The People’s Vote March, London, UK, October 20, 2018
At last! A proper protest! There hasn’t been a march like this since the Iraq war of 2003, and it’s taken Brexit to get apathetic Britain off its collective arse and onto the streets. Police estimates are that anything up to 700,000 people took part in yesterday’s protest, and if true that’s an excellent turnout.
But this morning, true to form, Spy News was asking, does the march make a second vote on Brexit more likely? In and of itself, no. British governments have a long history of not giving in to protesters in a heartbeat. But what the march does is send a very clear message to an already precarious government that Brexit is an issue that could see them fall if they are not too careful.
Tories (Conservatives) are notoriously divided on the subject of Europe and the EU. And, as it turns out, so is the rest of the country. But one thing public protests do is demonstrate very clearly the sitting government’s relationship with its voters. The People’s March of 2018 vs. The Iraq War March of 2003 demonstrates this very clearly indeed.
In 2003, the sitting government was formed by the Labour Party with warmonger Tony Blair as its prime minister. In the most recent election at that time, in 2001, Labour had won power with a majority of 167 seats, twelve down from 1997, but still healthy enough for Blair to push through anything he wanted without the need for trivial matters such as the support of the country. Remember, our democracy is founded on this method of politics. Certain MPs take on the role of what is known as a ‘whip’ – i.e., someone who goes to all their party colleagues and tells them to vote according to the party line, or they will be in big trouble.
So: Party Leader says we’re going this way, it becomes policy, whips force the party members to vote that way, and bang! an instant majority is formed; which is how, in 2003, the UK followed George W. Bush into Iraq to avenge Bush’s father, on the pretext of there being (nonexistent) weapons of mass destruction. In other words, the 2003 Iraq War Protest had no chance of convincing the government.
As for yesterday’s march? This is not such a slam dunk for the Tories. Their majority in Parliament is slim; so slim, in fact, that they have had to call in Northern Irish party DUP to shore up the numbers and get anything they want through on a vote… except the DUP, ultra-hard right-wingers that they are, disagree with the Conservatives on the one issue they really could do with their help on right now: Brexit.
The DUP want Brexit, they want it hard, and they want it to hurt. It’s all a bit complicated, but The Guardian published an excellent article last Thursday to help us simpletons understand what’s going on:
So, if a ‘comprehensive trade deal’ cannot be reached by December 2020, then the EU wants there to be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic to its south and west. Effectively, that would mean Northern Ireland would stay under the single market after that date. Oh, no, say hard Brexiters such as Jacob Rees-Mogg and Boris Johnson, backed by many Tory MPs – not to mention their partners in what is, don’t forget, a coalition government, the DUP. Not only would that break up the UK, but it would inflame all sorts of arguments once again about the sovereignty of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the rest of it. Prime Minister Theresa May then proposed a proposal in which the entire UK could remain under the EU single market, but call ourselves independent of the EU if anyone asks.
Pro-Brexiters, as you might expect, didn’t like that either. It would mean, without a doubt, that after the UK becomes separate from the EU in December 2020, we would remain tied to their laws and rules beyond that date, “for the time being,” (which means forever).
DUP leader Arlene Foster is not mincing words when it comes to her views on Brexit. Phrases such as “Blood Red Lines,” and other phrases spoken by others but clearly from her point of view: “We’re going to squeeze their balls until their ears bleed,” is an eye-watering description of their determination not to let go of the Northern Ireland they fought many decades for.
Back to the March: all of the above political shenanigans means that, while Theresa May is not going to open up the office tomorrow and, first thing, dismantle Brexit; it certainly does give a clear voice to the 48% who voted to stay in Europe, a voice that she may have to listen to in the not-too-distant future.
Anjem Choudary
Anjem Choudary is what the media likes to call a “radical Muslim preacher.” He is an Islamist, a political way of pushing Islam down the throats of British people here in the UK.
This week, Choudary was released from prison, having served about half of a five-and-a-half year sentence banged up in Belmarsh for inviting others to support the Islamic terrorists ISIS (The Terrorists Formerly Known as al-Qaeda).
But in truth, whatever the media likes to call him, Anjem Choudary is nothing more than a psychotic blowhard, a loudmouth yob whose religion, which in his case is no more faith-based than it is cultural, has no real context in his rhetoric. Sure, he talks about love for “Allah” (always emphasising the second syllable), but that’s because he has to, otherwise, no-one will listen to him. He has to make it sound like a faith in God; otherwise, he will not be able to jump up and down and protest loudly about his “rights.”
Often, you hear people argue that, if Choudary and others hate Britain so much, why did he and the others come here in the first place? I have actually heard this argument used. In Choudary’s case, the reasoning is simple: you cannot deport Choudary because he is a British citizen through and through, British born and bred. He did not ‘come here,’ he was already born here. Where would you deport him to?
Choudary is a supporter, you will be surprised to learn, of the introduction of Sharia Law in the UK. This is law based on Muslim traditions and values. He is a vocal supporter of many Muslim anti-Western groups in the UK, and also claimed support for those who committed the terrorist atrocities in the USA on September 11, 2001; and in London on July 7, 2005. Yes, yes, yes… he supports those acts but you notice did not take part in them. Others did that for him.
For someone who supports radical Sharia Law, Choudary certainly led a wild life as a student, a lifestyle he now regrets. While he may have changed his values, he still got to do so, while others who are killed by ISIS and other organisations do not have that opportunity.
It is alleged that Choudary spent time recruiting members for secret Jihadist training camps in the UK and in other parts of Europe. He then took part in an unlawful rally in London, and here his problems with the law began.
Choudary is a follower, not a leader. Much of his life has been under the shadow of Omar Bakri Muhammed, a militant leader who left the UK and vowed only to return as a tourist!!! Choudary followed him to Lebanon and stayed there until they were both deported back to the UK in November 2005.
Choudary loves the attention he gets. You can see it through the smug smile that is fixed on his face during every interview he gives. Stupid television media give him the opportunity to spout his nonsense time and again. He will say things he knows will wind up his interviewer and, by extension, the British public. This is what Choudary had to say concerning his views on the UK as a potential Muslim country in 2005:
Anjem Choudary, BBC HARDtalk (8 August 2005) (Sourced off Wikipedia)
It makes one wonder what people like Choudary would do if the whole world was Muslim. He would find something to argue about – people like that always do.
Mercury, Freddie!
This week, European and Japanese space agencies launch a rocket ship, unmanned, that is going to travel to the planet Mercury, the closest planet to our sun, at a distance of some five billion miles. Because of the Sun’s gravity, the spacecraft is going to have to travel very carefully indeed in its path to its destination, involving some eight flybys on an elliptical journey.
Every space mission costs a lot of money, and this one is no exception: the simple act of sending something of this nature to a specific destination is costing the two space agencies somewhere around 1.5 billion pounds sterling. I hope they’ve saved up.
And what is it going to do when it gets there? We already know that Mercury is far too hot to entertain life; in fact, it’s even too hot to entertain the rocket that’s being sent there! The craft will never land on Mercury, it can’t; but it will do its work – including analysis of the surface rock – from space during the six times it is going to fly past the planet, hopefully dodging the unimaginably huge gravity of the Sun.
Its journey to Mercury is by no means a done deal. Between here and there are all sorts of asteroids, space debris, planets, other potential hazards, and, of course, the Sun. So, it’s going to have to tread carefully as it travels at enormous speed across the universe (that’s a great idea for a song).
And where was the Transfer Module that houses two orbiters that will do the work built? Stevenage, home of Knebworth; site of the final concert given by the band Queen, in August 1986. That seems to be a nice, fitting coincidence.
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Stephen Butler - Rant Music 