Tag: Labour

Foot in Mouth in K&C

Both Labour and the Tories get it very wrong in Kensington and disgrace themselves with their truly offensive conduct

On Monday, the political blog Guido Fawkes exposed the new Member of Parliament for Kensington, Emma Dent Coad, as having viciously called a black Tory candidate named Shaun Bailey as a “token ghetto boy,” “gobby and dangerous,” a “free-loading scumbag” and “the most hated man in North Kensington” back in 2010 in a post on her blog.

Elsewhere, on Twitter, various users shared a survey circulated by Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham Conservatives that disgustingly asked residents of the Courtfield Ward to rate the importance of the Grenfell Tower tragedy on a scale of one-to-ten in terms of its importance.

One is only left asking: What on earth is wrong with these moronic people? Have they not an ounce of sense?

Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.

Emma Dent Coad MP likes to blog and tweet yet blocked her now constituent Matthew Steeples on Twitter after he asked her about the hidden homeless problem in South Kensington prior to her election; she claimed to be “too busy” to answer him

The disgraceful survey put out by Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham Conservatives

November 13, 2017
Anne Marie Waters

The “Donald Trump of the UK” (without the power) according to her fans but just a “piss poor Nazi bigot” according to others, Anne Marie Waters failed to become leader of UKIP in September 2017. Born in Dublin, educated at Nottingham Trent University and a lesbian, Waters condemned her loss as “Jihadi – 1, Truth – 0” and went on to form a joke of a new party named For Britain in October 2017. A former Labour candidate also, this immigrant hater surprisingly has 65,000 followers on Twitter and repeatedly makes claims such as “Islam is evil” and: “The law will be used to silence anyone with a semi-right opinion.” She especially hates the Pope and Somali refugees. What a delight!

October 14, 2017
Moron of the Moment – Emma Dent Coad

Hectoring horror and Labour MP for Kensington Emma Dent Coad’s remarks about the royal family simply illustrate her ineptitude for high office

Prior to the election, Emma Dent Coad was just a Kensington and Chelsea councillor, but, due to the ineptitude of Lady ‘Call me Victoria’ Borwick – a Tory with more interest in ivory than representing the 69% of her constituents that chose to vote ‘remain’ in the Brexit referendum – this equally awful red head unexpectedly also became Labour’s Member of Parliament for Kensington earlier this year.

Now, aside from bizarrely being lauded by the truly ghastly hypocrite Diane Abbott at Labour’s party conference in Brighton, this firebrand Commie has gotten herself into a lot of bother with a series of pugnacious remarks about the royal family.

Speaking at a fringe event, Dent Coad – whose Twitter handle contains numerous references to followers as “comrades” – told the assembled audience of anti-monarchists:

“[Prince] Harry can’t actually fly a helicopter. He tried to pass the helicopter exam about four times and he couldn’t get through it at all so he always goes for the co-pilot. So he just sits there going ‘vroom ‘vroom.”

“Harry and William are not very bright. Just let them drift away, be playboys or whatever… Their MP thinks the system is ridiculous. We should not be funding them.”

Turning to the Duchess of Cambridge, she remarked:

“It is disgusting [that she bought jumpers that cost £150 each]… That’s a food bill for a family of four. That’s absolutely outrageous.”

Of the Duke of Edinburgh, Dent Coad went further:

“The Queen might want to step back when her (cough, cough) soulmate is gone. He’s been mucking about and [been] quite unfaithful for quite a few years.”

Of press coverage on the royals, this ranting Labour loudmouth suggested:

“[The BBC produce] sickeningly gratuitous coverage of anything royal. [They are] very heavily directed by right-wing politics and the monarchy. It is a piece of the whole propaganda machine.”

Though plainly Dent Coad thinks herself very funny, the nation did not and on Twitter, Rupert Myers, a political correspondent for GQ and The Telegraph, termed the remarks “absolutely vile stuff.” Another user, @Ferruzzicati, added: “My god you are one opportunistic, virtue signalling ingrate. A disgrace to your office. Resign woman” whilst Ned Donovan of the Daily Mail rightly concluded: “[You] are an incredibly unpleasant and spiteful person.”

They are all right: Emma Dent Coad – a woman who previously sat on the TMO in charge of Grenfell Tower (and now wishes we’d all forget that) – should simply crawl back under the stone from whence she came. She is ridiculous, rude and would best rod off.

September 27, 2017
Stopping Brexit

Matthew Steeples suggests Labour’s partial U-turn on Brexit is a positive start; they must now go further and oppose it entirely

Whilst Keir Starmer’s decision to announce Labour will support Britain remaining in a customs union with the EU and within the single market during a “time-limited transitional period between our exit from the EU and the new lasting relationship we build with our European partners” in The Observer yesterday is to be saluted, he does not go far enough.

Brexit has left Britain on a knife-edge. Sterling is considerably weakened, jobs in agriculture and banking are already disappearing and businesses, such as occurred with Southern Salads in Kent, are beginning to go into administration. Theresa May’s “Brexit means Brexit” and her ridiculous “red, white and blue Brexit” now seem the ultimate follies and this morning’s comment by Peter Oborne in the Daily Mail is indicative that the lunatics are still in charge of the asylum.

In a moaning rant that he titles a “spectacular betrayal of Labour voters” and aside from spouting the usual rhetoric, Oborne does rightly suggest that Jeremy Corbyn is not a natural supporter of the EU. The Labour leader, after all, voted against British membership in 1975, opposed the single market subsequently and also did little in the 2016 referendum campaign to positively support ‘remain’. Consequently, one is left wondering if he actually truly supports what Keir Starmer yesterday proposed.

The Leader of the Opposition’s aim, of course, is power and alongside his recent transformation from a badly dressed joker to someone who actually made headway – thanks in the main to Theresa May’s incompetence and decision to call an utterly unnecessary election – Corbyn has realised that the 48% are a constituency worthy of pursuing. He must now, himself, come out and be honest with us and we urge him to do what is best for Britain: It is time for Labour campaign to stop Brexit.

Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

August 28, 2017
Grim Grenfell

Matthew Steeples suggests the giant coffin and stain on government that is the Grenfell Tower should be demolished immediately

The giant, grim carbuncle that is Grenfell Tower is a stain on the councillors of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and it should be torn to the ground immediately.

Allowing this monstrous edifice to bad government remain standing is wrong. Ash and debris from it blow across the surrounding environs and for survivors of this tragedy, that it still stands can only bring back hideous memories of witnessing friends and neighbours burn to death.

Of the building, an unnamed resident recently told The Independent: “The block needs to be tore down. It’s haunting, there used to be faces in those windows.” They are right and that suggestions have been made to cover the structure in tarpaulin simply do not cut the mustard. A proposal to demolish at the end of 2018 will leave the Grenfell Tower insensitively dominating a damaged community far too long and any useful evidence, surely, must by now have been gathered. This giant coffin should be terminated far sooner and it should be blasted to smithereens as soon as is physically possible.

Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

August 15, 2017
Public vs. Private

Matthew Steeples suggests respected actor George Clooney and publicity desperado Karen Danczuk provide contrasting examples about the ethics of paparazzi intrusion and media manipulation

Paparazzi intrusion and media manipulation are interlinked hot potatoes that look unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. Two very different examples emerged in recent days of very different behavior by so-called ‘personalities’ – yet each gives indication that something is not quite right with the situation as it stands.

Whilst ‘ordinary individuals’ – and such should include, for example, successful business people who do not choose to put themselves on any kind of public pedestal – unquestionably deserve privacy from press intrusion unless they do something criminal or opt to share details of something considered newsworthy, the issue of where is the line of public and private was importantly raised by George Clooney late last week. The actor promised to “prosecute to the full extent of the law” a magazine named Voici after they scaled the fence of his Lake Como home to take unauthorised pictures of his young twin babies, Ella and Alexander, and he is right to do so.

Whilst undoubtedly a public figure himself (and one whose fortune stems from such), Mr Clooney has a point. His offspring, through no fault of their own, have only become part of a media circus because of their parentage and the dangers that could result from their images being featured in the press are great. Stronger restrictions against unauthorised photography are indeed required internationally – especially in the domain of minors – and California, for example, was right to issue laws in 2013 that protected children from paparazzi cameras.

Elsewhere and though such publications as the Mail Online may thrive due to their enthusiasm for incognito shots, on Sunday that paper illustrated another type of shoddy journalism. In publishing a ‘story’ – if it could even be called such – about the tawdry ex-wife of the disgraced Labour MP Simon Danczuk, 34-year old Karen Danczuk, cavorting on a Spanish beach with her 26-year old “Spanish toyboy lover” as he proposed to her, that paper opted to mislead its readers.

Featuring images taken by an agency named Flynet Pictures, it is plain that Ms Danczuk – listed as a “current client” by Louise Clifford, the daughter of the jailed nonce and convicted sex offender Max Clifford, on the website of her Borne Media PR agency – staged the images contained in that article and that the Mail Online’s Stephanie Linning was, at the very least, complicit of playing along with what is nothing other than a moment of media manipulation. The public, however, did not fall for this and of the 320 comments on the article most were in the negative. One, which received 1,184 likes, remarked: “So it was a big surprise for her then with a camera on standby? Fixed photo opportunities!”

Shame on the Mail Online for falling for the desperado Karen Danczuk and her representatives and shame on Voici also for invading the Clooney children’s privacy. Such activities must cease and the sooner, the better.

Update: 8:30am, Monday 31^st July 2017 – Karen Danczuk has now blocked @SteepleTimes on Twitter. Something about ‘heat’ and ‘kitchens’ comes to mind.

Paedophile Max Clifford pictured with his daughter Louise Clifford prior to being jailed for 8 years in 2014 for abusing victims as young as 14 years old; Louise Clifford is now the PR of amongst others such greats as Karen Danczuk, Chloe Sims and Lauren Goodger and shockingly purchased her father’s “goodwill” in November 2015

July 31, 2017
Politics With The Pun

David Pun gobbled his way through General Election 2017 and was captured on camera by a Mail on Sunday reporter

Mail on Sunday reporter Ned Donovan secured the photo of the evening on General Election night 2017 in capturing party crasher extraordinaire David Pun at the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall, London in the early hours of 9^th June.

In the image, shared on Twitter, Pun – whose claims to his connections at both Harvey Nichols and Peninsula Hotels frequently astound those he meets and whose position on a roll call of ‘shoppers’ in Queensway brought laughter to readers of The Steeple Times in April this year – is pictured raiding a tray of bacon baps as Lady Nugee (AKA Emily Thornberry MP) looks down from an overhead television screen.

Whilst Pun’s voting preferences got no mention, sadly nor did where fellow liggers Denis Doble and Sandra Shevey ended up on that night’s rampage. Whether they got trolleyed with ‘Team Theresa’ at Conservative Central Office or naughty with Nigel Farage at 5 Hertford Street, no doubt canapés aplenty were snaffled.

#Puntastic #NoPunNoParty

June 11, 2017
The Peoples’ Republic of Kensington

As Kensington turns red, ‘The Steeple Times’ reflects on the defeat of a woman nicknamed ‘#LazyBorwick’ , a win by a hard-left Labour blogger and a need for an MP who’ll now represent all constituents

Last night, in frankly the biggest shock of a shambolic and wholly unnecessary General Election, Kensington replaced one flame haired harridan with another and a Conservative majority of nearly 7,500 votes with a wafer thin Labour majority of just 20.

That a seat, where someone once commented: “Even a pig in a blue rosette would win here”, turned red shocked many but given the apparent laziness of the incumbent Member of Parliament, Lady Borwick, the result was a reflection of the constituency’s dissatisfaction with a woman whose reply rate to constituents was listed as just 18% on the website TheyWorkForYou.com.

Victor Emma Dent Coad represents something that many in the seat will not, however, want. Hard-left, and a Momentum supporter, this blogger undoubtedly can be credited as a dedicated councillor but her tangible lack of anger towards Brexit will come to disappoint the 69% of constituent supporters of ‘Remain’.

After the result was announced, Dent Coad, who was backed to the chagrin of a number of locals by Gina Miller’s ‘Best for Britain’ campaign, told those assembled:

“This constituency is a microcosm of everything that is wrong in this country after seven years of incompetent and uncaring coalition and Tory government”.

“I will do everything in my power in the next five years to make ‘One Kensington’ an example of the finest qualities of common humanity, mutual respect for all our communities and social justice to create a thoughtful, kind, co-operative and tolerant society where we can all prosper and thrive”.

Ousted Lady Borwick spoke briefly and added: “I wish Emma every success, but please be assured, as far as I am concerned, tomorrow I start the fight back for Kensington and the Conservatives”.

On Twitter, actor and local resident John Cleese responded: “Metro, The Mirror and the Evening Standard are blaming me for helping Labour’s chances in Kensington and Chelsea [sic]. Delighted my trick worked…”

Elsewhere, in response to an article published in April in The Steeple Times, a reader and associate of Lady Borwick going only by the name “Daniel M.’ remarked:

“You stupid, stupid people. You have destroyed Victoria Borwick’s majority and you should realise the impact that will have on the area. We do not suit Labour representing us and as someone who has worked with Victoria and knows her well I will tell you this: Shame on you Matthew Steeples. I am disgusted by your vendetta and demand you apologise”.

Ignoring this bitter Tory’s diatribe, Matthew Steeples concluded:

“Annabel Mullin deserves a worthy mention for having increased the Liberal Democrats’ share of votes cast from just 6.6% to 12.2% in spite of having no party structure behind her. Unlike machined up to the hilt Borwick and Dent Coad, she campaigned throughout the electoral area and now, as before, we have a constituency divided between the richer Tory south and the poorer Labour north”.

“Kensington might be perceived as the land of supercars and £120 million houses, but in fact, this is an area with a rife problem of homelessness and an area where people ‘buy-to-leave’ rather than to ‘buy-to-let’ let alone ‘buy-to-live’. Independent, locals businesses are being wiped out here and nowhere is it clearer that ‘money park London’ just cannot be allowed to continue unabated”.

“Emma Dent Coad, undoubtedly, secured an amazing win but it now remains to be seen whether she’ll represent ‘the many’ throughout Kensington or just ‘the cleverly focused few’ she so successfully targeted to secure her victory last night”.

Results (with percentage change from 2015 General Election):

Electorate – 60,594

Turnout – 38,677 (63.8%)

Majority – 20 for Labour (previously 7,361 for the Conservatives)

Emma Dent Coad, Labour Party– 16,333 (+11.1%)

Lady Borwick, Conservative Party – 16,313 (-10.1%)

Annabel Mullin, Liberal Democrats – 4,724 (+6.6%)

Jennifer Nadel, Green Party – 767 (-3.1%)

James Torrance, Independent – 393 (+1%)

Peter Marshall, Independent – 98 (+0.3%)

John Lloyd, Alliance for Green Socialism – 49 (-0.2%)

Pictured above: Ex-MP Lady Borwick with Theresa May; Emma Dent Coad after her victory on Friday

June 10, 2017
Theresa’s Trumped

Blundering bin bag Theresa May will form a minority government today, but it won’t last; the nation want her and her nasty party gone

From the moment Theresa May awkwardly held Donald Trump’s hand in Washington back in January, it was all but over. Cursed by appearing a poodle to the worst POTUS in history, Britain’s then unelected Prime Minister showed herself as a kowtowing coward and a mandateless moron.

May – a self-declared “goody two shoes” whose outfits are supposedly chosen with the help of her ‘charitable’ chum Lady Meyer and whose “most naughty moment ever” was supposedly “golly gosh, running through fields of wheat” – had not needed to call an election but doing so has rightly cost her dear. When the contest was announced back in May, the public, represented best by ‘Brenda from Bristol’, told her: “Not another [election]. Oh for God’s sake, I can’t honestly… I can’t stand this”, but on this Lady Macbeth-like harridan blundered.

Philip and Theresa May – a bumbling ‘Wallace & Gromit-like’ duo unsuitable for the task of steering our nation through Brexit and beyond

Appearing on the BBC’s One Show with her garden gnome-like husband, Philip, foolish Mrs May car-crashingly joked about whose responsibility it was to take the bins out – there are, after all, “boys jobs” and “girls jobs” – and kept repeating her mantra of “Strong and Stable”. It was no longer about parties, it was “Theresa’s Team” but what the nation rightly came to understand her as was as one of the worst Home Secretary’s in modern history. Here, indeed, was a woman who’d closed our police stations and here was one who’d shut our fire stations; here was a woman whose friendship with the McCanns had resulted in them getting £11 million for their pointless search and here was a woman whose inquiry into historic abuse cost £100 million, yet, again achieved nothing for victims.

Though, surprisingly, for once, former UKIP’s former leader Nigel Farage got it right in stating: “The vicar’s daughter came across as insincere and establishment… Jeremy Corbyn fought and an amazing campaign and came across well”, it took Labour’s Tom Watson to sum up the mood of the nation when he remarked: “She said she was strong and stable. The public saw she was weak and wobbly”.

The Tory leader shot herself in the foot yesterday and as Paddy Ashdown concluded: “Mrs May: Enough is enough”. Let’s now put the rubbish out and let’s consign Theresa May to the bin bag of history.

June 9, 2017
Three Reasons to Vote…

A financier, a photographer and a doctor explain why they’ll respectively choose the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and Labour today

Financier Zachary Latif on why he’ll vote for the Conservative Party

Brexit is the primary question

Firstly, this election was called on the issue of Brexit and when voters go to the polls, the primary question is whom do they want as their chief negotiator to deal with Europe: Will it be Theresa May or will it be Jeremy Corbyn? It is incontrovertible that Theresa May, a lady with a sensible and steady pair of hands, is the one to captain the ship. When I compare her approach to the untried and untested Jeremy Corbyn, I know without a shadow of doubt that I want Theresa May and her team to be leading Brexit.

Making Britain prosperous

The economy will go through a very shaky time over the next five years and we need a party that has the economic expertise that can guide us through these rocky waters. We all remember the last terrible time under Labour when the treasury was literally left with no money. Britain, now, under the Tories, has low unemployment, a balanced budget and ambitious plans for economic growth. If you want a prosperous Britain then it can only be for the blues.

Multiculturalism and being proud to be British

The cult of multiculturalism, as Angela Merkel touched on a few years ago, has failed. We need a Britain that revolves around the Union, a bicameral Parliament, the Crown and an understanding of the strong role that the Church (Anglicanism South of the Wall and Presbyterianism North of the Wall) plays. We need a government that is able to both manage the world outside but also be able to stand up for Britain and this precious Union of Nation, as Theresa May puts it. Jeremy Corbyn is a revolutionary but has no instinct for British patriotism – as his extensive links with the IRA testify. The Conservative Party is the only major party that makes one feel proud to be British and also able to retain a global outlook.

Cambridge based Zachary Latif is a founder of Raef LLC, a high yield investment firm. He has appeared as a guest host on CNBC several times and is also an actor and playwright.

Photographer James Smith on why he’ll vote for the Liberal Democrats

Corbyn is the tail shaking the Labour dog

I’m a centrist and believe government should work for all rather than guarding the wealth or indulging the politics of envy. By pulling his party to the hard left, Corbyn and his army in the wings have allowed May to become more right wing. How dare he and how dare she abandon the middle. Corbyn has alienated so many of his more reasonable party members that only the dregs will serve with him on the front benches. Corbyn may be a great campaigner but he’s been a lazy politician in opposition and seems bored when he’s not absorbing the energy of an adoring crowd. Remind you of anyone?

The Liberal Democrats punched above their weight in the coalition

I thought the coalition government was a grown-up union born of necessity. Neither party could fall back to their comfort zones, they had to work together to deal with a dire situation. For the most part, both sides did well but the Lib Dems suffered because of lazy accusations of betrayal by their core voters. To me they’ve proven they’re grown-ups. They’re honest that there’s no magic money tree and we’ll all need to pay for the NHS and social care through higher income tax. The idea of a Labour-SNP pact would be the worst of all worlds: Bye bye UK.

The Liberal Democrats could help facilitate a more sensible Brexit

While I won’t be celebrating a Labour or a Conservative victory, Jeremy Corbyn would be significantly worse for the health of the country. His ideological policies may ultimately harm the people he is trying to help. Emily Thornberry is my incumbent MP and she has been totally unaccountable to her staunchly Remain constituents. She refuses to campaign for a second ‘Are you sure?’ EU referendum, something the local Lib Dem candidate, Alain Desmier, has promised to do. If you must take the UK into radical territory, don’t do it when we’re uncoupling from our like minded neighbours and facing a less stable wider world. Lashing out with a vote for Corbyn is a bit like a hand break turn along a cliff edge.

James Smith is an Islington based photographer. He was educated at a public school and an arts institute.

Sally Jackson on why she’ll vote for the Labour Party

For the many, not the few

Labour has pledged to rebalance an economy that just works for the likes of billionaires like Sir Philip Green right now. We need a fairer tax system and the guarantee of no income tax rises for those earning below £80,000 a year is proof that Labour will not “tax the country until the pips squeak” – an accusation so commonly thrown by the right that Jeremy Corbyn has again and again disproven.

Doing right by the NHS

Jeremy Hunt is a symbol of the callous Tories and their assault on humanity. As a healthcare professional I want him and Theresa’s team gone and I believe only Labour will deliver a fairer deal for patients and healthcare workers. We’re under extreme threat right now and cuts to pharmacy funding are one of the worst false economies I’ve come across. As someone wrote on a wall recently: “I’m no gynaecologist but I know a Hunt when I see one”.

It’s not just about Brexit

I’ve heard enough about “Brexit means Brexit” but I’m glad Jeremy Corbyn voted for Article 50 and opposed a second referendum. The country has spoken and it’s time to get on with it. I supported leave myself and I did so because Europe wasn’t giving us a fair, inclusive society. I believe Labour will give us that and now the focus back on to what’s “Best for Britain” – a phrase that the remoaners Gina Miller and Sir Bob Geldoff should never have been allowed to hijack.

Sally Jackson works as a doctor in Manchester. She was born in Devon and is a graduate of Queen Mary, University of London.

June 8, 2017