If Keir Starmer is telling the truth – and we must assume he is, because nobody could get away with blatantly lying to the House of Commons and the country if he has been lying – then what does it tell us about the Government vetting process?
If Peter Mandelson failed the vetting and was therefore considered a security liability, why was the Prime Minister not told? Chums of the sacked civil servant Sir Olly Robbins claim he was not merely under no obligation to inform the Prime Minister but that he was not allowed to do so by their code of conduct.
If that is true – and it does stretch credulity to think it is – then what about any other official or politician who is granted access to Britain’s most top secret information (always assuming there is any such stuff anymore given our country’s abject decline)?
Officially, we don’t vet our senior politicians. But do our security services really not check out those at the top, like Home Secretary, Defence Secretary or the Foreign Secretary? They get access to the secret stuff and they get appointed before any checking for security clearance can take place because many of them are given their jobs as soon as a new Government is formed.
What happens if one of these top politicians has skeletons in the closet? Do the civil servants really keep that information to themselves? If so, how do they behave when the office holder starts passing top secrets to the Russians, the Chinese or – God forbid – the French? Do they really keep schtum?
Actually, the answer may be yes, they do. Anyone remember Sir Anthony Blunt? MI5 knew in 1963 that he was a Russian spy but the Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures was allowed to carry on as usual until Margaret Thatcher finally exposed him in 1979.
Anthony Blunt (1907−1983), aka "Tony," "Johnson," "Ian"
Monday, April 20, 2026
Saturday, April 04, 2026
Who is the rocket man now?
Does anyone really care the USA has sent another rocket into space? How much does it matter when the same country is creating a new, more deadly, world order here on earth?
Is this space nonsense some sort of distraction technique to persuade us that the United States not only rules this world but other worlds as well?
What is the point of swinging by the moon when the Middle East is in meltdown, the war has given a boost to Mad Vlad Putin’s Russia and even Rachel Reeves has another excuse for Britain’s looming rejection?
Is there any real benefit from this new space shot because, for all the alleged excitement and nerd overload, it is not apparent?
Isn’t there something obscene about all this? As far as peace on earth is concerned, I think it’s going to be a long, long time.
Is this space nonsense some sort of distraction technique to persuade us that the United States not only rules this world but other worlds as well?
What is the point of swinging by the moon when the Middle East is in meltdown, the war has given a boost to Mad Vlad Putin’s Russia and even Rachel Reeves has another excuse for Britain’s looming rejection?
Is there any real benefit from this new space shot because, for all the alleged excitement and nerd overload, it is not apparent?
Isn’t there something obscene about all this? As far as peace on earth is concerned, I think it’s going to be a long, long time.
Sunday, March 29, 2026
Artificial intelligence unintelligibly stumped
Here’s proof you can’t trust AI.
Musing on Easter and the start of the cricket season, I asked Google AI who said: ‘I can never walk down the nave of Westminster Abbey without wondering whether it would take spin.’
First of all, it said Sarah Ferguson and gave me a lot of guff about her wedding to the Windsor formerly known as Prince.
I pointed out that taking spin was a cricketing term so it offered me Shane Warne (a spin bowler). When I doubted that, it said Ted Dexter (not a spin bowler). I again demurred so it swore the answer was Richie Benaud (a spin bowler).
If artificial intelligence is this stupid, what hope is there? And does anyone know the answer or what the precise quote actually is?
County Championship cricket 2026 fixtures, dates and full match schedule | Cricket News | Sky Sports
Musing on Easter and the start of the cricket season, I asked Google AI who said: ‘I can never walk down the nave of Westminster Abbey without wondering whether it would take spin.’
First of all, it said Sarah Ferguson and gave me a lot of guff about her wedding to the Windsor formerly known as Prince.
I pointed out that taking spin was a cricketing term so it offered me Shane Warne (a spin bowler). When I doubted that, it said Ted Dexter (not a spin bowler). I again demurred so it swore the answer was Richie Benaud (a spin bowler).
If artificial intelligence is this stupid, what hope is there? And does anyone know the answer or what the precise quote actually is?
County Championship cricket 2026 fixtures, dates and full match schedule | Cricket News | Sky Sports
Saturday, March 14, 2026
Today Worcestershire, tomorrow the country?
Nigel Farage’s Reform party took over Worcestershire County Council promising to ‘reduce waste and cut taxes’.
Now they are increasing council tax by nine per cent, Mr Farage wishes they hadn’t won control of the county because it was already bankrupt and the massive increase isn’t his party’s fault.
Today Worcestershire… tomorrow the whole country? In a few years’ time Prime Minister Farage may be revealing record tax rises for the whole of Britain and accusing other people for his failure:
‘Don’t blame me for the financial crisis. We just inherited it from those terrible Tories and that awful Labour lot.’
This week, he said: ‘Worcestershire, I have to say, we took minority control of a virtually bankrupt council, I wish we hadn't bothered.’
I do hope we don’t hear him saying much the same thing on the steps of 10 Downing Street in due course.
Now they are increasing council tax by nine per cent, Mr Farage wishes they hadn’t won control of the county because it was already bankrupt and the massive increase isn’t his party’s fault.
Today Worcestershire… tomorrow the whole country? In a few years’ time Prime Minister Farage may be revealing record tax rises for the whole of Britain and accusing other people for his failure:
‘Don’t blame me for the financial crisis. We just inherited it from those terrible Tories and that awful Labour lot.’
This week, he said: ‘Worcestershire, I have to say, we took minority control of a virtually bankrupt council, I wish we hadn't bothered.’
I do hope we don’t hear him saying much the same thing on the steps of 10 Downing Street in due course.
Thursday, March 05, 2026
Regime change - does it actually work?
It’s all very well swooping in and arresting Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela or bombing the life out of Persia’s Ayatollah Khamenei but what next?
We might all want to see Vlad Putin dead and buried but someone worse could quite easily succeed him.
While no-one would wish to see Sir Keir Starmer extinguished completely, the growing likelihood that he will be replaced is not something to imagine with equanimity.
Without a General Election – and why should we have one given the Tories’ unattractive record of regicide? – if Starmer goes, we’re bound to get someone even worse.
The only solution his party can come up with to restore its popularity is a new leader and a wealth tax which would merely hasten the flight of Britain’s wealth-creators for foreign shores.
My own nightmare scenario is Angela Rayner as PM and Ed Miliband as Chancellor but others can doubtless envisage something equally catastrophic.
Sir Keir’s days are numbered. Soon enough they will get rid of him. But taking out the leader is not the answer unless there’s a clear plan for a better the future. In Britain, as in Venezuela and Persia, there isn’t.
We might all want to see Vlad Putin dead and buried but someone worse could quite easily succeed him.
While no-one would wish to see Sir Keir Starmer extinguished completely, the growing likelihood that he will be replaced is not something to imagine with equanimity.
Without a General Election – and why should we have one given the Tories’ unattractive record of regicide? – if Starmer goes, we’re bound to get someone even worse.
The only solution his party can come up with to restore its popularity is a new leader and a wealth tax which would merely hasten the flight of Britain’s wealth-creators for foreign shores.
My own nightmare scenario is Angela Rayner as PM and Ed Miliband as Chancellor but others can doubtless envisage something equally catastrophic.
Sir Keir’s days are numbered. Soon enough they will get rid of him. But taking out the leader is not the answer unless there’s a clear plan for a better the future. In Britain, as in Venezuela and Persia, there isn’t.
Friday, February 20, 2026
Why we need the Monarchy
The BBC and Channel 4, among others, are enthusiastically exploiting the plight of the Windsor formerly known as Prince to whip up anti-Royal sentiment in a bid to rid us of the Monarchy.
They must be careful what they wish for. Get rid of the Monarchy and hark what discord follows. An elected President? Then where does that leave Parliament and the Prime Minister?
We would require the complete re-writing of our unwritten constitution if that was a serious option. But who could we possibly trust to come up with a viable solution? We could end up like America or France – or even Russia or China.
We could supposedly elect someone without much power but even in Ireland the President has real power. What if she exercised it against the wishes of the incumbent Government? An elected President would certainly have more justification for political interference than an hereditary Monarch and you could easily imagine circumstances where she set herself up in opposition to her Government.
Instead, we could have an appointed President, chosen from among the ‘great and good’. They would almost certainly be the favoured nominee of the ruling party. Peter Mandelson might have been candidate for such an office not so long ago. And how could a political appointee possibly be a unifying force?
Our history and national identity rely on having a Monarchy. We did get rid of it once and it was followed by chaos and dictatorship which ended in everyone agreeing the only thing to do was restore Charles II.
Every country needs a Head of State, someone to represent the nation at home and abroad, and someone above the machinations of politicians. No matter how bad things seem for the Royal Family today, surely we have to agree the Monarchy is the least worst option.
The choice is simple: God Save the King or God Help Britain.
The Man Who Invented The News
We would require the complete re-writing of our unwritten constitution if that was a serious option. But who could we possibly trust to come up with a viable solution? We could end up like America or France – or even Russia or China.
We could supposedly elect someone without much power but even in Ireland the President has real power. What if she exercised it against the wishes of the incumbent Government? An elected President would certainly have more justification for political interference than an hereditary Monarch and you could easily imagine circumstances where she set herself up in opposition to her Government.
Instead, we could have an appointed President, chosen from among the ‘great and good’. They would almost certainly be the favoured nominee of the ruling party. Peter Mandelson might have been candidate for such an office not so long ago. And how could a political appointee possibly be a unifying force?
Our history and national identity rely on having a Monarchy. We did get rid of it once and it was followed by chaos and dictatorship which ended in everyone agreeing the only thing to do was restore Charles II.
Every country needs a Head of State, someone to represent the nation at home and abroad, and someone above the machinations of politicians. No matter how bad things seem for the Royal Family today, surely we have to agree the Monarchy is the least worst option.
The choice is simple: God Save the King or God Help Britain.
The Man Who Invented The News
Tuesday, February 17, 2026
Not much Reform going on here
While I think we can all agree democracy is a good idea, the restoration of the franchise in Keir Starmer’s latest U-turn has led to lots of excited talk of a Reform landslide.
As someone who has flirted with the idea of backing Nigel Farage’s party, I thought it would be worth checking out how it’s been doing in the 14 areas where Reform has control of local authority finances.
The results are massively disappointing, suggesting all the talk about Reform cutting out waste, supporting hard-pressed local taxpayers etc is just so much political guff.
As the cliché goes: politicians are all the same. Bearing in mind that a rise of five per cent or more requires special Government permission, these are the rises proposed by Reform-led councils:
Derbyshire County Council: 4.9 per cent
Doncaster Council: 4.99 per cent
Durham County Council: 1.99 per cent
Kent County Council: 3.99 per cent
Lancashire County Council: 4.99 per cent
Lincolnshire County Council: 2.99 per cent
North Northamptonshire Council: 4.99 per cent
Nottinghamshire County Council: 3.99 per cent
Staffordshire County Council 3.99 per cent
West Northamptonshire Council: 4.99 per cent
Leicestershire County Council (Minority administration): 2.99 per cent
Warwickshire County Council (Minority administration): 4.89 per cent
Worcestershire County Council (Minority administration): 9 per cent
Cornwall Council: 4.99 per cent (Largest party)
At the last local elections Reform pledged to ‘Reduce waste and cut your tax’ (Worcestershire increased councillors' allowances by 17 per cent).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEMOxwFAu7o&t=252s
As someone who has flirted with the idea of backing Nigel Farage’s party, I thought it would be worth checking out how it’s been doing in the 14 areas where Reform has control of local authority finances.
The results are massively disappointing, suggesting all the talk about Reform cutting out waste, supporting hard-pressed local taxpayers etc is just so much political guff.
As the cliché goes: politicians are all the same. Bearing in mind that a rise of five per cent or more requires special Government permission, these are the rises proposed by Reform-led councils:
Derbyshire County Council: 4.9 per cent
Doncaster Council: 4.99 per cent
Durham County Council: 1.99 per cent
Kent County Council: 3.99 per cent
Lancashire County Council: 4.99 per cent
Lincolnshire County Council: 2.99 per cent
North Northamptonshire Council: 4.99 per cent
Nottinghamshire County Council: 3.99 per cent
Staffordshire County Council 3.99 per cent
West Northamptonshire Council: 4.99 per cent
Leicestershire County Council (Minority administration): 2.99 per cent
Warwickshire County Council (Minority administration): 4.89 per cent
Worcestershire County Council (Minority administration): 9 per cent
Cornwall Council: 4.99 per cent (Largest party)
At the last local elections Reform pledged to ‘Reduce waste and cut your tax’ (Worcestershire increased councillors' allowances by 17 per cent).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEMOxwFAu7o&t=252s
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