Cox Fighting.
Such an undignified tussle over Jo Cox’s still warm corpse.
Who can make the most mileage in their chosen campaign by invoking her name?
Will you be sending off for the ‘false flag wristband’ to show that you subscribe to the ‘she was murdered by M16 to try to stop the Referendum’.
Or will your £2 go to the ‘feminists against misogyny’ pink wristband to help prove to the world that life is inherently dangerous for women?
Perhaps it is the tasteful ‘he subscribed to a right wing magazine 20 years ago so obviously a fascist’ black and gold number?
Or maybe it is the rare but still available ‘Jo knew who killed Jill Dando and was about to spill the beans’ with attached #CSA charm?
If nothing has appealed to you so far, you could snap up the ‘Evil Tory government have cut mental health care and this is what happens’ black and white number.
How about the ‘Jo nominated Jeremy Corbyn for leader’ factional ‘Labour for metro-luvvies’ band?
Or the ‘She was on that boat with that millionaire Bob Geldorf sneering at fishermen the day before….’ band made from genuine fish-gut?
There are a few ‘Female MPs get death threats on Twitter and Jo was no exception – this shows what happens when you don’t ban Twitter’ grey and pink bands left.
If you are of a more international bent, you could join the gun lobby nuts in the US who would like you to retweet that ‘even in a country where guns are banned, politicians still get killed’.
You could wear a ‘Palestinian heart’ on your sleeve and point to Jo’s long campaign to bring more Syrian refugees into the country, and how their plight is all the fault of the Israelis.
Or you could, you really, really could, if you tried very hard, remember that Jo was not the only woman who died yesterday.
Other women, and men (they mattered too), died from road accidents, illness and criminal acts – and they all left behind grieving families, motherless and fatherless children, and their pain is no more and no less than that of Jo’s family.
You could even leave Jo to rest amongst their anonymous ranks for a few days, just until she grows cold and is decently buried, before you make her an icon for your chosen cause.
Just saying, like.
- JuliaM
June 17, 2016 at 9:43 am -
At least she was spared being decapitated by her nutcase killer, unlike that poor woman a year or so ago.
- Loadsamates
June 17, 2016 at 6:10 pm -
Well the fact is that historically and presently decapitation is rightly seen as a humane way to die. That why the French Minister for Health in 1789 or whenever it was outlawed hanging and introduced the method of execution that had previously been the preserve of aristos for all, albeit in a faster more precise form. Guillotine? Better that, IMO, than to die slowly from stabbing and gunshot wounds…
- Cascadian
June 17, 2016 at 9:42 pm -
And the winner is-Loadsamates for the “wilful misinterpretation” wristband, in liebour red with yellow lettering.
Don’t be disheartened, there is a large stock available and I expect many more will be necessary in the next week as the myth-builders and politicians get to work.
- Cascadian
- Loadsamates
- tolkein
June 17, 2016 at 9:49 am -
She was a Mum of 41, with 2 young children, murdered doing her job as a constituency MP at a local surgery. She sounds like a really lovely person.
A local lass done well, but still proud of her people and happy to represent them.It’s the public nature of her death and her role as a representative of her constituents that makes this a bit different. And the reaction of her colleagues, Tory and Labour, seems to show she was a bit special.
- eric
June 17, 2016 at 2:10 pm -
It’s all so terribly sad and when a young life is snuffed out in such outrageous fashion it brings home how fragile this existence is. The landlady is entirely correct of course but I would hate to get on her bad side. I mean that affectionately.
- dearieme
June 18, 2016 at 9:40 pm -
She wanted to invade Syria, with the likely result of piles of corpses and multitudes of Syrian orphans: a fascistic warmonger therefore: all part of the Blair-Cameron package.
- eric
- Mr Ecks
June 17, 2016 at 9:52 am -
And who started all of the crap–within minutes of the attack–with the “Britain First” bullshit–now debunked.
Lay the blame for politicising her death at the door of the left and Remain.
They’ve tried brazen lies, brazen threats from Osburke–and now this latest pack of crap. Toynbee in the Gladrag is particularly disgusting and disgraceful.
They can’t even spell shame let alone feel it.
- Ed P
June 17, 2016 at 10:23 am -
Hear hear
These awful humanoids will stoop lower than seems possible to push their anti-democratic agenda. Less intelligent than Homo Erectus is this new sub species – the vile Homo Electus.
RIP Jo Cox
- The Blocked Dwarf
June 17, 2016 at 10:48 am -
Dude, I can’t help feeling you missed the point of the post.
As I said in the comments of the previous post, judging by the way she was killed, the assailant is almost certainly mentally deranged (if it was a single killer). His ‘motivations’ for the deed are only of interest to the doctors at Broadmoor in regard to the dosage of Lithium they will have to prescribe.
Many years ago I read a book on Good Manners. In the section dealing with Condolence Cards it said something to the effect that it is the height of bad manners to say anything describing your own pain at the loss. Same holds true for commenting on the possible reasons (and if the killer was deranged then there is NO reason) for Jo’s death. Good old fashioned British decency demands nothing less.
- Bandini
June 17, 2016 at 11:52 am -
Well said, TBD.
- Ed P
June 17, 2016 at 12:02 pm -
I was referring to the sick individuals like Polly who make political capital out of presonal tragedies. Sorry if that was unclear.
- Bandini
- Whyaxye
June 17, 2016 at 11:29 am -
I’ve given up reading the Guardian, as I thought that even clicking on the site might delay its demise by a milisecond. But I’ve just seen a quote from Toynbee’s article on another blog. It is truly disgusting.
One of the reasons I gave up reading the Guardian was the fact that they had become so detached from ordinary sane thinking that they had to close comments on some of their articles. Free speech is only for those who think in the prescribed manner, and who don’t question the Guardian’s dodgy tax arrangements, or ask about Muslim crime and terrorism, or question the value of unfettered immigration.
The Guardian is now an isolated bubble of undergraduate insanity, kept afloat by a trust fund.
- John Smith
June 17, 2016 at 9:56 pm -
- Rossa
June 18, 2016 at 1:32 pm -
Clarke Rothwell, that ‘well known’ BNP supporter? Britain First is a breakaway group from…..the BNP. Interesting what you find when going down the rabbit hole. Apparently, Mr Rothwell appears on this Wikileaks list.
https://wikileaks.org/wiki/British_National_Party_membership_and_contacts_list,_reference
- Rossa
June 18, 2016 at 1:35 pm -
And “Put Britain First” was used as a slogan by David Cameron in the lead up to his infamous renegotiation, which led to his support for the Remain campaign.
- Rossa
- Ed P
- Jim
June 17, 2016 at 10:23 am -
May she rest in peace.
- Dioclese
June 17, 2016 at 10:40 am -
Griefjacking of the most appalling type
- theyfearthehare
June 17, 2016 at 11:05 am -
I suspect we’ll see an awful lot more before the fat lady sings
- DtP
June 17, 2016 at 1:57 pm -
Flash mourning too.
- DtP
- theyfearthehare
- Ho Hum
June 17, 2016 at 10:47 am -
Well said, Anna
- Pericles Xanthippou
June 17, 2016 at 10:56 am -
Well written piece, Mme. Raccoon. ΠΞ
- Hereward Unbowed.
June 17, 2016 at 11:55 am -
I’ve commented elsewhere on a background of unconscionable concatenation, its political manoeuvring alluding to ulterior motives which has drifted over like a dank miasma shrouding this horrific and very sad event.
I’ve had some first hand experience of dealing with such patients, and dealing with the outfall – if they are off, come off their prescriptive drugs and yes I know, that, there is no good solution – a chemical cosh is what some call it. Then, how can you, in an open society prevent occasional but thank God rarely done, heinous acts, a man who has a history of mental disturbance from committing a grievous attack – which probably appalled his own senses, even when doing the evil deed – sad it is to relate, you can’t.May her family solemnly lay her to rest and in peace. And maybe, we all should – let it be.
- Michael
June 17, 2016 at 12:30 pm -
Terribly sad. The media should report the facts and stop digging around for titillating tidbits of the alleged murderer’s life. There is no genuine public interest in speculating, spinning out the story or knocking on neighbors doors to get the local gossip.
Report the news. Let the police and the courts do their job. Let family and friends grieve in peace.
- Alexander Baron
June 17, 2016 at 12:31 pm -
Or you could hold your tongue for once.
- Bandini
June 17, 2016 at 12:35 pm -
There’s an excellent analysis of the competing claims being bandied around by Richard Batholomew here:
http://barthsnotes.com/2016/06/17/some-notes-on-claims-about-thomas-mair/- Mr Ecks
June 17, 2016 at 11:48 pm -
The Rothwell bloke has now been identified as a member of the BNP–rivals and enemies of Britain First. How odd that he heard their name shouted.
- Mr Ecks
- Chris
June 17, 2016 at 12:59 pm -
“Politicians as Saints.”
The dumbing-down of society must be nearing completion.
No offence or judgement on the late Jo Cox herself as a person/mother etc, but the platitudes started immediately from everyone, including her own husband.
- Cascadian
June 17, 2016 at 9:44 pm -
Get ready for another Diana moment, Britain is about to blow (whats left of) it’s brains out in an act of pretend grief.
- Cascadian
- Major Bonkers
June 17, 2016 at 1:23 pm -
In view of the very many people who have contacted me requesting a comment on this sad affair, I have prepared the following statement.
Jo was a lovely woman, and a devoted mum and partner. She was a proud Yorkshire lass who, in the short time that she was able to, served her constituency well. When people ask me about Jo, and what I thought about her, I always say that she was a fighter, proud to stand up for her beliefs and constituents.
It is a matter of deep regret to me that I never actually met the woman, and that I regard her political views as cretinous.
Nonetheless, a number of serious matters are raised by the events of yesterday. Firstly, we must ask, ‘Cui bono’ – ‘who benefits’ – from her sad death. Whilst the Police have yet to conclude their inquiries, it seems more than likely that she was killed by an extreme right-wing member of the Brexit campaign. In my own view – and I must stress that it is my own view – I think that the way that Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage have conducted themselves in this campaign is a disgrace and they must bear direct blame for Jo’s tragic death yesterday. However, this is not the time or the place to point fingers.
There will be those, of course, who point to Jo’s great humanitarian work on behalf of Syrian refugees, fleeing the terrible violence in their country. I believe that her outspoken support for the plight of Syrians, driven from their homes, made her a target. It is undeniable to me that the Israelis would view her as a threat, and, well known as they are for their ruthless and efficient security services, would seek to remove that threat in the most expeditious way possible. I am afraid that I can say no more at this time.
I want to move on now, and ask the question: how can we properly protect our public servants – for that is what we MPs are – and, in protecting our MPs, protect our democracy?
I am not calling for knee-jerk reactions, but we must step up to the plate, avoid dog-whistle politics, and set out some common sense proposals.
Many members of the public value the work that their MP does, but it is time to recognise that MPs must be protected from the lone extremist who might mean them harm.
And, at a time when the attention of our country is focused on Europe, I think that we should look to what our European partners do, and take the best lessons from them; it is what Jo would have done, and what she would have wanted to be done.
The European parliament, for example, has recently announced plans to hire a small number of full-time drivers to help MEPs in their important constituency work ( http://uk.businessinsider.com/the-european-parliament-is-planning-to-spend-105-million-on-limos-2016-3 ). I think that after yesterday’s tragic events, the case for a similar scheme in this country is unanswerable.
Similarly, I think that those MPs who are exposed to the most risk should be provided with, should they deem it necessary, police protection and help with their living arrangements. It is now clear that for MPs to live outside Westminster represents an unacceptable security risk, and it will be necessary for MPs to be provided with suitable accommodation close to their place of work. As a matter of course, such accommodation should provide facilities, including staffing arrangements, for entertaining foreign dignitaries. In the long run, I would expect these new arrangements to be provided at a significantly reduced cost to the tax-payer than the current means.
And, last but not least, I think that it is now clear that the great privilege of being an MP also comes with a much greater degree of personal risk than many of us realised. It will be necessary for us all to look at our personal security arrangements, and, where necessary, to upgrade our security. Freedom is not free, unfortunately, and there will be a small, one-off, cost associated with this, as well as on-going costs. I intend to bring this matter to the attention of the Clerk of the Commons, but in my view the easiest and least cumbersome way to manage this would be by way of a small annual allowance paid directly to each MP and to be spent as he – or she – sees fit.
How can we best remember Jo? I think that it is necessary that we all agree that the urgent lessons that I have outlined above should be put in place as soon as possible. It would certainly be completely inappropriate – and against Jo’s own wishes – for such proposals to be questioned or delayed.
I also think that the best way that we can honour Jo’s memory is to honour the causes that she believed in: our great Party, and the cause of European integration.
Thank you. I will be making no further comment.
- Sean Coleman
June 17, 2016 at 1:46 pm -
I wish I’d written that.
If I misread it then please accept my most sincere apologies (and to everyone else here while I am at it).
‘Thank you. I will be making no further comment.’
Priceless!
- Loadsamates
June 17, 2016 at 4:26 pm -
Whatever the merits of her politics you perceive, “cretinous” is somewhat overstated, no?
I certainly do not agree that the answer to a tragedy such as this is to wrap ourselves in the abrasive ‘cotton wool’ of increased state-provided security. As most people in Orlando likely presently agree, arming people with guns (or alligators) is the real folly.
- Mr Ecks
June 18, 2016 at 12:01 am -
Bonkers you are a disgrace.
Islamic nutters kill screaming their gods name and middle-class cultural Marxist scum run to claim it has nothing to do with the religion of peace.
But to speak out and say that membership in Europe is to be part of a CM organisation determined to import millions of 18-30 yobs in to Europe at the price of terror for Europe’s women and massive crime is to be slandered by CM scum with claims that the truth-tellers are encouraging murder.
You should be stripped of your citizenship and booted out of this country Bonkers.
And as for loadsawhatever–the Orlando creep was a state-inspected, state-vetted security guard with special permission to carry a long gun (not a continuous fire rifle as the media liars claim). He would still have had the gun regardless of the gun control crap you advocate.
None of his victims were armed tho’ –had they been they might still be alive.
- Sean Coleman
June 18, 2016 at 11:02 am -
Read it again, Mr Ecks. You have got the wrong end of the stick. Bonkers’s statement is one of the best of its kind I have read in a long time.
- Major Bonkers
June 18, 2016 at 12:24 pm -
Thank you, Sean, and also for your kind comment above.
What I intended as satire might have been a bit too subtle if read quickly. It is supposed to be in the voice of some pompous politician – think Ted Heath at his most entitled – making his political hay while the sun shines: a tasteless dig at the opposition, a Ken Livingstone-like bit of Jew bashing, and then – of course – some troughing: a chauffeured car, a house and staff, and a new allowance – all to be pushed through without scrutiny.
Personally, I regard the late Mrs. Cox’s political views not as cretinous but as completely cretinous.
Driving home after work on Thursday, I listened to the PM programme which ended by playing her maiden speech, during which she praised the ‘enrichment’ of her constituency through Pakistani immigration. Presumably though, I mused to myself, our enrichment has been at the expense of a corresponding impoverishment of their own country; but then, of course, this is all part of the way that politicians communicate in platitudes and cliches.
She also appears to have been one of the ‘never had a proper job’ brigade, vaguely described as having worked for Save the Children and Oxfam on their ‘campaigns’. I suppose that big charities need paid staff, but there is nothing intrinsically virtuous in having been an employee of a charity.
Most absurd spectacle so far has been mi’lord Kinnockio – yes, the Welsh windbag himself, returned from his senile senescence in the House of Lords – ‘breaking down’ on the television: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1300278/Moving-interview-Lord-Kinnock-reacting-death-Jo-Cox.html . Give it a break, Taff – it’s not the f*cking Two Ronnies.
What ought to be a shocking event, causing us to look with fresh eyes at our country and questioning how such an event could take place, is devalued by politicians shouting, ‘Look at me!’ and treating the death of an ordinary woman as their own political football. More on Monday, when they are all trooping back to Parliament to pay yet more maudlin tributes to a woman that the majority of them would never have recognised during her stay in Parliament.
- Mr Ecks
June 18, 2016 at 1:03 pm -
Apologies then Bonkers. My irony meter has burned out. In the present climate their is little subtlety to be had.
- Mr Ecks
- Major Bonkers
- Rossa
June 18, 2016 at 1:47 pm -
Mr Ecks, not only was Omar Mateen state and security approved, his Dad is running for president of Afghanistan will the full support of the CIA and the US Govt., allegedly….
- Sean Coleman
- Mr Ecks
- Sean Coleman
- Doonhamer
June 17, 2016 at 1:25 pm -
Anna, well said.
That’s all- Mrs Raft
June 17, 2016 at 3:58 pm -
+1
- Mrs Raft
- Bandini
June 17, 2016 at 1:27 pm -
“Let’s honour Jo Cox and her political legacy, and allow in 2000 Syrian children in respect of her long political struggle for them”
https://twitter.com/peterjukes/status/743545822894297088%5D
For God’s sake…- JuliaM
June 17, 2016 at 3:16 pm -
I can see no drawbacks whatsoever in informing the Third World that the way to win a ticket to the UK and it’s generous benefit system is to kill a UK MP, can you?
- Loadsamates
June 17, 2016 at 3:56 pm -
Apart from moral repugnance, life imprisonment and the obviously false pretence, I agree with you.
- Loadsamates
- tdf
June 18, 2016 at 11:16 pm -
^ That honestly reads like a satirical tweet from the Godfrey Elfwick twitter account (a spoof on social justice warriors, for those not aware of it). Which Peter is now engaging with.
- JuliaM
- Sean Coleman
June 17, 2016 at 1:28 pm -
The trouble is her sad death was very public and (as said above) has become part of the political argument, and that can’t be undone. What happens if a dignified silence is maintained until, say, the 23rd? For all I know this could be a decisive turning point in the referendum; not her death per se but its linking with the No campaign.
I had a quick glance through the news, and comments from foreign leaders, and others, seem to characterise it as ‘an attack on Democracy’, not an attack by a madman.
I joined Facebook last year just in time for the equally sad death of the Kurdish boy whose drowned body was photographed on a beach. An on-line petition was launched to open the borders. Let them in! The Irish press and leading politicians, including President Higgins, called for Ireland to admit thousands of refugees (or ‘refugees’) and to give them immediate full citizenship. Some of those on Facebook who got caught up in it don’t think it was such a good idea now (or have forgotten they had any part in it) but it’s too late now.
It seems likely that Higgins won the presidential election in 2011 because in the last televised debate mud was thrown at the clear front-runner, Sean Gallagher, in the form of allegations (which later turned out to be false) that he had received large cash donations for the discredited Fianna Fáil party. During the debate RTE passed on a number of tweets (I am not familiar with what these are0, including one from Sinn Féin or Martin McGuinness (or something like that) claiming that a man had given Gallagher €5k for Fianna Fáil (the implication is that this was for political favours of course). This tweet turned out to fraudulent. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Gallagher lost. He has taken out a case against RTE, and broadcaster Pat Kenny has told him to ‘get over it’.
Another case that springs to mind is the death of ‘Savita’ (can’t remember her surname) a few years ago in a Galway hospital. This was directly attributed to the refusal of doctors to give her an abortion because of Ireland’s ‘medieval’ laws. A huge story was made of this to force the abortion on demand agenda. It turned out (later, of course) that it was another set of factors that led to her fatal blood poisoning. The Sindo printed a small story later on, hidden away on page 2 or 3 (I wish I’d kept it as a cutting), about how a pro-abortion pressure group had heard the story days ahead of everyone else and planned to use it to the hilt.
I agree with Anna on most things but the important angle here is the referendum.
Surely. Or am I wrong?
- Loadsamates
June 17, 2016 at 3:49 pm -
Firstly, just overheard some ‘why it?’ South African bloke in the boozer who, possibly understandably mistaken about the suspect’s ethnicity in his grief, clearly said something like “I ate blek Cox”. In fairness, perhaps, it may have been “Verwoerd to a brighter Britain” or similar–an easy mistake for me to have made as I was just out of earshot in a traffic jam miles away the whole time. Clearly, though, the prophetically named Mr Patriot was, despite protestations, definitely in on the conspiracy such that, as the de Beers went down (see what I did there?), he was increasingly able to disclose involves Jacob Zuma and the CIA’s joint desperation that Corbyn and Cameron may otherwise fail to share a platform and so the EU Referendum may be lost. Kickback on the current 4% tariff on both diamonds and biltong at risk…
According to Mr Patriot, the assassination was all down to a covert cross-bench black ops operation involving Chuka Ummuna, Sadiq Khan, the ghost of Jimmy Savile in minstrel costume–plus probably a shady Remain Tory or two (if second digit required for counting purposes), one of whom was likely Oliver Letwin who’d allegedly overdone it at Sunbed Heaven on Tuesday whilst distracted by a simultaneous enhanced massage treatment. Stephen Kinnock recruited Mair, the stooge.
Seriously, though, since she is no longer here to make her pro Remain points herself https://twitter.com/Jo_Cox1?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor.
- Loadsamates
June 17, 2016 at 4:16 pm -
Sorry, the first line should have read “victim’s ethnicity” with no distress intended.
Stop press: Pint 9 and Eddie Izzard is now alleged to have lead the conspiracy, running 27 marathons as cover for the planning. Was that Donald Tusk spotted posing as an unlikely ‘physiotherapist’ in Mbashe Ridge in March?
- Loadsamates
- tdf
June 17, 2016 at 10:00 pm -
^ Sean, IIRC the 2011 Irish presidential campaign was remarkable for its sheer nastiness, particularly given the relative unimportance of the President’s role under Bunreacht na hEireann, although possibly ever since the era of Mary Robinson the role is viewed a very valuable prize to be bartered over and fought for, not so much because of the role itself but because of the future career advancement and connections it might lead to?
Hard to believe that a man who was a former terrorist commander (even though ultimately unsuccessful in his campaign) faced far less personal attacks during the campaign than the likes of the singer Dana (I’ve no particular time for her, in my view, backward-thinking views, but the manner in which her campaign was sabotaged due to certain journalists getting wind of a toxic row involving disputed allegations of child abuse within her extended family didn’t sit well with me) or the amiable eccentric Joycean scholar and gay rights campaigner David Norris, who was pretty much accused of being a paedophile sympathiser due to another journalist or blogger (I forget which) unearthing unwise comments he’d made many years ago.
The noted popster ‘Bono’ was once asked by an American interviewer (who probably didn’t realise that unlike the US presidency, the Irish presidency is a role of little or no constitutional importance) if he had ever considered running for the Irish presidency, and he quipped that he had not, as he wouldn’t want to move to a smaller house. It’s not true – Bono’s house is a lot smaller than Uachtaran na hEireann. I think he really meant that he wouldn’t want to move back to the northside…lol.
- Sean Coleman
June 18, 2016 at 12:16 pm -
tdf, I had forgotten about the smears against Dana and I might not have been that aware of them at the time. You need to be able to live your life all over again in order to spot all the important things you missed first time round. She would have been targeted because she was an outspoken opponent of the liberal agenda. I just looked it up and the criticism of Norris came from a Helen Lucy Burke. There a few paragraphs in this article by John Waters:
In a way it is astonishing that any sustained criticism could have been made against a liberal icon like Norris (who, on a personal level, like yourself, I find decent and charming, if not politically). It’s interesting to note Waters’s reference to criticism of Norris from Christine Buckley, which (predictably) was not given any publicity. Rory O’Connor (Irish Salem) is most informative about Buckley, by the way. Therer was another scandal involving Norris, about his intervention (as a Senator) on behalf of his ex-lover (as I recall) who had been charged with some sexual crime in Israel or wherever.
- tdf
June 18, 2016 at 10:30 pm -
Sean,
If one were fond of conspiracy theory, one might conclude that the powers that be/establishment parties/establishment media decided that M. D. O’Higgins was their favoured candidate and come hell or high water they were going to get him installed in Aras an Uachtaran (if you recall, Gay Mitchell was the officially approved FG candidate, though his campaign floundered from early days, it having become rapidly clear that man had no ‘common touch’ whatever). Hence, it became acceptable for the establishment media to smear Norris as it looked for a while like he was doing pretty well in polling, if I recall correctly.
- tdf
- Sean Coleman
- Loadsamates
- Mrs Grimble
June 17, 2016 at 1:34 pm -
” the platitudes started immediately from everyone, including her own husband.”
So what would you expect a grieving husband to say about his murdered wife? “She was a great MP and activist but people should know she was rubbish at cooking and used swearwords about David Cameron”?
Thanks Anna, for the reminder.
- Sean Coleman
June 17, 2016 at 1:54 pm -
He husband is reported as calling on people to “fight against the hatred that killed her”.
The point is taken that we should remember that he has lost his wife and his children have lost their mother because that is so easily forgotten once the arguments begin.
- Sean Coleman
- tdf
June 17, 2016 at 8:37 pm -
“Who can make the most mileage in their chosen campaign by invoking her name?”
To add to the list, I have seen several Twitter accounts with IRA/Irish republican sympathetic avatars ventilate the possibility that the assassin is one of those Dirty Proddy Unionist Bastards (TM) because apparently a Loyalist terrorist with the same name as the man arrested for Ms Cox’s murder was convicted decades ago for terrorist offences and, subsequently released early under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Granted, Northern Irish Loyalists do tend to have far right sympathies, but if it is correct, as some media reports have indicated, that the man arrested for the murder of Ms Cox spent all his life in his home town of Leeds, then it almost certainly not the same person.
- The Blocked Dwarf
June 17, 2016 at 10:05 pm -
If I remember rightly, Britain First (where, down the pan?) has strong links to the Orange Order and Northern Ireland Proddy groups.
- tdf
June 17, 2016 at 10:09 pm -
^ TBD,
I think that is correct about Britain First, but it doesn’t prove, of course, that the suspect had any such specific links. Apparently the authorities are planning to charge the suspected killer under terrorism legislation, so who knows.
- The Blocked Dwarf
June 17, 2016 at 11:40 pm -
Of course they are going to charge the suspect under the terrorism act, can you imagine the outcry if he was simply locked up where he almost certainly belongs…Rampton or Broadmoor? The OUTRAGE bus would never stop rolling. [Daily Mail Screaming Caps} “Jo’s Killer Gets Away With It”, “Jo’s Murderer living in his own luxury flat in Broadmoor, has pizza delivered by naked call girls when there is nothing on his wide screen”
As I said before, what links and ‘motivations’ the Killer had are totally irrelevant -if he, as I ‘read’ his actions- was insane. Funny how people talk about the ‘senseless’ killing but don’t seem to realize that where there is no sense….
- Mike
June 18, 2016 at 1:00 am -
I don’t think they will…but we’ll see.
Any shouting by “The Daily Mail” about these sorts of things I sometimes see in the paper usually gets ignored by officialdom. Sutcliffe the Ripper got transferred from a prison to a “cushy” mental hospital, as did Ian Brady – men whose crimes were even worse.
From what a witness has said, this terrible killing may have occurred after she tried to intervene in a street argument. But why was the alleged murderer carrying a gun? Was the man he was arguing with the intended victim? Was Jo Cox the intended victim? Was there no specific “intended victim”,- was this “simply” a disturbed man who often carried a gun in a bag, where a haphazard confrontation in the street led him to use it for the first time? Whatever the case, there seems to be some reasonable evidence that the suspect arrested has, at the least, some mental illness issues.
My guess is Jo Cox was probably killed by someone mentally deranged, a “lone nut”, one who should have been in a psychiatric hospital (the ones closed by the political class). Such people can potentially kill for all sorts of reasons, are fanatically obsessed by all sorts of bees in their bonnet which can, occasionally, lead to murderous violence. However….the stakes are colossal to the European corporate/political elite if the UK pulls out of the “project.” A Brexit would quite possibly be terminal to it. Whose cause can potentially benefit most from this appalling killing? It certainly isn’t that of the Brexiters. If this was not an awful, but sadly not uncommon, act of murderous insanity, rather, something more sinister, then which ruthless, hugely powerful, entity, the very existence of which is being put at serious risk by the UK referendum, has the strong motive and resources necessary to engineer such a tragedy? Providing a suspect who has supposed connections to, or was at least possibly influenced by, the “far right”, one allegedly, conveniently, shouting “Britain first” at the time; with a victim guaranteed to engender far more public sympathy than almost any other, one who was also dedicated campaigner for the remain interest – a “perfect martyr”? The circumstances, the nature of the victim, the fact that this has happened so close to the date of the referendum when the polls were pointing to a quite probable leave vote next week – all give rise to what are some quite reasonable suspicions about these terrible events.
- Ho Hum
June 18, 2016 at 1:14 am -
Occam’s Razor would point to him probably being merely one more person amongst the many whose mothers’ didn’t know that they had found the doorkey /sarcasm off
- The Blocked Dwarf
June 18, 2016 at 7:42 am -
Such people can potentially kill for all sorts of reasons,
No that should read ALL people….
We are all of us just one bad synapse from going postal.
Quite possibly Joe’s killer went to bed the night before perfectly ‘sane’ and awoke that day in the certain knowledge that God had spoken to him during the night and told him to free the world from the Lizard people. Although the chances are he had a ‘history’, ‘instant psychosis’ being thankfully very rare.Stephen King memorably called madness a ‘flexible bullet’ and he was right. In the case of The Bestes But Insansest Frau In The World that bullet struck in the space of time it took me to walk out onto the balcony and light a cigarette. She went from ‘baby blues’ to full blown knife wielding psychosis in the half length of a Gauloises.
All our grips on sanity are tenuous.
Oh and your point about officialdom ignoring (thankfully) the DM; neither Sutcliffe nor Brady’s victims were sitting MPs ie ‘officialdom’.
- Bill Sticker
June 19, 2016 at 12:21 am -
BD: Ever read Dr David M Buss’s work “The Murderer next door – Why the mind is designed to kill” ? Dr Buss makes exactly the case you claim; that we are all capable of murder under very specific circumstances. Intriguing reading.
- Bill Sticker
- Ho Hum
- JuliaM
June 18, 2016 at 5:47 am -
Well, he hasn’t been charged under the Terrorism Act. Neither were Rigby’s killers.
- The Blocked Dwarf
June 18, 2016 at 7:18 am -
I spoke without thinking and have only myself to blame for now looking stupid. A bit more thought would have led me to remember that , at least since the days of the IRA, terrorists in the UK are usually charged with a criminal offence ie Murder . My point however holds true, he won’t simply be declared ‘unfit’ / mentally ill and locked away for treatment….although I expect his lawyers will be arguing for it at every stage.
If (and it is all ‘ifs’ atm) he made a homemade gun then that may well ‘hang’ him, as a jury will not accept he was insane with that degree of obvious premeditation.
- JuliaM
June 18, 2016 at 11:43 am -
Well, he’s certainly giving his lawyers a lot of ammunition:
“The deputy chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot ordered that Mair be remanded in custody until his next appearance, at the Old Bailey on Monday. He will be held at Belmarsh prison, and Arbuthnot suggested that a psychiatric report be prepared, saying: “Bearing in mind the name he has just given, he ought to be seen by a psychiatrist.””
- JuliaM
- Retired
June 18, 2016 at 2:00 pm -
Please see the attached for details of the Terrorism Act. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/part/II
There is no offence of ‘Murder, contrary to the Terrorism Act’. If an offender commits an offence such as murder, GBH etc they will be charged accordingly with the substantive offence. If the act was committed as part of a terrorist incident then that will no doubt be taken into consideration during sentencing.
- The Blocked Dwarf
- IlovetheBBC
June 18, 2016 at 12:48 pm -
The problem is that we ignore or downplay their insanity when they are Muslim terrorists, and use it as an all-encompassing explainer when they aren’t. We should be consistent. We should recognise that very many terrorists of all religious and political persuasions are mentally ill. The categories of ‘terrorist’ and ‘insane’ are not mutually exclusive. I tend to get despondent when I see intelligent people pretending we have to choose.
By the time this comes to trial the Referendum will be done and dusted and the question of its role, if any, in this attack will be history. Meanwhile we are free to believe what we want – if we trust the public with a vote, we can trust them to make their own minds up. I don’t think it will have much effect in Remain’s favour, but it may slightly reduce turnout.
- Mike
- The Blocked Dwarf
- tdf
- The Blocked Dwarf
- Owen
June 18, 2016 at 10:28 am -
Exempting The Blocked Dwarf and his single synapse comments, what utter humbug all round.
- Ho Hum
June 18, 2016 at 10:43 am -
Welcome to the ‘in crowd’, then
- Ho Hum
- Retired
June 18, 2016 at 10:37 am -
The latest update.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jun/18/thomas-mair-charged-with-of-mp-jo-cox- The Blocked Dwarf
June 18, 2016 at 11:25 am -
Thomas Mair has given his name as “death to traitors, freedom for Britain”
Translation: mad as a hatter. For ‘traitors’ read ‘Lizard men/Aliens/Demons’, yer takes yer Haloperidol and yer makes yer choice. He could call himself ‘Whoops Mr Bunny, pass the dried frog pills’ or rail against HS2 being built by The Greys.Like St.Bob said “he can see no reason cos there are no reasons”. Fact is he (probably) killed Jo whilst in the grip of a psychotic episode. The WHY he did it is unimportant and no one in their right mind should make anything from his utterances. Trying to make sense from what a schizo says is about as pointless a task as it gets. You can’t ‘understand’ a psychotic there is nothing to understand, you can’t ‘draw lessons’ from their reasons because they have none.
- IlovetheBBC
June 18, 2016 at 1:00 pm -
Did you say the same about Michael Adebowale, who is borderline schizophrenic but who nonetheless will spend the rest of his life in prison?
I’m not being snarky, that’s a genuine question.
And do we think that his radicalisation and choice of victim is irrelevant? Was he an Islamist murderer, or a mentally ill saddo?
The choice of victim, the execution-style act and numerous other factors lead me to believe Jo Cox was the victim of a targetted political assassination by a mentally disturbed person, just like Lee Rigby. And just like many other victims of ‘radicalised terrorists’.- The Blocked Dwarf
June 18, 2016 at 1:41 pm -
Michael Adebowale, who is borderline schizophrenic
Well to start with I would contest that there is any such thing as ‘borderline’ schizophrenic, as a condition not as a ‘pre-stage’ any rate. Bit like being a ‘bit pregnant’.
But your question is valid, one might -with some justification- claim that to be a violent religious extremist of whatever flavour is to be insane (no one would consider David Koresh to have been well balanced) …and I for one would have no particular ‘problem’ if a judge decided that MA did indeed belong in a secure unit or even if the High Court overturned the verdict on the grounds of his not being able to have discerned between Right & Wrong at the time.
But certain aspects of the killing of LR seem to me, as a member of laity both legal and psychiatric, to indicate that it was an ‘evil’ deed committed by evil people not a sick tragedy….and as such their motivations/reasons are relevant.
So honest answer, I don’t know.
- Don Cox
June 18, 2016 at 8:02 pm -
The real problem is that crime and mental illness are all mixed up, and the current system of deciding that some people should go to jail, others to hospital, and others to a secure hospital is a complete mess.
- Don Cox
- JuliaM
June 19, 2016 at 5:41 am -
The difference, IlovetheBBC, is that, should someone stand up in court and claim a killing based on his membership of the Brotherhood of Venus, here to usher in the Age of Aquarius by killing people, I don’t need to worry that such a Brotherhood exists, and might be waiting their chance to strike.
If an Islamist stands up in court claiming to act for radical Islam, I’m not so sanguine. Because there is such a group, and it has many, many members.
- The Blocked Dwarf
June 19, 2016 at 7:52 am -
Surely a religion of Peace, whose very name is a byword for tolerance and love towards all men and women, is not a thing to be feared?!
- The Blocked Dwarf
- The Blocked Dwarf
- IlovetheBBC
- The Blocked Dwarf
- Wiggiatlarge
June 18, 2016 at 12:33 pm -
This is from the Guardian piece by the late MPs husband..
Mainstream politicians, he writes, “in most cases are clueless on how to deal with the public debate. Petrified by the rise of the populists they try to neuter them by taking their ground and aping their rhetoric. Far from closing down the debates, these steps legitimise their views, reinforce their frames and pull the debate further to the extremes (Sarkozy and the continuing rise of Front National is a case in point).”
Didn’t take him long to get on the “hate” bandwagon, note how the left deal with anything they don’t agree with ie close down the debate, God forbid they have to actually debate with the proles and explain why they are right and everyone else is wrong.
In hindsight it is a miracle that no one has been shot elsewhere in Europe, millions of people are being constantly told their opinion is of no value, they are constantly threatened with reprisals if they do not toe the socialist line from Brussels, they are threatened that democratically elected parties and individuals will not be recognised, parties that look like winning elections are ganged up on by multiple other parties for the “good” of the nation etc etc.
Anything not of the left is far right and should be automatically erased from sight and sound yet the left tolerates the likes of UAF and Hope not Hate as beacons of tolerance and fair play in society, their version of society of course.
So when a nutter commits murder the whole of the Brexit campaign are automatically tarred withe same image, the left has created more hate in recent times than any other faction with their total intolerance to any objections to their mantra, there needs to be a cleansing in politics from top to bottom, no longer is any party or institution working on behalf of the people they supposedly represent the whole thing is a sham, this latest appalling hijacking of a murder for political gain is just the new lowest example of that. - Cascadian
June 18, 2016 at 7:40 pm -
“The Daily Telegraph reports this morning that Thomas Mair sought help for his mental health problems the night before Jo Cox was killed – but was told to make an appointment and return the next day.”……………could it be “the best health system in the world” , the fetishized NHS, so dear to liebour hearts in fact contributed to the death of the MP?
- The Blocked Dwarf
June 18, 2016 at 8:29 pm -
Try getting a paranoid psychotic committed, for her own and everyone elses’ safeties, over the Xmas period and you’ll never again even think the phrase ‘best health care system in the world’ in conjunction with the NHS.
Yet strangely enough Mental Health care (and disabled care in general) is one of the few things the NHS does better, as a rule, than the Continentals.
Even in Germany, whose Health Care *is* arguably one of the finest in the world, the Prussian spirit of ” The cripple as such belongs in an asylum” (Prussian Book Of Law 1911 I think) still drifts through the grey corridors of ‘Care’.- Cascadian
June 18, 2016 at 10:29 pm -
What you say is based on experience therefore I accept your conclusions, but the facts are significantly different here.
We do not know if the accused is a “paranoid psychotic”, he also did not request service over the Christmas holidays. This appears to be a simple request of an already diagnosed individual for help on a weekday evening. I don’t think it is too speculative to believe that he was told previously to do exactly as he did, that is, seek help at any time he was feeling unwell (for want of a better term). As such I will continue to believe that the “best health system in the world” failed him, with tragic consequences for the MP, the old fella who attempted to assist and himself.
- Ho Hum
June 18, 2016 at 10:48 pm -
I always admire people whose judgement is perfect.
And then I wonder why it is that they aren’t running the world
- Cascadian
June 18, 2016 at 11:05 pm -
Equally, I admire sycophants who spout platitudes almost as much, and wonder what is their motivation?
I look not for perfection in the NHS, a basic level of competence would be welcome though.
- JuliaM
June 19, 2016 at 5:42 am -
“And then I wonder why it is that they aren’t running the world”
We’re too busy earning a living, Ho Hum..
- Cascadian
- The Blocked Dwarf
June 18, 2016 at 11:55 pm -
As such I will continue to believe that the “best health system in the world” failed him
You are probably right and my comment wasn’t meant to sound as if I disagreed, rather the opposite infact. If he was, or had previously been, in treatment he would have almost certainly have been told to ring any time he needed assistance….as were we.
A couple of years ago I had a doorstep chat with a junior Health Minister, he was genuinely concerned-for reasons I can’t post publically as they were given in confidence- that there was no ‘999 emergency service provision for mental health’. I truly believe he tried his best to get something started but then got distracted by curtailing all our civil liberties and Human Rights.
Surely in this day and age it must be possible to get a trained Psych-doctor, or at least an experienced Mental Health nurse, out to a patient within a relatively short space of time. Many people with long term mental health problems are capable, for a brief window of time, of recognising the symptoms of an approaching ‘attack’-and their families the more so. If there was a number they could ring 24/7/365 and be sure to get someone halfway qualified at the other end who could organise quick help…so in other words NOT the mental health equivalent of NHS Direct or whatever they call it now.
- Jay
June 19, 2016 at 6:26 pm -
Some months ago I remember being astonished at a news feature that reported that people with serious mental health issues were being advised to go to, in effect, a coffee club, as a stopgap. It seemed to me all of a piece with the emotionalism that infests the UK nowadays as if a group hug and a nice cuppa is an adequate response to an individual in deep mental distress.
- Ho Hum
June 19, 2016 at 8:51 pm -
What do you think would be a suitable alternative, then?
- Ho Hum
- Ho Hum
- Cascadian
- The Blocked Dwarf
- A Potted Plant
June 18, 2016 at 8:33 pm -
It is regretable that elected representatives and public office holders in North America, the UK and other European Union nations, refuse to defend themselves against the dissemination of falsehoods which are intended to incite hatred of them (as individuals or as elected/ appointed public servants) and which are liable to incite criminal harrassment and/or acts of violence against them.
What is needed is legislation similar to the old “publishing false news” statutes, most of which have been tossed out as violating constitutional guarantees of Freedom of Speech/Expression. There should be a criminal slander/defamation statute that does not explicitly prohibit the dissemination of inflammatory falsehoods, but provides for criminal penalties (imprisonment rather than monetary judgements) against persons found guilty of disseminating the type of falsehoods very explicitly delineated in the statute, following a complaint being filed against them by a targeted person or member of a targeted group. There should be a review of that complaint by a panel of 6 randomly selected citizens willing and able to serve on such a panel, chaired by a public prosecutor, with a majority vote either dismissing the complaint or sending it forward for prosecution. Or something of this nature – I’m obviously not a lawyer.It is a ridiculous circumstance for civil lawsuits to be the only legal recourse open to public figures targeted by hate-mongering public liars, (and no legal recourse at all for the families of deceased targeted persons, in most countries). The false bravado sometimes voiced by elected representatives – that they are not afraid, and would courageously choose the possibility of martyrdom “in the name of democracy” if need be, rather than enacting protective legislative sledgehammers and crushing the vile slanders lobby – is just silly, and frankly disarms and endangers all of them.
It is an outrage that Chris fay is not living out his last days in a prison cell, for example, considering all the unwarranted public hatred and needless murderous anger that his pedophile-sadist-child killer lies against various public figures have generated.
- Cascadian
June 18, 2016 at 10:13 pm -
Really, that’s what you want? You want to make hold your “office-holders” one notch above the plebs, with a special extra-judicial apparatus? Perhaps it could be termed a “star chamber”
There are existing means to deal with the likes of Chris Fay, the fact that plod and the Home Secretary are too squeamish to apply their “law” speaks volumes.
I think you need to read Major Bonkers excellent piss-taking of the “office holder-class” above at 17 June 1:23pm
- Ho Hum
June 18, 2016 at 10:45 pm -
Funnily enough, I didn’t read The Green Cannabis User’s post as setting out a proposition that was limited only to the ‘officer class’, but then I’m probably too much of a liberal libertarian POS to know any better, amn’t I? In fact when I read it this morning, I almost posted to tell; him he’d get my ‘X’ on his box on the ballot paper, just for being one of the more sensible people out there
So, Mr Potted Plant, have an upvote from me. But expect to have to dodge the bullets from some of the loons out there.
- Cascadian
June 18, 2016 at 11:14 pm -
“It is regretable that elected representatives and public office holders in North America, the UK and other European Union nations, refuse to defend themselves against the dissemination of falsehoods”……….might have been a clue .
So I take your word that you are ” probably too much of a liberal libertarian POS to know any better, ” or maybe you are guilty of skimming the articles contents before commenting. I will assume the latter.
- Ho Hum
June 18, 2016 at 11:57 pm -
Which part of
‘following a complaint being filed against them by a targeted person or member of a targeted group’
did you miss?
- Ho Hum
June 18, 2016 at 11:58 pm -
I had read it VERY carefully
- Cascadian
June 19, 2016 at 12:58 am -
In which case your own words are prophetic.
- Cascadian
- Ho Hum
- Ho Hum
- A Potted Plant
June 19, 2016 at 3:16 am -
@Ho Hum – Thanks for your kind words!
Interesting interpretation of this Username – that hadn’t occured to me before, but now it does seem an obvious inference to draw
“A Potted Plant” was originally the name under which I posted a series of satirical comments on an omni-paranoid’s blog, in which I pretended to be a nameless, faceless ‘agent’ hiding in a potted plant, whispering seductive subliminals to passers-by (other commenters), i.e., “wouldn’t a smoke go down real nice just now? mmm…that mellow Virginia taste…”
- Cascadian
- eric
June 19, 2016 at 12:51 am -
Why would office-holders be “one notch above the plebs” with a criminal defamation law?. A law applies to everyone. In fact a criminal defamation law would do the opposite : give the ordinary citizen who cannot afford defamation lawsuits the ability to seek re-dress, Lord Leveson proposed a Defamation Tribunal that could be accessed by every citizen but he has been ignored.
There are no avenues for dealing with the likes of the odious turkey looking con-man Christopher Fay who has cost the taxpayer untold millions in failed police pursuits and probably ruined many lives. Fay is a great example of how a lie is disseminated and spreads throughout the world and containing it becomes almost impossible. There are 1000s of Fays who have re-published his lies and pursuing each would would become an impossible task but if the original source faced a court, others may be more cautious.
Anyway I think Fay may have more pressing problems and do not think his future is rosy. Several of his former pals are so incensed by his actions his untold past will soon be rearing up to give him grief.
- Ho Hum
- eric
June 19, 2016 at 12:42 am -
I fully agree-there needs to a new law of Criminal Defamation . There still is in the Australian state of South Australia and several people have been charged under it and fined / jailed for making totally outlandish and untrue claims about individuals who have not had the money to pursue them through a civil court.
As for the USA’s ridiculous claim of ‘free speech”, this was never intended to be the freedom to defame just the freedom to state your view and not be discriminated against by doing so.
The internet has changed all that and allowed defamation to flourish and for large entities like Google, facebook, Twitter and so on to profit from that defamation and even worse, insult us by avoiding tax.- tdf
June 19, 2016 at 1:00 am -
“As for the USA’s ridiculous claim of ‘free speech”, this was never intended to be the freedom to defame just the freedom to state your view and not be discriminated against by doing so.”
Well, that’s debatable. The test for proving defamation is a lot higher in the US than in most jurisidictions.
- tdf
- Cascadian
- tdf
June 18, 2016 at 9:03 pm -
@A Potted Plant
I’m not a lawyer either but as far as I’m aware, the offence of criminal slander has been abolished? Though I think it still existed in the days of, for example, ‘Scallywag’ magazine and I’d imagine the publisher was lucky not to be charged under it.
- A Potted Plant
June 19, 2016 at 5:15 am -
The “publishing false news” ‘class’ of statutes were aimed at suppressing, through criminal sanctions, public circulation of falsehoods that were intended or liable to incite irrational hatred and acts of violence against the members of any identifiable racial, ethnic or religious community or social minority. I think they were rarely invoked and most have not survived contemporary court challeges claiming that they violated constitutional guarantees of free speech. Unfortuately the idea of such laws seems to have been discarded, rather than developing replacement legislation with similar aims but more acceptable parameters, wording or nuisance complaints vetting. I say unfortunately, because incitement of irrational hatred and unwarranted anger, based on false beliefs, surely can develop into serious and life-threatening danger.
“Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLMC) was a Rwandan radio station which broadcast from July 8, 1993 to July 31, 1994. It played a significant role [of incitement] during the April–July 1994 Rwandan Genocide” – Wikipedia.
The incitement of hatred & violence, through falsehoods disseminated by this radio station, being an archetypal case in point.
I’m not suggesting preventive-protective legislation exclusively for the benefit of elected representatives, public office holders or any other class of persons. But I am suggesting – I’m flatly stating, actually – that specific classes of persons involved in various types of “public service” have a pressing need to make use of new legislations, a more urgent need than most “random” individuals in our society, at this point in time. Commonly held perceptions that these classes of persons represent “The Establishment” makes them targets for both organized campaigns of incitement to hatred, and more spontaeous “outbreaks” of incitement to hatred driven by a uniquely dangerous form of social contagion. In both cases the circulation of falsehoods intended to incite hatred of targeted persons or groups is pursued with evangelical zeal, and sometimes with half-conscious hopes that “someone will take action”. Tragically, there have been and will be mentally ill-deranged-disturbed persons in our communities who interpret the hatred and anger circulating around them as a personal “call to action” and commit acts of violent assault, attempted murder or assassination in response.
- Sean Coleman
June 19, 2016 at 3:32 pm -
I think I know what you are saying. I take your reference to “organized campaigns of incitement to hatred… driven by a uniquely dangerous form of social contagion” to mean outbreaks of ‘trending’ on Facebook and Twitter directed at prominent figures like Cameron, Johnson and Andrew Lloyd Webber (in addition to those who, like Margaret Thatcher and Jimmy Savile, are no longer with us). The hatred thereby incited is then pursued with evangelical zeal by pressure groups, legal firms and other sinister forces for their own cynical ends in the half-conscious hope that some ill-deranged-persons in our communities will interpret this hatred and anger circulating around them as a personal “call to action” and make false claims of sexual abuse, or having been called plebs.
What I don’t understand is where the violent assault, attempted murder or assassination attempts come in. Because the accused always plead guilty and immediately apologize for what they do or say, or rather for how these are interpreted, there is no need for corrective action. I haven’t come across any acts of violence caused by social contagion. You obviously don’t mean the Cox murder, do you, because we all seem to agree here that nobody should try to take political advantage of it. Could you clarify please?
As for Rwanda, I once read a long article on Wikipedia about the conflict there that left me more confused than I was before. The violence there seemed, according to the article, to be caused by a wholly irrational and unaccountable dislike by the Hutsis of their fellow Tutsi citizens. Can anyone explain?
- Sean Coleman
- Don Cox
June 19, 2016 at 10:31 am -
Laws on criminal slander, spreading false news, or insulting members of the government are widely used around the world for jailing members of the opposition.
I think they are best avoided.
- Nessie
June 19, 2016 at 11:45 am -
First day of campaigning after Jo Cox’s death and surprise surprise, she’s already being brought up by politicians hoping to use her to advance their cause in the referendum:
“Mr Cameron said the EU vote was the “ultimate democracy” and represented what Labour MP Jo Cox, who was killed on Thursday in her West Yorkshire constituency, had stood for.”
Jo Cox seemed like a genuinely nice person, but this campaign is not about her. Her memory shouldn’t be used to manoeuvre and guilt-trip the British people into a desirable way of voting. She was worth more than that. Let her rest in peace for heaven’s sakes.
- The Blocked Dwarf
June 19, 2016 at 1:09 pm -
On the subject of Brexit (and not in anyway related to Jo):
It being Sunday I have spent the morning in the kitchen cooking the onions for tonight’s Zwiebelkuchen (google if at all interested), making some cigarettes,doing general housework and popping downstairs to stand outside and blow smoke into the faces of the Quakers hurrying through the archway in the Norfolk liquid sunshine to their Meeting House (this IS Norfolk and if one isn’t into worrying livestock, Molly Dancing or carving sugar beet then one has to get one’s thrills where one can). One of the jobs was emptying the kitchen bins and as always I lined the bottom of the bin with a copy of The Bestes Frau In The World’s Daily Mail (which , as I have IBS-D and HAVE to have soft toilet paper, seems the most appropriate use for it…that or buy a budgie).
Normally I don’t even bother looking at it, let alone ‘read’ it ( if one may speak of ‘reading’ with the Daily Xenophobe). But this morning as I was lining the bin with it this headline caught my cynical dwarfish eye: Britain Should Cut Not Raise Taxes If We Brexit – http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-3645317/Britain-CUT-not-raise-taxes-Brexit-Osborne-s-allies-IMF-oppose-plans.html
I have said before that I have no truck with the referendum & won’t be voting, although my personal preference would be for more not less Europe. This country’s sovereignty was stolen over a hundred years ago by the very people the Brexiters wish to empower by removing unelected oversight ie elected UK Politicians, which seems the height of foolishness to me…and spare me please the ‘we can at least unelect them’ nonsense. Unelect all 600 odd of them in one go? Dissolve the entire political class ?
I assume the article was in response to Cameron’s latest, somewhat hamfisted, scare tatic of trying to get an emergency budget in the case of a Brexit, Operation FEAR having worked so well in Scotland?
So my question to the Brexiters among us:
DO you really think there might be tax cuts in the case of a Brexit? *insert tone of ‘have you taken complete & utter leave of your senses?*
Governments never cut tax. Sure they might ‘revise’ or ‘hide’ taxes but cut? Not this side of Armageddon.You may argue , perhaps with some justification, that a Brexit will mean we have no less money in our wallets at the end of the month than we do now. I neither know, care nor trust all the figures being bandied about by both sides. But please do not insult what remains of my alcohol addled intelligence by suggesting the government will tax less. It ain’t gonna happen.
/pub bore style rant
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