Tag: Nigel Farage

Bozos, Burkas and Farage

Matthew Steeples suggests Nigel Farage is wrong about Boris Johnson’s latest gaffe about burkas in Britain

On Wednesday morning, on Sky News, Nigel Farage was interviewed about what he thinks about Boris Johnson – a self-serving man who simply loves to stay in the headlines – comparing women in burkas to “bank robbers” and suggesting they “look like letter boxes.”

Farage argued that “Joe Public is not interested” in this story and went as far to suggest: “This is just for the Westminster bubble… Politics is way to PC… You have to accept that sometimes people will be offended.”

Clearly, Farage has misjudged the interest in Johnson’s clearly provocative comments. This may be the ‘Silly Season’ but wherever I go in the UK and whenever I am in a situation where there are burka wearers, people – of all backgrounds – have something to say. Some are of the opinion that we must be respectful of such whilst others are of the mind that the burka is nothing but inappropriate in a modern, Western society.

In such places as Iran and Saudi Arabia, females, foreign and local, are forced to conform to the dress codes of those countries. Many here in Britain consider such “medieval” and “backward” and I, for one (as much as I personally loathe the bozo Johnson), certainly don’t believe anyone should be silenced from sharing their views for or against a ban on the burka in Britain.

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Twitter: @TheSteepleTimes and @M_Steeples

August 8, 2018
Analysing Borwick

The Cambridge Analytica connection you’ve most likely never heard of; meet The Hon. Thomas Borwick, son of ex-Tory MP Lady ‘Call Me Victoria’ Borwick

The Hon. Thomas Borwick is a figure in the Cambridge Analytica scandal you’ve probably never heard of.

Bizarrely largely overlooked by the mainstream media, the son of the ousted ex-MP for Kensington Lady ‘Call Me Victoria’ Borwick is an extremely well connected man who keeps himself under the radar on social media. The 31-year old has just 500 followers on Twitter – a surprisingly low number given he has been described as a “computer specialist” – and was put in a position of huge power as Vote Leave’s chief technology officer from August 2015 to July 2016.

Educated at the University of Richmond, Virginia from 2006 to 2010, with a period studying law courses at Cambridge briefly during 2008, Borwick subsequently worked in IT for the financial services company Killik & Co in 2012 and simultaneously “developed music technology for interactive lessons.”

More interestingly, this youngster’s move into political data profiling came also in 2012 when he founded a company named Kanto Systems with an aim of “bring[ing] UK Campaigning into the 21st century.” Here, Borwick developed a “mobile canvassing app” and came into contact with Cambridge Analytica in order to provide them with “digital services,” according to The Huffington Post. In turn, he sold an app to Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, SCL, and now, in March this year, his firm was brought in by Ireland’s Save The 8^th anti-abortion campaign group as part of their efforts “to persuade Irish voters to keep the country’s strict anti-abortion laws.”

“Hiring Thomas Borwick to create and manage a website is like employing the SAS to run security at a school hop or bringing in Einstein to tot up your shopping bill,” comments journalist Fintan O’Toole in The Irish Times, and in further revelations in the Evening Standard late March, Borwick himself admitted to also having worked with the equally controversial Canadian data firm Aggregate IQ – an operation that earned £3.5 million working for Vote Leave during the 2016 referendum campaign.

The public and press need to wake up and smell the coffee. The manipulation of politics in America, Britain, Ireland and elsewhere runs far deeper than even the most avid viewer of the Daily Politics could imagine. Figures like Thomas Borwick may well operate in the backrooms but it is increasingly becoming apparent that with doorstep canvassing all but irrelevant, such people are worryingly our new political powerhouses.

Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.

April 17, 2018
Hero of the Hour – George Soros

Billionaire George Soros speaks sense on Brexit and puts his money where his mouth is; others with resources should follow his lead

Man of substance George Soros broke the Bank of England and now he looks set to break Brexit.

Whilst many would argue his first action to be a bad thing, what he now seeks to achieve would be brilliant for Britain (if indeed he and others pull it off). As Theresa May’s car crash of a government plod on with negotiations with the EU in a cackhanded fashion, today, Soros penned an article for the Mail on Sunday and announced:

“I consider Brexit a tragic mistake… Brexit is a lose-lose proposition… [It has] split British politics between young and old. Even though I am 87, I think a lot about young people who will live in a future I will never see. People under 35 voted overwhelmingly Remain and it was only over 55 that a majority of voters supported Brexit.”

“Old voters have overruled young voters who will have to live with the consequences of Brexit for decades ahead. This is aggravating the disillusionment with democracy among young people. It also raises the prospect that Britain will eventually want to rejoin the EU.”

“The doors of Europe may be open in the future, but if Britain leaves now it will never be able to rejoin the EU on the same favourable terms.”

“I am a proud supporter of Best For Britain, a group that wants Britain to remain a member of the European Union… Best For Britain seeks to break the logjam by bringing together all the various forces that are united by their aspiration for Britain to remain part of Europe. It has my wholehearted support.”

Accused by some of being an “interfering foreigner,” self-described “confirmed Anglophile” Soros has put his money where his mouth is. In donating £400,000 to the anti-Brexit cause, he has drawn a line in the sand and hopefully others will follow his lead. It is time to #ExitBrexit and it is time for the 48% to rise up and be counted.

Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.

February 11, 2018
Modern Day Foxes and Hedgehogs

The Steeple Times examines Archilochus’ concept of ‘foxes’ and ‘hedgehogs and applies such to modern day personalities

According to the Greek poet Archilochus: “The fox knows many things, but a hedgehog one important thing.” Isaiah Berlin explored this premise in greater detail in his 1953 essay The Hedgehog and the Fox and identified ‘hedgehogs’ as those that “view the world through the lens of a single defining idea” and ‘foxes’ as those that “draw on a wide variety of experiences and for whom the world cannot be boiled down to a single idea.”

Berlin’s examples of ‘hedgehogs’ numbered Friedrich Nietzsche, Henrik Ibsen and Marcel Proust whilst for ‘foxes’ he chose such individuals as James Joyce, Aleksandr Pushkin and William Shakespeare.

Here, below, we apply the same analysis and chose fifteen modern day figures that are representative of each characteristic and curiously reveal a ‘third way’ that for once isn’t connected to Tony Blair: ‘The Neither Nors’ that sadly dominate our society.

Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes.

November 21, 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
Tossed in Tonbridge

Kentish salad company Southern Salads tosses 260 jobs to the wolves after going into administration because of Brexit

Illustrations of the likely negative impact of Britain’s decision to leave the UK are coming from far and wide and though Nigel Farage may be crowing over an alleged £60 million film deal – though unsurprisingly no particular studio has actually announced such ‘news’ as ‘truth’ – companies are relocating staff abroad and even closing altogether. Even hardline Brexiteers are being heard to remark: “There’s going to be a heavy price to pay for the complacency… Britain is f***ed” and asking: “What the hell have we done?”

Aside from Bloomberg revealing “London could lose 10,000 banking jobs and 20,000 roles in financial services” to such cities as Dublin, Frankfurt and Paris in an article last month, a more localised illustration of the impact of Theresa May’s appallingly bad handling of this issue was provided yesterday in the form of news that a Tonbridge, Kent based firm, Southern Salads, had gone into administration due to “unprecedented pressure on cash flow in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote.”

Southern Salads, a 30-year old, family run firm which employed 260 people and whose motto was “share the passion”, ceased trading Wednesday and of why it failed, joint administrator Ian Vickers of FRP Advisory told KentLive:

“The sudden decline in sterling was not foreseen by the company, leaving the business grappling with an immediate fall of between 10% and 20% in its purchasing power for overseas-grown salads required for the winter and early spring UK market, which in turn put a severe strain on cash-flow.”

“With insufficient protection from its currency hedging arrangements, pressure increased on cash-flow as the business traded through to this spring.”

“The company was unsuccessful in negotiating any significant changes to its pricing terms with its suppliers in mainland Europe, while also being unable to pass on its cost increases to supermarkets and its other customers.”

“The company relies on European suppliers for fresh vegetables and fruit from the Netherlands and Poland in the north to France, Italy and Spain in the south.”

It’d be fascinating to know what Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Theresa May thinks about that.

August 17, 2017
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 4^th 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.”

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.

July 12, 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
Moron of the Moment – Andre Walker

Braggart bigot Andre Walker disgraces himself in the wake of the London attacks and is rightly roasted on Twitter

Andre Walker – a “fat, northern… bit of a bruiser” with a penchant for branding The Steeple Times “fake news” – loves attention. He doesn’t care how he gets it, doesn’t care about what offence he causes and aside from wearing a ‘Make America Great Again’ baseball cap to a rally against the 45^th POTUS earlier this year, this total pillock decided yesterday to share an image on Twitter of himself waving a cutlass sword on the terrace of the Palace of Westminster in the wake of the latest terror attack in London. It was accompanied by a provocative caption that read: “A bounty on my head. Any #ISIS terrorist that kills me gets £50k. I’ll give my address. No police. But I’ve got a sword. Good luck”.

‘Whackjob Walker’ – a former “political staffer” turned employee of the far-right Breitbart News rant sheet and more recently Jared Kushner’s New York based Observer – naturally wrote about why he opted to share the image in a column provocatively titled: “Today I Offered the Islamic State £50,000 to Kill Me”. Being, and here I won’t mince my words, a complete cock, he then delighted in the controversy he caused and remarked: “I love this” and “I’m up for it”.

Despite being forced to remove the highly insensitive image, which was rightly branded a “bizarre stunt” by the MailOnline, last week’s The Steeple Times ‘Wally of the Week’ Walker – whose previous moments of note have included being caught ranting on trains and involvement in the bullying scandal that resulted in the suicide of his supposed boyfriend, Elliott Johnson – remains unrepentant. On Sunday night, he bleated: “I don’t get why the left hate me for hating terrorists”.

A selection of responses from Twitter users to this Grade A buffoon’s idiocy follow:

June 5, 2017