Agenda 2019

New Agenda on Sunday. is out! Edition of 26 February 2017 Good morning everyone Swing low sweet Chariot. England 36 pts Italy 15 pts. A game of two halves where for the first 40 minutes the Italians stood off most of the loose play, the referee ran around shouting "Tackle only...tackle only", in his French accent, (but I freely admit that his English is far superior to my non existent French) the English 15 wandered around scratching their heads in puzzled bewilderment asking referee, Romain Poite what was going on, only to be told "I am referee not coach". See full text at http://new-agenda2012.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/a-game-of-two-halves.html (copy and paste link)  Two names from different worlds passed away over the weekend. I only remember seeing Bill Paxton in two films. Titanic and Apollo 13 playing Fred Haise, lunar module pilot. In Titanic as Brok Lovet the expedition leader he had the truly memorable line ...

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/26/england-italy-six-nations-match-report England suggest Italy’s no-ruck innovation could kill rugby union Swing low sweet Chariot. England 36 pts Italy 15 pts. A game of two halves where for the first 40 minutes the Italians stood off most of the loose play, the referee ran around shouting "Tackle only...tackle only", in his French accent, (but I freely admit that his English is far superior to my non existent French) the English 15 wandered around scratching their heads in puzzled bewilderment asking referee, Romain Poite what was going on, only to be told "I am referee not coach". Leading by 10 pts to 5 pts at half time, the Italians must have been feeling very pleased with themselves as they trotted of for a cup of tea and an orange. The fly on the wall of the England dressing room however, must have been very embarrassed as the air probably turned blue as Eddie Jones...

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/labour-ukip-byelection-win-results-stoke-copeland-what-it-means-these-by-elections-make-corbyn-s-a7596796.html That is the end of Jeremy Corbyn, then.  says John Rentoul of the Independent. John Rentoul: "Journalist" Rentoul has been agitating, pushing and encouraging the removal of Jeremy Corbyn since the day following the Labour leadership election of September 2015. As perhaps the most high-profile defender of Tony Blair, Rentoul describes himself as "having a slavish admiration" for the former Prime Minister, which probably explains his constant and usually distorted reporting on the Labour leadership. Rentoul was a vocal and enthusiastic supporter of Liz Kendall in the first leadership election and supported Owen Smith in the 2016 election, thus is it not difficult to see where his political preferences lie. The article contains the usual distortion and biased slant as is common in the vast majority ...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/23/stop-being-sentimental-about-child-refugees-says-tory-mp Stop being sentimental about child refugees, says Tory MP Pauline Elizabeth Latham OBE Pauline Elizabeth Latham, Conservative Party politician, the member of Parliament for Mid Derbyshire, adds her contribution to the debate on child refugees. How indicative her views are of Conservative government policy on this issue is not clear, but certainly her abhorrent remarks demonstrate a callous and uncaring demeanor to a tragic situation which the United Kingdom government and Latham, chooses to ignore. Latham went on to say that, "   if children were living in “rat-infested” shelters with no mattresses in Greece, that was not Britain’s concern. When it comes to indifference and insensitivity, conservative MP's have few equals.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/24/tory-mp-90-minute-attempt-to-talk-out-domestic-violence-bill Tory MP in 90-minute attempt to talk out domestic violence bill Philip Davies: The"expert" at the filibuster  Why would an MP of any party, (this one just again happens to be a Tory) seek to filibuster and destroy a bill demanding the ratification of a treaty on domestic violence? What hidden agenda can Philip Davies possibly have, for opposing any measures aimed at preventing violence against women and domestic violence? It is not the first time that Davies has used the tactic of filibuster to hinder and sometimes even prevent the passage of legislation through the Commons. He employed the odious practice to block a Bill which would have prevented landlords from evicting tenants for requesting vital repairs, a bill to compel landlords to provide accommodation fit for human habitation, a proposed bill that would have given free hospital parking to...

https://paper.li/f-1346065353#/ Good morning everyone Tony Blair (and who could forget him as he pushes himself into the media almost every week), entered the "Brexit" controversy this week, suggesting that those people (the majority) who voted to leave the EU did not really understand what they were voting for, and called for " millions to rise up against Brexit " adding " we have to build a movement which stretches across party lines, and devise new ways of communication.” He just fell short of demanding another referendum (but only just) as he patronised those who for many different reasons, had voted to leave the EU. His intervention on this issue, proved yet again that Blair is interested only in self and the advancement of his long held ambition to be "President of the United States of Europe". He must have been very shocked and saddened that even those MP's considered to be "Blairites" have criticised his p...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/16/tony-blair-remainers-rise-up-brexit Tony Blair calls on remainers to 'rise up in defence of our beliefs'. Tony Blair (and who could forget him as he pushes himself into the media almost every week), entered the "Brexit" controversy this week, suggesting that those people (the majority) who voted to leave the EU did not really unders tand what they were voting for, and called for "millions to rise up against Brexit" adding " we have to build a movement which stretches across party lines, and devise new ways of communication.” He just fell short of demanding another referendum (but only just) as he patronised those who for many different reasons, had voted to leave the EU. His intervention on this issue, proved yet again that Blair is interested only in self and the advancement of his long held ambition to be "President of the United States of Europe". He must have been very shocked ...

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/foodanddrink/foodnews/price-of-fish-and-chips-could-rise-amid-strike-by-icelandic-fishermen/ar-AAmSSMz?li=BBoPWjQ This is not about the price of Fish and Chips. We have fishing boats in mothballs for many years or broken up for scrap. We have men from the fishing ports of Grimsby, Hull, Fleetwood, Whitby and a hundred other ports around the country who used to fish the waters around the UK, but who now stack shelves in Tesco or draw unemployment benefits. Our fishing industry has been systematically destroyed, not in the name of conservation, but to meet "quota's" imposed by European bureaucrats who no nothing about fishing but much about regulation. Regulations, which in any case have historically been ignored by French fishermen and other European partners, with no visible sanctions taken against them. In the meantime, the "regulations" have enforced the grotesque "policy" of throwing Cod, Haddock and other fi...

https://paper.li/f-1346065353#/ Good morning everyone Swing low, sweet chariot. England beat Wales 16 pts to 21 pts in what was a really good, thrilling game. Last week, after their performance against the French, I wrote that England will have to significantly improve their game to make any impact on this seasons 6 Nations competition. On Saturday, at the Millennium Stadium, or he Principality stadium or even Cardiff Arms Park (or what ever it may be called this week), England did just that, but left it until the last 4 minutes of the match for Elliot Daly to go over for the match winning try with Owen Farrell adding the extra points. There is no question of divided loyalty in our house (my wife is from South Wales) England were second best for some sections of the second half, but in the end ran out deserved winners. We can improve on this performance and we will have to against Scotland, Italy and particularly Ireland. Ronald Coyne and chums...

https://paper.li/f-1346065353#/ Good morning everyone Swing low, sweet chariot. England beat France 19 pts to 16 pts which is a flattering score line for the team in white shirts. Kicking the ball away at almost every opportunity and giving possession back to the French is a tactic which is difficult to understand. During the course of this 6 Nations, England might play better than they did yesterday and loose. If they are to retain the Grand Slam honour, let alone the Tripple Crown or Championship, they will have to improve their performance significantly. The price of your electricity and gas is to be increased by as much as 15% adding an average of £109 per year to domestic bills which are already above £1100 every 12 months. That is of course if your supplier is the German owned NPower who have announced the price hike as from next month. The fuel price cartel amongst the other companies, British Gas, E.on, SSE and the others will follow suit ...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/03/npower-electricity-gas-price-rises-dual-fuel-bills#comment-92525414 Npower is to increase its electricity and gas prices for 1.4 million customers One of the greatest lies ever foisted upon the British people was that repeated almost daily during the 1980's by the Thatcher government. The deception, which gave proof to the theory that if you tell a big enough lie and repeat it often, people will accept it as truth. The great falsehood filling the media, being repeated at every opportunity by conservative politicians and being driven by those with their own, not very well hidden agendas, met the conditions for forceful propaganda, being short and easily remembered. "Privatisation introduces competition, drives down costs and improves services". The history of privatised industries since 1980 is littered with examples evidencing that far from being the great blessing for the consumers as promised by the hyp...