I have lost faith both in Western social democracy, and in the institutions of international law. As both have been fundamental to the work of my life, this is rather a blow as I approach 70.
A number of deeply shocking things have happened this past three years, not as extraneous events, but as conscious acts of western governments acting in unison. The Genocide in Gaza has been the most obvious.
When social media started to show us relentless imagery of shredded children and human suffering beyond belief, it was astonishing to me that the governments of the western social democracies almost unanimously continued to support Israel. The UK is actively complicit in the Genocide, providing weaponry, aerial surveillance, intelligence cooperation and vital diplomatic and political support to Israel.
Somehow I thought this would all stop. Equilibrium would be restored, the innate decency of the British people would prevail, and the support for Israel would be reversed. Indeed, I reasoned, in the long term this could break the hold of the Zionist donor network on British politicians, so deep was the popular revulsion at the most public and vicious genocide imaginable.
None of this happened. Instead the more indefensible Israel’s actions have become, the more the UK’s political and media Establishment have rallied to Israel. In the UK as throughout the world, our rulers have responded to dissent over Israel with harsh repression of their own people. To see Burnham stand at the podium of the UN General Assembly in New York and declare the UK’s support for Israel, while the genocide continues and Israel is relentlessly destroying southern Lebanon and is occupying southern Syria, was instructive.
His tactical change of tone to notice Israeli crimes has no practical effect. The UK implements new sanctions on Russia within 48 hours of announcement, or even less. The “sanctions” on Israeli illegal settlements are going to take a year to design and implement, to make certain they don’t work.
When they proscribed as “terrorist” a civil disobedience group and police started arresting little old ladies as terrorists for protesting about it, I thought this too was a temporary madness which would pass. I witnessed outside the Royal Courts of Justice the police lifting up elderly people in wheelchairs to arrest them for holding a sign, and I thought ultimately the system will repudiate this madness.
It has not repudiated the madness. It turns out that policemen are happy to arrest octogenarian priests for expressing the wrong thoughts, and judges are prepared to impose vicious “terrorist connection” prison terms for property damage by persons seeking to hinder a genocide. The English Court of Appeal stated coldly:
The vast majority of those arrested had chosen to hold signs which read, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”. We attach little weight to this when it comes to assessing the extent of the interference with Convention rights in this case. All those holding such signs either did or ought to have realised that what they were doing was showing support for Palestine Action.
It is one thing for people voluntarily to hold a placard supporting Palestine Action which they know to be a proscribed organisation. That is a criminal act.
I have mentioned this to you before but I was very struck when I read Irmtrud Wojak’s life of Fritz Bauer by the continuity of individual judges and lawyers, who served on with equanimity under the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and West Germany without evidence of guilt and remorse. About 70% of West German judges had been Nazi judges administering “Nazi justice.”
Fritz Bauer, a radical German Jewish prosecutor, was continually blocked in his heroic efforts to bring some justice. The book held me so strongly because it is the granular narration of the banality of evil, in its tale after tale of Nazi criminals protected by compromised judges.
The realisation that the law is nothing to do with justice, and that courts are imposing the power of the state rather than seeking some higher ideal, came home to me on Friday as we sat through the expedited hearing of our appeal at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, where we are trying to make the Scottish judicial review of the proscription of Palestine Action actually happen.
This was our sixth or seventh time in court and we have spent about £250,000 trying to protect the liberties of people in Scotland from oppression. Very decent people are being branded as terrorists, with potentially life-changing consequences, for merely holding a placard or wearing a T shirt. I met one person in Glasgow whose home and vehicle insurance had increased by over £600 as a result of a terrorism charge for a T shirt. Others have been debanked. International travel is restricted. The jail sentences are still to come.
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has ruled all this as proportionate in the interests of “National Security”, to protect the nation from those who would disrupt the Israeli weapons supply chain. Our effort to challenge it in Scotland has met with delay after delay, and a blistering exhibition of trench Lawfare by the UK government.
I don’t think the judges of the Inner House of the Court of Session who heard us on Friday could have been less engaged. Aidan O’Neill KC spoke for us for over an hour about the constitutional right of Scots to have their liberties protected by a Scottish court, about the lack of any provision in Court Rules for suspending – “sisting” – a judicial review as this one had been – about the perverse decision to grant the Review and then continually suspend it, causing us great expense.
What he did not talk about – because this was a purely procedural hearing – was the arrests and lives in turmoil in Scotland, still less the lives destroyed in Gaza.
The three judges sat making notes but did not engage with Aidan, asking almost no questions. This was entirely different when the UK Government lawyer spoke, Mark Lindsay KC, addressed the court very briefly. The judges engaged with him constantly, to reinforce his points or to suggest additional helpful points he might have missed.
Lord Pentland, the Lord President of the Court of Session (and former Tory parliamentary candidate) got most animated when discussing the secret closed court sessions where secret intelligence evidence is heard that we are never told about. Pentland seemed extremely pleased with the notion that these are difficult and time consuming and there could not be enough time for them before the UK Supreme Court hears the English appeal on 4 November.
Mark Lindsay added here the incredible point that the judgement in the judicial review must be cleared with the security services, which would take at least five days. He explained that one reason it takes so long is that it needs to be typed on special secure laptops.
So that is where we are in 2026. Courts hearing secret evidence from the security services that the petitioner in the case will never see, and the security services vetting the judgement of the court.
The other reasons Lindsay advanced for not having a judicial review were equally jaw dropping. It would cost money, and use judicial resources that might be better deployed on something else. It would simply be too expensive for Scotland. Best just follow whatever England said.
I have to say I left court deeply depressed. Judgement is reserved – itself significant when we were arguing for the judicial review to proceed urgently before the Supreme Court meets.
Currently the full video of the hearing is still available here.
If that was not miserable enough, we also had to endure the UN General Assembly being treated, not as a meeting point for nations to speak peace and reach agreement, but as a rostrum for crazed fascism.
We had Donald Trump threatening to annihilate Iran and destroy Iranian culture. We had ICC-wanted war criminal Netanyahu waving around pagers to glory in terrorism while taunting the world. Both spoke from a position of confidence in military power enabling them to defy and humiliate the world community. It may be hubris, but it is currently in the ascendant. China shows no interest in countering it and nobody else really can.
Neither China nor Russia were strong in condemnation of Israel over Gaza – they did not speak the language of war crimes at the General Assembly, let alone Genocide. Both made anodyne remarks about a two-state solution, and said that Israeli actions were endangering its viability. As it is blindingly obvious that a two-state solution is now impossible, this was pathetic. Remember – and this is key to understanding the world today – neither Russia nor China vetoed the UN Security Council resolution endorsing Trump’s Board of Peace and giving it a firm right in international law to control the destiny of Gaza.
The European powers used the UN podium to spout Russophobia and amplify the demand for war with Russia.
I despair for the United Nations. I despair for the International Criminal court, which seems fatally undermined. Its arrest warrant for Netanyahu is ignored by the Western powers. Three EU states allowed his plane to overfly their airspace en route to New York. Karim Khan was ousted as Chief Prosecutor for obtaining the warrant against Netanyahu, on flimsy sexual abuse allegations for which an inquiry by three judges found no firm evidence. The Western powers led a fierce campaign for his dismissal by the member states.
The judges themselves have been subject to US sanctions and debanking. I had always hoped – and believed – the ICC would develop beyond a role of punishing the West’s designated enemies and keeping Africa in line. I did not realise that as soon as the ICC did this, the Western powers would move to destroy the ICC.
The venerable International Court of Justice is also creaking. I had expected it would take three years or so for it to reach a decision in the South Africa vs Israel genocide case. That timetable now looks more like eight years.
In part it seems that South Africa may have blinked. It was South Africa which requested an extraordinary 18 months to reply to Israel’s response to their petition. The Court had already granted Israel two lengthy postponements of their reply. The Israelis will then get to reply again and a further 18 months. I suspect South Africa is going along with kicking the can down the road under US pressure, and the new timetable will take us beyond Trump.
It is however not a good look for the Court to take so long in deciding on a case over a Convention which is supposed to prevent Genocide, not to punish it. It is also notable that Israel has entirely ignored the interim orders the Court gave two years ago, and ignored the separate judgement on the status of the Occupied Territories.
The truth is the Court has no armies, and as the Western powers are actively abetting Israel in its actions the ICJ is, sadly, a dead letter.
The UK is now going to ignore the ICJ decision on the Chagos Islands. The court ruled that the UK must give them back to Mauritius. The US airbase on Diego Garcia is irrelevant to that ICJ decision. The UK has now decided to defy the ICJ because the US has declined to pay for the lease of the airbase from Mauritius. That in no way negates the duty to return the islands. But the UK media have reported Streeting’s decision to cancel the return of the islands with, so far as I have seen, no reference to the ICJ at all.
It is not just that the institutions of law, both domestically and internationally, in which I have lost belief. The social contract of Western nations, in which the government provides for the welfare of the population in return for their loyalty and taxes, appears to have broken down.
The trend towards greater wealth inequality in late-stage capitalism is incredibly, exponentially rapid. Living standards for ordinary people have been static for two decades and, whatever official statistics may say, to many if feels their standard of living has declined. Social mobility is gone. Graduates are stacking shelves and delivering pizzas. Heating and fuel costs are extraordinary. So is rent, and landlordism is rampant.
It is impossible to look at social media without hitting the stark reality that Islamophobia and racism are now deeply seated in a large proportion of the population. The propaganda model has been reinforced by the billionaire capture of all the major social media gatekeeper apps. Rather than being a possible solution to state and billionaire propaganda, social media has become a major part of the problem. It appears particularly effective in amplifying and spreading racism.
We are now faced with a Ministry of Truth in the UK to enforce state propaganda narratives – like the ridiculous Skripal story, the ambulances false flag or the Fairford farrago. The one thing we know for certain about “RAF” – truly USAF – Fairford is that hundreds of tonnes of high explosive have been dropped from Fairford on Iran. The notion of “defensive bombing” – parroted by the entire media – is an Orwellian symptom of what we have become.
There is no escaping the fact that large numbers of people are very susceptible to the propaganda. I know well-meaning left-wing people who believe that Iran machine gunned 50,000 dissidents and that nothing significant happened in Ukraine before 2022.
The focus of hate away from the billionaire class who are enslaving society, and towards immigrants, is most worrying of all. It of course feeds both domestic and foreign policy views – there are vast numbers of people delighted at the mass murder of Iranians, Palestinians, Lebanese or Yemenis because they are brown or Muslim. The same people think that immigrants in small boats are responsible for the decline in standard of living of working people in the UK.
Western social democracy is dying.
The democracy bit offers no meaningful choice at election in terms of wealth distribution or the structure of capitalist society. It offers no significant variation on the increasingly authoritarian nature of the state. It certainly offers no choice in foreign or defence policy. It really only offers a bit more or a bit less racism in immigration and welfare policies.
The social bit is decaying even faster. The very fabric of our cities is visibly crumbling. In the UK the health service is strained beyond utility in a great many cases. State pensions are miserly and insufficient. Many young people have no prospect but to pay rent to landlords for poor quality housing their whole life. Many graduates will never find meaningful or satisfactory employment. All of this is getting palpably worse year by year.
That’s me in the corner
That’s me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
I feel that the rather pleasant world I grew up in has been replaced by something much nastier and more raw. Literally dozens of my friends have been arrested these last three years, simply for what they say and think.
The problem with losing faith is how you replace it.
Another problem is that the legal battle for Palestine Action still has to be paid for. Our CrowdJustice crowdfunder was closed down by the card processors as a result of pressure from the USA. I was informed by the legal team on Friday that legal fees due currently outstrip available funds. If you can help, please do. If you know somebody else better placed to help, please ask them.
These alternative donation methods are still working as of 29 September 12 noon. Any funds received will checked hourly and be paid immediately to the lawyers to avoid possible seizure.
Other donation methods are currently still available even though the CrowdJustice route has been closed.. Obviously we now need funds more than ever to carry on.
Alternatively by bank transfer:
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MURRAY CJ
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Or crypto:
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It’s supposed to difficult.
The press don’t care, they support who funds them
The broadcast media don’t care, they think they are in the entertainment (distraction) business.
The judiciary don’t care, they like the comforts.
The politicians don’t care, lip service will suffice.
The public haven’t time to care.
Russia and China aren’t in a position to do anything….yet. But ‘the west’ has lost the moral high ground and is being ground down in Ukraine.
It seems to me that PayPal does not function. Is it just me ?
Works for me
Today it would not surprise me to see Octogenerians naked from the waist up with Genocide written across their chests arrested and prosecuted as terrorists.
Why is it much worse than it used to be? What can we do about it?
One reason it’s worse than it used to be is that newspapers have got much lower circulations, and can’t afford to hire investigative reporters or resist state pressure. They’re no longer doing real journalism.
In 2014, Rusbridger, then editor of The Guardian, was able to defy the state and publish some of the Snowden revelations. No Guardian editor could do that today.
On the positive side, there are now a number of news outlets with very low costs because they do not produce print editions, and some of them do proper journalism.
Of course, Craig’s blog is one of them. There are several others:
DeclassifiedUK.
Double Down News.
Drop Site News.
In the USA, there’s Glenn Greenwald, Seymour Hersh, the Grayzone, and more.
All of these are good and worth paying for, but you can’t send £100/year to each of them. They’d be more effective if they amalgamated somehow. Then you could make one contribution of, say, £300 a year and get journalism from half a dozen or more top-notch investigative journalists.
(The above list is not at all exhaustive – if you want to find sources for yourself, news.mafraresearch.eu will give you an overview of many more.)
Also The Canary (thecanary.co), but they have been debanked and their survival is in question.
We are now faced with a Ministry of Truth in the UK to enforce state propaganda narratives.
Lisa Nandy : Children’s social media ban only ‘staging post’ in online safety drive.
“We shouldn’t accept that this is the end,” the culture secretary said before her speech at the Labour party conference, which will be introduced by Georgia Harrison, a campaigner against image-based sexual abuse. “This is a staging post to what must be a very active interventionist state, policing and regulating the online space so that people are safe.”
Nandy justifies her approach using evidence from a totally unscientific consultation process, which received 116,000 responses, with 85% of parents thinking the risk of social media outweighed any benefit. Such consultations are often swamped by religious groups, anti-porn campaigners, and assorted other pro-censorship outfits, producing a wholly distorted picture. Censorship campaigner Mary Whitehouse’s national viewers’ and listeners’ association wielded extraordinary power over policy makers in the 1980s, despite the vast majority believing Whitehouse was a nutter pushing puritanical views about sex being ungodly and dirty. She was even famously outraged by nature documentaries that featured animals mating. And yet the government and even royalty held her in the highest respect.
Nandy may have other motives for wanting restrictions on social media ; she has been a fixed featured in the top 10 highest claimers at Westminster. For the 2016–17 financial year she claimed a total of £220,960 (rising from £191,540 the previous year). She has regularly featured in local press reports too. Leading to her being dubbed the “Expenses Queen”. Little surprise then, that she and other MPs hate the scrutiny and comments calling out these excesses on social media.
Along with the social media ban for under 16s coming into force in March next year, they are imposing restrictions on 17-year olds, in a move which is inconsistent with the arguments about maturity they made for giving 16-year olds the right to vote. In Australia, a country that seems about six -months ahead of the UK in this censorship hysteria, the Steam gaming platform only allows credit card age checks, so adults without credit cards, have been prevented from accessing R18+ games, such is the rushed, cack-handed, implementation of these age checks.
WRT age checks. It isn’t just for 16 and 17 year olds, it’s for everyone. If you’re required to provide ID to prove your age then in effect the regime has put a check on free speech and is gathering your data to see where you go. This is not about safety for youngsters this is about more controls on the entire population.
Well yeah, they are a backdoor form of digital ID too.
Although von der Leyen is pushing similar ‘digital wallet’ ID for Europe. It stems from the fact law makers are obsessed with the idea of foreign meddling being responsible for the waning belief in democratic institutions and EU officialdom’s unpopularity.
One of the worst for this in the UK is Tory MP ,Alicia Kearns, maybe she should drop the Ali and just be Cia Kearns? Here, she pushes the idea some huge Iranian influence network is at work in the UK influencing and spreading propaganda, despite providing ‘bugger all’ evidence for such a wild assertion : https://x.com/aliciakearns/status/2105201480307281950. Politicians like her, are fanning the paranoia among other politicians. It’s like a mind virus.
In the UK, as you’ll know, the UK authorities have a monopoly on the narrative, absolute information dominance. They control the BBC’s news output, Sky News, Channel 4 news, all the major newspapers(formerly called broadsheets) and tabloids’ the Mail, Sun and Express .. total information dominance! And it wasn’t always like this, securocrats once respected the delimitation boundaries, to allow for something resembling a free press.
But all that is not enough for these control freaks. When they see people holding different opinions, online, on social media, as here, these people become outraged and automatically assume some ‘outside power’ must be manipulating those posting. So utterly convinced are they in this belief and the correctness of their own position, a position formulated in their London groupthink bubble.
What UK authorities and other govts in Europe have done, is in fact a psy-op itself. By claiming anything Russian and Iranian govt officials say, is automatically disinformation, they’ve effectively silenced and prevented UK and other European citizens from hearing the other side’s point of view. According to this logic, if Lavrov says the sky is blue, or mentions it’s a cold day, it’s just dangerous Russian disinformation. Any topic, any grievance…dismissed as dangerous disinformation. Dangerous to whom exactly? Us or our govts?
Because it amounts to an assault on our right to be presented with unfiltered information, in order.to make our own minds up. Our own govts don’t trust their own people in other words. Just as Thatcher thought by silencing Gerry Adams it would make the IRA go away. The BBC was at least back then, still independent enough to dub his words. Does anyone doubt that if a similar situation arose today, Sinn Féin would’ve been proscribed, and the BBC wouldn’t be defiantly dubbing anything, such is the national security overreach today.
It is an absolutely damning illustration of freedoms being in retreat here, that the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg, is allowed to ask senior Russian govt figures difficult questions, without restriction. While Russian journalists are banned from the UK and Europe.
Trouble is fewer believe their, BS that’s why when the rubber meets the road they get told to f*ck off.
Just like JRM’s little “some of you plebs must die” video.
People sullenly endure and grudgingly comply with this regime. So there’s some hard limits on what can be demanded of them en-masse.
Alicia Kearns is a spook.
Her speech…
Insane banning YouTube for under -16s.
Youtube is already very tightly moderated for any adult content, as are streaming platforms like Twitch. They can and do ban streamers for any violations of their strict rules. Why is that not enough?
Youtube has world class educational content. I wish I had access to such a resource when at school. If there is a mathematics category someone is struggling with, or someone can’t get their head around say chemical equations, there’ll be some highly-rated teacher on Youtube who has a way of methodically breaking the problem down, in way that can be understood by all.
Typically, in classrooms, teachers tend to concentrate their time and attention on the most gifted students; those most likely to succeed. And can’t be bothered with those who are either mucking around, or struggling to keep up. Was that everyone else’s experience at school?
Nandy seems to think censorship is like a global competition, “world leading” internet regulation i.e., censorship, isn’t a boast any politician should be gleefully making.
Does censorship improve life satisfaction in the UK? Or just increase anger, as people feel the state is deciding what is best for them?
Many kids only entertainment is online and social media, on mobile phones. Are those expensive phones to be made useless bricks? They plan to make VPN signups age-gated too. But the really tech savvy kids will set up virtual private servers (VPS’s) and use wireguard or some such VPN protocol. These can be created for as little $1 per month, allowing them to route traffic through some European country and even allow their mates access too. Which will create a social media access apartheid in schools.
The majority will have to accept no access though, and when these bored teens hit the streets and crime rockets because there are no youth centers, will the likes of Nandy wish she hadn’t bothered?
“Or just increase anger, as people feel the state is deciding what is best for them?”
The patronising attitude that our rulers know what’s best for everyone and the common people have no idea is as old as the hills. You only have to look at the negative connotations of the words for the mediaeval working class to see that: villain, churlish, peasant, boor….
Goose.
There are legitimate criticisms of that Platform and how its algorithm works in that they sometimes ban content (i.e Neutrality Studies) but I concur with your point ; if you care to look for a specific topic there is alot of well made content and you can then build from there. I have found it enriching, musically, historically and politically. It really is a window into the world if you are not passive and use it properly and remain critically aware. It can be a fantastic resource for young people. The cynicism of our Parliamentarians and their crditors in their desire to control the thought content of our young people is sadly unsurprising. However young people need to something to rebel against and I hope they will find a way to connect with what is happening in the real world and not the ersatz reality our elites provide for us.
Here is a documentary I would recommend: The Coconut Revolution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvhd3tt7fx4
Any small occasional benefits from things like Youtube are not worth the enormous cost. Reading proficiency for 15 year olds has been falling since the early 2010s. That fact should be viewed as a BIG issue for our species. Smartphone addiction as fuelled by such websites as Youtube has played a major role in this.
It was only in the 1960s that the majority of people aged 15 and over could read and write at all. Now everything’s being chucked away for a a load of addictive “content” wrapped around advertisements, pushed out by those who are masters of behavioural control.
Yes, I too reached the same conclusion some time ago. Behind the facades of state institutions sits corruption. Of course, the police like to arrest frail elderly people – it ticks a box with no threat to themselves, Easy Peasy. I was struck that Andy Burnham announced that the problem of social care would be dealt with – in the next Parliament. Naturally he had to say ‘where’s the money coming from’, a nonsense with the fiat currency we have in the UK – the Bank of England creates it and taxation removes any surplus to need to prevent inflation. Of course, it’s that Triple Lock that has been raising those State Pensions, as you say even now rather minimal. I stand with the Ukrainian people, not the Andy Burham supported Ukrainian government that is sending them to their death on behalf of US hegemony. On speed of action: my wife who had dementia died on 11th September. Wishing to keep on top of things I registered the death on the earliest possible day, Friday 18th September, and in the evening informed all government agencies via the ‘tell us once’ web site page. On Monday 28th September I had a letter from the local council telling me that the 25% reduction due to a person with dementia living at the premiss was cancelled. It will be reapplied because for now there is just me living at the premiss.
Robert Dyson
September 30, 2026 at 10:26
What’s this about the “Ukrainian government that is sending them to their death on behalf of US hegemony”?
The USA under Trump has no interest in supporting Ukraine, surely you have noticed?
What do you have to say about the Russian government that is sending (Russkiy troops) to their deaths?
Jk redux
Trump inherited the war from Biden. He made no secret of the fact he views it very much as Biden’s war and claimed he could end it within 24 hours of taking office.
The US Democrats were obsessed with Russia, maybe still are? Looking for scapegoats for Hillary’s defeat. they falsely blamed Russia; claiming Russian meddling somehow got Trump elected. This however, was a coping mechanism and was invented to deflect criticism from that party’s Sanders supporting left, over the DNC’s stitch -up that handed Hillary the nomination. Trump winning a second term has kinda put that lie to bed.
Goose
September 30, 2026 at 11:12
Yes, like I said; “The USA under Trump has no interest in supporting Ukraine”…
JK redux
Only partially true. The US have stopped providing advanced weaponry, although Europe can still buy and hand to Ukraine. And the U.S. still providing intelligence, and satellite positioning systems, without which even Ukrainian armed forces chiefs have stated their country wouldn’t last long.
The most dangerous thing right now, imho, is what the UK is doing through its support for Ukraine. Targeting Russian capability unrelated to the Ukraine war, but vital in a world war; important early warning systems, like radars, submarines ,strategic bombers etc. Targets that make little sense to target from Ukraine’s perspective, but every sense if Ukraine is being used as a proxy to hide behind by the UK MoD.
more lies. Trump enthusiastically supported Ukraine in his first term because he enthusiastically supports the war on Russia. now that Ukraine is nearing the end of its role as a Western tool to dismantle Russia, he is willing for western Europe to be sacrificial victims.
Here is Professor Jeffrey Sachs Q&A at the Cambridge Union about two years ago. He gives a summary, longer than the two minutes he says, that explains my view. He starts from events in 1990. https://youtu.be/0Bl6_MAhg_4?t=3880
As for Trump not supporting Ukraine, he had a chance to resolve the war at the Alaska meeting with Putin on 15th August 2025. There was an agreement that was reneged on by Trump the next day. Of course, Trump wants to disengage but is too weak to assert that against the forces in his administration and backers wanting to continue weakening Russia. The main issue for the US now is that weapons and defence kit have been run too low to keep supplying to Ukraine, what’s left is being used in West Asia.
he wants to disengage from Ukraine and shift the costs and burdens of dismantling Russia to Europe, and Europe is happily willing to play this role. he was never a peacemaker. Berletic is right about the continuity of agenda under Trump.
“The USA under Trump has no interest in supporting Ukraine, surely you have noticed?”
No, because I don’t notice things that are not there. Trump, has been blathering about not supporting Ukraine, but then that is what he does, blather. How many times has he said the Strait of Hormuz is now open when it’s been shut since April? There is no evidence that Trump speaks fr the whole of the US, who are still providing intel and satellite support.
The war started in support of US hegemony and the US hasn’t done anything to stop it, therefore Ukrainian government is sending Ukrainians to their death on behalf of US hegemony until the war stops. There is no other reason for the war to continue. If the Ukranian government had just wanted the Russians to leave Ukraine, they could have made peace in 2022.
exactly.
Robert. Sorry for your loss.
Yes, the government agencies have a two tier response system, if you owe them money it’s immediate, if they owe you money well we’re short staffed, could be months, blah, blah. Just applied for the ‘Attendance Allowance’, the response time is 12 weeks !
Burnham, in an interview filmed yesterday and broadcast this morning, with GMTV’s Susanna Reid, said he’s told Trump he’ll work closely with him to get the Strait of Hormuz open. Is this a prelude to military support? Starmer, for all his many faults, at least condemned the war, stating clearly, he’d keep the UK out and didn’t agree with the U.S decision to start it. This led to criticism from Trump.
Iran was the victim of an unprovoked attacked which killed their leader who was also the spiritual leader of 300 million Shia worldwide. They have every right to use all means at their disposal, including exploiting geographical advantages that allow them to control the Strait. During World War II, the United Kingdom effectively prevented German U-boats from operating successfully in the English Channel primarily through overwhelming air and naval patrols, minefields, and the physical constraints of the shallow waters. How is Iran’s existential fight today any different to ours back then, Mr Burnham?
The right to self-defence is enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter, which preserves a member state’s inherent right to individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs.
Iran offered Trump a way to open Hormuz within seven days. But he’s incapable of taking any measures that would end the war because that’s not part of the jewish plan.
Stevie Boy
Israel’s population is horrifically bloodthirsty – look at polling done there.
If Trump used nuclear weapons against Iran, killing millions of Iranians, I have little doubt sizeable numbers of Israelis would be dancing in the streets. Saying there is a sickness in that society, doesn’t come close.
That’s the sort of warped ‘forever victims’ mentality the U.S. is serving here. They think the holocaust gives them permission to carry out unlimited completely disproportionate aggression against foes. As Gazans have found out.
“Starmer, for all his many faults, at least condemned the war, stating clearly, he’d keep the UK out and didn’t agree with the U.S decision to start it. This led to criticism from Trump.”
And almost immediately the end of Starmer. Suddenly the Guardian’s so-called journalists had completely changed their minds about Starmer after their years of adoration and close observation. So had their client army of readers/trolls below the line. Cynics would conclude that’s what happens when a British politician defies US foreign policy. That’s also why Corbyn had no chance. Amazing the brassneck of Guardian journalists now when they almost take as read Starmer’s alleged personality defects, after years of never highlighting such shortcomings, and failing to tell the voters of them in 2024. And as for their articles about Burnham’s conference speech this week – as the late John Junor used to say, “Pass the sickbag, Alice!”
Thank you Craig for this heartfelt piece. Wherein lies the power of Israel? It is baffling to me. Even Russia. Even China!! It is indeed frightening to see Europe succumb to fascism and totalitarianism. Russia China, Iran, Yemen look like the best hope but it is a thin hope now.
Money.
America gives (tax payer) money to Israel, Israel uses the money to lobby America for more money for Israel. America gives Israel aid money, Israel buys american arms with the money. Every transaction involves a percentage ‘creamed off’ in profits for the zionists.
“Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel, Never ending or beginning on an ever-spinning reel…”
It’s a bit like any other major business in the US (and increasingly, the UK & EU) – industry lobbies the government with money, gets favourable treatment in the form of taxpayer payouts for dubious services provided, and with the profits does ever more ‘lobbying’ for further handouts.
yes, and there is no business like war business. The Pentagon is a giant grift.
Stevie.
On Israel – their elections are on the 27th of October – I fully expect Trump to have attacked Iran by then,and Israel will join the attack, to take any heat off Netanyahu from angry voters.
Trump himself is in for a poor Mid-Terms so a continued attack on Iran might buy both evil men more time.
Iran is ready. Further attacks will be a disaster for USrael. Not that that will stop the genocidal lunatics.
As you say, when war stops the judicial process will start, so no stop.
Netanyahu has visited seven or eight countries in the region over the last week – I’d imagine he’s trying to coordinate an attack against Iran – which will be sooner than later – Iranian spokespeople have intimated – that if it looks like Iran might come under attack, that Iran will launch a pre-emptive strike.
I grew up in the 1960s in what would today be labelled as “extreme poverty” but our shared experiences at the time were regarded as “normal life”. I never had any illusions as to the morality of my rulers; it was a system dominated by Them and suffered by Us. I never expected any kind of fairness or justice and it was rare and lucky for any to happen. To the present day I have found little to contradict the early formation of my outlook on life, based as it has been upon evidence of my own eyes.
Sadly Craig perhaps had a more genteel and dare I say “middle-class” upbringing and it must be a hell of a shock finally to arrive later in life at the state of general disillusion detailed in the post. You have my sympathies.
Ditto-ish.
In the early 70s I travelled to America to experience the ‘American Dream’. The trip from the airport to the hotel went through ‘skid row’. It was the first time I had ever seen people literally sleeping in the gutter and crawling on the pavement. Met at the hotel by a fat policeman with feet on the table and big gun. Times square full of prostitutes, porn bars and crooks. The dream evaporated, there was no promised land across the sea.
“they call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.” George Carlin.
Here’s a more ‘Americanophile’ perspective, for balance:
My first visit to America was in the 90s. I was able to stay with relations, first in California (where one relation had a modest apartment) and then New York.
For me the US had been a mythical place, in Sad Sack and Richie Rich comic books. I felt a certain magic just at the act of paying with US dollars in a bookshop for an item. At a suburban railway station in New York, where I waited for a cousin to pick me up and take me to the modest apartment where she lived with her family, I felt a sense of wonder at standing beneath the American flag.
Fast forward 15 years or so. I was at New Jersey International airport. I was waiting for a bus service to take me to a certain location from which my cousin’s husband would pick me up to go to their now larger suburban house, It was warm and humid, and I said to myself ‘You’re on American soil and you’ve got 10 days. Carpe Diem !’
The magic never quite went away. If you want a taste of more ‘American magic’ of a different kind on film, try the series The West Wing. I felt unable to enjoy it after Trump gained power, but when he’s gone, perhaps again.
The sordid side of New York is well known, and I would look at David Wilkerson’s The Cross and the Switchblade (the film and book and comic book are all good) as well as Nicky Cruz’ Run, Baby Run.
For a more secular appreciation and travelogue of New York, I recommend Helene Hanff’s Apple of my Eye. She also wrote 84 Charing Cross Road, also a first rate film starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins.
You’ve really swallowed the Kool-Aid there. MJ.
Try living and working there for a few years. Go around with your eyes open. Forget about Hollywood BS and glitzy TV shows and find out what life is really like for the bottom 90%.
Particularly the bottom third, who live desperately hard lives, working extremely long hours and living in poverty.
Don’t forget to toss a bit of change in collection jars in small towns, where a little girl needs life-saving medical treatment – or even her dialysis continued.
I was never in a position to work in the USA, not successful enough. Occasional holidays there are all I could have (and I’m thankful for them). But they need an NHS; too bad that their deep and bitter political divisions prevent this, not to mention monopolies by insurance companies, and religion and money and politics making toxic combinations with each other and undermining democracy. As I said to an American lady at a certain conference over 20 years ago, ‘You need a measure of socialism mixed into your capitalism.’ One good reason to think that people like Bernie Sanders, Zohran Mamdani and such are America’s hope.
Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath” shapes my view of the USA, then and now.
M.J.
What has that got to do with anyone’s views here?
No one dislikes the ordinary people of any given country. I view the U.S. as having unlimited potential to set a very good example, and we all use U.S technology. But the U.S., much like the UK, desperately needs a new, more representative political system ; one that is more conducive to honest people gaining power. Because the current two-party systems, in both countries, are on their last legs. Electing ‘ political outsider’ Trump, was an attempt to shake the system up. Much as many people here used Brexit to stick two-fingers up at the UK political establishment. Trump’s election and Brexit are part of the same disenchantment paradigm.
Trump’s campaign talk about ‘draining the swamp’ and ‘no more wars’ clearly struck a chord with much of the U.S. electorate. That’s what make his U-turns on both, all that all the more bitter. And if the Democrats don’t realise that, and offer radical change themselves, another right-wing populist political outsider will come along.
if anything, most people here who are frustrated with the UK, share much in common with Americans who feel powerless to do anything about their stultifying two-party system. Dominated as it is by big money PAC donors(campaign finance) and powerful lobbies who make voting largely irrelevant.
Goose
You make some good points about the political frustrations in both countries. My reflection was more about cultural and personal memories. There is room for both perspectives.
Goose, you’ve summed it up. 100%.
M.J., yes, I’m sure there are lovely people and places in the USA. The point is, what Stevie Boy experienced and the points glenn_nl made – things like that shouldn’t happen at all, let alone be commonplace and accepted, and no amount of decency can make up for it. Any political-media-monetary system that presents them as acceptable, inevitable, a law of nature, and/or a price worth paying, has to have something very rotten at its core. And we see that rottenness also in the US treatment of other countries.
An analogy. Say a parent abuses one of their children. It doesn’t matter how much love and generosity they lavish on the rest of the family, it can never excuse the abuse.
Clark October 1, 2026 at 21:36
I’m not going to defend the Trump regime (I hope it collapses, in future elections) or the misdeeds of the United States. But I would be wary of the analogy you use. Propensity to crime is not unique to the US. I see hope for the future, if the present rulers don’t succeed in destroying their democracy.
This looks like a sad story. I would ponder the ‘rare and lucky’ moments, particularly if any human were responsible.
But here’s something else that might be worth dwelling on – a sort of sign, from pages 21–22 of Paul Baker’s Of Minstrels, Monks and Milkmen (ISBN 0334011590). It is about the Brothers of St John of God in their hospital, which no longer exists:
“And there in the midst was the small band of brothers, bringing hope and light and love into the clamped down gloom. So few of them, faced with so much disease. Here, for the first time, I met people who were utterly on fire with love, a warm and all-embracing love which accepted and entered into the personalities of the human wreckage strewn about, and brought temporary easement and perhaps the beginnings of peace.”
Let me say that the immediate context in the book is even more impressive than this brief quote.
thank you for this post.
OT. What do people make of the incident on the FlyDubai flight that had to make an emergency landing in Saudi today? Smells like Mossad Kabuki theatre from where I’m sitting.
Oh dear, planeload of chosen ones attacked by arab pilot. 911, 911, 911 they scream. Oh well, I guess after this totally unprovoked attack Israel will have to murder a few thousand more Palestinians and bomb Iran. Wave those false flags … after Fairford, this must be plan B.
Given the security around airplane cabins I’m amazed that ‘heroic passengers’ were able to intervene Todd Beamer style in the cockpit.
Russian news reporting that apart from the alleged attacker being Omani, the other two pilots inside the cockpit who rescued the plane were a Russian and a Ukrainian.
Andy’s now claiming that the men released by police were terrorists working for Iran. Seems he’s been told he’s getting fully involved in the zionist war on Iran regardless how flimsy and laughable the justification.
Did Andy put up the bail for those 5 captured fools?
How come that nobody was interested in interviewing witnesses to this foolish fakery, were the incognito wirnesses real?
Was this planned to happen at the Labour patzis conference, to be seen to be tough? action Andy, the Leichenschlitzer does it, does it, does it all again?
Thank you Craig, for your honest appraisal of the current state of the western shit show, shall send you some money.
Hope to see you again, we never been to a citygame together. Cmon you Canaries, sing until the cage falls to pieces.
It’s as if we are in a media driven game of global “Chinese Whispers” – I’ve just read that the first pilot was Indian to add to Omani, Emirati, Ukraine, Russian identities. All it needs is a credible, verifiable announcement as to what actually happened – if anything other than an engine failure. Can we expect something as simple as that in the current disinformation age? I doubt it.
Thanks for your reply Stevie. So we’ve now got the official version of events. Apparently, the Omani co-pilot stabbed the pilot, who pretended to pass out before crawling to the cockpit door without being noticed and unlocked it, enabling the gung-ho passengers to enter led by an Israeli guy called ‘Yaniv’, who tackled the rogue co-pilot with a chokehold before managing to pull the 737 out of its death spiral seconds before it hit the desert, breaking its rudder but without stalling either engine, despite never having flown a plane before – something he knew how to do because he’s a regular viewer of ‘Air Crash Investigation’. Meeting him at Ben Gurion airport afterwards Netanyahoo exclaimed: “What you did was unbelievable!” He’s got that right.
i cant wait for the hollywood movie version. It will star Gal Gadot, and the cartoon version will feature Snoopy the flying beagle.
Thanks for your reply PA. I can’t wait too. Hopefully, there’ll be slight changes to the script to make it more believable.
Sounds like “Yaniv” was a sky marshal.
All El Al pilots are military trained.
Probably all planes flying to the settler state with other airlines have Zionist sky marshals aboard.
The world’s in a bad state when you can no longer rely on the CIA, MI5 or Mossad to organise a decent false flag. Where were the explosions, the dead “terrorists” carrying Iranian passports, the hundreds of innocent victims? Five masked guys let out on bail and a forced landing really doesn’t cut it.
Thanks for your reply Bayard. Come on though – pulling a 737 out of a death spiral seconds before it hits the desert floor – breaking its rudder but not stalling either engine – is a cut above your average false flag. In the words of Russell Crowe’s Gladiator, are you not entertained?
Certainly a bravura bit of piloting, worthy of the great air aces of the past, and a vast improvement on the Leipzig drone, which had to be the lamest so far, but good entertainment doth not an effective false flag make.
Thanks for your reply Bayard. It’s a lot easier (and safer) to get out of a death spiral in a Fokker Triplane or a Sopwith Camel than it is in a 737.
This is a tale of extraordinary heroism. The flight captain, an Indian national named Smit Machchhar, was stabbed inside the cockpit by his co-pilot who then tried to smash the equipment and deliberately crash the plane. Despite being severely wounded and losing blood, Captain Machchhar fought back and used his final moments of strength to open the cockpit door. This allowed passengers to rush in, put the attacker in a stranglehold, and drag him away, while off-duty pilots on board stepped in to stabilize the aircraft and land it safely at a Saudi airport. Captain Machchhar is rightly being regarded as a true hero for preventing a catastrophic disaster.
Terrorism like this IMO does not help the cause of justice for Palestinians.
Except that passengers would not be able to walk if the aircraft was plunging 17,000ft in a nosedive.
They would be floating around the cabin, or jammed to the ceiling; as would any other objects not nailed down.
Therefore, no heroism – just lies and a bit of forward planning.
It helps when there are three fully qualified Israeli pilots in the passenger seats, to assist in landing the aircraft safely.
Thanks for your reply MJ. Data from the plane’s transponder indicates that the time from when it started to plummet 18,000 feet to when it started to climb again was about 30 seconds. So that’s 30 seconds for Yaniv the hero plumber to realise what’s going on, make his way from his seat in row 18 to the cockpit (with the plane at an angle of over 30 degrees), open the door, overpower the renegade co-pilot, pass him over to his fellow hero passengers, and pull the plane out of its death plunge. Thirty seconds – less time than it would take most people to type this comment.
Because an aircraft experiences massive aerodynamic drag and is still being supported by airflow over the wings, it does not enter a zero-g freefall, meaning movement—while difficult and chaotic—is physically possible. The official accounts and initial news reports, such as detailed updates from the Guardian and BBC, confirm that despite the terrifying 14,000-foot descent, Captain Machchhar successfully unlocked the cockpit door. This allowed cabin crew, passengers, and off-duty pilots to intervene, subdue the attacker, and safely land the aircraft.
To be honest, Craig, I’m surprised you kept any faith at all for this long.
But I don’t think it’s all suddenly gone bad. The British Empire, the institution of slavery and the colonies, what we have done to the rest of the world (when we were militarily superior anyway) to strip their resources… right up to the present day, when we slavishly support America in its version of Empire.
My faith was utterly lost with our involvement in the invasion of Iraq – based on transparently obvious lies, all of which were completely known and powerfully argued against at the time.
Then, it finally became clear to me, our chief politicians were nothing but professional liars. With no guiding principle other than wielding power and the accumulation of personal wealth and influence, they actively put our country to the service of an evil cause – and putting our own citizens in danger while doing so.
It’s rather hard not to despair at the cynical and self-serving way we are being controlled, not represented.
Perhaps with the naked savagery being demonstrated by Israel in the past few years, testimony for which could not be hushed up or dismissed, a heavier hand by the state is required – it has been determined – to keep the masses in line. Even if that means dropping the pretence that we are a civilised people operating in a democratic, law-based order.
MI5 issue warning about collaborations with Chinese universities. Guardian reports:
“Through this espionage alert, MI5 has placed the fact that CGTRI has very strong ties to MSS in the public domain,” it states. “Going forward, academic institutions, staff and researchers should ensure they are aware of the National Security Act 2023, particularly offences under section 3 (assisting a foreign intelligence service) and section 17 (obtaining a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service).
“Under section 3, an offence is committed if the person a) engages in conduct that is likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service in carrying out UK-related activities, and b) knows, or having regard to other matters known to them ought reasonably to know, that their conduct is likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service in carrying out UK-related activities.”
Such is the scale of Chinese state espionage targeting the UK that MI5 has decided on a deterrence strategy via a public alert such as this, rather than pursuing every single case. It hopes universities will heed the warning and immediately cease their work with the CGTRI.
—-
Academics shouldn’t have to worry about facing prosecution like this. If the govt don’t want Chinese students at UK universities for reasons to do with national security, then they should just ban them. How are academics supposed to do the detective work? The whole notion of MI5 issuing threats against academics for carrying out legal research, is despicable.
Every UK university accepts a thousand Chinese students every year. This has been going on for decades. The students are tightly monitored by their mentors. There is nothing they don’t know about our internal organisation. They have the same freedoms we all have in the UK, plus the duty to report to the facilitators who arrange their placements
Who benefits most from taking Chinese students? University or China? Financial impact on restricting or banning Chinese students would be? Not that I would put it past government to shoot itself in the foot in this respect to reduce the “China threat”.
The stench of paranoia and brittleness is suffocating isn’t it?
As is the very revealing projection on display, they fear the sort of nefarious activity they’d engage in. Ditto with “Russian disinformation” simply standing for narratives and truths they don’t like.
Some facts:
i. China leads globally on international patent applications and high-level scientific research output.
ii. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that approximately 50% of the world’s artificial intelligence researchers are of Chinese origin or based in China.
iii. China accounts for 70% of recently published AI patents globally.
iv. Major U.S. artificial intelligence labs – such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and DeepMind – employ many researchers from China.
So what secret sauce are the Chinese trying to steal the recipe for, from UK universities? Not putting the UK down when I say, that we probably stand more to gain from close cooperation with them and through more Chinese investment in high-tech research here. I don’t even understand the ‘adversary’ designation. It was, after all, only in 2015, the then PM David Cameron was hosting Xi Jinping at his local pub for a pint, and Chancellor George Osborne was declaring a new “golden era” of UK – China relations.
The UK establishment can’t make their minds up when it comes to China. The US’s geostrategic view of China is also very fluid as seen by Xi’s Jinping’s recent visit. if it weren’t for uncertainties over the Taiwan issue, there’d be very little reason to be wary of China at all.
‘I don’t even understand the ‘adversary’ designation. ‘. There always has to be an ( designated ) ‘ adversary ‘. And ‘ our ‘ behaviour guarantees there are always plenty of countries severely pissed-off with ‘ us ‘, making it easy to persuade the public we’re beset on all sides by hostile agents intent on doing us in…..look….. just the other day our incredibly brave Insecurity Services and a stout yeoman-farmer’s comely spouse foiled a plot by 700 Iranian Red Diesel Barons to. er….dunno…..play hide n seek under the harvest moon and carve ‘ Allah Akbar ‘ on native oaks?
The award for Most Innovative Adversary Designation Redux must go to the team behind yr man Jolani’s transformation from Public Headchopping Enemy #1 to Respected member of the Coalition of the Bribed.Threatened & Insane
“Going forward” – lol. Do they speak like that in MI5 nowadays? Well it was always the junior service even if its HQ is north of the River…
Anybody could tell them that to be heard properly when they crack the whip the secret police gotta arrest someone. Drag an academic out of a university somewhere in his corduroys and charge him with terrorism for accepting money from the China General Technology Research Institute. Or maybe get him as soon as he lands back at Heathrow after doing some work for the British Council in Beijing.
For up to date analysis of Trump and Israel you need to follow Colonel MacGregor’s YouTube podcasts. Things are hotting up bigly.
For insight into the integrated surveillance of every aspect of our lives, you need to follow the Scouse Oracle. Every detail of our smart meter usage, our children’s progress, our health and what we look up online, is traced and tracked. Facts and figures. Evidence and where it is all intended to take us.
October elections in Israel are supposed to take place. Elections in Gaza have banned Arab Parties from standing candidates. Netanyahu is not leading in the polls.
November the mid-term US elections are supposed to be taking place.
American forces are moving out of Iraq.
How mad actually are they? And do they really have that much power?
Alyson.
I share your concern about the possible trajectory and the deployment of the undeployable. The power centres in the belligerent states need to be firmly advised (privately) that they will not escape the consequences if they arrogate to themselves the right to deploy weapons of mass destruction. Should this happen it would not be a Great Reset but a Great Extinction.
Forty trillion reasons for the Great Reset
Humanity on the Edge of an AI double tap
Who remains accountable (it gained a function in the lab) ?
@Johnny – What’s an AI double tap? I know what a double tap is from Jacob Rubenstein’s (aka Jack Ruby’s) assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald, even though it appears only a single round was fired.
Hi Brian Red:
Here is the definition my search engine came out with:
**• Definition: Following an initial military bombardment (such as an airstrike, missile, or artillery shell) with a deliberately timed second strike on the exact same location several minutes or hours later.
• Purpose: Maximize casualties by targeting emergency responders, medical personnel, rescue workers, and civilians who rush to help survivors after the first blast.
• Legality: Widely considered a potential war crime under International Humanitarian Law because it intentionally targets protected medical personnel and civilians **
AI is being used to target sites [Minab] and these AI systems are reported to act autonomously without human professional oversight. Given that the belligerent and genocidal forces use AI systems the risk is high that they will escalate to deploy all resources in order to achieve a pre-programmed objective To Win. This will be irrespective of the human, environmental and long term consequences and this applies to kinetic and financial warfare.
I’m sorry if that wasn’t especially helpful but I hope it covered the point.
The “innate decency of the British people” is a specious myth draped over countless British atrocities, from the slave ports of Ghana to the genocide of Gaza. Diane Abbott explaining her vote for NATO’s ‘Responsibility to Protect’ bombing of Libya which destroyed the country and magnified every evil it was supposed to prevent: “The British people are very humane and I think that they understand that we intervened swiftly to save lives in Benghazi.”
After the NATO bombing had been declared a great success by the Tory, Lib Dem and Labour parties, Benghazi was seized by jihadists, including ISIL and those supported by the British government to overthrow Gaddafi. PM David Cameron’s justification for turning the RAF into the Al Qa’eda Air Force: “The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group was allied with al-Qaeda. It is not any more and has separated itself from that organisation.”
He said this in 2011, when the LIFG had been a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK since 2005. The proscription remained until 2017. It stated: “The LIFG seeks to replace the current Libyan regime with a hard-line Islamic state. The group is also part of the wider global Islamist extremist movement, as inspired by Al Qa’ida”. This was the group whose emir, Belhaj, was tasked by NATO in 2011 with taking the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and securing it for democracy!
That wasn’t the first time Britain had sent Belhaj to Tripoli. That was in 2004, when British spooks helped the CIA kidnap Belhaj and his wife in Thailand and fly them to Libya in exchange for intel from his interrogation by Gaddafi’s spooks. How reliable is intel obtained by torture and relayed by a lifelong enemy of the UK? About as reliable as the innate decency of the British people. In 2013, Belhaj sued the UK for the kidnap and torture, seeking £1 in damages and an apology. To avoid admitting any deficiency in the innate decency of the British people, Britain fought the case for 5 years, eventually paying well over £1 million in hush money and legal costs.
The British politicians responsible for the abduction, Tony Blair and Jack Straw, were stricken with amnesia. By the time the matter was settled in 2018, the LIFG had been de-proscribed in the UK and Belhaj personally put on a watch list by Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the Libyan Tobruk government for terrorist activities in collusion with Qatar, the UK’s main Arab ally in the 2011 Libyan regime change. The nature of the terrorist activities is unknown, but they are not believed to include holding a placard.
“Diane Abbott explaining her vote for NATO’s ‘Responsibility to Protect’ bombing of Libya which destroyed the country and magnified every evil it was supposed to prevent:”
Ah, yes, ‘Responsibility to Protect’ , we don’t hear much about that after Putin decided it was Russia’s responsibility to protect the Russians in the Donbass. More NATO “Rules for thee, but not for me”.
@Treetumbo – Thanks for this. I didn’t know Diane Abbott voted in favour of the NATO bombing of Libya. That is a disgrace.
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm110321/debtext/110321-0004.htm#1103223000001
Jeremy Corbyn and Dennis Skinner voted against.
Cynicism and scepticism are the two pillars of my political faith of “Distrustism” and I trace back the conversion to the Thatcher election of I979. Nothing has altered it since and I could give a long list as to why it has not changed through successive political eras. Labour’s new slogan of Hope does not give me any hope. Far from it being pessimistic, I urge everyone to adopt it to lever some real change.
@Crispa – Yep, I agree, you gotta go by what you already know (tweaking and updating it of course), and you gotta expect the rulers to act in a dirty fashion, rather than repeatedly thinking “unfortunately” this and “unfortunately” that, as if you expected decency and you’ve just been betrayed for the 10,000th time, sob sob, as you look forward to the 10,001th.
If someone does the latter in good faith, they will soon burn out or settle down as a big-time bore, essentially betraying themselves.
(Not quite on topic, I fear, but it’s on page 2 of comments, so maybe it’s OK?)
This was the entire content of the BBC news headlines at 6 p.m on Radio 3 today (details forgotten):
1. Netanyahu says one pilot stabbed another on a plane full of Israelis, and two other pilots took over from them.
2. Burnham says there is strong evidence of an Iranian link to the incident at RAF Fairford.
3. Russia did something bad to Ukraine again.
4. Someone warned of some sort of evil influence from China, I forget what (I may already have been screaming by then).
In other words: Israelis victims of terror, Iran bad, Russia bad, China bad. There was no other news whatsoever (unless perhaps there was something about immigrants on small boats, but for once I don’t think there was).
I practically screamed at the fucking radio. (Just letting off some steam now, hope that’s OK.)
Corrections (I listened again to check my memory): there was indeed an item about small boats (men jailed in France because of deaths); there was something about a possible new referendum on membership of the EU; it was MI5 who warned that “more than 100 academics linked to British institutions have unwittingly aided Chinese espionage across the UK”; and there was something about Manchester City.
Fortunately Radio 3 is usually oblivious of what’s going in on the big bad political world most of the time. It’s just that the presenters are given a few bits of paper to read out from time to time to distract them from the serious stuff. Classical FM employs Global News which blares out its propaganda in a much more consistent way along with its terrible adverts.
They are all colluding and preparing the ground for the upcoming attack on Iran.
Stevie Boy
You’ve got it one there.
Then, when the blowback comes and European countries who ‘host’ US Airbases are attacked then surely they will have to join in the attack on Iran and open The Straits of Hormuz alongside the fellow NATO allies?
Of course they are all assuming that Iran isn’t prepared for this eventuality.
I read that it is.
If true then Saudia Arabia can say goodbye to their Oilfields ( not the infrastructure – the actual oilfieds) and other countries allied with the US will be attacked too in a similar manner.
If this happens the world will be plunged into a depression.
Because the oil will no longer exist as the oilfileds have been destroyed.
Great forward thinking for the Genius Trump.
He is betting that Iran would not do that as it will affect Iran’s oil output.
Unlike Trump they don’t usually lie about intention.
Add to that the The Russian/ Ukraine war ( not dis – similar US tactics of Allies joining in) and that will make the worst even worse.
You can see – even from space what the MSM are doing to promote these attacks.
They are either oblivious or complicit – my money’s on the latter.
Interesting and skint times to come I think.
Mark M Cutts
Why don’t the US Democrats make it perfectly clear, either privately or if that fails, publicly, that if he commits unthinkable war crimes in Iran, by destroying public infrastructure vital to sustaining life, or using WMD, they’ll not only impeach him, but he’ll likely end up in jail?
Trump, ultimately only cares about himself, his family and his and their finances. The idea of him living out his days disgraced, in a cell, could influence his upcoming decisions.
C’mon. The only difference between the Democrats and Trump is that Trump says the quiet bits out loud. The Democrats won’t do anything concrete to stop Trump, they’ll just go around saying: “isn’t he terrible ?” They all sup at the zionist trough, they’ll only do something if the bribe money starts to dry up.
Obama is stepping out of the shadows. If Trump wants to stand for a third term, then so can Obama. Together with Killary he set the trajectory and momentum of the madness Bush junior learned at his father’s knee. Smooth operator…. Older, wiser, smarter. They think we don’t know.
Jewish money is the driver, call it what you will. Saddam selling oil for euros, Gaddafi intending Africa to own its own resources, Iran throwing out the Shah and the American oil companies, and Russia having the audacity to deliver clean gas direct to northern Germany, via Nordstream: control of the money is the penalty being imposed on those who might favour a more pluralistic multipolar global economy, and we are sheltering under the umbrella of this financial system, because it worked. It worked well. The world was for the most part happy to play ball.
Could ‘Manchesterism’ restore your religion, Craig?
Here’s the prime minister of the UK saying we should turn a blind eye to Man City’s brazen cheating and fraud because Abu Dhabi invested large amounts of sportswashing money in Manchester under his watch.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/30/andy-burnham-manchester-city-premier-league
It will be hilarious if this Man City scandal ends up bringing down Burnham too.
Burnham has faced zero scrutiny of his dealings with Daren Whitaker, the property magnate and founder of the Renaker group, who has joined the exodus of the super-rich to Monaco. Burnham ran for office promising affordable housing To make his dad proud?‘TM *tears up on cue* and instead gave the lion’s share of the £1.2 billion fund to Whitaker’s companies, which have been allocated over £800 million in taxpayer-backed loans to construct luxury skyscrapers that contain no affordable housing.
“Andy Burnham has been accused of loaning hundreds of millions of pounds to the developer amid claims his office holds a ‘cosy relationship’ with its owner, Daren Whitaker.”
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/court-battle-over-1billion-how-31792697
Imagine if Corbyn had had baggage like this. It’d be headline news for weeks.
I also think Burnham’s comment, that he thinks Iran ‘may’ Definitely Maybe? (keeping the Manc theme) have been involved in the RAF Fairford fiasco, is unacceptable. He says people shouldn’t speculate then does so himself?
“He says people shouldn’t speculate then does so himself?”
Of course: the rules of the “rules based order” are for thee, but not for me. Do as I say, not as I do.
Zoot
Channel 4 news tonight : It’s emerged that the Chairman of Manchester City Football Club, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, was granted diplomatic immunity six years ago – meaning he is protected from any potential criminal proceedings or civil actions in UK courts.
I feel for you Craig.
The inspirational things you’ve done over the passed couple of decades have, I think, been enabled by a stubborn naivete which refuses to submit. And which is deeply Scottish.
Now it’s come time to lose your religion/naivete, or rather to pass the batton to a younger bearer. God knows you’ve carried it far enough.
We’re at a generational fourth turning and things must descend before they can rise again. As frustrating as it is for those with understanding and empathy, perhaps this cyclical repetition provides the background against which our character can be built.
As disheartening as events are, I encourage you to reflect that down doesn’t mean out. Great civilisations have been built from ruinous beginnings.
And simultaneously – you’re on the money. Today’s shit is genuinely fucked up.
Huskynut
October 1, 2026 at 07:07
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss%E2%80%93Howe_generational_theory
I noticed your reference to a “fourth turning” – discussed in the link.
Interesting though imo narrowly focussed on the US.
And descriptive rather than predictive.
And there it is – as we all expected, this will pave the way from Burnham to openly attack Iran to protect Israel – the English government is putting Israeli interests ahead of its own citizens – just think about that for a second.
“The government believes that Iran played a part in the RAF Fairford incident which resulted in five men being arrested and then bailed, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said.
“There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford,” he told the BBC. He did not provide further details.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjwyz59k5y75o
Bs still stinks RoS 😌 Who recruited these five/15 Idiots in the first place. This pathetic action could not possibly be of Iranian making, it has all the hall marks of another botched false flag designed to cheer up the Labour conference.
Royal American soil Fairford is barely 47 miles from the sea and could be neutered with a cruise missile salvo from a sub in the Bristol channel.
This fakery has MIs written all over it. Burn’em is just another genocidal tool in Bibis Amalek cookbook. The whole Government and judiciary have been infected by a constant trickle charge of Zionists who push the agenda into their cabinet ipads and notebooks.
I have lost faith in politics, political parties are easily infiltrated, and you can be rest assured that they try anything, donations, flattering and co operation, just to be your friend.
Craig has moved mountains for two decades and must feel like treading water, getting nowhere. The judiciary is like a slippery log to cling on, only to roll you off just when you thought of holding on to it.
“I have lost faith in politics, political parties are easily infiltrated, and you can be rest assured that they try anything, donations, flattering and co operation, just to be your friend.”
nevermind.
On the above you’re not the only one – more and more folk are beginning to realise the whole political system isn’t fit for purpose -a complete reset is required, and that can only happen when folk decide they’ve had enough – sadly we are not there yet.
Just like in Afghanistan – US forces have now gone from Iraq.
“The US has finally left left Iraq after 23 years, after increasing pressure from resistance factions and Iran. All US forces and equipment has been moved towards Turkey and Jordan”
https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/idRW667401102026RP1/
Not so quick RoS.
The USA still completely controls Iraq’s money and source of income, Oil.
‘the rather pleasant world I grew up in has been replaced by something much nastier and more raw’. Absolutely, and it’s difficult to see any light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, Iran, Yemen and Russia will prevail and that will hopefully lead to some introspection on the side of the Empire. That could be a long, destructive road though.
Those countries don’t particularly offer much by way of light. What offers hope is multipolarity based on mutual respect.
Most people have absolutely no issue with the populations’ of Iran, Russia or China choosing any form of govt they so wish, providing it’s purely an organic process throughout. What many object to, is the idea the US State Dept/CIA along with the FCDO/MI6, pursuing geopolitical goals by attempting to destabilize and trigger turmoil in various countries; fanning bloody revolutions, civil wars etc, just to get to handpick their eventual new leaderships(as per Ukraine). And based solely on the criteria of our own self-interest. It’s just neocolonialism rebadged in politically and publicly acceptable clothing.
Cont.
These constant unevidenced claims by US and UK politicians, of massive interference and meddling by Russia, China and Iran in our political systems, may be aimed at deceiving intelligent people who work in the State Dept and FCDO. People who’d otherwise object to our own massive interference and meddling in their countries, on moral grounds. A psy-op against their own? Because think about our systems; with no parties even remotely inclined to take Russia’s, China’s or Iran’s position – who would they be trying to influence exactly? They don’t have any political allies in our countries.
Alicia Kearns MP posts :
We are united:
The so-called Duma is illegitimate, and
Putin is an illegitimate President.
————
Er…, we have an unelected head of State in the form of King Charles III. And our PM, Andy Burnham ‘won’ a contest in which nobody else was allowed to run. And the Labour party itself won a huge majority on just 32% of the vote. Our second legislative chamber isn’t even elected.
As Hannibal Lecter says to Clarice Starling, “How about you turn that high-powered-perception at yourself and tell me what you see? Or maybe you’re afraid to.”
“And our PM, Andy Burnham ‘won’ a contest in which nobody else was allowed to run.”
after being elected as a prospective replacement for the then PM by 0.02% of the electorate. Unfortunately, just as “anti-semitism” now means criticism of Zionism or Zionists, “democracy” means getting the “right” people elected.
“Kearns is a veteran psychological warfare specialist and British intelligence operative.”
https://thegrayzone.com/2023/07/27/british-intelligence-war-kosovo/
“Those countries don’t particularly offer much by way of light. What offers hope is multipolarity based on mutual respect”
Goose.
The above sounds above right, but only the people can change the systems from within – as Barry alluded to it will be a messy – but there’s really no alternative, for the imperialists war machine will not stop, it will need to be stopped by the masses, its mainly the West that has grown rich off of exploiting other nations in say Africa and South America – and this will continue until the masses can put an end to it, the US bombs countries and regimes changes to get its own way, it asset strips nations of their wealth – as does most of the major European nations – Macron of France is in the process right now of using terrorist outfits to undermine the Sahel, a region of Africa that France has asset stripped for centuries.
The coming war on Iran will decide which nation is top-dog in the region, and the West is throwing everything behind the Zio-Monsters who are committing genocide – I wonder how many more Americans will die serving Israel – at one point it was Saudi Arabia that US personnel died for – there was a saying among US troops – that the Saudi’s wanted the US to fight Saudi Arabia’s enemies – right down to the last US soldier, now the enemy in the region is Iran.
Israelis divided as vote that could oust Netanyahu only weeks away – Guardian
What incredible luck, not one but two pilots were passengers on that vertical nosediving plane, saving the day, after the alleged hijacker made a series of schoolboy errors.
Serving to create a great story of bravery and a much-needed positive publicity opportunity for Netanyahu.
Too cynical?
Netanyahu is now trying to capitalise, making statements about this incident, insisting the election has to be solely about national security – an area he is seen as politically strong in… *cynicism intensifies*.
US and UK security services will likely know the truth, about these passenger pilots and this incident. Certain things don’t add up; like the reports the attacked pilot managed to crawl to open the door to let the others in. Why, if the intention was to fly the plane into buildings in Israel, as reported, did the pilot do a manoeuvre that automatically created panic among passengers, air traffic control, and drew attention to the hijacking?
Had this happened in the run-up to the recent Russian election, to a Russia bound flight, western security agencies and ministers would have had plenty to say about it likely being a cynical Kremlin ‘staged’ pre-election stunt.
Goose.
There’s far too much media coverage from the usual compliant Corporate Controlled Media, for the FlyDubai flight FZ1073 event not to have been a false flag attack – bearing in mind people do die – or are injured in false flag events such the 7/7 event in London.
The cockpit doors are locked from the inside. Surely, a “suicidal hijacker” wouldn’t let the pilot open those doors as his top priority. And then not one, but two passenger pilots were available(just like a normal flight).
All that’s missing is Alison McCourt, tending to the injured pilot. /S
Also bear in mind that it was Israel that reported that the attacker is Omani – I personally wouldn’t believe a single thing that come out that genocide committing squatting force known as Israel.
RoS
Pilots and co-pilots have to use the toilet occasionally during flights, and have a code that grants emergency access to get back in, if say, the other pilot blacks out and the cockpit door is locked. Other crew however, don’t have that code.
Surely, a hijacker would use the toilet excuse to get behind the pilot and either choke, or simply knock him unconscious with the large fire extinguisher(s) that are installed directly in the cockpit? Seems suspiciously convenient, that the hijacker was so utterly incompetent.
RoS
He apparently stabbed the pilot with a knife. Which makes the Fairbairn-Sykes Sentry Removal technique that the British army teach also known as “Subclavian Artery Stab” – as seen in Kit Klarenberg’s leaked MoD documents a more obvious means that wildly lashing out, as he allegedly did.
It was developed during World War II by William E. Fairbairn and Eric A. Sykes for British Commandos and the SOE, it is a foundational method taught in military close-quarters combatives for silent sentry elimination.
Someone trained in fighting by Islamists, as Israel claims he was, would surely know this lethal technique which is now widely incorporated into military training around the world.
Goose.
Check it out in the link.
https://nitter.meowing.monster/Paulkaz12/status/2105555980390203677#m
Great put down of this zio false flag.
“In the whole history of commercial aviation, there have been at least ten cases in which suicidal-homicidal pilots plunged their planes into steep high-speed nosedives. In all ten of those cases, the planes went splat and everyone died.”
https://kevinbarrett.substack.com/p/did-an-israeli-plumber-really-pull
Stevie Boy
Netanyahu claimed they tipped the UK off about Iranian plots, only for the UK to slap sanctions on them the next day.
A British – Iranian has been arrested. The Iranian state officially denies any involvement however. And Iran is a state that is all too ready to claim credit for hits on US targets in the Strait and their bases elsewhere in that region.
When proud, powerful nations like Russia and Iran are accused of hiring random incompetents to carry out attacks, one of whom apparently rang law enforcement himself. Well, a degree of skepticism is required. For it’s not the way states operate – not their M.O., is it. States aren’t terrorist organisations, that have to creep around in the shadows avoiding detection. These randoms, hired by mysterious Russian or Farsi speakers are however, exactly the M.O. a state, or agency, wanting to frame Iran or Russia would use. Go figure.
So the next question becomes : Why don’t the likes of Russia and Iran, similarly fabricate western plots in their countries?
Basically, because the pressures are different and they don’t need to. In the West. public support is fickle and has to be won to proceed with a given course of action. The population need to be primed to hate the enemy first – feel genuinely threatened, in order to give their consent. Especially to support something as serious as war. If Iran and Russia have done nothing to us, there simply wouldn’t be any public support for action against them.
And that’s where the intel agencies come into play; manufacturing consent, aided by an ultra gullible, ‘ask no questions’ media..
We had no less than three terror attacks in the run-up to the 8 June 2017 election, which PM Theresa May was making all about national security, including the Manchester Arena, Ariana Grande concert attack on May 22, roughly two weeks before the election.
BBC report on that, from this year 2026:
“Families bereaved by the Manchester Arena bombing say MI5 failed them and must be fully included in a new law designed to stop cover-ups in public life.
In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, seen by the BBC, they ask the prime minister: “How many times must MI5 show that it cannot be trusted before something is done?”
MI5 was found by a public inquiry not to have given an “accurate picture” of the key intelligence it held on the suicide bomber who carried out the attack which killed 22 people and injured hundreds on 22 May 2017.”
MI5 have recently been found to have lied repeatedly under oath in another case. MI5 lied to three courts while defending its handling of a misogynistic neo-Nazi state agent who attacked his girlfriend with a machete.
The govt are actually introducing a ‘Duty of Candour’ that will apply to the security services, as these campaigning families demanded in their letter. But there is a difference between a Statutory Duty of Candour and a Professional Duty of Candour. A Statutory one doesn’t usually involve legal requirements to formally notify, whereas a Professional one does and typically can apply to everything going wrong in an organisation.
Goose.
A rule of thumb, what do these snippets have in common ?
Netanyahu said …
Trump said …
The BBC reported …
MI5/MI6/GCHQ/[politicians name] said …
CIA/NSA said …
MSM/MIC/NGO said …
Clue: they’re all lying bastards
Would it be appropriate to pay a small amount for airing our views to a man who has supported, lets guess, approx.75% supportive readers?
I would not bark at paying 20-50 pence to add what little I deem promotive of the general gist of what an article might throw up.
What do others think about such an idea?
I would be happy to do that
Meanwhile the prime minister of the monarchist regime in Britain, a man known for having nurtured close connections with property developers and the “nighttime economy” when he was mayor of the largely gang-run city of Manchester, apparently takes a close interest in UAE investments in the squeaky clean world of big-time football. Yeah f***ing right.
Yes, we live in Interesting times. I like reading your articles, though I’m surprised that you didn’t see through the elite’s mask before now, I suppose that makes you an idealist.
Not all of us view the near future with trepidation!
“I have lost faith both in Western social democracy, and in the institutions of international law.”
Western social democracy supported the slaughter of WW1 more than a century ago. AFAIAA none of them ever apologised.
The League of Nations was widely known in the workers’ movement as a “gang of imperialist robbers”. The same epithet should be applied to the United Nations, with the qualification that individuals for example in UNRWA have undoubtedly done good work. Those who set up the UN specifically exempted from criminal proceedings what “needed” to be done by the Allied powers to win WW2 – to wit, nuking Japan.
Where was the UN or other institutions of international law when (Zionist-armed) Azerbaijan forcibly expelled all the Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023? Or one could ask the same question in respect of the state-supported neo-Nazi attack on Russians in the Donbas under Kolomoisky and Zelensky.
Yes, the UN is seriously compromised with corruption at many levels. It needs a serious shake up and a thorough reform with more representation from different nations and a break with monied sponsors who influence it too much. However, Russia, China and many nations support the UN because there is no other international body like it.
USrael are currently leading attacks to destroy the UN, which tells you something, or should !
I think much of the UN’s decline is down to awfully uncontroversial, ineffective, uninspiring recent Secretary Generals.
You simply can’t upset the Americans. The 2nd Secretary- General of the UN, Dag Hammarskjöld did that…He died in a plane crash en route to negotiating a ceasefire.
Quote:
There is evidence suggesting the plane was shot down. A KGB report claimed the CIA was responsible.
The day after the crash, former U.S. President Harry Truman commented that Hammarskjöld “was on the point of getting something done when they killed him. Notice that I said ‘when they killed him’.”
In 1998, documents were discovered that detailed an alleged plot, named Operation Celeste, to assassinate Hammarskjöld. The alleged plot was backed by the CIA, MI6 and a Belgian mining interest and the assassination was to be carried out by the South African Institute for Maritime Research, a South African paramilitary organisation. One of the documents stated that CIA director Allen Dulles agreed that “Dag is becoming troublesome … and should be removed” and pledged local CIA support for the alleged plot.
The United States has exercised its veto power dozens of times since 1972 to block Security Council resolutions deemed overly critical or one-sided regarding Israel.
Who’d want the SG job?
Western social democracy is not dying. It’s what it is and always was. What’s dying is your self delusion that the system of power has any merit whatsoever.