This is Northumberland Calling 23.5.25
The Random Objects Keep Falling on My Head edition
Hello America (particularly Central Ohio) this is Northumberland calling.
The Chagos Island deal is done and dusted. Britain is going to be spending a lot of money to maintain the status quo. Why? Basically because Diego Garcia was built in the 1970s by evicting islanders in what was most likely an unlawful manner and Britain stood a very reasonable chance of losing that case. If Britain had lost that case, the base would have to have dismantled and a huge amount of compensation paid to the displaced islanders. The Diego Garcia base is vital for both US and UK interests. So the Labour Government decided it was cheaper to give the money the case would cost including the potential islander compensation to Mauritius and then lease back the island for 99 years. Some people say that this is a nonsense and Britain would have lost that case. Who knows but Starmer et al decided Britain would lose and this was the most cost effective way. The Trump Administration appear to have agreed with the assessment and decided it should go ahead. Britain now needs to maintain that base. Most recently Diego Garcia played a significant role in the US’s attack on the Houthis. This is David Lammy’s explanation of the reasoning (NB I suspect this was written by his SpAd or someone very senior in the FO as it is very precise) https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/david-lammy-chagos-islands-deal-qjghg80k5 or https://archive.ph/s5IiX
The National Police Chiefs Council have decided after taking a long look at the FWS SC ruling that it is best to comply with the law rather than continuing with the unlawful but supposedly inclusive policy of allowing strip searches by officers of the same gender.. Intimate strip searches will now on being given by people of the same sex (not gender). If there is a reason for deviation, it must be decided on a case by case basis with several officers signing off on why it happened. The new guidance has been circulated to all police forces in the UK. This is the NPCC press release: https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/new-police-search-guidance-following-supreme-court-decision
This is the Telegraph article on the subject and includes quotes from women’s groups who don’t believe the guidance goes far enough, given the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 forbids strip searches by people of the opposite sex in all cases and remains the law of the land. Sex means biological sex. The NPCC say that their guidance reflects what is happening on the ground. Basically the SC judgement only covers the 2010 Equality Act and the NPCC are trying to argue that sex in the 1984 act could include those with a GRC, even though the case law since Corbett v Corbett in the 1970s has held that sex means biological sex (there are legal reasons why the so-called exceptions listed in the GRA exist). The simplest answer is to repeal the GRA as unworkable but ensure that people who differ from gender norms are not discriminated or harassed as far as possible with various work rounds such as unisex facilities being provided alongside same sex ones. Retirement age, same sex marriage, and insurance rates differing by sex all factors in the original Goodwin judgement have been dealt with. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/22/trans-officers-should-be-banned-from-strip-searching-women/ or https://archive.ph/3CDak
Wes Streeting when faced with a judicial review over Cross Sex hormones for under 18s let it be known that he has ordered a review of the practice with the intent of banning all cross sex hormones for gender dysphoria in the under 18s. This is because of the new evidence emerging from Finland and other countries about the downsides. The judicial review has not been allowed but the real gain is the Streeting ordered review. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/05/21/wes-streeting-ban-cross-sex-hormones-transgender-teenagers/ or https://archive.ph/MJil2
To quote the Biology in Medicine substack: Women and men on cross sex hormones will face changes to fertility and sexual function as well as changes to the brain.
For transgender females - trans men - there are irreversible changes to the genital tract, also kidney damage, thickening of the blood and risk of heart attack, as well as the hair, skin and voice changes.
For transgender males - trans women - there are concerns about cognitive decline, increased rates of neurological disease, osteoporosis, blood clotting disorders and heart disease.
This is the latest study on de-transitioning from Finland. It makes for interesting reading. They conclude that the patients in question never had adult gender dysphoria but rather a host of other issues which presented as adult gender dysphoria. Back to the old problem -- no objective test for the condition exists. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-025-03176-5
The general consensus of the Justice Secretary’s announcement about mandatory chemical castration for convicted paedophiles is that was a distraction designed to deflect from the other measures including early release with a threat of recall. Basically even with the new super prison coming on stream, because of the rapid increase in the overall population, pressures remain on the finite number of spaces on jails. There is no suggestion that the UK is about follow Louisiana’s practice of surgically removing the testicles of offenders btw. In case anyone wants to know, the types of sentences including lengths are set by the Sentencing Council which looks the parameters put in the legislation and therefore, the ultimate problem lies with the UK parliament. The Sentencing Guidelines has prevented most judges from ‘going off piste’ and giving sentences which are wide of what Parliament laid down in the law. They have also reduced the work of the Court of Appeal because the length of sentence was the factor most likely to be appealed before the Guidelines came into effect. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/how-chemical-castration-work-q3l6b0mbv or https://archive.ph/SIN7K
The king is travelling to Ottawa to open the Canadian parliament on Monday. It is the first time he has travelled to Canada as the Canadian Head of State. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-family/article/king-charless-trip-to-ottawa-will-tell-us-canada-is-not-for-sale-wvsr7t5j6 or https://archive.ph/5VI0M
The Princess of Wales launched the Royal Navy’s latest destroyer HMS Glasgow, smashing a bottle of whiskey against the hull. To ensure the bottle broke as it was supposed to, Catherine pushed a button and the bottle was sent hurtling with full force. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-family/article/kate-princess-wales-hms-glasgow-dxskn8tct or https://archive.ph/2PS7k
The new Jeremy Clarkson Clarkson’s Farm series 4 has dropped on Amazon Prime. Basically it is Clarkson buys a pub and discovers that running a pub is far harder than running a farm. Pubs up and down the country are closing at a rate of knots. Hopefully this will help the public understand some of the problems. Clarkson has done an interview with the Telegraph to support the launch. There will be a series 5. If you have not watched it, do. As Clarkson says in the interview, nature keeps giving these great curve balls – series 1 COVID, series 2 the council banning his restaurant, series 3 the pigs died, series 4 it would not stop raining, series 5 it hasn’t rained and Clarkson has health problems. The interview is well worth a read. Clarkson has become a National Treasure for his part in raising the plight of the farmers. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2025/05/23/jeremy-clarkson-interview-clarksons-farm-prime-video/ or https://archive.ph/P4P4j
Has the mystery of the Princes in the Tower been solved? The woman who found Richard III in a car park believes that there is evidence that the two princes were not murdered in the tower and in fact may have been the so-called pretenders. Did he do it or didn’t he? Did they survive? The mystery continues. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/history/article/princes-in-tower-solved-g650v0qrr or https://archive.ph/olOlT
Here:
I continue to work on my Regency. It is at the stage of the first three chapters are written but they need a lot of work. My new editor wants to see a detailed outline and the first three chapters before she will consider going to contract. I have other options if it is not what she requires and I do love this story.
Paddy has taken to waking me up early by dropping random objects on my head. The cats then start meowing very loudly. We have tried locking them away but then Paddy just adds his voice to the dawn chorus. Personally I draw the line at 4:30 am, but the animals are persistent.
It is the late May Bank holiday this weekend (Memorial Day in the US). Normally this means terrible weather. However this year, I am hoping it rains. The vegetable patch is as dry as dust. Luckily Northumberland has adequate reservoirs. Some UK counties don’t.
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And because I know @pineappleshark likes a good spy story. I suspect the Rest is Classified will do a series on this. It was uncovered by the NYT (and then reported in the Times) about how the Russians used Brazil to create deep cover identities. Fascinating stuff, straight out of a novel. https://archive.ph/ZAzSt is the article and worth a read.
I watched season 1 and bits of two but I couldn’t handle the lambs dying on clarksons farm . But 4 with the pub sounds fun.
Thank goodness clarkson had money because the only thing that seemed to work for him were potatoes. He really should have filmed the councils being complete dictators. They squashed everything he tried to do.