Shhh - don't mention Islam

Shhh                                                                        Source: The Catholic Thing

The so-called 'religion of peace' looks anything but peaceful as refugees attempt to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban swept to power. They promise an 'inclusive government' that is compatible with Islamic law so the sting is in the tail particularly for women and girls based on previous experience of Taliban rule. 

Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) has claimed responsibility for the latest slaughter of innocents outside Kabul airport. The suicide bomber will not have regarded his own death as suicide but as having been slain in battle as a warrior for Islam with the promise of 72 virgins in the after life.

The killer's victims were mainly Muslims legitimised by rival interpretations of their faith.

Mass slaughter by Islamists is not an isolated event. 

In June BBC News reported that armed men killed at least 160 people in an attack on a village in northern Burkina Faso. The fight against West Africa's Islamist insurgency was reported to be at a critical stage. 

In January BBC News reported that "around 49 died and 17 were injured in the village of Tchombangou, while another 30 died in Zaroumdareye". Several violent incidents in Africa's Sahel region had been carried out by 'militant groups'.

Currently, Christians in Nigeria are living in fear of another attack according to House of Lords member Baroness Caroline Cox. "There are reports on the ground that Islamic terrorists are planning an attack on Jos, capital of the Plateau state in central Nigeria", she said.

Whether or not this attack takes place or when there other atrocities in Africa, based on previous experience it is unlikely that there will much if any media attention. Hence the scale of the problem is not as obvious as it should be.

According to Islamist terrorist attacks in the world 1979-2019 "at least 33,769 Islamist terrorist attacks took place worldwide. They caused the deaths of at least 167,096 people. We can also say that Islamist terrorist attacks account for 18.8% of all attacks worldwide, but that they are responsible for 39.1% of the lives lost due to terrorism; or that, during the years studied, there has been an intensification of this violence and that the deadliest period is the most recent: from 2013 onwards, in our opinion, Islam has become the main cause (63.4%) of deaths due to terrorism in the world. We identify and quantify operating methods and targets. The vision of the phenomenon improves, the image becomes clearer. In this way, we show that the majority of the victims of Islamist terrorism are Muslims (91.2%).

The threat of Islamist attacks greatly disrupted our lives long before the arrival of Covid-19. 

As The Catholic Thing put it in Religion and the Re-classification of Islam:

"Air travel is not what it used to be. In the 1980s and 1990s, you could accompany your relatives or friends to the terminal, sit and talk with them at the gate while waiting for boarding, give your kisses and hugs, and leisurely head back for home. Teenagers and some “20-somethings” will have no such memories. Now it’s the baleful experience of security lines, searches, removing stuff for the metal detectors, and full body pat-downs for people who – like me – have metal implants.

"Mosques are being built everywhere. Saudi Arabia has funded the building of thousands of mosques throughout the world and has supplied massive funding for the more than 2000 mosques in America. Christian churches are forbidden in Saudi Arabia – and are being destroyed in Egypt, Pakistan, Syria, Nigeria and elsewhere, where their existence was previously allowed.

"And we learn of the unusual “cultural” proclivities of Islam – execution of apostates and homosexuals, ideological and legal relegation of females to inferior status, female genital mutilation, divorce without appeal, rape without defense, honor killings, stoning for adultery, etc."

There is much to fear from a such threatening, political ideology. 

Another member of the House of Lords, Lord Pearson, was condemned as Islamophobic merely for discussing the fear of Islam.

Here is an extract from what Lord Pearson said as published in Hansard and reproduced in the Archbishop Cranmer blog:
 "So I submit that it is not phobic to fear Islam, which is responsible for by far the most violence on our planet today. However, if we so much as even try to learn and talk about Islam, we are immediately called Islamophobic by the Muslim Council of Britain, Tell MAMA and other suspect organisations, yet we can say what we like about any of the world’s other religions and nobody turns much of a hair." 

Free speech is under threat. 

Church and state leaders who embrace Islam as a religion of peace should take note.

Preparing for government!

The Lib Dems are cock a hoop after the European election results. Their leader Vince Cable is convinced that "there was now a UK 'majority to stay' in the EU." 

But hang on a minute. The pro-European party Change UK called for a second referendum in which it would campaign to remain in the EU. They won no seats with 3.4% of the vote while the Lib Dems won 16 with 20.3% of the vote. The Brexit party won 29 with 31.6% of the vote.

Although the Brexit party is the clear winner, other parties have been adding their votes together to suggest the remainers were the winners despite the Lib Dem, Change UK disparity.

TV interviews tend to confirm what I have heard in conversation. The Tory party needed a kicking. Corbyn was seen as a complete disaster so it was take your pick. Most opted for the Brexit party. For others it was a lucky dip, or anyone but ...

In 1981 David Steel, leader of the Liberal party, told party members to go back to their constituencies and prepare for government after a temporary success. In the following general election they won just 23 seats.

In one sense the EU vote was a second referendum. The majority voted OUT however the minor parties like to turn the results to their advantage. 

Government’s attack on the family

From: Coalition for Marriage (C4M)

The Government’s LGBT Plan is an attack on the family

Dear marriage supporter,

This week the Government announced a package of measures which amounts to an assault on marriage following a taxpayer-funded survey only open to homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals.

Proposals include:

Spending £4.5m of your money on an LGBT Action Plan which will promote the acceptance of homosexual adult relationships and transgenderism in schools, usurping the role of parents who may wish to teach their children the primacy of real marriage between a biological man and a biological woman.

Confirming that forthcoming compulsory relationships education for primary school children will be used to promote “LGBT+” issues, despite the fact that real marriage is strongly correlated with better outcomes later in life and should be taught as a priority instead.

Consulting on allowing anybody to change gender without seeing a doctor first, removing an important provision against bad faith in current law and undermining the idea that male and female are fixed biological realities and not a matter of choice. These plans are a sinister assault on women and children which should never have been put forward.

This Government has consistently bullied and ignored supporters of real marriage, choosing instead to pursue a path of indoctrination in schools and intimidation in the courts.

Real marriage supporters are often libelled as extremists by the press and politicians, but the reality is that it is the Government’s policy which is extreme and out of touch: a poll published this week found that only 18% of the general population agreed with Theresa May’s proposals to amend the Gender Recognition Act.

At a pivotal time for the future of the country it beggars belief that the Government should concern itself with attacking parents, children and biological reality in this way. In doing so they have proven themselves extreme, arrogant and totally out of touch.

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) Thomas Pascoe

Campaign Director
Coalition for Marriage (C4M)

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The commissars are back

Len McCluskey said rivals to Jeremy Corbyn were unlikely to win union support.
Source; Guardian Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

Perhaps they have forgotten but Marx is dead, Thatcher is dead. 

Severely weakened by Margaret Thatcher, the power of the Trades Unions is not what it used to be but the current difficulties being experienced by the Labour Party, driven by Momentum, have provided the opportunity for some Union bosses to flex their muscles again, Len McCluskey General Secretary of Unite and General Secretary Mark Serwotka of the Public and Commercial Services Union among them, with Corbyn appearing to be under the control of the unions.

The hard Left is campaigning for people to join the Labour Party simply to vote for a Leader who does not have the confidence of  the majority of Labour MPs to lead them. The hard Left's intervention is reminiscent of  Militant Tendency in their attempted take-over of the Labour party in 1985 before Neil Kinnock made his memorable speech at the Party Conference in Bournemouth. 

Many of the new activists appear to be young idealists who did not vote in the EU Referendum then complained afterwards because they did not like the result, mainly because of a perceived restriction on their movement around Europe, the same generation which tries to stop discussion in our universities. Examples here and here.

I have listened to Jeremy Corbyn. He is a prisoner of Party members who delude themselves into thinking that they represent the electorate. Corbyn may be the clear choice for leader of the Labour Party but MPs are elected by a much broader spectrum than party members. He says that the Opposition should be putting "enormous pressure on the Tory government on inequality, injustice and poverty", sounding remarkably like a pale reflection of what Theresa May has on offer in her leadership speeches.

More importantly, Theresa May is focused on Brexit, as is the electorate, not the petty party politics which continue to obsess the Labour Party. Principles without power are not the stuff of government. Corbyn may represent his party but the wider electorate takes a broader view.

There is no confidence in Corbyn among MPs as their leader so he should stand down to restore confidence in Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition in the interests of the country.

Postscript [19.07.2016]

The Trident vote has come and gone with a thumping majority in favour of renewal. Unlike 140 of his party colleagues the Leader of the Opposition decided to do his own thing and vote against the motion in opposition to Labour Party policy. The wishes of the membership can be fluid apparently.

Given Corbyn's pick and mix approach to politics he could be a modern day Anglican but apparently he has no religion. He says "I go to churches, I go to mosques, I go to temples, I go to synagogues. I find religion very interesting. I find the power of faith very interesting." A little more faith in his fellow MPs would not go amiss instead of pressing the Labour destruct button. Said to be a "nice guy", Jeremy could easily be a New Anglican!

Who are they?

Photograph: PA

I recognise the much leaner former Lord Chancellor, 'Charlie' Falconer (top right), ex-Anglican priest and gay activist Chris Bryant (3rd down) for banging on and on about gay people being the same as everyone else but deserving special privileges, and, to his left, Stephen Kinnock mainly for being Stephen Kinnock. The MP above Bryant looks familiar but I can not put a name to the face.

Years ago many of my contemporaries knew most if not all members of the Cabinet and their Shadow ministers. As an elderly friend often reminds me, that is when we had statesmen in government. That does not necessarily imply anything about their relative competence but one thing does. That is to know when their time is up.

Jeremy Corbyn is the surprise 'Leader' of the Labour party who is stuck in the past. He and his supporters see this as a breath of fresh air, a new kind of politics! Few had heard of him until an electoral wheeze backfired and horrified Labour MPs realised what they had done in broadening the field for the sake of appearances.

On Monday the Guardian reported: "Jeremy Corbyn is preparing himself for a leadership contest following a fresh wave of resignations, with 15 members of the shadow cabinet walking out and calling for him to step down from the helm of the party...A source close to Corbyn said the number of resignations was destabilising but ultimately irrelevant unless someone triggered a leadership election. 'In many ways, the shadow cabinet is now stronger. There is no shortage of good people who want to do these jobs. The only way to try to replace Jeremy is to stand against him in a democratic contest,' he said, adding that was now 'likely to happen'."

A report this morning indicates that "more than 40 Labour MPs on Corbyn's front bench and in his shadow ministerial team" have quit.

Ignoring all appeals from fellow MPs who have pointed to his lack of leadership skills and what they regard as his dismal performance or even 'sabotage' in the EU Remain campaign, Corbyn says he will stand again in a leadership election claiming support from the rank and file of the Labour Party. As he faces a No Confidence vote has he thought to ask himself, where were his 'loyal supporters' when he was supposed to be galvanising support for the Remain campaign?

Does it matter one jot if Momentum successfully retains Corbyn as leader if he does not command the confidence of the country? Of course not. Power often involves compromise. It was a hard lesson for Labour to learn but now apparently forgotten again. If they fluff it again they will have only themselves to blame.

Corbyn must make way for someone who is able to lead the Labour party as an effective Opposition and possibly into Government. 

Update [28.06.2016]

Jeremy Corbyn has lost a confidence vote by 172 votes to 40 with 4 abstentions.

Irresponsibility in 'the most important decision in a generation'.

Photograph: Murdo MacLeod for the Guardian

The first duty of the Government is to afford protection to its citizens.

The political rhetoric is becoming worse by the day. Yasser Arafat is dead. Had he been alive, no doubt his name would have been added to that of Putin and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State, as those being most happy if we were to leave the EU - but it is up to us!

It is our sovereign choice says Cameron while implying that only the stupid could contemplate leaving. So if our "friends" all around the world would like us to stay and the consequences of leaving are so disastrous, why has the Government led its citizens to the position of committing economic suicide?

The first duty of Government is to afford protection to its citizens, something the Government is plainly failing to do if their dire warnings are correct. To hand the fate of the Nation to the 'ignorant' is the height of irresponsibility so could it be that there is more in this for the great and the good, the not so great and the questionable, along with big business whose main aim seems to be to rip off British consumers while paying as little tax as they can get away with?

The Brexit leader, ex-London Mayor Boris Johnson has 'lost it' according to Heseltine, as he accused Boris of "losing his judgement".

That's rich coming from the Mace lifter. 

Postscript [26.05.2016]

After Hestletine cometh Sugar.

I must be honest, I don't like the man. For me he is an overrated chancer, possibly because in my youth, comparatively speaking, I had the misfortune to buy some his Amstrad junk which he later described as "the biggest load of rubbish I've ever seen in my life". His haughty performance on Newsnight [advance to 28 min] last night did nothing to change my mind.

The 'In' campaign becomes more bizarre by the day with more and more dire warnings of the perils of leaving to such an extent that giving people the opportunity to vote is like offering them a revolver.

Please God we can have a more sensible debate in the little time that is left.

Another lost generation?

The Minister for Employment speaks on a journey of no hope

Continually blaming the previous Government for the crisis the bankers left us in is wearing a bit thin so now it is the fault of the eurozone. Commenting on the unemployment figures, Chris Grayling the Employment Minister said, "These figures show just how much our economy is being affected by the crisis in the eurozone. Our European partners must take urgent action to stabilise the position."


His BBC2 'Newsnight' performance in front of a group of unemployed youngsters last night offered no encouragement. With the prospect of youth employment exceeding one million (realised in this morning's figures) an increase in apprenticeships was one crumb offered despite the scheme being discredited in a news story on Sunday. 


The most significant effect of cutting public sector employment so far has been to reduce the tax intake while increasing the amount needed for benefits plus letting into the country an unknown number of undesirables because of a shortage of immigration control staff to deal with lengthy queues. Gone is the rosy picture of the private sector mopping up people made redundant although for many that was always a puzzle when unemployment was already high.


With the Bank of England reducing growth forecasts the outlook for the young unemployed is dire and especially so for graduates who have left university with massive debts to repay - provided they ever earn enough to repay their loans. Without growth the outlook is grim with the prospect of another lost generation. It is no good simply waiting for others to provide a stimulus. An impotent Government serves none of us.

Conference time

Now three cheers for our wonderful bankers 

who caused the mess the last government left us in!

Riots in England: Crime and punishment

Of all the knee-jerk reactions to those found guilty (or not) of involvement in the recent riots, the worst must be the threat to make people homeless. Of course, that cannot apply if you are a millionaire's daughter living with your parents in a "£1million detached converted farmhouse in Orpington" - unless your parents throw you out!

I have no sympathy whatsoever with the rioters but how can one compare a mother being made homeless because of the actions of her teenage son with the blip in the life of a family at the other end of the social scale? The punishment in one instance far outweighs the other so is justice seen to be done? It is to be expected that people benefiting from state support will be viewed as undeserving of help in the circumstances witnessed but apart from the inequality of the punishment, what is the point of creating yet another social problem by stopping benefits and putting people on the streets, or is that another 'Big Society' opportunity where charities will have to pick up the pieces?

The Government has already come unstuck by making claims which are disputed by the police and it has not escaped people's attention that some of the 'haves' in society have, at a much higher level, been helping themselves at the expense of the taxpayer. David Cameron has made much of bringing US "supercop" Bill Bratton to Britain to sort out the gang culture that exists in major cities but Mr Bratton has already warned, and the Chancellor has agreed, that there are very deep-seated social problems that need to be tackled. Whoever gets the job of restoring our broken society, there seems little point in adding to them before work starts.

'Michael Gove's "other reason" for opposing a mosque'

One of yesterday' blog entries on Political Scrapbook posed the question, "What are your other reasons [for opposing a mosque] Mr Gove? In this long running battle over building a mosque in Camberly there have been claims that the mosque would pose a security threat because it overlooks the parade ground used by every new officer in the British Army. Even if that were not the case, the idea is as tactless as the notion of building a Muslim Centre in the shadow of Ground Zero. How could anyone possibly countenance the idea of building a mosque with minarets overlooking the parade ground blasting out "Allahu Akbar!" after Muslim protests against British troops? 


For centuries Christian churches and other sites have been converted by Islamic invaders into mosques. Today there are many stories of churches being destroyed in Muslim countries, often with worshippers still inside them yet the dhimmis in our midst aid cultural jihad by supporting every Muslim request and complaint, endorsing the building of ever more mosques in this country. 


If anyone wants reasons for resisting the Islamisation of Britain look here, here, here, here, here, here and here, read from the front line here or closer to home here. 

"We are all in this together" (12)

Nat Wei, the man charged by the government with making the big society happen, is to cut down his government role from three days to two, because he needs more time to earn money, see his family and "have a life" after discovering that working for free three days a week is incompatible with "having a life".

"We are all in this together" (11)

Announcing their sale, the government insists that it would allow communities continued access and greater involvement in their woodlands

Update

God bless 'em, the National Trust "is promising to 'play its part' in protecting England's ancient woodlands if a planned sell-off of publicly-owned forests goes ahead." As anger at the proposal grows, over 295,000 people have signed a petition against the sell-off while Lib Dem MPs threaten rebellion.

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Government washing hands of responsibility?

According to a report in The Guardian today, the Head of the Civil Service has ordered an inquiry into the government's localism reforms amid growing concerns that its "big society" plans risk eroding the basic democratic principles of transparency and ministerial accountability.

About time too. Shifting responsibility from Whitehall to local councils, GP's and voluntary groups all seems designed to ensure that Ministers cannot be held to account. Added to their plan for reducing the number of MPs to increase their parliamentary majority, the government must be hoping for an extended period of power without responsibility.

Ministry of Chaos and Complacency

"Welcome to the 'chaos theory' of government" runs the headline in The Observer.

Education, Work and Pensions, Local Government, Health and Home Affairs are all aiming for 'chaos' to solve the Britain's problems. With such a spread of chaotic government a coordinating ministry is indicated and who better to run it than the current minister for complacency, Philip Hammond. His contribution yesterday to the misery being experienced by thousands of people had the air of a man who had just looked out of his window, saw the sun shining and positioned himself with traffic conveniently moving in the background so that he could assure everyone that there was no real problem - apart from the weather. Today's contribution was a little more cautious; he was looking for advice but he is unlikely follow the example of the Scottish Transport Minister if chaos is new the aim of Government:

Today's children tomorrow: Urgent PETITION

Since my previous blog on this subject there has been much criticism of Mr Gove's proposal to axe support for the School Sport Partnerships (SSPs).

There has been widespread anger in every walk of life including elite athletes and MP's with the Prime Minister being questionioned in the House.

Please sign the PETITION organised by the NUT to get this shabby treatment of our children reversed and encourage as many as you can to do the same.

Today's children tomorrow

Could this be the line-up Mr Gove envisages for his planned Children's Olympics?

Directgov, the government web site's guidance on 'Children and healthy weight' states that "Through the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People, the aim is to offer young people five hours of sport and PE each week (both inside and outside of the school day)." The funding for this project is to be scrapped under another false economy in the state sector. Front bench offspring and other privately educated children will not be affected.

Already worried that too many children are inactive and lack a proper diet this cut is absurd. Short term savings should not affect our children's future. There are already indications that obese children are at risk from heart disease, breathing problems, diabetes, liver and joint problems. The medical cost of dealing with these problems will be immense. That cuts need to be made is accepted but to prejudice the health of our children and build up problems for the future is not only short sighted, it is cruel.

What They Won’t Tell Us

Unlike the previous ‘Leaders’ debates I found this evening’s Election Uncovered: What They Won’t Tell Us programme on Channel 4 very illuminating and didn’t drop off once this time. I was initially concerned about an unexplained empty chair and the absence of Shirley Williams, one of my long time favourite politicians regardless of party (she was one of the SDP’s ‘Gang of Four’). Seeing her name as a participant was one of my reasons for watching. The other being that, as usual, there was nothing else worth viewing despite the myriad channels we appear to have on NTL plus Freesat, but that is another story. Fortunately the Baroness turned up half way through the programme having been caught up in a traffic accident.

Unlike the personality contest that the ‘Leaders’ debates had become, this programme looked at the hard choices that have to be made by the next Government. Four polls were conducted for the programme: Economic Recovery where 58% thought that we were on the road to recovery; Honesty in Politics where 60% thought politicians less honest than they used to be. On the question of believing the Party leaders telling the truth about the tough decisions about cuts, 38% trusted Gordon Brown, 36% trusted David Cameron and 53% trusted Nick Clegg.

On Pensions people were offered the choice between working for longer or having a higher standard of living. Of those polled 61 % opted to work longer and 23 % lower standard of living.

In what was perhaps the most surprising poll, 70% thought it perfectly possible to make cuts without harming Front line services. This was the most illuminating part of the programme clearly demonstrating that tough choices have to be made and how the parties have been reluctant to be honest with the electorate, hence the high vote.

Some people, including the Governor of the Bank of England, have suggested that whoever forms the next government will be so unpopular that they will not be re-electable. That would serve the best interests of no-one. A possible solution, ironically mentioned by Shirley Williams after her late arrival, was that there should be an inter-party unity team to agree a consensus for dealing with the financial crisis. The final show of hands vote was for a hung parliament which could be the best chance of achieving such a consensus.

What is clear is that the ‘Something for nothing’ mentality of many Britons, ancient and modern, is unsustainable. Services have to be paid for. Even with the planned efficiency savings tax rises are inevitable. For the sake of unity these must applied equitably to avoid a greater burden on the poor.

A sense of proportion

Righteous indignation has greeted the Foreign Office memo which suggested some outrageous activities for the Pope during his forthcoming visit to Great Britain in September but from the coverage by the BBC one would have thought it were Government policy rather than the silly ideas of a junior official produced in a brainstorming session.

The ideas were not very bright especially coming from an Oxford graduate but neither was the idea of circulating the memo which appeared to give it greater credence nor the decision by The Sunday Telegraph to publish it. However, brainstorming sessions force sometimes apparently ridiculous ideas into the open for consideration although on this occasion it should have been obvious that some of them would be considered gratuitously offensive. But to talk of the Pope cancelling his visit over the issue as suggested in the press goes too far. As the Vicar of Christ on Earth, the Pope will be well aware of the wounds people suffer for their faith.