The Steeple Times

Tag: Boris Johnson

  • A Hiding in Hartlepool

    A Hiding in Hartlepool

    Nikolay Kalinin shares his thoughts on Labour’s electoral hiding in Hartlepool

    On Friday, came the result that everybody expected: The Labour Party lost the Hartlepool by-election to the Conservatives and for the first time since the constituency was created in 1974, a party other than Labour has the seat.

     

    The outcome is both surprising and not surprising; after all, back in 2016 nearly 70% of Hartlepool voters supported leaving the EU, and the successful COVID-19 vaccine rollout has ensured that the government has the majority of public support. Yet in 2017, the Corbyn led Labour managed to retain the seat, even gaining the majority of the vote, and in the 2019 election Labour retained the seat, even though the party was seen as the biggest opponent of Brexit.

     

    The truth is that there’s no single reason why Labour lost the by-election; Lord Mandelson for example has attributed Labour’s defeat to the “two Cs – Corbyn and COVID,” while casting Brexit as a secondary issue: “Believe it or not, not on one door that I knocked did a single voter mention Brexit to me. The one thing they did raise with me however is Jeremy Corbyn – he is still casting a very dark cloud over Labour,” Mandelson remarked.

     

    Labour’s defeat and Jill Mortimer’s win also lies in the absence of the Brexit Party, now named Reform UK; back in 2019 the party split the vote, gaining 25.8% whereas the Conservatives gained 28.9%, which was instrumental in allowing Labour to win with just 37% of the vote. Had the Brexit Party not run that year, the Conservatives would have definitely won.

     

    The disconnect between Labour and the electorate can be evidenced in Friday’s episode of BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, where several callers voiced their dissatisfactions with the party; one Conservative voter and small business owner stated that Labour “have taken Hartlepool for granted” and “chose a guy who was a devout Remainer.” Another caller added that Labour “needs to work on actually speaking to the working classes again” and connect with “small business owners, self-employed, Deliveroo drivers” as they “are the new working class.”

     

    The choice of Paul Williams as Labour’s candidate for Hartlepool was also a factor in the party’s undoing in the by-election, since his choice once again evokes a disconnect between Labour and the voters they are trying to appeal to; not only was Williams an MP for another constituency – namely Stockton South – but he also opposed Brexit when most of the voters in his seat voted to leave the EU. You shouldn’t choose a Remainer to represent a Brexiteer constituency, just like you shouldn’t choose Priti Patel as ambassador for a mental health organisation, would be my conclusion.

     

    Even Sir Keir Starmer seems to agree that Labour has been disconnected with the voters, as he reacted to the election results by saying, “Very often we’ve been talking to ourselves, instead of to the country, and we’ve lost the trust of working people, particularly in places like Hartlepool. I intend to do whatever is necessary to fix that.”

     

    To a lesser extent another reason for Labour’s defeat is the fact that their previous MP, Mike Hill, was a sexual predator, which makes me wonder: “Why was Stephen Crabb, Conservative MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire, not forced out of his seat considering he was shown to be a degenerate with an unrestrained sexual desire.”

     

    So, what is my overall analysis? Labour’s defeat in Hartlepool and the collapse of an important part of the ‘Red Wall’ was brought on by a wide range of factors, ranging from the time of Corbyn’s leadership, the successful vaccination rollout by the Conservative government, and also the issue over EU, which suggests that Brexit is still a prevalent issue among the British public.

     

    Many would blame Corbyn for where the party is now, and I can agree that he dragged Labour down in 2019, but the truth is that Sir Keir might actually drag them down even further; whereas Corbyn tried to appeal to the “new working class” of young workers – which was essential in getting more young people to vote in 2017 – Starmer has decided to go after the older homeowners who are more likely to vote Conservative.

     

    If Labour wants to regain the seat and have a chance at challenging ‘Bosie The Clown’ and his sleazy Eton friends in 2024, they must connect with their core working-class electorate, no matter whether they voted for Brexit or not. The ‘Wallpapergate’ sleaze scandal seems to have no impact on the government at all, so it’s probably best if Labour now instead dedicates its time to connecting with those that actually could get them elected.

     

    Pictured top: Sir Keir Starmer campaigning in Hartlepool with wannabe MP for the Paul Williams.

     

    A Hiding in Hartlepool 2021 – Labour loses Hartlepool to the Tories – Nikolay Kalinin shares his thoughts on Labour’s electoral hiding in Hartlepool.
    A Hiding in Hartlepool 2021 – Jill Mortimer didn’t win over voters in Hartlepool. Labour, in fact, lost them.
  • Word of the Week 2021 – Going to the Polls

    Word of the Week 2021 – Going to the Polls

    Susie Dent shares the fascinating origin of “going to the polls” just as Count Binface looks to get more votes than Laurence Fox in spite of the latter having a ludicrous £5 million campaign pot

    With voting underway across the country, “that woman in Dictionary Corner” Susie Dent this morning shared with her 753,000 followers on Twitter the origin of “going to the polls” this morning:

     

    Origin of the day: the ‘poll’ in ‘going to the polls’ originally meant ‘head’, referring to the counting of heads or votes. A ‘noddypoll’ was an incompetent fool, a ‘clod-poll’ a blockhead, and a ‘tadpoll’ (later ‘tadpole’) a ‘toad-head’.        

     

    Referencing what a lacklustre bag of bilge Londoners have been offered by the mainstream parties and echoing Nikolay Kalinin’s analysis of Labour’s national multifaceted mess for The Steeple Times yesterday, Inside Croydon declared of the campaign:

     

    “It has been a very long, and very tedious, London election campaign, but for some of the capital’s voters, perhaps bewildered by the multitude of different voting systems employed and vast number of candidates for Mayor or the London Assembly, there has been one bright spot: Count Binface.”

     

    “In elections that were postponed from 2020, among the various races-within-the-race for City Hall, there is a fascination among those who long ago tired of the lies of Tory Shaun Bailey or the deadly dull platitudes of Sadiq Khan (did you know: his father was a London bus driver?), the idea that a geezer with a bin on his head could attract more votes than the spittle-flecked campaign of Laurence Fox has lightened the mood these past couple of weeks.”

     

    “And what’s more, unlike so much of so many of the pointless political campaigns, Binface is actually doing some good, by raising thousands of pounds for homelessness charities.”

     

    Elsewhere on social media yesterday, Count Binface himself shared an amusing video based on Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody asking his followers to make him their first choice today. The Steeple Times’ editor Matthew Steeples duly obliged when he headed to St Columba’s Church of Scotland in Pont Street, SW1 this morning and casted a protest for Max Fosh as his second choice also.

     

    Going to the Polls – Count Binface morphed into Whitney Houston to share his final pitch to be the next Mayor of London “and/or the UK’s next Eurovision entry.” He urged: “Make me your first choice vote, and together we will crush the loopy candidates. (You know who I mean.)”
    Going to the Polls – Susie Dent, as ever, brought a bit of insight on polling day 2021.
    Going to the Polls – Boris Johnson was escorted to vote in Westminster by his latest baby mama Carrie Symonds at just before 8am this morning. Whether she had to help the ‘noddypoll’ PM mark his voting card or not is unknown.
    Word of the Week 2021 – Going to the Polls – Fox v Binface – Susie Dent shares the fascinating origin of “going to the polls” just as Count Binface looks to get more votes than Laurence Fox in spite of the latter having a ludicrous £5 million campaign pot.
    Going to the Polls – Many Twitter users mocked the ex-actor Fox and remarked of their desire for Count Binface to actually be his ex-wife Billie Piper in disguise.
    Word of the Week 2021 – Going to the Polls – Fox v Binface – Susie Dent shares the fascinating origin of “going to the polls” just as Count Binface looks to get more votes than Laurence Fox in spite of the latter having a ludicrous £5 million campaign pot.
    Going to the Polls – The parody Boris Johnson account went further and declared: “To be honest, I don’t care if we take Hartlepool, as long as Count Binface beats that streak of piss, Laurence Fox.” 1,200 clicked “love” in response. Author Emma Kennedy added: “When Count Binface gets more votes than Waitrose Tommy Robinson tomorrow, I look forward to the 3682 5k thinkpieces/profile articles in The Telegraph and Sunday Times telling us what a brave visionary Count Binface is. Also: BBCQT AHOY!” and got 1,600 “loves” also.
    Word of the Week 2021 – Going to the Polls – Fox v Binface – Susie Dent shares the fascinating origin of “going to the polls” just as Count Binface looks to get more votes than Laurence Fox in spite of the latter having a ludicrous £5 million campaign pot.
    Going to the Polls – John O’Connell announced: “Duty done. I voted. Now I can freely spend the rest of the day taking the piss out of Shaun Bailey and Laurence Fox, and cheering on Count Binface.”
  • Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess

    Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess

    Nikolay Kalinin suggests that in spite of their crusade against Tory sleaze, Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer is failing to make any inroads and finds himself in a multifaceted mess

    A week ago, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer attempted to present himself as the superhero British politics needs in order to rid the country of Tory sleaze. He proffered that his scrutiny at Prime Minister’s Questions and photo-ops at John Lewis illustrated that Labour will annihilate the Tories in tomorrow’s elections simply because the governing party are just ‘no good.’

     

    Yet, the truth for Sir Keir is actually far bleaker and a multifaceted mess, as ever since February the gap between the Conservatives and Labour in the polls has been increasing in the governing party’s favour and this has mostly been due to the UK government’s incredibly successful vaccination programme.

     

    Even after the ‘Wallpapergate’ scandal, it seems like nothing much has changed, as a YouGov poll has projected that on 6th May, Labour is most likely to lose 59 seats in ‘Red Wall’ local councils, whereas the Conservatives are set to gain 90. Furthermore, 38% of people in ‘Red Wall’ council areas have stated that Boris Johnson would “make the best Prime Minister,” compared to just 30% for Starmer.

     

    The by-election in the Hartlepool constituency meanwhile – which has been described as the first litmus test of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership – has also left many expecting Labour will lose their hold over the area. A poll conducted by Good Morning Britain concluded that 50% of the people interviewed in the area would vote for Conservative candidate Jill Mortimer, compared to the 33% that would vote for Labour candidate Paul Williams.

     

    In even worse news for Labour, another GMB poll concluded that most people in Hartlepool had favourable feelings towards Conservatives (46%), compared to Labour’s 31%. Furthermore, 45% of people expressed negative feelings towards Labour, compared to 31% who expressed negativity towards Conservatives. It seems therefore like Labour is on the path to losing the seat, which has been controlled by them since its establishment in 1974.

     

    Still, there has also been evidence in the last few days that suggests otherwise; a recent UK voting intention poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies has seen the Conservatives’ lead being slashed by 4%, whereas Labour has gained 4% in the polls, meaning that the gap between both is now a mere 2%.

     

    As expected, Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan is expected to retain his position as he maintains a fairly stable lead in the polls, with predictions that he’ll get 61% in the first round whereas his hapless Conservative rival Shaun Bailey will achieve a mere 39%.

     

    There’s a dangerously high chance that the Conservatives will be able to use the vaccination success in order to win over the voters in councils and in Hartlepool, who will ignore the fact that their PM has used donated money for his own expenses and didn’t even disclose it.

     

    Why has Sir Keir Starmer, in general, failed to deliver a fatal blow to the Tories in the lead-up to the elections? It’s most likely due to lack of a uniting ideology, but more importantly due to the lack of opposition; because of the government’s role in fighting against COVID-19, it’s possible that the role of Labour as an opposition party has been substantially reduced, as they are actually unable to scrutinise the Tories like they would normally have had had there been no pandemic. In some way, Sir Keir seems to be lacking the appeal that Jeremy Corbyn had as Labour leader, which allowed the party to receive an influx of members after decades of falling membership.

     

    So far, the sleaze scandals have not hurt the Conservatives at all – as a matter of fact support for them has been increasing – and even more surprisingly the Labour Party that has been leading the campaign against sleaze is getting pummeled in the polls. It truly is concerning that a party that has such a large lack of connection with people is leading in the polls, because this should not happen in a country that is supposedly a representative democracy. We’ll just have to wait and see, but a very important first signal will emerge with the results tomorrow.

     

    Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess – Sir Keir Starmer certainly did not help himself when he found himself kicked out of a pub in Bristol in April. His minder’s bullyboy conduct reflected very badly upon him and the fact that his aides had not checked the venue out first shows a shocking lack of coordination on the Labour Party’s part.
    Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess 2021 – Labour fail to make inroads – Nikolay Kalinin suggests that in spite of their crusade against Tory sleaze, Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer is failing to make any inroads and finds himself in a multifaceted mess.
    Starmer’s Multifaceted Mess – Sir Keir Starmer believes: “Another future is possible,” but thus far he has failed to convince he is the man who could deliver such in post-coronavirus pandemic Britain.
  • Creepy Cliff & Costly Carrie

    Creepy Cliff & Costly Carrie

    Will wine chucking Boris Johnson baby mama Carrie Symonds go the same way as the ‘Carrie’ of creepy crooner Sir Cliff Richard’s 1980s song?

    Described on his ‘official’ YouTube channel in the comments section by some as “magical” and “one of his greatest hits” in spite of being frankly weird, a seriously strange video of Cliff Richard singing ‘Carrie’ on The Kenny Everett Video Show is something that could sum up what could soon happen to Carrie Symonds next.

     

    Focused on the lyrics “Carrie doesn’t live here anymore” as the contemptible Christian crackpot ‘Cliffy’ croons in the mist outside a café-bar, the continuation with “Carrie used to live on the second floor… Sorry that she left no forwarding address… That was known to me, Carrie” could soon apply to Boris Johnson’s latest baby mama.

     

    Quite deservedly under fire as to failing to explain who really funded payment of the vast £200,000 bill caused by Peter Jones loathing Miss Symonds’ demands for a quite unnecessary makeover of their perfectly habitable Downing Street flat, Boris Johnson – who still faces an ongoing inquiry also into who paid for the December 2019 Mustique holiday nearly 16 months later also – is on the ropes. Like Teflon, he may bat these investigations away, but with his “psychopath” nemesis – as some have branded him – Cummings having “gone rogue,” this time things are beginning to stick.

     

    Of the imaginary ‘Carrie’ in the 1980 song – written by ‘Devil Woman’ songwriter Terry Britten – all-round oddity Sir Cliff told the Mail on Sunday in November 2008:

     

    “It’s a mysterious song because you never really know what it’s about. A guy turns up in the neighborhood asking where Carrie is. The very last line goes: ‘Carrie doesn’t live, doesn’t live…’ You’re left thinking: ‘Is she dead? Has she been murdered?’”

     

    Now, with public outrage turning up the heat in ‘Costly Carrie’s’ Westminster lair, will this ‘Modern Day Lady Macbeth’ puppet mistress ‘survive’ her “date with her own kind of fate”? Some might think that, but we couldn’t possibly comment.

     

    Creepy Cliff & Costly Carrie 2021 – The March 1980 screening of Cliff Richard singing ‘Carrie’ on The Kenny Everett Video Show. Of the song, one fan, Tim Roxborough, cringeworthily declared: “Late 70s/early 80s songs like ‘Dreamin,’ ‘Carrie’ and ‘We Don’t Talk Anymore’ aren’t just hits, nor are they just catchy pop tunes. Vocally, Cliff is singing much higher and with far greater emotion and elasticity than what he did in the 50s and 60s. If you’re prejudiced, pretend ‘Carrie’ isn’t a Cliff Richard song and its hook, its groove, its paranoid lyrics and its clean production make it a worthy music cousin of Marvin Gaye’s ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine.’” We’d argue to the contrary: It’s frankly just creepy.
    Creepy Cliff & Costly Carrie 2021 – Cliff Richard & Carrie Symonds – Will wine chucking Boris Johnson baby mama Carrie Symonds go the same way as the ‘Carrie’ of creepy crooner Sir Cliff Richard’s 1980s song?
    Creepy Cliff & Costly Carrie – Sir Cliff Richard and Carrie Symonds share a penchant for hooch and holidays. Equally, they both share a liking for making things up and being the centre of attention. Examples of such behaviour includes Miss Symonds’ temper tantrum over being called ‘Princess Nut Nut’ by Dominic Cummings and Sir Cliff’s “young man, go f**k yourself” rant after supposedly being “duped” into describing his own wine as “tainted and insipid” by Gordon Ramsay in June 2006.
    Creepy Cliff & Costly Carrie 2021 – Cliff Richard & Carrie Symonds – Will wine chucking Boris Johnson baby mama Carrie Symonds go the same way as the ‘Carrie’ of creepy crooner Sir Cliff Richard’s 1980s song?
    Creepy Cliff & Costly Carrie – The similarities between Boris Johnson’s latest baby mama and the creepy Christian crooner continue in the design department. Whilst Miss Symonds likes curious colour concoctions that wouldn’t look out of place in the home of Edina Monsoon in the comedy ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ (left), Sir Cliff favours décor decisions that would most definitely appeal to dictators and despots such as Saddam Hussein and Nicolae Ceaușescu (right).
    Creepy Cliff & Costly Carrie – Both Sir Cliff Richard and Carrie Symonds take the attitude of the late, great Ian Richardson in the original (and better) television adaptation of Michael Dobbs’ ‘House of Cards’ and respond to any criticism with his infamous: “You might very well think that, but I couldn’t possibly comment.” Perhaps, if Tory sleaze does indeed engulf his administration, puppet mistress Miss Symonds and her hapless hubby-to-be may find themselves forced into taking a very ‘Long Summer Holiday’ soon too.
  • Who REALLY is Henry Newman?

    Who REALLY is Henry Newman?

    Whilst only a few newspapers have delved into his political past, we today ask: “Who REALLY is the bestie of Carrie Symonds and alleged ‘Chatty Rat’ Henry Newman?”

    In 2019, ‘Carrie Symonds’ bestie’ and supposed clatterfart Henry Newman described Dominic Cummings as “one of only a few political advisers who understands the importance of, and is truly committed to, reforming the Whitehall machine.” In April 2020, Cummings responded by branding Newman a leaker.

     

    Now, as the media delve into the scandal of Boris Johnson’s hole riddled ship and he seeks to dissipate the disgrace of his decorating debacle, with Cummings’ intervention on Friday, elements of the media have begun to examine exactly who Henry Newman is.

     

    Whilst widely referenced for dancing to ABBA with his longstanding chum Symonds and for being the go-to mouthpiece in support of Brexit during Theresa May’s “Brexit means Brexit” era, Newman should also go down in history for banging on about a need for fortnightly bin collections in Hampstead and Kilburn and for his somewhat bizarre Facebook ramblings.

     

    On his wall on the social media site, former special adviser (SPAD) to Francis Maude and Michael Gove, Newman – a graduate of ritzy institutions including the University of Oxford, Harvard University and the London School of Economics – has shared posts about being drunk. He has remarked that he was once “discreetly charmed by the bourgeoisie” and bragged that he even listened “to the Stones as the economy [collapsed].”

     

    Tellingly also, this one-time “rising star” and “Goveite” also declared he was “drowning in honey, stingless” and, most appropriately, providing illustration of why Daylesford addict ‘Costly Carrie’ counts him as “one of her four favourite people,” once announced: “[I’m] opening an organic box.”

     

    ‘Henry The Bin Boy’ Newman’s words of wisdom on Facebook…

    “Is drunk.”

     

    “Is opening an organic box.”

     

    “Is discreetly charmed by the bourgeoisie.”

     

    “Is drowning in honey, stingless.”

     

    “Once you kill a cow you gotta make a burger.”

     

    “Wondering if he is really a top concern for US immigration.”

     

    “Waiting for Jacqui Smith to resign.”

     

    “Is dancing, dancing, dancing… Is listening to rumba in W. Hartford… Is dancing in the dark… Is missing dancing.”

     

    “Is listening to the Stones while the economy collapses.”

     

    “Is watching his tan fall off.”

     

    “Hates people who don’t know how to use a rowing machine.”

     

    “Is thinking what this country needs is a new taskforce.”

     

    Who REALLY is Henry Newman? Alleged ‘Chatty Rat’ with a liking for organic boxes – Whilst a few newspapers have delved into his political past, we ask: “Who REALLY is the bestie of Carrie Symonds and alleged ‘Chatty Rat’ Henry Newman?” Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Dominic Cummings, Francis Maude, Conservative, Tory, Vote Leave.
    Who is Henry Newman? Facebook posts by him give a clue to his personality.

    Descriptions of Henry Newman by…

    Boris Johnson:

    “One of my three musketeers.”

     

    Carrie Symonds:

    “One of my four favourite people.”

     

    Toby Young:

    “He is new role model… If you were a [politics show] booker who had to find someone… Newman was the only name on your Rolodex.”

     

    “As the oxygen went out of Theresa May’s premiership, and her withdrawal agreement began to breathe its last, the great balloon of his career became more and more inflated.”

     

    Dominic Cummings:

    “All the evidence [regarding the second lockdown leak] definitely leads to Henry Newman… I’m just trying to get the communications data to prove it.”

     

    An unnamed “senior government source”:

    “The allegations against Henry Newman are entirely false. He wouldn’t be working in Downing Street if he was suspected of leaking information.”

     

    Follow Henry Newman on his now somewhat secretive social media (if he lets you) at @henryjohnnewman on Facebook, @henryjohnnewman on Instagram and @HenryNewman on Twitter.

     

    Who REALLY is Henry Newman? Alleged ‘Chatty Rat’ with a liking for organic boxes – Whilst a few newspapers have delved into his political past, we ask: “Who REALLY is the bestie of Carrie Symonds and alleged ‘Chatty Rat’ Henry Newman?” Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Dominic Cummings, Francis Maude, Conservative, Tory, Vote Leave.
    Who is Henry Newman? A fan of wearing beanie hats that declare: “Let’s get Brexit done,” here is a young man who taught politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), after studying at the University of Oxford, Harvard University and the London School of Economics. He reportedly then “cut his teeth” working in the Cabinet Office during the coalition government years and then joined Michael Gove’s entourage in the Ministry of Justice after he was appointed as the Lord Chancellor in 2015.
    Who REALLY is Henry Newman? Alleged ‘Chatty Rat’ with a liking for organic boxes – Whilst a few newspapers have delved into his political past, we ask: “Who REALLY is the bestie of Carrie Symonds and alleged ‘Chatty Rat’ Henry Newman?” Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Dominic Cummings, Francis Maude, Conservative, Tory, Vote Leave.
    Who is Henry Newman? Aside from having travelled to Russia in his youth, Newman joined the Vote Leave campaign during the 2016 referendum campaign and, according to ‘The Telegraph’ “was among a close circle of Mr Gove’s friends who were said to have helped to convince him to ‘knife’ Mr Johnson and torpedo his bid for the Tory leadership by deciding to run himself.” Later, a director of the pro-Brexit Open Europe think-tank, Newman was then rewarded for being “loyal” to Carrie Symonds when Boris Johnson came to power.
    Who REALLY is Henry Newman? Alleged ‘Chatty Rat’ with a liking for organic boxes – Whilst a few newspapers have delved into his political past, we ask: “Who REALLY is the bestie of Carrie Symonds and alleged ‘Chatty Rat’ Henry Newman?” Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Dominic Cummings, Francis Maude, Conservative, Tory, Vote Leave.
    Who is Henry Newman? Let’s not forget that this young man’s best friend Carrie Symonds was previously dating a man, Oliver Haiste (sometimes spelt ‘Haste’), exposed by the BBC in October 2016 for a Russian fake news scandal and for his friendship with Henry Hopwood-Phillips, an individual involved in the far-right, racist Traditional Britain Group. Miss Symonds must be noted also for her having been employed by Oceana, an oceanic charity that Ghislaine Maxwell – the now incarcerated alleged mucky madam to Jeffrey Epstein – was also a tin banger for.
    https://twitter.com/JoshBerryComedy/status/1386235119002955776
  • A Rotten Rose – Brian Rose: An Entire Circus of Idiocy

    A Rotten Rose – Brian Rose: An Entire Circus of Idiocy

    New contributor Nikolay Kalinan delves into the history of the American ex-heroin addict and wannabe Mayor of London Brian Rose and finds his curious claims to be rather hollow

    Several weeks ago, Brian Rose seemed to have it all; his odds of winning the London Mayoral election stood at 18/1 – 2nd place to Sadiq Khan – and he was organising what he called “the largest outdoor campaign in British political history” supported by 2 million subscribers on his ‘London Real’ YouTube channel and 1.6 million followers on his Instagram pages.

     

    Yet, the truth be known: Rose’s image of supposed runaway success is nothing but total fakery. In an opinion poll, only 2% of the respondents said they would vote for Rose, which is actually less than the amount of people who expressed their support for Niko Omilana – someone who doesn’t even have serious election policies apart from the genius pledge to make Boris Johnson “shush.”

     

    For years now, ‘Brian The Piss-Drinker’ has created an image of his being a knight in shining armour, but that hides his utter incompetence and shallowness. Indeed, this was evident back in April 2020 when he conducted an interview with the fruitcake David Icke. During that discussion, Icke claimed that COVID-19 was not real, and was actually spread by 5G towers – no surprises there – with the purpose of creating a fascist world order.

     

    When faced with criticism regarding the Icke interview, which was quite justifiably subsequently removed from YouTube, Rose first responded by stating that he was simply protecting freedom of speech, and then by him re-uploading the interview to his own video service, the Digital Freedom Platform. He then doubled down on the whole controversy by releasing interviews with more nutjobs, including the angry and delusional radio host Alex Jones and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

     

    Aside from Rose’s pandering to COVID-sceptics giving a sense of how great a wrong’un he genuinely is, a look at whether he has kept his promises in regards to the Digital Freedom Platform he created illustrates further the deception that surrounds this American ex-heroin using transplant.

     

    Initially, of that, Rose said that the medium would be a new video platform “of the people, by the people and for the people.” Almost a year later, and with some £720,000 raised for the project, you would think that he would do what any “politician of the people” would do and fulfil his promise by officially opening up the platform but, of course, he didn’t.

     

    Instead, Digitial Freedom Platform has been transformed into a library of content for amateur conspiracy theorists and is also being used as another piece of marketing for Rose’s mayoral campaign. So, to recap, Brian Rose spent £720,000 donated to him by ordinary people on creating InfoWars 2.0 and what did they get back? Nothing.

     

    Things don’t get any better when you look at Brian Rose’s election manifesto, which looks like a bunch of regurgitated campaign promises from candidates such as Shaun Bailey and Laurence Fox. Rose has aped such pledges as that by Bailey to put thousands of police officers on London’s streets and build thousands of homes that will cost just £100,000 each, as well as Fox’s pledge to end lockdown and create a festival celebrating London’s culture.

     

    In fact, it just feels as if Rose has copied and pasted whole sections from Bailey and Fox’s manifestos and then replaced some words and numbers with ones of his own. In summary: Here is someone incapable of actually coming up with anything original.

     

    Brian Rose is inevitably heading for doom on May 6th, and the truth – whether he likes it or not – is that it doesn’t matter how much money he spends on campaigning or how much he says that he is a crusader for “freedom of speech.” The reality is clear: Brian Rose won’t become the next Mayor of London because he’s simply nothing other than an utter nutter.

     

    Pictured top: Naughty boy Brian Rose being given a ticking off (and a fine subsequently) for campaigning when and where he shouldn’t have been.

     

    A Rotten Rose – Brian Rose: An Entire Circus of Idiocy – New contributor Nikolay Kalinan delves into the history of the American ex-heroin addict oddity and wannabe Mayor of London Brian Rose and finds his curious claims to be rather hollow.
    A Rotten Rose – According to an interview he gave to Susannah Butter, published in the ‘Evening Standard’ on the 14th April 2021, plainly delusional “Brian Rose is already referring to himself as the Mayor [of London] and says Londoner’s are too.”
  • Picture of the Week – Cesspit Street

    Picture of the Week – Cesspit Street

    Protestors brandishing envelopes of ‘taxpayers’ money’ sum up the state of Boris Johnson’s rotten government as ex-minister Johnny Mercer quite rightly brands it a “cesspit”

    If you’re the pro-Brexit billionaire Sir James Dyson or the diplomat killer Mohammed bin Salman, you get the right to have the British Prime Minister on ‘speed-text.’ If you’re an ordinary taxpaying citizen, you get sweet Fanny Adams.

     

    Summing up the present government’s attitude to the public and taxpayers’ money, our picture of the week – shared by the @WinstonCProject on Twitter – shows a protest outside the entrance to Downing Street by individuals sporting masks of amongst others Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and David Cameron.

     

    Featuring also envelopes stuffed with £50 notes emblazoned with ‘Taxpayers’ Money’ in red, the message attached also reads: “To Tory chums, Dodgy contracts, Jobs for mates… If found please return to The Conservative Party.”

     

    Elsewhere yesterday, after resigning from Johnson’s rotten government, Johnny Mercer remarked:

     

    “I think it’s pretty clear that not everyone tells the truth up here do they. I mean, I told people, I was resigning as a courtesy to government. You know, three hours later, it’s in the press. And, of course, they all denied they ever leaked it.”

     

    “This is the most distrustful, awful environment I’ve ever worked in, in government. Almost nobody tells the truth is what I’ve worked out over the last 36 hours.”

     

    “And, you know, I don’t think anyone really can get on their high horse about trust and ethics and all the rest of it in politics, because as far as I’m concerned, most of it is a bit of a cesspit.”

     

    #JohnsonOut

     

    Picture of the Week – Cesspit Street – Protestors brandishing envelopes of ‘taxpayers’ money’ sum up the state of Boris Johnson’s rotten government as ex-minister Johnny Mercer quite rightly brands it a “cesspit”
    Cesspit Street – This morning, the ‘Guardian’ shared this cartoon by Nicola Jennings that accurately sums up the relationship between Sir James Dyson and Boris Johnson.
    Picture of the Week – Cesspit Street – Protestors brandishing envelopes of ‘taxpayers’ money’ sum up the state of Boris Johnson’s rotten government as ex-minister Johnny Mercer quite rightly brands it a “cesspit”
    Cesspit Street – On Monday, it was revealed that leaked emails showed that the Conservative Party WAS fully aware that £58,000 in donations was to be used to refit the Downing Street flat occupied by serial shagger Boris Johnson and his wine chucking latest baby mama, ‘Costly Carrie’ Symonds.
    https://twitter.com/EmmaKennedy/status/1385116534805303296
  • Hospitality vs. Headbangers

    Hospitality vs. Headbangers

    Legal challenge to Boris Johnson’s government’s completely illogical refusal to allow indoor hospitality venues to open whilst allowing indoor retail to open to be decided on this week

    In spite of venues with outdoor space being allowed to serve customers on their terraces and in gardens, the hospitality sector in the UK will continue to lose around £200 million per day until the government allows them to serve indoors in mid-May.

     

    This week, following a perfectly sensible legal challenge by Sacha Lord, the night-time economy adviser for Greater Manchester, and Hugh Osmond, the founder of Punch Taverns, the government could be forced to bring forward the date for indoor opening for bars, pubs and restaurants.

     

    Lord and Osmond together quite sensibly argue there is no justification or scientific basis for indoor hospitality to be kept closed for five additional weeks after non-essential retailers in England were allowed to serve customers indoors from 12th April. Their call is correct and the continuation of this illogical set of double standards is doing just one thing: Dealing another body blow to an already devastated sector.

     

    Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme this morning of their challenge to the crackpot crazy decisions of borderline bonkers’ Boris Johnson’s Tory government, Osmond remarked:

     

    “This is something of a David versus Goliath battle. We are reassured that David won in that instance.”

     

    “At the start of this pandemic there was a totally understandable assumption that hospitality venues might be responsible for the spread of infections. The vision of drunken people in crowded pubs is an easy and obvious target that people understand.”

     

    “The data [now] definitively shows that hospitality was not the major source of infections.”

     

    Elsewhere on Twitter on Friday, Lord remarked: “The government’s defence is just in… They must be concerned, they’ve put their No. 1 legals on the case, Sir James Eadie QC, the First Treasury Counsel.”

     

    Going further this morning, he added: “Thank you for all the good luck messages. It’s not necessarily today, the Judge has said: ‘The week commencing the 19th.’ Again, a real long shot, but as soon as there’s news, I’ll post it here. Enjoy the sun.”

     

    Today, all at The Steeple Times join those supporting the logic of allowing indoor hospitality venues to reopen and reopen now. Let’s get the indoor show back on the road.

     

    Pictured top: Restaurants such as Fifty Cheyne in Chelsea, London have tables that are very clearly separated from one another. As shown in this image, diners can be socially distanced in a manner perfectly reasonable. Why shouldn’t such places – which lack outdoor dining areas and thus cannot even benefit from the currently allowed outdoor opening rules – not be able to get back to business whilst small, cramped shops with little-to-no precautionary measures are allowed to trade?

     

    Hospitality vs. Headbangers 2021 – Hospitality vs. Government – Legal challenge to Boris Johnson’s government’s illogical refusal to allow indoor hospitality venues open whilst allowing indoor retail to be decided on this week.
    Hospitality vs. Headbangers – Echoing scenes from December 2020 reported on in ‘The Steeple Times,’ on Sunday the ‘MailOnline’ reported on yet another swarm of maskless, tempestuous teenagers descending on Harrods on Saturday. Sharing the article on Twitter on Monday, Hugh Osmond remarked: “It is surely clear that all-seated, licensed hospitality venues, with table service only, cannot present more of a risk than non-essential retail… Open indoor hospitality now.”
    Hospitality vs. Headbangers 2021 – Hospitality vs. Government – Legal challenge to Boris Johnson’s government’s illogical refusal to allow indoor hospitality venues open whilst allowing indoor retail to be decided on this week.
    Hospitality vs. Headbangers – Giuseppe Turi, who owns Enoteca Turi on Pimlico Road, London, SW1 with his wife Pamela, is currently just serving people on his two outside tables “after loyal customers begged him to reopen,” the ‘Daily Star’ last week reported. Speaking to the ‘Mail on Sunday,’ Mr Turi added: “It doesn’t really make financial sense with just two tables, but our customers are so desperate to come back. We are now fully booked until May 17 when we can open inside. We are very excited to connect with our regulars again, but unfortunately we’ve not been able to accommodate everybody.” The chances of this business making a profit from such activity stand in the area of “zilch-zero-nothing,” but provide proof that it is businesses that are showing initiative and not the illogical, rudderless, incompetent government of Boris Johnson.
    Hospitality vs. Headbangers 2021 – Hospitality vs. Government – Legal challenge to Boris Johnson’s government’s illogical refusal to allow indoor hospitality venues open whilst allowing indoor retail to be decided on this week.
    Hospitality vs. Headbangers – Last October, Richard Caring, owner of many of London’s best-known high-end restaurants, stuck up two dummies of Boris Johnson (in spite of having previously given over £510,000 in donations to the Conservative Party previously). At the time of the lockdown then in place, Caring raged: “Make no mistake, this is a disastrous decision, taken by people who do not understand what terrible damage they are doing to the country.”
  • Don’t Come On Carrie!

    Don’t Come On Carrie!

    Matthew Steeples argues that Daniel Johnson’s “Come on Carrie: your country needs you!” call to Boris Johnson’s wine chucking latest baby mama is nothing but claptrap

    The Article is one of those online titles that one can dip into from time to time and find an array of opinions about politics. It claims to show “the world in all its shades of grey” and though that’s not meant in a ‘John Major style’ (thank the Lord), the publication’s attempts to “see a story from every angle” is indeed refreshing.

     

    Yesterday, however, the title’s editor Daniel Johnson – the brother of the controversial right-wing Vote Leave and anti-lockdown COVID Recovery Group funding former owner of the Pizza Express group Luke Johnson – penned quite frankly the most bizarre article known to man.

     

    Daniel Johnson, also a founding editor of Standpoint and described by the Independent as having “the air of a classics don” and listed on Wikipedia for having “asserted that Islam in not a peaceful religion,” asked: “Why isn’t the Prime Minister calling for a post-Covid catch-up campaign [for British school children]?” He then turned to what he believes should happen in the wake of Prince Philip’s funeral tomorrow.

     

    Bizarrely and from utterly nowhere, the journalist went off on a seriously odd tangent and declared:

     

    “Our sympathy for the Royal Family is all the greater because this has been a sad time for so many others, too. After so many funerals, a wedding would not come amiss. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a divorced man in possession of the good fortune to be Prime Minister must be in want of a wife.”

     

    “Next month Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds will have been engaged for 18 months. Once the restrictions on weddings have been lifted in June, there is nothing to stop them getting married. Not everyone would rejoice, but most people would wish them well. Royal weddings happen regularly; prime ministerial ones are rare birds. Indeed, the last time a Prime Minister tied the knot while in office was in 1822, when Lord Liverpool remarried after being widowed.”

     

    “If a week is a long time in politics, two centuries is an aeon. There are many reasons why Boris might be hesitant, but his fiancée is no shrinking violet and is quite capable of insisting that the time has come. Little Wilfred is growing fast. The nation needs cheering up. Come on, Carrie: your country needs you!”

     

    Aside from the fact that most of the nation would prefer Prime Minister Johnson to be focusing on getting the current out of the Covid crisis and fixing our economy, ‘Journalist Johnson’ misses the point entirely about the country’s thoughts about our serial shagging head honcho.

     

    Whilst Tory sleaze – with the Greenshill scandal and the likes of Matt Hancock handing out multi-million pound contracts willy-nilly to his mates – is dominating the headlines, I’d argue that our country needs a little less of ‘Costly Carrie’ and not a bit more. With her penchant for £200,000 “monstrous” interior design makeovers and £12,500 deliveries of food from ritzy Daylesford, here is a Barbara Amiel-esque wastrel completely out of touch with the nation.

     

    A wedding for Carrie Symonds would certainly cement the status of a wine chucking wench with a penchant for hanging around with members of the far-right Traditional Britain Group and working for organisations supported by the deservedly incarcerated mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell, but what would it actually do for the great British public?

     

    “Absolutely nothing” is frankly the only acceptable answer.

     

    Next!

     

    Don’t Come On Carrie! The nation does NOT need Carrie Symonds – Matthew Steeples argues that Daniel Johnson’s “Come on, Carrie: your country needs you!” call to Boris Johnson’s wine chucking latest baby mama is nothing but claptrap.
    Don’t Come On Carrie! Boris Johnson’s current squeeze Carrie Symonds was described by her alleged spreader of fake news about Russia ex-boyfriend Oliver Haiste (sometimes spelt ‘Haste’) as: “Any relationship with Carrie or friendship with Carrie is very intense and can often burn brightly… Never boring… Tumultuous… Intense and passionate… That passion can work the other way when she is not happy with you… It’s the most up and down relationship I have had.”
    Don’t Come On Carrie! The nation does NOT need Carrie Symonds – Matthew Steeples argues that Daniel Johnson’s “Come on, Carrie: your country needs you!” call to Boris Johnson’s wine chucking latest baby mama is nothing but claptrap.
    Don’t Come On Carrie! Rumours of Boris Johnson’s affairs continue to do the rounds on social media. Aside from a supposed ongoing fling with a certain tame BBC journalist, the Prime Minister has been repeatedly linked to various Russians.
    Don’t Come On Carrie! The nation does NOT need Carrie Symonds – Matthew Steeples argues that Daniel Johnson’s “Come on, Carrie: your country needs you!” call to Boris Johnson’s wine chucking latest baby mama is nothing but claptrap.
    Don’t Come On Carrie! The man pictured left believes “Boris Johnson was sent by Christ” to “fulfill bible prophecy” whilst a parody magazine mocked the Prime Minister with a headline: “Scumbag Exposed! My hubby had TWELVE children before WE MET!”
  • Costly Carrie

    Costly Carrie

    The extravagance of Carrie Symonds plainly knows no bounds; what ‘Costly Carrie’ wants, cost unconscious puppet mistress Carrie gets

    ‘Princess Nut Nut’ – AKA ‘Costly Carrie’ Symonds – will go down in history as Downing Street’s answer to Barbara Amiel. With an attitude to expenditure that makes she whose “extravagance knew no bounds” look meek, Boris Johnson’s puppet mistress has deservedly been criticised in recent days for her £200,000 “monstrous” and “inappropriate” makeover of the flat occupied by the Prime Minister.

     

    Now, with news that she’s topped her spendaholic lifestyle with over £12,500 of deliveries from ritzy Daylesford – owned by “lady doors to manual” Carole Bamford – during successive lockdowns, this utterly out-of-touch with ordinary folk woman is understandably being mocked and derided. Here is someone whose Imelda Marcos ways will ultimately make Cherie Blair seem like a comparative penny pincher.

     

    Having first shown her harridan handiwork in forcing ‘Bosie The Clown’ to turf out Dominic Cummings for not kowtowing to her, ‘modern day Marie Antoinette’ Symonds – who also faces scandal in the face of an investigation into the charity she works for – has also been slammed for appointing her cronies without following due process.

     

    One-time employee of another charity linked to incarcerated mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell, psychotic wine-chucker ‘Carrie Not On Regardless’ has plenty of previous. Aside from bedroom area shenanigans with The Sun’s Harry Cole, Britain’s rather unfortunate equivalent of a first lady previously had an “emotionally charged… tumultuous” relationship with Oliver Haiste, an alleged fake news hoaxer with links to the deranged far right Traditional Britain Group.

     

    Costly Carrie Symonds 2021 – Boris Johnson’s spouse Carrie Symonds is a spendaholic – The extravagance of Carrie Symonds plainly knows no bounds; what ‘Costly Carrie’ wants, cost unconscious puppet mistress Carrie gets.
    Costly Carrie – Carrie Symonds definitely wields the power in Downing Street these days. Her drippy hubby-to-be Boris Johnson is nothing but a puppet, in fact.
    Costly Carrie Symonds 2021 – Boris Johnson’s spouse Carrie Symonds is a spendaholic – The extravagance of Carrie Symonds plainly knows no bounds; what ‘Costly Carrie’ wants, cost unconscious puppet mistress Carrie gets.
    Costly Carrie – Aside from daily deliveries of expensive provisions from Lady Bamford’s ritzy Daylesford “farm shop” during the pandemic lockups, Symonds brought in the anything but cheap “celebrity eco designer” Lulu Lytle to eliminate the “John Lewis furniture nightmare” of the Theresa May era décor of the Prime Minister’s Downing Street private residence.