Art College.
One day during filming he discovered that police had been checking the details of a car he had hired and had also been watching his house. Soon after, without warning, the BBC cancelled Goldschmidt’s film on Hornsey without explanation.
Two years later the BBC once again asked him to make a film -this time a ‘Play for Today’ about school-leavers based on an existing script. He was intalled in an office in Television Centre and set about his business. Once again he was stopped from working. An embarrassed executive told him: ‘You’re not supposed to be allowed to work here.’
A major row erupted in the BBC drama department about Goldschmidt’s treatment and the truth of his double sacking was revealed. He had been blacklisted by a BBC ‘personnel officer’ working with MI5. Goldschmidt’s ‘offence’ was to have taken part in an exchange of students between his art college and a Czech film school, spending a few weeks in Czechoslovakia. He was not, nor ever had been, a Communist.
After an outraged deputation went to see Huw Wheldon, at that time Managing Director, Television, the banning was eventually lifted. But Goldschmidt was by no means the only victim of the BBC’s secret blacklisting system. The Observer has compiled detailed evidence of how the BBC vetting system, backed by MI5, has barred individuals from employment by the BBC or stopped their advancement in the organisation. In each case the victims were oblivious of their place on the blacklist – and therefore unable to challenge the often untrue or fanciful evidence against them. The man currently in charge of MI5 vetting is Brigadier Ronnie Stonham, formerly of the Signals Regiment, operating from Room 105 on the first floor of Broadcasting House.
In 1965 the distinguished documentary director Stephen Peet was prevented by MI5 from being awarded a BBC staff job. Two BBC executives, Stuart Hood, BBC Controller of Programmes 1961-64, and Hallam Tennyson, a BBC careers officer at the time, disclosed how the MI5 operated in Peet’s case.
Peet’s brother John was a Communist. In 1950, 15 years before Peet’s application for a BBC job was considered, his brother had caused a sensation in Reuters by leaving his job as their West Berlin correspondent and moving to East Germany, where he still lives.
Stephen Peet was neither a Communist nor politically active in any way. MI5’s only assertion was that he maintained links with his brother and sometimes met him. Peet was persistently turned down for full-time BBC jobs. All he was told by the BBC was that he had failed to be accepted. After some time, sympathetic executives tipped him off that he was being blacklisted.
He appealed to his MP, Kenneth Robinson, at that time a Minister in the Wilson Government. Robinson remembers: ‘I went to see a Minister-I think it was the Home Secretary-and I made representations on Peet’s behalf.’ This approach worked. The blacklisting disappeared as mysteriously as it had arrived. Peet went on, with the BBC, to make the much-acclaimed ‘Yesterday’s Witness’ series and to win a Royal Television Society special award.
With the international flowering of the ‘New Left’ and student activism at the end of the Sixties, MI5 detected ever-wider potential conspiracies within the BBC. All the young graduate general trainees had their names passed on to Curzon Street, although there was little to help them on the files. John Laird, responsible for graduate recruitment, remembers one particular graduate’s case: ‘They said his father, who had left Hungary in 1956, was suspect. I had to write a letter saying we had not chosen him, although in fact we had.’
It was at about this time that John Goldschmidt was hired- then vetoed by MI5. After his ‘rehabilitation’ by Wheldon he made no complaint and went on to a solid career as a film director…….’
I don’t remember who put this video ( George Galloway kills Daily Politics’ Jo Coburn on Syria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqmKUyuWPYU ) up on this thread, but thanks.
It prompted me to contact Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, and here is the result of the email exchanges (I haVE REDACTED MY EMAIL ADDRESS):
‘From: Paul Barbara
Sent: 16 August 2016 18:02
To: [email protected]
Subject: Jo Coburn Interview
The Rt Hon. the Baroness Neville-Jones DCMG,
I watched a video of Jo Coburn, yourself and George Galloway re Syria.
You insisted the evidence was that Assad had used CW. As a former Chairman of the JIC, you should know what you are talking about.
Would you please inform me of that ‘intelligence’ proving Assad was the perpetraor, rather than the Western, Saudi, Gulf States and other backed ISIS/ISIL/IS mercenary thugs?
Yours,
Paul Barbara
From: NEVILLE-JONES, Baroness
Sent: 17 August 2016 09:33
To: (Paul Barbara)
Subject: Your email re Syria
I have given no such interview. Pauline Neville-Jones
From: Paul Barbara
Sent: 17 August 2016 10:36
To: NEVILLE-JONES, Baroness
Cc: George Galloway
Subject: Re: Your email re Syria
Hi Baroness Pauline Neville Jones,
Then is the ‘Pauline Neville Jones’ in the following interview, or debate, not you?
George Galloway kills Daily Politics’ Jo Coburn on Syri:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqmKUyuWPYU
Forgive me if I mistakenly called it an interview, but surely you knew to what I was reffering?
Yours,
Paul Barbara
From: NEVILLE-JONES, Baroness
Sent: 17 August 2016 10:43
To: Paul Barbara
Subject: RE: Your email re Syria
I haven’t got the technology to view the version of youtube you have sent. And I see the date is two years old so a bit much to expect me either to remember, if I ever knew, the G Galloway was opposing whatever he claims I have said, which it is not to be taken to granted is an accurate rendering. You may prefer George Galloway’s view to mine. Your choice. PN-J
From: Paul Barbara
Sent: 17 August 2016 11:22
To: NEVILLE-JONES, Baroness
Cc: George Galloway
Subject: Re: Your email re Syria
Hi Baroness Pauline Neville Jones,
You do not need any special equiptment to view the youtube, just a computer with online access. Simply click the link I sent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqmKUyuWPYU
And my original communication to you was very simple and straight forward; here it is reproduced:
‘I watched a video of Jo Coburn, yourself and George Galloway re Syria.
You insisted the evidence was that Assad had used CW. As a former Chairman of the JIC, you should know what you are talking about.
Would you please inform me of that ‘intelligence’ proving Assad was the perpetraor, rather than the Western, Saudi, Gulf States and other backed ISIS/ISIL/IS mercenary thugs?’
Surely you can reply to that, even if you don’t watch the video?
Yours,
Paul Barbara
From: NEVILLE-JONES, Baroness
Sent: 17 August 2016 11:32
To: Paul Barbara
Subject: RE: Your email re Syria
Sorry. It says I need Adobe flash player and this has requirements I do not meet. I do not in any case think we can usefully carry this exchange further. Pauline Neville-Jones ‘
Well, well, well! ‘Conspiracy Paul’ 1 , JICcompoop 0 Beats the Olympics!
What’s she using? An Atari? Surely our great and good have access to modern information technology? They keep telling us how great it is, and if our Special Representative to Business on Cyber Security (she is, she is…) can’t get Flash up on her 520ST, there’s something badly amiss, and you need to tell her. See if she’s got Paint – send her a screen dump .bnp showing her face.
… should be .bmp, not .bnp. Sorry. It’s the proximity of Anon which does that.
PS. It doesn’t need Flash, anyway. Plays fine in HTML5….
“Even if you live on benefits in this country you are part of the 1% worldwide. I trust you will be redistributing your wealth to the other 99% right away.”
This is one of Anon1s favoured talking points. It is, of course, self evidently, idiotic but there must be some explanation for it. Can anyone suggest what the rationale may be?
Apart that is from a complete ignorance of ‘foreign parts’ and living conditions on the other side of the channel.
So poverty is relative. In this country we have obese people visiting food banks.
No I know well what things are like in “foreign parts”. I have a lot of of experience of real poverty I doubt you have seen the like of. You wouldn’t know “austerity” if it bit you in the fucking arse.
“In this country we have obese people”
Maybe they suffer from hypothyroidism because they can’t afford foods (usually sea foods) with iodine in?
Iodine tablets, Alan.
Free on the national health for those on benefits, I believe, and for those not, you can buy quite a lot of them for less than the price of a packet of twenty fags.
Very disappointing to see Martinned, of all people, linking to the pretentiously-named “globalresearch” website headed by the egregious “Professor” Michel Chossudovsky!
Pat Hickey: Irish Olympic official steps aside ( been arrested) amid tickets row
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37112831
The Irishman, 71, was taken to hospital following his arrest, after requesting medical attention.
Brazilian police claim he was involved in a scheme to resell Olympic tickets at higher than their face value.
They said the scheme could have had profits of 10m reals (£2.4m; $3.1m).
Mr Hickey will be replaced as president of the European Olympic Committees – the body which brings together the 50 national committees across the continent – by his deputy Janez Kocijancic.
What I still fins amazing, if you are poor and do something, like steal a paperclip from work you are sacked, they may or may not call the pigs depending how they feel.
If you are important
you “step aside”
Anyone else spotted this anomaly?
TRAVELLERS are “intruders” like Genghis Khan and their status as vulnerable ethnic minorities should be removed, a Tory MP has controversially said. Gary Streeter claimed the key to tackling the “problem” of travellers was for the Government to remove their status as a vulnerable group. The backbencher said: “The key to tackling this perennial problem is to remove travellers like these from the ‘vulnerable ethnic minority’ status. “They are as vulnerable as Genghis Khan, most of them are as ethnic as I am, and all have permanent homes elsewhere in the UK. It is time parliament took this problem more seriously.”
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/701305/Gary-Streeter-Plymouth-Travellers-Gypsy-Genghis-Khan
I one hundred percent agree with this M.P. on this matter.
This mention of the Brazilian real reminds me to remind all of you to dump rupees, roubles, reals and remnimbis and to buy Swiss francs, US dollars and euros. No gold for the moment and certainly no silver.
Yes, we have to keep the almighty dollar propped up, because that is the whole point of the exercise, eh Habba?
My concern is merely to help you preserve the value of your assets, Alan.
Let me give you n example.
Had one of Putinistas on here put his money where his mouth is (unlikely, I know, but this is just illustrative)* and taken a heavy position in Russian roubles a couple of years ago, he would now be saddled with a lot of depreciated currency and thus suffering quite a loss in GBP, USD etc terms.
___________________
* Especially one of the Putinistas who was always telling us that the USD was going to tank…
What about TEAM GBP?
Did you deliberately leave that out because of uncertainty?
Has Sterling bottomed out? Or will the punters ensure another fall the day Article 50 is triggered?
I would call sterling a hold at present, Alycone.
This 1% / 99% business (in the developed world, that is – the global position is a different topic) is not so much nonsensical as a red herring soundbite.
The question is not whether there are a few people who are stinking rich. It is whether the great majority of the people have a reasonably comfortable standard of living. That is undoubtedly the case and anyone who gets out a little will see that it is the case. I will wager a hundred NIS that this is the case with every one of the contributors to this blog, including its host (who, in fact, if I recall correctly, has said so).
I would suggest that all genuine reformers, humanitarians, philanthropists and far-lefters would do much better – and gain in credibility – if they concentrated on the 19% poor and deprived rather than foaming on interminably about the super-rich 1%.
Sensible comments, please.
Anyone inspired by the above could do a lot worse than make a substantial donation to Medical Aid for Palestinians, for example.
http://www.map-uk.org/news/archive/post/419-infographic-medical-care-in-gaza-two-years-on-from-the-2014-attacks
thanks for that link Ba’al, I certainly will consider another donation to MAP.
Please also consider MSF, a truly selfless charity helping those who are in peril in Yemen, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and many other war zones which we keep alive with our arms trade and political manipulations.
Will do.
I agree that that would be better – and certainly more constructive – than bitching on about the super-rich all the time.
But I suspect you won’t get many takers: bitching away and launching grandiose theories is free whereas the donations you and others suggest would involve people putting their wallets where their mouths are.
But Habba, at 09.19 you were telling us to buy US dollars. Which is it we have to do, buy dollars or give to the poor. You ought to be a little consistent sometimes. Maybe you want us to buy US Dollars and send them to the poor?
As one of the *)% who are doing reasonably well you could try doing both, Alan.
Duh! 🙂
Good point – let’s take the heat off these benighted 1-percenters, eh? Haven’t they suffered enough, for God’s sake?
What’s the best investment the ‘super rich’ can make? Asbestos underwear, cos it’s pretty hot where they’re headed!!!
There you go, Glenn. You whine on about me not wishing to discuss anything, but when I raise a topic in terms which would admit of a discussion, all you can come up with is your comment at 11h15.
Gamma double minus again. One more and you’ll be put on the pass degree course.
That’s precisely my point, Habbabkuk – is the sun getting to you?
You “raised a topic”, which was actually such a feeble sop to the undeserved rich that it scarcely deserved any response, followed by your characteristic sniping at others.
That’s hardly having a discussion, is it?
Nobody’s forcing you, you know. Unless it’s a condition of your employment…?
Why isn’t the “House” of Saud footing the WHOLE bill there? Don’t they have any money?
On a more serious note I’d like to the Children and People of Iraq. Has anyone any considered guidance?
You’d like to give to the children and people of Iraq? Mark Golding could give a lot of info here, but I’ve found donations to Médecins Sans Frontières (“Doctors without borders” for Americans!) is probably one of the most worthwhile charitable institutions. They won’t be
corrupted byinfluenced by government agencies by accepting their blood-money.Good News U.K. Not Dysfunctional
UK to avoid recession and world economy to ‘stabilise’ as Brexit shock passes – but US poses biggest risk to global growth
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/08/17/uk-to-avoid-recession-and-world-economy-to-stabilise-as-brexit-s/
Britain’s economy will slow down but should not go anywhere close to a recession, according to economists at credit ratings agency Moody’s, while growth in the rest of the world is also “stabilising.”
Although markets dived on the referendum result in June, stock prices have recovered and now economists also believe the impact of the vote will be relatively modest, compared with some early fears.
The lower pound should support economic growth in the UK, Moody’s said, while the government is expected to loosen the purse strings to shore up GDP.
Moody’s economists predict growth of 1.5pc this year and 1.2pc in 2017.
So no need to feel like underdogs.
Don’t believe what The Telegraph tells you about economics. It is, like the government, run by stock exchange speculators.
The reality is that negative interest rates are becoming the international norm.
This has never happened before.
Never in the history of money and markets has there been anything like it.
We have just had a decade of historically low interest rates and vast quantities of ‘money’ being exchanged among the wealthy. In the real world, living standards have been falling and governments have been demanding further cuts. Wages and working conditions are, in real terms, in constant decline.
And, in a desperate effort to keep cutting before there is a social explosion, the capitalists play mood music to quieten down anxieties.
Rosa Luxemburg told our fortune more than a century ago: it is either Socialism or Barbarism. Act accordingly.
The Barbarians have made their choice.
This is certainly dysfunctional
Those opposed to the nuclear build said EDF was attempting to get the government to agree to the project by “twisting its arm”.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-37108829
if the United kingdom allows itself to be lured into this nonsense by the shenanigans of E.D.F./Areva and the French State
we might as well throw the towel in and stay controlled by the hated E.U. Superstate.
Hated by whom?
Is “independent thought” what you call, for example, RobG’s musings on the Nice slayings (they never happened) or Mr Barbara’s touting of the Illuminati, Bilderbergers and Rothschilds as running the world?
Come on, Ba’al, you’re disappointing me 🙂
Looks independent to me, old chum. To each their own. And while the official narrative is apparently a given for you, some feel the need to question it. Good for them – however they explain the weaknesses in a story, there are often glaring weaknesses. BTW the constant sniping is very poor PR for orthodoxy on your part. Scott Adams could tell you a lot about persuasion.
http://assets.amuniversal.com/3dcd1570a0a1012f2fe600163e41dd5b
I am modest enough to realise, Ba’al, that I m unlikely to persuade many of the dozen or so regular commenters on here.
But my questions and comments might just get some uncommitted and open minded readers to question some of the zanier things that get said, asserted and claimed on here day after day
How about you?
Jo Coburn (BBC) and George Galloway again (not much good), but on the same link, scroll down and there is a very good debate between George Galloway and Nigel Farage on Sputnik:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/02/22/george-galloway-and-bbc-presenter-jo-coburn-in-heated-argument-over-brexit_n_9289268.html
O/T but then, it is not as it concerns all of us.
meet the ambassador to the ocean, Sylvia Earle. Our very own North Sea is so special we do not really know what we are doing to it. Due to its shallow nature, it has been a breeding sea for many species.
The combined effluents from Rhine Elbe, Weser, Thames, Humber Tay, Forth, Numelsdagen, all carry our human effluent to more or less extend. There are toxic waste ships burning industrial waste dumping the plume into the Norths sea and who knows what. Since the North sea Conference in 1990 nothing has changed very much, we are still treating the sea as if it can take everything we can throw at it, we are polluting our global commons for our children, because we want everything,NOW!
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/sylvia-earle-talks-about-the-depletion-of-ocean-life-a-1107252.html
The GOP, probably pretending it’s doing a U-turn on a two state solution, in my opinion, it was never on the cards of any US government, in the first place.
“The Republican Party platform will likely make no mention of the idea of a two-state solution, a pillar of U.S. policy under both previous Democratic and Republican administrations, according to a platform draft pending the approval of the Republican Party’s Platform Committee.”
“We reject the false notion that Israel is an occupier,” the platform’s language on Israel, approved by a subcommittee in Cleveland on Monday, reads. “Support for Israel is an expression of Americanism, and it is the responsibility of our government to advance policies that reflect Americans’ strong desire for a relationship with no daylight between America a d Israel.”
“Donald Trump’s Israel advisors, David Friedman and Jason Greenblatt, worked together with pro-Israel groups within the Republican Party to remove support for a Palestinian state from the party’s platform, according to people involved in the drafting.”
The last paragraph is particularly revealing as to Donald Trump, and his allegiance, to the powerful J*wish lobbies in Washington.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.730322
The real meaning of this, which is copied by the Democratic platform, is that the USA is becoming irrelevant in the middle east except as:
(1) An arms supplier to wahhabi terrorists and
(2) A source of Danegeld for the State of Israel, which is so full of US taxpayer funded largesse that it is beginning to buy up sectors of the US economy.
This is unsustainable, millions of poor Americans are having their minimal food stamp allowances stopped while Congress is pouring billions, per month, into Israel.
Because if the US gave less money to Israel, they’d spend more on food stamps? That’s how you think the US federal budget works?
Bev
“(2) A source of Danegeld for the State of Israel, which is so full of US taxpayer funded largesse that it is beginning to buy up sectors of the US economy.”
____________________
Could you provide some examples of that (and perhaps indicate the sums involved)?
(No need to answer if you’ve just cribbed it from some peculiar website)
Martinned
August 17, 2016 at 18:05
“My mistake, I thought you were interested in facts, but clearly you’re only looking to talk about silly conspiracy theories.”
…………………………………………………………………………
People that can’t face the facts (like you on this point) are in denial and lash out at others who offer them evidence by calling them conspiracy theorists.
A not very good, but common, form of intellectual deception by some when they lose an argument.
Toodle-pip
Mr Scorgie
Can you refer us to the last time you’ve had an argument with anyone on here, never mind an argument you’ve won?
Thanks awfully and cheers.