News Round-Up
- “U.K.’s irresistible urge to elevate the trolls” – Don’t feed the trolls. It’s a piece of advice that goes back to the earliest days of social media, and it remains solid, says Dan Hannan in the Washington Examiner, referring to the trolls who abused the England football players.
- “Wolf whistling and catcalling could become crimes” – Priti Patel will unveil plans for a national police lead officer to combat violence against women and girls, reports the Mail.
“Dominic Cummings claims he considered a COUP to get rid of Boris” – The U.K. PM’s former chief aide unleashed his latest blizzard of complaints about his old boss during a chat with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, reports the Mail. - “Lord Sumption changes his mind on vaccine passports – The Post” – In his interview with UnHerd back in March of this year, former Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Sumption upset many of his libertarian fans by coming out in favour of vaccine passports. In his interview with Amol Rajan on the Today programme on Tuesday, Lord Sumption seemed to have changed his mind.
- “SARAH VINE: My old friend Dom seems hellbent on destroying former boss” – “I have known Dom on and off for many years, almost two decades, in fact,” says Sarah Vine in the Mail. He is a man of great political passion and possesses a brilliant mind. Too brilliant, sometimes.”
- “One in five NHS Covid app users have turned OFF contact-tracing” – The new YouGov survey shows a fifth of Covid app users have either turned off their bluetooth of their mobile phones – essentially stopping its contact-tracing function, says the Mail.
- “‘Plausible’ evidence that Covid may have been circulating in Italy in October 2019” – Researchers say findings are “interesting” but conclusive evidence of widespread early infection is still needed, the Telegraph reports.
- “A ‘problematic’ artwork row proves the Tories can be as illiberal as the next social-justice warrior” – Pressure from local councillors to remove an Essex art installation is the worst kind of hypocrisy from the so-called party of free speech, says Ella Whelan in the Telegraph.
- “Evidence on mask efficacy is still patchy. It’s time to move past these Covid comfort blankets” – Continued adherence to face coverings and lockdowns ignores the real harm they cause, says Joanna Blythman in the Grocer, food journalist and author of Swallow This
- “Tucker Carlson: We’re allowed to ask questions and demand answers” – Tucker Carlson tells Americans they should not be shamed into not asking questions about the coronavirus vaccine, as bureaucrats worry about a “pandemic of the unvaccinated”.
- “How ‘decolonisation’ starts a culture war” – Most people support efforts to broaden the university curriculum as long as it is not termed “decolonisation”, a survey has found, according to the Times.
- “Labour should back bill on free speech” – A letter in the Guardian from Michael Meadowcroft on why the party’s opposition to the legislation is counterproductive.
- “Border officials told not to make Covid checks on green and amber list arrivals” – Officers in England no longer have to verify whether new arrivals have received a negative Covid test, according to the Guardian.
- “Freedom of speech is under attack” – Barrister Francis Hoar, a lockdown sceptic, has written a paper for Laurence Fox’s Reclaim Party about how to strengthen free speech protections in British law.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
“U.K.’s irresistible urge to elevate the trolls” – Don’t feed the trolls. It’s a piece of advice that goes back to the earliest days of social media, and it remains solid, says Dan Hannan, referring to the trolls who abused the England football players. On the face of it this was a remarkably naive piece by Hannan. “Don’t feed the trolls” is advice given to those who might unwittingly encourage trolls and provoke more trolling, by arguing with them or getting angry with them. But in the case of “racist abuse”, this was more a matter of “antiracists” exploiting the supposed trolls to push their ideological and personal agendas. Most likely a significant proportion of those “racist” messages were posted by antiracists seeking to provide ammunition and outrage to power their own ambitions. A study a few years back in the US found less than a third of “hate crimes” were genuine, and in this case the preceding row about “taking the knee” had clearly primed antiracists to exploit any such behaviour. Hate Crime Hoaxes Are More Common Than You Think “A minority of this minority insulted the three black players who had missed their goals in racist language. Attacking… Read more »
Oikophobia is by far the biggest form of racism in this country.
It’s all racism. They might call it ‘anti’ racism but, much like the ‘anti’ fascists, proponents of these ideologies seem to think it’s a good idea to take on the characteristics and tactics of the very thing they claim to be fighting against
Anti-fascists are communists – they rile against anything that even barely resembles the tenets of fascism – which is usually conservatism in western society.
The problem is that ‘fascism’ is such a poorly defined term. Common parlance would assume fascism to mean ‘far-right authoritarianism’ but Communist governments can be, and often are, also ‘fascist’.
I say ‘problem’. It’s no problem to Antifa because ‘fascist’ to them simply means ‘anything I don’t like or don’t agree with’
Racial agitation is heavily funded and supported in the UK (and across America and Europe). Follow the money, it goes back to the same financiers that are funding LGBT movements, funding Extinction Rebellion, pro-abortion, pro-euthanasia, and of course, pro-‘vaccine’/lockdown, etc.
All these movements are rapidly ripping apart the fabric of our society and deconstructing British culture as it was pre-Tony Blair. Freedom of speech is in its death throes. Civil liberty is in its death throe. We’re witnessing something akin to the Red Revolution in Russia, or the Weimer Republic in Germany.
It’s worse in the US, though. There they are getting organised streetfights between leftist agitators and patriots along the lines they had in Germany in the 1920s (albeit so far on a much lower level), and for a similar reason – the authorities have failed to control the violence of the left (see the”mostly peaceful” BLM riots (“demonstrations”) they’ve had over there for months).
But where the US goes, we are likely to follow.
If they keep pushing, the results will be unpleasant for all concerned.
Worse in a way, but arguably better in another, in so far as there is now a strong pushback from those who feel they are being backed into a corner.
I’m not entirely sure about the wisdom of organised streetfights, though.
I think it won’t end well. I don’t see any way in which both sides can come out with a win, so one side or the other will either need to back down/compromise, or will eventually be brutally defeated.
“Worse in a way, but arguably better in another, in so far as there is now a strong pushback from those who feel they are being backed into a corner“
Absolutely
“I’m not entirely sure about the wisdom of organised streetfights, though.“
Violence is almost always the worst policy, apart from giving in to violence. In the US there have been places where the rule of law all but ended and leftist thugs “policed” the streets. We haven’t reached that point here. Hopefully we won’t.
“I think it won’t end well. I don’t see any way in which both sides can come out with a win, so one side or the other will either need to back down/compromise, or will eventually be brutally defeated.”
The push is coming from the identitarian left. They are the ones aggressively seeking to silence dissent, render peaceful resistance impossible, and radically change society. If they keep pushing, the end can only be civil war.
Hopefully they can be backed down before that point.
“Hopefully they can be backed down before that point.” So far, what we’ve done is concede more and more. It probably started as a reaction to actual serious instutitional racism, and somewhere got lost. I think now some people still believe in all of the maddest stuff in this area, but many in political circles and among the general public just go along with it because they hope that if they concede enough then the whole horrible thing will go away. That’s not working out too well.
It’s happening here too. I was reading an article a few days ago about African warfare in Glasgow, where gangs of black men are seen walking around the highstreets carrying large machetes on full display. Video footage shows them attacking one another.
I used to meet friends in Newcastle for social drinks but that became less frequent due to the constant aggression and attempts of intimidation from large groups of black lads who hang around the entrances to shops and takeaways. It was clear that each time we met, the groups would be bigger than last time and their confidence was therefor increased. Police just walk on by…
Regarding the BLM riots (remember, this movement is funded, it’s not organic/grass-roots), something to pay attention to is the fact they target essential supplies and loot small independent businesses, while largely ignoring the large retailers.
Why do they do this if they’re only concerned about racial injustice?
Are you trying to win the Pullitzer for political fantasy?
Why Rick, because I don’t share your personal view of the world? I see you splashing your political views (which I disagree with, but you’re entitled to them) every day – and yes, I think you’re very politically ignorant.
Jog on.
Basically, James, because your analysis doesn’t fit the complexities of reality, but just follows received unwisdom. I’m not asking you to share my view of the world – which I actually don’t promulgate here in any general way, although I do comment on bits of bollocks that I read by those who use the site as a vehicle for various political obsessions. So – you might well correctly diagnose that I’m not a Tory or an adherent to simplistic free-market delusions when I just put right warped comments about this shit-show patently having more to do with that Party and wider neoliberism rather than ‘communism’ or ‘socialism’, and that these obsessions with outdated political categories totally miss the point and the fundamental issues about the current rise of totalitarianism. My acid comment was about the political/historical ignorance in making a parallel with a ‘red revolution’ etc. It doesn’t base itself on any political view – just history and language – i.e the fact that it’s simply nonsense. The Weimar Republic? What’s that to do with the price of fish? Apart from being the prior situation to the Nazi take-over, where there are parallels to be made in terms of mass… Read more »
Basically, James, because your analysis doesn’t fit the complexities of reality Wasting no time with the insults as always, Rick. I’m not asking you to share my view of the world – which I actually don’t promulgate here in any general way Bullshit. You spout your political views here every day and attack with ad hominem anyone you disagree with. Therefore, you are demanding others share your view. although I do comment on bits of bollocks that I read by those who use the site as a vehicle for various political obsessions How generous of you to take time out of your day moderate this website to fit your own political views. So – you might well correctly diagnose that I’m not a Tory or an adherent to simplistic free-market delusions when I just put right warped comments about this shit-show patently having more to do with that Party and wider neoliberism rather than ‘communism’ or ‘socialism’ You’re not a Tory? I would never have guessed (don’t have enough fingers to count with my simplistic brain, the number of times you attack anyone showing signs of being a Tory). Ironically, you are massively simplifying this shitshow by saying it is… Read more »
““Anti-fascists are communists”
I mean : WTF? That comment is so crass as to be from Planet Zog.”
One thing we know for certain organised “anti-fascists” aren’t is fighters against fascism. They’ve gone comprehensively AWOL in the face of the medico-fascism of the past 16 months, and have always generally been supporters of eco-fascism.
All my life “anti-fascists” have been throwing bricks at people who aren’t remotely fascist – from Thatcher to Farage and Trump, and anyone who dared to speak up for them, merely because those people effectively resisted their political agendas.
In the US recently they have been throwing bricks and firebombs at people refusing to kowtow to the lies underpinning the evil BLM movement. Again, not remotely fascist, just anybody who dares to disrespect their dogmas by saying something like “all lives matter”.
Free market economics is both correct and the exact opposite of Kim Jong Johnson’s economic policy.
Also, socialism, in all forms, is totalitarian, that includes both Fascism and Communism.
Antifa take their name, flag and tactics from Communist paramilitaries in Weimar Germany.
You are talking about a group originally founded and funded by Soviets to sow discord and division in Weimar Germany.
Mighty ironic for you to claim everyone else is historically ignorant
What about this then:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9806517/Journalists-face-14-years-prison-embarrassing-Government-proposed-law-change.html
Especially in view of this:
https://facts4eu.org/news/2021_jul_ofcom_off_free_speech
When will we see a ‘proper’ Ministry of Propaganda? After all, there are surely some MPs who need a ministerial job, no?
The Johnson Junta keep coming out with policies better suited to North Korea…
Kim Il Johnson will be announcing that Juche will be his new economic policy.
Reading the curiously un-sceptical wackypedia entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juche is quite hysterical if the regime there wasn’t so toxic to it’s country.
Wouldn’t that be the Ministry of Truth? Jacinda Ardern could be a top adviser!
I still cannot believe TY called Boris Johnson “more sympathetic” in another article. Look at the damage the man has inflicted. Just look at it!
Follow the money?
the ramblings of cummings imply boris was against lockdown
i don’t know what I would have done as PM with literally everyone around me screeching for lockdowns. I don’t know what churchill would have done
not excusing boris at all – its where the buck stops
Churchill was pretty much a lone voice calling the Nazi threat for what it was in the 30s. He stood his ground and that is why he is Churchill and Johnson is Johnson.
Churchill didn’t have SAGE!
The great personal irony of all this for Johnson – he’s always said he wanted to be Churchill, and unlike the vast majority of us he was actually presented with a genuine opportunity to achieve his dream, in March 2020. All he had to do was resist the pressure to pursue zero covid lunacy, and hold to the Swedish route.
He blew it, and I think on some level he knows that (as these comments Cummings is leaking suggest).
Given the colossal harm he has presided over, I hope he bastes in bitter regrets for the rest of his life.
yes. all he had to do was follow the plan. he worships churchill but is utterly spineless himself. he will kick himself for the rest of his days.
the only thing I can say positive is that he’s probably better than starmer
“he will kick himself for the rest of his days”
I doubt it
Hope springs eternal ….
No – that should be OUR task.
“the only thing I can say positive is that he’s probably better than starmer“
And Corbyn.
https://labouroutlook.org/2021/01/30/socialist-campaign-group-calls-for-urgent-new-strategy-to-save-lives-zerocovid-covid19uk/
And Gove, I think. Not sure how covid-insane other senior “Conservatives” are.
Yep – and then bastes in Hell till the end of time.
“Churchill was pretty much a lone voice calling the Nazi threat for what it was “
No he wasn’t. Those who went and fought in Spain, putting themselves on the line, were ahead of the game, for instance.
The British establishment up to and including the monarchy, was, however, to a large extent, complicit and laid back about fascism. As now.
… and, it should be remembered that initially Churchill supported the fascists in Italy and Spain, although credit where credit is due – he did see the error of his ways. But he was no singular hero of the cause.
Those who fought in Spain were communists.
Cummings is just trying to protect Boris with the base. It’s all theatre
my wife thinks this – ie Cummings slagging off Boris is just about making Boris look like the sole voice of reason and that he will come out of it better (I mean its just 80 year olds dying, why destroy a country for that – what we all think)
my only question is how does Cummings benefit? He comes out of it looking terrible – is he being paid?
Possibly. Cummings sort of became a hate figure when he violated the restrictions he pushed for and wanted everyone else to follow, just like megatwat Neil Ferguson, so I guess he figures he has nothing to lose.
I just wonder whether they are that organised. they are a bunch of morons. cummings throwing away the pandemic response plan and replacing it with some scribbles on a white board. its just so stupid.
i think maybe cummings is a bitter twisted twat who is slagging boris off but it makes boris look good – and that’s all!
uptick for megatwat
Why? Cummings clearly believes the “Conservative” base supported (and still support) lockdowns and all the rest of the panicker nonsense that he pushed.
I understand the argument being made by those who see this as all aimed at boosting Johnson’s popularity, and I suspect that’s the effect it will have, but I don’t think that’s the effect the likes of Cummings think it will have.
Basically I’m going for cockup over conspiracy on this one.
The simplest explanation is that Cummings is bitter about being pushed out, partly because that’s a natural human reaction and partly because he has been deprived of the chance to cover himself in glory by managing some huge technocratic operation to defeat covid.
Yes, and that’s the one I’m going with on this, atm.
I would have selected a balanced panel of well-respected scientists, excluding any with a very poor record of giving medical advice around new diseases!
Is it really though….
https://www.thenational.scot/news/18370585.toby-youngs-fawning-spectator-piece-boris-will-make-sick/
Priti Patel, you can’t bring in laws to counter free speech or behavioural anomalies. Change in unacceptable behaviour comes down to awareness education, discussion (and probably evolution!); even if that does sound wokish!
Very few people actually believe in free speech. They just say they do and think they do. Certainly the Conservative Party doesn’t.
“Awareness education”. Sounds ominous. Not sure I would trust any formal body with delivering that. As a parent I brought up my children not to gratuitously offend people, but equally to have thick skins and not obsess with what other people thought or said about them.
I think if governments think they need to micro-regulate human behavioural norms, beyond the long-established basic prohibitions on murder, rape, assault, theft etc, then they are exceeding their brief and it will lead to misery, and to a civilisation of infants. Which is where we are going.
Exactly…but where we have been for a long time. And a lot of folk seem to enjoy being micro-managed. The more complex society becomes, the more folk ‘need’ to abdicate responsibility over to another.
Yes, I think it’s a funny life to want someone to tell you what to do all the time but whatever floats your boat – as long as you don’t insist that I get told what to do along with you…
Sorry…should have been a comma after awareness!!
Ah, OK. “Education” on its own still sounds a bit ominous, depending on who is doing the educating….
Its an all encompassing term that has been used and abused by various, nefarious proponents of ‘re-education’ camps. But normally we all go though ‘education’, and it’s something that continues (or should) throughout life. My dog’s training does not stop after puppyhood (!!!??!!)
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1001358/Variants_of_Concern_VOC_Technical_Briefing_18.pdf
Page 12 Delta Scariant CFR is 0.2 %
“‘Plausible’ evidence that Covid may have been circulating in Italy in October 2019” – Researchers say findings are “interesting” but conclusive evidence of widespread early infection is still needed. There are many other studies on antibodies in 2019 blood samples, virus fragments in ’19 sewage samples samples and investigations into Wuhan lab leak that suggests that virus was spread around the globe in Q4 of 2019 (or earlier). I find plausible that spikes of excess deaths in spring 2020 in western Europe & US were caused by the virus. I’m still waiting for definite evidence that it was not due to unusual low mortality in 2019 and winter 2019/20 which would leave many people (close to death) alive, coupled with mass panic and chaos in hospitals, nursing homes and society in general (and overuse of ventilators). The apparent correlation of c19 official deaths with excess deaths in spring 2020 is not enough. The correlation is not so clear for winter 2020/21, a lot of c19 overcounting was done when official c19 deaths and excess deaths are compared. If such a large mistake was made in winter 2020/21, it could have been made in spring 2020 as well. ONS weekly plots… Read more »
I have found compelling evidence that SARS-CoV-2 may have been circulating in the U.K. in the last quarter of 2019. This is based on patients seen in an urgent care setting with symptoms that were later attributed to CoViD19. There is a peak in respiratory admissions across the country during that same period reducing in February/March 2020. I sent a copy of this research to my MP, who has forwarded it to PHE and several government departments for comment.
The increased excess deaths occurred in April, of these the majority were “covid deaths”, however a significant proportion were not as people failed to go to hospital when they needed to. Also in February-April people were discharged back to care homes although medically “fit” they could have been infected. A significant number of infections were nosocomial, up to 40%. This suggests that the virus was present amongst the hospital population significantly earlier than previously thought.
It only became a problem in January 2020 because that is when WHO and China raised the alarm. Italy was next, they closed down because they had advisers from China. The rest is history.
Thanks.
Last march I first wrote about an unexplained deaths spike in the weekly death figures of week 2/3 january 2020 – no one has ever explained this. I think the virus was clearly circulating from the end of November in the UK.
I’ve mentioned it before but there was something nasty going around our office in December 2019, I remember recoiling from sick colleagues with URIs and commenting on just how many people were sick.
My partner was in band where all members came down with a “super-flu” in November 2019. She said it was the illest she’d ever been and one member of the band had a stroke as a result. If that wasn’t Covid I would be amazed.
I am totally amazed that you have an MP who not only read what you sent but did something about it. You are a rare and lucky person.
lots of evidence it was around late 2019
I think this was variant #1 – nasty even for middle aged people – I know 4 people in their 40s-50s hospitalised winter 2019/2020 – not very infectious
variant #2 came back from italy in the spring – very infectious but only mortal to geriatrics
the delta variant has a cfr less than flu
So a progression of decreasing virulence and increasing infectiousness, towards the long established optimum in humans represented by the colds and influenzas.
Who’da thunk, eh?
yep, standard procedure
I had Covid in January last year, although I didn’t know it at the time, and I have tested positive (twice) for antibodies.
This follows one of our directors returning from a visit to Wuhan, where many of our suppliers are, in late November, and many others at work were ill before Christmas 2019.
All those that have been vaccinated (I have not) that were also ill at the time, had much worse side effects from the vaccines than those that weren’t ill. The director that visited Wuhan was off work for two weeks following his first jab.
If I understood John correctly (now and from one of his previous comments several weeks ago), if nobody knew about covid19, and nobody did anything and life just carried on as usual, there would be no spring 2020 spike of excess deaths in wEurope and US. The excess deaths were “c19 deaths” in a sense that it was the virus that “finished of” many frail people, but the reason id did so was not due to its natural circulation and infectiveness but bcs of actions that were put in place to “contain it” (ironic and sad). It is now pretty much recognized that NYC had so many excess deaths (more than others) in large part bcs Cuomo ordered patients from hospitals to nursing homes. Similar thing would happen if you did the same thing with frail people in hopsitals and nursing homes for any other ILI virus. The virus would be “the last drop” but it would never infect so many if life just carried on as normal. It wasn’t the new variant or border closers (eEurope) or anything like that. If the virus was never discovered and panic created around it, there would be no noticeable excess deaths (for… Read more »
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/07/21/vaccine-passports-conspiracy-against-freedom/
Probably ATL tomorrow.
My elder granddaughter has given up on going to university despite having 5 offers.
Her younger sister is due to start 6th form college in September, but will she ?
These situations are now the norm throughout the whole country.
Still; the government/consultants/advisors and most of all the maskateers,collaborators and sheep think that this is protecting and safeguarding the country and it’s and our future.
Much more of this madness and there will not be any future at all.
The article by Sarah Vine (the woman who allegedly didn’t know that ‘Bakewell’ is a place and not just a tart) is riveting.
It unwittingly describes an environment of black holes where brains should be (some might argue ’twas always thus), and the utter delusionary self-regard of this galaxy of emptiness, where Cummings is still regarded as a ‘genius’ (substitute ‘clever idiot’ and you have the truth).
The insights are accidental, and unintended from someone who still sees the shaping of Cameron’s education policy by ex-hubby and Cummings as a work of worth. You’ve got to love the parallels (contradicted by other acts that were allegedly grasped by the infinitely malleableJohnson):
“The closest analogy to this pandemic is World War II”
Not even close, scribbler Sarah. You need to search out some momentous cock-up, instead. Suez, perhaps? A self-inflicted wound.
The damage done is a bit like WW2. I suspect she’s comparing covid to Hitler. The parallel is sadly wrong and the actual enemy in this “war” is her estranged husband and his cohorts/ilk.
Possibly the best comparisons are with the great bubbles of the past, in terms of sheer mass irrationality.
Perhaps a scaled up version of the Darien Project that contributed to the end of Scotland as an independent state, but with added external economic damage..
Tarts?Takes one to know one,
One pathetic MP on politics today (BBC2) actually stated that “if a fellow MP sat next to me without a mask,I would leave the chamber”.
WORDS FAIL ME!!!
On Prime minister’s question time, I noticed that while quite a number of mp’s on the government side were maskless, I could not see a single one on the opposition benches.
Speaks volumes!
PS: Never voted tory in over 50 years so hardly a Conservative supporter.
Just saying it as I saw it.