The Steeple Times

Category: EDITORIAL

Editorial comment from Matthew Steeples.

Our editor tells it like it is and he rarely minces his words

  • Britain’s Most Incompetent Council

    Britain’s Most Incompetent Council

    After a disastrous meeting last night, each and every Kensington and Chelsea councilor ought to resign; these incompetent halfwits are not fit for office

     

    Last night in Kensington the ragbag of rodents that are the councilors of the Royal Borough gathered in the Town Hall in Hornton Street. They were deservedly met by angry members of the public yet showed their contempt for the very people that allow them to remain in office by completely ignoring requests “for equal treatment for rich and poor in [an] affluent borough” controlled by a bunch of money-motivated Tory incompetents. After a disastrous meeting, where those present branded several of them “murderers”, the meeting ended up being adjourned.

     

    Sitting on reserves of £330 million whilst the victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy continue to suffer, these reprehensible individuals – including such polished turds (and I do not use that word lightly) as convicted racist peer Viscount St Davids’ one-time legal representative ‘Rinker The Stinker’ Cllr Andrew Rinker and Twitter pest Cllr Robert Freeman – continue to think they’re fit for office. They are not. For too long their dodgy regime has let through the most curious of planning decisions and it has only been because of the tenacity of such blogs as ‘From The Hornets Nest’ that the public have been alerted.

     

    Every one and I do mean that – every single one – of the useless overpaid halfwits sitting on The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council must now resign and make way for individuals capable of dealing with the aftermath of the unnecessary deaths of at least 80 innocent individuals. Enough is enough and long-term campaigners with genuine knowledge of the locality such as Andrew Barshall and Ian Henderson should be urged to step forward instead.

     

    Pictured above: New Tory council leader Elizabeth Campbell.

     

  • Anti-Social Media

    Anti-Social Media

    The law needs to be updated with regard to what is acceptable on social media; businesses such as Facebook and Twitter need to equally be held to account

     

    Social media, as we’ve already reported, was proven to be anything but sociable in a London courtroom this week. With the jailing of the tweed gilet clad racist Viscount St Davids for 12 weeks for malicious communications came acceptance from the country’s most important magistrate, Senior District Judge Emma Arbuthnot, that “Facebook is not private” and that it is no longer a place where anything can be posted without repercussions applying.

     

    Elsewhere, on Friday, outside of the realms of the law but again very much illustrative of the perils of posting without consideration of impact, the Mirror reported that Stella McCartney is said to be furious with David Beckham – a man known to use European privacy laws to have his own home obscured on Google – after he posted an un-pixelated image of a group of children at his daughter’s birthday party that included amongst others her six year old daughter on Instagram. Ms McCartney, a woman reportedly very protective of her child’s safety, is said to be “spitting feathers,” yet, as the paper concluded: “David Beckham has not taken the [liked by 900,000 individuals to date] post down.”

     

    Previously decisions in civil cases – such as that of freelance journalist Dennis Rice vs. the crowdfunded news site Byline and media personality Katie Hopkins vs. blogger Jack Monroe – have highlighted that irresponsible and defamatory posts can be costly to the parties involved, with damages and legal bills awarded against Hopkins alone said to total some £130,000. Equally, as a contrast, such outcomes as Paul Chambers’ successful appeal against his conviction for tweeting about blowing an airport “sky high,” have also depressingly shown that regulation of what is acceptable is confused and in need of reform.

     

    A most telling factor to consider is that the Communications Act came to statute in 2003 and as such really does not have any specific provision for activities conducted on mediums like Facebook – a for-profit company with revenues of £20.6 billion in 2016 and 2 billion active monthly users as of June 2017 – and Twitter – a for-profit company with revenues of £1.9 billion in 2016 and 328 million active users as of July 2017. Facebook was founded in February 2004 and Twitter in March 2006 and thus, though it is accepted that the Communications Act (2003) was appropriate back in the early noughties, it is now out of date and no longer fit for purpose.

     

    An attempt to update the law with the Malicious Communications (Social Media) Bill in 2016 was likely going to be a step forward, but because of Theresa May’s decision to call a pointless General Election in May 2017, that failed due to it having not even yet reached the House of Lords prior to the 3rd May. Now, with the ‘Wheat Field Wanderer’ in a position of being nothing but “weak and wobbly” in terms of her political influence, such laws will likely be forgotten. That is entirely wrong and we now call upon politicians of all parties to campaign to right the wrong that allows bullies and trolls to continue to prosper.

     

    Anti-Social Media – The law needs to be updated with regard to what is acceptable on social media; businesses such as Facebook and Twitter need to equally be held to account
    A pixelated version of the image David Beckham posted to Instagram of his daughter, Harper, and other children; the Mirror opted (rightly) to obscure the faces of the other children and we do the same here; shown: Princess Eugenie and Harper Beckham
  • The Troubles of Tony

    The Troubles of Tony

    Tony Blair speaks for many in his latest essay but he remains the wrong man to take Britain back to the centre; where is the individual to rid of us the ‘Wheat Field Wanderer’ hiding?

     

    Tony Blair increasingly says the right things. He remains, however, wholly unsuitable to be the figure to deliver what the nation requires and that is a new leader capable of uniting a deeply divided nation.

     

    In a 2,700 word essay Saturday, published on his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change website, the former Prime Minister highlighted that “the centre may appear marginalised; but it the hearts and minds of many, it simply needs to be renewed.” He talks of “a country which has lost its footing and is stumbling; but with no choice but to stagger on” and highlights that both Theresa May’s Conservatives and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour fought the election “like one from the 1980s, but with competing visions of the 1960s.” In saying such, he understands how so many in Britain feel today: Dispirited by a situation where we have no viable opposition to a government run by a badly dressed, hectoring vicar’s daughter whose only ambition is to cling to power.

     

    Blair, undoubtedly still considered one of the most toxic individuals to ever have governed due to his stance on Iraq and the perception of how he benefited so substantially financially from his time in office, is not the man to lead the return to the centre. We do need a Macron-like figure in Britain but ‘Teflon Tony’ misses one thing: He, also, is a man of the past and somewhere, just somewhere, out there is someone who’ll emerge and clear out the ‘Wheat Field Wanderer’. We just wish they’d hurry up and show their scythe.

     

  • Viscount Porridge

    Viscount Porridge

    Thrice bankrupt bigot Viscount St Davids banged to rights and set to be jailed Thursday; he blames Gina Miller as “untruthful” and Matthew Steeples as “an eavesdropper” and accepts utterly no blame for what he did

     

    On Thursday, if he doesn’t turn up at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on time, justice will come knock, knock, knockin’ on Baron Strange of Knockin’s door.

     

    Donald Trump supporter and serial bankrupt Rhodri Philipps (AKA 4th Viscount St Davids, Lord St Davids, Baron Hungerford, Baron de Moleyns, Baron Strange of Knockin and, to the public and no doubt his new jailbird chums, plain old Mr Philipps) – a bigot whose insistence on being called anything other than Mister sealed his fate as the real life representation of Paul Whitehouse’s Rowley Birkin QC – was found guilty Tuesday of two counts of sending menacing messages on a public electronic communications network. After convicting him, chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot warned the aristocrat: “The first port of call will obviously be a prison sentence.”

     

    She added:

     

    “I have no doubt the first post was menacing, you were offering money to have [Gina Miller] killed. A reasonable person reading the post would have felt a sense of apprehension at least, if not fear.”

     

    “I don’t accept you didn’t understand the post could be shared. On Facebook users share and have shared any number of others’ posts – nothing is private about a Facebook post.”

     

    “They were not funny, not a joke, they were sent when Lord St Davids was infuriated – they were not meant to be light-hearted comment, they were intended to cause apprehension among some of your Facebook acquaintances, not all as some clearly shared his views.”

     

    “I find you knew when you posted these messages they might create apprehension in a reasonable person reading them in the multi-racial country we live in.”

     

     Viscount Porridge – Mr Rhodri Philipps, 4th Viscount St Davids, Lord St Davids, Baron Hungerford, Baron de Moleyns, Baron Strange of Knockin – Racist – Gina Miller and Matthew Steeples – Tariq Siddiqi and Councillor Andrew RinkerViscount Porridge – Mr Rhodri Philipps, 4th Viscount St Davids, Lord St Davids, Baron Hungerford, Baron de Moleyns, Baron Strange of Knockin – Racist – Gina Miller and Matthew Steeples – Tariq Siddiqi and Councillor Andrew Rinker Viscount Porridge – Mr Rhodri Philipps, 4th Viscount St Davids, Lord St Davids, Baron Hungerford, Baron de Moleyns, Baron Strange of Knockin – Racist – Gina Miller and Matthew Steeples – Tariq Siddiqi and Councillor Andrew Rinker

     

    Represented initially by a chubby dimwit American and Conservative councillor for Kensington (yes, one of them, a member of the worst council in Britain) named Andrew Rinker – a curious creature commonly known as ‘Rinker The Stinker’ in even the most polite circles – Philipps proved himself nothing but a nasty piece of work and a fool in the dock. He tried to blame me for “stalking” and “trolling” him and referenced me “a professional eavesdropper.” He claimed his trial was “political” and motivated because of his multiple titles and whilst his scumbag chum and cohort Tariq Siddiqi targeted me also via social media throughout the period, he was ultimately convicted simply because the Crown was able to prove he is nothing but an inept racist incapable of covering his own vile tracks.

     

    Of the result, Kate Mulholland of the Crown Prosecution Service commented:

     

    “This threat caused extreme concern to Gina Miller and although Lord St Davids claimed his Facebook friends would have been tolerant of his views, they were open to the public.”

     

    “No-one should have these kind of menacing comments made to them or about them and where there is evidence of an offence the CPS and police will bring a prosecution.”

     

    As I said previously, the law must now change: What goes on social media, doesn’t stay on social media. We must all be held accountable for whatever we post.

     

  • Donald’s Duck

    Donald’s Duck

    Weak and wobbly Theresa May becomes dastardly and dominant Donald Trump’s (dead) duck at the G20 in Germany

     

    Up north people often say: “Ay up me duck” when they meet someone and yesterday Theresa May looked as if she wanted to come out with such when she encountered “pussy grabber” Donald Trump.

     

    Pictured with her hand tightly clasped by Mr Trump at the G20 in Germany, the worst sartorially advised woman on the planet, smiled with smugness as the 45th POTUS spoke of the “very special relationship” between her and his administrations.

     

    In comments that prove Britain’s dead duck PM is nothing but a pillock and a poodle, ‘The Donald’ then added: “I will be going to London.”

     

    God help Great Britain. What on earth have we become?

     

  • DUPed

    DUPed

    Theresa May’s deal with DUP is dangerous, irresponsible and about nothing other than her personal quest for power

     

    Our Lady Macbeth-like Prime Minister has once again proven her personal desire for high office is all that matters to her. In handing over £1 billion and then posing with the DUP’s Arlene Foster looking like someone who secretly knows the cream she’s served is actually sour yesterday, Theresa May saved her skin but sold Britain into a further period of stress.

     

    Referenced as “shabby and reckless” by Labour’s Lady Nugee (AKA Emily Thornberry MP) and “a pathetic little deal” by the SNP’s Peter Wishart MP, the Conservative-Democratic Unionist Party pact potentially puts the Good Friday Agreement at risk and signals that the Tories are happy to do business with a bunch of bigots whose policies on abortion and gay rights, for example, are stuck in the Stone Age. It is anything but “strong and stable”, could fall apart at any moment and has already left Scots and Welsh politicians again questioning the state of the Union.

     

    Theresa May may have clung to power for now, but with a DUP dependent voting majority that could turn on a whim, she’s still in a very perilous position. How long she’ll actually last still remains very much in the balance.

     

  • Theresa’s Timing

    Theresa’s Timing

    As Theresa May once again proves she has no idea of the concept of “when the time is right”, we join those that suggest the time that she must go is now

     

    Theresa May failed to anticipate the timing of a General Election two weeks ago and got trounced. A week ago, this same self-serving woman didn’t realise that appearing – accompanied by her vast security detail but without bothering to even meet a single victim – for 15 minutes in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy would be perceived as unacceptable. She rightly got savaged by the nation and in a third public relations disaster, yesterday, after Mrs May opted to “schmooze donors” at a Conservative Party fundraiser at The Savoy for 50 minutes, she now again comes under fire for her “appalling lack of judgment”.

     

    Having excused herself from numerous other engagements in recent days by claiming to be “too busy” with Brexit negotiations and preparations for the Queen’s Speech, that Theresa May was able to find the time to rubberneck with captains of finance – including the vastly wealthy Ukranian born businessman Alexander Temerko – shows where her priorities actually lie.

     

    Previously compared to Lady Macbeth due to her sheer cunning dedication to controlling the reigns of power, Mrs May is now increasingly beginning to resemble Marie-Antoinette also. One wouldn’t be surprised if this dead duck Prime Minister is soon heard to say: “Let them eat cake”.

     

    #TimeToGo #BringHerDown #MakeJuneTheEndOfMay

     

    Theresa’s Timing – Theresa May proves she has no idea about timing – As Theresa May proves she has no idea of the concept of “when the time is right”, we join those suggesting now is the time that she must go.
    Theresa May with Mark Field MP and supporters at the Cities of London and Westminster Conservative Association luncheon at The Savoy on Tuesday 20th June 2017.
  • Grenfell Matters

    Grenfell Matters

    Matthew Steeples reports on the strength of feelings shown at the Kensington Town Hall demonstrations and suggests tension will only rise unless figures in authority communicate

     

    Yesterday, over 350 people gathered outside Kensington Town Hall to voice their frustration at the council’s failure to communicate with them in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy on Wednesday 14th June.

     

    Organised by Mustafa al-Mansur – whose sensible speech focused on requesting rehousing for victims, a release of funds to help victims, calls for a public inquiry, the release of a full list of victims and a request for an investigation into safety in all similar buildings in the borough – this was a meeting that reflected the ethnic mix of the tower itself. Mr al-Mansur spoke to the assembled media about how a family friend had died on the 23rd floor of the building and repeatedly called for calm amongst those present.

     

    Alongside working class white mothers stood young Moroccan students; old ladies and local businessmen joined them and pop singer Lily Allen, “rather predictably” several present told me, put in an appearance also. Press representatives asked questions and though a number of placard carrying individuals chanted loudly, this was nothing but a group of people sharing a moment of intense grief.

     

    Later, in spite of Mr al-Mansur sharing perfectly reasoned comments on what was an essentially peaceful protest on Facebook (available in full below), The Telegraph bizarrely opted to portray him as “a Jeremy Corbyn-supporting political activist who was once arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences”. Though they also reported that he had later been released without charge, their angle did not reflect the man I saw present. Here, instead, was an individual rightly seeking answers simply because he felt the authorities were failing to communicate with those they are meant to serve. Mustafa al-Mansur should have been saluted instead of vilified.

     

    Pictured above: A child holding a #JusticeForGrenfell poster alongside Mustafa al-Mansur.

     

    Grenfell Matters – Grenfell Tower tragedy Kensington Town Hall protest, Friday 16th June 2017 – Organised by Mustafa al-MansurGrenfell Matters – Grenfell Tower tragedy Kensington Town Hall protest, Friday 16th June 2017 – Organised by Mustafa al-Mansur

    Grenfell Matters – Grenfell Tower tragedy Kensington Town Hall protest, Friday 16th June 2017 – Organised by Mustafa al-Mansur Grenfell Matters – Grenfell Tower tragedy Kensington Town Hall protest, Friday 16th June 2017 – Organised by Mustafa al-Mansur Grenfell Matters – Grenfell Tower tragedy Kensington Town Hall protest, Friday 16th June 2017 – Organised by Mustafa al-MansurGrenfell Matters – Grenfell Tower tragedy Kensington Town Hall protest, Friday 16th June 2017 – Organised by Mustafa al-MansurGrenfell Matters – Grenfell Tower tragedy Kensington Town Hall protest, Friday 16th June 2017 – Organised by Mustafa al-Mansur Grenfell Matters – Grenfell Tower tragedy Kensington Town Hall protest, Friday 16th June 2017 – Organised by Mustafa al-Mansur

     

    Comments from Mustafa al-Mansur (shared on his Facebook page, Friday 16th June 2017:

     

    In support of the victims of Grenfell tower, over a thousand people turned up at the peaceful protest outside Kensington Town Hall today at 3pm.

     

    The people had 5 clear demands from the council, including:

     

    Formal commitment from the council to re-house the victims of the tragedy, within the borough.


    Set up an independent public inquest to identify the criminals behind the gross negligence that lead to the tragedy and bringing them to justice.

     

    No one from the council was available to comment, but the Head of communications, Martin Fitzpatrick, handed me a piece of paper with the council’s formal response.

     

    The protesters are not satisfied with the response and demanded that the council sends someone down with straight answers to the demands.

     

    The protest was all peaceful and there was NO raid of the council building as claimed by some media outlets (with the Telegraph leading the lies).

     

    Some protesters went into the reception area of the great hall and were chanting “we want justice”, “justice for Grenfell residents” without any aggression or violence, until 20+ police officers in high visibility jackets actually stormed into the foyer and tried to create a barricade between the protesters outside the building and those inside the building but ended up pushing and shoving people around. This lead to some verbal exchange between the police and a few members of the public and a few scuffles broke out as a consequence.

     

    Other police officers arrived on horseback and we even had a helicopter circling the building from above. Some demanded to know where the helicopters were when the poor residents of Grenfell Tower were being incinerated in the fire!

     

    Then these police pushed people out of the building and disappeared. There was no violence, no raiding of the building by the public and pictures published by the Daily Mail are doctored to portray the public in a negative light.

     

    Some media outlets are a shame and embarrassment to our democracy, what can one say!

     

    Otherwise the event was overall very well covered and the people will continue to protest and demand their rights until they are met.

     

    It is time we started the end the gross discrimination against the poor and disadvantaged in our country. It is time we all stood together and not let ourselves be divided by the politics of fear.

     

    Our love and our solidarity is our strength.

     

     

  • Britain Needs You!

    Britain Needs You!

    Matthew Steeples suggests a new political movement is required in Britain and it is required urgently

     

    Britain is ready for a new political movement that emanates what has occurred with Emmanuel Macron in France. That might sound radical but it isn’t given ‘left’ and ‘right’ have again risen in the UK and whilst Theresa May’s Tories have become a deadpan disaster, Jeremy Corbyn’s radical Labour looks increasingly capable of winning. That would be a disaster and the only way of stopping it is to form a new party that actually represents the (currently) ‘silent but secretly sick of the stagnant muddle we’re currently in’ majority.

     

    Britain needs to realise that ‘Cuddly Corbyn’s’ offer of sweets now and sweets tomorrow will not fix the problems ‘Terrible Theresa’ has created and that the Liberal Democrats are incapable of delivering real solutions due to their ever decreasing relevance. What is required is a new party and what we need is one that brings together everyone from Anna Soubry to Chuka Umunna. It will be a party that that harnesses the political nous of Blair but not his toxicity; it will bring in grandees like Ken Clarke and Paddy Ashdown and it’ll stand opposed to the hate filled mantras that the likes of UKIP have dominated British politics with for too long.

     

    Grouping such as Open Britain seem all very well on the surface, but their ability to deliver change is clear. They achieve zilch and even Gina Miller’s Best for Britain – an organisation I lauded on its inception – seems to have garnered mixed results during last week’s General Election. Aside from failing to unseat hard Brexiteer Kate Hoey in Vauxhall, that grouping’s support for Momentum Labour Emma Dent Coad in Kensington was not something true centrists could ever have agreed with.

     

    Sensible sorts now need to ditch their personal allegiances for the good of our nation. We need change and we need a political party that can deliver what Britain truly requires.

     

  • Maxed Out

    Scumbag paedophile Max Clifford bankrupts himself leaving his victims without compensation

     

    Since being jailed, paedophile Max Clifford has shown absolutely no contrition and utterly no remorse. He’s sued newspapers, let his equally arrogant daughter, Louise, buy the “goodwill” – if such bizarrely even exists – of his former PR firm and tried to sell his ghastly Surrey home for £3.45 million. Now, in spite of reportedly being worth around £10 million prior to going on trial, this arrogant one-time friend of everyone from Simon Cowell to James Hewitt has pulled another scam and bankrupted himself this week.

     

    Maxed Out – Jailed paedophile Max Clifford bankrupts himself – Scumbag paedophile Max Clifford bankrupts himself leaving his victims without compensation.
    Max Clifford on the day of his marriage to his now ex-wife, Jo, with (left to right) Theo Paphitis, Bobby Davro, Pauline Quirke and Des O’Connor

     

    In walking away from debts of £7.5 million, Clifford has effectively limited what compensation he has to pay to the women and children he sexually abused. One was aged just 14 when he sexually abused her and of the news an unnamed female victim remarked: “His recent behaviour illustrates his complete arrogance and denial that his actions had any impact on his victims”.

     

    74-year old Clifford’s lawyer, John Szepietowski, told The Times: “Mr Clifford has always honoured his debts and finds this situation completely alien to him. He deeply regrets being in this situation”.

     

    Currently serving eight years at Her Majesty’s Prison Littlehey in Cambridgeshire, Max Clifford has yet again proven his entire worth. Here is a cretinous creature who’ll forever be remembered as nothing but a scumbag and a disgrace.

     

    Pictured above: Disgraced former PR Max Clifford with his daughter Louise Clifford, proprietor of Borne Media.