Monthly Archives: August 2019

Aug 28

BloJo Has Found His MoJo

I hope that those who voted Leave – you know, that extra 1.9% of the population, feel satisfied that BORIS JOHNSON, less a prime minister and more a prime dickhead, has asked for – and got – a full suspension of Parliament throughout the whole of September and half of October, in a move blatantly designed, however his spin doctors sugar it up, to stop MPs voting against leaving the EU without a deal in place on October 31.
Oh, sure, if you get what you want, you’re happy that democracy is to be suspended for six weeks so that Boris can fulfil his own political ambition. But what happens if this happened to prevent something you wanted, like more money for the NHS, for schools, roads, or to stop a bypass being built over your house or something?
Because BloJo KNOWS that any attempt to push through leaving the EU without a deal is going to be met with resistance from his colleagues, he simply shut it down so that he can get his own way. What’s next? What happens if and when he faces losing another vote? Another suspension of Parliament? This is FASCISM on the march, ladies and gentlemen, but our population is too frightened of missing the next episode of Strictly Come Dancing to do anything about it!
Leave voters, you voted leave for reasons which, I feel sure, could not have included getting an unelected Prime Minister prepared to push through his unpopular policy in an undemocratic way, did you?  Because if you did, then this is only the start.
This move was this afternoon called a “constitutional outrage” by the Speaker of the House of Commons – the Speaker! – the one who traditionally never comments on political matters and certainly never has taken sides.  This may be the first time in my lifetime that the Speaker has waded in on a political issue – particularly in such a forthright and passionate way.
This is the end of my faith, or what was left of it, in British democracy.  Did you, Leave voters, vote for the end of peace in Northern Ireland?  For company after company to leave British shores?  For the economy to potentially collapse?  For countries of the world to turn against us, rip up their trade deals (apart from Boris’ mirror image Donald J. Chump) and go with someone cheaper?  For the European Union to make decisions which could potentially affect Great Britain in a negative way without our input/veto?  Indeed, for the breakup of the UK as Scotland votes in a second referendum to Leave?  You can have them, you know.
If Jeremy Corbyn does not step up now and take action to stop this, then he is not fit to hold the office of opposition leader.  I hate to say it about someone whose election to the job I supported wholeheartedly, but this is the test of all tests for any leader, especially an opposition one, and he has got to pass it or resign. x
Aug 12

Hong Kong Gone…

This will be a short rant today, I hear you both jumping with joy.

Hong Kong, once a British outpost, but handed back to the Chinese government back in 1997, has erupted in a series of protests, at first peaceful but, thanks to the heavy-handedness of the Chinese law enforcement, has begun to turn very violent indeed.

Violence is not something I can condone.  On any level, for any justification.  A protest must be peaceful and vocal in my view, and if that doesn’t work, other non-violent methods of protest can be used, such as strike action, or withdrawal of labour or services on some level or other, whether great or small.  Whatever works that doesn’t involve injuring or killing someone, or use of any weapon that can do same.

Remember that, despite many advances in recent years in terms of manufacturing, industry, finance and such, China is still run by a secretive, authoritarian, post-Mao ‘Communist’ regime.  They have a president, currently Xi Jinping, who is nothing more than a figurehead for the anonymous National People’s Congress.  Indeed, the President figures third in the state hierarchy in terms of power in government.  The Prime Minister, or Premier, currently Li Keqiang, is fourth in the power structure.

There is still a local government in Hong Kong, and apparently, when the handover happened, the island was allowed to be governed autonomously for fifty years after the handover date, which means effectively until July 1, 2047.  However, the Chinese government is still the absolute ruling authority in cases of any dispute.

So, in April 2019, the Hong Kong authorities introduced a Bill which stated that anyone accused of a crime against mainland China can automatically be extradited there.  This pissed a lot of people off, as the general view was that journalists, students and political activists could be at risk of an unfair trial and possible violent treatment under the Chinese court system, itself monitored by that government as described above.

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s head honcho, big cheese, numero uno, actually went ahead and pulled the Bill in July, but only temporarily; protests are still going ahead because residents want it taken away completely.

And who can blame them?

But, in goes law enforcement, with their riot shields, their tasers, guns, and other weapons, in an attempt to crush the rebellion as quickly as possible.  It didn’t work.

Riots are emerging at airports, train stations and all sorts of places in the colony.  And good for the people of Hong Kong.  As long as they don’t so much as throw a punch, I’m all for it.  And the police have got to lay off.  Stand there and supervise, by all means, but not launch in with their riot gear – that simply invites violence.  Let’s be friends – even among fellow citizens.  Imagine how effective non-violent protests could one day be. x