Tag: social media

The Arab Arrival

As Knightsbridge’s Brompton Road is invaded by Arabs, The Steeple Times finds that there is both good and bad in their number

Last night, it was a party of two halves on Knightsbridge’s Brompton Road.

At one end, close to the Caramel restaurant, a gaggle of vulgar Chanel handbag wielding Arab women (pictured top right) showed their low class ways when approached by an Englishwoman who simply asked them to let her pass. One remarked: “We have more money than you and we do what we want, whenever we want. You walk in the road. This pavement is our space.”

Elsewhere, closer to the Brompton Road hoards of young Saudis and Kuwaitis gathered on the pavements. Asked why they were there, two Qatari men (pictured top left) politely explained that they would actually like to integrate with locals. They claimed they didn’t know where to find such but apologised profusely for others in their number blocking the streets.

As is often the case, here was illustration that generalisations are never fair. There is good and bad in every part of society and we would all do well to remember that.

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August 22, 2018
#GetMohamedAJob

Refugee Mohamed Elbarkey could not get a job; he did not give up and took enterprising action to try to get work

Mohamed Elbarkey came to Britain as a refugee from Libya. He worked hard and got degrees from the University of Southampton and University College London yet still could not get a job in finance.

After having sent out 70 CVs without success, 22-year-old Elbarkey decided to stand outside Canary Wharf tube station with a sign pleading for work. Whilst there, he encountered Mary Engleheart – a digital manager at the International Rescue Committee and having heard his story she decided to share it with her Twitter followers.

Elbarkey’s stunt subsequently went viral and aside from being shared by the former Labour politician David Miliband, the hashtag #GetMohamedAJob attracted press attention internationally. In comments to the Evening Standard last week, Elbarkey remarked:

“I found this young man, David, he did the same stunt in Silicon Valley. He wanted a job in technology and what better place. I found that he had over 200 job offers and I thought I only need one.”

“Why don’t I try and see if my story resonates with these executives at these large financial firms and see if they wanted to take me under their wing, even offer me an internship and a job or genuinely just some advice.”

If you can help, email [email protected] and we will pass on your details to Mohamed Elbarkey. Here is an enterprising youngster who deserves to be encouraged and we urge readers to share the hashtag: #GetMohamedAJob also.

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August 21, 2018
The Bubble is Back

New electric Swiss ‘bubble car’ expected to launch in December; 7,200 orders have already been placed for the £10,800 Microlino

The Swiss are known for their chocolate and cuckoo clocks but now they might add something new to their roster: cars.

Expected to launch in December and limited at first to the Swiss market, the two-seat, electric Microlino is a quadricycle vehicle that pays homage to the design of the BMW Isetta ‘bubble car’.

With a supposed 7,200 orders placed already, the Microlino has a top speed of 56 miles per hour and a range of 75 miles. It can be charged using a domestic power socket in four hours and will be manufactured by the Italian company Tazzari EV.

Described as priced “less than a car, but a bit more than a motorbike,” the surprisingly spacious Microlino will be sold for £10,800 ($13,700, €12,000 or درهم50,400).

Pictured top: The creators of the Microlino, brothers Merlin and Oliver Ouboter, with a prototype of their new vehicle.

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August 18, 2018
F*** Off Farage

Nigel Farage’s return to “frontline politics” is going to bring nothing but division and diversion suggests Matthew Steeples

Nigel Farage just can’t help himself: A failed candidate seven times in British Parliament elections and leader of UKIP twice, this bombastic brute is now “returning to frontline politics” in order to “challenge Theresa May’s ‘fraudulent’ Brexit plan.”

A man of contradictions, Farage – who is anti-Prince Charles, pro-Vladimir Putin and in favour of the legalisation of handguns in the UK – wrote of his intentions in this morning’s Daily Telegraph in an article titled: “The time has come to teach the political class a lesson: I’m back fighting for a real Brexit.” In the opinion piece, he remarked:

“Over the last few months, and particularly since the Chequers betrayal, scores of people have stopped me in the street to ask: ‘When are you coming back?’ Well now you have your answer: I’m back.”

“Theresa the Appeaser has produced a set of ideas that are nothing more than a cowardly sell-out. With all this in mind, now is the time for action.”

“It is now beyond doubt that the political class in Westminster and many of their media allies do not accept the EU referendum result. It is equally clear to me that, unless challenged, these anti-democrats will succeed in frustrating the result.”

“Well, I’ve had enough of their lies, deceit and treachery. The time has come to teach them a lesson – one that they will never forget.”

In response to this predictable publicity stunt, James McGrory, of the pro-remain People’s Vote campaign group, told The Guardian:

“Nigel Farage has had more comebacks than Frank Sinatra, just without the success. If he was serious about making a return to frontline politics, he would stand to be an MP. I can only hope that Nigel Farage sticks to the promise he made live on TV to have a people’s vote on the final Brexit deal.”

In reality, all this move shows is that Farage is nothing but self-motivated. In the past I’ve termed him a “man of the elite” but now I’ll go further: Nigel Farage is nothing but a self-serving meddler and yet again – mark my words – the insane nightmare he desires serving up to the British public will fall flat on its face.

#ExitBrexit

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August 18, 2018
Falling Off The Cliff

Matthew Steeples suggests the BBC’s decision not to appeal the Cliff Richard privacy ruling is very worrying for press freedom

News that the BBC have decided not to challenge the Cliff Richard privacy ruling is not surprising but it also sets a worrying precedent.

In a statement, aside from apologising yet again to the plainly strange Christian crooner, the Corporation thankfully, however, announced they would be taking its case to a higher level and stated:

“The BBC is writing today to ask the Government to consider a review of the law in this important area to protect the right to properly and fairly report criminal investigations, and to name the person under investigation.”

“There is a fundamental principle of press freedom at stake here and one upon which we believe Parliament, as our lawmakers, should decide.”

They are quite right and given this ruling is tantamount to new legislation, this ultimately will go down in history as taking Britain down a very dangerous road.

Pictured top: Convicted paedophile Rolf Harris with Sir Cliff Richard.

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August 16, 2018
Terrorising Theresa

This morning’s incident at Westminster should act as a reminder that Theresa May’s cuts to policing are utterly wrong and should be reversed

Whatever occurred this morning in Westminster provides proof of one thing for certain and that is that the Metropolitan Police acted quickly and with the upmost efficiency.

Whether a terrorist attack or something less sinister, that the 20-something year old driver of a Ford Fiesta whose vehicle smashed into cyclists and a security barrier thankfully caused no deaths is to be celebrated.

What, however, ought to be remembered is that policing in the capital is now incredibly under-resourced thanks to Theresa May’s decisions in her previous role as Home Secretary. In 2010, there were 149 police stations in London; by 2020 there will shamefully be just 32.

Matthew Steeples, editor-in-chief of The Steeple Times, comments:

“In my own dealings with the police – with regard to individuals using social media to abuse myself and others amongst other things – I’ve encountered many officers. Off the record, all have shared their frustrations at cuts to office numbers and places where the public can report crime.”

“With an increased threat to public safety, Mrs May must now reverse her terrible decision. This country was lucky this morning but they may not be next time. We need more bobbies on the beat and we need them now.”

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August 14, 2018
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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August 8, 2018
Kyra Kennedy

A bit of a wildchild, Kyra Kennedy is the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (‘RFK’ to his friends). In 2015, she “freaked out” at a New York club that refused to let her in and “screamed”: “I’m a Kennedy, Google me!” whilst in 2016, she again hit headlines after allegedly cyberbullying a blogger named Allie Jones. Born in 1995 in Massachusetts and educated in New York and Italy, Kennedy tells her 14,000 Instagram followers that she’s “somewhere between psychotic and iconic.”

August 7, 2018
Potted Trolls

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is right to speak out against those of the belief that social media trolls should simply be ignored suggests Matthew Steeples

As someone subject to daily abuse on social media at the hands of mostly deranged, aged right-wing trolls, I was truly impressed that the author J.K. Rowling took to Twitter this week to speak out against those of the belief that “it is best simply to ignore them.”

“I’m tired of this ‘don’t feed the troll’ advice,” remarked Rowling in one tweet. She continued: “Ignoring racist abuse leaves targets feeling isolated and unsupported. Hate loves silence, which it takes for consent” before adding: “|The overwhelming majority of people whose focus is ‘what the troll wants’ have never personally experienced abuse or threats. How about we focus on what the victims want? My experience is that most of them would really like the rest of us not to look the other way.”

Ms. Rowling is entirely right. After my involvement in a case that ultimately resulted in the jailing of the racist bigot Viscount St Davids last summer, I have since been targeted by a number of his supporters. These dangerous oddities have posted up to fifty offensive messages about me per day, harassed those close to me publicly and made threats to my person also. I will, like J.K. Rowling, not remain silent and I urge others facing such vile abuse to follow our lead.

Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes and Matthew Steeples at @M_Steeples.

April 20, 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.

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April 17, 2018