One of the homes of Angela Rayner was defaced recently with graffiti calling her a 'Tax Evader' and a 'Bitch'. That has now been removed, the removal paid for by another local resident. Banksy has defaced a wall at the Royal Courts of Justice (presumably captured on CCTV) with an image of a Judge physically attacking a protester. His graffiti has now been "covered up". And it will later be "removed" - as in taken away intact. Why has it not been cleaned off, in the same way that the messages defacing Angela Rayner's property have been cleaned off? Because Banksy claims to be an artist, he is allowed to break the law. And the Police who should be looking for the guy to arrest him, are stood next to his covered up piece of criminal damage, protecting it. Rank hypocrisy.
The great majority of tube drivers are in ASLEF, and are not on strike. It's the station staff who are on strike, and it's mostly about shifts. Lazy journalism right across the media, from the Daily Mail to the BBC.
Unfortunately I think many people are too tired of the whole sorry business to care if it's ASLEF or the RMT that is ruining their working days. This 32 hour week ruse is really getting people's goat. All tarred with the same brush. On another subject, methinks it's time we appointed a new Ambassador to the United States; https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/c98e48wzpz7t Peter Mandelson is now nothing more than an embarrassment. Keir Starmer could pitch Reform UK a curve ball by offering it to Nigel Farage? That would stir things up. Or failing that, perhaps Boris Johnson? Trump would love that
It can only be about the hours they are 'working'. For the money they get paid they should have the powers to tackle fare evaders, instead of just having a chat by the barriers whilst they slide through unchallenged. Money for old rope.
There's more than that to it, but because it's not reported we have to guess. I was listening to one of the strikers explain and changed my point of view.
I understand now that the 'mural' has been scrubbed off the wall. Treated as what it was - criminal damage In my view no different from graffiti that has defaced the Cenotaph in the past, or the statue of Winston Churchill. I can recognise the need of some would-be artists to express themselves in unconventional ways. But the Law of the Land must apply to to everyone, or it means nothing. If anyone chooses to break the law they must accept the consequences. The anonymous artist could simply create his statements on canvass, or other surfaces that belong to him if he so wished. Now as I mentioned earlier I can't believe that Banksy was not caught on CCTV creating his 'artwork'. The Royal Courts of Justice must be among the best defended, most completely monitored sites in London. Get after him and have him up before a beak. That would be poetic justice, I'm sure he would agree.
Another dark day for civilised society. Whether your name is Charlie Kirk or Martin Luther King, you should be able to speak what you believe without being silenced by a bullet. The only legitimate test of philosophy or ideology is reasoned argument. Not cancellation. And certainly never assassination. Violence - employed either to support a political / cultural / religious viewpoint or to attack it - is never justified. That is a cornerstone of freedom and peaceful coexistence.
The driver had phoned LBC to deny all the stories about greedy drivers demanding a "whopping great pay rise" and a 32 hour week. He wasn’t on strike because the strike was nothing to do with ASLEF, which nearly all drivers are member of. The staff member who phoned later explained that the grievance was mainly about shift pattern, late finishes, 1.30ish and early starts 5-ish. I've done shift work and it is anti-social, but if it hadn't been, I'd have been paid less, so swings and roundabouts. That's why I have limited sympathy for them. I've been on strike myself a few times and they never get properly reported. The worst time was when Adam Crozier was running Royal Mail, and funnily enough when he was replaced by Moya Green, who had experience of successfully running a national Mail service, the Industrial unrest stopped. Crozier's ideas were impractical and Alan Johnson knew it.
There's plenty of sleaze to go around at the moment... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3qww29146o Angela Raynrer, £40 grand tax unpaid. Boris Johnson's Conservatives, possibly £millions in illegal donations from a Syrian arms deal fixer All good news for Nigel... except https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce845w70g0yo Oh no!
Another mistake by Sir Keir. Milord Mandy, sacked twice from government now mired in the Epstein scandal, still Starmer defending the indefensible.
For a moment I thought it was Starmer! He opens his mouth and words come out. He's a dead man walking, surely.
Deplorable judgment by Starmer. Ambassador to the US should be above reproach. The "diligence" done on Mandelson must have been a joke. Rubber stamp. The usual excuses are coming out; "the emails where Mandy says Epstein's conviction is 'wrongful' are from an old account nobody has access to anymore". Yeah, of course they are. Still makes our ex-Ambassador a bare faced liar. And his Prime Minister a fool. This is another step towards an early General Election in my opinion. 2027. Utterly gobsmacking after Labour's biggest majority ever.
Starmer's record on integrity is as defunct as Rishi Sunak's. The British People voted for change in 2024 - NOT more of the same. Labour have self-destructed in 15 months. Incredible.
Whatever the opinions are, what is happening on the streets of the UK is down to the Government, no more no less. As for Khan, he is a disgusting individual. To be in his position and acting the way he does is beyond words.