Citizenship revoked

If the government can revoke citizenship at the drop of a tabloid, presumably very few of us are safe. 

My father was born in Canada in 1914. I have had British nationality all my life. The new dispensation means I could be deported to Canada, Canada could say ‘not on your nelly’ and I would be up that well-known creek without a paddle. 

It is not only Shamima Begum’s rights which are on the line. Javid is attacking the rights of thousands of citizens in the UK. He has been described as a 'human shield’ for May's right-wing policies. It is no accident that the majority of the citizens affected will be from racial minorities - the very target of May's disgraceful 'hostile environment'.

Lord Acton observed that "all power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely." Javid was a Tory to start with, so he began from a low baseline. However this latest display of arrogance takes the biscuit.

People have had enough of this government. They can go. They never will be missed!

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Not-so Magnificent Seven

Billionaire Blair once had a vice-like grip on the Labour Party. Internal democracy was destroyed. Labour's Socialist objective was erased from the constitution, an orgy of privatisation followed, and a vicious imperialist war against Iraq led to thousands of unarmed civilians losing their lives.

To have the support of seven traitors is not all that magnificent in comparison. To read the Sun and the Daily Mail you would think this was the death of the Labour Party. On the contrary, to coin a phrase, "better out than in".

And any socialist would curl up and die of shame to be supported by the right wing press and fawned over by the BBC.

The honourable course would be to stand for re-election and see if the voters really want them but they are not the people for honourable courses. Chuka Amunna's volte-face on the issue of anti-semitism is a case in point.

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Heroes and Villains

John Mcdonnell's comments about Churchill's role in Tonypandy has sent the right-wing media and - to their shame - the BBC into hysterical fits. And yet the facts cannot be disputed, Churchill sent troops against striking miners. The odious Nicholas Soames leapt to Churchill's defence but failed to mention any of the historical events involved.Instead he implied that Churchill had single-handedly won the Second World War.

History is not made by heroes or villains and very few people can be summed up by one word.

Churchill did not originally oppose Fascism, he gave his wholehearted support to Mussolini in his "triumphant struggle against the bestial appetites and passions of Leninism."

No one person was responsible for the outcome of the war, millions were involved and millions died, many of them Russian. Presumably they had the "the bestial appetites and passions of Leninism," which Churchill so disliked.

It was, as Soames presumably forgets, a *world* war. It was not a single-handed conflict.

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This is Going to Hurt - Comedy and tragedy judiciously mixed

I think this is like several works of flash fiction in one book (except that it is non-fiction) and the diary format enables the writer to do that. 

The anecdotes elicit a range of responses. Some of them will cause you to p*ss yourself laughing (incontinence pads are available). Others will make you think about the ridiculous hours junior hospital doctors are working and wonder whether this is good for patient safety (it would seem not). The argument that "it was ever thus" gets short shrift. 

There are stories which will simply make you wince on behalf of the patients and some that are heartbreaking as well.

I enjoyed reading this book and I will not be giving any spoilers. I would just suggest that Adam Kay doesn't become an advertising copywriter for Jack Daniels or a bodyguard for Jeremy Hunt.

Adam Kay defends the NHS against the privatisers and he does it in a witty and engaging way. 

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Civil War over Brexit?

The Worthing Journal compared the dispute over Brexit with the English Civil War, Readers were asked to comment. I did, you can too.

I think both Remainers and Leavers have to admit that they *do not know* what the economic consequences of leaving or remaining will be. Britain could still leave the EU - a corrupt and unpopular institution - but remain in a customs union. Nobody voted to "leave Europe" that would be physically impossible.

I find the insults of Remainers objectionable. They imply (or indeed state) that anyone who voted differently is ignorant and stupid. That is not the way to gain votes for their cause

(My spelling checker wants me to replace "Remainers" with "remainders" but I won't). 

(The Levellers were the real democrats in Cromwell's army. I realise that as a Catholic the Roundheads might not have welcomed me with open arms but the fact is that "religious freedom for Catholics" was one of the original demands of the Levellers)

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May RIP?

Political obituaries for May have been written prematurely. Now she goes to the EU with demands they have rejected in advance and she will be glossed as the gallant leader standing up to the Eurocrats.  She has learnt that politics doesn't have to make sense, just satisfy the parliamentary Conservative party.

Backstop?

@theipaper has decided my name is Denis McMillan 😀

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