This is Northumberland Calling 21.7.23

Grabbing a table at the Six Carpenters (est 1621) edition.

Hello America! This is Northumberland calling

The breaking news is that the Conservatives managed to cling on to Johnson’s seat in Uxbridge by 500 votes – mainly due to the unpopularity of the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone)  expansion the mayor of London wants. The Conservatives lost the other two seats by wide margins.  There are rumours of a cabinet reshuffle today. Ben Wallace is definitely stepping down and the Education Secretary may get pushed. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/07/21/by-election-results-uxbridge-ruislip-somerton-selby-tories/ or https://archive.is/hLYRJ

The Nigel Farage de-banking scandal erupted into full view this week because Farage did what is called a Subject Access Request and Coutts, the bank of dictators such as Pinchot and various mafia bosses decided Farage’s views on several subjects did not align with theirs and decided to terminate the relationship. The government is taking urgent (but belated) action to halt this. Late Thursday, Dame Alison Rose sent a non-apology apology to Farage (supposedly ordered by the Treasury), saying the views in the dossier did not reflect the views of the bank and offering him banking facilities at NatWest but not restoring the bank account which was closed seemingly in part for political reasons, a worrying development in a free society. Too many people were too eager to accept the bank’s line that they did it purely for commercial reasons – something which has now been proved to be economical with the truth in the extreme. It is shaping up to be a major scandal for British banking. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/20/nigel-farage-bank-row-questions-for-coutts-natwest/  or https://archive.is/MpNxJ

This from the Spectator explains about why reputation management is more than PR and spin. It starts by doing the hard work. https://archive.is/iaYrs

Part of the reason why Coutts which is owned by NatWest behaved in such a way  is that they signed up to B Lab’s vision of diversity and inclusion and became a B-corp. They would have been better supping at the Six Carpenters (1621) – where Sir Edward Coke held   that an innkeeper who hangs out a sign welcoming guests must not turn away a traveller prepared to pay for accommodation.  Coke is of course instrumental to formulation of Common Law and his Institutes for the basis of the 3^rd and 4^th Amendments. The Six Carpenters ultimately  underpins most civil rights legislation. Businesses have no arbitrary right to decide who their customers are if they have offered/advertised certain things for sale.  That case also underpins the American doctrine of ‘common carriers’. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/19/coutts-nigel-farage-racism-sexism-banking-braverman/ or  https://archive.is/x4wvl

If you want to find out more about B Lab and their influence and B-corps in general, you can read about them here:  One of the founders was Jerry Greenfield who founded Ben & Jerry’s. I would point out that Edward Coke also said "Corporations cannot commit treason, nor be outlawed, nor excommunicated, for they have no souls." If a corporation has no soul, it follows that it can possess no principles or values. The people running that corporation can have values, but not the corporation itself.  https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/movement/about-b-lab/

There was a written statement in UK Parliament about the delay to issuing the transgender guidance. Among other things they are suddenly looking at how other children, besides the child who suffers from gender incongruence have their mental health status affected. Very little research has been done on this.  ‘In the meantime, schools and colleges should proceed with extreme caution. They should always involve parents in decisions relating to their child, and should not agree to any changes that they are not absolutely confident are in the best interests of that child and their peers. They should prioritise safeguarding by meeting their existing legal duties to protect single sex spaces and maintain safety and fairness in single sex sport.’   https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-07-20/hcws983

The current CEO of Stonewall, Nancy Kelly has resigned. The chairman of the trustees did an interview yesterday with Sky News. It was a masterclass in evasion in the face of persistent and polite questioning.  This is a clip when Rigby forces him to comment on a photo of Lia Thomas on the podium demonstrates:

https://twitter.com/treesey/status/1682135263961657346

The two year investigation in the SNP finances is coming to head and has apparently moved beyond fraud to include embezzlement and misuse of funds. There are rumours that Nicola Sturgeon and her husband may yet be charged. The question is whether or not the £660k raised to finance a 2^nd independence referendum was spent on other things (including a motorhome parked in Sturgeon’s mother-in-law’s drive) https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/snp-police-inquiry-widens-after-potential-embezzlement-claims-dgtn07skz or https://archive.is/4vqnl

A group of Londoners decided to surround the Just Stop Oil Protestors and prevent them from slow marching during rush hour. They were t-shirts which said – Just Stop P—ing Everyone Off. JSO claimed they enjoyed the chance to debate. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/20/just-stop-oil-counter-protest-meet-elephant-castle-london/ or https://archive.is/DTNGj

The cost of living is not increasing as rapidly as it has been and apparently we are due some relief on the food front. The price of petrol is down to £1.45 per litre and diesel is £1.48 – it was over £2 at this point last summer. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/07/20/asda-cuts-food-prices-mohsin-issa-mps-questioning/ or https://archive.is/AEI11

Finally, it may be roasting elsewhere in Europe but here in Northumberland we have reverted to the normal dreck of sunshine and frequent showers. We need the rain but the temperature is in the mid 60’s.

(NB I recently read William Shirer’s This Is Berlin – he was broadcasting from Berlin in the late 30s until 1941 and along with Ed Murrow was responsible for starting broadcasting foreign correspondents. I liked how he started his broadcasts. Hence the Hello America at the start of this.  Shirer’s Berlin Diary (1933 -1941)

is a truly chilling read about the rise of the Third Reich and how the restrictions on reporting were imposed. He mentions the ‘mercy killings’ of the people in mental hospitals and the cremations, but discounted the rumour that the Nazis were experimenting with poison gas as what would be the purpose of that. Worth a read.)