This is Northumberland Calling 8.8.25

The Sunlight is the best disinfectant edition

Hello America (particularly Central Ohio) this is Northumberland calling.

Australia is the new battle ground in the fight for women’s rights. The case of Giggle v Tickle has had its day in the Appeal Court. I suspect whatever happens, Giggle v Tickle will go up to the Australian Supreme Court where hopefully sense will prevail. Sunlight is the best disinfectant though and people in Australia have been kept in the dark for too long. As is their wont, Boswell Today has done a thread of jaw dropping utterances in court. https://x.com/boswelltoday/status/1953520273451307071

In the UK, the Times is reporting that the EHRC which is due to publish its statutory guidance has rejected trans campaigners’ demands to ignore the Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland. The guidance will reflect the law and preserve singe sex spaces as being single sex only. Funny how that works. The EHRC are using AI to analyse the thousands of responses – one of the beneficial uses of AI. I should note that in 2009, Cameron’s government did a consultation on whether or not Public Lending Right should stay a separate quango. 96% of the responses said yes, keep the independence. The government in its infinite wisdom and regard rolled PLR into the British Library. In this case, the statutory guidance will follow the law. Parliament is not going to undermine the Supreme Court. Philipson has already signalled this with the RSHE guidance. – namely students must be taught that a person’s sex based rights are different from someone of the opposite sex who has the protected characteristic of gender reassignment (para 69 p 37) .https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/trans-women-single-sex-spaces-ban-lr3hbgjzs or https://archive.ph/IddJB

The Premier League has split with Stonewall. They are no longer going to do the whole rainbow laces and armbands. They are now going to develop their own ‘inclusive LGBTQ campaign’. These are the richest clubs in football. There is no news if Newcastle FC will now settle with Linzi Smith, the GC campaigner who was famously banned for her tweets in support of women’s rights. I certainly hope they will. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2025/08/07/premier-league-players-take-the-knee-lionesses-jess-carter/ or https://archive.ph/DRJdQ

The Labour minister for homelessness has had to resign after it was revealed she was basically a ruthless landlord who had no problem evicting tenants and raising the rent by hundreds of pounds(reputed to be £700 per month increase). The opposite of her brief and promises. Labour had tabled a motion to prevent landlords from behaving in the way Ali did. To lose one minister to such a thing is unfortunate, to lose two speaks of carelessness. Labour has now lost three – Louisa Haigh resigned after her criminal conviction was uncovered, Tulip Siddiq after her alleged corruption and now Rushanara Ali the renters’ champion who evicted tenants. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/08/07/labour-homelessness-minister-evicted-tenants-then-raise/ or https://archive.ph/HS69O

The first migrants held under the new French ‘one in, one out treaty’ could be deported within weeks, The Times reports. Or maybe not. I personally hope the scheme works as simply allowing the small boats in with their illegal cargo doesn’t work. It was causing civil unrest. I suspect the asylum seekers will be taken in exchange of those deported will be women and children, rather than young men. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/small-boat-migrants-detained-france-deal-bw8r8wx0z or https://archive.ph/rqfHZ

In advance of the Palestine Action rally, the police are being urged to make more terrorism charges. Palestine Action is proscribed. The mere existence of being charged with the offence means a person will be barred from entering the US, amongst other things. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/palestine-action-uk-met-police-bg8zx6sjq or https://archive.ph/TFDkA

Douglas Murray on his recent court win over the Muslim agitator. He hits on an important truth that many of the ‘unreported’ problems are a result of journalistic fear and a wish for the quiet life. It makes for instructive reading. There has been a lot of bullying of journalists not to report on certain things, but thankfully Murray is one of the few who has stood firmly on his principles. https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/my-victory-over-mohammed-hijab/ or https://archive.ph/fpjIe

An Employment Tribunal rejected the notion that mention The Satanic Verses by Salmon Rushdie was direct discrimination against a Muslim employee. The case shows why the Government’s move towards a definition of anti-Muslim hate is misguided. Strong enough protections already exist imho and such a move would only chill discourse. https://thecritic.co.uk/rushdie-ing-to-judgement/

JD Vance is holidaying in the UK. He arrives today and is spending the weekend with David Lammy at his ‘grace and favour’ mansion Chevening. The Foreign Secretary is normally given use of Chevening to entertain etc. Vance is later going to the Cotswolds. Apparently Vance and Lammy have become firm friends, bonding over their faith. It is good to see people with such different political opinions and approaches being able to work in harmony. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/jd-vance-david-lammy-holiday-kvjx2ff0z or https://archive.ph/0cmPf

The various Edinburgh Festivals are on. The Edinburgh International Book festival managed to platform people who resulted in the loss of sponsorship last year but excluded authors who had written bestselling GC books, including Women Who Wouldn’t Wheest. Jenny Lindsay did a great substack about the situation. Jenny however will be appearing at the Wigtown festival and will be speaking about her book Hounded which details her experiences with being cancelled.

Broken Trust and Double Standards

Here:

My writing continues. I was more productive this week but not productive enough. I must do better.

Paddy with his new donkey

My daughter visited at the weekend as it was a bank holiday last Monday in Ireland. She brought Paddy a toy from Dublin airport. Paddy was delighted. He now has quite the collection of toys from Dublin airport. The toys have embroidered eyes and thus are suitable for dogs.

I have read Olia Hercules Strong Roots. Hercules is a cookbook writer who specializes in Ukrainian food and indeed in food from that region. We discovered her because of the name ‘Hercules’ which is also one of our cats’ names. Strong Roots is a memoir about her family’s experiences in Ukraine. If you ever had doubts abut the totalitarian nature of the Soviet regime, read this. It is far more personal. It adds the little details. I was unaware that WW2 disabled veterans were shunned and mocked in part because the Soviets wanted to portray the veterans as hale and hearty heroes. A strong recommend from me, but it is a harrowing story. It did make me understand why the Ukrainians are fighting so hard as they know how they were abused previously.

I have no plans to put a paywall on, so please subscribe. If you want to reward me, consider buying one of my books. Amazon kindle currently have a selection of my books on special. If you have kindle unlimited Sent As the Viking’s Bride is currently free to read.