The Irony of Runnymede

Spiked have been running an excellent series of articles and held a fantastic talk in the run up to the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. The video of the talk is well worth your time to watch, and I’d say they’ve probably done a better job of celebrating the anniversary than the Magna Carta 800th group who have all sorts of sponsorship but who even at this late hour are still saying: “An official ceremony to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta will take place on Runnymede Meadows on 15 June 2015. Surrey County Council and … Continue reading

Medic-alert not exactly a radical idea

Today I witnessed what could only be described as a furious shitstorm via my lesser used Facebook feed. It contains a vast majority of highly opinionated, self-righteous do-gooders and as such I tend to avoid checking in and reading it. But today was not one of those days and I logged in to find a steady stream of outrage regarding the comments made by Chamali Fernando, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Cambridge. For those who haven’t yet read the story, it can be read here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/calls-for-conservative-parliamentary-candidate-chamali-fernando-to-stand-for-saying-mentally-ill-people-could-wear-wristbands-10176267.html And here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-england-32299433 And also here: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridge-candidates-clash-claims-people-mental/story-26329803-detail/story.html You get the gist. Almost every article almost … Continue reading

Of Flags and Chavs and charters

Once more it seems Labour are in the news for thinking that flying the English flag is racist, now the article concerned is an old one but signs are the view it expresses isn’t. Though of course the candidate concerned has since claimed they no longer hold those views, but as that’s rejected when it comes to UKIP candidates and the like I see no reason to accept it from a candidate for one of the established parties. The article has prompted Mr Farage to say that “Labour hate England”. I think he’s actually wrong on that and also doesn’t … Continue reading