I don’t really think that Boris Johnson deserves more than one minute to reflect upon his legacy so I made several videos in less than one minute on this subject. In fact James O’Brien summed up the detail so well that I don’t feel i could better that. In summary we are talking about:
Broken promises on Brexit (It is NOT “DONE”, it will consume a lifetime of wasted time and money to continue the pretence). To read the full history, read Private Eyelines – Have I Got Fake Brexit News for EU and Reboot Britain – Strategies and skills to change minds on Europe and Brexit. Remainers and Rejoiners seriously need to up their skills if we are to win the next battle with the populists. Never forget that we lost two elections and a referendum, however inconvenient that fact is. Yesterday I delivered copies of these books to Sir Alan Sugar, Richard Branson and James O’Brien. I wish to send them to Hugh Grant next if anyone can help with this.
On Brexit, COVID and lies
Outright LIES on COVID (Johnson was late to the party when others were listening to experts. He conducted an experiment with genocide by placing infected NHS patients into care homes, causing 10’s of 1000’s of unnecessary deaths). The list goes on. These were political CHOICES and not inevitable. Johnson has been lying ever since he was born. Why would we expect any different from him?
On COVID, care homes and unnecessary deaths
On Brexit, Kettles and gold wallpaper
Industrial levels of distraction or dead cat politics, the latest one being the “kettle”. Even the kettle story is not correct. If you want your kettle to boil faster, descaling and using the correct amount of water will make bigger impacts on your bill. £20 is of course not even significant when compared with the actual energy price rises, but Johnson assumes that people cannot add up.
I don’t believe the Tories will call an election in order to lose their majority but if they do, we’ll need to do better than sharing memes on fb. The Daily Maul has set another dead cat loose on this subject today. Preparation is better than regret. Learn the skills to persuade people outside your bubble to change their voting behaviour here.
I don't believe the Tories will call an election in order to lose their majority but if they do, we'll need to do better than sharing memes on fb.
Preparation is better than regret.
Learn the skills to persuade people outside your bubble to change their voting behaviour here.
— Reboot Britain – Rage Against The Brexit Machine (@BrexitRage) September 3, 2022
Join us on Monday September 12 at 8 pm on ZOOM to build momentum to remove the Brexit beast from our lives and build a better Britain in a better Europe for a better World.
The recent news that Trump is under investigation is yet another point on the curve towards improved world leadership. To misquote the band name : Populism will eat itself !
In world that needs collaborative leadership to face complex problems such as climate change, famine, war, migration and so on, we seem to have opted for more didactic leaders with catchy but meaningless slogans. In the UK we have Brexit populism. In the US we have Trump’s version of isolationist politics, and so on.
This is why I coined the phrase ‘Brexorcism’ to change minds in the UK about Brexit. The skills involved are just as applicable in other theatres of populism.
Last week, I was asked to speak on the need to turn back from populism and discuss the contributions from psychology, sociology and therapeutic approaches to wake people up to more long-term and global outlooks on our politics. You can view the masterclass below.
I also spoke on the role of satire, humour and catharsis as a way into the most closed minds on political issues, based on our book Private Eyelines.
To get hold of the books ‘Reboot Britain’ and ‘Private Eyelines’ please go to Rage Against The Brexit Machine or write direct to me at reboot@brexitrage.com
Find all our populist parodies at https://brexitrage.com/gutterpress
EXTRACT from the book Private Eyelines. I’ve noticed that everything is UP in the post-Brexit sunny uplands world. What could have possibly caused this?
Costs of children’s shoes are UP by 20% shortly. Jacob Rees-Mogg promised that shoe prices would plummet after Brexit. Oh dear, Jake was wrong.
Inflation in UK is UP at over 6%. This is exceptional.
Gas prices are UP by 54% In France they are UP by 4% France levied a windfall tax on energy companies using their own sovereign powers. In Brexit Britain our Brexit freedoms seem to have prevented this. How strange?
Hunger is UP.
Food bank usage in Britain is UP, but food bank donations are DOWN.
COVID cases are UP. This is preventing the NHS from treating people with other serious conditions.
DEATHS will be UP but Boris Johnson says that COVID is DOWN. Of course, he is WRONG.
Russian influence is UP.
Sunak’s tax dodging is UP. His holidays in California are UP. More sunny uplands.
Bullshit from the Go Home Office about the Ukrainian refugee settlement scheme is UP.
Queues on the M20 / M2 in Kent are UP. P&O Ferries are only in part to blame. Since we have no resilience in our port systems after Brexit, only a small knock is needed to bring the system to a standstill.
The Brexit IT system is UP the cack. This does not help, but the underlying cause of delays in Kent is Brexit and not the IT system per se. if we did not have Brexit we would not have the crappy IT system and we would not have gridlock in Kent.
Urination is Kent is up as drivers have no place to go (freedom of movement and urination).
National Insurance is UP.
Sea levels are UP.
Hospital parking fees are UP.
Looting is UP.
Tory ethics are DOWN.
Labour is UP.
Tax is UP.
The game is UP.
With thanks to all at Re-Boot Britain for this list. The sunny uplands can only increase. This list is an extract from Private Eyelines.
Available to order direct from ebay – click to view. Discounted copies available direct from the author via reboot@brexitrage.com. Also on Amazon at a higher price.
Re-Boot Britain is a practical methodology on changing minds about Europe and Brexit. Find it on Amazon or direct from the author via reboot@brexitrage.com
We wish to fight the next election. Support our campaign via Patreon, Paypal or GoFundMe.
Private Eyelines : Have I Got Fake Brexit News for EU is just released. Humour is one of the few weapons this Government cannot take away from us. It’s a historical and hysterical record of #Brexit and one that holds this #fascist government to account in ways that spreadsheets and graphs do not. The book helps us deconstruct the fake news of populist media from “The Son” to “The Daily Maul” “Excess” and “Telegravda”. Grab copies for yourself and your Brexity friends now on Amazon or order discount copies direct from the author by e-mailing us at reboot@academy-of-rock.co.uk Here is the book blurb below:
Satire reaches the parts that spreadsheets, graphs and logic do not. Brexit provides a rich dark seam of tragicomedy in a Kafkaesque world of gaslighting, shapeshifting and shameless lies. We live in desperately sad times. But simply drowning in the sadness of Brexit does not help us deal with paranoid populist politicians. Bittersweet levity cuts through people’s minds to their visceral core. Simply stated, satire heals.
Populist media brainwashed leave voters to believe in Brexit unicorns. I tried my hand at parodying these media to expose the lies on which the Brexit hydra reared its many ugly heads. I found that people rather liked my gutterpress pages. Some even believed that they were real!
To change minds on Brexit, it is not sufficient to break the parliamentary paralysis which continues to enable the slow-motion destruction of Britain. Nor is demographic change, aka death, a success recipe. We must actively work on the huddled masses. People almost literally eat lies for breakfast from a biased populist media, owned by people who seem just a little bit too friendly with Vladimir Putin. Private Eyelines opens up the conversation anew with Brexiteers with buyers’ remorse, or Remainers numbed into submission by six years of bullshit and bullying from our so-called political leaders.
Peter Cook is a unique combination of scientist, business consultant and musician. As a 60’s child, his mum made him watch Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, saying “it would be good for him”. It wasn’t! Instead, Peter built a solid career bringing life-saving treatments for diabetes and HIV / AIDS to the world, 18 years tutoring MBAs in academia, writing books and 28 years running a business. His early exposure to Cook and Moore suddenly came to the fore after 24 June 2016, as satire met real life through Brexit. His mis-spent youth and creativity have been rejuvenated through campaigning, writing, music, film making and speaking about our rightful place in Europe. It was good for him after all. Mum was right!
Available to order direct from Amazon – click to view. Discounted copies available direct from the author.
Turn despair into action. Join us every Monday at 8pm on ZOOM via Reboot Britain.
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.
One of the key Brexit texts is “Change, or Go: How Britain would gain influence and prosper outside an unreformed EU.” written in 2015. Highlights summarised below by Jennifer Rankin (Guardian):
UK/Irish relations scarcely get a mention.
The EU would agree to negotiate a new trading relationship before the triggering of Article 50. The UK would have a new deal in its back pocket before the formal process of leaving the EU even began.
The UK could enjoy “a common market relationship with EU even if it did not sign a special deal after exit”.
The authors were relaxed about the UK losing the benefits of EU trade deals, because “the EU underperforms at managing trade policy”. It doesn’t have a trade deal with the US and China. Anyway, it is “highly likely” EU FTAs “could be photocopied”. The UK could quickly do its own deals.
It obsesses on tariffs, but pays scant attention to non-tariff barriers. In revealing language, it saw limits to the EU’s ability “to penalise Britain” and inflict “malicious harm”.
Easy transport links for firms and citizens: “there would be no significant disruption or inconvenience for UK firms or passengers”. UK travellers can keep the EHIC insurance card when visiting the EU. The Change or Go report provided the underpinning for Michael Gove’s “We hold all the cards” 2016 speech.
Taken together, Gove’s speech and the Change or Go report make it clear that Brexiteers believed:
The EU was about to implode sometime soon or, at the very least, be severely weakened.
Brexit would trigger a domino effect and other countries would follow the UK out.
After the Brexit vote, the UK would hold all the cards and be the centre of a new, anti-EU European alliance.
The UK could dictate terms because the EU would desperately need UK trade.
The UK could have customs union and single market benefits without the commitments and obligations of membership.
Travel to the EU from the UK would continue without interruption and with no new requirements.
It was all about the trade in goods, tariffs and borders.
The UK would quickly be able to negotiate trade deals with all the major powers to compensate for any loss in EU trade.
Incredibly, Leave Voters still seem to believe much of this nonsense in the face of all the evidence and the passage of time. In particular they cling to the to the idea that Merkel will come to the rescue of the negotiations at the last moment and that the obstructive Barnier will be sacked (editor’s note, we have seen the Cummings and goings of many UK trade negotiators and whipping boys whereas Barnier has remained in place all through this process). Our Government believe that all that we have to do is to continue to allow David Frost, our negotiator, to continue repeating idiotically “we are now an independent country”, and the EU will finally concede.
Write to your MP using this material to set out the case as to why the unicorns of Brexit MP’s have been shown to be fatally flawed. Call for a suspension of Brexit pending a full public enquiry and consultation.
Michael Gove’s lies and various other lies are captured in this piece of music which is prophetic in terms of our sleepwalk into a banana republic and a fascist state.
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.
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 was astonished to receive a letter from The European Movement banning me from attending a lecture by Gavin Esler on my birthday today. The reason given was that I am taking The European Movement to court. It is not however the real reason.
Banned
The real reason is that Chris Hammond does not wish to meet me, in case I embarrass him about the fact that he indulged in a concerted smear campaign with others last year to pervert the course of The European Movement elections. The below letter from Sevenoaks and Swanley & Tonbridge in Europe (SSTIE) includes a paragraph that refers to me as the only other candidate. They used their own “Nationbuilder” bulk e-mail system to contact thousands of EM members. This could count as a case of defamation. It could also count as a misuse of the system or at least a perversion, in terms of data protection law. See below for just one of the letters that was written about me. There are others of an even more personal nature, but I am not permitted to share them due to the imposition of a gagging order by The European Movement.
At the time I asked the other candidate Yvonne Wancke, to ask these people to cease and desist, as we had a good relationship at the start of the election and we had agreed to conduct the campaign fairly. Yvonne refused and I can only draw the conclusion that she approved of the campaign tacitly or otherwise.
Dear Peter
On Saturday 4 September European Movement Branches will elect a new Chair of the Branches Forum
This key role is going to be hugely important as the European Movement determines the way forward and the future relationship between HQ and the branches.
It is essential that this works well in both directions. The Movement needs the branches so that it can grow and thrive. The enthusiasm and energy that exists in those groups must be fostered and supported by HQ, and the groups need to see the advantages of supporting the Movement as a whole.
A relationship based on working closely together for the benefit of all is essential, and there is a great deal of work needed to ensure that good relationships are established and maintained.
This will require a Branches Forum Chair who can and will build teams that will work collaboratively over a wide range of issues. The Chair will need to establish consensus amongst the branches and with HQ so that each group and the Movement will work harmoniously towards our common goals.
This is certainly not a role for someone who seeks to be the centre of attention, or who thrives on publicity. It needs someone who knows about building consensus and agreement, and who can use those skills to the benefit of the European Movement as a whole.
That is why we urge you to vote for YVONNE WANCKE to be the next Chair of the Branches Forum.
Patrick Reynolds Chris Hammond Sevenoaks Swanley & Tonbridge in Europe East Kent European Movement
Robina Jacobson Colin Gordon North East for Europe Oxford for Europe
John Gaskell South West Surrey
As regards the accusation made in the letter, it is true that I am taking The European Movement to the small claims court for non-payment of expenses. This is a ‘one of a kind’ claim as their youth arm were recently fined £1800 by HMRC for non-submission of accounts and non-payment of VAT. I feel fully justified in taking them to court for this and expect the judge to make the judgement, not some committee in East Kent who simply want to avoid embarrassment for their own bad behaviour. The ultimate humiliation came from the fact that I only got to find out about the smear campaign when Patrick Reynolds, secretary of the Sevenoaks branch, did not know how to use the e-mail system and sent the smearing e-mail directlyto me !! 🙂 Despite what people probably think of Vladimir Putin, at least he knows how to conduct skulduggery properly !!
Goodness knows how we’ll ever manage to rejoin the EU with people like this leading the charge. One of my weaknesses is that I find petty bureaucracy troublesome.
European Movement
I was looking forward to a chat about prog rock with Gavin as he is a big fan, but it won’t kill me if I don’t. I will instead enjoy my birthday on a cycle ride to Canterbury.
I had been thinking about writing what has come to be known as “Reading Gate” down to experience. I must say that the pathetic actions of the local European Movement branch and that of their agents hiding in the shadows have rather stiffened my resolve to ensure that justice is done.
In other news I find that this is not an isolated incident. Byline Times have just censored an article written about Tony Blair that takes a mildly critical view of his leadership decisions on democracy. The style of democracy being put forward by The European Movement and Bylines appears to be more related to Putin’s democracy. I would tell them, but Lord Andrew Adonis and his sidekick Richard Wilson have blocked me on Twitter for giving them valuable feedback.
I'm sorry Gavin, I have been banned from attending your event by @euromove East Kent since they are unhappy that I am taking them to court for a simple matter of non-payment of legitimate expenses. I would have enjoyed your talk and a quick chat about prog rock @gavineslerpic.twitter.com/vsVaeUX635
— Re-Boot Britain – Rage Against The Brexit Machine (@BrexitRage) March 23, 2022
Coming soon, the banned article on Tony Blair, a Ukraine update and the new book on rejoining the EU.
Please support Re-Boot Britain – what the papers won’t say – click on the image
Events of the last week have shown that forecasts can be wrong, however we have learnt that Putin is determined to remove Zelensky and install a puppet regime in Ukraine. Such is his determination that direct conflict with the EU or NATO seems more like ‘when’ not ‘if’ with escalation unavoidable. There are a couple of things that could de-escalate current tensions and I discuss them below by the names given by others: The Palace Coup and The Chinese gambit:
The Palace coup – envisages Putin being removed by Russian politicians who consider his attempt to subjugate Ukraine is damaging Russia as a credible world power. He has an inner circle of eight ‘securocrat’ officers or Siloviki, profiled by Paul Kirby on the BBC website– with no evident dissent among them. He also has a 30-member security council that unanimously endorsed his decision to invade Ukraine and was televised doing so. Finally, he has a lower house of 409 Russian MPs all of whom supported the vote to restrict news reporting to the state broadcaster. No objections or abstentions on that vote televised yesterday.
Any political opposition is either in jail like Alexei Navalny or already murdered like Boris Nemtsov, so it is fair to say that after 23 years in power Putin is as secure from defenestration as Stalin was right up his death on 5 March 1953, exactly 69 years ago.
The Chinese gambit envisages Putin being offered a face-saving exit or ‘exit ramp’ by a third party he respects. At the moment Putin is only likely to halt his armies if President Xi Jinping suggests it or offers to mediate a peace deal with NATO. Putin has shown that he will listen to other leaders like President Macron of France but rejects any request to halt his military advance on humanitarian grounds.
Threats from the United Nations carry no weight because it is headquartered in New York, and because Russia has a veto as one of the five permanent members of the UN security council.
Putin would not recognise President Biden as an independent mediator, he believes the US is still his greatest adversary. Although he respects the US military arsenal, he suspects Biden is reluctant to get involved in any new European war. He’s happy to provoke NATO but not yet attack a member.
Putin agreed to delay his invasion until the Peking games concluded on 20 February so as not to distract media attention away from the games. If Xi could extract some advantage he would step in as a mediator, but the longer the war goes on the more he learns about the West’s resolve.
History shows that a tyrant or despot usually meets a violent end, either at the hands of his own people or at the hands of his enemies. For now, the West, or liberal democracy, must balance two distinct risks – the risk of action versus the risk of inaction. See also Action on Ukraine. As well as Gary’s fine analysis of Putin Power Plays, we must also consider disruptive interventions such as the surgical removal of Putin or a gradual realisation on the part of the West that inaction may well lead to World War III. Here are Garry’s 10 lessons from the first 10 days of Putin Power Plays:
1.The Ukrainian people resolutely do not want to be liberated by Russians.
2.NATO and the EU have been played by Putin for years and woken up to it too late.
3.Putin is prepared to use brutality in Ukraine as he did in Grosny and Aleppo.
4.Counter-action is needed but fear of escalation results only in paralysing inaction.
5.Sanctions are neither fast acting nor effective – ‘banks don’t stop tanks’.
6.Putin didn’t just want Ukraine to keep out of NATO, he wanted subjugation.
7.Rolling up other former soviet domains will inevitably mean conflict with NATO.
8.The UN was created in 1945 by world leaders who had experienced Hiroshima.
9.Those, like Gordon Brown, who have dealt with Putin say he only respects force.
10. China will only step in if Chinese citizens stuck in Kyev are endangered.
Surgical removal may just mean another of the inner Securocrat or Security Council members steps in to continue the barrage on Ukraine and possibly further. Inaction by NATO to implement a no fly zone also seems at odds with the reality of the situation. The bit about the Beijing Olympics is interesting, but how could President Zu be convinced to stick China’s neck out for the sake of the West? And what of the destabilisation of Europe’s western flank, which started long before Brexit was a hot topic? Was that just a distraction, to keep European eyes looking westwards while to Europe’s east, shenanigans were in play? It appears Russian control and command lines to its troops on the ground in Ukraine are shaky at best, and the tabletop chats with Aeroflot employees are not what they seem to be… Unless every transmission contains codes orders to various Russian-controlled military units… That the UK shows huge monetary values of sanctions, but less than perhaps 30 individuals targeted, says more for how successfully the Russian dictator has inveigled himself into the British Cabinet and Government – 30 days’ notice is so all the Tory recipients of Russian donations, in a numbered Dollar or Euro or Sterling account in a Russian bank (no doubt!) can extricate their ill-gotten gains to the relative safety of offshore British Dependent Territories, isn’t it? Meanwhile, a war and movement of people (women and children, mainly, note!) the likes of which has not been seen in Europe for decades is happening – and nobody seems willing to lift a finger to help stop the cause. World War III, yes, it does look that way.
NEW: Banning Facebook & criminalising journalism are not just the actions of a desperate man, they’re the equivalent of putting on a pair of bell-bottoms & dad-dancing across the internet.
