Then They Came For the Dissenters!

When 'President' Biffo's turn to yet further brick-up the House of Lords presented, back in 2021, numbered amongst the glut of anti-democratic fools and zealots- gun-toting-Botham springs to mind- Biffo also appointed a pick-and-mix selection of formerly-card-holding-'Labourites.' For those half-asleep, those harbouring socially-uncomfortable opinion, for those already afforded significant MSM platform- we might do better to more thoroughly question these particular pay-masters- the media 'celebrated' flood raised far too few eyebrows, too few questions, very few concerns. For the rest, the act passed largely unobserved, was perhaps tutted upon, or cursed at, or, at the more observant end of the political spectrum, caused hearts to sink ever-further, temperatures to rise! But, as the status quo invariably dictates, it did not overly rock the boat!

For a nation regularly, and through diktat, fed a diet of historical falsehood- monarchy and glorious empire- the above is not overly surprising. But, in a nation being increasingly modified to serve run-away inequality, the body-heat and sweat of disaffection, often bubbling under or over into dissent, is today seldom more than a whisper away. The UK's MSM would have us believe differently but then the MSM is often now far more part of the problem than it is an insight into any form of solution.

From the perspective of an erstwhile youth, emerged during the vainglorious years of Thatcher, things today appear far-and-away beyond bleak! Perhaps it is an age thing but, as events currently stand, I cannot see a clear way forward. Quite naturally, I seek a means that is not to be overly played out through fictional solutions or, perhaps more worryingly, documentation as entertainment of the nation's, or (perhaps) the globe's, multifarious crises.

For, whilst there may be numerous threads of modified concern running through acceptable discourse, the deep-rooted neoliberal experiment persists. Much like its own (unspoken-about) pandemic, this particular virus breeds and spreads through clever modification. Given time to react this one learns to assimilate. Thus, frequently hidden in plain sight, we are now free to observe the bleaker consequences of 'the system,' packaged for consumption as media-documentary commentary or drama- Channel 4's 'Dispatches' springs to mind. It is (almost) as if the festering spread has reasoned that crises re-packaged as entertainment may bleed the inflammation.

Incidentally the afore-alluded to 'Labour' and 'former-Labour' peers are Ian Austin (Baron Austin of Dudley), John Woodcock (Baron Walney), Kate Hoey (Baroness Hoey), John Mann (Baron Mann) and Ian McNichol (Baron McNichol of West Kilbride); undoubtedly this clutch is not unique! Of note, four no longer wish to retain any pretence at espousing Labour values, even under the sham leadership of Sir Keith Starmer, one of whom was duly cited during the parliamentary expenses scandal, one of whom stepped aside (allegedly) in order to deflect sexual harassment claims, claims that did nothing to deflect President Biffo's drive to saturate the Lords. Imagine the damage that such sorry souls will already have done to undermine any true Labour aspirations!

Deserving as any or all of these peers may be of the nation's contempt, the Niemoller referencing heading of this musing seeks instead to bleakly contemplate the impending demise of the UK's ghost-democracy.

I wonder if the current ongoing Ghislaine Maxwell court case might best, in its darkest corners, hint at the sorry state in which we currently reside. I doubt many onlookers- and I here include the Maxwell clan- seriously consider that the woman could be innocent of the charges... and yet. Is there not the uneasy sense that there are far more powerful interests at play here?

I am thinking here of Epstein's $500,000 'settlement' with Virginia Giuffre. I am thinking specifically of the legal weight of the wording whereby a curiously nefarious 'others' might somehow be exempt from further examination and possible eventual prosecution. Seriously, there is just so much to wade through here- no doubt numerous book deals are currently being beavered away at- setting aside the alleged, highly suspect, suicide of Epstein, turning reluctantly away from that unexplored and unexplained doorway amorphously labelled ''mysteriously unobserved' Crimes of Jimmy Savile,' whereby we are 'asked' to believe that Savile was so ingeniously clever that absolutely nobody was able to put a stop to what Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile OBE, KCSG (knighthood lobbied for five times by Thatcher, five!) was up to! Seriously!

The self-censoring BBC might have us believe otherwise but surely we are not the only ones to be speculating as to quite how very high up the tree the mysterious and vague 'others' in that settlement may have been thought to reference! It is internationally clear that the accused Prince Andrew, Duke of York KG, GCVO, CD, ADC believes himself to have been so referenced- no longer is his legal team seeking to clear his name, more they are hoping to deflect with the sturdy weight of legal monies, monies that have been 'donated' by our Holy Monarch, monies that are essentially our's care of the uber-immense generational taxes handed down upon the nation!

Any thoughts upon the Ghislaine Maxwell verdict, Peter Benjamin Mandleson, Baron Mandleson, PC? No? Okay then, any thoughts upon Baron Mandleson's continued membership of the new-look Labour Party in the light of a certain entry in Epstein's address book, Sir Keir Rodney Starmer KCB QC? Sir Keith Rodney Starmer KCB QC, former Head of Public Prosecutions, just in case you'd missed it? No? "And now over to the BBC's Political Editor..." Imagine sound of wind whistling through an empty landscape.

Does the British Constitution even permit the imprisonment of a Royal? Within which country estate or palace would His Royal Highness be confined? Would His Royal Highness still be permitted to slaughter grouse on quite such a scale, perhaps aside those such as Sir Ian Terence Botham, Baron Botham, Kt, OBE? How wide would the Royal cinematic TV screen be? Who would man the kitchens?

How might the (self-censoring) BBC allude to any guilty ruling? How might they cocoon Her Majesty, magic away the costs to the taxpayer? Apparently we are to believe that the British Broadcasting Corporation is 'curious,' and has 'investigated,' how it might be that the first port of call for 'insight' into the Ghislaine Maxwell ruling should have been one Alan Dershowitz, "constitutional lawyer"? Note, 'constitutional lawyer,' not 'head of Maxwell's legal defence team,' neither 'former member of Jeffrey Epstein's defence team' and 'fellow accused, Alan Dershowitz.' Weighty airtime was also afforded to brother Ian Maxwell (BBC Radio 4), time with which to speculate as to quite what may have gone 'wrong' with the legal process? More money, please!

We should not pretend that the BBC was ever quite the impartial body that it self-censoringly presents to the mirror every morn, some duration prior to the 'appointment' of arch re-tweeter, 'Political Editor' and minute essayist, Laura Kuenssberg ('re-tweeter' note, not political 'researcher,' nor 'journalist,' not even tweet-'checker'). Headed now by Timothy Douglas Davie CBE (unelected as Conservative Councillor for Hammersmith 1993 and 1994), formerly staffed by such as Sir Robbie Paul Gibb (Editor of BBC's 'Sunday Politics,' 'Daily Politics,' 'Andrew Marr Show,' 'This Week, Radio 4's 'Westminster Hour' and BBC 2's 'News Night'), brother of Conservative MP Nick Gibb, now sitting proudly as an 'impartial' BBC Board Member for England, chaired by characters such as Richard Simon Sharp (JP Morgan, copious Tory donor). How better to ensure that the world renowned British Broadcasting Corporation retains its hard-earned international reputation for reliably impartial news reportage? Perhaps discerning viewers and listeners might do well to avoid BBC news programmes now pretty much altogether? Yet, amusingly still not reactionary enough for former- expected soon to return to the fold- employee, Andrew Ferguson Neil. And don't yet whisper prayers at the recent close pass of Comet Dacre!
Any thoughts Harry Cole of the Sun?

With such a line-up topics like the heady 'self-censoring required of all (often pseudo) 'journalists' in the UK's MSM' is most unlikely to occur. Why would we expect owt bar the truth from the nation's own broadcaster, the BBC? It matters not that this kind of assumption is now so roundly and routinely questioned; as Lenin reportedly said, "a lie told often enough becomes the truth," or was it Goebbels? The editors and owners of virtually all of the UK's MSM outlets would (openly) condemn either character but, deeply and most sincerely, they continue to embrace the fact! Who better or more effectively would know and employ the value of the oft-aired lie? And, who more humble or deserving of the role of Guardian of Truth than Rupert Murdoch? Ask Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair Kg, IWC, International War Criminal- destabiliser of the Middle East. And, just in case the BBC's not-so-subtle slant upon its news coverage may not be quite enough, we must forever encounter Duracell characters the likes of Gyles Daubeney Brandreth or Matthew Francis Parris, for their wordy spin upon anything from contemporary art to Dickensian philanthropy... Ta, very much!

So, when Martin Niemoller eventually came to his senses and penned his insightful words, 'First they came for...' he was referencing the slippage that had occurred within his 'beloved' Germany. It is most unlikely that he would (yet) have found much to object to in the current (dis)United Kingdom. The slippage in Germany, to which he was referring, undoubtedly began some duration prior to his personal objections- he was, after all an initial and hard-headed supporter of the Hitler regime. The abstract characters of his opening lines will already have succumbed! Imagine a twenty-first century spin and/or twist upon his words and we can perhaps picture the closed shop doorways filling up with tents and sleeping bags, the normalising of the nation's homeless peoples. Watch the icy waves crashing against the seashores and we can picture the rewriting of political climate, as the country prepares to decriminalise national manslaughter by 'redirecting' leaky refugee-laden dinghies back into the storm! Listen to the BBC's 'Today in Parliament' and maybe we can pretend to have forgotten the recent £20-a-week reduction amongst the nation's poorer families, pretend not to have seen the teaspooned tuna doggy-bags offered as school dinners during the weeks of lockdown, pretend to see no direct line from twenty quid out of the food kitty to fifty percent onto the winter heating bill! Perhaps we can pretend to believe Sir Keith Starmer- "former Head of Public Prosecution," just in case you missed it- when he hurls forth about apartheid-Israel bringing the 'deserts to bloom!' pretend that we did not know that the lands were already occupied by others, other who were doing just fine, others who's country has consequently been illegally occupied for decades! 'First they came for the truth-tellers...'

In light of the above it has to be one very special 'Hats off and great respect!' to those in the public eye, who still dare to stick with the actual truth! 'Hats off and a genuine hearty round of applause!' to the likes of Emma Watson and Sally Rooney, those who dare to speak out and to risk the wrath of today's truth-twisters (Tzipi Hotovely, Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Danny Danone, Chairman of the World Likud, absolutely anyone at the Jewish Chronicle, et al). Has nobody whispered the art of self-censoring to Sally or Emma?

Within our ghost-democracy there is a divide, an unspoken line. It is invisible and it is dynamic, fluidly so, and yet it manifests far beyond the physical. This line is subject to subversion, as and when required to be so; it may be conjured at convenience or vanquished as if it had never been there. Money and power may afford access, subject to certain restraints. The line's existence may be denied through ignorance, either wilful or otherwise, or else a desire to mislead or misrepresent. The line may dictate the fine art of self-censorship, where upon one may even be permitted to slip under or over this line, which must not anyway officially exist at all.

If one were to whisper of the UK's homeless, or the UK's working families, dependent upon resented Universal Credit, dependent upon those distrusted food banks, those insecurely employed in the UK's gig economy, then a line (of sorts) perhaps gains an element of credence. Yet, if one were to drift, perhaps through untethered contact, into the realms of a well-targeted (abysmally researched) tabloid headline, it might morph... there, no there! 'Another wave of Undeserving Refugees!' 'The Something-for-Nothing Generation!' Over to Harry Cole at the Sun for further comment! Magically the line separates a tenuous 'Us' from an ever-amorphous 'Them!'

Why, suddenly even Priti Patel seems to be making sense... Maybe those scrounging Middle Eastern refugees really do have absolutely nothing to do with the UK's careless distribution of military arms to Saudi Arabia and Israel... Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair KG, now there's a man we need to hear a great deal more from! Obviously not the bit where he ordered Geoff Hoon to 'burn the memo that stated the 2003 invasion of Iraq would be illegal, obviously not that bit! Obviously!

Listen to the latest of the fast track benefactors of the Conservative drive to bankrupt the NHS/line specific pockets and suddenly we (most of us) are well aware exactly which side we stand regarding any sort of line. Michelle Mone, Baroness Mone, OBE, instinctively we just know where she stands, or more likely sits- keeping democracy alive in the free world!

The whistle-blowers, tip-toeing carefully through a minefield of self-censorship required of such guardians of honesty, the journalists afforded a platform... and a comfortable living, praise be to them! One almost wonders quite what it is, what fragment of potentially-harmful and unearthed news, that may need yet further protection from the journalists' all-seeing eyes. Obviously not the Kuenssbergs, the Marrs, the Harry Coles of this world, the trusted and malleably united voice... it's the others we need to fear! 'Seek 'em out! Go on Johnny (Woodcock) boy!' Who better than the unblemished peer, Baron Walney, for such a role? Protecting democracy? What will he find?

One could be forgiven for thinking that the nation hardly needs Home Secretary Priti Patel's free hand upon the tiller. A democracy as jealously guarded as 'our's' must shine like a jewel in the heavens when viewed from afar. With an under-bite that might sever an undesirable child refugee's arm, seven-times (is it, now?) transgressor of the UK's (apparently highly flexible) Ministerial Code, Home Secretary Priti Sushil Patel is (apparently) exactly the sort of 'human being' a nation such as the UK requires, legislating truth for MSM consumption!

'Democracy,' 'improved' and repackaged for suitability in the UK! Ta dah!
Any thoughts, Harry Cole of the Sun?
Imagine the tired old opening chords of the former Empire's National Anthem. In the Upper House, picture Ian Austin, Baron Austin of Dudley, John Woodcock, Baron Walney, Kate Hoey, Baroness Hoey, John Mann, Baron Mann, Ian McNichol, Baron McNichol of West Kilbride, Peter Benjamin Mandleson, Baron Mandleson, PC, Michelle Mone, Baroness Mone, OBE, Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair KG, the Right Honourable Sir Ian Terrence Botham, Baron Botham, Kt OBE- Browning Citori respectfully open, barrels empty and held over the arm- and the ghost of Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile OBE, KCSG, all standing stiffly to attention.
Closing credits! The National Anthem absolutely does not fade, verse after verse, after interminable verse, everyone pretending they cannot hear the (off stage) fans causing a dozen flags to respectfully flutter. Replenish those lungs, please Baron Walney:
From France and Pretender
Great Britain defend her,
Foes let them fall:
From foreign slavery,
Priests and their knavery,
And Popish Reverie,
God save us all. (fingers crossed behind the back for the closing line)