Gerrymander

Jeremy Hunt has defended the UK’s long standing relationship with Saudi Arabia despite recent atrocities, including a bomb landing on a school bus, in Yemen. Hunt said that the relationship helps to ‘keep the streets of Britain safe’, because of the intelligence passed on between the two countries. The civilian death toll in Yemen is growing by the day, and the conflict has been known as the ‘Forgotten War’ because of the lack of UK Government interest. UK companies make billions from selling arms, used in the conflict to massacre civilians, hit £1.1bn in 2017.

Gerry doesn’t think that the Saudis make the starving Yemenis much safer, and that the government is just looking for money…

Gerry commented earlier about the ruling part of the Labour Party refusing to support a second referendum, to go with their largely working class vote, which heavily voted leave. The metropolitan side is left polarised. Ayesha Hazarika, the Ed Miliband advisor turned comedian (make what you will) has backed a second referendum, as have Chuka Umunna, who is chairman of the People’s Vote campaign.

 

Gerry suspects that this supposed centrist party may be forming…

The sales of the Spectator, Gerry’s magazine of choice, have it an all time record high. This is very good news, considering the concern over what digital media would do to such mags. An obviously chuffed editor, Fraser Nelson, spread the word:

Sales of The Spectator broke through an all-time high three years ago, and we’ve kept growing ever since. The latest industry figures, for the first half of the year, are out today – and I’m delighted to say that it’s our best-ever start to any year. Our worldwide sales averaged 71,102 in the first half of this year, up 1,939 from the same period last year. This is our preferred figure: copies that people buy for themselves. Add other forms of circulation (samples, and copies bought by the more discerning airlines for their passengers), split out print-and-digital bundles, and the headline figure calculated by ABC, the industry auditor, stands at 102,866.

You can subscribe here…

The Buckingham Balti House, which is just off Victoria Street and therefore in very close proximity to the Mother of Parliaments, has closed, after a little dithering online. First and foremost, it was very nice curry house when Gerry visited, so Yours Truly is a bit melancholy. Secondly, all the experienced politicos among you will know the importance of a good Indian and plots…

The Cinnamon Club is certainly on the expensive side…

After Barry  Gardiner’s intervention on Radio 4 yesterday, it seems that the Labour Party are giving the same message as Theresa May, no Customs Union, no Single Market, let’s just get the hell out of here. Tim Shipman of the Sunday Times says it’s ‘very hard to see how the Labour front bench is going to back a People’s Vote.’

Gerry would only vote for someone who is bored of this daily debacle and concentrates on something else for the sanity of us all…

The super trendy former Greek Finance Minister and leather jacket wearing extraordinaire Yanis Varoufakis has said that ‘socialism is in retreat, as it deserves to be, because we socialists have messed up big time, for decades if not a century at least.

Honest words from an honest man, Gerry thinks…

Gerry is a massive fan of Auntie Beeb and knows that none of these people actually do the whole news thing per se, but here they are:

Tracey Ullmann, Tracey Breaks the News

Gary Lineker, Match of the Day

Armando Iannucci, The Thick of It

Steve Coogan, creator of Alan Partridge

Gabby Logan, sports commentator

Deborah Meaden and Duncan Bannatyne, Dragon’s Den

Apparently the execs didn’t like Lineker’s announcement…

 

Gerry knows that this is silly season, but some members of the Twittosphere seemed to have got extremely bored. Dawn Butler, the Labour Shadow Cabinet member, has critisiced Jamie Oliver for his apparent cultural appropriation over jerk rice. Butler said:

‘I’m just wondering do you know what Jamaican jerk actually is? It’s not just a word you put before stuff to sell products. Levi Roots should  do a masterclass. Your jerk rice is not OK. This appropriation from Jamaica needs to stop.’

Deputy Tory Party Chairman James Cleverly also seems to have finished watching Nordic-noir series on Netflix and has had an argument with Butler about the many things that this country has taken from other cultures, a ‘defining feature of British culture.’

Gerry wonders if they could stop bickering for just one day…

Barry Gardiner has said that having a second referendum would give ‘succour to the far right’ and challenge the ‘democratic principles’ of the UK. The Shadow International Trade Secretary said that a vote could lead to violence on the streets, in a move that could easily polarise metropolitan Labour voters in favour of a second vote, Gerry thinks.

At least he knows what he thinks…