This is Northumberland Calling 28.10.22

The can things settle now edition

In under 15 weeks, the UK has seen two monarchs and three prime ministers. We are due some stability and competency.

King Charles and Queen Camilla will host the chief rabbi on the night before the Coronation so that the chief rabbi can attend the ceremony as sabbat rules forbid from travelling by car. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/10/27/rabbi-ephraim-mirvis-stay-with-king-coronation-shabbat-rules/

The first coins featuring Charles III will be in circulation starting in December. And the ministers’ red boxes which is where all their confidential papers are having a new cipher. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/king-charles-makes-his-mark-with-cypher-on-red-box-for-official-papers-xtk06zqkc

To the surprise of very few, Rishi Sunak (Rishi rhymes with dishy and Sunak is pronounced Soon-ack   in case some were confused like Pres Biden). Neither is some sort of backlash against Sunak for his ethnicity which a US late  night comedian claimed. A devout Hindu, Sunak was born in Britain to parents who emigrated from East Africa in the 1960s and is of Indian heritage. His wife is Indian and the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in India. They met at Stanford and have two daughters. They will be living at No10 Downing Street, the first PM family to do so for about 25 years as they have been very happy in that flat. No 11  is the larger flat but Brown was a single man and Blair had a family. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/27/daily-show-rubbished-claims-uks-racist-backlash-against-rishi/

Sunak immediately set about appoint a new cabinet which contained some old faces. To the ire of certain elements in the LBGT+ activist community, Kemi Badenoch whose support was crucial in seeing off the challenge from former PM Boris Johnson was rewarded with the Women and equalities brief as well as retaining the International Trade. She declared in parliament that the Equalities Act was going to be used a shield, not a sword and all characteristics would be protected equally.  Suella Braverman, after resigning the week before, returned as Home Secretary.  Again, her price for stopping the Johnson campaign.

Penny Mordaunt continues as Leader of the House but did not receive an upgrade to Foreign Secretary as her supporters had leaked she would. Instead James Cleverly retains the post.

Gillian Keegan who according to reliable sources has been peaked-trans and recently quoted the Cass Report in committee is  the new education secretary. Certainly she has already made her presence felt --  championing the new British Baccalaureate which Sunak promised and having the Department of Education  issue a statement about ensuring that parents will be able to see all school curriculum materials. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/27/age-appropriate-sex-education-set-enforced-sunak-administration/

This is in the wake of the full-frontal piano plonker having to resign from an education charity after appearing on a late night comedy show. Despite video and verbal evidence that Jordan Gray had gone into schools in his role as patron of the charity, the charity continued to say that they were unaware he had taken an active part. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/26/trans-singer-who-stripped-naked-channel-4-should-not-preaching/

The Cambridge professor who sponsored the debate where Helen Joyce spoke said that he would do it again and next time in a bigger venue so that more students would attend. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/26/fear-speak-freely-stalks-cambridge/

However he would best not to use Eventbrite as they cancelled the booking of a GC book launch as it did not accord with their values. The book launch is going ahead. % pound on the door and the barrister will be crowdfunding to sue the company who discriminated against a protected belief. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/27/eventbrite-silencing-women-pulling-ticket-sales-gender-critical/

The NHS England may have sorted out the children with gender incongruence issue with the commissioning report  but Scotland NHS runs an affirmation only clinic and said that they did not  examine the mental health of the children. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/26/sturgeons-tavistock-clinic-offers-trans-children-surgery-not/

The Scottish government continued to be out of step with England and passed the first stage of their bill to bring gender self-id to people over 16. It supposedly will not impact protected sex rights. The first SNP minister to ever resign resigned over the issue. The matter is very much unsettled and there is still all to play for. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/snp-rebels-defy-party-over-gender-reform-laws-0sspzfbzg

And the member resolutions for the Society of Authors have been published including one calling for the resignation of Joanne Harris in the wake of her continuing behaviour on twitter which is contrary to  and another calling for a commission had the Society can better support freedom of expression. Predictably Harris’s supporters have dismissed both resolutions as transphobic and fascist or supporters of white supremacy. It might be a first for fascists to be calling for a stronger commitment to the principle of freedom of expression. As the now infamous (and withdrawn) graphic from the Smithsonian made clear to the very Woke,  anyone who supports English Common Law (including the right to be consider innocent until proven guilty) supports white supremacy. But people throwing ad hominins seldom care about accuracy; they are interested in stigmatizing so that the spiral of silence can continue and the right of dissent can be lost. (Note one of the 10 members may be familiar to anyone reading this and I don’t just mean Julie Bindel or Amanda Craig). The normally staid agm  could get interesting.  https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/writers-urge-joanne-harris-to-quit-as-society-of-authors-chief-jd9mdsnwr

My editors have titled my next A Viking heir to Bind Them, out next August and I am under a deadline.