This Is Northumberland Calling 27.1.23

The All the World may be a stage but Scotland is a pantomime edition

SNP politicians attended a small rally at the weekend where the sign ‘Decapitate TERFS’ complete with a guillotine was prominently displayed. The politicians denied looking behind them when a photo was taken. As a prominent GC SNP politician, Joanna Cherry, is about to testify in court about a trans-activist making threats to kill her, perhaps they might like to apologise to their colleague. Police Scotland are investigating. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/22/decapitate-terfs-signs-pro-trans-rally-attended-snp-politicians/

And the Scottish jury convicted the man who decided to transition after being charged with two counts of rape. They returned the verdict in relatively short order. The question is now will the justice system protect the vulnerable females in prison or will they send a doubly convicted rapist, someone who preys on women to the female estate? Answer remanded  in an all-female jail, pending sentence in a segregated unit.https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11670803/Transgender-woman-guilty-raping-two-women-man.html

Public pressure grew too much to Sturgeon who at first tried to brazen it out. When she could see her career slipping away, Sturgeon did a u-turn —the rapist will not be incarcerated in a female prison in the short or long term. However she did not mention whether or not she considered the rapist to be a man or a woman. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/01/26/isla-bryson-rape-womens-prisons-moved-nicola-sturgeon/

This Daily Mail article (not behind a paywall) gives the latest update – including info on some of the other trans inmates Bryson will be sharing his new prison with. One serial rapist who is serving life for his crimes hopes to be in a women’s prison before Easter. It also emerged that Bryson was sent on a beauty course as part of his transition activities. Students on the course include some v vulnerable women who would have no idea about his proclivities. The court had asked that he be transferred to an all male prison but the prison service overruled it in line with their trans policy and sent him to an all female prison instead. And Bryson does not have a GRA, nor was he transitioning when he committed the crimes, it is galling that all the media keep referring to him as a ‘she’ and that his violent crime of rape will not be counted in the male violence stats. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11682835/Inside-notorious-Scottish-prison-trans-double-rapist-Isla-Bryson-held.html

Does Labour have a woman problem? One of Starmer’s top aides was recorded briefing against Rosie Duffield after she wrote her article in Unherd. Duffield responded that no one in the top echelons had been to Canterbury, a seat she won against all expectation and then won again with an increased majority.  https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/23/labour-must-discuss-gender-with-respect-says-keir-starmer

The Conservative meanwhile have a problem with their chairman forgetting to paid his taxes and ending for a £1 million ($1.23 Mill US) fine. Sunak is refusing to sack him until the Ethics committee have finished their investigation. In the meantime, the Times has done an expose of Zahawi’s role as Mr. Get It Fixed. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nadhim-zahawi-oiled-the-wheels-and-was-handsomely-paid-jc2pzk92f

The Metropolitan Policing  scandal continues. They have not gone back to in person interviews and rigorous grilling of why people want to become police officers. Instead they have been trying to make up the numbers. The obvious flaws should be apparent to anyone who has watched the crime drama Line of Duty. Jesus, Mary and the wee donkey to utter a phrase from the show. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/met-police-hire-officers-without-face-to-face-interviews-l3bl9j52b

The commissioner admits that 2 -3 serving Metropolitan  police officers are appearing in court every week charged with a variety of offences including theft, dishonesty, domestic abuse and violence. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/david-carrick-met-police-mark-rowley-commissioner-statement-w0bbzq3k9

The former social mobility tsar Katharine Birabalsingh has written an essay about the fact that elite schools are destroying the sense of giving back to the community through their pursuit of child-centred education and identity social justice concerns and feels this has worrying implications for the future leaders of the country. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/katharine-birbalsingh-says-woke-attacks-on-the-privileged-will-ruin-top-schools-5gf6q6r8g

This is Melanie Philip’s column Private school’s wokery is worry to all  riffing off the Birabalsingh article and explaining why elite private schools set a marker for wider society and why everyone should be concerned. This is the archived version btw: https://archive.ph/0KnpC

Warning: tragedy may be triggering. The University of Derby has declared the entire genre to potentially damaging “because many of the plays explicitly engage with themes of violence and trauma, frequently sexual in nature.”  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/25/students-warned-tragedy-may-triggering/

As today is Holocaust remembrance day, the Times have given the Sternberg Award for an Active Life  lived to 93 year old Auschwitz survivor  Lydia Tischler who helped to pioneer family therapy in the UK. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lydia-tischler-holocaust-survivor-wins-the-times-sternberg-active-life-award-for-work-in-therapy-q6c5vpc6c

Wherever you are today, please take a moment to reflect on the Holocaust and other genocides. It is important to remember so that hopefully the past will not repeat. Education.

The figures earlier from Dutch under 40s where 25% believed it to be a hoax or exaggerated and 53%  believe the Netherlands is not a place where the Holocaust took place  was not an encouraging sign. Of the 140k Jewish people living in the Netherlands before WW2, 102 k were murdered in the Holocaust. Education is sorely needed. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/01/25/holocaust-suffering-exaggerated-say-quarter-young-dutch-people/