This is Northumberland Calling 14.7.23

The Oh Look there is a squirrel say the British media edition

Happy Bastille Day. Hopefully the French can avoid manning the barricades this weekend and enjoy their national day.

This week, the British media were obsessed with who was the unnamed BBC presenter who had been contacting young boys and soliciting photos as per the story in the Sun and the complaint by the parents to the BBC? The answer (after feverish speculation where various presenters ruled themselves out) was Huw Edwards. His wife issued a statement on Wednesday after Edwards was hospitalized for severe depression.  In the meantime, several more young people have come forward, as well as several junior staff members. It is a grubby tale and deflected much attention away from other stories. I don’t hold with conspiracy theories but rather that the British media, in particular the BBC and ITV are obsessed with British media stories because it is a relatively small circle of people. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/13/bbc-huw-edwards-scandal-colleagues-secret-investigation/ or https://archive.is/DFvoS

The Dutch government fell  over a deep division about  limiting migration which means the very experienced Dutch prime minister is now available for either a top job in NATO or the EU.  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/07/07/dutch-government-mark-rutte-ministers-clash-migration/ or https://archive.is/m8ti4

Biden met with the king and looked about ten years older than Charles. If the Fortnam & Mason Coronation tea was served, it is an exceptionally pleasant tea. Apparently Biden was v hands on with the king which surprised the king as it is not usual protocol for anyone to touch the monarch in that fashion. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/07/10/joe-biden-uk-tour-rishi-sunak-king-charles-climate-change/ or https://archive.is/njdcC

At the NATO summit Turkey decided not to block Sweden’s membership and British defence minister told Ukraine that the UK was not Amazon. All in all NATO rediscovered its purpose.  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/12/nato-has-rediscovered-its-purpose-in-vilnius/ or https://archive.is/jtLaR

The Chinese have infiltrated most  academic institutions in the UK, according the Security Intelligence committee. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/07/13/how-beijing-influence-british-universities-china-academia/  or https://archive.is/E9Kze

The Times take on  the Chinese story, leading with the fact that China tried to insert its spies in the British secret services : https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/china-spies-secret-services-szm2b0ct0 or https://archive.is/ePq1j  or https://archive.is/ePq1j

The person who called on TERFs to be punched in the throat has been arrested. The person in question was out on licence, having been convicted of attempted murder as well as kidnapping and torture (two separate incidents). The incitement was a clear breach of the licence the person was released on. It is expected the person will be returned to prison until the parole board is convinced the person truly understands the nature of the licence.  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/13/woman-arrested-london-trans-pride-tells-punch-terfs-in-face/ or https://archive.is/pFlP1

There is a dig at Waterloo battle site and they are trying to find where the bodies were buried. There is a legend that Belgiums ground up the bones and used them for fertilizer which is grim. The dig is also a chance for veterans and serving soldiers to do something to help combat PTSD.  https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/waterloo-battlefield-gives-up-its-secrets-cxq6mkcqh or https://archive.is/qYr5k

Pirate treasure exists under the sea, complete with sunken ships off the Kentish coast, boxes of coins and swords. No one knows where they were headed.  https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/yarr-bounty-of-blades-and-coins-raised-from-sunken-ship-l35f6jdcj or  https://archive.is/hvCE8

If you are a James Bond fan, a rare ‘James Bond’ Aston Martin shell is up for sale at auction – the parts are in boxes. Once restored, the car could be worth up to 600k,  current estimate is 200- 300 k for the shell and parts…some people are very into restoring cars. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/13/james-bond-aston-martin-db5-auction/ or https://archive.is/nQFBR

Finally if you have listened to the brilliant Honestly episode where Bari Weiss is speaking with Hannah Barnes who wrote Time to Think,https://t.co/jBODkypPLa you might be interested in this paper by Stephen B Levine about Concerns in Gender Affirming Therapy for Adolescents. https://archive.ph/zmi9z