This is Northumberland Calling 07.06.24

The Manifestly Manifestos or the devil is in the fine print edition

Hello American (Particularly Central Ohio) this is Northumberland Calling

T’was the week of the manifesto – the promises which political parties make about the policies they will enact if they form the next government. If it is in the manifesto, this is the direction of travel. The voter cannot say that they weren’t warned. ‘But it was in the manifesto…’

First up the Conservatives.  Motto: Clear Plan, Bold Action, Secure Future  They are expected to lose badly but are very sound on women’s issues. Sunak went to the G7 summit and hugged ‘that B!tch Meloni’ as the woman of the hour after the EU elections has been known to call herself.  The pictures that reveal the special relationship between Sunak and Meloni – but is it about to end? (telegraph.co.uk) or https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/06/13/the-full-story-of-sunak-and-melonis-special-relationship/: The pictures that reveal the special relationship between Sunak and Meloni – but is it about to end? (archive.ph)

https://manifesto.conservatives.com/

LibDems didn’t make a splash, although the leader Ed Davey fell into the water several times. They reaffirmed their commitment to trans activists issues such as self id. https://www.libdems.org.uk/manifesto/live

The Greens promised lots but had to change the short version because they promised to end HIV transmission by 2030 and pictured a coughing man next to the promise. AIDS and other HIV related illnesses are not spread through coughing. https://www.greenparty.org.uk/app/uploads/2024/06/Green-Party-2024-General-Election-Manifesto-Short-version.pdf

Reform with Nigel Farage did a silent 5 minute  tv broadcast which said Britain is broken. Britain needs Reform.  Reform is apparently poised to do well. I don’t trust the polling (for example they say a significant proportion would vote Reform in the Hexham constituency except no Reform candidate is standing)

https://www.reformparty.uk/

Labour went last and its motto was Change. Maybe change its mind?  Some of the policies are incoherent. They are going to fully implement Cass but also are going to put in a full trans inclusive conversion therapy ban. The Cass Review said that therapists and others were worried about being caught up in such ban. They have made no mention on if they are going to continue with the reforms to the teaching of RSHE etc. They will only commit to increasing the defence spending up to 2.5% at some point in the future. Labour are widely expected to win and win big.

They are also not ruling out putting capital gains on family homes. Some people are already nervous about their plans to put VAT on private school fees. The fact that this will result in more children in over crowded state schools seems to have passed them by.  https://labour.org.uk/updates/stories/labour-manifesto-2024-sign-up/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/06/13/labour-pledges-to-ban-conversion-therapy-election-manifesto/ or https://archive.ph/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/06/13/labour-pledges-to-ban-conversion-therapy-election-manifesto/

An anecdote I heard from a friend who is standing for the Party for Women (a small party hoping to bring more awareness to women’s issues) – after doing a hustings, she went to shake the Labour candidate’s hand, the woman reluctantly shook her hand and told my friend she disagreed with everything that she had said. One of the points was about the need to implement Cass…

Last Saturday’s rescue of the four hostages was an  unexpected joy. As this full account in the Jewish Chronicle shows, it was as exciting as any tv show like Fauda.  Under cover agents staking out and confirming the hostages whereabouts, the commandos getting ready to storm, the fire fight with the terrorists  and the aftermath. https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/the-inside-story-of-israels-dramatic-gaza-hostage-rescue-e2t1d8qu

The anti-woke police chief who is getting results in Manchester:  Stephen Watson. He has tackled crime rates and restored a sense of pride to the demoralised force with a back to basics approach. One step he took was to get new uniforms, expensive ones instead polyester rip offs. His initiatives are working and crime is down.  Funny that.   https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/11/how-manchester-anti-woke-police-chief-tackled-crime-rates/ or https://archive.ph/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/11/how-manchester-anti-woke-police-chief-tackled-crime-rates/

A play set for the Edinburgh fringe  which  claims  to explore JK Rowling’s gender critical views in a negative manner and has already caused outrage with its use of a slur in the title is struggling to find actresses willing to play the female roles. Apparently 90 actresses have already declined. No word on if they will attempt to fill the roles with trans women… https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/13/scores-actresses-turn-down-roles-play-critical-jk-rowling/ or https://archive.ph/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/13/scores-actresses-turn-down-roles-play-critical-jk-rowling/

Three of the injured horses will be taking part in the Trooping of the Colour this weekend. The two most injured horses, Vida and Quaker have made a full recovery but remain recuperating at the Horses Trusts and will be there as long as they need to be.  The king will  inspect the 1,400 troops from a carriage. There is no word on if the Princess of Wales will make an appearance (some are hopeful that she will appear briefly on the balcony).  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/13/bolted-horse-will-take-part-in-trooping-the-colour/  or  https://archive.ph/m4zO2

This from the British Army gives the background to this year’s Trooping of the Colour including info on the Irish Guards, the music which will be played and the time of the 41 gun salute (12:52 pm) . https://www.army.mod.uk/news-and-events/news/2024/06/trooping-the-colour-for-the-kings-birthday-parade-15-june-2024/

Here my editor should be sending my revisions for Secret Princess for the Warrior soon.

Paddy after paddling, slight more dignity than the Lib Dem leader

Paddy had a good week – paddling in the Tyne and meeting a friend’s labradoodle. They were so fast friends. Paddy then spent most of the day asleep.

Rather than being hot or even mildly warm, June is cold and wet. I did however manage to get into the bees and prevented a swarm by creating an artificial swarm on Saturday. The new hive with the old queen is back where the old hive was. The old hive with its single queen cell has been moved to a new location. Some of the bees will return to the old hive location but the nurse bees etc will stay with the brood. Both hives received some food. At this rate though I do not think it will be a good honey year. If the bees can’t fly due to the rain, they can’t collect the nectar. They also have to expend more energy keeping the hive warm.

Hopefully everyone else’s week was a good one. I look forward to seeing you in the comments.

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