Upcoming Speaking Engagements 429

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I shall be quite busy speaking in the next few weeks:

Friday 24 February 8pm in The Elephant and Castle, Lewes, Sussex. The Headstrong Club (entry £3). I shall be attempting a wide ranging radical analysis of world events encompassing Trump, Brexit, Putin, Corbyn, China and where ordinary people stand as the world order changes. I love Lewes, which has the most fascinating radical tradition dating back to Thomas Paine and beyond, and still retains that vibe in an extraordinary way.

Saturday 25th February 1pm to 7pm, Gustav Tuck Lecture Theatre, University College London. Conference on “Noam Chomsky’s The Responsibility of Intellectuals, 50 Years On.” Speakers are Neil Smith, Nicholas Allott, Chris Knight, Craig Murray, Milan Rai, Jackie Walker, Kriszta Szendroi, and Noam Chomsky himself (by live video-link). The event will be broadcast live here.

I had to send an abstract of my talk for Chomsky to see so he will be able to respond, which makes me feel like a worried schoolboy. I am scheduled to speak at 4.20 for 35 minutes. Chomsky will be speaking at 5.15.

Thursday 2nd March Leeds University Palestine Solidarity Group and Leeds Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Talk entitled “Palestine/Israel: A Unitary Secular State or a Bantustan Solution?”. Venue and time details to follow.

Tuesday 7th March in the Black Abbott, Borrowfield at 7.30 pm talk to Montrose SNP Branch on the Next Independence Referendum. I understand they will be inviting other SNP branches in Angus.

Thursday 9th March 6.30pm Talk to Motherwell and Wishaw Rotary Club on Lessons from my Diplomatic Career.

Saturday 11th March 11am, Tigh Na Sghire, Portree, Isle of Skye screening of London Calling and discussion of BBC Bias. London Calling – Skye (PDF)

And a few longer term but interesting ones:

Sunday 26 March, Pacific Quay, Glasgow, BBC Bias Protest

Saturday 15 April, Doha, Qatar, Al Jazeera Forum. Speaker on “State Crisis and the Middle East.”

Thursday 11 May 2.30pm Upper Room Town Hall, Chipping Campden. Sikunder Burnes, Master of the Great Game. Chipping Campden Literary Festival tickets £7.

As I constantly repeat, I am very disorganised so if you are inviting me do keep nagging if I don’t reply, and once confirmed do keep reminding me!

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429 thoughts on “Upcoming Speaking Engagements”

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  • Huw Spanner

    Glad to hear that Bath is still on the cards! I can see that March 10 is out of the q. Is March 17 still a possibility?

  • Old Mark

    You’ve good taste Craig in expressing your love for Lewes; it also shows your open minded side. Many on the left despise the place because of its bonfire societies (seen as atavistic nonsense by many in the right on community)- and of course it has the only really fourishing Orange lodge in SE England (possibly one of the attactions Ian Paisley saw in Eastbourne as a holiday destination- where he visited many times- was that town’s close proximity to the Lewes lodge).

  • Petra

    I may be called selfish, bit I hope this won’t mean three months of silence by this blog owner.

    • Habbabkuk

      I’m sure it won’t but even if it did mean that there is nothing to stop readers and commenters doing their own thinking for once, surely?

      • Petra

        Well, seeing that there’s very little evidence of much actual “thinking” underlying , ahem, certain commenters’ comments, your rhetorical question is moot, isn’t it?

        • Habbabkuk

          Not really moot, no. And certainly not rhetorical either.

          You’re obviously a long-standing member of this ‘community’, Petra.

          Surely you will have noticed what happens when Craig takes some time off and doesn’t post for a week or longer? Urgent pleas for a new post from many members of the flock…and from the loopier ones, anguished cries of “is he all right, have the secret services got to him?”

          That appears to be an indication that this blog is the very oxygen of life for some people: take it away and they would be cast rudderless and without a chart onto the sea of events.

          I am sure – and I’m sure that Craig would agree – that some people on here take Craig much more seriously than Craig takes himself. And that without those people Craig would still be a voice, whereas without Craig, those people would be relegated to the supermarket aisles and car-parks.

          • glenn_uk

            I’ll agree to the extent that some commentators feel almost duty bound to provide endless updates, rolling-news alerts and so on. “This is what my paper said today”, “Today in France” etc. – as if they have some quota of posts to fulfil.

            Have they nothing better to do? Do they think people are breathlessly awaiting their near hourly pronouncements, or could not find news elsewhere were this “service” not being selflessly provided?

            Unless there’s something actually worthy of posting, preferably an original thought, silence would be a better contribution than that actually made from a few of the regulars around here. As it is, we get far too many uncalled for dump-and-run posts that regurgitate the work of others.

  • Aim Here

    Shouldn’t the UCL talk be ‘The Responsibility of Intellectuals: 50 years on’? Uncle Noam is getting on a bit these days, but he’s not quite THAT old…

  • Alcyone

    All these talks and interactions should help in keeping the blues away.

    My experience is that the blues are derived in a certain sensitivity (as opposed to a certain grossness). That sensitivity needs to be understood through absolute self-knowledge.*

    You might find this discussion with Drs. Bohm, Hidley & Sheldrake (Ojai, California, 16 April 1982) on the Nature of the Mind interesting. I should think a darned sight more relevant, absorbing and fruitful than anything that Chomskyfest will produce.

    Krishnamurt, Bohm, Sheldrake, Hidleyi – The Nature Of The Mind – 1 of 4
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h55TMI4zP10&list=PLfmo22Z–KLKKsTZgQIdu8rBWS8qRj4yz

    Well worth watching all four parts.

    Stay well and enjoy your travels.

    • Alcyone

      * “Right thinking comes with self-knowledge. Without understanding yourself, you have no basis for thought; without self-knowledge what you think is not true.
      You and the world are not two different entities with separate problems; you and the world are one. Your problem is the world’s problem. You may be the result of certain tendencies, of environmental influences, but you are not different fundamentally from another. Inwardly we are very much alike; we are all driven by greed, ill will, fear, ambition, and so on. Our beliefs, hopes, aspirations have a common basis. We are one; we are one humanity, though the artificial frontiers of economics and politics and prejudice divide us.”
      http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/krishnamurti-teachings/daily-quote-list.php?t=Self-knowledge

      • J

        If you profess that you understand yourself, isn’t that an indication that you don’t?

        I profess that I don’t, that I understand only portions of myself and those portions imperfectly. Certainly not the whole.

        Likewise, there’s an infinity of knowledge I haven’t met, that I do not and will not ever know. Should I consider others only insofar as they are like myself, in their degrees of imperfection? Or should I consider only myself, as you seem to suggest, as something perfectible through self knowledge, itself pointing only toward the imperfection of others and myself.

        As I’ve pondered before, we are relational beings in the entirety of our existence. Alone, we simply do not exist at all.

        Your style of argument seems to indicate that you have access to wisdom ‘we’ do not. On the contrary I would posit that together ‘we’ have access to wisdom I alone do not.

  • John

    Yay, the Ele ! Best pub in Lewes ! Please allow me to buy you a pint of Harvey’s Craig.

    (Don’t say anything good about Guy Fawkes, will you ?)

  • Habbabkuk

    Although a couple of other former UK ambassadors have got in on the act I’m sure there will be many opportunities for you to appear on RT in the future.

    • bevin

      And let us hope that many former Russian ambassadors are invited to explain their views, and their country’s wishes. on the BBC. ‘ Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation’ was that not a BBC motto once?

      • Habbabkuk

        I doubt if there would be any Russian former ambassadors willing to be interviewed by the BBC in Moscow and prepared to comment critically on Russian foreign policy and Mr Putin/the Russian government.

        They would probably choose reticence over the risk of ending up dead on a Moscow street or in their apartment.

        Whereas Craig and those other former UK ambassadors appear to be in the very best of health 🙂

        • bevin

          We will never know, until the BBC invites some Russians who aren’t in the Fifth Column.
          Surely you aren’t suggesting that Craig informs RT in advance of the answers that he will make to their questions?
          It is obvious to the most casual follower of this blog that Craig is actually rather critical of many Russian actions and policies. RT will know this, too and be unsurprised when, on, occasion, he speaks sharply in criticism of Putin.
          We can presume that RT asks Craig’s opinion for the same reason that BBC does not: it is interested in his opinions and ready to take the rough with the smooth.
          Russians remember Pravda and the days when it was dangerous to tell the truth. They know that this is no longer the case.
          They understand very well why the official media-the state owned and licensed US and British papers and networks- will not risk maverick or unpredictable opinions. They know that such totalitarian messaging simply does not work. So that to get across their messages-which they are unashamed of- on subjects such as Syria and Libya they treat their audience as grown ups capable of examining evidence, rather than children to be fed pablum.
          It is something that the BBC used to understand well until Blair laid his grubby fingers on it.
          As to your charge that the Russian government murders critics- it is no more than a shabby conspiracy theory unsupported by any evidence. Rather like the claim that Russia hacked the DNC. Do you believe that, too?
          Or haven’t you been told what to believe yet?

          • bevin

            On the contrary: I am simply aware that most people are honest and that, for all but the bullies and their cronies, honesty is the best policy, because it encourages reciprocity besides being the obvious, natural course.
            It is in the interests of Russia that public discussion of imperialist foreign policies should be open and well informed: most of the world sides with Russia and is horrified by US savtions in Syria, Libya, Iraq, Palestine and Ukraine.
            When most people are on your side you only lose by suppressing or appearing to suppress freedom of speech.
            By the same token when your government enjoys wide popularity and very high approval ratings it makes no sense to kill critics or to jail them.
            No country jails a higher proportion of its people than the USA, which also practises the most barbaric forms of capital punishment. No country kills journalists as often as the US either.

          • J

            It’s a shame that Habs comment to which you refer immediately above were airbrushed out because he is clearly at a loss and reaching the limits of his comprehension in calling you naive.

            I’m seeing this kind of projection (Hab accusing you of his greatest personal fear) quite a lot these days. As the manufacturing of consent breaks down (as it must) the various personal illusions of narrative, usually derived from media in support of personal experiences and tellingly, never from personal experiences in support of media, new reversals of terminology begin to intrude. Liberals use the word ‘liberal’ as a term of abuse, conservatives feel disgust at the idea that they aren’t ‘radical’ with neither group really understanding the lineage of their terms of reference. In this swirling maelstrom of ignorance and uncertainty, from whence do either group take their cues?

            And there is the whole problem. None feel confidant enough to imagine alternatives. None begin to sense an imaginative world, indeed worlds of possibility outside of the current discourse. That’s why people like Hab use the word Trotskyist without irony. They really are in a self reflecting bubble. Seeing themselves wherever they look and deploring that self accordingly.

          • J

            To clarify one part of that argument to unlock the whole, conservatives seem to experience horror at the idea that they aren’t ‘progressive’ on their terms and describe themselves as ‘radical’ to emphasise their ‘progress’ while seeming unaware that radical denotes a return. A revolution in the true sense, of returning to the root. Radix.

            Of course modern conservatism is neither radical nor conservative. They are by definition rootless, and conserve nothing. Would that they could appreciate this. They have been usurped by competing ideologies but can’t quite comprehend this. Like many others in the modern world they are literally at a loss.

        • bevin

          At risk of appearing obsequious, I very much agree with your line of argument. I am particularly of the opinion that those who call themselves ‘conservative’ are nothing of the kind but pledged to headlong change, whose direction they entrust to the Providential market- which they trust not only to set prices and allocate resources but also to solve environmental problems, such as Climate Change, and everything else.
          All are liberals in a world which long ago laughed the cautious voices of conservatism, including the ethicists and theologians, into silence.
          The peculiar thing is that, by about 1913, after a century or more of rampaging liberalism the most thoughtful liberals (such as Hobson, the Hammonds, Masterman and, those greatly neglected writers, George Sturt and HJ Massingham) were leading British liberalism into a more balanced appreciation of the importance of social and economic justice.
          It is a strand that disappeared as the Liberal party did, in the crises of the war and its aftermath: the Fabianism that took its place never quite achieved the broad mindedness and unashamed belief in human kindness that are still to be found in the works of the last of the Liberals.

          • lysias

            The Irish Potato Famine was the reductio ad absurdum of free-market dogmatism. For as long as Robert Peel’s Tory government was in power, the Irish people suffered from the famine, but the government provided enough relief to prevent starvation. That all changed when Lord John Russell’s Liberal government came to power. Then hundreds of thousands of Irish people starved to death because of the malign neglect, motivated by dogmatic laissez-faire ideology and contempt for the Irish people, of officials like Sir Charles Trevelyan in the Treasury.

          • J

            Agreed. With the proviso that human kindness is learned. It can also be unlearned. This indicates that kindness is rational not the contrary.

            The fallacy of ‘competition arising from a free market’ can be seen in every single market which has ever existed. Monopolies arise because of rational self interest not despite it. Markets can never be free excepting cultural constraints (regulation) which guarantee mitigating factors to rational calculation. Such as the co-operative element in nature which Darwin stressed far more often than competition. I can’t help but recognise that many modern economic theories, when stripped of hyperbole, reduce down to a misunderstanding of evolutionary theory. The very factor which allows conservatives to feel superior, their supposed realism, is a misunderstanding. It would be hilarious if it weren’t so tragic.

            Monopoly is a result of the unnatural nature of human calculation, not a description of nature. Nature embodies generational learning. Supposed ‘Human Nature’ embodies generational forgetting. The latter is a result of culture alone. Despite it’s undoubted success, and Stephen Pinker aside, culture must recognise it’s failures to succeed.

          • J

            Again, to clarify, I begin to believe that culture is currently protecting failure to the degree that it preserves a negative survival value. That is, we won’t survive. To use evolutionary parlance, we have arrived at an impasse by which we are selecting for non-survival.

          • glenn_uk

            Don’t worry, Bevin. You’re a very long way down the list of people in danger of appearing obsequious towards Habbabkuk.

            Your faith in the BBC prior to Blair’s regime is slightly misplaced, though. The BBC is an entirely Establishment organisation, despite elements being given some leeway in the Entertainment division. The make-up now is little different to any time in the past.
            —

            But to genuine, traditional Conservatives – entirely agree. They are against radical change of any kind, except the increase of wealth to themselves and the monied interests they represent. In fact, true Conservatives will be found at every occasion when a social progressive undertaking was about to happen (emancipation of women, races, workers’ rights, equal rights generally etc.), shouting “STOP!!”

          • John Spencer-Davis

            In my opinion, kindness, indifference and cruelty are all part of human nature and do not have to be learned. What has to be learned, and can be unlearned, is when and how to manifest these different parts of our essential being in order to survive and function effectively in the world.

            We learn how to manifest different parts of our nature from immediate environmental surroundings and from the kinds of institutions which support and underpin our existence. The task of democracy is to ensure that the institutions structuring human society encourage kindness, co-operation and fulfilment to the maximum extent possible that is consistent with a functioning society.

          • bevin

            Glenn I was referring to J not Habbacare. So far as the BBC is concerned my point was that it was a more efficient propaganda organ when it made an effort to appear fair.
            As to whether kindness is learned there is an element of circularity in the idea.

            ” I can’t help but recognise that many modern economic theories, when stripped of hyperbole, reduce down to a misunderstanding of evolutionary theory. ” This is an interesting idea Massingham described Huxley’s idea of evolution as being derived straight from Hobbes.

            I regard socialism as a form of conservatism, a rejection of the liberal ideology of the capitalists and a reassertion of customary rights in the face of the burgeoning cult of private property. Most of what are often called ‘progressive ideas’ are in fact attempts to return to the status quo ante, before the Evangelicals insisted on interfering with the customs of allowing people to conduct private affairs as they chose: Victorianism was a radical liberal culture aimed at regulating lives.

  • Habbabkuk

    O/T but perhaps of interest.

    Here’s something from today’s “Le Parisien” ( a journal often referred to by our Transatlantic Friend) about Théo, the guy apparently raped with a police truncheon.

    I offer it merely for the record and not in an attempt to somehow mlnimize the rape or to excuse it.

    “C’est une affaire qui embarrasse les autorités, et ce jusqu’au plus haut sommet de l’Etat. La famille de Théo, et Théo lui-même, se retrouvent au coeur d’une affaire financière. Selon nos informations, une enquête a été ouverte par le parquet de Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis) pour « suspicion d’abus de confiance et escroquerie » en juin dernier, soit bien avant le viol présumé de Théo lors d’une interpellation brutale, le 2 février dernier, à Aulnay-sous-Bois.

    Cette enquête, confiée au Service départemental de la police judiciaire(SDPJ) de Seine-Saint-Denis ne remet évidemment pas en cause les violences policières présumées subies par Théo.

    Tout commence courant 2015 par un contrôle de l’Inspection du travail d’Ile de France concernant l’association Aulnay Events dont le président est Mickael Luhaka, l’un des frères de Théo. L’association est censée avoir embauché 30 salariés, formés pour être animateurs de rue. Le but d’Aulnay Events ? Lutter contre la violence dans le département… L’association aurait reçu, entre janvier 2014 et juin 2016, 678 000 euros de subvention d’Etat par le biais de contrats d’accompagnement à l’emploi, dit Contrat aidés.

    S’agit-il d’employés fantômes ? Lors du contrôle de l’Inspection du Travail aucun élément matériel probant n’a pu être produit par les dirigeants de l’association pour étayer la réalité des emplois. Par ailleurs, plus de 350 000 euros de cotisation sociales, notamment URSSAF, n’ont pas été réglées. Entre temps, l’association a mis la clef sous la porte. D’où un signalement en avril 2016 de l’Inspection du Travail auprès du procureur de la République de Bobigny.

    Selon nos informations, les investigations des policiers du SDPJ 93 auraient montré que huit membres de la famille Luhaka, tous habitant à Aulnay-sous-Bois, ont perçu de l’association plus de 170 000 euros par virement, dont 52 000 euros sur le seul compte de Théo. Contacté par « Le Parisien », Mickael Luhaka se défend d’avoir employé des salariés fantômes, précisant avoir recruté en CDI plus d’une trentaine de salariés, dont les membres de sa famille. Il confirme avoir été interdit bancaire, tout comme son frère.”

    ________________________

    • Iain Stewart

      And today’s comment in Libération:
      “C’est un classique dans les histoires de violences policières : Adama Traoré, mort cet été après son interpellation par des gendarmes, en est l’exemple parfait. On sort les vieux dossiers, les casiers judiciaires et les enquêtes en cours. Quel rapport avec les faits initiaux ? Aucun. La famille de Théo L., 22 ans, n’y échappe donc pas.”

  • Alcyone

    Should Lasso win the election in Ecuador, we may have a very interesting and dire situation around Assange’s human rights.
    “http://www.prensa.com/mundo/Rafael-Correa-Julian-Assange-Unidos_0_4696030376.html”

    Julian put out a tweet saying:
    Moreno (gagged)
    Lasso (arrested)

    Full credit to the Express too, for spelling it out: “Ecuador President blasts plans to kick out Wikileaks’ Julian Assange as BUTTERING UP USA”
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/771165/Julian-Assange-Ecuador-kick-out-appease-USA

    • Anon1

      Why are you fussing about petitions to expel Tony Blair from the Labour Party? You should be worrying about the death of the Labour Party under Jez Corbyn!

    • nevermind

      Thanks for the link John, signed. Its time for 38 degrees to grow up and represent those they pretend to support.

  • Anon1

    Some key by-election facts for Labour supporters:

    ☆ Official Opposition party loses a by-election to the governing party for the first time since Michael Foot was Leader of the Opposition.

    ☆ Labour lost 36% of their 2015 voters in Stoke and 31% of their 2015 voters in Copeland.

    ☆ Labour’s vote share in Copeland in 1997 was 58.2%. Today it is 37.3%.

  • Anon1

    Though clearly disastrous, fortunately the results aren’t quite disastrous enough to force Jez out. This was a perfect result for the Tories who now get to keep Jezbollah in opposition right up until 2020. #ToriesForCorbyn #Best£3Ever

  • michael norton

    Why are The Greens being wiped out across the Western World.
    Trump is anti-Green, he is going to trash the green agenda put in place by OBOMBA.

    David Cameron said the U.K.Coalition was going to be the Greenest Government-Ever.
    After the Lying Liberals were dumped by our glorious voters, David Cameron said “Ditch The Green Crap”.
    It seems that the Agenda of the Greens, no longer intimidates the voters of the United Kingdom
    or France
    The Greens are doing so badly their presidential candidate has pulled out of the race.
    http://www.france24.com/en/20170223-green-candidate-jadot-ends-french-presidential-bid-backs-socialist-hamon-france

    Opinion polls have shown ( The Greens) Jadot picking up only a very small percentage of votes in the election, between 1 and 2 percent.

    • michael norton

      Look at last night
      Copeland
      Jack Lenox (Green) 515 (1.66%, -1.32%)
      Stoke
      Green Adam Colclough 294 1.4 -2.2

      so the Greens have dropped off the screen, everywhere,
      why the massive disinterest?

    • nevermind

      Surely you mean to say the environment is doing badly after the emergence of Trump, Michael?
      You might not understand what sustainable living means, chimpanzees do, they forage in rotation, despite being as violent as we are.
      I pity you and hope that you have not produced any off spring, as you are obviously like to live it up and use whatever you can find to ingratiate yourself, regardless of what the future holds for your tribe of single cells.
      The Greens are here to stay and they are the only guarantor that this Government does not feed you GMO’s or other engineered patenting exercises to corner the markets, but not the EU markets.
      Another small point, you know nothing about the Greens or their manifesto, so fess up.
      https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=KuJQAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA136&lpg=PA136&dq=GP+MFSS&source

      • Anon1

        The funniest thing I ever heard concerning the Greens was some years ago when Caroline Lucas was asked how she balanced her belief in open-borders mass-immigration with preserving the environment and resources.

        “We’ll have to build more houses”, came the reply. There you have the Green Party in a nutshell.

        • nevermind

          ‘some years ago’ another typical Anon1 anecdote we could have missed.

          What he does not want to advertise is that his deep state friend Donald is really out to install another new military industrious war machine, including the modernisation of US nuclear capabilities.

          as yet the best analysis I have read about Trump and his cronies plans for America, and the world off course.
          my thanks to Nafezz Ahmed

          https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/how-the-trump-regime-was-manufactured-by-a-war-inside-the-deep-state-f9e757071c70#.lhooxybsg

        • Old Mark

          Anon1-

          When it comes to non EU migration Lucas and her ilk also seem strangely unbothered by the additional air travel, and consequent air pollution, to which these immigrants contribute when they make their annual visits ‘back home’.

          Funny dat innit ??

          • Anon1

            Stopping unlimited mass-immigration is racist and anti-racism trump’s everything. Therefore build more homes, build more roads, concrete the countryside. From the Greens.

      • Anon1

        Some highlights from the Green Party manifesto:

        ☆ A complete ban on cages for hens and rabbits.
        ☆ End the use of the whip in horse racing and conduct a full review of the sport.
        ☆ End the practice of grouse shooting.
        ☆ Ensure UK taxpayers’ money is not used for bullfighting.
        ☆ Ban the import of fur products.
        ☆ Ensure that all schools, hospitals and other public buildings have solar panels by 2020.
        ☆ Closure of all coal-fired power stations.
        ☆ Make equality and diversity lessons mandatory in all schools.
        ☆ Progressively introduce anonymised CVs.
        ☆ Strengthen Travellers’ rights.
        ☆ Cancelling student debt.
        ☆ Revive the role of trade unions.
        ☆ Phase in a 35 hours week.
        ☆ Introduce new taxes on the use of water.
        ☆ State funding of political parties.
        ☆ A ban on the production and sale of fois gras.

          • Herbie

            Mine too.

            Foie gras is very very good for you.

            That’s the whole point.

            Excellent source of Vit K 2, which is otherwise hard to get in the normal diet.

            It’s either that or disgusting natto.

            Anyway.

            The Greens are a fraud, I’m afraid.

            One only has to look at their performance in German govt.

    • Republicofscotland

      “Why are The Greens being wiped out across the Western World.”

      ______

      In Scotland the Greens, will aid the SNP in gaining a majority for a second referendum, they also helped get the Scottish budget passed. I also find Patrick Harvey (Greens leader in Scotland) a fine orator.

      Meanwhile Michael as Labour flounders in England, the almost extinct Scottish branch, who know they’re not relevant, are pushing for a federal Britain, in a last desperate attempt to stave off a indyref.

      • maple leaf

        It’s a feral Britain we’ll get, not a federal one.

        Kezia’s looking very foolish now.

        Scotland must leave the union. Staying would mean being in a UK surveillance state of privatised health, minimal public services and military adventures abroad.

        The voters of Copeland, and by extension England, have voted loud and clear. They want to live in a reactionary state that has as little as possible to do with the non-Anglophone world, unless it’s to join the Yanks in invading them.

        • J

          I agree. It’s in the best interests of Britain for an Independent Scotland to exist, certainly in the long term, even if the English get left behind in the short term.

          If Scottish independence results in a different flavour of crony capitalism little will change as a whole. But if we have have a vibrant, democratic alternative to neo-liberalism on these Islands real change becomes possible throughout the British Isles.

          Contrary to popular wisdom that they will be left behind in a ‘Conservative’ wasteland, I expect the English to be nothing but inspired. If the Scots can create a viable alternative there’s every chance that future generations of English, in seeing what life is like across the border, will be more likely to force change in England by popular demand. This is what the establishment are most deeply afraid of. That when we have a living example of a different world on our doorstep we’ll become ungovernable as we have been. The English are largely isolated by language, a factor which seems to be encouraged by the establishment and reflected by foreign language teaching throughout the country. Positive developments across Europe (and I don’t mean the EU) aren’t terribly visible to most of us, instead we tend to view the world (and Europe) through a second hand Americanised lens. We don’t tend to see how far we’ve fallen compared to many parts of Europe (and the world). If we could, if there were examples close to hand we’d cease listening to the generational drip feeding of ideas we’ve absorbed via American popular culture and do something about our predicament. Having a second seat of power in the North of these Islands can only be a positive development toward a nationwide renaissance.

          I’m English I suppose, but have also lived in Scotland. While I feel alienated in both cultures it’s easy for me to discern a preference for Scotland, I definitely feel more at home the further North I go.

    • Geoffrey

      Possibly because there is nothing “green” about the Greens. Pro growth equals anti tree and grass and pro road and house.
      Why don’t they call themselves something else…”bitumen” maybe ?

  • Sharp Ears

    Interesting that Chomsky wants to see Craig’s abstract. Very controlling. I see him as part of the ‘control mechanism anyway’.

    • Herbie

      Yup.

      That little spat between Herman and Pete Dale Scott kinda outed the Chomsky/Herman approach.

      Chomsky/Herman would have us believe the US is a monolith, rather than the sum of competing interests it truly is.

      Kinda obvious now.

  • Sharp Ears

    Interesting that Chomsky wanted advance notice of Craig’s speech. That is very controlling. He is part of the deep state’s ‘control mechanism’. See this. How he attempted to diminish the effect of the BDS movement.

    Noam Chomsky and BDS
    The “responsibility of intellectuals?”
    by Harry Clark / February 11th, 2015
    http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/02/noam-chomsky-and-bds/

    • Anon1

      According to the German state propaganda outlet, Deutsche Welle, the increase is attributable to “the heavy press coverage of terror plots, as well as the increased ease in connecting with extremists online”.

      Well that’s alright then. There was I thinking it had something to do with letting a million Muslim migrants into your country.

        • Anon1

          Why do you always divert to Israel when confronted with the reality of Islamic extremism?

          To be clear, the “incapacitated Palestinian” was a knife attacker who had just stabbed an Israeli soldier. Still, he should not have been executed and the soldier should have got more than 18 months.

          Now back to your apologia for Islamic extremism.

          • Republicofscotland

            Well if you want to comment on terrorism, I’m sure there’s more than a few cases that involved Israel. However I realise that you’re a sensitive soul, so we’ll stick to terrorism per-se without mentioning you know where.

            So where to start, I could go back to the British terrorising the Boers and locking them up in concentration camps. Or we could fast forward to the terrorising of the Chagossians and their forceful removal of their homelands.

            Or we could go back just a decade or so, to the bloody murdering and terrorising of the Iraqi people. Where Blair said to Bush ” I’ll be with you, whatever.” Iraq has never recovered, and terror is commonplace.

            Or we could jump over the Med into Libya, where Britain as part of the real “Axis of Evil” terrorised Libyan citizens by dropping at least 30,000 bombs, in 8000 bombing raids. Again Libya is now a war torn state, where terrorism is rife.

            Of course I’ve missed out quite a few, such as Aden ‘s torture centres. I’m sure back then the Yemeni people were just as terrified, of the British, as they are now, who are backing the current Saudi slaughter.

            Or the terrifying Cyprus Internment camps, which made Gunatanemo bay look like a holiday camp.

            Or we could add in Gladio, and its sheer terrorism, and Gladio two, (terror driven ) which is still in full flow in my opinion.

          • Anon1

            Even my local council can’t manage diversions that convoluted, RoS.

            What are you saying? That we should ignore Islamic extremism because of the Boer War?

          • Habbabkuk

            RoS

            “So where to start, I could go back to the British terrorising the Boers and locking them up in concentration camps…”
            ________________________-

            I must say I’m very disappointed you’ve only gone back as far as the late 19th century, RoS.

            Personally, I believe your ‘thesis’ would have been reinforced by examples going back to at least Henry V.

            Surely, when you were still a schoolboy (I know it’s hard to imagine – how popular you must have been with all that attention-seeking! 🙂 ) the English history taught went further back than the Boer Wars?

      • bevin

        Do you see any connection between the flood of immigrants into Europe and the bombing, with your enthusiastic applause, of successive muslim countries by NATO?
        I am sure that you do but that you just cannot resist the urge to jeer at misfortune and those siding with the afflicted. This is politics as a form of football hooliganism: “Is she down? Put the boot in. Is the child drowning? Let it sink.”

        • Anon1

          In the news we have the trial of nine Iraqi asylum seekers from the same family who gang-raped a woman on New Year’s Eve in Vienna. I suppose we all have different ways of expressing our opposition to the Iraq War.

          But the most revolting thing I have ever read on this blog comes from you, bevin, when you tried to justify the Berlin attacks carried out by a terrorist of Tunisian descent, because of the tiny role played by Germany in the Iraq War 13 years previously.

          Your moral compass is completely screwed up.

          • bevin

            An allegation of gangrape followed by a flagrant misrepresentation of my position.
            Ho-hum just another day in the life of an apologist for imperialism.

          • Anon1

            I haven’t misrepresented your position at all.

            Instead of doing what a decent person with a functioning moral compass would do and condemned the Berlin attacks unreservedly, you attempted to downplay them by insinuating that Germany somehow deserved to be attacked by a Tunisian asylum seeker because of its participation in the Iraq War. “Actions have consequences” I think your words were, or words to that effect.

            Your support for any amount of evil, whether it be Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao, North Korea or Islamic extremism, because you see in them an “ends jusyify the means” opposition to imperialism, shows what a thoroughly vile and morally degenerate little man you are.

          • bevin

            There is no point in pursuing this deeper into the sewer: what is redolent of the domestic comforts to you is an evil smelling rat hole to me.

  • Republicofscotland

    A overal view as to why Europe has seen a surge in migrants refugees, and economic migrants.

    We in the West have no one to blame for the surge, only ourselves for not holding our government to account. We have allowed our Western governments to invade covertly and overtly, invade and destroy through means of proxy army terrorism, or under the guise of bringing democracy a number of nations including Iraq, Libya and Syria.

    The Wests proxy backed fighters, have butchered and terrorise the indegious peoples of the targeted countries. This has led to the mass exodus of refugees/immigrsnts that have swamped Europe at points in Greece and Italy. With the genuine migrants and refugees we see also the influx of those who are trying to create wealth for themselves, the economic migrants.

    In my opinion the European infrastructure cannot accommodate such a huge surge in migrants/refugees, though we cannot in the name if humanity turn them away.

    This where I believe the demonisation of the immigrants/refugees comes in, and although there are genuine cases of criminal activity of that particulsr sector of society, it receive above average media attention.

    Add in the terror attscks of the last few years of which, I leave you to draw your own conclusions, and one can see which direction things are moving in.

    • MJ

      “the European infrastructure cannot accommodate such a huge surge in migrants/refugees, though we cannot in the name if humanity turn them away”

      Yes, that’s it really. If we cannot turn them away then the alternatives are to expand the infrastructure or stop targeting under-defended, resource-rich muslim states for destruction.

  • Anon1

    Slightly disturbing to learn that 6,400 postal votes were received in Stoke Central.

    Muhammed, Muhammad, Mohammed…

    • Stu

      Postal voting is increasingly common in the UK.

      Turnout

      Turnout among postal voters has been higher than among persons voting at polling stations. At the 2015 general election, turnout among postal voters was 85.8%; turnout among persons voting at polling stations was 63.2%.[1]

      How many people use postal votes?

      The proportion of voters using postal votes has increased over the last three general elections. Different parts of the UK have different rates of postal voting: at the 2015 general election, Wales had the highest proportion of voters using postal votes (17.7%), while England had the lowest (16.7%) (except for Northern Ireland, where postal voting is not available on demand).

      The proportion of postal voters also differs among English regions: at the 2015 general election, it ranged from 13.4% in the West Midlands to 26% in the North East. The highest proportion of postal voters was found in the Houghton and Sunderland South constituency (43.3%); the lowest in Birmingham Perry Bar (7.4%).[2]

      So 6000 postal votes on a 21000 turnout equals 28% postal voting which well within the normal range despite the low turnout.

  • Sharp Ears

    I have just been watching these very interesting and well made little videos about the way in which the Bedouin people living in the Negev are being hounded, having their tents and dwellings destroyed before their eyes and driven off by the Occupier.

    They are made by Israeli Social TV. The language is Hebrew and the subtitles are English.

    Bedouins Nomads Invaders.
    8.43
    Story -They squatted on state land decades ago and they are there without permission. They are the nomads. They do not have any connection to the land and certainly not ownership. Is that so?
    The first article in a series on the myths and facts about Israel’s Bedouin population.
    https://tv.social.org.il/en/bedouins-1

    It is welcome to hear rational ‘Israelis’, some of them academics, giving some truthful history of their theft and oppression.

    Part 2
    https://tv.social.org.il/en/chosen-to-live-in-shacks
    7.37
    Story -The state is tolerant toward them and even offers them rehabilitation programs and relocation to new towns set up especially for them. However, they insist on staying in tents and tin shacks, and refuse to enjoy the modernity made available to them. Is that so? The second article in a series on the myths and facts about Israel’s Bedouin population.

    • Loony

      Sorry to read of Bedouins being harassed in the Negev.

      A lot of other people are being harassed – Nigerians, Pakistani’s, Somalians and Zimbabweans – some quite badly. So badly that back in 2008 60 of them died from harassment. How I wonder why this is not news. Why no-one seems to care and why there is no outrage, no demonstrations in Western Capitals, no petitions, no demands for boycotts.

      If immigrant owned shops in the UK were looted at this level and if immigrants to the UK were being harassed at this level there would be apoplexy on the part of the liberal elite who would find racists under every stone.

      In this example only the sound of silence

      http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-24/police-fire-tear-gas-rubber-bullets-break-anti-immigrant-protests-south-africa

      “Fools” said I, “You do not know
      Silence like a cancer grows.
      Hear my words that I might teach you,
      Take my arms that I might reach you.”
      But my words like silent raindrops fell,
      And echoed
      In the wells of silence

  • Republicofscotland

    O/T.

    So Kim Jong Nam was killed by the ultra dangerous VX nerve agent, it is far more deadly than Sarin.

    Unsurprisingly VX nerve agent was crested in Britain in the 50’s.

    It was claimed that Saddam killed the Iraqi Kurds using the nerve agent, one wonders how Saddam got his hands on such a deadly chemical, that Britain created.

    • Stu

      No one had heard of Kim Jong Nam 10 days ago. As Craig often points out political murder is not uncommon and in some places such as Uzbekistan it’s very common.

      However Kim Jong Nam has featured prominently on the BBC evening news most days since his fairly irrelevant death and we even heard the phrase ‘Weapons Of Mass Destruction’ and a plea to ‘do something’ tonight. There is obviously no bad time for a bit of conditioning for war.

      • Republicofscotland

        Stu.

        Some good points there.

        The USA is the largest single investor in Malyasia, they’re close allies and have bilateral relations.

        Could we’ve witness a event that wasn’t what it first appeared to be?

        As you rightly say I’m sure not many folk would’ve heard of Kim Jong Nam. I’ve no love for NK’s dictator, but could this have been a orchestrated event, to sway public opinion to take measures against NK in the near future?

        Measures that could halt NK’s plans to build a missilie (possibly nuclear in nature) that could hit the West coast of the USA.

        • Stu

          He was most likely killed by North Korea.

          My post was about the BBC’s reaction to the murder. Further othering of North Korea and exaggeration of their military capabilities. We should never forget that David Cameron publicly lied and said North Korea could hit the UK with a nuclear ballistic missile.

          The world is a big place and the we should always question why certain news is presented to us while other stories are ignored. The absurd reporting of Aleppo vs Mosul is the most obvious example. The Israeli conspiracy against Alan Duncan vs General Flynn (bizarrely another lead story) is another.

    • Anon1

      By “Britain created”, you must mean discovered by chance by scientists researching organophosphate compounds for use in pesticides.

      “It was claimed that Saddam killed the Iraqi Kurds using the nerve agent, one wonders how Saddam got his hands on such a deadly chemical, that Britain created”

      Well that might have been “claimed”, but Saddam did not use VX against the Kurds. He was never able to produce VX.

      • Republicofscotland

        “Well that might have been “claimed”, but Saddam did not use VX against the Kurds. He was never able to produce VX.”

        ______

        Lets for a moment say that the Kim Jong Nam event took place.

        Prime time ITV news claimed he did, but if you are correct (debatable at the very least) then where did Saddam acquire such a deadly controlled nerve agent from?

        Looking back the British government, had friendly relations with Saddam, during the Iran, Iraq war. Britain supported Saddam during the eight years war. The Howe Guidelines were broken frequently.

        British goods, from BMARC and other countries, using false end user certificates citing the destination as Singapore, Jordan or South Africa, end up in Iraq.

        • Loony

          Why not “let’s for a moment” concern ourselves with facts – facts that are undisputed.

          Let us start with the fact that the gas used by Saddam against the Kurds was manufactured in Germany and supplied to Saddam by Germany. Or how about the fact that the US were given advance warning that Saddam was to deploy gas against the Kurds. Consider,the further fact that a CIA observer was present to witness the deployment of the German manufactured and German supplied gas.

          Guess what the CIA report stated regarding the deployment of this gas? Well you don’t need to guess because the US remains the most open society in the world and it is all there in the official record for anyone to read.

          Meanwhile I note that you are keen to disparage the English and ally with the EU – an EU that includes (or is perhaps dominated by) an entity that was absolutely essential in the gassing of Kurds.

        • Laguerre

          Just to finish the conversation, and provide a bit of context. I don’t remember what agent was used against the Kurds in Halabja, but the whole chemical weapons programme in Iraq goes back to the beginning of the Iraq-Iran war. In 1980 Saddam invaded Iran, and it did not go well. By 1982 the Iranians were ready to re-invade Iraq. The fighting was desperate, and the invasion almost succeeded. There are stories of the Iraqis putting high-tension cables into the canals in order to fry the Iranians trying to cross. At any rate it was stopped. I was there in Baghdad a couple of months later. The following year in 1983, the Americans authorised the supply of chemical weapons to Iraq, evidently to avoid a victory by revolutionary Iran. The whole story of chemical weapons in the Near East stems from that. Saddam’s generals, perhaps himself, misused the weapons at Halabja. The Asads in Syria thought, hey good idea, and acquired CW. But it wasn’t that important in the end, and they surrendered them easily.

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