Mark and Spencer fail causing upset and distress.

 

This is from Sandra John Yates

I ordered flowers on line from Marks and Spencer to be delivered on Dec. 23rd. they were to be taken to the church on Christmas Eve to put on my son's headstone. John was not able to take me to the church being too unwell at present and as there is no public transport where we live I booked a taxi to take me there. Unfortunately I was not able to take the flowers because they were in a very sorry state. They were advertised as flowers in water but all the water they had was on a practically dry piece of tissue. I rearranged them in a vase with flower food and water hoping they would revive but the following morning they looked even worse. I went to the church as planned without the flowers but to see the other headstones with beautiful flowers and wreaths placed on them was extremely upsetting.

I have been given a full refund after complaining and a £10 gift voucher to SPEND IN STORE! NO THANKS Marks and Spencer. To offer a £10 gift voucher on top of the refund was an insult, you can't compensate for the distress you caused over something that was so important to me. I didn't want the refund I wanted the flowers!

 https://youtu.be/bWVgIAEha98

Their name liveth for evermore

For the Fallen

BY LAURENCE BINYON

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,

England mourns for her dead across the sea.

Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,

Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal

Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,

There is music in the midst of desolation

And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;

They sit no more at familiar tables of home;

They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;

They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,

Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,

To the innermost heart of their own land they are known

As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,

Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;

As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,

To the end, to the end, they remain.

The disaster that is Afghanistan

 

Seven dead in Kabul airport crowds as UK backs later US deadline | Afghanistan | The Guardian

As the tragedy at Kabul airport unfolds each day, we would do well to remember how this whole catastrophe came about. In 2001, two men conspired with a few others, to bring about regime change in Afghanistan. Their cover story was to remove  Al-Qaida from the country and to ensure that Afghanistan could not provide a sanctuary for "terrorists". However the real reason was and always has been to remove the Taliban from power and replace their regime with a regime more friendly to the west and particularly to the United States. Regime change is illegal under International Law as documented in the Nuremburg Principles. Those two conspirators were George Bush, then President of the United States and Anthony Charles Lynton Blair the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. This brought about an illegal war based on lies and deceit, in the same way that Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi regime was removed from office later in 2003 today, George "Dubya" Bush, from his home in   the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, watches as others attempt to resolve the chaos brought about in that wretched country and which has see the deaths of thousands of Afghani's and hundreds of service men and women, both American and British together with other NATO personnel.

After a succession of Presidents and Prime Ministers, the latest contributions to this illegal war, come about from Bozo Johnson and Joe Biden. In the case of President Biden, he inherits a strategy/policy thrust upon the region by his predecessor, Donald John Trump, who's excursions into foreign policy can at best be described as calamitous. 

However, Biden manages to generate hostility from all sides following his ill-fated speech to the American people on the 16th August, attempting to justify and defend his decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan. During the course of this oration, aimed directly at his American audience, Biden distorts history to claim that "America should not be involved in other nations civil wars". This was no civil war. This was a war resulting from an illegal conspiracy fuelling the ego's of two men. This was a war brought about by a majority of the Afghan people, seeking to resist invading forces and return the country to their previous administration as they have done to successive invaders over hundreds of years. 

Biden is labeled as an appeaser who "makes Neville Chamberlain look like the new Winston Churchill." Not to be outdone with criticism, Anthony Charles Lynton Blair wades in with his usual two pence worth of sarcastic nonsense, accusing President Joe Biden of an "imbecilic" decision to pull out US troops, adding, "As the leader of our country when we took the decision to join America in removing the Taliban from power, and who saw the high hopes we had of what we could achieve for the people and the world". Even now, Blair refuses to accept, or even admit, that the tragedy at Kabul airport today, the destruction and havoc of the last 20 years and the deaths of hundreds of American, British and NATO service personnel, together with thousands of Afghan's civilians, are the direct result of the gung ho actions and decisions that he and Bush put in place back in 2001.

The Afghan people do not deserve such disregard and have sent the America and the west a clear message. "Like other countries, we will have our problems, but they will be our problems, not yours".

We may not like the Taliban in much the same way as we do not like the Saudi Arabian regime or the Russian regime. However the fact remains that Afghanistan is the county of the Afghan people. It is not a suburb of Los Angeles or London.

Remember Nagasaki

 

August 9th 1945.

There is only one country in the world, that has used nuclear weapons against the civilian population of another country.

Three days after the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki a 21-kiloton plutonium device known as "Fat Man.”

It is estimated that between 40,000 and 75,000 people died immediately following the atomic explosion, while another 60,000 people suffered severe injuries. Total deaths by the end of 1945 may have reached 80,000.

August 6th

 

Remember Hiroshima.

There is only one country in the world, that has used nuclear weapons against the civilian population of another country.

On August 6, 1945 an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure.

R I P Hiroshima.

Stalinist Starmer trying to complete the destruction of Labour.

 

Kinnock, Blair, Mandelson, Campbell and Brown destroyed the labour party that is why I left then. When I renewed my membership I believed that Corbyn would restore socialist policies and work for the benefit of the membership and the people. We almost did it but were stabbed in the back by elements of the duplicitous PLP and traitorous employees in the party organisation. I am no longer a member of the party, but it is clear to see that some are pleased with a return to the good old days, as Starmer carry's on the destruction started by Blair et al. To those who choose to remain in the party and resist, I would mention that Starmer is even more of a Stalinist than was Blair, (If that is possible), and with the aid of his sycophant followers will crush any opposition to his Blair Mk. 2 party. The Labour party of Keir Hardy, Clem Attlee and Nye Bevan is dead and will not return. The Labour government of 1945 should have been the beginning of a socialist nation, but tragically for the country and its people, it was the end

Palestinians have the right to defend themselves too.

 'Israel has a right to defend itself': US President Joe Biden condemned for supporting Israel over Palestine (freepressjournal.in)

Joe Biden says 'Israel has right to defend itself' as US throws its support behind Jewish State.

Joe Biden says 'Israel has right to defend itself' as US throws its support behind Jewish State.

I am seething with anger at the never ending hypocrisy of western nations, particular the United States, in its attitude to the Palestinians.

Biden throws off the mask and commits America to again support aggression, ethnic cleansing and genocide by the Israeli state. He uses the cliched words so familiar over past decades about the right of Israel to defend itself. Words which have been echoed by countless western governments and pressure groups supporting Israel.

In the eyes of the western world, the Israeli' can do no wrong and the Palestinians are demonised and branded as terrorists or militants or worse.

The United Nations meet to discus the crisis. Western leaders call for restraint and seek to "bring the sides together". Empty rhetoric.

When it comes to ethnic cleansing, blatant aggression and genocide, Palestinians have the right to defend themselves!!!

Another act of barbaric aggression by a savage occupier

 Israel-Gaza violence: Death toll rises as UN envoy warns of 'heading to full-scale war' | World News | Sky News

Death toll rises as UN envoy warns of 'heading to full-scale war'

                                                   Children among 28 Palestinians killed in Israeli air raids on Gaza

How many more Palestinians will have to be murdered by the Israeli's, before the world throws off its collective guilty conscience and puts an end to this constant offensive against the people of Gaza and the occupied territories?

The present assault triggered in part by the unlawful forced eviction of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem to "make way for Israeli settlers", is but the latest act of barbaric aggression from successive Israeli governments recently aided by ultra right wing "Settler Groups" resolutely determined to drive the Palestinians out of their homes and into oblivion. The streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other towns in Israel are filled with hysterical banner carrying settlers and other ultra orthodox demonstrators, chanting "death to Arabs" and "Kill Palestinians" while at the same time Benjamin Netanyahu, Naftali Bennet and other Israeli "leaders" fuel the flames of hatred with comments like "Hamas should "pay a very heavy price for their belligerence" and reject international offers to mediate a ceasefire. 

Amongst this continuing and escalating violence, the "International Community" again trots out the now laughable clichés calling on both sides to exercise restraint or to step back from the brink and other meaningless phrases. Words are cheap, but actions are everything. The time for words is past. It is time for action. The continuing assault upon the Palestinian people will never end until the world including the United States, recognises the true objectives of Israel.

The disproportionate use of force by a heavily armed nuclear power against a people armed only with hand made missiles, no navy or air force, but with a rugged determination to survive will continue to shame the western powers. The time has come for the west to stop the Israeli's in their quest for regional domination and their evil intentions to remove all Palestinians and to create "Greater Israel From the Nile to the Euphrates,’

‘

                                                                  ‘From the Nile to the Euphrates,’

That is the objective that the world must resist and we must stop the ruthless killing of Palestinians by a barbarous and evil regime.

And how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?

20 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza

 Funerals held in Gaza as Israel renews air raids: Live news | Al-Aqsa Mosque News | Al Jazeera

The world must now put an end to these atrocious acts

Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza gather to mourn some of those who were killed in overnight Israeli raids

The time has long passed that the world should stop ignoring the atrocities and the barbarism of Israel against the Palestinians. The latest obscenities triggered in part by the unlawful forced eviction of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem to "make way for Israeli settlers" is but the the most recent act of ethnic cleansing stretching back to 1947. The Israelis have perused policies of persecution and intimidation for decades and wars of aggression against their neighbours which the world would not tolerate if carried out by any other nation. The reasons that Israel is allowed to continue this outrageous behaviour is the collective guilty conscience of the west the in respect of the Holocaust and of course coupled with the unquestioning support of the United Sates who maintain that Israel can do no wrong and will use its Veto at the UN to stop any questioning of Israeli actions.

Ironically, it has recently been reported that JONATHAN POLLARD has said that Israel should expel US diplomats and should leave the UN.

Like any bully, the more that they are allowed to continue with their barbarous behavior, the more that they will demand.

The world must now put an end to these atrocious acts and demand the immediate withdrawal of Israel to the pre 1967 borders or face the consequences. (The Americans would not of course join any coalition of opposition to Israel, but that would hardly be surprising).

This ultimatum will not of course ever be submitted, because the guilty conscience would prevail and the atrocities against the Palestinian people will continue. The shame will live forever on the heads of the west.

The headline that you will NOT see on the front page of the Express.

 Scottish election results MAPPED: Full regional results and TWO seats which swung | Politics | News | Express.co.uk

Sorry, we got it wrong !

This is the headline that you will NOT see on the front page of the Express.  

After months of vilifying and demonising the Scottish National Party, (SNP) generally and Nicola Sturgeon in particular, the Express now has a large helping of sour grapes in its pages with lamentable offering of  "Sturgeon blasted - 'hasn't moved the needle one bit!" or "Andrew Marr wrecks Nicola Sturgeon's independence plans" and many other snide sideswipes at the newly re-elected  Scottish government. 

The Express has been full of headlines saying how the SNP vote has collapsed, how ALBA the new Alex Salmond party will gain seats and thwart Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP ambitions in respect of another Independence referendum and how another SNP government in Holyrood would be a disaster for Scotland.

The Express was wrong on all counts and yet their vitriol continues.

Perhaps this rag of a "newspaper" should do what is best at and publish the "Adventures of Captain Albion" with picture of course, where it could vent its own version of news as they do now.

Labour has become irrelevant

 Hartlepool by election result May 6th 2021.

Conservative win with 15529 votes 51.9%.

Labour second with 8589 votes 28.7%

At the 2019 General election, the Labour party won with 37.7% with the Conservative candidate taking 28.9% of the vote.

Which ever way you look at it, this result was nothing short of a catastrophe for the Labour party, and yet only 2 days after the election which Labour lost for the first time in the Constituency's history, Keir Starmer is trotting out the usual clichés repeated by numerous Labour MP's since then and again with Alex Norris MP adding his cliché ridden response on television this morning. "We must reconnect with our traditional base", "We are not getting the message across", "we have a mountain to climb", etc etc The cant and hypocrisy rolls out thick and fast as Labour try to find some justification for the electoral humiliation of May 6th with scant success. They cannot now blame Jeremy Corbyn for this rout (though some are trying to do so even now) nor can they blame the Brexit fiasco which even now some are deeply regretting.

The real cause of this Labour meltdown in its traditional heartland is the performance of Keir Starmer and his obsequious followers, the Stalinist regime now installed within the Labour party hierarchy and machinery and not least of all, by the drive to return to the "good old days" of trying to be all things to all men. The defeat was brought about by the conspiracy within the PLP with their supporters in the media and certain members within the Labour party management structure at Party headquarters determined  to prevent Jeremy Corbyn from becoming Prime Minister at any cost in the 2019 general election. Assisted in this was the unrelenting smear campaign instigated by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Friends of Israel Lobbies, the Labour First clique and the IHRA definition of antisemitism and other Jewish lobbies, to ensure that Corbyn was removed from the position of Labour leader and a more acceptable person was installed in the post. This appeasement has resulted in the Lobbies and the PLP installing the leader that they wanted and the resultant drift towards "centralist" labour policies more associated with Blair, Brown, Campbell and Mandelson, which did not then nor do they now, bear any relationship to the desires and aspirations of working people and their families. The Brexit diversion has now gone, and Labour should look towards their true values rather that the values dictated by others.

Starmer and those who blindly follow him have only themselves to blame. Labour has been haemorrhaging members by the thousand each day since Starmer was elected. The Labour voter base in the so called "Red Wall" has collapsed as it has all over this country. The traditional Labour voters as well as those new voters entering the political arena desire new radical policies which address todays problems and issues. They do not want nor do they deserve a Labour party offering "Tory lite" policies addressing yesterdays values and outlook.

In this the Labour party is failing miserably in this task and are failing the people of this country. It has become in a very short time an irrelevant and obsolete faction, important only to a few people who speak to or for themselves, while the country cries out for leadership and opposition the Johnson and his gangsters in number 10.  

The Labour party as I knew it and for which I worked for many year has finally succumbed to self interest and insignificance. 

R I P

Postmasters wrongly convicted

Victory! Appeal court throws out postmaster convictions after years of injustice | Morning Star (morningstaronline.co.uk)

Appeal Court clears Postmasters after miscarriage of justice.

A victory for the sub postmasters who have been wrongly convicted in the greatest miscarriage of justice ever seen in this country. The Appeal Court in its judgement in favour of the sub postmasters found that “Throughout the period covered by these prosecutions Post Office Limited’s (POL’s) approach to investigation and disclosure was influenced by what was in the interests of POL, rather than by what the law required" adding that the convictions were “an affront to the conscience of the court.” The distress and financial hardships, and even prison sentences for some, had left innocent people with a criminal record, severe emotional trauma, the loss of their home and bankruptcies in a number of cases.

The cause of this travesty of justice was the introduction by the Post Office of a new computer system named Horizon, developed by the Japanese company Fujitsu, to be used in sub post offices for a variety of tasks including accounting and stocktaking. Almost from the start, it was evident that the system had significant problems  These problems caused the system to misreport transactions leading to money, sometimes large amounts, going "missing" from the sub postmasters accounts. The sub postmasters were unable to challenge the errors because they were unable to access information about the Horizon software. Consequently more than 900 prosecutions theft, fraud and false accounting were made against the sub postmasters. Following the convictions, some went to prison, were shunned by their communities and struggled to secure work. Some lost their homes, and even failed to get insurance owing to their convictions. Some have since died. The postmasters have always maintained that the computer system was at fault and that they were not responsible for any wrong doing.

Throughout this mockery, the Post Office and Fujitsu, maintained that there was nothing wrong with the Horizon system and that all the "missing money" was the result of criminal activity by  postmasters. It is now appears that a conspiracy existed between the Post office and Fujitsu as the DPP are considering whether there should be charges of perjury against officials who claimed in court there were no problems with Horizon, even though emails and other documents now suggest they knew that there were.

It really is completely unacceptable that the Post office should consider that an apology would compensate for the years of trauma, loss of homes, criminal convictions and years spent in prison. The Post office statement that "We sincerely apologise to the postmasters affected by our historical failures" adding "Throughout this appeals process we have supported the quashing of the overwhelming majority of these convictions and the judgment will be an important milestone in addressing the past."

There can be no question as to whether those responsible for this cover up should escape prosecution. In the same way that there must be no question as to compensation for the postmaster. However, no level of compensations can ever be enough to replace that which the postmasters have lost in reputation, livelihoods, financial loss and time in prison. It is even more tragic when we consider that some have died without knowing that their reputations and actions have been vindicated.

The actions of the Post Office and Fujitsu have been reprehensible throughout this travesty and they must be held accountable in law and in equity.

  

EUFA join the appeasement camp

 Holding a Palestinian Flag is not antiemetic!

I have been writing about the influence of Friends of Israel and other Jewish pressure groups/lobbies for some time. Even the slightest criticism of Israel, no matter how tenuous, has become a platform for those seeking to demonstrate how their stance on antisemitism is shown off as some sort of emblem of their integrity. The guilty conscience and subsequent appeasement by governments, political parties (particularly the Labour party), organisations and public bodies has become almost hysterical over recent years and is indicative of a very unhealthy attitude. It is incredible that this obsession now extends even into football. No matter what the IHRA definition of antisemitism may wish to impose on everyone, support for the Palestinians is NOT antisemitism. For UEFA now to fine a football club because their fans displayed Palestinian flags is atrocious, sickening and is a new low in the policy of appeasement. We have now passed the point where the principal for Free Speech has been corrupted to mean that people can exercise the right in all aspects of life, except where there is any mention of, or connection to Israel, in which case Free Speech is banned.

Insufficient Housing for rent

Provision of Social Housing.

A petition is currently circulating on social media from Liberal Council Andy Canning, calling for Dorset Council to use South Walks House, and other Dorset Council buildings that are currently surplus to requirements, to provide 100% affordable and social housing.  

I have not signed this petition.

Historically, Conservative Councils and Conservative governments have been opposed to social housing in any form. A comparison between the housing stock, maintenance facilities and new build shows a significant variation in the allocation of resources and actual performance. This imbalance between Conservative led councils and others including "NOC" councils goes back over many years.

Some time ago, when I was a member of the Basingstoke Borough Council, my group put down a motion critical of the Conservatives policy on council house provision, the growing number of families in the Borough waiting list in the Borough for council housing and demanding that the council take immediate action to substantially reduce the numbers on the waiting list. During the course of a heated debate, the ruling group's attitude towards council house tenants and those still on the waiting list for a home, was glaringly obvious as various members contributed to the arguments. Eventually the Conservative group (there was no overall control at that time) defeated our motion with the support of the Liberal group and some abstentions from "Independent" members.

The most atrocious and offensive contribution to the debate was when a Conservative member got to her feet and stated that there was in fact no waiting list problem. She went on to say that it was just a matter of time before the list was reduced in any case. Her reasoning for this ridiculous assertion was that natural selection would provide that as disabled people moved out of houses and that as older people passed on, a stock of houses would become available for those on the waiting list to move in. The benches in the chamber, particularly from my group erupted with howls of derision, shock and anger and at this heinous comment from an elected member of the council.

This incident has remained with me as a graphic reminder of the callous and soulless reminder that no matter what lip service  Conservative's may pay to the plight of homeless or people waiting for social housing, the bottom line is that they are indifferent to the problem. In this, from that day when the Liberals supported the conservatives and from subsequent experience, I also have little sympathy for Liberals who invariably express concern but support policies which are no better than conservatives. 

Fire and Rehire. The employers have the whip hand.

 ‘Fire and rehire’ tactics rife at firms that are in profit and claiming Covid cash | Employment law | The Guardian

Hundreds of British Gas workers have been sacked in the latest "Fire and Rehire "dispute, where employees are forced to accept new contracts with longer hours and reduced pay. The alternative to signing the new contracts of employment is to be dismissed by the employer who is then able to recruit a new workforce on the poorer conditions. This is an deplorable tactic which of course is condoned by the government who at the same time mutter weasel words of criticism of the company's action but do nothing to remove this abusive practice by employers using this stratagem.

British Gas however compound this assault on working people by issuing a patronising statement to justify their action as if seeking some sympathy for sackings.   

British Gas:

“While change is difficult, reversing our decline which has seen us lose over three million customers, cut over 15,000 jobs and seen profits halved over the last 10 years is necessary.”

The last part of this British Gas Statement says it all. As with most disputes, this one is all about the company, in this case Centrica, seeking to maintain or preferably increase profits, and it is always at the expense of its workers. Throughout the history of working practices, and particularly since the Industrial Revolution. the struggle between the workers and the employers has predominately revolved around pay and conditions. With the Repeal of the Combination Act, it became possible for workers to organise and become members of an appropriate Union. Since then, many unscrupulous employers aided and abetted by successive conservative governments, have sought new ways to ensure that the employee remains in a subservient position and should be  "grateful" to have a job. 

This current dispute is only one of the disputes involving companies who have profited from government support during the Covid crisis. Recent reports suggest that 9 of the 13 private employers threatening to dismiss and re-engage staff on worse contracts have managed to maintain healthy profit margins, with some even increasing executive pay. British Gas reported profits of £80 million in its last update and Centrica, the parent company of British Gas received £27million under the governments "Job Retention Scheme".

This atrocious policy must be attacked and opposed by the Trade Union movement as a whole and the Labour party in particular exposing this as yet another example of iniquitous behaviour by employers. With particular reference to the Labour Party, they must loudly declare that this Fire and Rehire practice will be banned under legislation to stop the abuse, by any future Labour government.  

British Government opposed to ICC investigation.

 Palestine condemns Boris Johnson for opposing ICC Israel investigation | Palestinian territories | The Guardian

The extent to which the influence of the Friends of Israel and other Jewish lobbies have become dominant in British political life or in society is both shocking and alarming. This time it is none other than Bozo Boris himself who is leaning over backwards to appease the Conservative Friends of Israel, with his assurance that his "government  opposed this particular inquiry into Israel" adding that “This investigation gives the impression of being a partial and prejudicial attack on a friend and ally of the UK’s,” He was of course referring to the  International Criminal Court investigation into alleged war crimes in the Israeli-occupied territories. His pathetic reasoning for this stance is that  “Israel is not a party to the statute of Rome [that established the court] and Palestine is not a sovereign state”. In addition, he endorses Benjamin Netanyahu's statement, no doubt agreed by the Americans, that Israel rejected the case as “undiluted antisemitism and the height of hypocrisy”.

With the United States, the United Kingdom and of course Israel. the investigation is unlikely to take place, but even if it does, any findings will be totally ignored on both sides of the Atlantic. In the face of all the evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, the West Bank and thought-out the Occupied territories The British Government follows the dogma of appeasement to Israel regardless of circumstances,

Why is it that the collective guilty conscience surrounding the Holocaust remains so prevalent in the western world and in fact seems to be growing stronger as time passes?

We have seen how the activities of these lobbies has in recent years influenced the structure of political parties, the foreign policies of nations and not least of all the way in which legislation has been enacted in this country to effectively ban any criticism of Israel and to criminalise anyone deemed to be acting or speaking in any way which can be labelled as antiemetic, no matter how tenuous a link may be.

It is a frightening fact that Israel and those who support Israel, can do nothing wrong and we have given them carte blanche to carry on with the obscene policies towards Palestinians and others, as decreed in Tel Aviv. This acquiescence will return to haunt us all in the future