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Lib Dems join peerage frenzy after campaigning for Lords reform

Posted on by Jimmy Nicholls
Westminster Old Palace Yard, 1911 by Charles Flower

The Liberal Democrats scooped up a raft of honours and peerages on Thursday for MPs kicked out of Parliament in the general election and donors to the party, despite previously campaigning to turn the Lords into an elected body.

Chief among the new lords is former business secretary Vince Cable, whose defenestration from his Commons seat in Twickenham at the general election by 2,000 votes was seen by many as the apex of the party’s destruction on that night.

He is joined by deputy leader and former Gordon MP Malcolm Bruce, former Berwick-upon-Tweed MP Alan Beith, former Hazel Grove MP Andrew Stunell, and former Bath MP Don Foster, all of whom stepped down before the general election, thus avoiding the rout the other members suffered.

Lynne Featherstone, who held her Commons seat in Hornsey and Wood Green for a decade until she lost by more than 10,000 votes to Labour MP Catherine West earlier this year, will also be made a peer.

Also recognised in the honours was Danny Alexander, second to chancellor George Osborne throughout the coalition government, who was turfed out by more than 10,000 vote in his Commons seat in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, but will now be a knight.

Such appointments will fuel suspicion that since its reform under Labour prime minister Tony Blair the Lords and the honours system is regularly abused to empower politicians rejected by voters, as well as invite allegations of hypocrisy upon the Liberal Democrats.

Government guidelines state the wider honours system is intended to recognised those that “made achievements in public life” or “committed themselves to serving and helping Britain”, though ostensibly it recognises those that helped whichever parties happened to be in power at the time.

In a statement Tim Farron, leader of the Lib Dems, said:

“Liberal Democrats are committed to root and branch reform of the House of Lords. Today’s appointments introduce a new wave of Lib Dems determined to fight for change.”

Among the benefits of being a Lord are a £150 or £300 stipend that can be claimed for attending a session in the chamber, as well as the opportunity to influence and delay legislation as it passes up from the Commons for review.

At present the Lords numbers 781, making it the second largest legislative body behind the National People’s Congress in China, a rubber stamping chamber that numbers 2,987, for a nation of more than 1.3bn people.

With these additional peers the Lords will number 826, for a nation of 64m.

Image Credit – Westminster Old Palace Yard, 1911 by Charles Flower

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Jackboot May bans Tyler the Creator from UK in latest free speech clampdown

Posted on by Jimmy Nicholls
Tyler the Creator in Pomona, California, by demxx

Theresa May banned the rapper Tyler the Creator from entering Britain for up to five years this week in the Home Office’s latest attack on freedom of speech.

In a letter to the artist’s manager Christian Clancy, the home secretary claimed lyrics from Tyler’s early albums Bastard (2009) and Goblin (2011) “encourages violence and intolerance of homosexuality” and “fosters hatred with views that seek to provoke others to terrorist acts”, despite reportedly acknowledging the lyrics were written from the perspective of an alter ego.

Taking to Twitter Tyler announced cancellations in a number of British cities, apologising to fans:

Tyler has been to Britain more than 20 times in the last five years, according to his manager, who said the ban was part of “a broader issue of free speech” and failed to note changes in his client’s views since recording those albums.

“I’m not defending his old lyrics,” Clancy said. “To be honest they make me cringe, but I stand beside him because of who he actually is.

“There’s a lot to absorb and understand, but while he gets painted as some sort of antichrist I want to make sure people know the facts, which are that he hasn’t delved into those lyrics in years – he writes songs about cars and spreading your wings.”

He also speculated, unconvincingly, that Tyler’s race might have factored into the decision.

A spokesperson for Jackboot May defended the home secretary’s right to exclude those whose presence is not “conducive to the public good” – whatever that means.

The case of Tyler follows the banning of the dating coach Julien Blanc from entering the country at the end of last year over material he posted online that campaigners labelled racist and sexist.

In an interview with American broadcaster CNN, Blanc defended himself, saying jokes had been taken out of context and that the spin on his words was not in line with what he taught.

Clancy’s full response to Tyler’s banning can be viewed below:

http://thephuckery.tumblr.com/post/127650317172/tyler-uk

Image Credit – Tyler the Creator in Pomona, California, by demxx

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28 percent of Corbyn supporters think ‘world is controlled by secretive elite’

Posted on by Jimmy Nicholls
Illuminati Eye Re Black by Wendelin Jacober

Some 28 percent of those likely to vote for hard leftist Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour leadership election strongly agreed with the view that “the world is controlled by a secretive elite.”

Those backing the North Islington MP are more likely to describe themselves as “dreamers”, oppose being told what to do and welcome change than those opting for the other three candidates in the election, according to data from the pollster YouGov.

Labour leadership attitudes survey, August 2015, YouGov

Commenting on these specific findings, which were taken outside of the context of the Labour leadership election, Freddie Sayers, editor-in-chief of YouGov, said:

At first, the loose positivity of being a ‘dreamer’ seems to clash with the almost militant-sounding statements that the ‘world is controlled by a secretive elite’ and ‘I don’t like being told what to do.’ But in the context of a perceived political elite who have defined a permissible ‘centre-ground’ and who reject as extremist any ideas outside it, it makes perfect sense. It’s not necessarily about specific policies – they are intuitively more attracted to non-conformist alternatives and Jeremy Corbyn appeals to their broader world view.

Other findings from YouGov’s polling, most of which took place in the first week of August, confirmed that Corbyn’s backers were generally poorer, more leftwing and more likely to get their news through social media than supporters of Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall.

Policies Corbyn’s lot strongly backed included utility nationalisation (86 percent), greater redistribution of wealth (85 percent), and less private sector involvement in healthcare (84 percent).

Almost half disapproved of Royal Air Force (RAF) involvement bombing of Islamic State, two-fifths think university tuition should be entirely paid by the government, and almost two-thirds oppose the British royal family (the only sensible view – Ed).

Rather bemusingly, 18 percent of all the Labour voters polled by YouGov did not claim to be interested in politics, and 15 percent did not describe themselves as leftwing, with a small segment seeing themselves as rightwing or centre-right.

A full breakdown of the results can be seen here.

Image Credit – Illuminati Eye Re Black by Wendelin Jacober, cropped by the Right Dishonourable

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Ukip civil war looms on London mayoral election

Posted on by Jimmy Nicholls
Nigel Farage in May 2008, by Euro Realist Newsletter

Trouble appears to be brewing within Ukip as a squabble threatens to break out over who will stand for the party in the upcoming London mayoral election due to take place next year.

Insiders within the party are briefing the press that Kipper leader Nigel Farage is hoping to block deputy chair Suzanne Evans in favour of a more pliable candidate and culture spokesman Peter Whittle, in the latest evidence Nige is unwilling to relinquish control of the party.

Central to this scheme, first reported by the Spectator, is the use of a central committee for vetting candidates which replaced a one-member-one-vote system, with the panellists Chris Bruni-Lowe, Paul Oakden and Mick McGough said to be loyal to Farage.

As one “senior Ukip insider” put it: “It looks like a stitch-up, and smells like a stitch up. I just hope it isn’t one.”

In response an anonymous party source claimed that the previous voting system was a “disaster”, leading to a “shambolic” 2012 London mayoral campaign that ended with Ukip failing to get its name on the ballot paper.

This oversight occurred after the clown doing the admin for Ukip candidate Lawrence Webb signed him up under “Fresh Choice for London”. Ukip ended up second-last in a field of seven, with a mere 2 percent of the vote.

The Farage defender added that it would be be strange if Farage did not have loyalists on the panel, given he is the leader.

Suzanne Evans is the bookies’ favourite to take over from Farage in the event he resigns without immediately rejoining the party, as he did in the wake of the general election despite promising to quit if he failed to win a seat in the Commons.

She said it was a “shame” that the one-member-one-vote system had been dropped, but optimistically added she had “trust” that the panel had the party’s interests at heart rather than Nige’s.

Quelle différence?

Update: Contacted by the Right Dishonourable to comment on the story, Kipper head office staffer David Challice said: “This is a nonsense story invented by political journalists who are fed up writing about Jeremy Corbyn. Please ignore it. We are.”

Image Credit – Nigel Farage in May 2008, by Euro Realist Newsletter

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115-year-old Bum Fluff to vote in Labour leadership election

Posted on by Jimmy Nicholls
Lyndon Johnson in March 1964, by Arnold Newman, White House Press Office

Concerns over Labour’s vetting process for voting in its leadership election are likely to take another hike after the party reportedly approved the application of a mysterious 115-year-old called “Mr Bum Fluff”.

The decision to grant the centenarian a ballot came even as the party rejected the musician Brian Eno, Kensington and Chelsea News reported, several weeks after he came out in favour of hard leftist Jeremy Corbyn.

A Mr ‘bum’ Fluff no less! #labourshambles

A photo posted by catherinefaulks (@catherinefaulks) on

Given the oldest Briton is thought to be a Gladys Hooper, a mere 112, it seems fair to guess a mistake has been made.

Other joke candidates thought to have attempted to make it through the vetting process include Lyndon Johnson, the president of America from 1963 to ’69, and tennis player Serena Williams, according to Labour MP Stephen Pound.

Claims of shenanigans in the election follow a surge of registered support for Labour, which is expecting some 550,000 people to have a vote in its election.

As thousands signed up to vote concerns were raised, particularly by Blairites, that the election was being hijacked by hard left voters looking to vote for Corbyn, as well as mischievous Tories who wished to vote for him in a bid to damage the party’s electoral prospects.

Eno joins a number of prominent figures in being rejected for the vote, including comedian Mark Steel, science writer Marcus Chown and the trade unionist Mark Serwotka.

Image Credit – Lyndon Johnson in March 1964, by Arnold Newman, White House Press Office