A Narrative of Royal Exceptionalism.

As determinedly as we chattered on, excitedly about Olympic progress, the successes, the disappointments, the grand spectacle, future medal projections, has it not begun to feel as if we are suspended within a glistening bubble of denial? The curtains are drawing back, the stage is set, a 'return to normality' stands in wait, awash with golden light! But surely, the hail upon the theatre roof doesn't normally sound quite so loud. Maybe, this time, the cast will have to work better at their projection?

Chisel-fisted, Sir Kier appears not to have noticed that the formerly more resplendent marble is now to be found only upon the floor, about his feet, sand upon the breeze! His efforts perfectly embody nothing more than an absence of hope. Rumour would have it that he 'plans' to create a whispering echo chamber... really it is silence, but not of the golden kind. Maybe he had tumbleweed in mind but those in the wings, such as Jess Phillips, do not possess such structural integrity... or worth. How many books is it now, Jess? 'Everything you need to know about politics: my life as an MP.' 'Everything?' Really? And just 'you, is it?'

So- excepting the theatrically inept- with the backdrop of undeniable climate change thundering about our ears, we tune out the white noise of Kier et al. Full circle (almost) the UK steps blindly into the Petri dish of herd immunity. With the poise of a First World War General Sajid Javid rules a neat black line through the economic casualties, abandoned to a hasty MSM historical rewrite. Oh, and a somewhat premature death!

And so, in the usual rambling manner, on to our 'theme,' which this time seeks to address the underlying narrative that has and continues to run through our nation much like the worst of aggressive of cancers. The 'narrative,' the means by which a story, factual or otherwise, may be told- if we can't narrate then how will our story, reconfigured by others, unfold? So, I seek here to delve beneath the surface, to explore the world of the 'narrative'- a curious mixture of truth, both shared and omitted, and fabrication, and thereby to ponder, ostensibly, the abuse to which the 'narrative' may be subjected. Nowhere is this essential to dignity and survival better understood than in the Occupied Lands of Palestine and by the oppressed peoples that live there. Although I was not permitted to speak this truth whilst inside the Labour Party- another worrisome abuse of the 'narrative'- or to openly speculate as to why this was so, here I may also observe the alarming power that is afforded to 'the political lobby,' factions thereof. As an outsider, I'm seeking to highlight where ongoing abuses of the 'narrative' open-up and then close-down debate, who may speak and who may be silenced, or shackled, noting the power often afforded to the Israeli Lobby, that the Jewish Chronicle, for example, is so often referenced and yet its countless legal payouts are not, how figures like Little Philip Schofield, antiques novice Fiona Bruce, numbers bod Rachael Riley et al may be news headlines when supportive of or compliment to the 'narrative' yet, should their angry words fall foul of the public or the law courts then... nothing!

Care of a remnant democratic process, we learn that the Royal Household- symbol of all that is holy and good- has the sort of back door into parliament the likes of which we mere mortals may not even dream about! North of the border, where government suddenly appears to operate with rather less integrity than has been formally presented, we discover that a 'tiny' clause in UK democratic process looks set to further hasten our planetary demise. 'Crown Consent,' curiously hidden from public scrutiny, permits Her Royal Highness far greater access to parliamentary procedure than panto baddie, Black Rod pretends. The Guardian newspaper has learned of 67 instances, whereupon Scotland's largest landowner may continue with symbolic planetary rape to its royal-blue heart's content! In short, it has been learned that the nation's Royals have now, approaching seventy times, sought to exempt themselves from national measures that might otherwise benefit its citizens, environmental issues, climate concerns, such like. The manner in which this information has come to light suggests that Royal evasion of the UK's meagre planetary conservation measures has been procured via 'persuasion' of Scottish Government but, given the urgency of our plight, we are left to surely conclude that it is far more likely that feudalism continues unchecked with its jolly rein! Quelle surprise! hardly covers it.

Sticking, for the moment, with the Royals because our next port of call also touches upon this esteemed family's social standing and value-hierarchy, on to William, who recently appeared to have reclaimed something of the high ground when he spoke out so passionately about mental health and well-being. Undoubtedly the topic is one of utmost urgency and scale! Those like Piers Morgan may wish to pick at the scab's raw edges but few can seriously question the need for the UK and other more affluent nations to address the festering sore that is its nation's mental wellbeing, or more so the lack thereof.

At the Royal nod our journos compliantly grasped the issue as if it had always been at the forefront of their thoughts. MPs embraced the topic as if with genuine intent, although most subtly wishing to deflect away from requisite 'adequate funding.' Celebs, as is their wont, jostled for airtime! Please accept that, for the purposes of this short jotting, I have necessarily truncated the spread of reportage. Please note also, for the purposes of contextualisation, that it must be noted that, formally, the MSM trend has been to downplay decades of spiralling self-harm and suicides across many sections of our disparate society. Whatever else, maybe William has helped to tip the balance towards greater discussion.

Even so, William's role, I am going to suggest, has employed more than a significant slice of subterfuge. Key to this 'slice' is the UK's heavy reliance upon property ownership and, more specifically, landlordship. As one of the UK's more wealthy landlords it is most unlikely that the Royals will wish to shine too bright a light upon issues of insecure tenure. In their corporate role, and with the well-honed voice of the landlord, it has never really been within the journos remit to do so. As a workplace of numerous major investors in this practice neither has it featured unmolested within the Commons. Thus the trend continues to be, 'more houses for landlord investment,' absolutely, 'secure and affordable social tenancies,' absolutely not!

Think it, say it, shout it, and often, from the rooftops! 'We could greatly improve the nation's mental wellbeing through the creation of affordable homes, and via secure affordable tenancies!' Instead, our landlord classes seem to be increasingly impressed with the stacked shoeboxes Asian model.

For those paying closer attention, specifically when it seemed likely that a democratic party might for once actually come to serve in The Commons, or (even briefly) within the shores of The United States, we should understand that proper access to the 'narrative' is of paramount importance, more so to those who wish to replace 'inconvenient' fact with confected fiction. Behind a media smokescreen of weaponised anti-Semitism the UK narrative has now effectively been wrest free from democratic control, perhaps more so than at any time in living memory, bobbing weakly in the US slipstream. It is of absolutely no coincidence that Israeli Government, operating now as an unashamedly apartheid state, is also shown to hold far more than its fair share of influence within those two foreign shores. Searching through non-corporate news we can ascertain that Israel is very much a nation which 'demonstrably' operates a very violent grasp upon the narrative. Further more, and care of organisations such as AIPAC and the Jewish Chronicle, the nation demonstrates a fanatical obsession with the wider perspective! Join those dots, Mr Peston, go on Ms Kuennsberg, Commons retweeters par excellence! Pretend to be actual journalists for a short stint! Taste the freedom!

Which brings us 'neatly' round to two perfect examples of the awfulness of the 'controlled narrative,' where it does not best serve, in actuality, even the commentator. Both examples demonstrate a highly distasteful consequence of the abuse of the narrative. And both serve to highlight the sorry state of affairs that occurs, all too frequently, within a media that is neither properly accountable nor, in any manner, beneficial to a healthy democracy. First, we should take a peek into the life of Times 'journo' Giles Corren, demonstrably the least talented of his set!

Mr Corren was very recently given to post a particularly unpleasant comment about the infinitely superior Dawn Foster. Now Dawn, having recently sadly died as a consequence of a long-standing illness, was unable to reply. Mr Corren stated that he was glad that she had died, I believe he even went so far as to type, 'HA HA HA!' Dawn's perceived 'crime' was to have accurately noted that Mr Corren's easy ride to prominence has been by virtue of having a funnier, cleverer, more talented father. Fair point! No doubt, most individuals who are even aware of his 'work' will have swiftly concurred. No debate! In many respects, given the awful quagmire that is so much of social media, (almost) neither is his ill-choice of words- that is to say 'worthy of debate.' So, my point is more the issue of an initial reluctance on the part of the MSM to confront Mr Corren's comments, or even to acknowledge his ill-conceived words.

When Giles's comment duly drew greater attention, as G.C. had intended, from individuals more appreciative of former top journalist Dawn Foster's work, some of whom then decided to demonstrate their distaste for G.C.'s commentary upon his property, that was the point at which our glorious MSM- feeding frenzy primed- chose to respond. Up until that moment their ranks had effectively closed upon the 'crime,' typically reluctant to crawl to the defence of one deceased left-winger at the expense of a fellow corporateist right-winger. Party to the narrative is also the selective absence of reporting- I believe it's termed, 'unplatforming.' The practice has become routine within the inner echelons of the UK's MSM; it's an act of the utmost verbal contortion that the term has been so swiftly weaponised and added to the UK's MSM arsenal.

My second offering of misplaced self-worth, cloaked within that trusty halo of 'assumed narrative,' comes to light care of one Chris Bryant MP. Mr Bryant, shielding behind the misnomer of 'Labour' MP, I would argue, demonstrated an altogether greater incidence of arrogance borne of assumed narrative control. Posting entirely as one of Starmer's vacuous anti-socialist operatives, Mr Bryant was hoping to spread the anti-democratic net ever wider by 'commenting' upon Peru's newly elected President Castillo. Using all of that New Labour integrity that he'd accumulated, Mr Bryant pretended concern that the Peruvian people should have to choose from two such discreditable candidates, lumping the new president together with a proven and documented criminal. Again, to contextualise the situation, I should here point out that Peruvian President Pedro Castillo is a trade unionist, looking to improve the lot of the working electorate in his country, the defeated presidential candidate having been the corrupt daughter of the corrupt former president, one Keiko Fujimori. It must be hoped that the Fujimori family can now be brought to justice, so that the immense scale of their corruption may be more widely known about.

In the ensuing 'conversation,' Mr Bryant, clearly having overlooked the fact that Chile's Salvador Allende was a twice democratically elected socialist, boasted about his own South American credentials and connections. In current UK political mode, perhaps, Mr Bryant again assumed an absence of accurate historical recall on the part of any recipient to his commentary. It was therefore doubly unfortunate that there remains clear record of Mr Chris Bryant palling up to Colombian mass-assassin Alvaro Uribe, thus reminding the readers of yet more obscene UK overseas military involvement, care of international war criminal Tony Blair. Empty vessel Bryant proceeded to draw fire from those who, unfortunately for him, fully recollected New Labour involvement with Mario Montoya, various Colombian death squads and the consequent mass disappearances of Colombian citizens. Good business was it, eh Mr Bryant?

Imagine, for a moment, how 'our' non-accountable MSM would have exploited such information if it had happened under a democratic-socialist government! Compare and contrast the vacuum that has accompanied Mr Bryant's abuse of the assumed narrative. I would bet that Mr Bryant's latest 'unfortunate' tirade remains unknown to the vast majority of UK citizens.

Contrastingly, and at the other end of the moral divide, Labour MP Dawn Butler has just played out the consequences of having almost no control of the narrative, despite demonstrating an absolute grasp and control of the truth. On the 22nd July 2021 Dawn Butler MP stood in the Commons to call out (mis)serving PM Johnson's appalling grasp upon honesty. Dawn revisited and listed many of PM Johnson's well-documented lies- all of which can be verified- yet she was then told to retract or to nullify her words, according to current parliamentary protocols. Thus, concerned citizens of the UK have been 'treated' to the bizarre spectacle of Prime Ministerial repeated lies, whereby thousands of its citizens have had lives cut short, being prioritised over absolute truth! Thus, the corruption of the narrative can now be observed to be so extreme as to no longer require even the most basic of disguises. At which point contemplation as to quite which spin on reality is playing out in the skulls of those such as Baron Austin of Dudley, Dame Margaret Hodge, Baron Mann- please note, all flowery 'Barons' and 'Dames' no less (no more!)- evades all credibility! That an ice-cream producer (Ben and Jerry's), albeit an anti-Semitic one in the 'minds' of those listed above, might illicit a more positive reaction than the entire Opposition Front Bench surely belies belief! Such is the current abuse of Palestinian rights within the Occupied Territories that even the Guardian newspaper finds itself politically compromised.

Of course, honest and open reporting of the actual facts lies heavily dependant upon the freedom of the journalist so to do. Here we must recall the oft-echoed narrative of 'the UK's 'free' press, and then juxtapose this with that same term's implied message of 'freedom to honestly report' and we should take note of the discrepancies. Peter Oborne is a long-time 'journalist' who in the past has worked for several highly dubious publications- The Spectator, the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph- where the living was 'comfortable,' yet he has latterly opted to cut himself adrift in the far more honourable pursuit of actual journalism in order to seek out actual truths! Peter's leap from comfortable dishonour and into that of a more precarious honesty is not unheard of yet runs somewhat against the grain. He often talks about having been driven, in large part, through his disillusionment with successive Conservative Government refusal to either acknowledge or to call out Israeli war crimes against an occupied Palestinian People. Maybe he has found honesty to be rather liberating because his latest book offering- 'The Assault on Truth'- has sought to stitch together the lie-athon that is Boris Johnson's life (or rather 'lief'). Where the publication has even been acknowledged, in amongst the pages of selective reporting and half-truths, of the UK's sorry MSM, Peter Oborne is referred to as a man who has "kept all of the receipts." The label is used to imply bitterness or grudge-bearing intent, but should instead be read by those seeking the higher ground as 'speaking truth to power.'

So, control of the narrative is increasingly seen as an essential in modern-day politics and those governments who have more ravenously grasped this 'inconvenience,' and with the greater zeal, can be observed to have gained significantly the upper hand in their share of regional or global power. Yet any positive parallels that may be drawn between this control and honour should be seen to be effectively non-existent! Observe and note that those journalists who are most frequently afforded any role in conveying the chosen narrative may now, quite openly, be identified as amongst the profession's most compromised individuals- Chomsky explained it most eloquently to a bemused Andrew Marr, over twenty years ago, way back on 14th February 1996.

The recent horrifying IPCC report, on the ongoing climate crisis, drawing the most direct parallels yet between an elitist greed and runaway global warming, is currently still just too hot for moulding to the 'desired' narrative, yet we should be in no doubt that selected script writers are hard at work to that effect, behind the scenes, soon to be back in the driving seat, narrating us headlong into that shared catastrophic finale! Step into the breach antiques novice Fiona Bruce, to head the Newsnight response, field the questions for the BBC. As the situation's quite so dire why not- over the heads of thousands of scientific minds- see what Boris's dad has to say? The foundations are already laid! Deep inhale, hold it, wait to see how Patel's Mercenary Police Force are instructed to take on Extinction Rebellion's, BLM's or any other such organisation's next protest. In which context, it should be noted also that the UK's largest Press Office by far is that of the UK's Police Force. No Officers on hand to deal with spiralling burglaries but just try and organise a peaceful vigil for a woman who's just been murdered by one of those Officers! Surely this can't be one and the same Police Force!, you query No wonder they need all those Press 'Moguls!'

If all of this has seemed a touch over dramatic perhaps we should take check and feed in also a little positive info? It's only a rumour though. So, keep it under the old hat! I hear from a thoroughly reliable source at the Spectator, or was it the Telegraph, the Mail? Anyway, whatever. Everybody's favourite hippy icon, Sir Richard Branson, space explorer and purveyor of environmental insightfulness, is whispered to have had this great idea for those final gasping breaths. The twenty-four carat platinum grin of the great God himself, beaming down from the globe's largest ever cloud projection, mouthing a cheery goodbye! Warmed me, just a little... Waste of precious resources, my derriere!

'Win the Future,' WTF!