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Sunday 30 August : Today I must waste more time arranging protection for my wife and family, having spent several hours yesterday reporting a threat of violence to the police from a person pretending to be a neighbour (apologies in advance for the bad language).
The person behind this has been collecting stickers from all over my town. It must have taken them ages … and has been placing them in my garden to remind me that “I am being watched” On Saturday they got braver and posted the letter through my door. A horse’s head has yet to arrive … Obviously they don’t realise that there are many people placing stickers and protesting in smaller and larger ways across the country. As the most prolific and visible protester in the area they have singled me out for “special attention” when there are notionally at least 16.4 million of us, and currently at least 57% of the population do not want a damaging Brexit for their children’s futures.
The Police have recorded an incident of malicious communications which may escalate to something more serious. They are presently scanning the letter for fingerprints and monitoring CCTV cameras for the suspect etc.
What’s odd about this is that the Brexiteers “won”. In my many cafe conversations I have never met a more unhappy bunch of “winners” however. if democracy were a one time project, women would not have a vote, bear bating and hanging would be legal. Democracy is a process and we have a legitimate right to express concern, fear and anger about what is to come if we continue with Corona + Brexit as a Britastrophe.
Protect and Survive
Wednesday 02 September : I have now surveyed various items to allow me to continue with my activism. A CCTV system for the house, a new back gate with a more secure lock, a personal dash cam for my bicycle and a personal alarm for my wife to share. If you wish to support the costs of continuing, please find our crowdfunder at Let’s Re-Boot Britain.
Paradoxically, we were told on the street by some reasonable Brexiteers on Saturday that the main benefit of Brexit was “freedom”, yet somehow I don’t feel free with all this tech to terrorise my life. Like most Brexiteers, I simply want to live what remains of my life in peace and in the knowledge that my children’s futures are well managed by the Government of the day. The version of “democracy” portrayed by this person is not one that I recognise, apart from in places like North Korea, Belarus and Russia.
I have already faced violence several times over the last four years as one of the more visible anti-Brexit activists in the area. The most notable incident was when I arranged to meet the head of the European Movement in a train home but he then said he could not be bothered to meet me as his leg hurt and he did not want to move carriages. I decided to go one extra stop to meet him in Rainham but then missed him at the exit gate. On my return home I was attacked by angry Brexiteers because they did not like my t-shirt and given two black eyes.
Jaw, Jaw, Jaw
Like Gina Miller, I wish to meet the person who is doing this for a dialogue. I find that, once we can recover someone’s “story”, all somehow notice just how we are not really that different. Bizarre ideas that all Remainers are lefties, all Brexiteers are racists and so on can be put to one side and we concentrate on what connects us and where important differences lie. Just last week I spoke at length with one angry man who was on the edge of violence to begin with at a street protest. Once we got past “the dialogue of the deaf” we both agreed that there was much to be fixed in Britain. We also agreed that it was not the EU that had “dun it” in the vast majority of cases. And that all political systems had their faults. We even discussed some areas where EU reform was needed. In one hour of patient listening and dialogue, we gained a common understanding and agreement on many things.
If you are reading this, pop your phone number through the letter box without the F and C word and we’ll fix a time for an online conversation. This will save the Police valuable time as I will be able to call them off. I may even consider a cafe meeting, depending on how our initial conversation goes.
The gentle art of Brexorcism
To learn how to conduct what I call “Brexorcisms”, read our book “Let’s Talk About BREX .. it“. It takes skill, patience and time.
If you like this article, please support us with a regular donation via GoFundMe or Patreon. Give us a tip viaPaypal.We need support to continue doing this. It takes considerable time. Thank you in advance.
If you like this article, please support us with a regular donation via GoFundMe or Patreon. Give us a tip viaPaypal.We need support to continue doing this. It takes considerable time. Thank you in advance.
I’m gonna leave old Durham Town … to check my eyesight – 06 July
The “B*llocks to Brexit” Mini Cooper known as “Johnson” is making an unprecedented historic trip to Durham under strict COVID-safe conditions, so that the driver can get his eyesight checked by taking an excursion to Barnard Castle for his wife’s birthday and stopping at a few beauty spots. The trip, inspired by Dominic Cummings, has been arranged by EU Flag Mafia in conjunction with Rage Against The Brexit Machine, to highlight the problems of adding Corona crisis to Brexit disaster, creating a “Britastrophe”.
11% loss in GDP from Corona, when added to 9% predicted loss from Brexit will make an exponential impact on jobs, lives and livelihoods of people in Britain. Johnson the Mini will make the journey in order to wake people up to the oncoming economic and social tsunami. We only needed 3.5% GDP loss to create the 2008 crash. Corona is a natural born crisis and we must endure it. However, we don’t need to add the man-made Brexit disaster to the mix.
“Johnson’s driver” Peter Cook is taking a four-year-old baby “Bobo” on this historic journey. Bobo has promised not to urinate for the entire trip, although the Mini will be making stops in Rugby, Manchester, North Yorkshire and Newcastle, also taking in Southampton, Dorset, Wiltshire and Kent in the coming weeks. For Baby Bobo, it is a UST (Urination Stamina Test).
“Rules are rules and we must stick to them for everyone’s safety, even if Johnson, Cummings, Farage, Jenrick, Half Cock Handcock and Papa Bojo choose not to”
The last time “Johnson” made an appearance on Britain’s roads, we were stopped by an Essex Traffic Policeman Smith, in a rage on the M25 motorway. PC Smith asked us to remove the signage on the car on the hard shoulder of the M25, putting the police officer and the passengers at risk of death. We are hoping to return to Essex to meet PC Smith for a cuppa. Smith has not been located by Essex Police some 8 months after we provided his full details to the force …
EU Flag Mafia are hoping that “Dick and Dom” aka Boris and Dominic will hear our call that this is the worst time to take Brexit out of the microwave. If they checked their eyesight, they would now realise that there is a substantial gap in the will of the people, with nearly a ten-point gap of people now wishing to remain a member of the EU. All that is needed is courage and political will to change the oncoming “Britastrophe”.
“We must re-boot Britain in the wake of Corona. It’s time for our leaders to show true courage and take a bold move to build, build, build a Better Britain in a Better Europe for a Better World. To this end I have formed an unpolitical party to end all political parties. It’s time we had leaders that we could look up to and trust. Our movement is designed to help achieve that. I’m proud to work with EU Flag mafia to help put the great back in Britain.
Peter Cook
p.s. We have just received a request to take “Johnson” to Greece to check our eyesight, via Bulgaria. We are just checking the logistics of the trip, although all seems well, since Stanley Johnson recently made a similar pilgrimage to check on a holiday let.
For an exclusive interview on our “Unprecedented Ocular Pilgrimage” around the UK, please contact Peter Cook, Brexorcist in Chief on 07725 927585 peter@academy-of-rock.co.uk
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So we went to Barnard Castle from Durham to get our eyesight checked. Sadly we forgot that the four year old child in our care was locked in the car whilst we performed and “Baby Dom” expired, due to our not leaving the windows open. I guess Cummings and Boris Johnson would see that as part of herd immunity …
We also had a piece in the Yorkshire Post – the most trusted newspaper in Britian see Henry Moore Art Institute
We are considering continuing the tour if there is demand – see Go Fund Meto help us continue the work.
We also seek writers to contribute to this platform, both in terms of scholarly articles and Op Ed pieces as well as more populist / short pithy pieces to reach outside the bubble. Please e-mail us your details at peter@academy-of-rock.co.uk
If you like this article, please support us with a regular donation via GoFundMe or Patreon. Give us a tip viaPaypal.We need support to continue doing this. It takes considerable time. Thank you in advance.
Nothing is surprising in Brexit Britain. Last week Dominic Cummings threw the futures of nearly 500 000 children under one of Boris Johnson’s cardboard busses, by applying a coarse algorithm to a series of A Level results.
As if the matter never happened and with no apology, the Government have just done a U Turn on the matter, after Scotland and Northern Ireland showed leadership in the matter. In the 4th industrial age, the manipulation of data is a big issue, assisted by AI and other automation.
The data pyramid
This brings back other questions of data manipulation such as the mysterious case of the rise of 19% in postal votes at the 2019 General Election, which swung the Tories to power on a promise of a Microwaved Brexit. I hate to use the word unprecedented but it is merited here. Entropy rules most electoral systems and a rise of 19% is unprecedented and should rightly be investigated as an outlier. Why then has it not been?
The answer seems to lie (sic) with who is behind the postal vote system and more Tory cronyism via the company IDOX.
There is so much “news” that it’s hard to keep track of all the sub-plots in this Brexity Government’s chaotic about turns. All designed to subjugate the populating through gaslighting.
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People ask me “Surely it is too late to reverse Brexit?” Of course we can. Brexit is a political process and the law is merely a servant to the politicians. If political will changed, the law would be made to fit the circumstances with a suitable narrative created for the media and people. We must therefore change political will across all parties. A political backbone has been absent for four years and Remain have sometimes gold-plated the strategy that lost them the referendum, with the best of intentions. Please support our work via Re-Boot Britain.
We cannot allow the greatest disaster next to climate change to threaten the next generation’s futures to continue. Our continued resistance is both moral, a fight worth having and certainly not a waste of time, given how much people have sacrificed over the last four years. Would you like to be able to say that you contributed to the re-establishment of an honest Government? I would.
Here’s a detailed video that explains our project in full. If you are in a hurry, read our pitch deck:
We have already had a sneak preview of what Brexit will deliver via the panic buying associated with the Corona outbreak. This is merely a sneak preview for Brexit, if we allow things to continue towards 31.12.20.
Read all about our strategy in our slide deck “Re Building Britain ” and the paper “Brexit Futures “. This has been adopted by Grassroots for Europe and a number of other large pro EU institutions including the Federal Trust and the originators of the FBPE hashtag.
We are building a full time professional movement with the aim of breaking the deadlock of “dead cat” Brexit politics:
1. Breaking Parliamentary Paralysis – via lobbying MPs using a variety of means.
2. “Taking Back Control” of populist media via press and media activity in national and local print / radio and TV media.
3. Develop much better reach into social media, in terms of honesty, depth of penetration and reach outside the Remain bubble.
4. Changing minds on Brexit via 1:1 “Brexorcisms” and / or en masse via online leaders’ debates and other grassroots strategies.
Click on the boot to Re-Boot Britain
This is Stage One of a wider project to build a full movement and will get us to our first level of professional organisation, for example virtual PA, professional website, company registration, accountants etc. I ask that you join us with a suggested donation of £10 per month or £100 pa for Silver membership. If you can spare more, please consider higher level donations of £250 or £500 per annum. Or please just give what you can afford on an ad hoc basis. Everything helps.
Silver : Gives you basic exclusive access to our daily stream of writing and media
Gold : Gain copies of our work in advance of release (books, music, media). Exclusive invites to our regular series of conference calls and seminars
Platinum : 1:1 coaching in the art and discipline of changing minds on Brexit plus all other benefits above
Frequently asked questions
Isn’t Brexit already done? A piece of paper was signed.
We have merely had our “Chamberlain moment” on 31.01 plus some time spent in a gulag (fridge). But Brexit is a political process and the law is merely a servant to the politicians.
If you are not sure on this point, just think of ONE occasion when the Government obeyed the rule of law in the last four years or other precedents. Here’s a few where they didn’t:
1. Gina Miller’s Supreme Court Case 2. The Cooper No Deal amendment 3. Pro-rogation 4. The 6 million petition … and so on. Our Government is beyond the law
If political will changed, the law would be made to fit the circumstances. It would have to look painful and difficult as a piece of “political theatre” but nonetheless all that is needed at this point is a phone call from Johnson saying “sorry”, not easy, but possible. Johnson is the only politician currently able to do a 360 degree turnaround and get away with it.
Click on the boot to Re-Boot Britain
Is it too late? We are about to finalise things in June?
There are clearly moves to institute delay. Johnson may instigate one at the final hour per his many other U turns … die in ditches, Halloween etc. The EU may also downgrade the importance of Brexit leading to fudge June may present a false ending to the story. In any case there is still the rest of the year to introduce twists in the road.
What will we do with the money?
We plan to hire a small organisation – A PA, fundraising team, professional web platform and so on. Also allocate some of the funds to support our full time input. Voluntary activity is fine but we need full time professional help to be agile and able to react. I am prepared to set my work aside to do this but I also need to live.
Oh, no, not another anti Brexit movement?
Our difference comes from the fact that we will be more direct than professional politicians, outsmarting Nigel Farage et al at their own wicked games. We will also rely more on professionals in their field rather than volunteers. This will give us the edge. At the same time we will collaborate with other pro EU and anti-Brexit groups across the board acting to amplify their efforts. Despite best efforts of grass roots EU organisations, much of our work has suffered from “initiative constipation” – see Brexit Futures for more insights on this.
Click on the boot to Re-Boot Britain
About the leader of the project
I am an unusual mix of scientist, business academic and musician. I lead the Rage Against The Brexit Machine project, having written three albums of anti-Brexit protest songs and got one of them to Number One on the Amazon chart. “Brexorcist in Chief” for Mid Kent 4 EU, I gained two black eyes for daring to ask difficult questions of angry leave voters and was arrested by Essex Police for driving a Mini Cooper with the words “B*llocks to Brexit”. I also stood a stuffed cat in the 2019 General Election which did not come last in the ratings !!
For nearly 4 years I have acted to dispel the illusions of Brexit. At 62 I am at some risk from Corona and consider that a fitting epitaph for my life would be the destruction of Brexit populism for the sake of future generations. I wrote a requiem for Brexit on 31 January 2020 and it explains why this matters better than words can manage:
People ask me about the thinking behind the “Britastrophe” stickers from EU Flag Mafia. I took some time to design the slogan way back in March and a quick look behind the scenes reveals the thinking:
Brexit is a long term disaster in slow motion. Because of the long term nature of Brexit and the slow motion aspect, people have tended to discount the impacts or deny them as project fear. Following 1000’s of hours of on the street conversations with Brexiteers, I find that the vast majority of these people are not long range planners or strategic thinkers. They think in the here and now and tend to believe that you cannot plan for the future. Que sera sera is their modus operandi for long range planning.
However, Corona is very much in the here and now. Brexiteers recognise the impacts as they are very much within their “lived experience”. As I pointed out some 5 months ago, Corona has given us the one thing that Brexit never could. A realistic preview of Brexit, where toilet roll is currency, chicken drumsticks are traded in dark alleyways and Pampers are on their third use.
People tend to compartmentalise issues and we needed to make the connection between Corona and Brexit. In doing so we brought the short and long term together in a potent mixture. We initially tested this out on the street with my bicycle hoarding and then with the stickers.
At Leeds Henry Moore Art Gallery
In terms of sequencing the strapline, a catastrophe is bigger than a crisis or a disaster, hence the catchphrase Corona Crisis + Brexit Disaster = Britastrophe. Note the order and sequence and the use of the word Britain within the phrase. All the above must be done within as few words as possible for busy people, five in this case or three for the short form version. “Britastrophe” also sounds like the kind of word that Boris Johnson would use, hence my choice of a unique word to describe the combined effect.
I am deeply aware that people do not analyse stickers for any length of time but it’s important that we get our message across concisely and clearly.
Get your “Britastrophe” stickers at EU Flag Mafia. You may also enjoy their Bollocks to Brexit Facemasks … the best way to protect yourself from Brexit in the shops!
If you like this article, please support us with a regular donation via GoFundMe or Patreon. Give us a tip viaPaypal.We need support to continue doing this. It takes considerable time. Thank you in advance.
This is a kind of “end of term” report for Boris Johnson and the Conservative party. The Prime Minister has gone off for another summer rest. Well deserved? Adrian Ekins-Dauke’s invites you to judge for yourself:
THE RUSSIA REPORT: FUNDING AND MISINFORMATION
Ex-Russian intelligence staff say 85% of their work is not spying, but “political funding and misinformation”. Since 2012, the Tory party has received almost £3m in donations from members of Putin’s cabinets and 14 current ministers have had donations from individuals or companies connected to the Russian leadership
The government delayed the release of the Intelligence Committee’s report on Russian interference in Brexit for 9 months. The reasons given for the delay were described as “simply not true” by the Committee. Our Home Secretary, Priti Patel said the Russia Report could be ignored because it was now 9 months old and “out of date” (One wonders whether she takes a similar view of unresolved murder, rape and other serious cases which become “out of date” after 9 months).
COVID 19
Matt Hancock boasted he had met the targets on his “six tests” on COVID-19. In fact 4 of the 6 targets were missed, one target couldn’t be met because it had never been defined, and one “relied on a definition [that] does not reflect practice”.
The cross-party Public Accounts Committee found there was an “astonishing failure to plan for the economic impact” of COVID-19. It also said the policy of discharging patients into care homes was a “reckless and appalling policy error”. It called the government “slow, inconsistent [and] negligent”. The Committee chair said “A competent government does not run a country on the hoof”.
DIRTY DEEDS
Now for PPE contracts …
£252m to Ayanda Capital, registered in Mauritius for tax purposes. PPE not delivered. £186m to Uniserve. PPE not delivered. £116m to P14 Medical Supplies, with assets of just £145. PPE not delivered.
£108m to PestFix, with just 16 employees. PPE not delivered.
£107m to Clandeboye Agencies, a sweet wholesaler. Yes, a sweet wholesaler. PPE not delivered. £40m to Medicine Box Ltd, with assets of just £6000. PPE not delivered. £48m to Initia Ventures Ltd, which registered itself as “dormant” in March. PPE not delivered.
£28m to Monarch Acoustics, which makes shop furniture. PPE not delivered.
£25m to Luxe Lifestyle, which has no employees, no assets, and no turnover. PPE not delivered. £18m to Aventis Solutions, which has total assets of £332. Not a typo, £332! PPE not delivered.
£10m to Medco Solutions, incorporated just 3 days after lockdown, with share capital of (not a typo) £2. PPE not delivered.
In all, approx £1 bn to inexplicable suppliers for PPE that hasn’t been delivered. This of course costs lives.
A Nuffield Health study found after 10 years of “chronic underinvestment”, UK is at the bottom of the league table for health resources, diagnostics and surgery by the NHS will take 4 years to return to pre-COVID levels.
The government’s “world beating” test-and-trace programme was described as “scandalous” by the British Medical Journal, and found to miss its 80% target in every COVID hotspot announced last week
A report from London School of Economics has shown a WTO Brexit will shrink 16 out of the UK’s 24 industry sectors by up to 15% each. Permanently. A Tory MP tweeted:
“? WTO here we come!”
Another pro-Brexit Tory MP with a grasp of what’s to come tweeted:
“my strong advice is: “take the chance to live abroad”.
MISCELLANEOUS
The cross-party Media & Culture Committee has reported that “government has consistently failed to recognise scale of challenge facing culture, sport and tourism and had been ‘too slow’ to respond to their needs during COVID-19.
Boris Johnson launched a “Fix Your Bike” voucher website. It broke within an hour. The editor applied and found that the website did not work. I called the people and was promised vouchers. On following up I was told the scheme was closed.
Johnson also said we should all lose weight. This is certainly true in his case at 17 Stone. However, Johnson is still issuing vouchers to help us buy burgers.
Boris Johnson would not get a job as a WeightWatchers coach
It was revealed the government spent £400m buying a bankrupt satellite company, OneWeb, to replace the Euro GPS system we have lost due to Brexit. Months before, a study by MIT found that OneWeb’s tech is 6 times less efficient than the EU solution: the worst of the technologies studied.
In June, the government guaranteed that there would be no cuts in overseas aid when the Foreign Office and International Development Dept merged. It announced cuts of £2.9 bn in aid on the day Parliament broke up for the summer, thus avoiding questions on broken their promises.
The government has permitted your health records to be given to Palantir, a large US data-mining company and to Faculty, owned by an associate of Dominic Cummings and said to have worked with Cambridge Analytica on Brexit.
Our overall assessment of the Government is 2/10. What’s yours?
Write to your MP and make these points. Ask them not to add the man made disaster of Brexit to Corona Crisis.
It’s just a trifle between friends, but our Russian connection Irina reports that the UK Chemical Industry faces a loss of up to £7 billion from Brexit. The chemical industry contributes £18 billion to the country, employs 500 000 people and contributes £50 billion in exports. Not exactly a trifling matter.
The Royal Society of Chemistry undertook a comprehensive survey on Brexit and found that only 4% of 5000 respondents felt positive about the impact of Brexit on science.
I started life as a Chemist, working on breakthrough treatments for HIV / AIDS and human insulin. We have already seen the relocation of the Medicines Control Agency away from London. So what, you might say? Well, the UK is currently part of the first tier for novel drug approvals as our standards are aligned with Europe. After Brexit divergence of standards, the UK will move towards the back of the queue for novel drug registration approvals with the rest of the world. Boris Johnson has been told that he needs to deal with medicine shortages under Brexit. Given his responses to Corona, we think it unlikely he will act and this will result in “death by Brexit”:
Brexit enthusiasts such as Jacob Rees-Mogg talk in vigorous tones about the notion of a bonfire on standards. Sadly Jacob studied Latin at school and does not realise that standards have a purpose for safeguarding etc.
Brexit … a bonfire on standards …
When I worked at the pharma company we occasionally used to source new suppliers of chemicals. I recall receiving a shipment of paracetamol from a new supplier. On opening the keg, it contained a large amount of straw. This is why we have standards.
Coming closer to recent times, Peter Daws was discussing Brexit with a hairdresser in Chatham. She said she wanted Brexit as the EU were preventing her from using toxic dyes on her client’s hair. She demanded the right to poison her customers! Is that in any way sane? By the way, the EU have banned a number of ingredients used in hair dyes and there are plenty of viable alternatives. Write to me if you demand the right to poison your customers and we can talk.
I experienced the same issue when collecting some printed materials from a local print shop. The printer complained that he had to buy new equipment, because the existing machines produced dangerous emissions. I calmly explained that we had to remove toxic dyes from our pharma products in the 1980’s and it was the nature of all progress to act when new knowledge was available. He shrugged. In my long experience of business and management, it does not do anything for profitability and performance to poison your staff. Call me a snowflake if you wish.
It’s not too late to suspend Brexit so please join us on ZOOM every Monday at 8 pm.
Do you work in the Chemical or related industries? Have a story to share? Write to us via brexitrage@academy-of-rock.co.uk
If you like this article, please support us with a regular donation via GoFundMe or Patreon. Give us a tip viaPaypal.We need support to continue doing this. It takes considerable time. Thank you in advance.
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