WOKEISM MUST BE REJECTED.

Watching the magnificent Stanley Kubrick epic, 'Spartacus', one is tempted to wonder how far back in time wokeish revisionism might stretch.

The Roman Empire covered much of Europe as well as parts of north Africa and the modern day Middle East. It was barbaric and forced many millions into the most appalling slavery; gladiators were habitually forced to fight to the death for the gratification of the free populace as well as for the pleasure of the elite. Some unfortunate souls were literally "thrown to the lions" and other beasts. Compared with the activities of the much later British Empire, the Romans, modern day Italians, were a hundred, even a thousand, times worse.

And yet it is the British and their empire which attract the constant attention of the woke extremists. It is the British who are vilified for their part in the slave trades of, particularly, the 18th and early 19th centuries; that thousands of white British citizens were subject to virtual slavery for centuries before this, it is the trade in African slaves that dominates all else. Why is this ?

Surely it is because the wokeish revisionists are not so interested in the basic issues as in destroying our modern society in favour of their own Marxist agenda. They care not for slaves, only for how slavery can be used as a weapon in their ultra-left wing campaign against the capitalist societies which they despise and are desperate to destroy; should they ever succeed, God help those who oppose them, of whatever colour or creed they may be. This is the reality of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement as well as of other recent upwellings such as "Extinction Rebellion" and "Insulate Britain"; it is the reality of those behind the promotion of the climate goblin, Greta Thunberg, who appears too naive to understand that she is simply a convenient tool for people who have a much darker agenda.

Even today, slavery remains in force in many countries, acknowledged or not, while genocide is in progress in China and other places. In many countries, women have few, if any. rights; in some countries, barbaric punishments such as the amputation of hands and feet remain in force, while it is not uncommon for there to be stonings or burnings to death of supposed blasphemers, carried out by fanatical mobs without the intervention of any form of legal process. Why do such atrocities escape the attention of the so-moral Woke ?

Strangely, the Woke brigade seems to ignore all of this and concentrates its fire on the British and one or or two other Western democracies that have done more to promote the rights of the coloured, the underprivileged and disadvantaged, the disabled and every other imaginable 'minority' group, even when these 'minorities' are, in truth, majorities. Western money poured into the bottomless pit that is Africa, is condemned, while Chinese money is welcomed - why ?

Woke ideology movements such as BLM, XR and all the rest are simply covers for a Marxist assault on the Western world. They must be rejected, repulsed by whatever means are available, not pandered to by governments which seem far too keen to jump on any passing bandwagon that makes enough noise. Noise is not public opinion, nor is Twitter; it is the ravings of a minority and should be treated as such. In the end, it is the 'Silent Majority' that will speak, and it's words may not be those which those blown so easily by the wind will wish to hear, let alone be prepared for.

The elite, which is Wokeish by nature, knows this and will take steps to introduce authoritarian measures to prevent it from happening. Either we act very soon, or we are lost.

TIME TO END THE COVID HYSTERIA.

As the Welsh and Scottish 'governments' impose evermore restrictive and authoritarian rules for dealing with the COVID epidemic, and specifically the so-called 'Omicron' variant, while the UK government seems unable to decide what to do for the best, what do we really know about what is going on ?

The 'Omicron' variant of the COVID-19 virus is probably more infectious than earlier variants. It may cause less severe symptoms, less hospitalisations and less deaths, or it may not. We also know that the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions or who are immunosuppressed for any reason are much more likely to be severely affected by all the COVID variants. 'Omicron' may be less susceptible to control by the existing vaccinations though a third 'booster' dose appears to provide quite strong protection.

That's it.

Beyond these few facts, all else is theory, derived from an assortment of modelling and associated projections made by fearful medics, scientists and politicians. The inevitable and real consequences of the often highly restrictive policies they implement seem to be ignored in favour of dealing with a theoretical threat in a draconian way.

Even today, as we live under the threat of yet another lock down, there are reports that the Omicron variant may already be waning; even if it is not, the numbers of hospitalisations and deaths being reported are not rising. Yes, the number of positive tests reported each day are at very high levels but so are the number of tests being carried out daily. Shockingly, it is only the first of these metrics which is ever mentioned, potentially producing a highly misleading and biased picture. 

And so we are told to wear masks, isolate, avoid socialising - basically, to give up any sort of normal life. Schools have been shut, universities defraud their students, pubs and restaurants are on their knees and half the workforce has converted its kitchen into a home office. ID cards, in all but name, have been threatened, even introduced in some parts, under the cover of calling them 'Vaccine Passports'. he police have been diverted from tackling real crime, if they ever do that any more, to tracking down those who dare to defy the new anti-COVID masterplan. 

While all this goes on, thousands upon thousands of people are being denied access to essential medical services and huge numbers of cancer diagnoses are being missed. Thousands of businesses are simply going out of business as their employees are forced to isolate or their customers are told not to visit. Our high streets are empty as retailers close, never to reopen, and their customers are forced to use the online services of the likes of Amazon. 

It seems that the government has adopted an approach of maximum caution even though the evidence in favour of this is scant. In reality, the sooner COVID, of any variant, is free to circulate, the sooner the epidemic will be over. Yes, there will be deaths but how many of these will be directly and solely due to COVID ? Another piece of information that we don't know as our masters have chosen not to share the historic data with us.

It is time for the UK government to get a grip and take proper control. COVID is a risk but it's not dangerous for the vast majority of the population; lockdowns and isolation, lack of access to healthcare and economic bankruptcy are.

TIME TO END THE NONSENSE OF 'TRANS'.

I think I've now heard more than enough about the absurdity of 'trans'.

The human species has 2 sexes, or genders - male and female. That's it. The idea that someone can 'change sex' is ludicrous and simply trying to confuse the issue by claiming that sex and gender are different things makes no sense whatsoever.

Of course, there are a very few people who are unfortunate enough to be born with a genetic abnormality which can cause them to be 'intersex', that is, to have a mixture of both male and female sex characteristics but these people are not 'trans'. They are usually treated medically or surgically, or both, to give them the appearance and overall characteristics of one or other of the 2 human sexes.

Equally, there are people who claim to have been born in the "wrong body" and can and do undergo treatments to adopt the form of the opposite sex. Whatever these people do in terms of cosmetic alterations to their bodies and however they live their lives subsequently, they remain male or female as they were at birth and as they always will be, no matter what pieces of paper they have been issued with to say anything different.

To be clear, I have no problem with people living their lives as they wish to, so long as they don't interfere with or annoy anyone else. However, I do have a problem with these 'trans' numpties who demand all manner of special rights and privileges, deny biological facts and generally make a bloody nuisance of themselves. That major organisations, including public and private bodies, seem so keen to kowtow and accommodate their every whim actually annoys me even more than the individuals themselves as without this bonkers acceptance of lunacy the whole 'trans' issue would surely fade away.

We die as we were born, whatever clothes we wear in the years between. 'Trans' is total nonsense and it's time those in authority said so, loud and clear.

ENGLISH CRICKET ON THE ROPES

Former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has taken a pot shot at England's current skipper, Joe Root, posing the question as to why he is captain.

Thus far, the performance of the England team in the Ashes series taking place in Australia has been abysmal. Apart from a couple of decent innings from Root and Dawid Malan, England have been utterly outplayed in all departments - batsmen like rabbits in the headlights, dropped catches, poor bowling strategy, inexplicable selection - all issues which a truly involved and competent captain would be addressing. But not, it seems, Joe Root.

Comparing Root's demeanour and behaviour on the field with that of Mike Brearley, even if Brearley was around 40 years ago, is educational. While Brearley was involved with his players, moving around the field at speed, talking at length with his bowlers as they walked back to their marks and racing back to his own position before they delivered, Root seems, literally, rooted to the spot. He stands at slip looking miserable and constantly bemused; rather than exhibiting confidence and energy, he looks fearful and worn out. Compared with Brearley and others of his predecessors, Ray Illingworth and Michael Vaughan spring immediately to mind, Root is nowhere in sight. 

Yes, he is a fine batsman, but being a fine batsman does not make him a good captain. In truth, he is  not a captain although this is only one of England's problems. Geriatric fast bowlers, poor fielding and a weak batting lineup don't help either. Some have complained that the England player's had too little preparation for this series, but whose fault is that ? Not the players themselves, for sure, but a system which tries to shoe horn far too many test matches, ODIs and 20-20s into too short a period, while having abandoned the once traditional round of games against local sides, in the case of a tour of Australia, 3 or 4-day matches against the various states and an assortment of other preparatory games. In that system, the touring players had every chance to become acclimatised, but no more. Today's players are simply thrown into test matches with little more than net practice.

The consequence of this, added to the astonishing mess that is English domestic cricket, is what we've seen in Australia in the last 2 or 3 weeks - the utter humiliation of England by a dominant and confident Australian team. England's problems go deep and a 5-0 whitewash is surely on the cards, unless the weather, or COVID, intervene. Maybe that will stir something amongst the moribund mob that make up the ECB, though I doubt it. 

ANGELA RAYNER - FISHWIFE

Labour Party Deputy Leader Angela Rayner refers to the Conservatives as "scum", "racist", "homophobic" and "misogynistic". Fine language indeed for anyone who holds high office and aims for still higher.

To me, this language simply confirms my previous view of Ms Rayner. She is a typical northern fishwife, harpy and harridan who has no place on the stage of a major political party; she is far more suited to a soap box on a street corner.

However bad the government has been in recent weeks and months, voting for a party that holds the likes of Ms Rayner in high regard is impossible. Her attitude and views are entirely class based - she despises those whom she considers 'middle class' and hates with a vengeance the 'upper class'. Anyone of 'working class' who may have voted for the Conservatives in the past is a 'class traitor'. 

Astonishingly, this woman also talks about uniting people; how hypocritical can she be ?

God help the country if she was ever to gain any real power.

EMMA RADUCANU - ROLE MODEL PAR EXCELLENCE !

A few short weeks ago a teenaged schoolgirl recently sitting her 'A'-Levels and previously unknown except to her close family and a few in the tennis world, caused some ripples in the early rounds of the Wimbledon Championships. This girl had promise and, as she was British and really successful British players have been few and far between, she made news until an unfortunate exit from the Championships with breathing difficulties. "Did she have the bottle", asked some ? "Was she just a flash in the pan", asked others ?

Yesterday, this former schoolgirl proved that she both had 'the bottle' and was no 'flash in the pan'. Emma Raducanu, who had been ranked outside of the world's top 350 only 3 months ago, achieved what had never been done before. This young woman, no longer to be seen as a teenaged schoolgirl, came through 3 rounds of qualifying plus the 7 rounds of the main tournament without losing a set and rarely losing her serve, and lifted the trophy signifying that she had won the United States Women's Singles' Tennis Championship. In only her 4th event on the Women's main tour, and 2nd Grand Slam event, she achieved what had been considered impossible.

Never before had a player, man or woman, who had come through the qualification rounds of a Grand Slam tournament even reached the final of such an event, let alone won it without conceding a single set upon the way. Never before had such an inexperienced player won a major championship. Emma Raducanu's achievement is mind-boggling. Now set to be ranked as the 23rd best player in the world, she will be seeded and amongst the favourites for whichever events she enters in the next few months at least. Qualifying for events is a thing of the past.

When it comes to Grand Slams, if she maintains her form and position, she will surely be among the favourites to win the Australian title next January, if the tournament goes ahead. At the French championship it may be that the game of yesterday's opponent, and another brilliantly talented teenager, Leylah Fernandez, could prove to be better suited to the Paris clay, but her performance at this year's Wimbledon suggests that grass suits her.

For the first time in 44 years, a British woman won a Grand Slam tournament, the last such triumph being that of Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977, the year of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. There can be no doubt that an 18 year old Raducanu can only improve and that further Grand Slam victories may well be within her grasp but, perhaps, to win Wimbledon in 2022, the year of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee would be a most wonderful way to celebrate both the life long dedication of Her Majesty and the amazing promise of the next generation, and the next, and the next ........ .

Win or lose, this young woman is astonishing. Her calm maturity on court in front of a vast crowd, mostly supporting her opponent added to her equally calm manner before the stern eye and ear of the media mark her out as a woman of extraordinary abilities. After yesterday a millionaire and a global sensation; in the future and if she can continue in the same vein, the world is truly her oyster. 

If anyone needed a role model, male or female, they need look no further.

NOW 'BIG BROTHER' THREATENS OUR FOOD.

Drip, drip, drip.

There was a time when people were allowed to take responsibility for their own lives, to make decisions about their children and what they ate, who they liked and what they said. No longer it seems.

We've already been subjected to ludicrous laws around the various 'hate crimes', laws which effectively require police, judges and juries to decide the motivations of offenders by inferring their thought processes. A variety of words which were commonplace in my youth, words that may have been intended as offensive but were frequently used without malice, have now been effectively banned and anyone using them may well find themselves with police knocking on the door. Our children are no longer educated in traditional subjects or ways but are indoctrinated with a mish-mash of left wing ideologies, while parents are powerless to intervene. 

Increasingly, responsibility for children and their welfare has moved from parents to the State with ever greater state provision for nursery care and 'free' school meals while a myriad of rules and regulations now control what children can and can't do as well as who can be trusted to be with them.

Today, the latest piece of potential state sponsored nonsense has hit the headlines in the shape of a National Food Strategy. Ostensibly intended to tackle inherent poor diets and obesity, the strategy proposes that government should impose taxes on whatever foodstuffs are considered to be unhealthy, while our GP's should offer prescriptions for fruit and vegetables to those in need. That the strategy, produced by Henry Dimbleby, a grandson of the less than svelte Richard, is a step, actually several miles, too far seems to have been the reaction of many, not least Prime Minister Boris Johnson who has reportedly said that he does not find the idea of taxes on food 'attractive'.

To my mind, taxes should never be attractive, Taxes should only ever be essential and should never be used to impose particular behaviours on the populace. It is morally wrong to try to promote any particular action by way of financial rewards or disincentives and it is a grotesque misuse of government authority so to do, at least in a democracy.

By all means, government should encourage people to adopt safe and healthy lifestyles but they should only ever do so by way of education and information. Any other approach smacks of the methods of the Chinese Communist Party and George Orwell's 'Big Brother' society.

We all have free choice in how we live our lives and if we choose to make wrong choices, so be it. It is not for governments to promote, or even enforce, whatever happens to be the latest faddish nonsense. Today's fad too often turns out to be tomorrow's catastrophe and governments should get on with running the country, not telling us all how to live our lives. Or do we all want to live in the ultimate 'Nanny State' ?