Priti Patel plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. A modern form of concentration. In case you are unsure as to what is fact and faction in this edition of The Maul, here’s some help:
FACT: Priti Patel’s concentration arrangement is a one-way ticket to Rwanda. So all asylum seekers are sent to Rwanda, regardless of their status. If they are found to be legitimate, they cannot return.
FACT: The concentration scheme will cost far more than housing migrants in The Ritz hotel in London.
FACT: The Home Office objected to the scheme but Patel forced the process through using a special order.
FACT: Priti Patel has united several religions of the world. God has found her bang out of order as have the Sikhs.
FACT: There are better alternatives identified by Yvette Cooper and others. Cooper pointed out that Australian Refugee Council offshoring figuress show 3127 people were sent to Papua New Guinea/ Nauru since 2013 at cost to Australian taxpayer of AUS$10bn. That’s £1.7m per person. We can expect a similar order of costs here.
FACT: Israel introduced a similar system. All those expelled fled the country and re-entered the countries they left. There is no sense in which the British system will lead to a different outcome.
FICTION: There is no proof that Larry the cat deliberately attended lockdown parties. After all, cats retain freedom of movement, unlike human beings after Brexit.
FICTION: Butlins are not hosting refugees in Rwanda, nor are they hoping to host holiday homes there. Instead they prefer to host true Brits at Clacton, Greet Yarmouth, Bridlington and Camber. Book your staycation and avoid 5 hour airport queues or even longer at the Brexit ports.
FACT: Priti Patel is subhuman scum in the Harry Enfield / Reginald Perrin sense of the word. An immigrant who has forgotten how she came to be here.
Finally it’s out !! The new book on Changing minds on Europe and Brexit is here. Click to buy on Amazon or contact me by e-mail via peter@academy-of-rock.co.uk for your personal copy. If you are a sponsor of Re-Boot Britain, you can get a heavily discounted copy to just cover costs.
To find out what it’s all about, join me on Thursday 7 April at 7.00 pm GMT via ZOOM. Here’s the book blurb to give you an insight as to why you will want to buy a copy.
Brexit has broken Britain, economically, socially, culturally, politically and environmentally. Quite simply, Brexit has not delivered what was promised on the tin in 2016, for anyone in our DisUnited Kingdom. This book explains how we may join anew for a better Britain in a better Europe for a better world.
Strategies and scenarios to join anew 2021 – 2031.
Brexit freedoms, unicorns, ghosts and fantasy stories laid to rest.
The influence of Russia and Vladimir Putin on Brexit and the Johnson Junta.
The psychology of ‘Brexorcism’ and the anatomy of the Brexit psyche.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) applied to the task of softening hardened minds on Brexit.
How to hold difficult conversations with Leavers in regret and Remainers in remission.
How does Brexorcism differ in real life from online conversations and what can you do about it?
Strategies to put forward a positive vision of a united Europe and heal rifts from the ‘dialogue of the deaf’ over 6 years.
Stories to motivate you and show how these strategies work in practice. Alongside this we explore a number of ‘glorious failures’ as they offer even better insights to success.
A resource section on how to break ‘parliamentary paralysis’, how to make progress in advocacy to MPs and how to engage mainstream media (MSM).
How to multiply your impact and pro-Europe / anti-Brexit influence in real life conversations, lobbying and in mainstream and / or social media.
A ‘Brexorcism’ requires time, patience, unconditional positive regard and skill. This book provides these elements, drawing on a range of approaches to change management from psychology, sociology and therapeutic approaches.
Continuing our theme on censorship, this piece, written by Alan Bullion was censored by Byline Times, presumably as it criticises the left. Whilst I don’t agree fully with all that it says, I would defend Alan’s right to say it to the hilt. All leaders and political systems have faults and some tend to believe that they are messiah like. Blair is not immune to our failings as humans and in this article, Alan argues that Tony Blair’s commitment to representative democracy may have set up the conditions for UKIP / Farage to gain oxygen and fuel the Brexit debate. As always at Re-Boot Britain, comments are welcome and free. In the words of George Michael, listen without prejudice.
Tony Blair is perhaps the most controversial Labour Prime Minister of the post-war period. Most come to bury not praise his significant legacy and reputation, especially since the furore surrounding the Iraq war and its subsequent aftermath. Just this year we have had an online petition attracting millions of signatures opposing his proposed knighthood, both from left and right-wing critics.
Indeed, it is often forgotten brushed aside that Blair led his party to a huge majority under the ‘New Labour’ project in 1997, followed by two more convincing general election victories, one after the Iraq war.
In order to better understand how the Brexit referendum of 2016 and its aftermath occurred, I have analysed the timeline and impact of several key events under the Blair/Brown governments which led up to those fateful events of Britain leaving the EU.
Of course, I am not suggesting that these actors alone were to blame. Farage, Cameron, Johnson, Cummings and several others – all privileged public-school educated white men – clearly played their part.
But as I will argue below, the actions of Blair and others around him led to a process where an already sceptical British public became increasingly critical of the EU and its perceived ills. This resulted in the calamitous narrow vote in favour of departure in 2016.
The fringe cause of Euroscepticism under Farage and the UK Independence Party (UKIP) had been previously the province of right-wing fanatics and Home Counties pub bores.
The rise of UKIP as an electoral force
The first touchstone in our trajectory was when Blair went along with the proposal by the then Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown to introduce proportional representation in the 1999 elections to the European Parliament. This led UKIP and its leader Nigel Farage to gain a mainstream and increasingly influential foothold in politics. Blair had not been won over to PR, rather it was a political compromise to avoid the introduction of PR to elections for the House of Commons. or local government.
Ironically, while Farage was sceptical about winning an in/out Brexit referendum, Blair, along with Ashdown, Cameron and Clegg, were overwhelmingly enthusiastic. They severely underestimated public fears, stoked by Farage, that such a binary vote would result in disaster on a huge turnout, driven by immigration and issues such as ‘sovereignty’.
Narcissist and messiah?
In June 2014, the novelist and former Labour acolyte Robert Harris, while publicising his book The Ghost, described Blair as a ‘tragic narcissist with a messiah complex’, who would be doomed to live a ‘tragic life’ and face trial at the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes.
There was an element of truth in this harsh judgement. Both Blair and his barrister wife Cherie were often accused of being ‘money mad’, rushing around the world advising dubious autocrats on how to improve their image.
There might well have been an element of neediness there, which others such as former Labour MP Leo Abse psychologically analysed in The Man Behind the Smile. Indeed, Blair was well suited to the world of celebrity politics and self-publicists such as Kim Kardashian.The tragedy was that he would never be able to completely resurrect his image after the Iran/Iraq war, despite his other considerable achievements at winning elections.
The truth is inevitably more complex. In my 1996 article ‘What Blair Believes’, published in the Jewish Quarterly, I argued that Blair was driven by a simplistic dualist ideology devised by Anglican mystic John Macmurray, which he imbibed while at university. This belief system basically sees protagonists in international politics as either essentially ‘good’ or ‘evil’, thereby explaining Blair’s support for US President Bush in Iraq.
Blair was highly active on the EU. For example, he was instrumental in establishing the cross-party grouping Britain in Europe, specifically to argue the case for the UK signing up to the Euro (single currency) and the European Monetary Union, via a popular referendum. This came to a crescendo in the wake of the sudden death of Princess Diana in August 2007.
There were serious differences over this issue between Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown. This was further exemplified by the clash over the Treaty of Lisbon and the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ), which was signed in December 2007 and came into force two years later under Brown.
Originally a referendum was promised by Labour Foreign Secretary Jack Straw for Spring 2006, but that never happened, adding more fire to the UKIP fray that the court was increasingly compromising British sovereignty.
Eastern European migrants and the reserve army of labour
In May 2004, Blair, supported by Home Office minister David Blunkett, decided to allow migrant labour from the eight Eastern European countries that would be joining the EU. Unlike the UK, other EU member states such as Germany had instead opted to impose a seven-year delay from these countries achieving full entry to work.
As these Eastern European migrants started to arrive, Blunkett went on BBC2 Newsnight to defend the policy, declaring that there was ‘no obvious upper limit on migration’. That calendar year alone there was a net increase of 350,000. Blunkett later conceded that he lost public support and made a mistake.
At the time I was visiting Kent sixth forms and colleges to make the case for remaining in the EU. Comments from working class children in those schools told stories of perceived resentment at migrants taking jobs such as cleaning, catering and car mechanics, and driving down wages.
It was in 2005 when I campaigned as a parliamentary candidate in Hammersmith and Fulham and was confronted on the doorstep by a British plumber who claimed he had been undercut by the nice Polish plumbers taken up promptly by middle-class housewives.
‘It’s all right for the likes of the Blairs, living their aloof and cosmopolitan lives in Islington and Brussels’, was the implication.
So now we come to 2022, with Tory cuts to universal benefits, rising food and fuel prices, and tax increases.
We are still talking about migrants … while there are severe shortages of food and farm labourers, lorry and bus drivers. And ironically, as the consequences of Brexit become ever more stark, arch Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg has just been appointed by Johnson as minister for Brexit Opportunities. You couldn’t make it up.
Brexit has failed. That much is clear. Yet exiting Brexit will be a long and tortuous process. I am asking for your regular support via Patreon, Paypal or GoFundMe to continue our full time work to put Brexit and it’s culture carriers into a shallow grave. Here’s a mini roundup of our current collaborations on the future of Brexit, some online, some in real life. Let me know if you can help in any way to Re-Boot Britain.
Jail Johnson
In collaboration with Prof Joshua Silver, we have a project to, at the very least, prosecute Johnson for lying to Parliament and thus breaking the Ministerial code. The alluring sexed up title of Jail Johnson refers to the real goal of taking Johnson to court for killing 179 000 people unnecessarily for pursuing his herd immunity strategy. We need thousands of signatures to support this action initially. Please find out more at Jail Johnsonand send this paragraph to friends with a link to the petition Uphold The Rule of Law.
By the way, the objective of Jailing Johnson is itself not the only goal we have. Amidst some of the items in the ‘backroom’ that are perhaps less interesting to the public is Putin’s donation of £8 million to Aaron Banks which, if exposed, could lead to the destruction of the Conservative Party and to some reconsideration of our relationship with the EU. There is also the case of the £1 billion bribe with the DUP, which again has serious ramifications.
Jail Johnson
Europe Day – May 7th
In collaboration with EU Flag Mafia, we are planning a concert at a church near to Parliament for Europe Day. We need headline artists, social media marketing team and, of course, an audience of 400 people. ‘Rage Against The Brexit Machine’ will be supporting the event with a 20 minute set of the best of our output from 6 years of pro-European activism and I’m planning to put together a sh..t hot live band for the occasion. Get in touch if you can help and let me know if you would like to reserve tickets for this special event. To support our costs in doing this please go to PayPal.
Moggmentum
We had an extraordinary response to our article on Brexit Freedoms, following Jacob Rees-Mogg’s request for Sun readers to do his job for him. The article has reached outside the bubble and I’ve been trying to set up a Leader’s debate with some angry leave voters who seem unable to think of any freedoms they now have but who are convinced they exist !! 😊
Lying on the job – Click to read 170 Brexit Opportunities
EU Britizens in exile
In collaboration with Alice Boulliez et al. we have drafted a press release for use with UK media to highlight an upcoming legal case. See Orphaned by Brexit if you can help Alice in reaching mainstream media in the UK.
Brexit Doesn’t Pay – Removing the Brexit culture carriers
In collaboration with the wonderful Adrian Ekins-Daukes, we plan to build a database of MPs who are (a) vulnerable and (b) who are ‘Brexophiles’. Once we have that, there is a much longer job of finding leaders in their constituencies to help remove their majority at the earliest opportunity, working systematically as of now to leaven their chances of winning a GE. The message must clearly be that ‘Brexit Doesn’t Pay’. We need a data and an excel people to build the database and people who can reach the leaders in the areas to build teams to deliver our strategy. It is a considerable amount of work. We may also eventually link up to Andy Watkin’s fine work to help people target their efforts within specific wards for maximum impact. If you can support the ‘Brexit Doesn’t Pay’ project financially, please go to GoFundMe.
Please note – This project is quite different to Lord Andrew Adonis’ barmy attempt by the European Movement to target 44 Tory MPs and, in doing so, to kill our support with the quieter rump of Conservative MPs who wish to rejoin the EU. This was quite wrong-headed and, working together with the MODEM group, we managed to push back Adonis’ daft idea, although this was after much of the damage had been done, after The Conservative European Forum left The European Movement because of him.
Next meeting – Monday March 7th
I have not been overwhelmed with offers of support from people wishing us to build a bigger Re-Boot Britain organisation !! ☹ I’ve had four offers of Gold sponsorship for which I am extremely grateful. I have presently declined them as (a) it does not get us to the target and, more importantly (b) it is simply wrong to rely on a few people with deep pockets. We really need 4 – 800 x much smaller amounts. Here is the link to the video presentation. Do let me know how you are doing at engaging others. I’ve had much more beneficial offers to return to corporate life and I’m beginning to think that this may be my best option to thrive rather than merely surviving by doing this full-time. We will review progress on March 7th at 8 pm on ZOOM. I am left wondering if we really don’t believe that Brexit can be reversed or whether continuing effort is actually worth it tbh and am not someone who believes it’s worth it if we cannot get the needed collaborations. The future of Brexit is bleak if we make it so but I recognise that people are at a low ebb.
Outside my life on here, I am a business person so, of course, I’m keen to harvest the benefits of Brexit. I’m impatient to discover what they are, as I have been promised a bright future over many years. First I decided to assess the cost-benefits of our new found sovereignty.
SOVRINTY INNIT
I discovered that Britain always had our sovereignty. This was demonstrated in the Supreme Court by Gina Miller. It was actually stated in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. How else were we able to close our borders for COVID in 2020 without asking the EU? We have kept the Pound. We turned down Billions of Euros of EU assistance for the Corona crisis. Now we even have our own “British sovereign variant” of Corona, according to Boris Johnson. But I am told by Boris Johnson that 67 million of us each now own a great big bag of sovereignty. To assess the value, I have put my bag up for auction on e-bay for £10 000.
Bags ‘o sovrinty – PRICELESS
Sadly, no one has taken up the offer of the bag. I am prepared to take one penny. Does nobody place any value on it? Will it buy a lunch box for a hungry child?
The Hunger Games
Meanwhile, the real Hunger Games are just beginning. In Northern Ireland, supermarket shelves are emptying, as it becomes apparent that frictionless trade was yet another Brexit unicorn sold by serial liar Michael Gove. In schools, our Government has been so possessed by Brexit that it is unable to organise itself to feed children under lockdown.
Perhaps Jacob Rees-Mogg was on the money when he said that he was not troubled by a few smugglers after Brexit. Here is the Brexit Smuggler’s Song after Rudyard Kipling.
Brexit Priorities
Finally, here is a wonderful poem by Barry Fentiman-Hall called “When Brexit comes (you will not be prioritised)”
When Brexit comes You will not be prioritised
White is not the original canvas On which the world was colourized Jim Davidson will not make a comeback Chalky was not really his friend You are not the beginning of anything Nor the default setting You will queue for cabbages With a pantone nation
When Brexit comes You will not be prioritised
God is not an Englishman You are not his messenger Sent to wash the world in shocking pink Dunkirk was a defeat A flotilla of weekend pleasure boats Are not coming to save you And neither is Sir John Mills with a cold Danish beer There are no exceptions You will be on universal credit With Jakub, Karosh, and Li Cheng
When Brexit comes You will not be prioritised
How you voted is irrelevant Maggie and Winston are dead racists and their statues will be pissed on by poodles and shat on by doves Theresa May will never be any more of a statue than she is now Conservatism is not a natural state It does not appear In the periodic table of elements The calcium in your bones Will be at the same levels as your anarchist neighbour
When Brexit comes you will not be prioritised
We are finally all in it together You and I
There will be no further extension Brexit will come It will be televised live from your living room… And you will be the star…
Ending Brexit populism is our priority and those that continue to push it. Join us every Monday at 8 pm on ZOOM.
If we want to affect parliamentary paralysis in the corridors of power, we need to learn the gentle art of influence and persuasion. I wrote an article on the topic just recently. Please read it here.
This simple graphic hides a wealth of detail. Read the article and then get a copy of our book on the topic “Let’s Talk About BREX..it” – Click the image to buy on Amazon
What follows below is a superb example of the principles discussed in the article and the book. It was written by Paul Bowers, one of our colleagues at Re-Boot Britain. Paul has worked inside the parliamentary system for many years. He understands how people may speak truth to power and be heard. To those who say that there’s no point writing letters to MPs, think again.
Please write your own letters on this topic to your MP via Write to Them
Rt Hon Michael Gove MP Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Dear Mr Gove,
“Ugly divisions” of Brexit
You wrote in the Times, 26 December 2020, of divisions and ugliness caused or exacerbated by Brexit, expressing hope that the UK will be animated by a spirit of common endeavour moving forward, its politics reaching a better place.
As a supporter of the UK’s membership of the European Union, I wish to explain why I cannot move on – or rather, from what I must not move on – and why I do not anticipate others doing so.
It may interest you to know that I worked in the House of Commons Library from 1991 to 2018. From Maastricht until 2005 I specialised in foreign affairs, observing political developments in other parts of the world which often implicated the ebb and flow of democracy: from hope in post-Soviet Eastern Europe or the end of apartheid, through calamity in the Balkans, genocide in Rwanda and on to the world of 9/11 and the Iraq War. In more recent years, I specialised in UK constitutional matters. Like everyone else, I was disturbed by the scenes in the US Capitol this week, and by China’s suppression of the Hong Kong democracy movement. The fragility of what we hold dear is apparent throughout recent history.
The special tinge that makes Brexit different from other UK political issues derives from the damage to democracy on which it depended and which it advances. We are ill-advised to take this lightly. While some argue that we can never go back to 2015, I would suggest that we must go back. Back to relatively low levels of corruption, back to respect for the rule of law, back to a sophisticated understanding of democracy as a range of factors through which balanced outcomes in the national interest occur.
In one sense, we have all moved on: from EU citizenship, the rights and freedoms we enjoyed, to a period of economic challenge, and international concern. You will have seen at New Year mocking cartoons from New Zealand, pained journalism from Germany and the USA.
We have moved on to a new reality.
But we should not move on from analysis of that reality.
The referendum was advisory. About 37% of the electorate, 26% of the population, voted to leave. Support was pocketed around the UK, geographically and demographically. London, the capital, with about one eighth of the UK population producing about one fifth of GDP, voted against. Scotland and Northern Ireland, separate constitutional units, voted against. So did the young, and the educated.
Do other voters not matter? Of course they do.
But it is wrong to say that there existed a consensus adequate for a change in national destiny of this magnitude.
The referendum result was unlawfully procured. Vote Leave and Leave.EU were fined by the Electoral Commission for breaking campaign finance rules. The Culture, Media and Sport Committee reported in July 2018 that Arron Banks, believed to have made the largest political donation in British history to Leave campaigners, failed to satisfy them that his funding came from the UK, and that he had close links to the Russian Government. In addition to concerns over Russian money and connections, Russian interference in social media was rife throughout the Brexit period. The Information Commissioner fined a variety of organisations associated with the Leave campaign for breaches of data law. There is evidence that the shift in opinion from a majority for Remain to a majority for Leave just before the referendum correlated with targeted advertising based on unlawfully harvested data, the latter leading to a very substantial fine on Facebook.
In February 2019 Prime Minister Theresa May’s barrister, Sir James Eadie QC, conceded that the referendum met the threshold for illegality and that, had it been binding there would have been a statutory legal mechanism by which it would be annulled. It is disturbing that a British Prime Minister chose to push forward with a policy that was damaging to the economy and the UK’s standing in the world when she knew it was based on corruption.
In my view, cleansing this corruption from British politics should have been the consuming interest of Parliament and Government in the last four years. Instead, it has been placed at the heart, and around it an abscess has formed. The referendum must not be “respected”. Subsequent general elections argued to support Brexit would not have happened without the referendum.
Other states joining the European Union have done so after tragedy and oppression: war, occupation, tyranny. The original members after World War II, Spain and Portugal after domestic fascism, the former Soviet satellites. All joined swiftly to entrench liberty. Perhaps the UK’s attitude to the EU was born of complacency. We saw it in purely economic terms, because that was our purpose in joining.
Today, we in the UK have our time of darkness.
Brexit, under two Conservative Governments, with Farage in the wings, and a Labour Party too divided to oppose, finally endorsing the Government’s 4% reduction of GDP, isolationism and reduction of rights, has brought us far from the democracy I served. As a colleague said in 2016, “things that used to be unthinkable are happening. What are they thinking now?”
A trajectory of decline has indeed played out, each outrage grounding the next.
A referendum that side-lined devolution. The advisory becoming peremptory. Parliament endorsing a corrupt exercise, with senior MPs confessing that they knew what they were doing would harm their constituents, but they would do it anyway. The spike in hate crimes after the referendum. EU nationals being forced to apply for the right to stay in their homes. A Prime Minister trying to action Article 50 without authorisation, then wasting public money contesting an unwinnable court case. The press describing judges as enemies of the people for upholding the law. The Justice Secretary late to defend them. Brexiteer MPs bellowing abuse across the Chamber at those daring to suggest that democracy did not end on 23 June 2016. The Government attempting a breach of procedure to hold a vote on a matter twice, cornering the Speaker into blocking the move, then directing anger against him. MPs being harassed and jostled on their way to Parliament, subject to death threats and presented by the Prime Minister as standing against her and the public. Unlawful suspension of Parliament. Threats to limit judicial review of ministerial excess. Legislation to put the Executive above the law.
The Internal Market Bill was the most disturbing. In my career I lost count of how many times Conservatives cited Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights, important foundations of the principle that the Executive is subject to the law. A Conservative-dominated Parliament legislated to contravene that principle.
Indeed, there seems no principle that Brexiteers are unwilling to jettison in service of their aim. When Parliament’s role in authorising the Article 50 notice was asserted, they decried the very parliamentary sovereignty they so often prayed in aid against the EU.
Since 1 January 2021 we have seen a strategy of lies from the UK Government, consistent with that encouraged in local Conservative association literature. This includes the claim that freeports are possible as a result of Brexit, when they exist in the EU, and the UK had them until 2012. It appears that the Government delayed decisions to end pulse fishing and the “tampon tax” so that it could announce them on 1 January and falsely claim that this was possible only as a result of Brexit.
Perhaps most galling of all: the Prime Minister’s pretence that he would countenance “no deal” in order to encourage the view that the Trade and Cooperation Agreement is better. The comparison is not with WTO terms, which we did not have with the EU. It is with membership, which outclassed his shoddy package. Already unravelling, we see online retailers unwilling to sell to UK consumers, fishing communities enraged by betrayal, their sovereignty rotting on the quayside, hauliers bypassing us, and staggering amounts of financial business fleeing to the Continent.
Strategic lying is the stuff of totalitarianism. Designed to jeopardise confidence in truth, it makes a people supple for manipulation. It is the latest stage in our decline. A free society cannot be expected to embrace such diminishment.
In our latest series of Populist Press Parodies from the Red Tops, we tackle the big issues of the day. In case of confusion in our age of disinformation, please find our fact and fantasy checker at the bottom of the page.
Lunch Box Luxury
Spanish Lies
Page 3 remodelled
FACTS v. FANTASIES
FANTASY Jacob Rees-Mogg did not live in fact live on a diet of Cream Crackers. He did however proclaim that British fish were happier now that they have Brexit. It’s just a matter of time before he asks for the restoration of the birch.
FACT The Government plan to only give one shot of the COVID vaccine. This would provide 70% protection. There is no evidence to suggest that this will lead to herd immunity. It is also feasible that it would mean that insufficient protection is given, providing the Corona virus with an open doorway to the development of a more virulent strain. We will essentially be the clinical trial for this risky experiment.
Join us at Re-Boot Britain – click to support our work
FACT A large number of Tory MPs joined banned website Parler.
Shame these MP’s on social media. Request a public apology for their sins
FANTASY There are no Brexit Universities.
FACT British people living in Spain were surprised to learn that they could not stay in their second homes indefinitely and that they needed to make a financial contribution to their country of residence. They failed to understand that freedom of movement works both ways under Brexit.
FACT Just days after we signed the Brexit trade deal we are breaking it. In particular we plan to use neonecotonoids on sugar beet. This chemical is toxic to bees. It is estimated that once the bees die, we are not long for the world either.
FACT The European Union are offering to help Ireland from their fund post Brexit. In the longer term it is probably that Ireland and Northern Ireland will simply cut England out of the equation through their dealings.
FICTION French model Rachelle Gauchette is not travelling to Scotland or Ireland to boost morale for independence or reunification … yet. Napoleon did not have a Napoleon complex. The offer of a night with Nigel Farage is a dirty lie.
Two areas of Medway have elections coming up and a better Medway is needed. It seems that people are rejecting the cosy coalition of the two-party system in the towns, now that the effects of Brexit + COVID are becoming apparent in what has been termed a “Britastrophe”. The UN red alert on climate has flagged up the long-term impact of Brexit on climate change:
More disaster capitalism means tax avoidance and non-payment of taxes in nation states. This is bad for our environmental stewardship and our reputation as a world leader in ethical politics
A bonfire on standards leads to moral hazard in product manufacture, with a return to shoddy products made in sweatshops and environmentally damaging materials. One hairdresser in Chatham told me that she was looking forward to the day when she could once again used banned chemicals on her clients’ hair. She seemed unconcerned that the chemicals are carcinogens when I explained as a Chemist.
More global trade = more carbon footprint. You may say, I don’t care, but what legacy do we hand on to future generations.
Locally in Strood North, overdevelopment of the Hoo Peninsula is leading to the destruction of sensitive environments and threatens to gridlock residents in the Medway towns. Residents also have concerns about schools, lack of social housing, overdevelopment, litter, public transport and the capacity of the NHS to cope under Johnson’s sale of the century. It also seems that the issue that dare not speak its name aka Brexit is also causing residents real concerns. It starts to become clear that Brexit was not really about taking back control except in the sense that it has enabled Boris Johnson to give unprecedented amounts of taxpayers money to his cronies and blame all economic, social and political problems on COVID. Closer to home, food shortages are becoming visible as people realise that we are no longer self-sufficient in food. With a shortage of 100 000 foreign lorry drivers, the supply of 2000 HGV army drivers from the “Royal Cucumber Corps” is not going to make up the difference. Walking into Aldi in Strood lettuces are already brown in the displays. Yes, I know Aldi operate a Just in Time system system, but the food is not supposed to be rotten in the supermarket. This is just an hors d’ouevre …
Brands Hatch in Strood
Peter Bonney, an ex-deputy headteacher is a local activist for a 20 MPH speed limit in the rat runs along these roads in a congested part of Strood Weston, Cromer, Gordon, Jersey, Bryant, Brompton Lane, Cliffe Road etc. Peter is the model of an activist, having organised petitions, letters and been given airtime at the local council with his proposal. He thought all was well when he gained a warm reception across the political spectrum, but then the views of councillors were crushed by Councillor Alan Jarrett for no reason. Jarrett is a seasoned professional who I have dealt with. Prospective Green Councillor Cat Jamieson is to take the issue up. There are many schools in the area and the use of the rat runs presents both a safety issue for children and an environmental issue for all the residents.
People driving at 40 miles and hour up the road is an accident waiting to happen
Overdevelopment
Residents in Brompton Farm Road are concerned about the issue of overdevelopment on the Hoo Peninsula with houses for 30 000 people proposed in a sensitive natural habitat for birds and other wildlife. One resident described the problem:
“Boris the Builder just wants to build, build, build and the local Tory Councillors support this so they can line their pockets. Meanwhile Labour are just supine. We need an independent voice to hold Medway Council to account”.
It’s not just the people on the periphery of Hoo that are concerned. The housing development will also put pressure on the arterial roads into Strood centre, placing still more pressure on the rat runs. There are also issues with the lack of social housing in the new Riverside developments around the area of Strood Station.
Transport connectivity is key if we are to reduce our reliance on cars
Cat responded to the call from residents:
“Greenwashing won’t wash. We need to plan development within the towns in ways that are sustainable and sensitive to residents’ needs. In some cases, that means just saying NO. In other cases, it will be about finding much better ways to think about our natural resources in consultation with community leaders. What we have now is local government by diktat. We must Act Now, before the Green Belt turns Brown”.
The Green Party will hold the Conservatives (and the “official” opposition) to account if elected. Since there is already one Conservative and one Labour candidate, voters can cast their vote for a truly independent voice in the knowledge that they are not eliminating one of the parties, but simply enriching the mixture of views to make better decisions.
I am presently applying for Branches Forum Chair at The European Movement with an election on September 04 on ZOOM. Here is my short and longer pitch:
Some thoughts on the challenges ahead as final nominations for The European Movement branches forum chair close this afternoon Monday 09 August. You will have a choice of at least two candidates.
Yvonne Wanke and I have spoken about the needs of The European Movement going forward. Having campaigned together at events in London and Barnard Castle, I’m glad to have friendly competition. Free and fair elections will strengthen our Movement by making it more accountable to you and your groups. Mass membership means making our Movement fully accountable to our members.
Over the past few days people have rung me with questions, suggestions and comments. Please feel free to call with any issues anytime on 07725 927585 – it will be great to hear your views and to get to know your concerns.
Ageing The average age of our Movement is over seventy. We must also engage with a younger and more diverse audience. This is very much in the hands of your branches and affiliates: you and your groups are our Movement’s bedrock. My own branch has recruited a wider audience via various activities involving music, stunts, writing and regular online events. Most recently, I engaged a rapper and a soul singer in our call to action titled “We Are Everywhere”. We need to unite and work together to attract more people to our cause.
Organising Our Movement faces necessary organisational development issues to make us stronger. Some complex issues will require skilful facilitation and navigation of differing viewpoints, but with shared will we can find common ground. The recent BARNS report vote has left “unfinished business” and it’s vital we resolve this constitutionally. We cannot keep dodging difficult choices. For example, to campaign effectively and highlight Britain’s Brexit failings, we need to fix Nationbuilder together with our invaluable staff.
With over twenty-five years of dealing with so-called “wicked problems” across the world – in organisations as diverse as the Metropolitan Police, the NHS, Pfizer, United Nations, Unilever – I pledge to you my undivided focus and energy as we enlarge our Movement and build on past successes. As the oldest pro-European Movement in the country, we have a history to be proud of. I will uphold our Movement’s traditions and ensure those at the centre do likewise.
Strategies to Rejoin We recently started a project producing scenarios to re-apply for EU membership, aiming for a shared vision on the most probable routes. Already we have a series of event strings, which need further input and consolidating into narratives to engage and unite our activities. If you would like to contribute, please call for a chat on 07725 927585, write in, or join our weekly ZOOM event every Monday at 8pm. Please note the items in blue are not entirely serious! 😊. Such blue sky brainstorming helps create a unity of spirit and purpose as people share ideas and solutions in an engaging and relaxing way.
Beyond the bubble We cannot shift minds on Brexit merely by preaching to the converted, nor can we rely on demographic changes alone. We must reach outside of the bubble that has been created as a result of our disunited Kingdom. Superb initiatives such as the Euro Cafés reflect what I have also done locally. Our Movement has developed many great approaches across the country. Now we must build on these to deal with sensitivity and grace with the concerns and beliefs of leave voters. I feel honoured to have worked on such grassroots projects with branches and affiliates alike from the North to the South. We need to share the good will around so that groups can adapt approaches to local contexts.
Media Branches and affiliates can shift the Brexit narrative by reaching parts of the media national organisations cannot. Much social opinion is embedded in what people consume in local papers and from the resulting social media comments. Through well placed letters, commentaries on articles, op-ed pieces in local newspapers, radio and TV interviews plus phone-ins, our groups’ social media amplification can change the “diet” of what people consume in the media on Brexit. Some of our branches and affiliates are experts on this and we should spread the word.
The Branches Forum is a vital part of our operations. We have opportunities to extend our impact within communities, sectors and regions by uniting in diversity to power our movement forward in every street, village, town and city. I write to you to introduce myself as a candidate for Branches Forum Chair at The European Movement. I have included a one page synopsis of my offer below. A longer document is available on request which explains my full background for those who perhaps don’t know so much of my work for the pro-European cause and you can always check out my Linkedin profile if you wish. For several years now, my personal mission is one that embraces everyone and which is consistent with Object 2 of the EM constitution and which relies crucially on our Branch network.
A Better Britain in a Better Europe for a Better World
I intend to make a valuable contribution to groups (branches and affiliates alike), Chairs and the wider EM UK membership, based on significant experience as a business leader, strategic adviser, grassroots activist and prolific writer / presenter across the mainstream media for our common cause.
I see the Branches Forum Chair role as that of a “gardener”, helping to germinate ideas, providing nutrients to convert embryonic ideas into action, cross-pollination of initiatives and so on to help branch chairs and committees develop, grow and strengthen their groups. I will contribute significant time to branch development, to increase meaningful collaboration and connections between groups. At the same time, an imperative for our movement is to engage a younger more diverse demographic and that relies on a strong network of Branches, suitably resourced, trained and equipped to engage people from outside our traditional demographic.
If you and or your committee members would like to meet me, to ask questions and so on, just call me on 07725 927585, or we can set up an informal meet and greet via Zoom. I have reserved every Monday evening at 7 pm to host consultations and Q&A if you wish to join me, or directly experience one of our events at 8 pm every Monday.
I have taken a break over the last few months to reconsider my pro-EU and anti-Brexit activities. I have concluded that, whilst my full-time commitment to this cause is unsustainable, it remains valuable, important and impossible to escape from. What would I tell my children if I did not continue to face up to the greatest disaster for Britain across several centuries? However, things need to change and I propose the following improvements for 2022:
We need a proper organisation rather than another Remain hobby group. I have managed most of the functions of Re-Boot Britain entirely on my own up till now and this has damaged my ability deal with other priorities. To this end, I will only continue once we have appointed a board with most of the functions needed to sustain a professional organisation, in other words finance, administration, outreach, social media and so on.
To this end, I propose that we hold a meeting to discuss this on Monday January 31st at 8:00 PM via ZOOM, where we can discuss the formation have a professional organisation, so that we can deliver on the priorities we set ourselves when I formed Re-Boot Britain in 2020. We have four principal objectives and these are listed below:
Four goals : Change MP’s Minds, Change Media output, Change Social Media narrative, Change individual minds
The different objectives lend themselves to some of the capabilities that we have developed over the last few years with the circle of around 100 people and a wider outer circle:
Our Lobbying objective requires people with high level advocacy skills delivered via a variety of media : Face to face discussions, letters, petitions and other means of moving opinions with movers and shakers on all sides of the political spectrum.
Media activity requires people who are skilled at securing newsworthy inputs across the different platforms. Getting pictures in the Guardian as a backdrop is not sufficient in order to get the message out. Nor frankly is citizen journalism unless it is amplified to levels that cut through and reach outside the bubble.
Our social media amplification team is something that all can contribute towards, as it is home based, can fit the time that people have and so on. We have been quite successful already in this area with our ABV (Anti-Brexit Virus) amplifier groups but can do more, especially outside the Remain / Rejoin bubble.
The solid work to change individual minds requires time, patience and considerable skill. This is why I wrote a book to help people practice the art of difficult conversations about Brexit and the European Union. Read the book and join me in a masterclass.
At the same time, high level discussions continue with other pro-European groups that feel the need to come together to offer something much better than what we currently have. If a better organisation for our collective efforts emerges then I will be prepared to merge with that, rather than persisting with more and more silos in our movement. It is time that we join forces in pursuit of a better Britain in a better Europe for a better World.
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