www.nationaltvawards.com/vote/categor... Please vote for Gary Lineker as best presenter. Stood up for justice. It would send a powerful message.
I run a charity with my wife (One And All Aid), which funds education for Yezidis, following the 2014 genocide. In my spare time I fish and write. Two fishing books have been published, and my new book is a comedy adventure novel, Criminal Bycatch.
1,630 followers 2,873 following 1,053 posts
view profile on Bluesky
www.nationaltvawards.com/vote/categor... Please vote for Gary Lineker as best presenter. Stood up for justice. It would send a powerful message.
To me "pay like a boss" means "pay grudgingly with a post-dated cheque that bounces."
I expect to be flagged up as that grumpy old git who curses out loud when they've moved the Marmite to a different aisle again.
And please don't hold back from using words like decency, humanity, and morality. If ministers need help with these ideas, they have a Labour peer who can provide it.
I'm asked why my book is a comedy when it treats of racism, bigotry, and slavery. Partly because laughter is how I survive: I'm a joker (though nobody calls me the space cowboy). Mostly because humour is a powerful weapon against bigots, who don't understand it; so many are po-faced eejits.
The Home Office's own (excellent) research summary says a) asylum seekers come to the UK primarily because of social networks/ties b) welfare and labour market policies are *not* a big "pull factor" c) safe routes would help freemovement.org.uk/wp-content/u...
And so far they've all been rubbish.
Are you young, highly educated and driven, and want to contribute to our stagnant economy with its aging population and low productivity? Well out you go
We run a charity shop (oneandallaid.org). As in supermarkets, some people pick things up, inspect them, then drop them on the floor. They tend to be the same people who complain that our charity helps foreigners. Not sure what to make of this: maybe that reading the Daily Mail turns one into a twat.
Well said these ladies. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Most of the migrant-bashers have never met an asylum seeker. We have a lovely new Afghan family in town. Not much English yet, but everyone who runs into them in our charity shop loves them. Their favourite expressions, always delivered with a smile, are "Thank you," "Good morning," & "Very kind."
Farage and the rest want to make Britain a byword for vileness. We can fight back. By being kind. Time to reclaim British values of fairness, tolerance and compassion
Sad but true. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
How disappointing. I imagined they'd be great for gardening: you'd be able to stick the trowel and secateurs to the outside of your trousers.
She Loves Euchre (Yeah Yeah Yeah)
I agree wholeheartedly. If I hadn't resigned my LP membership already over a previous anti-migrant announcement, I'd do so now. How long will Alf Dubs (national treasure, national hero) sit as a Labour peer with this morally vacuous shower at the helm?
Same in Cornwall. The odd Cornish flag, but I think people fly them just to make the tourists think they've come somewhere exotic. The family who run the kebab shop certainly aren't Cornish nationalists, they're from Istanbul.
Chess Fever (The Band)
Good, I wasn't sure anyone but me would remember the film.
Whist Down the Wind
Ther ys power yn a union
I never thought I’d be this disgusted or disappointed by any government. Never mind a Labour government. Every day, a new low as they pointlessly chase voters who will never look twice at them.
Our Man in Havana
I wouldn’t have thought many Labour MPs came into politics to strip the rights of torture survivors to be reunited with the spouses & children. They need to take a long hard look in the mirror & ask whether Starmer, Cooper & Reeves are really the leadership their careers should be remembered with.
I'm not so much ashamed as angry that I stayed a member of the LP after the current bunch of amoral gutless wonders took over.
in 1976 there was a Minister for Drought, Denis Howell. He advised saving water by putting a brick in your WC. He meant that it be put in the cistern to reduce the flush volume, but was less than clear, and more than a few people put in in the pan - with predictably messy results.
Starmer could have said: Vandalism isn't patriotism; daubing red crosses on Chinese takeaways and writing racist graffiti isn't patriotism; perfomatively sitting in front of a flag or tying one to a mosque isn't patriotism; Patriotism is about making this country safe, happy productive for all.
You can’t put a minimum income threshold for refugees if you have banned asylum seeking people from working. You can’t expect kids fleeing a warzone to have school level English. And none of this will “stop the boats.” You need safe routes. Honestly, they can’t find anyway to defend this.
The nazis banned his music, so Stravinsky wrote a fan letter to Hitler asking that the ban be rescinded. It was. When Bartok found out there was a nazi blacklist, he wrote asking why on earth he wasn't on it.
Sauvons les civils des drones russes, fermons le ciel au dessus de l'Ukraine ! - Signez la pétition ! chng.it/CM9xzSTFSr via @ChangeFrance
"Sorry small child fleeing a war zone. I'm afraid you can't join your parent here in safety because your English grammar isn't up to scratch."
Can #r4today remind Philp that the Torys created the whole problem. Cameron stopped the Borders Agency considering asylum applications submitted from outside the UK. Since then, refugees can only claim asylum when on UK soil. And Brexit lost us the EU returns agreement (Dublin II).
They’re not ‘small boat migrants’. They’re asylum seekers.
"Quell fractious immigration debate" seems to mean "show Labour can be as bigoted and cruel as Reform/Tories."
Agreed. My friend who has asylum & a master's degree is working fulltime in life sciences. He can't bring his wife from Germany because his salary isn't high enough. She's a qualified specialist nurse, the type of person we need. No logic in the current system, just a desire to out-bigot the bigots.
As a fisherman, I have to say this is almost perfect. But as a fisherman I offer some advice: hold the rhubarb well in front of you, and try to hide your fingers behind the stalks. This makes them look even bigger.
Please report Carswell for racist and Islamophobic incitement. www.gov.uk/report-terro...
Tomorrow I will be a tabling a motion to force the government to release the legal advice it has received on Israel's military action in Gaza and breaches of international law. Ministers cannot turn a blind eye to this humanitarian catastrophe any longer.
Please report Carswell here, thanks to jonnyb69.bsky.social for the link - a PC twit like myself would never have found it.
Good choice of challenge. Their route avoided Rupert Lowe's anti-foreigner binocular patrol.
"Tories call for investigation into Rayner's tax affairs". Rest of country wants Tories investigated for corruption and PPE fraud.
There's a quote I can't find about (I think) Wordsworth (one of Van's heroes). Something like: "Never was a poet more fitfully inspired, and never did a poet labour so diligently when inspiration was lacking." That's how I feel about Van, veering between the brilliant and the bloody awful.
"I never longed for the faith that can move mountains, perfectly happy to let the mountains stay where they are. And there aren't any mountains in the Gambia; or in Cornwall, come to that." "Stop blethering and get to the point," Mother snapped. "You're as bad as your bloody brother."
Please report the swine. He's promoting extremism. Thanks to jonnyb69.bsky.social for the link. www.gov.uk/report-terro...
Got this link from jonnyb69.bsky.social so please report Carswell for his extremist hate speech. www.gov.uk/report-terro...
Please see a post from jonnyb69.bsky.social with a link (or some such) to the government site to report extremism; and please report this malevolent shite. (Sorry for the clunkiness, I'm an eejit around computer stuff.)
Sorry for my technological idiocy, but jonnyb69.bsky.social posted a link to the UK Government site where you can report Tice. (The reporting bit isn't hard, even I managed it.)
That makes sense. I mean that what you say makes sense, not that wishing away the inevitable increase in migration makes sense. That is an issue that will grow as climate changes and as more and more parts of the world are engulfed in war.
Jo White says people should apply for asylum in their own countries. Good idea, maybe, but British law doesn't allow that. #wato
Sorry I am technology challenged, but scroll down for a post from bsky.app/profile/jonn... which lets you register a complaint about Carswell's filthy post.
I am with you, I resigned my membership. I'm not prepared to fund this rubbish (even to the extent of £50).
Here are just a few of many: Manenberg - is where it's happening (Abdullah Ibrahim) Soul Makossa (Manu Dibango) District Six (Hugh Masekela) Diamonds in the Mud (Gerry Cinnamon) For the Maudlin (Withered Hand) Jim 3:16 (Jim White)
And if there's something they don't know, they find out; then - and this is the best bit - they show you how to find out for yourself.
Also you tend to eat less bread when you pick the expensive kinds. They need more chewing, so you feel full sooner.
Thanks, I did the same. Took me a while because I'm shite with computers, but got there in the end.
I have reported Carswell via the extremism reporting site, hopefully others will feel able to do the same www.gov.uk/report-terro...
Sky News, I have my doubts.
10 Ways to Support Indie Authors 1 Buy books 2 Follow social media 3 Like, Comment & Share their posts 4 Rate & review books 5 Tell your friends about them 6 Ask for their books at the library 7 Download their free books 8 Join newsletter 9 Vote for them when possible 10 Read their books LEGALLY
That is indeed interesting. I suppose Thatcher took Toryism to places it had never been before, but not sure if that explains it.
Not so sure about the dancing: "Try everything once except incest and folk dancing." Sir Thomas Beecham (1879--1961) "Some knobhead morris dancing to Sham 69." YardAct
When you call them out in public, others are emboldened to do the same. In our charity shop we publicise an outfit that sponsored a refugee family. Some people go on Farage-style rants. When I ask them to leave because we don't serve bigots, the other customers always join in. (oneandallaid.org)
Also a talent competition to find the next Bernard Manning and an NHS campaign advising that we eat no more than three portions of vegetables a week.
Ballerina Bulbs Brown-eyed Girl Too many to list
Now that football has started again, I expect the turnouts to be low. They can stay out of the weather, sitting in Wetherspoons shouting obscenities at the television.
I like the world service as well, I grew up with it.
There are no safe routes to claim asylum in the UK There are no illegal routes to claim asylum in the UK. Asylum seekers are not bleeding us dry. The 𝕯𝖆𝖎𝖑𝖞 𝕸𝖆𝖎𝖑 is not a source of truth. #bbcaq
I thought he wrote perfectly for my generation (b. 1952). Then I found a thirty-year-old who has one of his lyrics as a tattoo. It's a long one as well: "May the lights in the land of plenty shine on the truth some day."
It comes down to business: in the US there's more money; also more wealthy bigots prepared to feather Farage's nest.
Both are activities where we shouldn't aim for perfection. For me there are two books that are perfect (Tristram Shandy & Ulysses), but a whole lot that are really great. My recent novel, when I re-read it, gives me delight. I hope it does the same for readers who enjoy laughing.
I just heard a bit of the religion show on R4. The bishop of Oxford was interviewed about asylum, with a Reform bod whose name I missed. I'm smiling. As long as Reform sends people like this on the media round, it's a dead duck: a bloviating idiot who sounded as if he was choking on his dentures.
No, Lord Falconer. Labour should stop pandering to this nonsense. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
I think you've hit the bullseye.
Someone inside No. 10 clearly believes you have to be a proven bigot to win the next election. Labour will have to do it without my annual membership cheque, and I suspect I'm not alone.
Useless. Absolutely useless 🔥🌹 *I don’t even follow anything remotely political & the algorithm keeps shoving this cr*p in my face!
Congratulations also on your Nobel prize for Distilling and the Olympic gold for the amphibious unicorn race.
Thatcherism, the gift that keeps on taking.
ICYMI — JUDGE: “This case represents the consequences of a decades long drumbeat of anti-immigrant sentiment and misinformation being broadcast & broadcast & broadcast…” 2 immigrants shot in Washington, gunman sentenced in June. Barely even a story. 🤷🏻♂️ www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/g...
The billionaire press barons must be having a right laugh… Here we are distracted & arguing over asylum seekers (0.2% of the population) Meanwhile, billionaires (just 0.0002% of the population) hoard more wealth than half the UK Immigration isn’t draining us Inequality is.
Every once in awhile I like to feature this asshole
Rupert Lowe strikes me as a disgusting specimen, but it should be said that if Farage were elected dog catcher he'd be a let-down. As Woody Allen (another disgusting specimen) said, 80 percent of success is showing up; something Farage finds impossible.
In 2008 I thought bailed out banks should be nationalised, their managers put on a civil service scale. I was told this was ridiculous, they wouldn't attract top talent they need in today's markets. In other words, they couldn't hire the arrogant shitheads who blew up the system in the first place.
I don't speak German, but I bet there's a single word that means "Buying books one almost certainly never will have time to read." Maybe another that means, "Keeping books one started, then gave up on because they were painfully boring."
If the argument for this is that individuals who 'undermine' efforts for peace are being excluded, how can any representative of the Israeli government be allowed to attend? Israel broke the last ceasefire & is ignoring the current proposal, continuing slaughter. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
One advantage of being an old technophobe: I have no idea where or how to find any of this AI stuff. And I don't intend to find out.
I don't have heroes, but if I did, Lord Dubs would be on the list.
I wonder if it's possible to make tee-shirts where extra printed words emerge in the washing machine. "We are all Tommy Robinson" could become "We are all paying for Tommy Robinson to ponce about on holiday."
Nigel Farage's speech on a mass deportation programme is the kind of thing which he would not have said a year ago. We know that because he refused to. "It's a political impossibility to deport hundreds of thousands of people," he said... iandunt.substack.com/p/labours-co... #wato
It's one of my two favourite books (the other being Ulysses). I read both at least once a year and laugh out loud, even though I know what's coming next.
Chris Philp, "They're using the courts against the British people" #C4News "They even brazenly argued in court that the rights of illegal immigrants were more important than the rights of local people in Epping" British judges in British courts against the British people? 🤷♂️
Absolutely spot on. "If I only had a dollar, for every song I've sung And every time I've had to play while people sat there drunk You know, I'd catch the next train back to where I live Oh, Lord, stuck in Lodi again." Creedence Clearwater Revival
Erbil Kurdistan Iraq. This day next week I'll be home in lovely Ireland with my boys... 🥹 But before I depart, the next few days will be the most significant for our little social enterprise ever as we transform the Iraq Supply Chain sector. We might actually do this 😉🤞
A cracker
Show me how asylum seekers have more rights than British citizens. None of these people could answer that. And none of the BBC drones even think of questioning it. #bbcpm
“Does Mamdani, when you hear him speak – is this a man who feels gratitude for the United States of America? Is this a man who feels grateful for all of the opportunities ..?” JD Vance, in Independent Well yes, he does, that's why he's trying to help New Yorkers instead of kissing Trump's arse.
Not that I generally rush to defend Starmer, who has disappointed me horribly, but the decision came from the court; so it is under British law, not under the current PM. Farage is full of it.
I certainly don't buy novels on the basis of their length. I read a few random pages (our local bookshop is fine with that) & decide if I'm captivated. My recent novel wound up around 90k, but that was because the humorous characters refused to let me go as long as they still had laughs to offer.
I love Toots; also the fact that when he wrote "Monkey Man" he asked the muscly fellow who was the subject whether he was OK with it being released. A genius and a gentleman.
