This is Northumberland Calling 16.5.26
The Britain is an unserious country but women have no sex-based rights in Australia edition
Hello America (especially Central Ohio), this is Northumberland calling.
Britain is completely unserious at the moment. Labour have descended into farce.
Andy Burnham, the man desperate to be prime minister is going to stand in a supposedly safe Labour seat. In order to be Prime Minister, one must first be in parliament. The first-time MP for Makerfield, Josh Simons resigned. He was never going to be reelected due to scandal – he had targeted journalists during his time at Labour Together and was a big friend of Starmer’s. Has the friendship soured or is the election a poisoned chalice because they are treating the electorate with contempt. The party which finished 2nd last time was Reform. Burnham, despite his popularity in Greater Manchester and he has been a good mayor as the city has improved, is on Left of Labour. He is very much in the progressive identity politics mould. We now have 6 weeks of electioneering to see if the Man Who Would Be Prime Minister, the so-called King of the North can actually enter parliament. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/andy-burnham-seat-consensus-prime-minister-leadership-tb3zvp6h7 or https://archive.ph/DboN5
This is the Makerfield constituency:
-Voted 65% to leave the EU
-It’s culturally right wing (concerns about immigration)
-Ethnically 97% white
-68% Christian, 30% atheist, 1% Muslim
-Not especially deprived or poor and evenly balanced between working and middle class demographic
-Makerfield is in the Wigan District and Reform UK won every single seat that was up for grabs last week. Reform finished on 50.5%, Labour on 22.7%, Greens on 10.9, Conservatives 9.9% and Lib Dem 4.4%
Hoisting on petards is a possibility. Pride comes before a fall and all that. Why should the people of Makerfield elect someone who is not seeking to represent their interests but further his own?
Until the by-election results are known, the contest to oust Starmer has been put on hold. Wes Streeting resigned but crucially did not trigger a leadership election. This is going to be protracted and prolonged. Labour were elected to govern, not to indulge in psycho-drama. Als they were elected on a specific manifesto but seem intent on legislating for other concerns. For example, they are still intent on abolishing trial by jury and the right to automatic appeal in a summary judgement.
Kemi Badenoch is coming across as a serious leader. When the Conservatives of Worcestershire decided to do a deal with the Greens and others to keep out Reform, she suspended the leader of the Conservatives as his actions went against Conservative policy. Her performances at the House of Commons are excellent. https://conservativehome.com/2026/05/15/jessaline-caine-kemi-was-right-to-clobber-the-tory-source-of-some-worcestershire-woes/
Gareth Roberts on Kemi: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/14/wonderful-campness-kemi-badenoch-nicki-minaj-tories/ or https://archive.ph/mJXhv
Nigel Farage has problems with a dodgy donation which he should have declared but didn’t. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/nigel-farage-house-5-million-donation-x2xksw6n8 or https://archive.ph/QzlES
Zach Polanski (aka David Paulden) despite declaring that he had voted via postal ballot in Hackney has now said that he didn’t actually vote. His excuse that he was frightened about people discovering where he lived does not bear scrutiny as arrangements exist for high profile and indeed domestic abuse victims to vote anonymously. He is simply a fraudster par excellence. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/zack-polanski-vote-local-elections-green-party-wz87k8jlx or https://archive.ph/oxkxI
The king went to Golders Green on a surprise visit yesterday, meeting with Jewish groups. It is very good that he uses his soft power in this fashion. The growth in antisemitism shames the British establishment. https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/king-visits-golders-green-to-meet-jewish-victims-of-last-months-stabbing-attacks/
The Princess of Wales charmed Italy on her first overseas visit since her cancer diagnosis. British soft power in action. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2026/05/14/princess-of-wales-visits-italian-nursery-school/ or https://archive.ph/gfNYV
An imam in Tower Hamlets was given 13 life sentences after he was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting women and girls who had come to him for spiritual guidance earlier in the year. He exploited their religious belief in ‘jinns’. The trial was a long and complex one from the sounds of it, but all kudos to the young victim who first complained to a teacher about what was happening to her. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/14/rapist-imam-tower-hamlets-protected-by-a-religious-curse/ or https://archive.ph/IJutd
Tomorrow will see two rival protests in London – one pro-Palestine and the other trying to advance the hard-Right. The FA Cup final is also going to be played at Wembley which means over 4k police officers will be there to stop trouble. https://news.met.police.uk/news/4000-officers-prepare-for-day-of-protest-in-central-london-509274
The new Health Secretary believes transwomen are women and presumably has no problem with the NHS England trans inclusive changing room policy. However, there was a significant win for women in an Employment Tribunal. A Muslim woman who suffers from PTSD and works for the NHS successfully sued for discrimination based on the NHS’s policy. Even though the policy was done with ‘good intent’, it is still discriminatory to allow males unfettered access to female changing rooms. The ET is not binding but did cite the FWS which is binding on all courts and the recent Judicial Review of the EHRC guidance which concluded that the EHRC had got it right (again binding on all lower courts). https://didlaw.com/ls-v-nhse-england is the press release on the judgement.
Sall Glover lost her appeal in Australia. However the fight continues and she will appeal to the High Court (Australia’s Supreme Court.) The problem is in the 2013 rewriting of the Sex Discrimination Act by Australia’s only female prime minister to be ‘gender identity’ instead of sex. It basically erased all single sex spaces. Single sex spaces are needed for privacy, safety and dignity. There are reasons why Elizabeth Fry fought so hard for them in the early 19th century. For example in prisons. There is a private member’s bill working its way through the Australian Parliament at the moment which seeks to undo the harm, but there is a lot of capture down under. In case there is any doubt – I Stand with Sall Glover.
This is the Guardian’s take: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/may/15/giggle-for-girls-app-discriminated-against-trans-woman-roxanne-tickle-appeal-case-ntwnfb (just eye roll)
If the ruling is correct in Australia, then down under women have very few rights – everything is mixed sex and the definition of homosexuality as same sex attracted which underpins gay rights has been altered to be meaningless.
Why do some feminists refuse to believe the horrific events of 7 October 2023 and prefer to believe stories about Israeli abuse instead (including the anatomically impossible training dogs to rape story)? Basically because it fits their narrative. They look to be punching up and not down. Personally I think what happen on 7 October 2023 was a grotesque war crime, but I am quite prepared to believe Israeli prisons were not comfortable places for those who participated and some Israelis may have broken the law. If this can be proved, then the Israeli legal system will deal with it as they do have a rule of law. The NYT embellishment was another blatant attempt to divert attention from the report. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/15/why-do-feminists-refuse-to-believe-hamas-raped-jewish-women/ or https://archive.ph/lA7ET
Here:
I was surprised that the Hexham Mumbler aka Joe Morris, MP was Wes Streeting’s PPS. I had always considered him far more on the Ed Milliband side. One of his big concerns had been the state of the rivers. He has now resigned because of Starmer’s leadership. As most of the emails from him (except for the ones on Gaza which were pro-Palestinian), he followed Starmer’s line precisely. Thus if Starmer has managed to annoy diehards like Morris, he is in serious trouble.
It remains a cold Spring. The bees are only slowly building. Normally May get really warm and the bees build quickly. Not this year. The vegetables in the vegetable patch are hardly growing.
Paddy is waiting to go for his walk.
I have been writing. The quick novel is turning into a novel.
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Oz? That place was lost decades ago. They are the descendants of the English prison class so it is unsurprising that they can't understand the distinction between men and women. Perhaps Lamarksim is proven by the denizens of that God-foresaken place called Australia.
"For example, they {Labour} are still intent on abolishing trial by jury and the right to automatic appeal in a summary judgement."
In other words, erase the fundamental rights that have been the bedrock of British law since Magna Carta was forced on a tyrant king in 1215. Any party that stands for that needs to be extirpated from British life and its adherents sent scurrying onto the sea like the rats they are.