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WORD

Issue #41, Early August Edition

House of Frauds

£1

Equality Democracy Truth Courage

THE PEOPLE’S PAPER

Job losses at Pizza Express EXCEPT WOKING NO SWEAT!!!

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Early August 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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T-A-S-E-R

Rethinking British Policing – A 5 Po I

of the public, who have been This manifesto is oppressed by the present system deliberately brief, so as to for far too long, deserve. Upon make way for more nuanced close examination one will and detailed discussion and quickly recognise that these collective framing of ideas. changes will not simply benefit What is for sure; is that it’s high a minority of the population time that our political leaders but the whole of society. I must take a bold and dispassionate point out, that the ideas look again at British put forward here, are Policing and the only the beginning Criminal Justice The rest of of what will be a System. Whilst the manifesto will long continuous also resisting appear in the next road towards the tendency to edition of The WORD public safety, be seduced by and has already protection and the awesome been circulated to equal justice. power of police the country’s Chief No one should leaders to dazzle Constables have a monopoly and seduce on good ideas and with an overly undoubtedly others romanticised vision of will bring forth other welcome policing and focus them on the Incrementalism will not suggestions. This manifesto is not hard reality of racial injustice in suffice. No longer can we afford for faint-hearted evolutionists this nation. to engage in ‘look how far we but rather for a genuinely radical I therefore set out below, have come-ism’ Herein is the rethink of policing in its current outline of a manifesto for a form, which I argue is not fit for the T-A-S-E-R Model which is radical rethink of policing. I the essential purpose of racial based upon the accumulation of experience over my thirty believe, that this is what sections justice. years (Participant Observation) as an Operational Police Officer Biography a Community Organiser and former President of the National A former police officer with 30 years service. President of National Black Police Association. I say Black Police Officers Association from 2009-2013. Graduate of Mancherespectfully to those within ster University School of Law with a Masters in criminology. Served as the policing profession, that Independent Special Advisor to Tutu Foundation review into institutioit should not be for you to nal racism. determine the merits of this t has become abundantly clear that policing within the British criminal justice system is not working. For decades, trust and confidence in policing among the UK Black community has been comparatively low and for good reason. Ministry of Justice data on Race and the Criminal Justice System has consistently throughout the 21st Century shown that Black people are unjustly treated. The call from the streets in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder is, ‘We want Equal justice under the law;’ ‘We want change and we want it now’ and ‘No Justice No Peace’.

manifesto. Instead, it is for you to work for the public. Since you are supposed to police with our consent, I implore you to set aside the customary disdain for anything resembling a usurpation of your power to determine the policing dispensation. And that instead you pay attention to the cry for justice which is ringing out loud and sweeping across the globe.

You now have at the very least the opportunity to contribute something on the right side of history. To think or do otherwise will see your authority slip even further away and pave the way for future anarchy. T-A-S-E-R MODEL = Transparency Accountability Scrutiny Education Reparation Transparency.

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

Early August 2020

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Corruption comes naturally people with vivid memories of WWI, the 20s and 30s and WWII. I ought to have read more of this book. If it does nothing else it demonstrates the sheer lack of intellectualism of so many politicians today. Grey cells? What are they?

It is so embedded that it becomes invisible. During a chat with a friend the phrase ‘Corruption comes naturally to them’ came to mind as we discussed several politicians. In many cases corruption is so embedded that it becomes invisible. You have a political crisis and need to know how to respond? Mislead, fix, blame others, change the narrative, or even tell barefaced lies. TRUTH? An option. Corruption is so normal that we seldom notice it. Honesty, decency, fairness, willingness to take the blame, consideration of different views? Don’t be silly.

Having bought ‘HAROLD WILSON’, written in 2016.....a reappraisal of him by a group of people and edited by Crimes and Hickson I am reminded of so many things that we complained about back then. But his government included

Crossman? Crossland. Foot, Castle. And so many more. Let us criticise them by all means but today simple-minded Starmer could never have allowed them to be members of the Party he now controls. As for the Tories.....a joke. Please let us not write off the Wilson administrations. Just compare them with what we have had since 2010.

Starmer’s insulting behaviour Keir Starmer should apologise for his insult to Jeremy Corbyn which undermines Labour unity.

oint Manifesto Transparency For far too long, the police have been allowed to operate effectively in secret when it comes to implementing reforms. They have effectively been given free reign to ‘mark their own homework’. This can be seen in terms of duties under the Equality Act (2010) where the public have little or no insight into how they operate and how they are monitored. As a police officer, I have witnessed first hand the cavalier approach to these legal duties and the total disregard to its application at the front line of policing. This has to end. And a new era of Radical Transparency must be ushered in, whereby the public get to have maximum real-time insight into how the police, carries out its duties under the Equality Act. ‘The public

is the police and the police is the public’ has effectively become a brainwashing mantra that misleads the public and police officers into a romantic perception of the reality. This has to be addressed by opening up policing, much more to the public gaze. I propose that unless there is a compelling argument for confidentiality, police boardrooms where matters of public interest are to be discussed should be made accessible (via camera) to the public. It should not be left to the police alone to decide upon the many aspects of policing activity that in my view can and should be made transparent to the public. There must be a radical approach to this. The article is from Charles Crichlow.

THE WORD NEWSPAPER NEEDS YOUR HELP THE We are a non-profit making cooperative but still have our outgoing costs such as design, website hosting and software. Please help us maintain this left wing tabloid by going to our website at www.thewordmedia.org and subscribing. By joining together let us all fight back against the rich and powerful.

WORD

The words of Keir Starmer to Boris Johnson during this week’s last Prime Minister’s Question Time that the Labour Party is “Under New Management” are cheap and insulting to Jeremy Corbyn and deserve an apology. The orchestrated abuse of Jeremy Corbyn has been relentless and shameful since his election as leader of the

Labour Party and it is sad that Starmer gives the appearance of being sympathetic or indifferent to the vilification of Corbyn. Keir Starmer appears to have calculated that the BBC P a n o r a m a programme about anti-Semitism for which the Labour Party has apologised to former staff was his Tony Blair Clause Four moment. It does not

help to unite the Labour Party which he promised during the leadership campaign, it does not demonstrate strength of leadership but weakness, and he should apologise. M i c h a e l McGowan Former Labour MEP for Leeds from The Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire Evening Post, Financial Times, Morning Star

BBC: £38MILLION ON NEW STAFF TO CHASE OVER-75S FOR £157 LICENCE FEE PAYMENTS

TV Licencing (TVL) officials have warned they will “enforce the law” if pensioners continue to watch television without purchasing a licence.

Call centres have been set up and 800 new TV Licencing agents have been taken on. Implementing the scheme will cost £38million in its first year and around the £13million each year thereafter bringing the total to an eye-watering £90million over the next five years. Letters are being sent to 4.5 million over-75s, and those who fail to pay their TV licence fee have been warned they could face a visit from the bailiffs under Government proposals to replace the criminal sanction for nonpayment with a civil penalty.

Critics of the scheme warn such a move could cause additional anxiety to vulnerable people as private bailiffs would have a greater role in collecting the money.

TV licence enforcement process would in all likelihood lead to greater use of bailiffs to reclaim the money due and that’s one of the reasons why we are wary of any such policy shift.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK, which has campaigned to protect free licences, said: “We are aware that any decriminalisation of the

“It is hard to think of anything more distressing and frightening for an older person than to have a bailiff turn up at their front door, demanding entry.”

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Early August 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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SLICES OF SLEAZE AND CORRUPTION ALL ROUND In the last couple of months the country has seen a virtual queue of scandals and cases of corruption – and not a thing has been done about any of it. The list of actors is long and starts with the Prince of the Perves, Prince Andrew and his cringeworthy TV interview where he clumsily convinced know one that he did not know his best pal Jeffery Epstein was not a paedophile, pimp and blackmailer, along with his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. Fortunately, at the time, Epstein had handily died while in custody and Ghislaine had gone into hiding. Now she too is in custody and sealed court documents have been opened that contradict Andrew’s claims that he never had sex with under age girls pimped by the pervy pair. The Royals have effectively locked Andrew away in a cupboard in the hope we all forget about him but it is expected videos of Epstein and Maxwell’s clients will be unearthed as they were taken on behalf of various government spooks to blackmail the high and mighty. This was swiftly followed by Tory secretary of state for housing Robert Jenrick who, shortly after meeting former porn king and owner of the Daily Express, Richard Desmond, at a £12,000 a plate dinner, overturned a government inspectors refusal to allow planning permission of a multi-million pound Thames’ side luxury housing development.

Let’s not forget Dominic Cummings, the Tories’ equivalent of that old Blairite warlock Peter Mandelson. Both experts in political black magic at least Mandelson resigned (for a short time) when he was caught out. Cummings who had been caught sticking up two fingers to the Coronavirus lockdown brazened out his 200 mile family holiday jaunt with an interview of lies and excuses that came straight out of the Prince Andrew school of public relations. He even gave birth to stream of cynical jokes about eye tests. Not to be left in the shadows, our very own Clown and Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced he had made his brother Jo a member of the House of Lords along with two of the most virulent anti-Corbyn right-wing ex-

Labour MPs John Woodcock and John Mann. Even Starmer’s so-called squeaky clean anti-semitic Labour Party has had it’s share of controversies. After getting shot of the last left-winger in his shadow cabinet Rebecca Long-Bailey on the slimmest of antisemite excuses he has turned a deaf’n to arch right winger Rachel Reeves’ praise for long dead arch Tory Lady Astor a proud antisemite and an open fan of Hitler before the war. Starmer has been equally silent about another rightwinger, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Steve Reed MP who manged to come out with an alleged antisemite comment: “Is millionaire former porn-baron Desmond the puppet-master for the entire Tory cabinet? @Robert Jenrick @ PritiPatel”.

Reed claimed not to realise Desmond was a Jew and withdrew his ‘meme’ only to make a second embarassing tweet he withdrew. Everyone expected starchy Starmer to come down on hard and impose his iron rule of “antisemitism zero tolerance” which did for Long-Bailey in hours. We are still waiting! And of course the elephant in the room, the biggest, most important scandal of all for Labour, is the 851 page official report which revealed, in excruciating detail, how the party’s highly paid top officials worked and plotted to prevent a Corbyn-led party winning the 2017 General Election. Far from hunting down the 5th columnists Starmer announced an inquiry into the report headed by his chosen ‘safe hands’. In the meantime he ignored legal advice and admitted liability for infringing the plotters’ data protection rights and has paid out a reported £600,000 in costs and compensation, and by doing so totally prejudged the ongoing inquiry which is already behind schedule. Boss of Unite, the party’s most important financial backer, Len McCluskey, condemned Starmer’s ‘misuse of party funds’ and announced that Unite will be reviewing future financial support.

SOM HAP IN B

Thousan S

omething happened in the Lebanese capital city of Beirut earlier this week. An explosion at a factory was heard across a wider area which reached as far away as parts of Cyprus. Video footage shows a cloud and a plume, and a fire which burned for a long time - too big and too fierce for emergency services. The TV News cycle did its usual thing: bloodied citizens, constant reports telling us what had happened without actually telling us anything, and suggestions that the event had been triggered by an aeroplane or missile, or variously, the factory had been a fireworks factory (I’ve seen a fireworks factory go up and it isn’t like this) or badly stored ammonium nitrate, used in both the manufacture of weed killer and improvised bombs. A journalist, Mohamed Najem, speaking to the BBC said that it reminded him of the time he’d been caught up in an Israeli bombing of Lebanon in 2006. Other footage surfaced of the immediate aftermath of the incident where windows in shops and malls had been blown out and badly cut shoppers and staff. I’m always amazed that

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

Early August 2020

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METHING PPENED BEIRUT

nds injured – people dying in droves

An eye someone always expecting it witness said that seems to have surely? a camera, or a he immediately phone trained Cars were thought of acts of on disaster upended and terrorism that had sites such as the death toll happened between rises. Another these at the 2013 and 2015 very moment eye witness, Hadi it happens. They Nasrallah, said can’t have been that he immediately

thought of car bombs and other acts of war and terrorism that had happened between 2013 and 2015. The internet is full of conspiracy theories, some involving one enemy of Lebanon or another, and it seems Lebanon has more than its share of enemies, form Hezbollah to Israel to Iran. What a strange three-in-a-bed that one

The TV News cycle did its usual thing

is. Too many other factors might be significant: a verdict is expected in a trial following the 2005 killing of Rafik Hariri, onetime Prime Minister of Lebanon.

WORD

The country is attempting to come out of a serious economic situation and now this. Reports today suggest that a number of Port officials are under house arrest related to the alleged unsafe storage of an inflammable material, which for six years has been the subject of many requests to have it removed or stored more safely; the wisdom of hindsight. What is becoming clearer is that the Lebanese authorities desperately want someone to hold responsible, but have only sparse clues as to what happened or why. Seymour Griffiths

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Early August 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

NASTY NEIGHBOURS

Imagine living next door to someone who keeps moving their fence so your garden gets smaller and smaller while theirs gets bigger? Imagine if they then order you to demolish your house and make you pay for it? If you can imagine that then try and picture what it would be like to be beaten up by that neighbour for objecting to their bad behaviour? Then imagine what it would be like if your bad neighbour went round knocking on all your friends doors and beating them up too? Would you phone the police? What if the police came round and simply gave your neighbour some money then started digging up your garden themselves? Here is a map of your garden before your neigbour moved in and what it looks like now. This is a partial record of the abuse meted out by the bad neighbour and their friend the police:

wounded (including 3,374 children, of whom over 1,000 were left permanently disabled. For weeks, Iran has faced a deadly wave of explosions and fires at sensitive military and civilian sites, including one incident that caused immense damage to an important nuclear facility. No one officially knows why it’s happening or who is responsible — but many believe Israel, with the Trump administration’s tacit or even direct support, is behind it all. On 27 July 2020, explosions and exchange of fire were heard during a “security incident” at the border between the Israelioccupied Golan Heights and Lebanon. Israeli bombing of the Syrian capital Damascus overnight Thursday into Friday led to the killing of seven people, including four Iranian officers, a Syrian observatory center said.

American jets began bombing ISIL in Syria on 23 September 2014, raising U.S. involvement in the war-torn country. At least 20 targets in and around Raqqa were hit,

Relations between Israel and its neighbours were not normalised after the 1948 Arab– Israeli War. In 1956 Israel invaded the Sinai peninsula in Egypt, with one of its objectives being the reopening of the Straits of Tiran that Egypt had blocked to Israeli shipping since 1950. Israel was eventually forced to withdraw, but was guaranteed that the Straits of Tiran would remain open.

The 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict Between 2,125[20] and 2,310[18] Gazans were killed and between 10,626[18] and 10,895[51] were

The above are just a small sample of what the neighbour called Israel had done. Their friend in the police is even worse.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq was the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003

WORD

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DELAYED

REPORT UND

Russia Report Finally Arrives to an Underwhelming Reception; The 2016 “Brexit” referendum and the 2017 election were scrutinized by The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament in its “Russia Report “: (the ‘ISC’ is appointed to oversee the work of the UK intelligence community)

ierce agreed that the Report focussed criticism on the government.Yet it did nothing to implicate PM Johnson himself. In fact PM Johnson announced ‘ it has given me a clean bill of health’. Adding, that claims of Russian control of UK elections were “just froth” as he countered Labour accusations of insufficient investigative effort from the Tories. Johnson’s focus is indeed not on Russia but China can be corroborated by the sending of a UK military aircraft carrier to the maritime borders of China. The Report continued, in similar vein, to describe the Russian news Broadcaster RT as ‘biased’ and a ‘ actual and potential danger ‘: However individual presenters remained exonerated. PM Johnson disagreed that RT was a threat: born out by the drama of Johnson’s rebuke of Labour’s Kier Starmer, for wanting RT effectively banned: Starmer had asked the UK’s media regulator to pull RT’s license . Pierce found it ‘odd’ that controversial figure and archconspiracist Chris Steele appeared as an “expert witness”. Blumenthal agreed Steele had been discredited in the USA: The US Senate Judiciary Committee had, in previous investigations, revealed the inauthenticity of Steele’s sources .Thus the legitimacy of our UK Report could be said to be damaged. Pierce contrasted the

Report’ claims of foreign interference with our own governments subterfuges ” A figure called Christopher Donnelly heads the ” Integrity Initiative Think Tank “: a covert troll farm, posing as a legitimate operation. It is secretly funded by the the Foreign Office via the shadowy Institute For Statecraft. It subverts clusters of journalists, using them to meddle in the careers of EU diplomats and national security officers who are pro-Russian. This inappropriate figure gave testimonies for the Report says Blumenthal. Blumenthal points out another such figure performing his ‘designated role’ within the ‘national security establishment’ i.e. Kier Starmer. The secret services groomed and cultivated him when he was director at the crown prosecution services, he states. Questions about KS remain unanswered: Why is he enforcing the ‘antisemitism code of silence over Israeli transgressions’ against anyone who questions UK policy as the West Bank is annexed ? What was his role in the prosecution and persecution of Julian Assange ? Why did Starmer (being the head of public prosecution) meet with MI5 for informal drinks in April 2013, before the time he decided not to prosecute MI5 for committing torture. Blumenthal says now Starmer is in a political role, he can enforcing the agenda of the security sate, which is to silence any broadcaster which provides a counter-hegemonic view or platforms voices

which threaten their political imperatives. Balfe agrees on Starmer’s being a ‘new cold war’ stooge and gives as example the observation that Starmer has banned his front bench from appearing on RT. The report moots the benefits of a proposed ” Espionage Act” or “Foreign Agents Act ” for the UK. Blumenthal reminded us that America, unpleasantly, has an ‘espionage act’ ; under which journalist Assange is famously wanted in a Virginia courtroom, for the crime of spying. Obama was in fact the instigator for this trend of prosecution. He used it against a record number of whistleblowers: e.g. Geoffrey Sterling, Thomas Drake and John Kiriakou. The resultant ‘chilling effect’ on security service staff and Washington’s press staff , makes them fearful of publishing official secrets or speaking out for Assange. Blumenthal says the Espionage Act is a totally outdated concept and he is afraid for UK freedoms if we started to bring it in. Blumenthal continues: The fear of espionage had been weaponised by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: He congratulated the UK’s Foreign Secretary for blocking Huawei from 5G progress in UK. This fear of Chinese espionage being just a ruse to stymie China economically. The Report warns against Russian manipulation of journalism and media, yet, says Blumenthal , USA-UK are old hands at that. Take the uproar in the Western Press over claimed

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Early August 2020

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D RUSSIA

DERWHELMS

Three ‘expert commentators ‘ discussed the Report on Going Underground, a current-events program: l The Daily Mail Consultant Editor Andrew Pierce l Max Blumenthal director of ‘The Grayzone’ news service Lord Balfe l The Tory peer of 60 years l Afshin Rattansi was the journalist interviewing them…. Uyghur concentration camps, claims of mass killing, torture and internment of a quarter of the people by the Chinese Communist Party. Investigator Nathan Law thought this odd, so he examined the claims sources: Only two sources for these genocide type reports existed . The first was a person called Adrian Zenz: During the time of his Uyghur claims , he had never gone to China nor could he speak Mandarin. He is a RW homophobe, he is anti-diversity and ‘on a mission from God against Godless China’ as he himself says. He is the director of a RW organisation called ‘ The Victims of Communism Memorial Fund ‘ funded by Washington. His data does not stand up to scrutiny says Nathan Law. The second source of the anti-China allegations comes from the organisation called ” Human Rights Defenders ” again funded by USA government. They extrapolated witness evidence from a mere eight Uyghur persons to the entire region. The result was that incredulous claim of 250K to 1.0M being in camps. This organisation is weaponising minority ethnic perceptions to achieve geopolitical goals. The offices of ‘The World Uyghur Congress ‘ are funded by ‘ The National Endowment

for Democracy’ A USA funded QANGO which thinks in a ‘cold war language’. In Portland we see how the Presidency is interfering in public perceptions in the USA in the same way Russia is accused. Trump is using his enhanced homeland security powers to deploy the Federal Guard against peaceful protesters, to stir up a phoney culture war to attack his political opponents. Russia is accused of interference yet today we see USA’s scandalous interference in the ME: as demonstrated by the suspicious (after falling from a first floor window) death of James LeMesurier of the ‘Syrian White Hats ‘so called ‘humanitarian group’. UK and US money was funnelled into this group to establish extremist militias to foment the criminal proxy war there. LeMesurier had probably deceiving the donor governments and paid the price of his calumny. USA and UK continue funding of this organisation. Pierce was asked why Johnson had tried to delay the Report . To explain this it was pointed out that the Brexiteers in Number-10 disliked the chairman of the investigation: Dominic Grieve; Grieve was the former Attorney General who revealed, before the Brexit Bill vote, that he was going to rebel, and had previously said he would stop a no-deal Brexit even if it means Jeremy Corbyn becomes prime minister.

He said he wanted to remain in the Conservative Party to “save” it from the likes of Mr Johnson – whose rhetoric he blamed for receiving death threats.Before the vote , he said he knew he could have have the whip removed but had not been directly threatened. indeed Grieve was one of the 21 antiBrexit MP’s removed from Tory Whip last September. DG was planning to run agains Johnson’s Tory Party as an independent. Johnson delayed the report as a political snub, Pierce theorises. Pierce suggests a further source of delay could be due to MI5’s lack of cooperation. This is merely a consequence of the secrecy in operation. Evidenced by the great deal of redaction in the Report. Pierce discussed the lack of Russian names in the Report ( Only one oligarch Aaron banks was mentioned and his is not Russian ). No evidence was found that Banks was in collusion with Russia. Pierce said this is why he finds the report underwhelming. Blumenthal is also of the view that the Reports conclusions are no way near those held by “Russiagaters” in fact the Report says no evidence of election interference was found but The Report adds a ridiculous ‘let out clause ‘ by saying Theresa may and Boris Jonson did not work hard enough to find evidence. Blumenthal agreed that this was a highly political and scandalous statement to be in a security Report.

Balfe’s opinion is contrary to that in the Report with respect to RT. He says that RT has low viewing figures and would be unlikely to influence an electorate and secondly Manchester University academic researchers had examined RT in 2019 and found it to be “satisfactory and unbiased.” “ That RT could do actual and potential harm.” is a nonsense statement Balfe emphasised. Conservative Life Peer Lord Balfe MP. former member of international relations committee He discusses the findings of the Russia Report, When asked if Putins spies operate in the Lords he replied that it actually says is some Lords have business links to Russia . That is unexceptional . We must remember a Russian millionaire owns the Evening Standard a major London paper. He continued that he had spent 60 years in foreign affairs. To say Russian power is influencing Westminster as per the Report is wrong. It absolutely is not. We Peers are placed in the House of Lords give advice on new laws, due to our experience and wide interests, not how much we are lobbied by foreign powers. Balfe was asked about influences from party donors. He replied that if you are saying Johnson is a stooge of Putin because he receives a little funding from Russian individuals , that is laughable.

Balfe wants Putin Macron Johnson and Merckle to come together as a unified polity called Europe. The reason to do this is to stand up to the problem of China in the future. Russia is not the problem. The problem will be China. About Russia and Brexit: No country had anything to do with the Brexit result. It is the xenophobia of the British vs EU. I don’t blame Russia the report says MI5 did not look hard enough for interference… well its not their job to find evidence of anything influencing a vote in any election or referendum especially if they took place years ago. MI5’s job is to prevent terrorism on our streets. The Salisbury incident was such a failure that to link Russia with it does not make Russia a threat but a laughing stock. The report is either deficient or rather more of a political statement he says. An opinion is that the ISC Report says more about what it doesn’t say, than what it does. The bigger picture is about the threat to UK politics – specifically UK elections and the EU referendum – by the media, the Conservative Party, and the establishment generally. These are the real, home-grown subversives, who in many ways pose an even greater threat to our democracy.

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Early August 2020

aising the money! Every modern society has taxes, because every Government needs money to provide goods and services that are better provided communally. Our Armed Forces need forward planning and resource allocation, which would be very difficult if one had to negotiate with hundreds or thousands of part funders. Roads, bridges, railways, hospitals, schools and airports have been provided by private enterprise in the past, by public enterprise in the past, and nowadays are normally built by private enterprise commissioned by public monies. here does the money W come from? Central Government and local government spend. Where does the money come from? Much of the income of the Roman Empire came from agricultural land, mines, and businesses owned by the government (Emperor or Republic). In England the King was expected to live “of his own”, on his income from the Crown lands. It was the strains caused by the constant need for additional taxation that led to the English Civil War and the gradual transference of the King’s powers to the taxpayers. The American War of Independence was in part sparked by the financial troubles of the British Government, which forced it to impose new taxes and to increase existing taxes. The easiest taxes to collect are on international trade in goods, because that can be channeled through a few locations and tax can be demanded on the spot. If the Government raises taxes too much, there is usually a reduction in trade because the profits of trade are eaten into too much. There is also a greater temptation to evade taxation by smuggling. Both these reactions reduce the total tax income. A government can encourage or discourage particular exports and imports by the tax regime it charges. Britain helped its wool industry develop into a cloth industry by its use of taxation. Increasing the overall value of British exports and reducing imports of foreign cloth doubly helping the balance of payments. “Protectionism” can help to protect industries at home, reducing the stresses of economic collapse and unemployment. Today, Pakistan has a very high import tax on cars, because

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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THE POLITI TAX AND SP

it is relatively easy to collect. As Pakistan does not make cars or car components, the economy of Pakistan is not obviously damaged. One effect of this tax is that cars stay on the roads for years because it is cheaper to keep repairing them than to import replacements.

The General Agreement on Taxes and Tariffs (GATT) is reducing the use of import and export taxes in the belief that increased international trade is more valuable to society than import and export taxes. Internal trade can be taxed along rivers and along major roads. However, if taxes are too high there is a reduction in trade and increased use of other routes, reducing the tax income. Expenditure Taxes The advantage of a tax on expenditure is that it is relatively hidden. Much of the administration costs are borne by business rather than Government, and the tax can be targeted to protect vulnerable groups or targeted at certain spending. Excise duty on alcohol, taxes on “bad” goods like cigarettes, or on luxury goods like perfume are relatively cheap to collect and may influence the behavior of your citizens. If the taxes are raised too high, they may encourage smuggling or even revolt such as the American Whiskey Rebellion of the 1790s. If raised too high they may reduce use of the product and reduce total tax income. Significant reduction of cigarette consumption reduces current income but hopefully reduces future expense. It may be the right thing to do. Most modern societies have

developed taxes on expenditure, called sales tax or value added tax. The tax is paid by the customer as part of the price of the goods, and the merchant pays the tax to the Government. The Government can have a universal sales tax on everything, or it can discriminate. In Britain for instance biscuits and cakes are regarded as food and have nil rate VAT. Chocolate biscuits are a luxury, and are subject to full VAT. In 1999 the European Court of Justice (the EU court) ruled that Jaffa Cakes are VAT free cake and are not VAT liable chocolate biscuits. Children’s clothes do not carry VAT, but adult clothes carry VAT. Small women quite often buy clothes intended for teenagers! It would be legally possible, but politically difficult, to tax food and children’s clothes. VAT is charged on meals but not on take away or delivered food. Income Tax Income Tax was introduced as a temporary measure in 1799 to help pay for the Napoleonic Wars. It was only charged to people earning relatively high incomes. Income Tax was abolished in 1815 after the Battle of Waterloo but came back in 1842. The Pay As You Earn (PAYE) scheme was introduced in 1944. By the 1960s income tax was so high in England that in the financial year 1966-67 the marginal rate of income tax on investment income for very high earners was 136% ( income tax 41.25% plus surtax 50% plus a special one year special levy of 45%). In other years the marginal rate of tax was “only” 91.25%. An industry and culture of tax

avoidance and tax evasion grew up. Although tax levels are lower now, the tax avoidance industry and culture are still with us.

National Insurance is not strictly speaking a tax. It is a contribution towards old age pensions, unemployment pay, and invalidity benefit. The worker pays based on income, the employer pays, and the balance of these costs comes from other taxation. If you have paid National Insurance for enough full years you will be entitled to the full pension on retirement. If you have not paid enough full years your pension is reduced. National Insurance is collected through the PAYE system, to avoid having two systems dipping into the same wage. As Shakespeare said, “That which we call a rose, would by any other name smell as sweet” (Romeo and Juliet). One of the innovations of William the Conqueror was that when he dished out land to his supporters, they held it “of the Crown”. The land was subject to a requirement to provide so many knights in armour with horses for so many days a year. Towns were required to supply so many arrows a year, which were stored in the Tower of London and at other strategic locations. Villages had to supply bowmen. In many areas there was a requirement for weekly bow practice, to ensure a ready supply of bowmen. Many lords sponsored archery competitions on their estates, to make sure they had good bowmen to take to war. People who lived on the lord’s

estates were required to provide so many days paid labour each year, provide a share of the crop, and go off to war with the lord when required. They also had to pay fees to the lord when they inherited land. Those living on the King’s estates also had to pay. Over time, many of these obligations were changed into annual money payments. For a large one off sum you could become free hold, or as we now call it “freehold”. One of the complaints in Magna Carta was that the King’s servants were rapacious in their demands. Sometimes the servant demanded that a bridge be built, then took a big bribe to forget about it, and then came back next year for another big bribe. Justice Justice was another source of profit, because quite often both sides had to pay fees just to be allowed to take part in the case.

Criminal justice was also good, because of fines and the possibility of confiscating land. When a big landowner died the heir had to pay tax to come into his inheritance. If the heir was a child, the estate would be “looked after” by a trustee who would have all the income from the estate. Often he would harvest and sell all the wood just before the heir came of age. The trustee could also arrange the marriage of the child, effectively selling the child and the estate to the highest bidder. People paid the King to become a trustee. Prisoners sentenced to transportation could be sold as slaves to the American colonies or to the West Indian colonies.

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ICS OF PEND Children from workhouses could be “apprenticed” to the industrial mills in the North of England. The mill paid the workhouse or the workhouse manager. Is there some way that prisoners could earn their way to freedom? Land Tax and Head Tax Land tax in different forms existed in Saxon times, and at times has been part of the general taxation system. For much of English history local government was financed by a property tax. Now there is also a subsidy from central government. In some of our colonies we had a “head tax” where every adult male had to pay the annual tax. If he could not pay it he was imprisoned or he was made to do forced labour. Mrs Thatcher abolished “the rates” – the local taxation based on property values. She replaced it with a “head tax”, “the community charge” known as the Poll Tax. This caused riots and was one of the main reasons for her downfall. Many youngsters disappeared from the electoral roll, and some are still not on the electoral roll many years later because they are afraid of being imprisoned for back taxes. In the short term it reduced the number of anti – Conservative voters, but it galvanised many normally uninterested youngsters (and their families) to vote against the Conservatives. We are now on “Council Tax”, a tax based on the value of property. Wealth Tax Much wealth now is in assets rather than land. It seems illogical that someone with £2,000,000 in land might have to pay tax on his land even if it does not generate income, but if

he has shares or paintings they are not subject to wealth tax. The practical difficulty is that if there was a wealth tax these assets would evaporate or be held offshore. We have a Capital Gains Tax which applies to profits realised on the sale of assets. There are ways to avoid paying it or to put off paying it for decades. The government can make “one off” raids on the banks, but the banks are already reorganising themselves to minimise the tax they pay. There is a well established tax on inheritance, but it is particularly unpopular with the Conservative Government, because it tends to be paid by the rich rather than by the poor. Social Engineering There have been “hypothecated” taxes, where the money is taken for a particular purpose. The Road Tax is a tax on the ownership of vehicles, which supposedly is used for road maintenance. That link was broken many years ago. Arguably National Insurance is a hypothecated tax. Taxes on fuel, “green” taxes, special levies and so forth can be adjusted to meet social ends. The government can influence social policy by taxation and by exemptions from taxation. There used to be a Construction Industry Training Levy where a tax based on payroll was collected from all employers, but if they trained apprentices they could claim against the levy fund. Mrs Thatcher abolished that.

Early August 2020

Apprenticeships in the construction industry reduced dramatically, and now we have to import our joiners and plumbers from Poland! The production of children can be encouraged by exemptions from tax (and by payment of benefits – see Part 2 “Spending the Money”). We can encourage thrift by not taxing investment income, not taxing it at such a high rate, or giving tax incentives to save. This is in practice a subsidy to those who can afford to save from working people who cannot afford to save. A number of the famous schools – Eton Harrow etc. are run by charities and so are exempt from tax on any profit they make, and their investment income is also protected. Given that these are fee paying schools, and the fees are very high, the education of many children of rich people is subsidised by the working poor. On the positive side the state is not having to pay to educate these children. Although mortgage relief has gone, the people currently paying mortgages when I first wrote this in 2010 are benefiting substantially from the current low interest rates. There seems to be no desire in any political party to tax this “windfall” benefit. At a recent Labour Party social occasion, I mentioned that my mortgage is £500 a month less than it used to be. The person I was speaking to said that her £500 a month rent has not changed. There is no obvious reason why my windfall should not be taxed, except that to do it would be political suicide. The

National

Lottery

sometimes called “a tax on stupidity”. It is generating considerable sums for sport and the arts and for education and for social issues which otherwise would come from taxes. We tax property transactions through Stamp Duty. We have Capital Transfer Tax on inheritance and gifts. We could tax financial transactions or certain financial transactions. We tax air travel and travel using petrol and diesel. Provided we can monitor it we can tax it. We tax sanitary towels.If we wished to we could tax contraceptives or Viagra. Taxation and exemptions from taxation, personal allowances and differential rates such as the 10p tax rate all allow the Government to influence how people behave and how society works. For our own good of course. Could the NRA really object to a tax on any weapon more powerful than currently used by an American Army sniper? Sell Honours and assets? The King used to sell honours like knighthoods, baronetcies and peerages. I suspect the UK Government could raise a considerable sum by selling the Earl of New York (a village in North Yorkshire) or the Duke of Boston (a town in Lincolnshire). Of course when the heir inherited there would be a payment to make before admission to the title. Or it could just be a Life Peerage available for sale by the Government after each death. The Government can sell assets, in England called “privatisation”. The Railways

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have been nationalised, privatised, and the track nationalised again. Privatisation gives the Government cash. The investment the business needs is provided by the purchaser, who often has appropriate skills and experience. There was a problem with the sale and rent back of all the Inland Revenue local offices across the country when it was discovered that the purchaser is an offshore company that does not pay UK tax. If the sold off company does extremely well there is a complaint that it was sold off too cheap. The problem with selling assets is that you eventually run out of things to sell. The Government earns money from bridge and tunnel tolls, renting out agricultural land, and using its assets in an intelligent way. A joke about our crack Special Forces unit, the SAS, is that it makes a profit for the government because some Middle East countries use it as a palace guard or for dealing with rebellions. The Government can borrow. There are circumstances where this can be the right thing to do – to fund capital expenditure for example. When the Government is borrowing to meet money shortfalls every year it is headed for trouble. How a government chooses to raise money or not to raise money says much about its values and its wisdom. Social engineering is inevitable, so let us look at each measure to see who it helps and who it hurts and by how much.

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Tea And Social Class in England MEANWHILE HANCO One feature of English society which has always been controversial is that of class. The general assumption is that the upper class are “upper” because they have inherited wealth and do not themselves have to work. Their life is supposedly on a higher plane because they have leisure, better education, and understand the world better.

By contrast the working class work hard to avoid starvation and are at the economic mercy of the rich. One colliery owner told his colliery work force in the 1920s that if his son did not win election to Parliament in the constituency where the miners lived he would close the colliery. The son did lose, and the coal owner did close the colliery.

The upper classes, having more delicate palates, drink the more delicate teas, which generally speaking come from China or from plantations in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) or Assam specialising in the more delicate teas.

Only a few years ago, during the current century, the Barclay brothers on Sark were so cross at their candidates losing an election on Sark that they closed all their businesses on Sark for a period. This caused considerable hardship to their workers, most of whom probably supported the Barclay candidates anyway.

By contrast the working class drank thick black tea.

There are of course gradations of class, based upon income, education, life style, property ownership and the like. There are many indicators of social class such as clothing, accent, vocabulary, and conversation content.

The working class used milk. To ensure a good mix the working class would put milk in the cup first.

Outside Wales, Rugby Union is a middle and upper class sport played by amateurs. Rugby League is played to different rules by professional players, who clearly cannot be gentlemen. The followers of Rugby League and Rugby Union are socially distinct. As a socialist I regard it all as nonsense, but it is part of the society in which I live. Tea And Class Tea was at first incredibly expensive, and so only the rich could drink it. As tea became a little cheaper the middle classes could afford it, and eventually even the working classes could afford tea. Social class was indicated by which tea you drank, whether you had milk or lemon, and whether one put milk into the cup before or after the tea.

The upper classes did not use milk at all. Sometimes they would use thin slices of lemon to accentuate the delicate taste of the tea, This was at a time when ordinary working class folk rarely saw lemons because they were expensive.

The more refined drinkers would add milk to their tea in small quantities because of their delicacy of taste. The Mitfords were a famous or infamous aristocratic family who sometimes referred to unsuitable young men, potential suitors, as “M.I.F.”, (Milk In First) meaning they put milk in their tea first, displaying their lack of breeding and their lowly origins. In England now there is still a divide between those who use teabags where the manufacturer decides how much tea goes into the bag, and the better house where the household decides how much tea to put in. Elderly working class people may still use loose Indian tea, betraying their poverty and old fashioned thinking. In many parts of the UK it is quite difficult to purchase loose tea. There is even a company,

Ringtons, who deliver loose tea in tea caddies to discerning tea drinkers. One pays more of course, but Ringtons provide reliable tea of excellent quality. For many people life would be distressing without Ringtons. Is This For Real? Sadly, yes. There are people in England who will look at how you make, pour, and drink tea and draw conclusions about your social class from the observation. The upper class, drinking delicate fine teas, tended to use no sugar because sugar spoiled the taste of the tea. Working class people drinking black strong tea used milk and used sugar to improve the taste - being too coarse to use weaker or finer tea to begin with. Does one drink tea out of a fine china cup? Or out of a mug? When holding the fine teacup, does the little finger stand out like a sailing jib, or is it tucked neatly under the other fingers? Do Not Forget The Biscuits If one is drinking fine tea, one’s biscuits will tend to be thin, delicate, and not too sweet. Whereas working class tea drinkers will have thicker biscuits, sweeter, and sometimes even covered in chocolate. Really uncouth people dip their biscuit into the tea. This is a class memory of hard biscuits that needed soaking before one could bite them. What a giveaway - even lower class than “M. I. F.” You are very welcome to visit England. Foreigners are automatically lower class so you cannot lower yourselves further by how you drink your tea..

GOVERN SUPPORT FOR SHIELDIN ENDS

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hristmas is starting midnight – two hours cancelled,” seemed after the celebrations began. to be the message at 9.15 pm on July 30th I’m going nowhere; followers from ‘Health Secretary’ of this column will know that Matt Hancock to millions I’ve been self-shielding now of Muslims about to begin for 142 days, a couple more by the celebration of ‘Their the time you read this. My food Christmas’ 45 minutes later. parcels have now stopped, and At 10pm, skies over our once again I’m finding house exploded with supermarket delivery fireworks as Eidslots difficult to snare. al-Adha began. My That wasn’t how it was mate Alfie had gone supposed to work, but I out with his lovely thought I’d try ‘click and wife dressed up like collect’ from a wellBollywood stars at known supermarket MINUTES, 7pm to visit relatives on route from the HANCOCK in one of the areas Centre of our City to EMITTED HIS Hancock had done WARNING the suburb where I live. his ‘Grinch Who Stole Christmas’ routine. I’m due to relax lock-down on the 4th August just to attend Blame it on the BAME seems a meeting with my oncologist, to be the government’s new so I thought I’d collect our strategy: Leicester, Bradford, shopping on the way home. Lancashire, CleckHuddersFax, It can’t be that dangerous, I Greater Manchester (ie all of it) thought. They put it in a trolley have to stay away from friends and wheel it to your car. You

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CLAIRE FOX A USEFUL IDIOT Ex-Revolutionary Communist Party professional politician accepts a £300 plus a day place in the House of Lords. Whatever mental gymnastics this Queen of hypocrisy uses to defend herself the irony is surely there for all to see. Claire Regina Fox (born 5 June 1960) is a British writer and politician, who served as Member of the European Parliament for the North West England constituency from 2019 to 2020. She became infamous for supporting the IRA’s right to blow up innocent children in the Warrington bombing. She also supported Gary Glitter’s right to download child porn.

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These controversies seemed to do her no harm as she has been a regular guest on the proestablishment BBC. She then helped the Tories remain in power by teaming up with Thatcher-loving “divide and rule” expert, Nigel Farage to stand in the last election for the Brexit party.

Fox was rewarded with an ermine-clad, all-expenses paid for, sign-on and get your £300 a day plus seat in the house of Lords. Although she states she does still want to abolish the chamber from within. The question that needs to be asked is Fox a useful idiot or a cool, calculating, career aware, politician?

Momentum pass

no confidence call in Starmer MOMENTUM members of Sir Keir Starmer’s own Camden party have called on Labour Party National Executive Committee members to support their motion of no confidence in him.

wait for them to stand well back, and then you move the bags from the trolley to the boot. At the same time as Hancock emitted his 45 minute warning a close relative had the ‘other news’ from a senior Health and Social Care figure in the City; the many small shops, B&M, whereas our largely white North the three pubs, the coffee bars, suburbs, and the City itself, had and the post office. How far the escaped the main thrust moratorium reaches is not of the new lockknown, but it seems down, one of the that there has been biggest BAME a significant spike districts, one I in Coronavirus would travel cases, and very Blame it on through to the likely more the BAME seems hospital, had deaths, and to be the been effectively the scapegoats closed to are set to be government’s the sick and Asians again, strategy vulnerable and particularly their carers. This Muslims, out and included the supermarket about celebrating their where I would have a click and Christmas. collect order awaiting me. Eid al-Adha is a feast The order being given celebrating Sacrifice. The was that the entire district prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) was was out of bounds: the two about to sacrifice his first born supermarkets, the DIY store, son Ismail (not Isaac as Jews and

Wise

…it seems that there has been a significant spike in Coronavirus cases, and very likely more deaths; the scapegoats are set to be Asians again

Christians have it) but had a change of heart and spotted a goat that would do instead. Ibrahim never really took to Ismail, and as soon as Issac (Isaac) came along, Ismail was cast out and sold to some traders as a slave. On Eid, a goat is killed and eaten. Sacrifices are remembered, and this year the BAME Communities, and especially in our city, Muslims have died of CV19 as nurses, carers, doctors, taxi drivers, delivery drivers, and more, have tried to keep civilisation going. As in Leicester, Bradford and other towns, cities and districts they are now implicitly getting the blame. The timing of the lockdown, impossible to comply with while you’re actually at the house of the people you’re visiting is surely a cynical ploy to pass the blame for Government ineptitude onto Muslims. Patient.I

The motion accuses Starmer of failing to take immediate action against former staff whose racism, sexism, and discrimination in favour of able-bodied people was exposed in the leaked report on antisemitism. That he o v e r t u r n e d the Conference decision opposing the occupation of Kashmir; downplayed the international Black Lives Matter movement as “a moment” and called the demand to defund the police as nonsense. He kept Rachel Reeves in his shadow cabinet after she praised Lady Astor, an infamous Nazi sympathiser and antisemite; dismissed criticism of apartheid Israel as “antisemitic” and finally failed in his duty as Leader of the Opposition to hold the Tory government to account for its mishandling of the pandemic. “Starmer’s statement that he needs “unconscious bias”

training, is both an admission and misdirection: His racism has been conscious and consistent and has no place in an anti-racist party. In the process he makes racism a personal psychological problem and not a systemic social disaster. “He has brought the Labour Party into disrepute with some of its most loyal supporters, BAME communities. “Therefore M o m e n t u m Camden calls on the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party to pass a motion of No Confidence in Keir Starmer. Sam Weinstein, Secretary of the Camden Momentum, also accused Sir Starmer of “failing to hold the police accountable for deaths in police custody.” This follows earlier criticisms of him for working “closely with the police in prosecuting and convicting people who were overwhelmingly working class and disproportionately people of colour” as Director of Public Prosecutions; ordering “the fast-tracking of extradition of Julian Assange”; and attacks his support for “Zionism without qualification”.

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BIZARRE

NEWS FROM THE INTERNET

Sky Hopping A skydiver who lost his prosthetic leg during a jump has it back after a farmer spotted it in his field. Double amputee Chris Marckres, of Vermont, said “I think my adrenaline was so high and I was just so excited, I didn’t realize I had lost it.” Farmer Joe Marszalkowski said he was glad he hadn’t accidentally “sucked up” in his combine harvester.

Don’t Date Dirty Thirties A dating expert claims that women should avoid dating men in their thirties. Pointing out that men in their thirties are often “off the market”, Jana Hocking wrote: “Steer clear of anyone within the 30 to 40 year old bracket.” Hocking suggests dating men who are either younger than 30 as they’re likely to be looking for romance or those older than 40, who tend to be looking for love after a divorce. Aussie Emu Barred An Australian pub has banned two local emus for antisocial acts, including stealing food and defecating on the floor. The owner of the Yaraka Hotel in Queensland posted a sign at the entrance of the pub saying that the town’s local emus, Kevin and Carol, were no longer are allowed inside. “The main reason we’ve banned them is their droppings. They’re enormous, very large and very smelly, and they created great stains.” Said the owner Foxy Cobblers A fox has been blamed for

stealing more than 100 shoes in Berlin. Residents recently noticed the disappearance of footwear left outside their homes. One resident says he caught a fox “red-handed” with a pair of blue flip-flops in its mouth. After taking photos of the animal in the act, he later found its stash of stolen shoes. Why they left their shoes outside was not reported. Woman, 99, Becomes World’s Oldest Flight Instructor A 99-year-old woman from California broke two world records when she piloted a plane and gave a flight lesson in the air. Robina Asti became the world’s oldest flight instructor and active pilot after she gave her final flight lesson at NextGen Flight Academy at Riverside Municipal Airport. “I love getting people to experience what it’s like to lift off this Earth,” she said. Tooled Up Merseyside Apes Baboons armed with knives, screwdrivers and a chainsaw have been spotted at Knowsley Safari Park. Keepers at the zoo think some visitors are trying to help increase the notorious damage caused to vehicles by the animals by supplying weapons “for a laugh”. Professional Boozers Wine supplier Vintage Roots has announced that it is looking to pay one lucky person £250 to drink and review their plonk. To apply, you just need to post a picture of yourself with a glass

of wine on social media with relevant tags. What are you waiting for?

Predator A Big Softy Police investigating reports of a “large apex predator” on the loose in Steyning, West Sussex, discovered that it was in fact just a large stuffed toy. Last year, the RSPCA were called out to a report of a tiger being kept in a cramped cage in Exeter that also turned out to be a soft toy. Only Thins at Gym A personal trainer has provoked anger by refusing to work with “fat people” and claiming they are “lazy” and “lack self-worth”. Samantha Yardly told ITV “we need to make it more inconvenient to be obese” and described obesity as a “lifestyle choice.” She has been criticised on Twitter as “fat phobic” and “discriminatory”. Punchy Slovak A Slovakian martial artist broke a World Record by throwing 322 punches in a minute. Pavel Trusov, 25, trained for six months before officially attempting the record. Guinness rules required each punch to be a “full extension punch,” meaning his arm had to fully extend with every blow. Layoff The Cornettos Venice is limiting numbers allowed on gondolas because tourists have become increasingly heavy. The new restriction will see the maximum capacity reduced from six passengers to five.

“Over the last 10 years or so, tourists weigh more — and rather than having them step on a scale before they get on, we are limiting the number,” said the president of Venice’s Gondola Association. Academic Says Hitler Had Small Penis Adolf Hitler had a small penis, slept with his niece and liked to be defecated upon, according to a Harvard professor. Dr Henry Murray said the Nazi leader was “incapable of normal human relationships”. He also had sweaty palms and “dead eyes,” according to the professor. Huge Earthquake Fish In Mexico A 13ft fish has washed up on a Mexican beach sparking fears of an impending earthquake. The fish - known as the “earthquake fish” because they are sometimes seen days before an earthquake - were famously spotted in Japan just before the deadly Fukushima earthquake in 2011. Doorstep Dumper Police are investigating a man who was caught on CCTV defecating on the porch of a London flat. Fulham residents were horrified when pictures of the incident were posted on social media. One said: “Everyone is absolutely mortified by it.”

Good Grief Madame A man has stolen a threefoot, 40-pound dildo from a Las Vegas adult store in broad

daylight. “He just picked it up and walked out with it,” said a worker. The stolen product usually retails for $1,250 at the Deja Vu Love Boutique. Plans Sunk Plans for the first ever “floating hotel” in Wales were ruined when the venue sank. The waterfront in Swansea was to be the site of a £20-a-night hotel on a boat, with bar, restaurant, and coffee shop but the 42-metre MV Oliver Cromwell sank in the Irish Sea. “We’ve put the plans for the floating hotel on hold,” said one of team. Private Island Bought Blind A private island off the coast of Ireland with three beaches, seven houses and natural wildlife has sold for more than $6.3 million to a buyer who had not even visited the location in person. Estate agent Knight Frank said this “highlights a trend that is becoming more apparent as the impact of Covid-19 is felt and people look to purchase property or land in remote locations”. Flying Ants From Space A 50-mile-wide cloud of flying ants, so large it has been spotted by satellite, has been making its way over the UK. The vast swarm was picked up by the Met Office’s weather radar over Kent and Sussex. A spokesperson for the Met Office said there were likely to be “thousands” of ants within the swarm.

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Early August 2020

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Mad Madge Talks Across Oceans Of Time FROM BEYOND THE WALL OF LOST SPIRITS, LOOSED TEMPORARILY FROM THE HORRORS OF ETERNAL TORMENT, AUNTIE MAGGIE ANSWERS YOUR LETTERS.

AGGIE- Well here we are again readers. This week’s infernal, post life perdition saw me driving a beige Austin Allegro constantly around the M25, well I say driving but it was mostly parked in traffic or overheating in a lay-by. My passengers were Sir Michael Edwardes and ‘Red Robbo’ Robinson. Well they just bickered non stop, with Robbo ranting on “Yow are eviscerating the Prowlertariat!” and Sir Michael chuntering on about Japanese Just-in-time manufacturing methodology. Well I thought it would never end. Then the big end went on the Allegro and we had to wait for the AA. After what felt like an age a Rolls Royce pulled up driven by Freddie Laker, who offered me a lift. Well such a fine British entrepreneur coming to my rescue at long last! Even if he did get a bit ‘handsy’ and kept making coarse suggestions about his ‘undercarriage’ and the ‘rear exit.’ Anyway I must move on to this week’s blazing sack of letters, before I get chained up in nipple clamps, next to Ted Heath in a rubber Gimp

outfit, in Sir Freddie’s S&M Dungeon........ Dearest Margaret My job is to give advice to people on health matters but recently my main client has been ignoring or changing that advice. I would really like you to help me find a way of simplifying things so my client, who is not very bright, can understand. What I have told them seems logical enough to me. Here is my dumbed down instructions to my client: Always wear a muzzle in public places unless you are a dog or a special advisor. Don’t wear a muzzle when drinking in a pub as it’s quite difficult to drink with one on. Social distance from your mum unless she is given a fast food voucher or she is playing in the FA cup final. Lock yourself down if you live in a Labour voting area unless you have a knighthood. Simple! Chris from London MAGGIE- Well Christopher what you have to accept, with your fancy statistics, scientific method and compassion for fellow mankind, is that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Now to further your ‘Career’ you really need to

put the economy before the well being of the proles and riff-raff. Provide the ‘evidence’ that dearest Domenic wants to hear. And he will dictate the Government policies that even a bunch of in-bred Old Etonians, with Oxbridge degrees in Classical Greek Poetry, can parrot to the filthy masses and sound like they know what they are on about. Stay in line and you may get a little prezzy in Her Madge’s New Years bun fight, there’s a good lad. Dear Mags I am really angry at how I have been treated. My mate got me this job signing on and then I find out you only get £323 a day. Ian from Lords MAGGIE- Well Ian old bean, it’s not cricket is it (forgive the pun). As a commoner climbing the slippery pole, I am assuming you are referring to the allowances for taking your place in the House of Lords. Even as an outstanding cricketer and dope fiend, and like ‘Bitch Slapper’ Boycott, you are there for your record of right-wing bigotry in order to vote through Hard Brexit legislation, not your ball-tampering in the 70’s.

Suck it up, don your Ermine jockstrap and see it as waiting to bat, while Geoff Boycott is averaging 0.4 runs per over in a bloody heatwave. And don’t skin up a doobie or you’ll never get rid of Sir Paul McCartney, the Scouse bastard. Dear Mrs Thatcher I am finking of forming my own political party and already Rodney and Uncle Albert have joined me. What tips can you give me in getting power? Derek from Sarf Landon MAGGIE- Dewik me old china plate, best you get down the old frog and toad.......You know what, I can’t be arsed condescending in Cockney any more. If you want to start a Political Party you could do a lot worse than copy Nigel Farage, he’s as common as muck, couldn’t get in with the Tories, so he starts new parties every couple of years so he can lead it without ever being democratically elected. Now don’t be tempted to start with a manifesto, or political direction. No, start with a glib party name and nothing else, like ‘UK Independence Party’, ‘National Infidels Alliance’ or ‘Not Quite Labour’. Then if you don’t have the wit to define your policies just wing it on

social media, or pay someone to do it for you. Quite frankly in this day and age, it’s as simple as that. The electorate can only process simple concepts and slogans anyway. Dear Maggie I have just had an argument with my dad and he got all nasty and said he loved my Bro more than me. I told him he was an old fart and looked like a character from the Simpsons cartoon. He then threw me out. What do I do now? James Murdoch MAGGIEFamily businesses are always like this, pandering to the all powerful head of the family in fear of being cut out of the will. Well I think you need to be pragmatic and, not to put too fine a point on it, Murderous. Take Ghislaine for example, she encouraged her dad to take a nice boating holiday, and shock horror, she inherited enough money to hobnob with the rich and powerful and indulge her interests in ‘youth development’. You could maybe do a Lucretia Borgia and slip your dad and his young wife some amphetamines and allow their frenetic lovemaking to ‘finish him off’.

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Early August 2020

rom conversations with Americans, I have learned that many Americans know little of socialism. Socialism 101 aims to explain socialism to Americans. With information intelligent people can make up their own minds. As a socialist I am confident that readers will come to the right (or Left) conclusion. Primitive Societies In primitive societies there is rarely significant individual wealth. A hunter gatherer society has problems storing food. If the group had significant goods there would be difficulty transporting them. It is important for the tribe or group that they work cooperatively. In practice they have to share food - or some will die or become too weak to hunt or to gather. Employment does not happen. If someone develops a skill or talent they gain prestige within the group by exercising their skill. There are forms of trade between groups - meat for fish as an example, but trade is not a significant factor in tribal income. At this level of society there is no currency, but jewellery and ornament are often already important. Society is normally highly democratic for men, but because women rarely hunt or fight they are frequently not regarded as full citizens in important discussions. Nomads Nomadic peoples may follow their prey, like caribou or buffalo. Or they may catch and tame their prey, like camels cows goats and horses. It becomes possible to accumulate individual wealth, and to build up a group of family or followers dependent upon a leader. Nomads can use their surplus for trading purposes, and so increase their wealth. Their forms of wealth are limited by their capacity to carry the goods. If nomads are wealthy they become more of a target for robbers. Agriculture Eventually an agricultural society evolves. It is often possible to grow more than the household needs, generating a surplus. The surplus is not carried

about but is stored. Now capital accumulation is really possible. A successful farmer can hoard his wealth or put some of it to use in trade or manufacture. His biggest problem is physical safety from robbers or invaders. His realistic choice is to take protection from the strongest brigand, who eventually becomes the local baron or king. Everyone who has land or wealth has to pay for the protection. In return there is security. The brigand king could strip the farmer of his wealth. It makes more sense to allow the farmer to prosper, and to take an annual income. It is the difference between milking a cow and killing it.

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WHAT SOC

101 IS A

Often the brigand or King requires military service tied to ownership of land. This allows the King to raise a large force for a short campaign without having to feed this large body of men all year round. There is often a campaigning “season”, from when the crops have been planted to when the harvest needs gathering in. The King knows the troops will desert to gather their harvests, so he plans his campaign to fit in with the timings. Philip of Macedon (father of Alexander the Great) was regarded as an innovator when he developed a professional army that fought all year round. His armies could and did travel further, because they did not have to get back home to bring in the harvest. His troops were better trained and more experienced than their normal opponents. To fund the professional army the army had to keep fighting and to keep winning. Without the professional army Philip established, Alexander could not have got to Persia let alone conquer it. The pattern for most agricultural societies is a King or similar who preserves stability and peace in his realm. Everyone pays directly or indirectly towards this protection. And the King or baron also has considerable personal wealth acquired from inheritance or from conquered enemies. Was Jesus a Socialist? The Bible is of course about God, the early peoples, and

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR AN NON SOCIAL Jesus. The theme is the need to recognise and to revere God. Social commentary is geared to these needs. Part of the need is to reduce conflict and to preserve social order. The Bible was not written in 21st Century American. Jesus did not speak English. Everything we have is a translation, and often is a translation of a translation. Those who paid the translators influenced the translations to suit their needs at that time. Any statement, no matter how clear it seems, may not mean what we think it means. And the Bible being a big book, one can find passages in it to support almost any position. The Ten Commandments are partly about social order,

and largely about Man’s relationship with God. In 1 Timothy “The love of money is the root of all evil”. This is about the corrupting effect of greed, and the way greed distracts you from the worship of God. It does not say that one should not strive for wealth, but that greed should not be all consuming. In Matthew, Jesus says “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God”. At first sight this seems a vindication of a socialist position. Arguably it is a statement of the tension between the love of wealth and the love of God. Although there are many passages recognising differences between rich and poor, there is no message that these differences should be abolished on Earth. Jesus’ concern is to

bring people back to God, not to bring them to socialism. Jesus does not advocate the “trickle down” theory. His concern is to save souls and to bring Man back to God. Bringing Man to socialism is not relevant to Jesus. There is a strong Christian Socialist tradition that disagrees with me. Their view is that the strictures against the rich justify socialism. That Jesus does not like the rich, and disapproves of them and of the desire to become rich is clear evidence He is for the poor. Early Socialism For thousands of years there have been economic differences between individuals. Some were rich and many were poor. It is entirely natural that the poor envied the rich. The rich

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CIALISM

ABOUT

The previous ruling class were killed or dispossessed, although a few did manage to keep their positions and property under the new management. William dished out land to his supporters, and they were required to hold their lands together with the people on them. Castles were built as strongholds to ensure that risings could not succeed. The new land owners were required to pay taxes and to provide military service to the King. They needed to support their personal military forces, and their households. They owed no duty to the people they ruled so they tried to squeeze as much income out of their lands as possible. Their direct contacts, the local lords, had to provide payments and military service upwards, and so squeezed downwards. This could be repeated through several levels. At each level the people were trying to gain income from those below, and pay as little upwards as they could get away with. The courts were run by those above, so the courts were of little protection to those below.

LIST AMERICAN READERSHIP feared that the poor would steal from them. Slaves often revolted during the Roman Empire, despite the horrific penalties for failure.

suggested sharing the wealth. The ruler generally controlled religion and the whole power structure signed up to it because it was in their interests so to do.

Where the reason for the disparity in wealth was because of superior strength or cunning there was at least an obvious reason for the disparity. Once inherited wealth became a regular occurrence within society there were always “the undeserving rich”.

Early socialists were therefore not only rebelling against society but also against God. They risked losing their homes and livelihoods and even lives if they spoke out. They put their souls in peril. So most did not speak out. At times of dislocation and stress they might burst out.

It did not take much for the poor to mutter among themselves that they should share in the wealth. And of course that the rich did not deserve to be rich and the poor did not deserve to be poor. Religion was important to demonstrate that the wealthy deserved their wealth and that the poor were sinning if they

If they survived to have a trial their explanations were not recorded, except sometimes an explanation might be regarded as so funny that it was preserved in a letter or a record. “All men are created equal” would be thought hilariously funny. The Norman Conquest was an important historic event.

The very poor had no land, and lived as servants or slaves to those who owned or rented some land. The poorest were unimportant politically. They rarely rioted because they had nothing to riot about and they were very vulnerable to being thrown out of their livelihoods and their homes. That was the way it was. The lowest levels of land holder were continuously squeezed for income by those above. They did protest and they did sometimes riot, particularly when rents or taxes were raised. Or when food prices rose. There was a general understanding that those above held the power and the wealth, and there was nothing the little man could do about it. Landholding rules were tied to the personal status of the land holder, so if he was born a serf he could not convert to a free man. A serf who had accumulated wealth was still technically a serf, and could be robbed of his wealth more or less legally. There was no feeling that those who held wealth deserved it.

Early August 2020

It would be astonishing if in these circumstances there were not socialist mutterings. If in those days there was a thought out socialist philosophy, no written record of it survives. The nearest we have is the rhyme from John Ball the hedge priest, “When Adam delft (wove) And Eve span, Who was then The gentleman?” This was preached at the outbreak of the Peasants Revolt of 1385 and was an adaptation of an earlier poem by Richard Rolls of Hampole. From this time on there are rumblings that might be perceived as socialism. The Early Church The Early Church believed that Judgement Day and the Resurrection were imminent. Their role was to spread the message of God to save as many people as possible. Even if socialism was desirable, it was simply not relevant. In terms of persuading Kings to convert to Christianity, socialism would be a real deterrent. As the Church itself became wealthy, socialism became even less attractive. A spin off from the Church were the itinerant friars, who ministered to and were fed by the peasants. They tailored their message to their audience. When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries he released thousands of clerics who needed to eat. Most of them were unhappy about losing their comfortable living circumstances. They were now more likely to criticise modern society and the current power structure. Who was feeding them? The Black Death The Black Death was a plague that killed roughly a third of the English population. Those who owned land did not have enough labour to farm it. They tried to hold their feudal tenants to their original pre-Plague legal position. The people took their opportunity to improve their situation, by fleeing to other areas where they would be free, or negotiating new deals. The feudal aristocracy was not broken, but the low people had considerably better financial and social conditions. They wanted to protect what they had gained. Thus began - or

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continued - the struggle to assert their basic dignity as free human beings. Wat Tyler’s rebellion built on an existing political and religious ferment. Did God really support the rich? The rich and their hirelings said so. Ordinary people wished to strive for a better life for themselves but were held down by law. It is significant that in at least six locations the manorial rolls were burnt. The group who had most to gain from the arson was the land owners who were descended from slaves and serfs. Their social status was such that they were not allowed to give their children in marriage without the consent of their lord. or to buy land without the consent of their lord, who would take a significant fee for giving these consents. If the lord’s documents were destroyed, these landowners could assert a new status as free men. In Henry VI Part 2 “The first thing we do -let’s kill all the lawyers” was a quite sensible approach given the role of lawyers in supporting the wealthy against the less wealthy and the poor. That line has always received applause! Early Socialism The run up to the English Civil War was marked by a number of changes. Many towns were so large that the rulers did not know every individual and hence no longer controlled the town. There were many masterless men, who were not tied even indirectly to a lord or squire. The Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry the Eighth had cut loose many clergy, who now depended for their living on pleasing their congregations. The religious turmoil of Henry’s marriages and divorces was furthered by the religious disputes under his son Edward VI - a Protestant extremist, Mary a Catholic, Elizabeth a Protestant, James I a nominal Protestant and Charles I who believed he was anointed by God to serve as King. All this created resonances across society. The tension between the wealthier middle class who were being asked to pay for the expenses of Government, and the upper classes who denied them any right to decide policy led to a situation where many dared to say that the King and his Ministers were wrong. Once you

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Early August 2020

open these questions to debate, the unwashed rabble begin to have and to voice opinions, too. At this time religion and politics were fiercely intermixed. God spoke to so many people, but God gave rather mixed messages! The Putney Debates During the Civil War, after the King was captured, tensions arose between Parliament and the Army. The Army wanted to be paid their arrears of pay. Now that the King had been captured the Civil War was basically over. Parliament did not have the money to pay the Army and did not want to raise fresh taxes on a country damaged by years of war. Parliament wanted the Army to disband, and said the soldiers would be paid when Parliament got round to it. The soldiers did not trust Parliament, and refused to disband until they were paid. There was a village called Putney near London where the soldiers’ representatives and the commanders met to discuss what was to be done. These conversations were very wide ranging. Those who had property argued that only those with property had any stake in society. Those without money who had been fighting argued that they had put their lives at risk, and did so because they were part of society. Now they were being told their efforts had been of no value and they were of no value. Some of them had started off with property but now had none, because they had been away fighting for Parliament! The Putney Debates, recorded by a government clerk, have been published and set out the competing arguments. On the civilian side there had been many pamphlets, some of which suggested that all men were equal - and some even that women were equal with men. There were pamphlets suggesting that property should be held in common, effectively redistributing wealth to the poor. One group “The Diggers” even occupied empty land and began farming it. Although there were socialists before this time, they were largely illiterate and had few historians. From the run up to the Civil War onward there is ample documentation of socialist ideas. Some of the most radical ideas came from American colonists who were in

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Britain for various reasons.

struggle to establish trade unions. The savagery of the law created a responsive discipline and sometimes savagery by the workforce. These battles continue today.

One aspect that readers today need to know is that the call for a property qualification also sometimes came from the Left. At this time all voting was in public, so witnesses could see fair voting. With universal male suffrage the tenants servants followers and suppliers of the local lord would have to vote as the lord wished. This was profoundly undemocratic. A lord with many servants would win every election. If the poor could not vote the lord was disadvantaged. And taxes of course were levied on property, so there was an argument that only property owners should vote. So far as I am aware the phrase “No Taxation Without Representation” was not used at that time, but here is its beginnings. It probably started as “No Representation Without Taxation!”. The Regicides Once the Parliamentarians actually executed God’s anointed King, King Charles I, the political and religious floodgates opened. No longer was it clear whom God supported, What form of government was to follow? A Republic? A Monarchy - possibly Oliver Cromwell as King Oliver? The new King in exile, Charles II, played a canny game, and eventually became King by decision of Parliament. However, he could not really claim divine right when he had been put there by Parliament. Charles was a closet Catholic King of a Protestant country. His brother and heir James II was an open Catholic. James’s two daughters were married to staunch Protestants William of Orange and George of Denmark. As a daughter would eventually inherit, Protestantism was safe in the long term. When James II had a son, who obviously would be Catholic, Britain was in danger of a Catholic monarchy. The “Glorious Revolution” of 1688 overthrew James. His daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange, negotiated for the monarchy. Pre-Marxist Socialism The socialist pamphlets of the Civil War period built on a long history of socialist thought from John Ball onwards, most of which is lost to us.

Political Action The more thoughtful trade unionists quickly recognised that recurring disputes between master and men were only part of the problems that working people faced. Unemployment, poverty, lack of education, and poor housing conditions were all political issues. The inability to vote required political action, not action against the employer, to enlarge the franchise.

During the Civil War there were groups known as the Clubmen, armed groups who were not for King or for Parliament. They were protecting their localities from the Armies and taxation of both. About the only clear information we have about them is that they were usually not led by a local lord or squire but by ordinary local people. There seems to be very little information as to what their political beliefs were. The religious upheaval of the Civil War mixes in here. All we can safely say is that there were many who did not accept the local lord and the local lord’s religion, but who had their own ideas. Development of Industry The wool and cloth trades had already created considerable accumulations of capital. Foreign trade could be enormously profitable. Sugar and tobacco were profitable. Capitalism took another step forward with the joint stock company, with limited liability. Many trades began to grow, and the people in these trades realised that they had more in common with their competitors than with anyone else. Guilds and Companies of various trades were formed, and regulated admission to the trades, set prices, dictated standard terms, and were arbiters in case of dispute. The Guilds naturally paid the city council or local lord to set up and to operate. Once there was restriction on entry to a trade, apprenticeships were sought after. As the apprentice was close to unpaid he frequently lived

with the master and the master’s family. When one reads of the London apprentices rioting, one has to consider how likely it is that thousands of young men were risking the continuance of their apprenticeships by rioting against the wishes of their masters. The London apprentice riots were usually the political arm of their masters’ interests. An apprentice might be kept on at the end of his apprenticeship. He was now a journeyman, being paid by the day (French for “day” is “jour”). He would build up experience and reputation, and began to save against the day when he would in turn become a master. If there was not enough work, he might be turned away. Away from London the guilds set up recognised “tramping” routes. A journeyman would walk into town with a letter of introduction. If a local master had work for him he would work for as long as the work lasted, and then tramp to the next town. If there was no work there was at least a free meal and free overnight accommodation before the next tramp. Trade Unions In some localities there might be many people employed in a coal mine, or at a dock, or in a factory. These would be masterless men, free men, employed by the enterprise. It was natural that these people would attempt to better their conditions, or at least to resist attempts by the employer or employers to lower their wages. “Combinations” by workers were illegal, and there is a long history of political and economic

Some of this happened through what would now be called “single issue campaigns” against slavery, for education, for voting rights. Elected leaders of trade unions met locally and nationally to try to devise a strategy for achieving their common objectives. In the UK this eventually led to the foundation of the Labour Party. In the USA, because of the different experiences there, the Democrat party is not tied to the trade unions in the way that Labour still is. Many trade unions and trade unionists play an active part in the Democrat party, but the relationship is different. We Write Our Own History In both the USA and the UK the vast majority of the media is owned by a few rich people. It is not in their class interest to spread socialism. and it is in their interest to denigrate socialism and socialists. The process of denigration has been going on for over a century, and the cumulative effect is considerable. It is quite common to find people who have a degree in Economics or even in Politics but who have never studied Socialism or Marxism. It was not on offer at their university. It can be hard to obtain unbiased information about socialism. This article is not unbiased. I am a socialist and I do not pretend otherwise. Socialist Views Socialists can and often do disagree with each other. I have rarely been happy with the leadership of the Labour Party since I joined it in 1972. I joined the Labour Party because it was the largest Left grouping in Britain, and it still is. I have never seen another Left group that I wanted to join.

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ounting the writers of the Foreword and the Preface there

are

twenty

four

contributors to the book, including Gerald Kaufman and David Steel. Most of the voices are academic. Four years have passed since its publication just before David Cameron's referendum. And that gives me my first point of comparison. Asked why he wanted to be prime minister Cameron

Early August 2020

REAPPRAISING HAROLD WILSON

WORD

making. Cummings wants none of that. When Wilson spoke about the White Heat of Technology he did not envisage a Cummings kind of world. Social Fracking will leave us defenceless against those with power. Government by algorithm does not appeal to me. To some extent we live in Thatcher's world now. It was she who told us that there is no such thing as society. It was in 1962 (two years before Wilson's first

replied, "Because I think I'd be rather

administration) that C.B. Mcpherson

good at it." 'Adroit' is probably the

wrote The Political Theory of Possessive

word to best describe Wilson's

Individualism. We tend to think that Neo

handling of his referendum. 'Ham-

Liberalism was mostly promoted by

fisted' is for Cameron. But before we

people such as Freidrich Hayak in

extend the comparisons to Theresa

Chicago but McPherson had been

May and to Boris Johnson let me go

warning us about such thinking for some

back to what I think are a few basics.

time. Selfishness and greed began to mark our politics under Thatcher. By

As Leader of the Labour Party his greatest

1997 I felt that there was now a

concern was to keep it together. And yet

widespread

he started out as a Liberal and worked as

Thatcherism. In that year the Labour

research assistant to William Beveridge,

Party won the general election. Such a

a great Liberal. At one point in the book it

glad morning. Blair, however, was no

is pointed out that Wilson and Heath

Wilson and certainly he was no Nye

would have been happy working

Bevan. He was, as Simon Jenkins

together in any government led by Lloyd

categorised him, a Son of Thatcher.

revulsion

against

George. I think that he was always a Gladstonian. But he made a conscious

would

label

'Nasty Party' for the Tories, as home

Under Corbyn it seemed that at long last

decision to leave the Liberals and join

manipulation. Wilson did not hang on to

have

welcomed

some

'unprincipled' to Wilson can mean that

Secretary she reinforced that title at, I

we could blow the dust off concepts such

Labour. In doing so, and drawing upon

power. He went perhaps too early but

we descend into a 'Yes he was', No he

believe, Cameron's bidding. That is what

as equality and fairness. I know Israeli

his experience as a civil servant, he

what is the opposite of that?

wasn't' shouting match. That is why the

she brought to the job of PM and Leader

Jews who were desperate for a Corbyn

contributors to this book have, I think,

of the Party. By this time the pool of Tory

victory to counter the appalling racism

combined what I think were two strands

analysis.

Applying

the

of a Labour way of approaching

I want to make, I cannot resist, some

taken so much trouble to contextualise

Talent was almost dry. To negotiate with

and all that goes with it prevalent in their

government. One was to have a plan,

comparisons. The most prominent and

the government and the politics of the

the EU she only had the choice of

country. Wilson was plotted against,

never be without one. Plans mean

necessary comparison is with Blair. I have

time. Nevertheless, I have a label for all of

indolent fools. She could have simply

inside and outside the Labour Party. The

structures.

organisations,

often argued that Blair and New Labour

the governments since 2010. I believe

asked Parliament. The Referendum Act

plots against Corbyn were, however,

departments and public bodies must be

did government without politics. My

them to have been engaged in what I call

was not binding, it was advisory. Sixty

despicable. And so to Starmer. Here are

created. Remember the Department for

definition of politics: the inclusive

Social Fracking. Cameron tried to hide

three percent of the electorate did not

some labels. A charisma-free Blair. A

Economic Affairs? Beset by unpredicted

discussion of and consensual arrival at

this with two loudly trumpeted

vote LEAVE. But at this time Parliament,

narrow-minded Zionist. Because he

external events this was the failing

public values. For him it was an exclusive

concepts. One was Localism and the

particularly

was

chooses to misuse the word Semitic in

strand.

exercise and consent was confined to

other was Big Society. They were simply

becoming a hindrance to government

the same way as the Nazis did he is, to

very few. He did like to re-structure but

a way of withdrawing support from local

and Mr. Speaker Bercow was not

me, an unthinking visitor of racism upon

The successful strand was, however, the

the process by which he did that turned

government. Where are they now? They

disposed to allow government to do

followers of a religion. A human rights

implementation of an extensive list of

his party into an enemy. Estelle Morris as

had no substance.

what it liked. Unlike most previous

lawyer? Only for certain kinds of humans.

civilising social reforms. Attlee did not do

Secretary of State for Education tried to

governments

How about socialist? Nah!

Conservative

implement policies that matched the

In my response to (Sir) Craig Oliver's book

impossible to discern any social vision.

government would have countenanced

values of the Party as expressed at

UNLEASHING DEMONS in which

Neither was there a sense that when a PM

I said this was a response and not a

them. In the book David Steel makes sure

Conference. For Blair the comprehensive

Cameron's spin doctor tells us all about

stood up to speak there was at least some

review but I began with a positive

to celebrate the one with which he is

system had to be shaken up so that we

life in the innermost referendum bubble,

residual respect in the chamber. The

judgment and I want to end with

most associated, Abortion Law Reform.

got Faith Schools, Specialist Schools and

I formed the view that it was an internal

contrast with Wilson is simply

another. For me, the book was

Among the reforms was what Wilson

Academies. To what values did he attach

Tory Party matter and that it was all about

enormous.

unputdownable and valuable. You need

probably regarded as his greatest

his changes? They were not values. They

choosing the next Head Prefect or

Achievement, The Open University.

were empty advertising slogans such as

President of Guild. The electorate were

I shall leave Thatcher for a while. Now I

you need to be constantly thinking about

Perhaps we should count that as a 'plan'

Progress, Modernisation and Choice.

merely to be played with. Democracy?

want to say something about what

the present with the help of sound

that worked.

Frenetic activity masqueraded as

More like Shamocracy! When Wilson

appear to be the intentions of our current

descriptions and judgements on the past.

progress. I regret that the serious energies

strove to keep his Party together it was for

government. Its Social Fracking urges are

The Harold Wilson Story is important

The Labour Party of those days was full

of Gordon Brown were not displayed

a purpose beyond the wish to retain

clear for all to see. Dominic Cummings

today. Overall the contributors to the

of giants. Wilson managed them. Much

within a Wilson-like government.

personal position and power.

does think in terms of structure but as in

book look favourably upon him. And I

de-structure.

agree.

much

New

and

of his management meant manipulation,

the

Commons,

was

becoming

the past to make sense of the present and

Imperfectly

not

hence the accusation that he lacked

A warning: discussion of politicians

And then came Theresa May. Having

Parliament, the Civil Service and Local

principles. I like the values of Corbyn but

invites labelling. Labelling hinders

many years ago popularised the phrase

Government bring humanity to decision-

Cliff Jones

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WORD

PETER GREEN IS DEAD AND IT HAS HIT ME LIKE A HAMMER BLOW

Peter

was the best singer, harmonica-player, guitarist, and even slide player in the band

…it is a tribute to his brilliance that his music is still played on television, covered by other artists, and remembered by listeners of a certain vintage

ounder member of

“Fleetwood Mac;” Danny Kirwan

LSD, or ‘Acid’ and took him away to

solitude while children threw

Fleetwood Mac, Peter

joined to become a second Peter

play something Spencer describes

stones at the house, and finally

and

Green, died on 25th

Green and together their guitars

as loose and unstructured, but

grew his fingernails so long that he

Kirwan, in the second half of the

July 2020 aged 73. He

harmonised, wove, and meandered

which Peter seemed to like. He was

couldn’t play guitar at all.

1960s; it is a tribute to his brilliance

was one of three guitarists I

through tune after tune. Jeremy

never the same again, and wanted

consider to have been the

Spencer as slide guitar player could

to quit the music business, play for

It wasn’t until 1979 that he released

television, covered by other artists,

greatest exponents of electric

add texture to the over-all sound.

free, give the money away, lose the

In the Skies, which was much more

and remembered by listeners of a

blues guitar in the twentieth

Although Peter was the best singer,

lifestyle, and in 1970 he left the

like him, and quite spiritually

certain vintage.

century. The other two were BB

harmonica-player, guitarist, and

band, releasing an album called The

charged. A handful more albums

Musicians of all ages loved and love

King

Gary

even slide player in the band, others

End of the Game, which was loose

followed, including one with his

his music; it’s an interesting

Moore, who moved up to third to

were encouraged to write and to

and unstructured. Many feel it is

band Kolors.

anecdote that his gold-top Gibson

replace Eric Clapton.

perform to their strengths. Indeed,

best forgotten.

(naturally)

and

on the third album ‘Then Play On,’

that his music is still played on

Les Paul had something special Soon he disappeared from the

about one of the pickups, and it was

Peter, born Peter Allen Greenbaum

Peter wrote just five (magnificent)

Peter’s willingness to take this

public eye once more, before

suspected

on 29th October 1946 also replaced

numbers, to seven written by Danny.

psychedelic substance might have

forming The Peter Green Splinter

deliberately or accidentally altered

Eric in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers

that

Peter

had

been a consequence of an earlier

Group in the mid to late 1990s, and

its timbre while cleaning the

It was when the band were in

Acid trip after which he wrote The

recording live performances of

pickup. At any rate it sounded

Munich to promote that

Green Manalishi (with the Two-

authentic and traditional blues

amazing. Gary Moore, a fan, loved it

album that bandmates

Pronged Crown) which stands even

covers on acoustic guitars with

and Peter attempted to give him the

Jeremy Spencer and The Green formed “Peter Mick Fleetwood Manalishi (with the Two-Pronged Crown) described the hiGreen’s Fleetwood which stands even Mac Featuring jacking of Green by today as a Jeremy Spencer” malevolent forces who masterpiece

today as a masterpiece. The band

people who liked him and wanted

instrument; Gary insisted on paying

went on without Green, and he

to play with him.

for it and they settled on the price

which

in around 1966, then was gently

moved

aside

when

Clapton

returned.

Green

soon

became

He wrote

gave him a massive dose of

went on after a fashion without

Green had paid for it years before -

them, but descended into a fog of

Peter is most famous for the electric

mental illness and confusion,

blues he performed with Mick

worked as a grave digger, lived in

Fleetwood, John McVie, Spencer,

£100! Rest in Peace old love.

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Left vs Right will not save it O

The fight to save the NHS (as with

much time and effort has

parties, especially as all three major

rational discussion, because the

enough to not give anyone a reason

so maximise the impact of our

been lost attacking the other side,

parties have played a role in

public are often put off even

to stop listening to us.

efforts, which will then evolve the

rather than actually trying to

dismantling the health service over

listening to us because we've

highlight things that the general

the last forty years or so.

accepted our label, or worse, we've

We need to get across the fact that

labelled ourselves.

everyone is affected.

ver the years, especially

anti-something. This simplistic

across to as many people as

So, we need to be conscious of what

in campaigning circles, so

all public services) goes beyond

view is incredibly damaging to any

possible, and we need to be smart

we say, how we say it, and in doing

public desperately need to know

conversation and give us the best

about, and when falling in to that

In political debate now, it seems

narrative of left/right, we actually

that you have to be on one side or

Our NHS is in real peril, and we need

Less well off people will be denied

reduce our effectiveness.

the other, or you must be pro or

to get our message (to nationalise)

care, and the more wealthy may

chance of saving our beloved NHS. Colin Crilly / South London campaigner

well be paying for treatments they

(Our NHS is in real peril, and we

don't actually require (as is often the

need to get our message (to

case in the U.S.).

nationalise) across to as many people as possible)

Support the Support Service National Independent Living Service proposed

Asset stripping the NHS

PFI's - A ploy to asset strip our health service

commented that the Covid-19

Copious reports have emerged over

crisis had shone a "very harsh

recent years suggesting ways to fix

spotlight" on the "resilience" of

the social care crisis. Very few of

the “care system”. The NHS chief

these considered the views of social

executive urged government to

care service users themselves.

“resolve once and for all to

Disabled campaigners from across

actually properly resource and

England and Wales nevertheless

reform the way in which social care works

forged ahead with developing their own vision for the

in this country."

future of a National

ne major driver of pri-

The use of PFI has been a major

funds, banks and insurers have re-

vatisation

and

out-

driver in the loss of beds in the

ceived assured, high levels of

The

sourcing

within

the

NHS, contributing to bottlenecks

profit, or ‘predictable, contract-re-

within social

NHS has been the use of private

in A&E and hence to longer waiting

lated cash flows’ as the ratings

care is not a

support

finance to build, maintain and

times for ambulances.

agency Moody’s describes them.

newly

provided free at the

Profits frequently end up in tax

discovered

havens.

problem.

service hospitals. There are over 120 Private Finance Initiative

For some Trusts PFI payments rep-

(PFI) contracts currently operat-

resent over 10% of their net in-

ing in hospitals in the UK.

come. While about 40% of that ser-

Independent Living crisis

Support

It is time to end the scandal.

Social

point of delivery like the NHS. It’s an

Directors of Adult

vices the debt, the rest is payment

Service

where social care

Services,

council leaders, think tanks

ambitious

proposal

when compared to the failing, dehumanising system in

Borrowing privately means higher

for services outsourced under the

You can find one proposal on how

and disabled campaigners have

place at present. Without it,

interest rates: using government

contracts. Such services include

to do this here:

consistently voiced the year on year

disabled people will continue to live

borrowing, as happened histori-

maintenance, cleaning, laundry

https://tinyurl.com/y4jzljcj

damage caused by funding cuts

as second-class citizens.

cally, would have at least halved

and catering. The workforce are

the cost to the NHS. Hospitals are

usually on lower rates of pay and

Helen Mercer / Economics lecturer

presented as an older people’s issue.

Ellen Clifford - Author of The War

now saddled with burdensome PFI

worse

and campaigner (London)

In fact, one third of social care

on Disabled People (published by

debts on buildings whose con-

examples of low standards have

service users are working age

Zed Books)

struction quality has been poor,

arisen.

conditions

and

many

fire safety being a major issue sometimes forcing ward closures.

Meanwhile, private investment

since 2010. Too often social care is

(There are over 120 Private Finance

disabled people, with over half of

Initiative (PFI) contracts currently

social care expenditure spent on

(The crisis within social care is not a

operating in hospitals in the UK)

support for people in this age group.

newly discovered problem)

THE

www.thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Early August 2020

WORD

Women who made a difference

alala Yousafzai's fight

few years earlier President Zia ul-Haq

dicial Executions from 1998 to 2004,

to add to her disgrace. She was beaten

stroke her fight for justice, women's

for human rights in

under military rule had brought in se-

and as the UN Special Rapporteur on

along with other participants.

rights, religious tolerance, worker's

Pakistan has been rec-

vere hudood punishments (extreme

Freedom of Religion and Belief from

ognised world wide, she is the fu-

interpretation of Sharia law). She

2004 to 2010.

ture. However Pakistan, and the

helped girls raped by their bosses,

world, lost a tenacious fighter for

facing flogging for fornication, not

human rights and democracy on February 11th. 2018 when Asma Jilani Jehangir died Jahangir was born in January 1952 into middle class Pashtun family. Her

rights and democracy worldwide, but On 5 November 2007 over 500 law-

especially in Pakistan. She believed

yers, opposition politicians and

Pakistan had to reform because it

There was a price to pay for speaking

human rights activists were arrested,

“cannot live in isolation. We cannot re-

only defending them but later setting

out. Particularly after defending a 14-

including Asma Jahangir. In an e-mail

main shackled while other women

up a shelter for them. If she missed a

year-old Christian boy, accused of

from her house arrest, where she has

progress.”

call to her office she would always re-

blasphemy, ultimately winning the

been placed for 90 days, Ms Jahangir

turn it as often she was the only per-

case in 1995. A mob at the High Court

regretted that General Musharraf had

Her work and bravery have been rec-

son in the country victims thought

vandalised her car, assaulted her and

'lost his marbles'.

ognised world wide with too many

they could turn to in need.

her driver. Jahangir and her family

mother was one of few Muslim

awards to list. Tributes have poured in

have been attacked, taken hostage,

She continued to

for this diminutive, brave fighter for

women to receive higher education

In 1980, Jahangir and her sister, Hina

had their home broken into and re-

her death

and ran her own clothing business.

Jilani, got together with fellow activ-

ceived death threats ever since, but

from a

Her father, Malik, was a civil servant,

ists and lawyers to form the first law

she continued her battle for justice.

before entering politics when he re-

firm established by women in Pakis-

tired, but frequently fell foul of re-

tan. They also formed the Women’s

In the mid-1980s, the Zia-ul-Haq-ap-

pressive dictatorships. He was im-

Action Forum (WAF), a group cam-

pointed Parliament passed a resol-

prisoned on several occasions for his

paigning against Pakistan's discrimi-

ution claiming that Jahangir had

towards up-

outspoken views, which included de-

natory legislation, most notably

blasphemed and she should be

holding rule

nouncing the Pakistani government

against the Proposed Law of Evi-

sentenced to death. She was

for genocide during their military ac-

dence, where the value of a woman's

found not guilty of blasphemy.

democ-

tion in what is now Bangladesh.

testimony was reduced to half that of

Jehangir inherited her parent's concern for human rights, even at school

prime minister of Pakistan, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who lauded her

“immense

contributions

law,

racy and

a man's testimony. Later in 1986, the

In May 2005 Jahangir tried to

s a f e -

sisters set up the first free legal aid

hold a symbolic mixed-gender

guarding

centre in Pakistan.

marathon in Lahore to raise

getting in trouble for speaking her

human

awareness about violence against

mind. She became a lawyer getting

Jahangir was a proponent of protect-

women. The radical Islamist alliance

her law degree in 1978, and her Bach-

ing the rights of persecuted religious

Muttahida

elor of Laws (LLB) degree from Punjab

minorities in Pakistan and spoke out

armed with firearms, batons and Mo-

University.

against forced conversions. She was

lotov cocktails, violently opposed the

also an active opponent of child la-

race. Jahangir received especially

Majlis-e-Amal

rights”.

(MMA)

Her legal work became devoted, in

bour and capital punishment: "It

rough treatment from local police and

the main, to helping the poor and the

would be hypocrisy to defend laws I

intelligence agents, who began to

downtrodden,

particularly

don't believe in, like capital punish-

strip off her top in public but lot of

women. No group were victimised

ment, the blasphemy law and laws

people tried to cover her up and used

more than women who were often

against women and in favour of child

safety pins to preserve her modesty.

treated as possessions who should

labour." Asma Jahangir served as the

Police had been under orders to hu-

not question and should not think. A

UN Special Rapporteur on Extraju-

miliate her and photograph her

and

justice, including the current

Hope and Good News

engines in port and restricted use of

their planned Guaiba mine. As a re-

dry-cleaning chemicals and many

sult an estimated 166 million

more actions.

tonnes of coal will remain un-

Chad: Good news! On 20th May

the death penalty for all crimes and

However Los Angeles, still with the

Chad abolished the death penalty

80% of the member states of the

country's highest level of ozone

DANGER: Trump puts these im-

for terrorist acts which was the final

African Union have now abolished

pollution has taken additional ac-

provements at risk by ripping up

Iran: A 80 year old dual national,

exception after it had abolished the

the death penalty in law or practice.

tion showing a 60% decrease in

pollution rules and weakening the

Kamal Foroughi has been reunited

death penalty for all other crimes in

Amnesty 20 June 2020

pollution over the last three dec-

EPA!

with his family in the UK after

2016.

ades. They have also reduced the

burned!

New Internationalist June 2020.

being arrested in 2011, held in soli-

Los Angeles: The passage in 1970

amount of two other pollutants,

Human rights lawyer Jean Bosco

in the US of the Clean Air Act and

particle matter and nitrogen di-

Brazil: A victory for indigenous

a lawyer and then sentenced for

Manga praised the decision, saying:

the

Protection

oxide which has seen a decrease in

and environmentalists in Brazil's

'espionage' in an unfair trial. Al-

“The logic of killing a man to pun-

Agency (EPA) to enforce it is why air

children's asthma of 20% in 13

Federal Court has halted the plan

though allowed out of prison in

ish him for having taken the life of

quality in the US is better than Eu-

years.

for the largest open-pit coal mine in

2018 to be looked after by friends

another is absurd”.

rope. This mobilised government

Latin America.

he has at last returned to the UK

Environmental

tary confinement, denied access to

pressure has pressured polluters to

Extra measures such as better pol-

after waiting for his Iranian pass-

With this decision Chad becomes

take action, which it is reckoned has

lution controls on trucks, plug - in

The legal action has stopped the

port to be renewed before being

the 22nd African state to abolish

saved millions of lives.

power for freight ships to turn off

Copelmi corporation from opening

legally able to travel.

THE

WORD

Early August 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

www.thewordmedia.org

Oil futures fall IN 2020 OIL FUTURES FELL TO NEGATIVE DOLLARS R obert Breedlove is

RB was quizzed a few months ago

Money System’ ( the world wide

paints these crazy negative prices

: Recently we have had Interest

system ) which is the part of the

and rates

rates negative for the first time in

Western Economy too, is still a

capitalist free-market system, that is falsehood.

author

monetary

phenomena.

as just part of the

US. oil futures prices fell to their lowest-ever level by far in 2020-April at -$37.63 per barrel,

thousands of years. Oil prices went

dictatorial construct. What we see

the

negative too. Is ‘time’ going

here is the unravelling of what I

economist and TV personality

backwards? Is matter changing

like to call "Monetary Stalinism"

This meddling by dictatorship is

the

Max Keiser.

into antimatter? The price of

aka " Central Banking ".

trashing

way we

was

interviewed

energy is a negative value?

the

and

global

economies.

US. oil futures prices fell to their

trade our time.

“what should money be ? - the five

Just recently The Bank of America

Anyone that can centrally, at

lowest-ever level by far in 2020-

RB replied :“In the 20th century

premium features of a good

accused

source, manipulate 'money' can

April at -$37.63 per barrel, meaning

we saw a competition between

money-system should be :

Reserve Bank of engaging in 'fake

owners of the futures contracts

socialism and capitalism.

visibility, durability, portability,

markets' - nobody is fooled by the

were paying to offload them. It

Soviet Russia’s government tried

scarcity and recognisability. “

fact that these prices do not reflect

You can think of it as a secret back

broke the previous low price

to control the means and ends of

supply and demand.

door that the central banker can

record near $10 a barrel set in 1986.

all production in an attempt to

Markets are intended to generate

Policymakers struggled to address

reach their utopia. But we saw that

truth, with respect to prices and

Another one of RB’s 'philosophical

everyone’s

the glut of crude, reversing a

model implode. Because:there

innovations . When you corrupt

concepts' is "Time Theft"

banking is an institutionalised

decade-long boom. This recession

were no mechanisms for their

that

threatens to push dozens of

economic system to adapt .

technology

price

discovery

the

Central

Federal

essentially steal our time.

slowly

and

surreptitiously money:

steal Central

system of time theft from anyone

discovering

“Yes essentially, I am saying that

who holds dollars.” There is a

mechanism , you get these

money, as a technology, is used to

concentration of wealth amongst

In the West we saw capitalism out-

haywire consequences.” Market

represent 'time’ - a citizens time:

crony capitalists . When prices go

companies into bankruptcy. Robert Breedlove ( RB ) CEO of

compete the Soviets because we

driven price discovery has been

We sacrifice our time to obtain

negative it’s a form of stealing -

‘Parallax Digital’ is an author with

left half of the Western Economy

subverted by pure illegitimate

money- and we expect people to

mafia style capitalism has replaced

philosophical insights into bitcoin

run

artificial market manipulation by a

sacrifice commensurate amounts

the benign free market all over the

and other monetary phenomena.

entrepreneurship

central authority. If the MSM

of their time in exchange for it- it’s

world.

free '.

market Yet

‘The

THE

www.thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Early August 2020

WORD

Top Virologist Moots A Ready Made Vaccine Against Winter Covid-19 Virologist Dr Gallo suggests rolling-out the pre-existing polio-vaccine as a stopgap against the Covid-19 winter 'spike'. Dr Robert Gallo famously co-

an inkling that that was going to be

cytokines and different killer cell: a

discovered HIV ( the AIDS virus ).

the

'NK-T-cell' which doesn't need ABs.

explained : The Seasonal Common

Baltimore USA recently by

Colds are often coronaviruses.

Changing topic, he reported that

award-winning

They too produce short-lived AB

the recent 'Oxford Vaccine' research

responses. ( As research in Europe

paper showed that their vaccine

and China has shown. )

elicited

'Normal-T-cells'

endured

for

was

interviewed

British

journalist A.Rattansi.

case.

Furthermore,

Dr Gallo reported that, in fact, more

several

that

months.

people were infected with AIDS

Nonetheless, he expressed hope in

Development of this vaccine might

exist but are: more expensive:

than the Coronavirus. He agreed

that many effective and patented

take a year or more. So an idea had

more difficult to manufacture: less

perfect sense to add it into

with Rattansi that this misfortune

vaccines work via mechanisms that

come to him, which WHO were, in

effective: and only injectable -

of the â€œ Normal Winter-Flu-Jab":

was

have

due

material

and

elucidated.

fact, enthusiastic about: In the

compared to the Polio-Vaccine. )

There would be a synergistic effect,

educational disparities across the

Immunity, he stated, operates in

1970s 'live attenuated vaccines'

This broad-spectrum effect was

also a broadened activity: Covid-19

globe.

two ways: The 'Adaptive Response'

(LAVs) had been found to act

named

as well as the Seasonal Flu Strains

which takes weeks to develop and

against a broad spectrum of viral

Russians. Thereafter, one of the

an immediate 'Innate Response'.

infections. An amazing example is

cytokines was named "interferon".

Killer cells called T-cells are part of

the LAV, the Polio-Vaccine. It gave

Cuba has developed synthetic

" There would be a synergistic

the immune system. They ingest or

better protection against influenza

"Interferon-2". He stated that

effect, also a broadened activity:

Discussing the new knowledge that

digest infected cells. Adaptive

than any influenza specific vaccine.

interferons are highly effective

Covid-19 as well as the Seasonal Flu

Covid-19 antibodies (ABs) are short

Response uses ABs to sequester

Recently Dr Gallo has gone on to

against the Covid-19 virus.

Strains would be covered."

lived,

'herd

invading viruses. ABs also direct

confirm

immunity' policies are unlikely to

'Normal-T-cells' to infected cells.

American Army volunteers. ( Other

Importantly

Polio-Vaccine

Gallo continues to promote this

work. When he was studying the

Whereas the Innate Response uses

live

the

protection lasts for 7 to 12 months,

idea to the authorities, but cannot

viral spike chemistry earlier, he got

virus-disrupting molecules called

measles vaccine or the BCG vaccine

therefore, he said, it would make

say what outcome is likely.

"it follows that 'herd immunity' policies are unlikely to work. "

follows

that

not

been

the

these

attenuated

results, vaccines:

"interference"

the

would be covered.

using the

THE

WORD

Early August 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

www.thewordmedia.co.uk

HIROSHIMA

he American media deployed racist tropes to create the narrative that Japanese resistance to surrender was so ingrained in the country’s culture that they would never agree to a peaceful armistice without the use of toxic, never-beforeseen weapons by American forces.

Intelligence data declassified by the U.S. government in the 1980s shows that this was a liebehind the scenes, Japan and the USSR were hashing out a peace treaty, and even hawks such as General Douglas MacArthur. later a chief proponent of the U.S. war in Korea, opposed further conflict, as did future U.S. president Eisenhower. But Truman and many in his cabinet believed that detonating an atomic weapon would send a powerful message to the USSR as the U.S. sought to gain influence over what would happen in newly-liberated Europe, as well as stop the Soviets from gaining a foothold in Asia. 100,000 Japanese died upon the bomb’s impact in Hiroshima - 80 percent of them civilians, with hundreds of thousands more killed by the after-effects of nuclear radiation. Today, few hibakusha - atomic bomb survivors - remain alive, but the stories they tell are horrifing. One account speaks of “a man clutching a hole in his stomach, trying to stop his organs from spilling out.” Michihiko Hachiya, a survivor of the attacks, wrote that the scene was filled with “dozens of bodies, blackened beyond

75 years ago this week, the United States committed an act which, so far, no other country has stooped to before or since – deploying an atomic bomb, cloyingly and chillingly dubbed “Little Boy,” on a civilian population. recognition….fire reservoirs filled to the brim with dead bodies who looked as they had been boiled alive.” An anime production titled Barefoot Gen offers a chilling reproduction of the attacks from a child’s perspective, depicting those hit by the bomb exploding, then appearing in zombie-like form. Americans were largely proud of their achievement- a huge cake was produced to commemorate the attack, complete with icing shaped like a mushroom cloud. And despite knowing of its effects, President Truman authorized the use of a second bomb on the civilian city of Nagasaki, which killed 75,000 and was followed by a swift Japanese surrender. Today, a large memorial stands where the bomb landed in Hiroshima called Peace Memorial Park. The park, with a haunting, dome-like central structure, stark-white surroundings, and memorial cenotaph, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Rather than staving off a confrontation with the Soviets or intimidating Stalin, the weapons led directly into the Cold War. Unlike Stalin, who knew about the bomb as early as 1942 and quickly oversaw the development of his own, ordinary citizens in Western Europe awoke to a terrifying new reality, the implications of which which hung over the continent for four decades. The bombings imposed

a chilling effect on Western European politics which is today difficult to describe. Political debates from France to Italy were conducted under the shadow of an assumed Third World War. The very phrase “Cold War” implied a rapid atomic heat which could end the status quo at any time. Even in the U.S., schoolchildren were made to undergo air raid drills complete with government advice which would be useless in an actual conflict.

A threat of nuclear conflict had the benefit for the U.S. of scaring voters away from voting for pro-Soviet communist and left-wing parties, which emerged as the leading electoral forces throughout Western Europe, allowing for the imposition of the Marshall Plan, which transformed the continent into a militarized marketplace for U.S. consumer products, and therefore, corporate profits. But for millions of people in Europe and globally, fear also sparked resistance. Throughout the Cold War, a vibrant peace movement supported by not just activists and politicians, but artists, writers, scientists, and intellectuals such as Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein, gained media attention on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Today, memories of the horrors of war among the citizens of the U.S. and Europe has retreated as conflicts are

increasingly fought via remotecontrol, by drone, or by proxy, and support for peace has largely disappeared as a concern among popular culture figures, let alone political leaders - although some, including former U.K. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Senator Ed Markey, have continued to advance nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation efforts. Alongside this, there has been an active attempt to distort the reality around the two atomic bombings, which the American right, through outlets including the Wall Street Journal and the National Review, have sought to justify under the false basis that the attacks saved Japanese as well as American lives. These efforts are part of a larger rewriting of history which has seen the Soviet Union’s role in liberating Occupied Europe be minimized, fascist collaborators in Eastern Europe feted as anticommunist heroes, and the role of the Resistance in general marginalized in favor of simplistic narratives which portray the actions of the U.S. throughout the war as white as snow, rather than in shades of grey, or, like the embers of Nagasaki, occasionally black. U.S. galleries and museums have been edited to reflect a more pro-Truman perspective, and the U.S. has still yet to apologize for the attacks, even after a visit to the

site of the first bombing by Barack Obama during his second term in office. The ideas of “winnable nuclear wars” and the false premise that nuclear winter is not a real threat, have been propounded in glossy foreign policy magazines and think-tank papers. All of this is occurring while a New Cold War against China is increasingly promoted by influential voices in the U.S. media and among government leaders. Racist tropes against Asians, in America and abroad, are being used to whip up concerns that China cannot be trusted, and in the U.S. and U.K., Chinese researchers and students have come under increasing hostility. Nonetheless, there are countervailing forces. The coronavirus pandemic had led to an outpouring of global empathy against a common enemy, one which cannot be defeated with weapons but only through international unity. It has reminded billions of people of the value of human life, and has intersected with outpourings of aid and grief to catastrophes such as this week’s explosion in Beirut and social movements such as Black Lives Matter. Young people and students in particular are in a position to build international ties to ensure governments pursue peaceful solutions to the world’s conflicts. There may be no immediate shield against a third atomic weapon, if it is ever deployed, but cultural exchange and free expression across borders act as a deterrent perhaps more effective than any other. Written by Hal Conte

THE

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One Letter Answers 1 1990s TV show: The _ Files 2 Letter which the British pound sign is derived from 3 Metro rail system in German countries: _-Bahn 4 Character who supplies James Bond with his gadgets 5 Atomic symbol of Potassium

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Early August 2020

WORD

The Word

Answers 1X 2L 3U 4Q 5K Just for Fun 1 What is the most common colour of toilet paper in France? 2 If you dug a hole through the centre of the earth starting from Wellington in New Zealand, which European country would you end up in? 3 Which bird is nicknamed The Laughing Jackass? 4 True or false: You can sneeze in your sleep 5 Which European country has 158 verses to its national anthem?

Answers 1 Pink

Andrea Faulkner 2 Spain 3 Kookaburra 4 False 5 Greece

Award at the most recent Oscar? 5 Which artist sings the latest Bond theme for No Time To Die?

General Knowledge

Answers 1 What does Au stand for in the periodic table? 2 Hamilton has become one of the biggest musical theatre shows of all time since it debuted in 2015 â€“ but what is the name of the acclaimed star who wrote it? 3 Name the current Foreign Secretary. 4 Who won the Best Actress

1 Gold 2 Lin Manuel Miranda 3 Dominic Raab 4 Renee Zellweger 5 Billie Eilish

his hand? 2 What is the national sport in Japan? 3 How many minutes is a rugby match? 4 In which country were the first Olympic Games held? 5 How many players are on each side of the net in beach volleyball?

Answers

1 1986 Sport 2 Sumo Wrestling 3 80 minutes 1 In which year did 4 Greece Maradona score a goal with 5 Two

2 In an isosceles triangle, how many sides have an equal length? 3 What name is given to a straight line drawn from one point on the edge of a circle to another? 4 'For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction' is one of Newton's Laws of motion, which number law? 5 What name is given to the longest side of a right angled triangle?

Answers

1 720 degrees 2 2 sides Maths 3 A chord (a diameter is a chord that cuts through the 1 What is the total of the circle's centre) internal angles of a 4 Third Law hexagon? 5 Hypotenuse

THE

WORD

Early August 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

www.thewordmedia.org

Vegan recipes

VEGAN BANANA BREAD Cooking with Chris Williamson

Ingredients

3 large black bananas 75ml vegetable oil or sunflower oil, plus extra for the tin 100g brown sugar 225g plain flour (or use selfraising flour and reduce the baking powder to 2 heaped tsp) 2 heaped tsp baking powder 3 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice 50g dried fruit or nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Mash 3 large black peeled bananas with a fork, then mix well with 75g vegetable or sunflower oil and 100g brown sugar. Add 225g plain flour, 3 heaped tsp baking powder and 3 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice, and combine well. Add 50g dried fruit or nuts, if using.

Bake in an oiled, lined 2lb loaf tin for 20 minutes. Check and cover with foil if the cake is browning. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool a little before slicing. It's delicious freshly baked, but develops a lovely gooey quality the day after.

THE

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

Early August 2020

SUDOKU MATH PUZZLES

WORD

THE

WORD

Early August 2020

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Science

The first spoiler, is that an alien species, no matter where in this universe it comes from, will be just

pertain only to our physical universe of course, where objects can be moved or hidden, where

ALIEN LIFE-FORMS

like us. An alien will build a home, have trouble with the neighbours, eat, scratch, fight, reproduce, and have a wash now and again.

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Like all life forms on earth, an alien will be

objects cannot suddenly appear or vanish. There are many anecdotal observations to indicate that there

The second spoiler, is that

One of these simple compounds is

can be alien species that arise from

there are no non-carbon life-

carbon dioxide. It is used by life-

a non-physical world, where a

There are no evil, happy, or sad

for

and

forms. Silicon is the closest

forms in respiration and building

superior technology is not based

species, there are only differences in

respect both itself

contender to carbon, but

cells. On the other hand, the simplest

on the solid objects of science, but

the way they live. Life is for itself, that

and

carbon

only

silicon compound, silicon dioxide, is

on thought-forms and intentions

is pretty much the definition of life,

respect that same

element that can easily

a hard solid with a very high melting

from a world that, like thought

and aliens, if they are to be called life

principle. It will look

point, and quite unusable.

itself, can suddenly vanish or

forms, will follow that universal,

after its own interests and

ascendant diktat.

respect the values of those close to it.

itself, those

who

the

form very long chains essential for life and has simple compounds that can be easily utilised.

appear to us, without physical These facts and observations

cause.

Wildlife Diary

I was lucky to catch this pigeon

Image 2

coming in to land. Image1 And this is where he was going. A nice sheltered little bird house where he can eat corn to his heart’s content. Image2 Not for much longer, though, as the

Image 7

birds are steadily destroying it. I thought at first that they must have been using bits for nesting materials until I found several large pieces of

Image 1

plywood on the floor. It’s just pure

and a couple of days ago they

avian vandalism!

manged to unscrew the shaft. When

Something else they’re determined

I went to screw it back on I found the

We get plenty of rooks and

thread had been stripped!

jackdaws. They never seem to cause

to destroy is this feeding basket. Image3.

again. Image4.

There's never any fighting and they seem to treat a ll the other birds with, at worst, contempt

ant trouble. There's never any We had a blue tit family in a nest box

fighting and they seem to treat all the

up to a few weeks ago, but since the

other birds with, at worst, contempt.

The first day up the plastic lid was

youngsters fledged we have hardly

The other birds seem to always

broken off. Since then they’ve

seen any. This fellow popped in last

expect trouble, though and keep a

repeatedly knocked it on the floor

week for a moment or two then off

respectful

distance

between

Image 3

Image 5

themselves and the corvids. Image5. There are exceptions occasionally and I have once or twice seen a pigeon dare to share food with a

Image 6

Image 8

jackdaw (never a rook) which has caused the jackdaw to leave in a huff. Image6 shows a thrush about to tuck into a fat ball, while Image7 shows a sparrow taking the opportunity to investigate the feeding basket while the jackdaws and pigeons are elsewhere. Image8 is a starling which has just sent the spattow packing!

Image 4

It’s just pure avian vandalism!

THE

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POLITICS AND EVENTS

Early August 2020

WORD

Droylsden FC The End

Historic club pulls out of all competitions Droylsden FC boss Dave Pace said the decision was the 'most difficult' he'd ever had to make

orthern Premier League club Droylsden, founded in 1894, have resigned from all league and cup matches this season.

Chairman Dave Pace said that the disruption caused by Covid-19 and a lack of income had caused him to withdraw the team from all matches. At the same time the League has decided to suspend all fixtures until further notice.

It is always the small and least able to survive who go to the wall first. Whether you are an employee of Pizza Express or Droylsden FC, when the money dries up, you are suddenly very vulnerable. Pace has suggested that there might be some way of keeping the club going in the future,

but at the moment, there are no matches to play and no income stream as the clubâ€™s main sponsor has pulled out. We hope this famous old club finds its way back but predict that it wonâ€™t be the last to fold.

THE

WORD

Early August 2020

POLITICS AND EVENTS

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MIKEL’S ARSENAL ART’ OF THIS WORLD “Big games require big moments for big players” Arteta

ARSENAL DEFEAT CHELSEA AT WEMBLEY TO WIN RECORD 14TH FA CUP Arteta’s Arsenal came back from a

was bent in order to prevent a

tooth and nail when facing off on the

Taylor pointed to the spot and

when speaking of his striker. “People

losing position against Chelsea to

potential referee’s big moment being

pitch, now they found themselves in a

Arsenals top scorer blasted the ball low

questioning whether he can do it in big

win their 14th FA Cup thanks to an

ruined by the empty stadium final.

tactical showdown as their teams did

into the right corner of the goal.

games and he’s done it today”.

From here on Arsenal dominated

To add insult to injury, Kovacic was

Aubameyang double.

the kicking. This decision was to the displeasure

This Final of the oldest national

of Chelsea, as the man in the middle

And it was the Spaniard, appropriately

possession and stifled any Chelsea

wrongfully sent off, whilst Pedro left

football competition in the world was

dismissed Kovacic, just as he had

nicknamed ‘Coach’ during his playing

chances.

the field requiring oxygen in his last

markedly different to the rest, but it felt

done to Victor Moses three years

career, who came out on top.

rather like Groundhog Day for the two

previously.

competing teams.

Chelsea display before leaving for The Gunners looked irreconcilable to

Chelsea had started the brighter of

the team that languished in the lower

Roma.

To add to the bizarreness of the match,

the two, and deservedly took the

echelons of the top half under former

Arsenals 14th FA Cup was confirmed,

For the two London rivals of the

the final score also reflected the 2017

lead thanks to the impressive

manager Emery, every player fighting

an historic record stretching from 1930

Gunners and the Blues had faced each-

result, with Arsenal running out 2-1

American Pulisic showcasing quick

for the shirt and manager Arteta as if

to now in 2020.

other in a bloodthirsty final just three

winners to claim their record breaking

feet and composure to flick the ball

their lives depended on it.

years previously.

14th title.

over Martinez with only 5 minutes

And that’s only where the similarities

Some may have seen this result as fate

began.

then, but this was no excuse for Frank Lampard’s men as they threw away a

The Covid-19 Pandemic has ensured normality has vanished into thin air,

played.

The saga of the Gunners success in the However the killer blow came to the

competition has been one long in the

Stamford Bridge side when their best

making, but Arteta’s part of the story

It seemed it was the perfect start for

player of late, Pulisic, pulled up with a

has only just begun.

Franks footballers, but perhaps it was

hamstring injury just moments into

great lead to ensure they left the

a goal too early in the game, as

the second half.

hallowed Wembley turf in disarray.

complacency soon set in across the

and peculiar has become the given.

Chelsea backline. Pre-Match this fixture had been billed

So, now he’s got a taste of success on the managerial side of the game, can

All momentum was lost, and

Arteta expect more trophies to start

Aubameyang put them to the sword,

flooding in?

So when referee Anthony Taylor was

as a battle of wits between two of the

So it was to no surprise when Gabon

scooping into the net to turn the tie on

asked to oversee his second FA Cup

most promising young managers to

international Aubameyang breached

it’s head with only 20 minutes

“It’s a great start” He said, with a

final, he became only the first man

come out of the Premier League.

the Blues defense, only to be brought

remaining.

buoyant smile as he left to bask in his

since Arthur Kingscott in 1901 to do so. The ‘One FA Cup final in a career’ rule

down by a sloppy Azpilicueta arm

teams glory.

For years the two midfielder maestros

across the shoulder when racing

“Big games require big moments for

of Arteta and Lampard had competed

through on goal.

big players,” Arteta said post-match

By Alfie Douglass.

THE

www.thewordmedia.org

POLITICS AND EVENTS

Early August 2020

WORD

LEWIS HAMILTON EXTENDS THE LEAD TO VALTTERI BOTTAS TO 30 POINTS.

Lewis Hamilton survives a late scare to win the British Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix for the seventh time, beating Alain Prost’s record of most wins at a home race

Lewis Hamilton won the British

British driver sweating over the victory.

he had dropped to 12th and outside the

did not get any better. After starting from

causing more controversy. Vettel

Grand Prix for the seventh time,

With half a lap remaining to the end,

points. Sainz suffered a similar fate, after

the middle of the grid, the four-time

criticised the race directors for a lack of

beating Alain Prost’s record of most

Hamilton’s tyre was left hanging, and

being fifth before the tyre problem. The

World Champion remained behind

organisation at the Hungarian Grand

wins at a home race. The six-time

this saw Max Verstappen close the gap

Spaniard fell down the pecking order

Lance Stroll in the Racing Point and

Prix after some drivers were not given

World

his

quickly. But the gap created by the

and crossed the chequered flag in 13th

never really threatened the Canadian

enough time to participate in the

Mercedes over the finish line on

Champion

steered

Mercedes driver throughout the race

place.

driver. Vettel did manage a single point

protests. Claims of tension between the

three wheels after a tyre puncture

and the Dutchman’s late pitstop meant

but only because of the problems to

drivers for a lack of unity have been

on the last lap almost compromised

Hamilton was able to guide his silver

Bottas and Sainz. The 33-year-old’s last

squashed by Magnussen claiming all are

the Briton’ race. With the weekend

arrow to the third consecutive win.

year with Ferrari is becoming a

on the same page in terms of ending

forgettable one.

racism. The Danish driver admitted the

now finished in Silverstone, we look

Ferrari’s woes Yet again, the Italian team failed to

Late Drama

at the talking points of the 70th

impress, continuing their poor form.

British Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc did manage to achieve a

decision not to kneel was because he did

Protest Controversy

not agree with everything the Black

Hamilton was not the only one to have

podium but only after Bottas’ disastrous

Hamilton’s Cagey Finish

suffered tyre problems late on. Mercedes

end. The Monegasque driver started in

Formula One’s pre-race protests against

Lewis Hamilton was in control

teammate Valtteri Bottas and McLaren

fourth but soon saw the two Mercedes

racism has come under scrutiny yet

The Silverstone track will host the 70th

throughout the weekend, qualifying in

driver Carlos Sainz were unfortunate

and Verstappen’s Red Bull create a big

again with another driver not taking the

anniversary Grand Prix next week where

pole position and leading the race from

casualties. Bottas had been comfortably

gap. Instead of competing at the top,

knee, taking the tally to seven drivers

Lewis Hamilton will look to grab

start to finish. The win takes Hamilton’s

second until lap 50. The Finn had to

Leclerc had to initially fight off the

now. Despite the 20

lead to 30 points at the top of the

complete a whole lap with the left tyre

Renaults and Mclarens. For Sebastian

drivers sporting a ‘End

thread

Drivers

World

hanging

which

Lives Matter group stood for.

allowed

Vettel however, the weekend was one to

Racism’ T-shirt, Kevin

Championship. However, a

Verstappen to leapfrog Bottas. By the

forget. The German admitted he failed to

Magnussen became

late tyre puncture had the

time the Mercedes driver left the pitstop,

gather any rhythm during qualifying

the latest driver to

and practice sessions and the race

Kevin Magnussen became the latest driver to not kneel, causing more controversy

not kneel,

another win to boost his chances of a

For Sebastian Vettel however, the weekend was one to forget

seventh World Championship. By Paulo Pedro

The First (and hopefully last) Condensed Champions League Tournament! The

year

2020

feels

The remaining last-16 second leg ties will take place on the 7th and 8th of August

combination of War of the Worlds and The Purge, and the football calendar has taken an absolute battering as a result. Thankfully though, we are going to see a conclusion to the 19/20 Champions League competition in the form of condensed 12-day tournament in Lisbon, and I for one, cannot wait!

Manchester City will welcome Real Madrid to the Etihad

How Will it Work? The remaining last-16 second leg ties will take place on the 7th and 8th of August, in the venues in which they were originally scheduled. The remaining fixtures, including the quarter and semi-finals will be straight knockout games, running from the 12th to the 23rd. All of the fixtures will take place at either the Estadio da Luz, or Estadio

are the two

Jose Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal.

teams that I’d consider

Last-16 Fixtures

backing. City have got a point

The last-16 feels somewhat like a

Champions

to prove in the

prelude to the main event now,

League

although, for the two remaining

underperformers

English sides, it is anything but, as they

PSG head to Lisbon

each have some serious work to do.

knowing

competition. Whilst Pep and his

that

players

Atalanta stand in their

have

proven

their quality by winning

Manchester City will welcome Real

way of a semi-final place.

Madrid to the Etihad, looking to

The Italian side have been

the Premier League back-to-

defend a well-earned 2-1 lead from

nothing short of sensational

the first leg. Chelsea, meanwhile,

this season, but Thomas

and they’ll be desperate to lift the

travel to the Allianz Arena in

Tuchel’s men should have

trophy. Atletico, on the other hand,

Munich, attempting to do the

enough firepower to reach the

have come close on a number of

impossible, and overturn a 3-0

next stage.

occasions, losing in the final to Real

back,

Europe’s

elite

competition still eludes them,

deficit against Bayern.

Madrid in both 2014 and 2016. The other confirmed quarter-final

Their experience should pay

Elsewhere in the last 16, Napoli will

fixture sees RB Leipzig take on

look to capitalise on a first leg 1-1

Diego Simeone’s Atletico

competition filled

draw with Barcelona, and Lyon take

Madrid.

The

with

a somewhat surprising 1-0 lead into

‘Colchoneros’

are

ming

their game against Juventus.

another side who, despite

12 Days of Footmas

dividends

against

overperforand

inexperienced

Leipzig’s

teams.

fantastic season, will feel like this is a brilliant chance to win

Whatever the outcome of the

As mentioned, the rest of the

the competition for the first time,

Champions League prediction when

19/20 Champions League, there’s no

tournament will be squeezed into an

especially with rivals Real already

we’re still technically at the round-

doubt it will be one to remember, for

action-packed 12-days in Lisbon.

out.

of-16, but if 2020 has been on thing,

good or for bad. Here’s hoping next

it’s been bloody strange, so here

seasons competition is altogether

goes.

more normal.

And, a few teams who’ve yet to taste any real success in the competition

A Tentative Prediction

will believe they’re in with a real chance.

It seems a little strange to make a

Manchester City and Atletico Madrid

By Craig Watson.

Lyon take a somewhat surprising 1-0 lead into their game against Juventus The other confirmed quarter-final fixture sees RB Leipzig take on Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid