Presidents Biden, Trump and Political Violence: A Horse Long Bolted

 

I have a good deal of respect for President Joe Biden, despite the speculation about his fitness for the office of President. The recent assassination attempt on his rival, Donald Trump, was a truly shocking event and Biden, to his immense credit, speedily condemned the attack. Following the attack, however, Biden addressed his people and made a statement that I found odd. After acknowledging past political shootings and assaults, he said: 

“In America we resolve our differences at the ballot box," he said. "At the ballot box. Not with bullets."

Thankfully, of course, that applies to the majority of the American people, but the USA has a long history of political violence, dating back to the American Civil War and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. This is well known, but the first attempted  event happened in 1835, when one Richard Lawrence tried and failed to kill President Andrew Jackson. In 1865,Lincoln was the first US president to die by assassination. He was followed by James Garfield in 1881, William McKinley (1901) and, of course, John F. Kennedy in 1963. Three presidents have been injured in attempted killings: Theodore Roosevelt (1912), Ronald Reagan (1981) and, as of this year, Donald Trump. And, of course, there have been many other incidents, lethal and non-lethal, such as the vicious attack on the husband of Nancy Pelosi and the notorious January 6 attack on the US Capitol building in 2021. 

All these occurrences seem to point to one thing: political violence is an American tradition. As the 60s radical, H. Rap Brown said :

"Violence is a part of American culture.  Violence is as American as cherry pie."

Brown ought to know. He is now a Muslim convert with the name of Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin and serving time for the murder of two police officers. If he is right, he has embraced that culture. A penetrating article by Time magazine has focussed on the problem of US political violence and come up with some disturbing statistics:

"In a December 2021 survey by the Washington Post and the University of Maryland, 1 in 3 respondents said they thought violent action against the government can be justified, compared with fewer than 1 in 10 in the 1990s. In an April PBS/Marist poll, 28% of Republicans and 12% of Democrats said they believe Americans may “have to resort to violence to get the country back on track.”

The article goes on to say:

"More people are bringing guns to demonstrations. Every politically charged event, from Supreme Court decisions to Trump’s trials to congressional hearings, elicits menacing warnings and talk of “civil war.” The last presidential election ended in a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol by an angry mob that left five people dead and 140 injured. The vibes feel even darker this time,.."

The young man who tried to assassinate Trump was only 20 years old. During his short lifetime, Thomas Crooks grew up in a nation where high-profile attacks against elected officials became increasingly common. He was 7 when Democratic Representative Gabby Giffords was shot, meeting with constituents in a supermarket car park in Tucson, Arizona, in 2011. He was 13 when Representative Steve Scalise was shot by a left-wing extremist during a GOP congressional baseball team practice in Virginia in 2017. When Crooks was 17, federal authorities foiled a plot to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer that was hatched by a right-wing militia group that posted violent anti-government pamphlets online. Crooks was in high school when the America was shocked by the attack on the U.S. Capitol building. Even if we do not believe that political violence is an American tradition (and I don't), we can see that Crooks might have believed that attempting to kill a major political figure was entirely normal.

As I said, I do not believe that political violence is an American tradition. If it is, then it is a British tradition also. Spencer Perceval, pictured above, was our Prime Minister when he was killed in 1812 by John Bellingham. Including Perceval, eight British MPs have been murdered, the most recent being Jo Cox (2016) and Sir David Amess in 2021. There have been targeted killings by foreign intelligence services - Georgi Markov, Alexander Litvinienko and Dawn Sturgess are examples of this. There was the murder in the street of the soldier, Lee Rigby, together with the 7/7 bombing  the murderous attacks on London and Westminster Bridges and the Manchester Arena Bombing by Jihadi fanatics. We, it would appear, are not immune to political violence. But perhaps we in Britain, and the USA, should remember, as The Hill comments:

"Any decent citizen abhors violence and its presence in the political system. But can we ever eradicate it? No major European country can boast a history free of assassination or attempts. Heads of government have actually been killed in Serbia, Israel, Lebanon, Sweden, India, Egypt and South Korea just in the last 50 years."

That is a very good point and a question that no-one seems to want to answer. Presidents Biden and Trump have called for all Americans to unite. Similar calls are made here for people of strongly differing views to engage in dialogue and learn to tolerate each other. sadly, dialogue and debate do not achieve much when people who hold views antagonistic to others return to those views once the dialogue is over. When at university, I attended debates between Jewish and Palestinian students. The debates were lively, but resolved nothing. No-one from either side of the debates changed, or even modified, their views. I do not hold out much hope for such approaches. Anyone keyed up to carry out an assassination is not going be dissuaded by a chat and a cup of tea. Political violence is an international plague, always has been and is unlikely to improve. There's no point in closing the stable door for a horse that has long since bolted.

A Reflection on the Election

 

To a limited extent, it's possible to feel sorry for Rishi Sunak, our ex-Prime Minister. He began the election campaign by getting soaked in the London rain, and ended it yesterday with his wife watching him, while she held an umbrella. As The Mirror noted with amusement: 

"The emergency umbrella caught the attention of viewers online who took to social media to share their reactions. One person wrote on site X, formerly Twitter: "Rishi Sunak's wife waiting in the wings holding an umbrella is killing me," while another said: "Rishi Sunak leaving Downing Street. Note the umbrella. Not making that mistake again, so he has learned SOMETHING."

Sunak's conduct during the election campaign certainly indicates that he has a lot to learn. Besides making a fool of himself by getting soaked when he announced the election, there was his gaffe in leaving the D-Day commemoration events early. What he failed to see was that, besides upsetting the press and public, it gave ammunition to his enemies in the Conservative party itself. As The Guardian said in June: 

"Conservative candidates and aides have looked on aghast at the missteps of Rishi Sunak’s campaign over the last fortnight. Anger has been building over Sunak allies being parachuted into safe seats, including the party chair, Richard Holden, the lack of preparation for the snap campaign within Conservative party headquarters (CCHQ) and the avoidable row over Frank Hester’s donations. But nothing has come close to the fury within the party over the prime minister’s decision to skip part of the D-day ceremony in France, leaving the stage clear for Keir Starmer to show leadership and patriotism, as well as for Nigel Farage".

The Tory knives will be out for Sunak now; in fact, LBC are discussing his putative replacement as I type. And I know that many people will demur at my feeling sorry for him. He is a very rich man, as has been pointed out many times, and could leave the UK tomorrow for a lucrative future in California. However, I have sympathy for him over the recent insulting racist comments made about him on Channel 4 by a Reform UK activist (disowned by Farage) which must have been hurtful to Sunak and his family. I have no doubt that there are Tory Party members who share those vile views, and are sharpening their knives to stick in Sunak's back. 

Keir Starmer, naturally, has a lot to smile about - as have all of us who voted Labour on July 4th. It was a truly remarkable victory, whatever the causal factors. Yet, as some pundits have noted, there has been rejoicing without euphoria. We all know why - there is the crisis in the NHS, where the junior doctors' strike needs to be resolved and, says Sky News:

"The workforce is depleted and exhausted. And yet that same workforce will be asked to deliver an extra 40,000 appointments a week. Nobody, Labour assure us, will be forced to take on the extra work. Extra doctors, nurses and trained clinical staff can't be magicked out of thin air".

There is the matter of crime and punishment, for which Labour has promised a campaign of crime prevention. There is also the war in Ukraine, which Keir Starmer is committed to support by supplying aid to Ukraine. Clean energy is also going to be a thorny problem. International relations will be challenging, with the possible return of Donald Trump as US President and the growth of right-wing extremism in Europe. But extremism at home, of two kinds, could also be a problem...

The first type of extremism referred to above comes from activists who support the Palestinian cause in Gaza and feel that Labour is not doing enough to bring about a cease fire. The extremist elements who hold this view were seen on Election Night in Birmingham where Jess Phillips, MP (seen above) and Shabana Mahmood MP told in their victory speeches of the intimidation and harassment they faced during the general election campaign. Jess Phillips was heckled during her speech. As the BBC reported: 

"Jess Phillips spoke of party workers being filmed in the street and making regular calls to police, while Shabana Mahmood said masked men had disrupted a community meeting, "terrifying" people in attendance".

In areas where there is a large Muslim community, there has been intense activity on the Gaza issue, as is well known. This activity has come from the Workers' Party, led by George Galloway (who lost his seat in Rochdale) and independent candidates who stood on the Gaza issue. As Sky news reports" 

"A Gaza effect has seen Labour lose a handful of seats to independents who campaigned on the conflict in the Middle East. In total, five seats were won by candidates who had campaigned against the new government's stance on Palestine. This includes Jeremy Corbyn keeping his Islington North seat, as well as Shockat Adam winning in Leicester South, Ayoub Khan winning Birmingham Perry Barr, Adnan Hussain winning Blackburn and Iqbal Mohamed winning Dewsbury & Batley".

With the exception of Jeremy Corbyn, the four Muslim independents in the new parliament will surely lead extremist Islamophobes of the far right to complain about "the Muslim vote". And we know one of them already...

As if you hadn't guessed, I mean that indefatigable crusader for the far Right, Nigel Farage (NF). I have writtten about him more than I would have liked during this election campaign because I felt I had to. The election of NF, Richard Tice, 30p Lee and two other Reform UK candidates as MPs gives me no pleasure and I was shocked at the number of votes Reform UK gained nationwide - 14% of the total votes cast. As the BBC noted: 

"Reform UK candidates ... came second in 98 constituencies. In an early sign of Reform's success in winning over former Tory voters, the first two results of the night in north-east England - in Blyth and Ashington and in Houghton and Sunderland South - saw the party beat the Conservatives by more than 4,000 votes".

Significantly, NF received congratulations from the resurgent convicted criminal, Donald Trump:

"In a social media post, Mr Trump wrote: "Congratulations to Nigel Farage on his big WIN of a Parliament Seat Amid Reform UK Election Success. Nigel is a man who truly loves his Country".

Sounding like certain other extremist orators of history - such as Oswald Moseley - NF has declared his intention to "change politics forever" and build a mass movement. Personally, I find this sinister. Mass movements of the far Right tend to be violent and intimidating, rather like Mussolini's Squadristi, the Nazi SA - and the thugs who tried to intimidate Labour Party workers in predominantly Muslim constituencies. We cannot afford to be complacent. And, as I hope I showed in my previous post, the extreme Right are using Reform UK as a Trojan Horse. It's not on the horizon, but Reform UK might develop their own paramilitary militia one day (only joking).

By this, I do not mean that a coup or a civil war is imminent, but, with five Reform MPs and five Independent MPs, extremist views that belong in a dustbin are going to become prominently publicised and, worse, be perceived as normal. NF will see to that.

We exercised our hallowed democratic right to vote on Thursday. If NF and his ilk do change our politics forever, the right to vote could become a thing of the past.

An image from Facebook. Surely an exaggeration?

Yeah, surely...

Farage Evasions and a Trojan Horse

 I was hoping not to write about Nigel Farage (NF) and Reform UK again during this election campaign. After my last three postings, I began to think that was enough. However, NF's appearance on the BBC Question Time Leaders Special on June 27th has changed my mind for me. As everyone knows, NF was asked the highly relevant question:

"What is it about you and your party that attracts racists and extremists, whether you say you want them or not?"

The relevance stems from the undercover Channel 4 report from Clacton which saw a certain Reform Campaigner, Andrew Parker, make some highly offensive statements. As the Independent said, quoting Parker: 

"... army recruits should use migrants arriving by small boats in Kent as “target practice”, and labelling Islam a “disgusting cult” in widely condemned comments.
Referring to Mr Sunak, who is of Indian descent, he said: “I’ve always been a Tory voter. But what annoys me is that f****** p*** we’ve got in. What good is he? You tell me, you know. He’s just wet. F****** useless.”

As is known, Parker has been "outed" as an actor, and NF seized on this point. The BBC said: 

"Mr Farage argued that he had done more to drive out the far-right than any living person in British politics.
"I took on the BNP just over a decade ago. I said to their voters, if this is a protest vote but you don't support their racist agenda, don't vote for them, vote for me, destroyed them."

He repeated claims made earlier the same day that Mr Parker was an actor with an alter ego and suggested it was "a political setup of astonishing proportions". Quoted by the BBC again, NF lamented:

"This was designed to hurt us, and sadly some people believe it."

NF's claims about the destruction of the BNP are highly questionable, but we can look at them later. What is of interest here is the fact that no-one in the media has noticed: Farage did not answer the question. He was not asked about Andrew Parker, he was asked why racists and extremists like joining Reform UK. Instead of trying to answer this, he threw down a dead cat, and got everyone talking about a political set-up.

As well he might. Hope not Hate has published "Far Right Rally behind Farage and Reform" , which details how all the far-Right groups in the UK have lent their support to the Reform UK electoral campaign. Starting with Tommy Robinson:

" Stephen Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson), has said “Nigel Farage’s winning over the people and he’s putting across our arguments to the nation very skilfully and in a great way. There is only one option at this election and that is Reform UK.”

Paul Golding of Britain First agrees with this:

“In the General Election on July the fourth vote Reform because they are taking a sledgehammer to the two party system."

By far the most interesting contribution, though, comes from Mark Collett, leader of the openly neo-Nazi Patriotic Alternative party. Bearing in mind Farage's claim to have destroyed the BNP, Hope not Hate reports: 

"Collet goes on to explain how the British National Party’s (BNP) old election leaflets “were actually markedly tamer than Farage’s current rhetoric,” arguing that, “the same man who boasts about destroying the BNP is now standing on a platform that is more explicitly about demographics than the BNP did at its height.”

Collet has been working on leaflets for the English Democrats (a tiny bunch of extremists) in which he, like NF, advocates the stopping of refugee boats and leaving the ECHR. With no doubt a huge smirk Collett is quoted as saying: 

"I’ve spent the last few weeks working on election leaflets for a number of nationalist candidates. […] These leaflets read ‘Deport All Illegal Immigrants’. It’s almost like Nigel has been aware of this and, to put it politely, is copying our homework. If one was to be less polite they might say he stole our policy.”

Despite this apparent plagiarism, Collett goes on to tell people in constituencies where no ED candidates are standing: “I suggest you vote Reform and help them to complete the wipeout of the Conservative Party.” 

Clearly, there is a great deal to attract right-wing extremists to Reform UK. Were NF to be confronted with this, however, he would probably attribute it to a sting by the establishment press. 

Another matter not noticed is that while NF focussed on the apparent setup with Andrew Parker, nobody pointed out that he wasn't the only Reform UK member in the Channel 4 report to express objectionable views. There was a certain Mr Jones, who told the undercover reporter why Clacton had been chosen for NF: 

“Have a look around. Proper England. You know what I mean? Proper English. Not like in London when you’re a foreigner in your own country, and if you say ‘hello’ to someone they look like they’re about to f****** knife you in the face”.

Mr Jones expressed this violently homophobic view when a police car passed by: 

"You see that f****** degenerate flag on the front bonnet? What are the old bill doing promoting that crap? They should be out catching nonces not promoting the f******.”

NF did not mention this man, nor did anyone quiz him about the man's homophobic outbursts. NF got off lightly.

Nor does NF seem to have been tackled about his claim that he destroyed the British National Party, which is patently absurd. James O'Brien, in "How They Broke Britain", compared NF to the BNP leader, Nick Griffin. Griffin tried to make the BNP more electable by moderating the party line. As Wikipedia says:  

"The BNP replaced Tyndall's policy of compulsory deportation of non-whites to a voluntary system whereby non-whites would be given financial incentives to emigrate. It downplayed biological racism and stressed the cultural incompatibility of different racial groups."

Interestingly, Griffin appeared on Question Time in 2009 and made a similar claim to Farage's claim made on Thursday, again on Question Time, that he had striven hard to keep right-wing extremists from dominating his party. James O'Brien says that Griffin wasn't quite "class" enough to carry this off, and NF is setting out to succeed where Griffin failed, with broadly similar policies, but more polished presentation. The BNP collapsed through internal dissension, not because of any words of Farage. As Wikipedia says:

"  By 2010, there was discontent among the party's grassroots, a result of the change to its white-only membership policy and rumours of financial corruption among its leadership. Some defected to the National Front".  Or, perhaps, UKIP?

   But it could be that NF and Griffin have more in common than similar policies. Griffin recently claimed on X that Farage was once a member of the National Front. Farage has not tried to refute this, despite being challenged by Searchlight magazine. NF was in the NF? It's not beyond the bounds of possibility. 

My own view on Reform UK is that it functions as a Trojan Horse for the extreme Right. The Reform UK leadership might deny this, but it is a fact that extremists are only expelled when they are exposed in the press, or by anti-fascist groups. It's my belief that the numbers expelled are only the tip of the iceberg. There will be more and some will be in deep cover, seeking to get into positions where they can influence policy and strategy. The less discreet ones will be expelled when they step publicly out of line - and only then. This has happened on the Left as well. In the 1930s, until the early 60s, the Communist Party in Liverpool infiltrated the local Labour Party, sometimes even becoming local councillors. "Entryism", as it came to be called, was practised by Militant in the 70s, again targeting the Labour Party. We are seeing it again with Reform UK, and I do not believe, like the Tories say, that a vote for Reform UK is a vote for Labour. Rather, it is a vote for the extreme Right, no matter how many election candidates Reform UK disown.

Lastly, I would like to say that I believe my words of 12th November to have been accurate. Since NF re-entered the political scene, the campaign has got nastier. As Rishi Sunak said of the Channel 4 report:

"My two daughters have to see and hear Reform people who campaign for Nigel Farage calling me an effing 'P***'. It hurts and it makes me angry and I think he has some questions to answer.
And I don't repeat those words lightly"

I am no Tory, but I sympathise completely with the Prime Minister and his family. It is hurtful and disgusting and is probably being used again by racists towards people of South Asian origin. When Farage was asked on Question Time, he refused to make any apologies. NF remains NF in spirit. And political life has got nastier.

I wonder if the man who snapped is now a Reform UK member? It could have been Nigel Farage. I found this photo on Facebook. It might have been published in 2016, but it rings true today.

Nigel Raises the Level of Nastiness in UK Politics

 

Well, I was surprised. Nigel Farage (NF) had said that he wasn't standing for Parliament, then he announced that he was changing his mind and became the Reform UK candidate for Clacton. He is perfectly entitled to do this, of course, but, at the same time, I wondered if the nasty election campaign that I predicted on May 23rd would turn out to become even nastier. Well, it looks as if I was right to expect things to turn more unpleasant. What I did not expect was the fact that some of the nastiness would be directed at NF himself. As the picture above shows, he has been the target for violent attacks, and could well be the victim of more.

As we know, on June 4th, NF had a milkshake thrown over him after leaving the Clacton branch of Wetherspoons. As the BBC reported:  

"The Reform UK leader was leaving a pub after carrying out media interviews when a woman appeared to hurl a McDonald's banana milkshake over his face and suit jacket. Essex Police said a 25-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assault".

And, while visiting Barnsley yesterday, someone threw cement at NF while he toured the town on his battlebus. The BBC again: 

"Police said Josh Greally, 28, had been charged with using threatening, abusive, insulting words and behaviour with intent to cause fear. He has been released on bail to appear before Barnsley Magistrates' Court on 26 June".

Farage, as might be expected, has received a good deal of sympathy for these attacks from the right-wing press - the Daily Express in particular. This less-than-impartial organ gave NF a lengthy interview yesterday:

"The Brexit champion said physical attacks are the next stage of a “cancel culture” by a “violent left wing mob” hoping to silence him...“This was just an attempt to shut me down... If I give in to these people, who the hell else is going to stand up? I’m sometimes brave to the point of total stupidity. I’m very worried about it... But I’m not going to stop. My modus operandi may have to change... You might agree with me or disagree with me, that’s fine. I don’t mind if someone shouts something rude at me in the street, I will probably shout it back. But when it comes to violence, that actually poses a threat to the entire democratic process".

Well, I hate to agree with "The Brexit Champion" about anything, but violence against politicians is deplorable. In recent years, we have seen two MPs murdered and abuse, threats and the possibility of violent assault against politicians of all parties has increased over the years. This situation is so bad that some MPs have resigned over fears for their, and their families', safety. One example is that of Mike Freer, who announced in February that he will be standing down after the next election. The BBC reports:

 

"A minister says he will stand down at the next general election after a series of death threats and an arson attack on his constituency office. Mike Freer, a justice minister and also north London MP, said he avoided being murdered "by the skin of my teeth" by Ali Harbi Ali, who went on to kill Southend West MP Sir David Amess. Mr Freer has represented Finchley and Golders Green since 2010. He said he could no longer put his family through the worry of his safety".

Having said this, and while I condemn all such violence, I have to reflect upon the fact that, back in 2016, as The Mirror reported:  

"Nigel Farage has claimed he has won Brexit “without a single bullet being fired”. The Ukip leader’s highly inflammatory comments at a Leave.EU victory party in London come just a week after Remain-backing Labour MP Jo Cox was shot dead".

Those words of NF should haunt him now, especially when he is the object of political violence himself. We should also remember that NF was the last politician to express condolences for the death of Jo Cox - when he did, it was almost as an afterthought. 

Besides this, it is galling to learn that NF thinks that he is some kind of martyr for free speech. He told the Express: 

"The whole point of democracy is you can have very, very vigorous disagreements. But there has to be a line. The last couple of days have crossed that line.”

NF's hypocrisy on the issue of free speech is appalling. As Hope not Hate has pointed out:

"...there are multiple examples in which we see his hypocrisy and his misinterpretation of free speech, and where he supports speech that would be categorised as hateful".

One example given is that of the toppling of a statue:  

 In response to the toppling of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol, Farage produced a video in which he claimed that the toppling of the statue by BLM protestors was abhorrent and that he has put himself on the line speaking out against this behaviour, saying for “Those of us who have tried to speak out…free speech is under threat”. Again ignoring the disparity in whose speech is attended to, Farage made no mention of the longstanding campaign in Bristol prior to these events to remove the statue and other uses of Colston’s name".

And, in a nutshell: 

"Emblematic of the populist radical right, Nigel Farage seems to follow a “free speech” tradition that allows for the amplifying of right wing voices – which are supposedly of ‘the people’ – and the silencing those voices with whom they disagree – i.e. the ‘elite’ and, just as often, marginalised groups".

Drawing to a conclusion, we must note that NF has contributed to the growing nastiness of this general election campaign by launching an apparently curious attack on Rishi Sunak for leaving the D-Day commemoration events early. The Daily Mail reports:

"Mr Farage told the BBC Mr Sunak 'should have known in his heart, that it was right to be there'. He claimed the Tory leader 'doesn't really care about our history, he doesn't really care – frankly – about our culture'. Challenged over the comments, he insisted he had been talking about Mr Sunak's 'class' rather than his heritage as the son of first-generation immigrants. Mr Farage denied any racial element, saying that '40 per cent of our contribution' in the two world wars 'came from the Commonwealth".

Please note: NF denied any racial element. Anyone familiar with NF's political history will know this to be complete rubbish. This is a man  who said, in 2014, that parts of Britain were “unrecognisable” and “like a foreign land”. He had also claimed he felt “awkward” when he heard people speaking other languages on the train. NF is also an admirer of Enoch Powell and claimed in 2008 that “While his (Powell's) language may seem out of date now, his principles remain good and true”. And he has other friends on the extreme Right. including Marine le Pen in France and Beatrix von Storch of the Alternative for Germany party. NF's claims to making a non-racist comment on Sunak are completely absurd. 

I believe NF's true aim to have several facets. Firstly, he is seeking to appeal to the avowedly racist voters, who will doubtless applaud his attack on Sunak out of sheer hatred of coloured people. NF knows he cannot do this directly, so he delivered his mealy-mouthed cop-out about the Commonwealth in WW2. He does not say whether they understood "our" culture or not, when they were fighting on our side. He also wants to encourage the elements in the Tory party who are doubtless working behind the scenes to ditch Sunak should he lose the election, which seems very likely. Now, a Tory debacle could well see the Conservatives move further to the Right. Should that happen, NF will be waiting in the wings. In a Telegraph article on Tuesday, one Alison Pearson declared: 

"You know, I think Nigel Farage is already the leader of the Conservatives. He certainly makes a better, more convincing Tory than Rishi Sunak. The polls bear that out. According to the latest findings from strategic consultancy Redfield & Wilton, Reform is in second place (behind Labour) with voters aged 45-54 and 55-64 (that’s the age group of the Tory “base”) and is even second among 18-24s. The Conservatives are in a miserable fifth place with that younger age bracket".

I know that some people say we should not take NF and Reform UK too seriously. After all, they say, NF has never been an MP and Reform UK have only one MP in Parliament. But it is a mistake to underestimate them; people did that with the NSDAP in Germany in the 1920s. Reform UK party has surged ahead in the latest polls, and are, as of now, just one point behind the Conservatives. 

So what do we do? Well, we oppose them with argument, exposes and non-violent action. Let's hope Nigel Farage lives to see his electoral dreams turn to ash.

Plans for Nigel

 As expected, Reform UK has set out to exploit the Immigration issue. I thought that Reform would use this issue as a stick to beat the Tory government, and that has happened. Our old friend, Nigel Farage (NF), seen above in full rhetorical flight, has set out to put Rishi Sunak on the spot regarding this issue. The Express, which seems to have become a Reform UK propaganda sheet,  trumpeted the news on Tuesday: 

"Nigel Farage has challenged Rishi Sunak to a live TV debate on immigration. The Reform UK honorary president accused the Prime Minister of calling the surprise general election because he knows his Rwanda plan "simply would not work”. The former UKIP leader insisted that if Mr Sunak refuses to debate him it will "confirm the fact that Sunak can’t stop the boats"."

Well, there's nothing like having big ideas about yourself, is there? Remember that NF has never won an election to become an MP. We can only wonder at NF's effrontery in demanding a debate with our most senior politician. The other right-wing rag, The Sun, reported that Sunak's spokespeople said, in response to the "invitation":

" They told The Sun: "We respect Nigel but there’s only two people who can be Prime Minister at the end of this campaign, Rishi or Starmer, and that's who should be up on stage debating each other".

I would find it next to impossible to respect NF, but approve Sunak's refusal to debate with him. I was pleased to see that Keir Starmer has turned down the idea of a debate with NF as well. Holding such debates would only lend legitimacy to an unelected provocateur who has tried and failed seven times to be elected to parliament. He is not standing for Reform UK in the present election. In fact, he has previously said that he was tired of having doors slammed in his face when out canvassing. He is also on record as saying that he will never travel on public transport again, as he faces widespread hatred. As his campaigns for Brexit and against asylum seekers have led to hostility against EU migrants and refugees, he does not seem to appreciate the irony.

But I digress. Despite his impolite request for a debate with Sunak, and out of the goodness of his heart, he has hinted that he would, given certain provisos, be willing to work with the Conservatives. The Telegraph reports: 

"The honorary Reform UK president said he would be open to “a conversation” if the Conservatives gave him “something back” for the “huge favours” he had done over the years. There have been suggestions that Rishi Sunak should bring Mr Farage into the fold to prevent the Tories from haemorrhaging votes to Reform at the election".

Well, isn't that nice? NF was supposed to have been talking of going over to the USA to work for Donald Trump's campaign. Now, that would have been fun to watch.

 Instead, NF has made a conditional offer to the Conservatives. He believes that the Tories owe him a favour. Again: 

" He claimed to have helped the Conservatives on several occasions, having “got rid of” Theresa May with the launch of the Brexit Party and stood aside in hundreds of seats to pave the way for a Boris Johnson victory in 2019, adding: “What are they going to do back for me?”

It remains to be seen whether the Conservatives will accept NF's gracious offer of a "conversation". After all, as has been noted, the Tory Party has become more like UKIP over time and there are many in the Tory Party who admire Farage, as was seen at last year's Conservative party conference. 

Personally. I don't take these "initiatives" too seriously. Not only this, but I don't believe that Farage takes them too seriously, either. I believe that Farage was doing what he does best: promoting himself. He must know that the Conservatives are well aware that giving him status and credibility by debating with him would rebound on them. Instead, he will use the Tory/Starmer refusals as "evidence" that the  two main parties lack the will to stop unwanted immigration. Expect more on this theme from him and Reform UK - who have been surprisingly quiet about NF's approaches to the Conservative government. 

Hope not Hate, who have tangled in the courts with Farage, have produced a chapter on their website that asks the question "Who is Nigel Farage?". I recommend this as a resource for all of us who oppose, and seek to understand, the phenomenon that NF is. As Hope not Hate states:

"Farage has used racism, xenophobia, sexism and Islamophobia to stir up division, has toxic connections to extreme and far-right figures across the world, and Thatcherite beliefs that he has tried to hide from communities in former industrial towns".

 XTC were wrong - Nigel has plans of his own.

A July Election - Things Can Only Get Nasty

 Well, it's on. Rishi Sunak, giving a creditable impersonation of a drowned rat, has decided that US Independence day will be a good day for our next general election. We have six weeks before the election date of July 4th, and I am happy to contribute to the frenetic political discussions and media fuss that is to come. I make no apology for saying that I am looking forward to seeing the Conservatives lose - heavily.

There has been a good deal of speculation about why Sunak has decided to call an election now. The Guardian says: 

"The prime minister has been saying for some weeks that there was evidence that the economy was improving. In his speech outside No 10, Sunak said the government had “reached two major milestones” of reducing inflation and growing the economy faster than other G7 countries".

To me, this is astounding, as I'm sure it is for so many other people. I can only put Sunak's statement down to being born of desperation. Let's be honest: who would want the job of running the Conservative election campaign? As Keir Starmer said, quoted by Sky News: 

"Sir Keir pointed to sewage in rivers, people "waiting on trolleys in A&E", crime going "virtually unpunished" and mortgages and food prices "through the roof". On 4 July you have a choice, and together we can stop the chaos, we can turn the page, we can start to rebuild Britain and change our country," he said".

We can all identify with those issues mentioned and, to a large extent, I share Sir Keir's optimism - with reservations, which I shall mention later. But only an amnesiac could fail to remember what a series of disasters and scandals have been visited upon us by this Conservative administration. My list starts with the Brexit campaign, which led to massive social division and post-Brexit economic chaos. There was the imposition of Austerity Economics by George Osborne. The Guardian comments here:

 

"Gerard Lyons, economic adviser to Boris Johnson when he was mayor of London and now chief economic strategist at Net Wealth says: “The whole period after 2010 was one of major fiscal mistakes. Austerity was wrong and badly executed. The ability to borrow cheaply was staring at us as a huge opportunity but was never taken.”

Then there was the blow to the economy from Liz Truss and her cronies. Despite being our shortest-serving prime minister, her deeds lingered on. Politico commented: 

"Truss' £45 billion package of unfunded tax cuts — with the promise of more to come — instead sunk the pound, sent interest rates soaring, caused chaos on the bond markets and forced the Bank of England to prop up failing pension funds".

And - of course - we had the unedifying spectacle of a proven liar becoming PM - Boris Johnson, during whose tenure in office, British politics descended into the gutter. Have we forgotten? Among many other scandals, there was the unlawful prorogation of Parliament in September 2019; the channelling of public funds to Jennifer Arcuri in the same year;  the Downing Street flat refurbishment of April 2021: his fine for breaking lockdown laws  in April 2022. Matters were so bad that both Johnson's ethics advisers resigned in June of 2022. All ending in disgrace with the Chris Pincher scandal, here summarised by The Independent: 

"Chris Pincher MP dramatically resigned as deputy chief whip on 30 June following allegations he assaulted two fellow guests the evening before at the Carlton Club, a Tory private members’ club in London.
Downing Street said Mr Johnson was not aware of any “specific allegations” about Mr Pincher when he appointed him to the whips office. It emerged over the following days that he was told about allegations against him as far back as 2019".

Hopefully, this will refresh any failing memories of the Tory record over the past 14 years. I apologise if I have left out any scandals of significance. However, I think this explains why I personally would not like the job of Tory campaign manager.

Unfortunately, there is an option that the Conservatives have that, as they would see it, could pay electoral dividends and that option is scapegoating. During the Brexit referendum campaign, EU migrants were targeted as the enemies within . There is every possibility that the Conservatives will make an issue out of migration and refugees who cross the English Channel in small boats. I believe that they will be forced into this because Reform UK certainly will make an issue of this topic, and could capture Tory votes. This was exhibited today by Anne Widdecombe at the launch of Reform UK's manifesto. The BBC quotes Widdecombe:

"The former Tory minister turned Reform UK member said immigration is the "crucial issue" at the election. She pointed to the latest net migration figures, which stood at a provisional 685,000 in the year to December 2023. She said this this was "nowhere near the 200,000 that we had been previously promised. Widdecombe said that having once been immigration minister, "I know very well that immigration has a tremendous impact on the country. There is no such thing as an economic movement which doesn't impact right across the scale."

The Conservatives will not want to lose votes to Widdecombe, Tice and the others. They will undoubtedly try to prove themselves as the party that is tough on immigration and seek to demonise "foreigners" of any convenient target group, whether it be asylum seekers or foreign-born workers who have lived here for decades and can thus be scapegoated for taking British jobs. 

I hope I'm wrong, but, like I said, things can only get nasty. The Tories have no choice. We are in for a fraught six week electoral campaign.

Rishi Sunak looks a little shaky - he has good reason to feel that way.

GB News - Slapped on the Wrist

 

If, like me, you never watch GB News, you could be forgiven for paying no attention to the reports last month that GB News had been criticised by Ofcom for employing three Conservative MPs to act as newsreaders. To date, GB News has been found to have broken Ofcom rules no less than 11 times, with another eight investigations to be resolved. What has not been widely commented upon is the fact that GB News has not paid any significant or substantial penalty for its breaches. It is a mistake to ignore this, as GB News are unlikely to be deterred by mere written criticism.

To offset this, I refer the readers of this blog to the current issue of "Searchlight" magazine, in which can be found an excellent critique of the Ofcom verdict by Dorothy Byrne, who was head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4 for 17 years. Her article, to which I shall be referring, is online, is excellent and can be read in full by clicking HERE.  

Ms Byrne points out that, had  she presided over 11 breaches of Ofcom rules, she would have been sacked. Not only this, but 17 years ago, Channel 4 was fined £1.5 million for breaking the rules of a live TV phone-in. GB News, please note, has incurred no financial penalty.

Until I read this article, I had no idea how powerful Ofcom was. Byrne has enlightened me:

"The powers of the regulator are mighty. Ofcom revoked the licence to broadcast of the Iranian Government news channel Press TV in 2012 for flagrant breaches. Two years ago, it revoked Russia Today’s right to broadcast. Yet the regulator has taken no action whatsoever against GB News for 11 breaches other than a ticking off".

I do applaud Ofcom for ridding us of Press TV and RT. They are both deranged propaganda outlets for dictatorial regimes, but what is GB News but a propaganda outlet for the Farage wing of the Tory Party and assorted conspiracy "theorists"? Why is it getting off so lightly? The bias of its "news presenters" is astoundingly blatant. Byrne deserves to be quoted at length here:

"...the channel allowed former House of Commons Leader Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, a former Secretary of State Esther McVey and backbencher Philip Davies – all Conservative MPs – to present news. Rees-Mogg talked about a verdict in one of Donald Trump’s court cases, McVey and Davies presented news about a number of matters including train strikes, the UK economy, an anti-Ulez protest rally and the doctors’ strike. These are all clearly matters of significant public policy and all controversial matters".

These are flagrant breaches of the impartiality rule of broadcasting. As the Ofcom ruling says: 

"Politicians have an inherently partial role in society and news content presented by them is likely to be viewed by audiences in light of that perceived bias. In our view, the use of politicians to present the news risks undermining the integrity and credibility of regulated broadcast news".’

The LibDems would certainly agree with that. Back in January, they asked Ofcom to investigate alleged bias in GB News' coverage of the Post Office scandal, including attacks on Sir Ed Davey. They claimed that Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nigel Farage (hello again), both GB News "presenters", targeted opposition politicians, but not Tory ministers for their role in the scandal. The BBC says here: 

"Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader, wrote to Ofcom claiming Mr Farage launched "a fictitious monologue" about Sir Ed which contained "a number of factual inaccuracies" in his show on Tuesday.
"The Liberal Democrats were offered no right of reply. This therefore breaches both the accuracy and impartiality elements of the Ofcom code," Ms Cooper said".

Nor should we forget the Laurence Fox debacle, which was an utter disgrace in terms of broadcasting.

Dorothy Byrne asks (and surely speaks for all of us): Is Ofcom cowed by the Conservative government? A very apt question, to which we can add: how far does the Conservative government favour GB News? After all, in another breach of Ofcom impartiality rules, the husband and wife team of Tory MPs and GB news presenters, Philip Davies and Esther McVey, interviewed Jeremy Hunt about the Budget. As Dorothy Byrne comments here: 

"Common sense would tell you that two Tories interviewing a Tory was not likely to result in a duly impartial interview".

Indeed not, but to further attempt to answer my own question, it was interesting to learn that Rishi Sunak has appointed McVey to a ministerial post and has awarded Davies a knighthood since the rules were breached.

I conclude in the first part by quoting Dorothy Byrne again, as indeed I should. She rightly says:

"Television regulation is one of the cornerstones of our democracy. If this government wants to protect us against extremists who threaten democracy, it should be asking the regulator why it is being so weak about GB News breaking the rules".

For my part, I would like to quote Liz Truss's words to the Tory conference last year:

“In my view, we need more economic journalism and we need more GB News,” Ms Truss said. “Challenging the orthodoxy, broadcasting common sense and transforming our media landscape. So long may it continue."

In case you missed it, that is a warning to all of us who value democracy and free speech. Additional to the fact that GB News is regarded so favourably by Liz Truss and her ilk is the imminent arrival of Boris Johnson as a GB News presenter in the build-up to the next general election. Dorothy Byrne again:

 "Boris Johnson joins GB News in the run-up to the next General Election. We will then have Johnson, a known liar, as the most important presenter on a right-wing television channel which has flagrantly breached regulations that protect the fairness, accuracy and due impartiality of political coverage".

The warning could not be clearer. While, hopefully, most us will ignore GB News, there are many who won't. Let's hope Ofcom finds some courage - enough to deal with GB News and the other right-wing TV channels.

Death of a Busker, the Slaying of a Schoolboy

 Well, it gives me no pleasure to say that I was right in saying what I did. On March 4th, I wrote that:

"I am sure that I will be writing about this topic again..."

That topic, of course, being the murder of innocent members of the public by released mental health patients. I have written about this subject for a number of years and had no illusions about the fact that such a murder could happen again. What I did not expect was to be writing about two such murders, one committed in 2022 and the other carried out this morning. The first was of the gentleman seen in the photo above: 87-year old Thomas O' Halloran.

On August 16,2022, Mr O'Halloran was riding his motor scooter home from a shopping trip to his local Tesco in Greenford, London. He was often seen to be busking there, as well as Greenford Station, where he played his accordion to raise funds for local charities, as well as for the victims of war in Ukraine. Originally from Ennistymon, County Clare, in Ireland, Mr O'Halloran left Ireland in the 1950s in search of better opportunities in England, but returned home annually.

It was Mr O'Halloran's misfortune that day in 2022 to encounter 45-year-old Lee Byer in an underpass of the A40. Byer, entirely at random, attacked Mr O'Halloran with appalling ferocity. As The Independent says, Mr O'Halloran did not die on the spot, but...: 

"Thomas O’Halloran rode his scooter 75 yards down the road after he was stabbed, trying to flag down members of the public for help in Greenford, west London, before collapsing of his wounds."

London's Air Ambulance attended, but despite the best efforts of the medics, Thomas died at the scene.
The subsequent post-mortem examination found that Thomas had been stabbed ten times.

Immediately after the attack, The Metropolitan Police began the search for the culprit, As they say:

"Following the attack, police moved very quickly to use the CCTV images of the suspected attacker to issue a media appeal. Several prison officers, who had dealt with Byer whilst he was in prison, saw the media appeals and reported his identity."

As well they might have known him, as he had been released from Wormwood Scrubs just five days prior to the attack and had a number of previous convictions. Again, as The Independent says:

 "It can now be reported that Byer had 15 previous convictions recorded against him for 30 offences dating back to when he was 14. In 2011, he was convicted of robbery and was sentenced to 12 years in prison and was only released from Wormwood Scrubs on 11 August".

 He was arrested in Southall in the early hours of August 18th. The rest of his story is depressingly familiar. This Monday, Byer denied murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter by diminished responsibility and having an offensive weapon. The Prosecutor, Gareth Patterson KC accepted the pleas after mental health reports found Byer was psychotic, hearing voices, suffering from paranoid delusions and paranoid schizophrenia. Now, where have we heard of those before? And why were they not detected earlier, during one of Byer's spells in prison? Do not expect a quick answer - if any.

Five days after his death and following Byers' arrest, over 100 people gathered together to pay a musical tribute to Mr O'Halloran at the place where he died. Many were local Irish people, but all who attended expressed their distress and shock at the brutal murder of a much-loved member of the community. Mr Gerry Hehir, who knew Thomas O'Halloran, described Mr O'Halloran as "very quiet and professional", adding that he was "a very loving man and a very caring man...He will be very well remembered for everything he's done for the community," he said.

The BBC says: 

"Local parish priest Father Tom Daly led the community in prayer. He said: 

"We pray today for Tom, who died so violently. In the face of this kind of awful incident, we don't know what to do and people feel completely helpless."

Father Daly, along with the rest of us, must be feeling that feeling of helplessness again. This morning, a 14-year-old boy lost his life after another of Byers' ilk went berserk with a sword in a different part of London - this time in Hainault. The Standard reports: 

"A 14-year-old boy has died after a man wielding a sword attacked five people including two police officers in east London. The officers and two members of the public remain in hospital following the stabbings in Hainault. None of their injuries are believed to be life-threatening but both police have ”significant injuries” and require surgery. A 36-year-old suspect remains in custody after being Tasered by police and arrested at the scene".

A witness, James Fernando, described the horrific moment the boy was attacked, saying: 

“I saw a guy get out of a grey Transit after crashing into a house. I saw him struck a boy with the sword. Police turned up and he ran. I stood next next to the boy. It looked like he was gone. I was in total shock. He was in sports clothes. I can’t stop seeing the boy’s face".

So, another innocent victim murdered and another community traumatised. Another family bereaved and two more mental health patients have taken lives for no valid reason. Regrettably, I foresee no end to the posts I write on this topic. I have expressed hope for many years that things would improve, but these senseless murders continue. All I can do - and I am sure that I speak for all who read this - is to send condolences to the relatives of Thomas O'Halloran, both here and in Ireland (Mo chomhbhron o chroi!) and those of the as-yet-unnamed 14-year-old boy killed in Hainault, all of whom must be suffering untold grief. Our sympathies should also go to the four people injured by the Mad Swordsman, especially the two police officers, who suffered horrific injuries. Lee Byer and the Hainault Swordsman will spend a long time being looked after in a secure mental health unit, from whence they might be released back into the community, to kill again. We all really need to recognise that Byers and the sword-carrying psychopath are not isolated cases. There are many more like them on the streets, and any one of us, our family and friends could become their victims. It is in our best interests to lobby for a solution to this problem which has claimed too many lives already.

Footnote, 2/5/24:

I felt compelled to give a name to the 14-year-old boy murdered in Hainault. His name, as the world knows now, is Daniel Anjorin. Marcus Arduini Monzo, 36, is due before Westminster Magistrates' Court today facing a number of charges:  two counts of attempted murder, two counts of causing grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary, and possession of a bladed article, as well as the murder of Daniel. It has, rightly, been pointed out to me that we do not know Monzo's psychiatric condition as yet, although I doubt that he will be judged as being of sound mind. Nor has it been established that he is a released mental health patient. My answer to that is to say that I hope Monzo is never released.

So, a busker of 87 and a schoolboy of 14 - two very different people, both innocent victims of random psychopathic violence. To my mind, they have achieved a kind of unity, which  I commend to their memory in this short verse:

The wrong place, the wrong time,

But what did you do wrong?

Shine on now together,

Daniel and Tom. 

Iran and Operations Abroad

 

Back in the previous century, when I was at the University of Salford, among my fellow-students were a number of Iranians. Some were known to be supporters of the then regime, headed by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, aka the last Shah of Iran. Others, opponents of the Shah, some of whom were friends and comrades of mine, formed an Alternative Iranian Society (AIS). The official society was said to be run by SAVAK, the Shah's secret service. Out of solidarity, I joined AIS, but never went to any meetings because they were conducted in Farsi. Still, I was happy to be an alternative Iranian. This was in the late 70s and, as we know, the Shah was overthrown in 1979. All my Iranian friends returned home and those of us who knew him only heard from one - Mohammed - who said that the Left was under pressure from the Islamists who supported the Ayatollah Khomeni.  Indeed they were, as were all non-fundamentalists in Iran (they still are). I have often wondered over the years what happened to those young Iranians that I knew. I can only hope that they survived.

All this happened a long time ago, but, as we know, Iran is in the news for its massive missile attack against Israel. The topic for discussion, understandably, is the possibility of a retaliatory strike by the Israelis. It has been pointed out by some that Israel has launched targeted attacks against Iran for years, and the missile onslaught was retaliation for the killing of seven Revolutionary Guard officers in a clinical airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. Without becoming embroiled in a discussion about retaliation, which is a frequent occurrence in the Middle East, I think it of interest to look more closely at the organisation to which those officers belonged - the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Of particular interest to us here in the UK, and surely to all countries concerned, is the IRGC section known as Quds Force. They should concern us, as they are responsible for all operations abroad carried out in the name of the Iranian government. As such, they have been involved in all Middle East conflicts since the 80s. At the present time, they are supporting Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. They are active in Syria and, closer to home, they are thought to be involved in assassination plots in Europe. In 2022, as Iran International said,: 

"An operative of Iran's IRGC Qods Force held in a European country has admitted to plotting assassinations in Turkey, Germany and France, diplomatic sources say. The sources who spoke to Iran International on condition of anonymity said the accused who is currently in detention in a European country has admitted to receiving $150,000 for organizing the assassinations with one million promised to be paid to him after the completion of the operations". 

And the Iranian state has not been idle when it comes to worldwide assassination, mostly, if not always, organised by Quds Force. The Iran Primer lists a number of murders and plots for murder around the world against Iranian dissidents and those whom the Iranian state would like to liquidate. As of 2023, the Islamic Republic  was behind the murder of at least 20 opponents abroad and had killed scores of people in bombings of foreign military, diplomatic and cultural facilities. It targeted Americans, Europeans, Latin Americans, Israelis and Arabs as well as Iranian opposition members living abroad, according to U.S., U.N., Israeli and other government reports. The Iran Primer lists at least 88 attacks or plots:

• 21 targeted Iranian dissidents
• 35 targeted Israelis or Jews
• 25 plots were against Western targets
• 8 plots were against Arab or other regional target

These killings, and plots to kill, include:

"July 18, 1994: Ninety-five were killed and 200 wounded in an explosion outside the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, but Argentine intelligence allegedly concluded in 2004 that a 21-year Hezbollah operative carried out the attack with Iranian logistical support".

"April 2021: Swedish authorities arrested an Iranian couple in the Stockholm area that were allegedly planning to murder Aron Verständig, the then-head of the Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities, and Saskia Pantell, who was serving as the interim head of the Zionist Federation in Sweden. A third target, also Jewish, was not publicized. The couple, Mahdi Ramezani and Fereshteh Sanaeifarid, had pretended to be Afghan refugees".

"Aug. 10, 2022: The U.S. Justice Department announced charges against an IRGC member for plotting to murder John Bolton, who served as national security advisor to President Donald Trump from 2018 to 2019. Shahram Poursafi, 45, planned the operation, “likely in retaliation” for the U.S. assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Qods Force. Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad in early 2020".

It's quite disturbing to learn that Iranian agents are at work here in the UK as well.  In 2022, Reuters reported:

"LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Iran's intelligence services have made at least 10 attempts to kidnap or even kill British nationals or individuals based in the United Kingdom regarded by Tehran as a threat, the head of Britain's domestic spy agency said on Wednesday".

The MI5 chief, Ken McCallum, said that Iranian agents were targeting UK citizens and UK-based dissidents. At the time, the then British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that he had summoned Iran's  most senior diplomat over threats by Iranian security forces to journalists in Britain. (Surprisingly, the IRGC is not a banned organisation in Britain).  Radio Free Europe (RFE) reported that Iran's Quds Force planned to kill two U.K.-based Iranian journalists using a people smuggler to organize and carry out the killings in exchange for $200,000, according to British television channel ITV News. In more detail, RFE says: 

"The plot, dubbed by its organizers The Wedding, was to target Fardad Farahzad, a current presenter at Persian-language news channel Iran International, and former presenter Sima Sabet, codenamed the bride and the groom, according to the ITV News' investigation, which was broadcast on December 20"

An example of just such an attack was the stabbing of Pouria Zeraati, a dissident Iranian journalist, stabbed outside his London home on March 29th.  The three men who assaulted him escaped to a country not named by the police. Everything points to these three men being an IRGC hit squad.

And, of course, the Iranian regime is not slow at liquidating opponents in Iran itself...

As Amnesty International reports: 

"The number of executions in 2023 is the highest recorded since 2015 and marks a 48% increase from 2022 and a 172% increase from 2021. Iran’s killing spree is continuing into 2024, with at least 95 recorded executions by 20 March. Execution numbers recorded by Amnesty International are minimum figures and the organization believes the real number is higher".

In "fairness" to the Iranian regime, not all the people executed were political dissidents, but many were. And of course, women who do not wear the veil can find death dealt out to them on the street, as we saw with  Mahsa Amani. Then there are the people who disappear. Amnesty International tells of:

" Iranian Kurdish dissidents Pejman Fatehi, Vafa Azarbar, Mohammad (Hazhir) Faramarzi and Mohsen Mazloum, are at grave risk of execution in secret, without prior notice to their families and lawyers, as the authorities have been subjecting them to enforced disappearance, a crime under international law, since July 2022. Amid a horrific spike in executions across Iran, the men’s death sentences, imposed after a grossly unfair secret trial, were upheld by the Supreme Court on 2 January 2024 and sent for implementation".

In conclusion, I would like to say that while Israel deserves the criticism it receives for its conduct of the war in Gaza, we should remember that the organisations and states it confronts are not exactly angelic. I have had Israel described to me as "the gangster state". If so, how should we describe Iran?

Pouria Zeraati, when in hospital. He is now out of hospital and feeling much better. The regime in Iran denies having anything to do with his stabbing. As I look out of my window now, I think I see pigs flying in formation over Hounslow.