Category: Zachary Stiling

Zachary Stiling, Reform UK candidate for South Norwood in the London Borough of Croydon.

With local elections across here in Croydon in May, we speak with Zachary Stiling, Reform UK candidate for South Norwood.

“I became actively involved in politics thanks to lockdown. I was appalled by the government’s sweeping attack on civil liberties and what amounted to the psychological abuse of dissenters”

Can you introduce yourself to our readers, and tell us what made you decide to run?

I have lived in Croydon all my life – 28 years – which I think makes me too young to remember a time when it was a beautiful and flourishing town; nevertheless, I hold it in affectionate regard as my home. I became actively involved in politics thanks to lockdown. I was appalled by the government’s sweeping attack on civil liberties and what amounted to the psychological abuse of dissenters, and my conscience made me contest the 2021 Kenley by-election on an anti-lockdown platform. I didn’t win, of course, but it was important to me that somebody stood to offer a choice to the voters who felt badly let down by the four main parties.

Outside of politics, I have been self-employed as a writer since leaving school. I balanced my writing career with shelf-stacking in a supermarket for five years before I was finally able to become self-employed full-time. I am personally involved with the preservation of vintage cars and bicycles, and belong to a number of groups involved with the preservation of historic buildings. Purely as a dilettante, I have an interest in antiques, fine art, literature and music – everything from the Baroque to the blues. My favourite book is Le Grand Meaulnes by Alain-Fournier.

I have decided to run for election as a councillor with Reform because I believe Croydon has been badly let down by year upon year of mismanagement by the Conservatives and Labour. For most of my life, Croydon has been almost a synonym for urban decay, but it is now at the point where, if you go into the town centre, you are very likely to witness some kind of antisocial behaviour. I have seen people lying unconscious on the floor of Popeyes where they have obviously lost a fight; I am sick of being bothered by persistent or aggressive beggars on night buses and outside East Croydon station.

Furthermore, I am determined to reverse the uglification of Croydon which, as yet, shows no signs of abating. It seems as if every new building to have been erected in recent years is bigger and uglier than the one before it. Last year, Shirley lost one of its few Georgian houses (the Swiss Lodge on Shirley Church Road), and I shudder to think what will replace it. Meanwhile, fifteen years after the riots which resulted in the destruction of the House of Reeves, there is nothing but waste ground where the fine Edwardian building once stood. Whenever I am standing on the platform at East Croydon station, I think to myself, “Here, there is no beautiful thing,” and I hope readers will agree that that is a profoundly depressing thought. What does it say for a town that it has the power to depress simply upon sight?

Order, beauty, tranquillity and cleanliness – Croydon Council seems to have forgotten what these words mean, never mind why they matter. But I am a civilised man, and Croydon needs a civilised touch.

“we need to make our public amenities truly public once more, and scrap the idiotic and unnecessary pre-booking policies so that they can be enjoyed by everyone”

You’re the prospective candidate for South Norwood ward, what are the major concerns in the area?

Strangely enough, the first concern many people express is to do with crime, but the council can do little to address that since the only body with real crime prevention and law enforcement powers is the Metropolitan Police. However, it is to be hoped that by improving the quality of the area, and the quality of life of its inhabitants, the crime rate may be induced to fall.

The second greatest concern pertains to the loss of local assets and amenities. This is particularly pertinent given that Croydon Council recently closed four of its libraries in 2024, and did away with an entire floor of the main library at the Town Hall. Fortunately, South Norwood library remains open and, as a bibliophile, I am committed to seeing that it remains so. Unfortunately, where damage has already been done is in the effective privatisation of Croydon’s leisure facilities by outsourcing their management to Greenwich Leisure Ltd. (operating under the brand name Better), which describes itself as “a charitable social enterprise.” If you are older than ten, you will have happy memories of being able to turn up at the local swimming pool, pay a nominal fee for a wristband, and enjoy a good hour of swimming lengths or splashing about. Now, with GLL in charge, don’t you be getting any high and mighty ideas about going swimming when you like – you must first go online to book a slot to swim when, and only when, GLL says you can (and you’ll pay well for the privilege). If, like me, you are self-employed and have to go to work on demand, or have other commitments which require spontaneity, that’s your problem and you can forget about swimming. I only found this out by turning up at one ‘Better’ leisure centre and being promptly sent home. I cannot remember how much the charge was for an hour’s swimming, and I am still none the wiser because I have been on the ‘Better’ website and find it absolutely bewildering.

If tennis is more your thing, worse luck, because council-owned courts which could once be used freely and spontaneously again require online booking and now cost more than £8.00 to access (it was £8.10 as of 2023). A lot of individuals and families in South Norwood and across the borough are struggling to make ends meet, and even those who would think of themselves as comfortably middle-class are feeling the effects of cost-of-living increases, and have neither the time nor the money to use what ought to be accessible, and in some cases free, services. Once it has been constructed, a tennis court can be left alone without expense for years. The withdrawal of basic amenities has been disgraceful, we need to make our public amenities truly public once more, and scrap the idiotic and unnecessary pre-booking policies so that they can be enjoyed by everyone. It is not surprising people become consumed by depression, when they are deprived of opportunities to enjoy or better themselves.

“On the subject of roads, Reform Croydon is committed to rollout the removal of 20 MPH speed limits and return to a 30 MPH default speed limit”

More widely what do you see as the big issues for Croydon and if elected what would you hope to champion?

In addition to my public amenities campaign as outlined above, I have several plans in mind for Croydon which I hope will remedy at least some of its many other problems. I will run through them now in no particular order.

Croydon Council works with no fewer than nine churches and charities which provide the homeless with free food and clothing, sleeping bags and temporary shelter, plus referrals to the Job Centre and mental health services. In addition, it works with the Fitze Millennium Centre in Upper Norwood which provides purpose-built accommodation consisting of studio flats and recreational facilities for up to eighty homeless young people while preparing them for the world of work and independent living. We need to move those begging from the streets to these facilities.

As far as fly-tipping is concerned, I want to see the council respond to all complaints of fly-tipping within one week.

To address the matter of civic beauty, my first pledge is the most straightforward. There will be no further building on Green Belt land, and I would desire even to create new areas of Green Belt to atone for some of those lost in recent years. To preserve Croydon’s fine old buildings and protect our heritage, I would like to see a blanket ban on the demolition of all buildings predating WW1 unless there was an absolutely compelling reason why they could not possibly be refurbished or repurposed. As discussed previously, permission for new buildings will only be granted if they exhibit genuine aesthetic merit and respect and sympathy for the surrounding area.

On the subject of roads, Reform Croydon is committed to rollout the removal of 20 MPH speed limits and return to a 30 MPH default speed limit. It is obvious that the council made no effort to consider where accidents occur or what the reasons for them are, and consequently motorists are forced to slither like a snail along roads where 30 or even 40mph would be a safe maximum.

In addition to being a motorist and car enthusiast, I am also a keen cyclist, a pedestrian and a voluntary public transport user, so I flatter myself that I have the advantage of understanding transport requirements from many perspectives.

A few years ago, I wrote a piece decrying the council’s decision to rip up some of its bus shelters and spend £6.8 million installing dystopian-sounding Smart shelters, with cameras feeding information somewhere viâ a permanent internet connection. Mercifully, these never materialised, because the council contracted them to a nine-month-old American tech company with no previous experience of building bus shelters. Rural parts of the Borough of Bromley have attractive wooden bus shelters which are far better suited to the rural and suburban æsthetic than the bland, textureless and generic style seen across the entirety of Croydon. Some large towns, such as Brighton, still retain attractive streamlined Art Déco shelters which would look wonderful in Croydon town centre and the northern parts of the borough. It doesn’t have to be hard to make a place look nice – it just requires somebody who cares.

How can people find out more or get involved in the campaign?

You can find out more in our booklet ‘CROYDON NEEDS REFORM – OUR CONTRACT WITH YOU’.  You can also follow us on Facebook or contact us at chair.croydon@reformuk.com.

“It doesn’t have to be hard to make a place look nice – it just requires somebody who cares”

The Snug Little Island

As we approach St George’s Day a splendid piece of patriotic verse suggested by Zack Stiling to enjoy by English dramatist and songwriter Thomas Dibdin, called The Snug Little Island.

Daddy Neptune, one day, to Freedom did say,
   “If ever I lived upon dry land,
The spot I should hit on would be little Britain!”
   Says Freedom, “Why that’s my own little Island!”
     O, it’s a snug little Island!
       A right little, tight little Island!
     Search the globe round, none can be found!
       So happy as this little Island.

Julius Caesar the Roman, who yielded to no man,
   Came by water—he couldn’t come by land;
And Dane, Pict and Saxon, their homes turned their backs on
   And all for the sake of our Island.
     O, what a snug little Island!
       They’d all have a touch at the Island!
     Some were shot dead, some of them fled,
       And some stayed to live on the Island.

Then a very great war-man, called Billy the Norman,
   Cried, “Damn it, I never liked my land.
It would be much more handy to leave this Normandy,
   And live on your beautiful Island.”
     Says he, “‘Tis a snug little Island;
       Shan’t we go visit the Island?”
     Hop, skip and jump, there he was plump,
       And he kick’d up a dust in the Island.

But party deceit helped the Normans to beat;
   Of traitors they managed to buy land;
By Dane, Saxon or Pict, Britons ne’er had been lick’d,
   Had they stuck to the King of their Island.
     Poor Harold the King of the Island!
       He lost both his life and the Island.
     That’s all very true: what more could he do?
       Like a Briton he died for his Island.

The Spanish Armada set out to invade-a,
   ‘Twill sure if they ever come nigh land.
They couldn’t do less than tuck up Queen Bess,
   And take their full swing on the Island.
     O, the poor Queen of the Island!
       The Dons came to plunder the Island.
     But snug in her hive, the Queen was alive,
       And “buzz” was the word in the Island.

Those proud puff’d-up cakes thought to make ducks and drakes
   Of our wealth; but they hardly could spy land
When our Drake had the luck to make their pride duck
   And stoop to the lads of the Island!
     Huzza for the lads of the Island!
       The good wooden walls of the Island;
     Devil or Don, let them come on,
       But see how they’d come at the Island.

Since Freedom and Neptune have hitherto kept tune,
   In each saying, “This shall be my land”;
Should the “Army of England,” or all it could bring, land,
   We’d show ’em some play for the Island.
     We’d fight for our right to the Island.
       We’d give them enough of the Island;
     Invaders should just—bite at the dust,
       But not a bit more of the Island.

A bonus verse called Reasons for Drinking by Henry Aldrich.  If you enjoy, or just want to know more,  come along and join us for our Third Wednesday drinks.

If all be true that I do think,
There are five reasons why we should drink;
Good wine—a friend—or being dry—
Or lest we should be by and by—
Or any other reason why.

The Friend of Humanity and the Knife-Grinder

A satirical invective against early republicans, written by a Prime Minister-to-be, and suggested by Zack Stiling, which could easily be discharged against certain modern political speakers.

Published in “The Anti-Jacobin, or, Weekly Examiner was an English newspaper founded by George Canning in 1797 and devoted to opposing the radicalism of the French Revolution. It lasted only a year, but was considered highly influential” (From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Jacobin)

“This satirical poem contrasts two perspectives: a radical who espouses the ideals of the French Revolution and a pragmatic working-class individual. The speaker’s initial sympathy for the knife-grinder’s plight turns into contempt when he refuses to align with revolutionary sentiments.” (From https://allpoetry.com/The-Friend-Of-Humanity,-And-The-Knife-Grinder)

George Canning (1770-1827) & John Hookham Frere (1769-1846)

FRIEND OF HUMANITY:
Needy Knife-grinder! whither are you going?
Rough is the road, your wheel is out of order—
Bleak blows the blast;—your hat has got a hole in’t,
     So have your breeches.

Weary Knife-grinder! little think the proud ones
Who in their coaches roll along the turnpike-
road, what hard work ’tis crying all day, “Knives and
     Scissors to grind O!”

Tell me, Knife-grinder, how you came to grind knives:
Did some rich man tyrannically use you?
Was it the ‘Squire? or Parson of the Parish?
     Or the Attorney?

Was it the ‘Squire, for killing of his game? or
Covetous Parson, for his tithes distraining?
Or roguish Lawyer, made you lose your little
     All in a lawsuit?

(Have you not read the Rights of Man, by Tom Paine?)
Drops of compassion tremble on my eyelids,
Ready to fall, as soon as you have told your
     Pitiful story.

KNIFE-GRINDER:
Story! God bless you! I have none to tell, Sir,
Only last night a-drinking at the “Chequers,”
This poor old hat and breeches, as you see, were
     Torn in a scuffle.

Constables came up for to take me into
Custody; they took me before the justice;
Justice Oldmixon put me in the parish-
     stocks for a vagrant.

I should be glad to drink your Honour’s health in
A Pot of Beer, if you will give me Sixpence;
But for my part, I never love to meddle
     With politics, Sir.

FRIEND OF HUMANITY:
I give thee Sixpence! I will see thee damned first—
Wretch! whom no sense of wrongs can rouse to vengeance—
Sordid, unfeeling, reprobate, degraded,
     Spiritless outcast!

Kicks the Knife-grinder, overturns his wheel, and exit in a transport of Republican Enthusiasm and Universal Philanthropy.

Wet summer, whilst Europe burns.  Is it weather or is it climate change? – Your Views (Part 2)

In the UK we’ve faced a wet summer, whilst we’ve been told Europe burns.  Are we being told the truth?  Are these problems man-made or due to climate change?  If climate change, what if anything should we do about it?

We asked our contributors for their views.

Back to Part 1 ¦ On to Part 3

Zack Stiling, political activist.

“Parts of Europe may have had an uncommonly hot summer, but to frame that as part of a climate ‘emergency’ is completely disingenuous”

As ever, the narrative we are fed from politicians and the mainstream media consists of a load of half-truths presented in a way which is designed to mislead. Parts of Europe may have had an uncommonly hot summer, but to frame that as part of a climate ‘emergency’ is completely disingenuous, and to attribute it to the wildfires is spurious in the extreme.

Everyone knows that the ignition point of paper is 451 degrees Fahrenheit. For wood, grass and all similar substances, it is generally between 450 and 500 degrees, so there is no way a temperature of 120 degrees – the hottest ever recorded in Europe – can cause the spontaneous combustion of grassland or scrub. In all cases, the wildfires could not have been started without the heat being magnified in some way or, as is more likely, an external heat source being applied. In short, the wildfires will have been started by human activity, deliberately or by accident, and not as a result of climate change.

Dry grass obviously makes the fires easier to spread, but that is caused more by prolonged dry spells than a few days of high temperatures, and is a normal characteristic of the summer climate which doesn’t usually result in a mass panic. Most, if not all, of the fires could have been avoided if people used their brains and took appropriate care.

“Croydon’s name means ‘Valley of the Crocus’, commemorating its Roman use as a centre for saffron production. If the temperature gets warm enough, we could revive that industry”

The climate, of course, is permanently in a state of flux, and will warm up and cool down over periods of centuries as it always does. The only thing for us to do as adapt to it, as humans in times past did by wearing fur and hides to keep the cold out, or taking advantage of the warm summers to grow apricots, musk melons and figs, as we did in Tudor times. As friends of the Croydon Constitutionalists will know, Croydon’s name means ‘Valley of the Crocus’, commemorating its Roman use as a centre for saffron production. If the temperature gets warm enough, we could revive that industry.

“We do not need to take heed of the agenda-driven zealots who tell us we should all become miserable vegans and have our energy consumption monitored”

Post-Industrial Revolution, the scope for mankind to overcome and adapt to obstacles has never been greater. There will always be options, and it is up for us to try them, reject them or improve them as we see fit. We do not need to take heed of the agenda-driven zealots who tell us we should all become miserable vegans and have our energy consumption monitored. As a case in point, a carbon-neutral synthetic fuel has recently been developed for internal combustion engines – no thanks to politicians, prophets of doom and their electric-car fixation – and works interchangeably with petrol, making the 2030 ban on petrol and diesel vehicles look pretty stupid.

Scott Neville, Hampshire Independents

“The south of Europe has always been hot, if the Mediterranean Sea were to be dammed in the straits of Gibraltar it would dry up as more water evaporates out of the sea than flows into it from the rivers of Europe/Africa”

There is a lot of things to unpack there.  The first thing to remember is that the media is not there to tell you the facts, they are there to sell you the news, so there is always going to be some blurring of the truth to make it more marketable.  So has the UK summer been wet…. yes, but it’s not been wet by biblical proportions and the UK has a long history of rubbish weather and it raining more than we want, ok sure its rained a lot more than we would want, but I don’t think this is anything that exceptional.  I don’t really think there is anything special about the weather in the UK other than “it’s been a bit wetter than usual”.

Europe is a little different, so you ask, “are these problems man-made or due to climate change?”  I would say, yes and yes.  The south of Europe has always been hot, if the Mediterranean Sea were to be dammed in the straits of Gibraltar it would dry up as more water evaporates out of the sea than flows into it from the rivers of Europe/Africa.  Given the longest river in the world connects to it, that tells you a LOT of water evaporates.  So, it’s pretty hot there and always has been.  So, the man-made bit.  Historically a lot of farming has been conducted by small scale family farms in the south of Europe, they have had small fields which are well suited to the hilly terrain.  This kind of landscape is far less suited to large scale farming. Now the EU really hates small scale farmers, they would much rather have big industrial farmers.  Over the years a lot of these small-scale farmers have been put out of business and the big industrial ones have taken over some of the land.  This is a critical change, because the fires while in part might be caused by slightly hotter temperatures, they are mostly caused by an abundance of fuel on the ground in these now abandoned fields. 

“which makes no sense when you consider the religious cult of “The Science” where is totally acceptable to abuse people in the street for contradicting the first slightly official looking thing you found on Google”

We have seen this many times in other countries like Australia where the indigenous people would burn the land regularly to remove the excess fuel.  For some reason we hold a certain arrogance over such things now, where our leaders have decided these people don’t know what they are doing because their actions have not been derived through the scientific method (which makes no sense when you consider the religious cult of “The Science” where is totally acceptable to abuse people in the street for contradicting the first slightly official looking thing you found on Google and academics like Peter Boghossian have shown deep flaws in the peer review process in some fields). 

Now, I am all for the scientific method, both my degrees (BSc – Hons – 1st & MSc – Distinction) are in Science, so I am well signed up to the Scientific method (I don’t like to brag about my education, because you should judge me on the quality of my research / arguments / findings, but it was more to show that I am not some fly-by-night that looked up the definition of science yesterday, I have devoted my life to it). I really don’t agree with the modern fad of “there are other ways of knowing” and “my truth”, there is only the truth and the only way of knowing for sure is empirical evidence which is falsifiable.  However, these old cultures and people have survived for a reason, so while burning the land or small-scale farming might be done to appease some god (which I don’t accept), there might be some valid practical reason for these practices evolving.  Another example might be the rules in religious texts, like thou shalt not kill, I don’t believe any god said that (because I don’t believe they exist), but I do think that’s a pretty sensible rule to produce a functioning society, i.e. the reasoning is wrong, but the outcome is sound.  One obvious outcome is that these practices produce a stable environment from which humans can flourish.  While I would always doubt the reasoning, I am very open to the idea that there is good reason for doing these things and sure we can change what we do, that’s fine, but let’s be pretty sure about the consequences before doing that.  In essence the fires in Europe are very much man made.

Climate change, yes the climate is changing, and yes its getting hotter, that is not going to help, one thing I have learned is that Earth has a lot of reinforcing feedback loops which is counterintuitive.  For example, in an ice age its colder, colder means more snow, snow is very good at reflecting heat back into space, therefore it gets colder.  The same could be true here, more heat, stuff burns more easily therefore more heat.  It’s interesting that the planet does always appear to have some method of correcting itself (although we don’t really understand why, and life does play a part in that so past performance is not a guide to future returns blah blah). 

“Firstly, get the plastic junk out of the seas.  The seas are one of the most important regulators of our climate, they are the origins of all live on earth and produce vast quantities of food, why, why, why, are we ok with all this plastic being dumped in there?”

In terms of climate change, I think there are some important things we can (and should do as quickly as possible).  Firstly, get the plastic junk out of the seas.  The seas are one of the most important regulators of our climate, they are the origins of all live on earth and produce vast quantities of food, why, why, why, are we ok with all this plastic being dumped in there?  We need to get all that plastic junk out and stop putting any more of it in (which includes things like shipping recycling to China where it can fall off the sides of boats).  We should think a bit more carefully about what we eat too. All the arguments I see make absolutely no sense, the better thing for the climate is to eat avocados shipped in from South America rather than meat from a farm I could walk to.  What? This makes no sense.  We should try to eat more locally grown produce as its generally better for us, uses less energy and animals have a higher welfare standard.  Now I realize that not everyone can afford that, so I don’t complain about people buying cheap food I know plenty of people can’t afford anything else, but those that can afford, in my view should (although I have no right to force them). 

The final thing I think we should all do is use less energy, not in some “you will own nothing and be happy” way, but because it just makes sense, if you don’t need the lights on, turn them off, it will save you some money.  Insulated homes are cheaper to heat.  We are going to have a few years with power cuts over winter thanks to our inept government not planning our energy security properly and building new power plants (Nick Clegg, “it will take a decade to build a new nuclear power plant, so we won’t do that” in 2010…. well would have been pretty handy now in 2023).  Using as little energy as possible will help reduce your own costs and help mitigate the supply problems.  Further to this the energy we have on earth is finite and controlled by the Sun (other than nuclear, though that’s still finite), at some point in our distance future humans will need to leave Earth and find a new home, I imagine that will need quite a lot of energy, so let’s not squander it all now on lighting up the outside wall of our house at night.

Scott can be emailed at scott.neville@hantsind.com and is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ScottNevilleIndLib.  The Hampshire Independents are online at https://hantsind.com/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hampshireindependents.

Back to Part 1 ¦ On to Part 3

Photo by USGS on Unsplash

Podcast Episode 78 – Zachary Stiling: Tory Sinking Ship, 3rd Time Lucky For Croydon & World Cup Wokery

We are joined by Zachary Stiling, a local Heritage Party activist and previous Council candidate in Croydon, as we discuss the news that various Conservative MPs have announced that they are standing down at the next General Election and we bemoan the fact that Croydon Council has declared bankruptcy for the 3rd time. We also chat about the wokery and hypocrisy engulfing the FIFA World Cup.

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Beauty

My tuppenceworth speech by Zachary Stiling

“I propose, from observation, that beauty is an objective truth. Those of us with notions of beauty will agree on what is beautiful. Sunsets, fertile valleys, swallows in flight—who will refute it?”

In post-Renaissance Europe, there can be no excuse for ugliness, and yet it abounds. Some people see no problem; many things which are ugly happen to be cheap and convenient, and perversely popular. This points to one thing: that some people are not receptive to beauty.

It does not point towards one of the most irritating, hackneyed and untruthful phrases in circulation: that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’, which implies subjectivity. I propose, from observation, that beauty is an objective truth. Those of us with notions of beauty will agree on what is beautiful. Sunsets, fertile valleys, swallows in flight—who will refute it? If the matter was subjective, would someone not wish to assert that the warm glow of dusk is an aesthetic abomination?

We may quibble over minutiae because beauty is metaphysical, its laws written not in numbers as the language of physics, but perceived through feeling rather than deciphered through equations. But as it exists objectively, we perceive it in broadly the same way.

I now speak only for myself, but as one who feels exalted by beauty, you may imagine how the opposite effect is induced by its absence. A while ago, standing on the platform of East Croydon station, it occurred to me that I could see nothing beautiful, and it occasioned a sadness which was profound enough to be memorable.

“Edridge Road, off the Croydon Flyover. Face south and bask in a sense of homeliness as you look past the modest Victorian bricks and mortar to the spire of St. Peter’s Church. Then have your cosy contentment shattered as you about-turn 180 degrees”

Take also the example of Edridge Road, off the Croydon Flyover. Face south and bask in a sense of homeliness as you look past the modest Victorian bricks and mortar to the spire of St. Peter’s Church. Then have your cosy contentment shattered as you about-turn 180 degrees and look north to the hard, jackbooted tower blocks of the town centre, mocking you with their indomitable girth.

But I am fortunate. I am not entirely cut off from beauty as long so long as I live in leafy suburbia and travel the country for work. Consider the person raised on an inadequate housing estate, forced to drive every day along an anonymous dual carriageway to work in a post-war town centre designed by accountants. What nourishment does their soul get? What lifts their minds higher?

“far from being elitist, anyone may be touched by beauty, and its benefits are limitless. It gives the aimless aspiration, brings joy to the depressed and is something to he who has nothing”

It is common today that certain egalitarians should denigrate true beauty as elitist, because it takes time, money and effort to create, and some people have little aptitude for it. But far from being elitist, anyone may be touched by beauty, and its benefits are limitless. It gives the aimless aspiration, brings joy to the depressed and is something to he who has nothing.

Let us reject the weasel words which justify bad art and architecture — ‘innovative’, ‘diverse’, ‘inclusive’, ‘subversive’, ‘empowering’ and ‘progressive’ — and make planning authorities, developers, the Arts Council and other organisations responsible for the physical and cultural landscape work towards a beautiful world, for everyone’s sake.

How can we ensure there is never another lockdown?

My tuppenceworth speech by Zachary Stiling

“We cannot expect anything good to come from a Chamber stuffed with the scientifically, historically and economically illiterate, or a load of self-serving sociopaths”

There is only one course of action – to totally and utterly reform the government, clearing out every amoral politician and stringently regulating future elections to ensure only those who are demonstrably learned, wise and possessed of a genuine concern for the welfare of individuals are able to enter Parliament. We cannot expect anything good to come from a Chamber stuffed with the scientifically, historically and economically illiterate, or a load of self-serving sociopaths.

Ordinary people have two ways of influencing government policy, persuasion, and force, and both were tried and failed. Scientists and medical professionals, business owners, religious leaders and philosophers all made well-substantiated rational arguments to no avail. Protests were a display of force but achieved little. To dissent was to be ridiculed or suppressed, or even criminalised and brutalised by police.

“The underlying fact is that lockdown is a form of tyranny and must be treated as such”

The underlying fact is that lockdown is a form of tyranny and must be treated as such. Past tyrannies have only fallen with the help of external powers. The Nazi tyranny ended after a war in which millions died. The Soviet tyranny collapsed through weakened governance which Western efforts worked to undermine. The Chinese Communist tyranny has never collapsed because nobody has stood up to China.

Of course, overthrowing the status quo and completely starting again is pure fantasy; it isn’t workable, so I will alter the question because there can be no guarantee against future lockdowns, and instead ask: what should we do in the event of another?

The first thing is to defy it entirely, and maintain normality as far as we are able, hardening ourselves against the threats from government and the frowns of fuzzy-brained neighbours. We must forge connections with those who are of a like mind for the sake of mutual support.

“our next imperative is to become evangelists. We will be mistreated by the media and censored on line, so commence pamphleteering and try to bring one person to reason at a time. It worked well for Martin Luther and Thomas Paine”

If we can thus sustain ourselves, our next imperative is to become evangelists. We will be mistreated by the media and censored on line, so commence pamphleteering and try to bring one person to reason at a time. It worked well for Martin Luther and Thomas Paine. A child will consent to being locked down in his bedroom to avoid the bogeyman until, daring to step outside and goad it, he discovers it does not exist. In the same way, it must take courage and reason to expose the fearful superstition on which lockdowns depend.

Image from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/soil-health-mask-protection-corona-5935148/

My Tuppenceworth 2nd August – Speeches and Photos.

Our second My Tuppenceworth turned out to be another great free speech event.  We had 8 speeches on the night from 5 speakers, each followed by a lively Q&A.  Where people have shared their speeches, we have published and linked to them below.

The first half of the evening was on the topic of “How do we ensure there is never another lockdown?”.  The following people spoke on the subject:

  • Mike Swadling – speech
  • Cllr. George Pender
  • Zack Stiling – speech

Our freestyle speakers and speeches were:

Photos from the evening:

European Court of Human Rights – Your views, Part 3

The European Court of Human Rights intervened to stop the deportation flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda.  The UK is a member of the Council of Europe and a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights.

We asked your views on:  How should the government react to the ruling by the ECHR?

Back to Part 2 | On to Part 4

Maureen Martin of the Christian Peoples Alliance.

“The desire for a better life is not a valid reason to illegally enter a nation and expect to be welcomed with open arms.  They must go through the process legally”

This is the now very familiar battle between the rule of law and woke social justice or asylum seekers versus economic migrants.  Nations without controlled, patrolled and hard boarders are not sovereign nations at all but merely what the USA calls sanctuaries for whosoever.  The UK government has a responsibility to its legal citizens to ensure they carefully vet whom we allow into this country, this process must be governed by the rule of law and not fuzzy feelings of social justice policies, otherwise known as the European Court of Human Rights.

The ECHR is making rulings based upon individual appeals and of course as they are all in basically the same predicament the court has ruled similarly in each case.  For one of these individuals the argument is being made that he was seeking a better life in the UK and would still be vulnerable in Rwanda.  If the vulnerability of the individual is the issue, would he be vulnerable wherever he settled? What makes Rwanda a dangerous place for him? This is not clear. In addition to which seeking a better life makes him an economic migrant and not eligible for asylum seeker status.  This must be addressed as the cry of human rights activists seems to focus on this point; it is not humane to deny someone the chance of a better life. The answer to that is if a better life is the goal, then the rule of law must be adhered to.  The desire for a better life is not a valid reason to illegally enter a nation and expect to be welcomed with open arms.  They must go through the process legally.

The UK government should pursue its mandate to protect our boarders and enforce its immigration laws and policies.  The message must be sent to other nations, human traffickers, and drug smugglers that the UK is not open for illegal immigration business. If they know that asylum seekers will be sent to another closer/bordering nation it will deter those considering making the trip across the Chanel risking their lives in the process. 

We have to look no further than the USA to ascertain that such policies are extremely effective.  During the Trump administration the Stay in Mexico Policy was instrumental in controlling the Southern border with amazing results.  The current administration has rolled out the welcome mat for whosoever resulting in record illegal immigration numbers, the highest in 97 years. We do not want the same in the UK.

Zack Stiling of the Heritage Party.

“it refuses to recognize the merit in deterring would-be asylum seekers from making the dangerous journeys across the English Channel”

The interference of the European Court of Human Rights in the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda is disgraceful, but sadly predictable. I strongly doubt that any flights will ever go ahead, because the E.C.H.R. is unlikely to relent and I do not believe the Johnson administration really cares about cracking down on illegal immigration. Having mixed a preposterous cocktail of socialism, totalitarianism and spectacular economic cretinism during its first 2½ years, who can honestly expect the Johnson government to successfully implement a genuinely conservative policy?

Through its decision to suspend the flights, the E.C.H.R. has given up the pretence of existing to protect human rights and quite openly revealed its politicized agenda. The deportations do not contravene any part of the European Convention on Human Rights and yet the Court is happy to remain silent when serious contraventions do occur in Europe (the Convention is supposed to guarantee the right to personal liberty, freedom of expression and freedom of association, all of which are disregarded by so-called public health measures and the criminalization of ‘hate speech’). All migrants do, of course, have a right to live in Britain provided they follow the correct legal procedures and satisfy at least the same criteria as are required of all native-born British citizens.

The E.C.H.R. would appear to prefer the policy mooted in May of destroying a Yorkshire village by filling it with 1500 asylum seekers, at enormous cost to the British taxpayer. By the same margin, it refuses to recognize the merit in deterring would-be asylum seekers from making the dangerous journeys across the English Channel which have already resulted in dozens of them perishing. Perhaps the E.C.H.R. prefers them dead, or maybe it just thinks British resources should be stretched even further by having coastguards posted on 24-hour dinghy-watch.

An important distinction which must be made is that the right to life is the right not to be killed, not an entitlement to be spoon-fed by Nanny Taxpayer. If we presume that the E.C.H.R. would rather claim the latter (and we must presume much, for it is being so suspiciously cagey), we can be certain that it has abandoned any interest it may have had in protecting actual human rights in favour of trying to impose costly and community-destroying socialism on countries within its jurisdiction. To suggest that working taxpayers who are struggling to make ends meet and young workers with no hope of ever buying a house should have money taken from them and given to people with no entitlement to British residence is much worse than crassly insulting.

As with the E.U., we again find ourselves being coerced into acting against our own interests by an unelected body. The best thing the government can possibly do is withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. As nice as it is to have such a convention, which looks on the surface to be so righteous and upstanding, its value is nil when existing clauses are ignored and non-existent ones are fabricated and used against us. Britain would be much better off with her own intelligently drafted human rights constitution.

Cllr Mary Lawes, The Foundation Party, Folkestone Town Council.

“We campaigned and won the right to be a sovereign nation. We must leave the ECHR and bring in a UK owned ‘Bill of Rights’”

Decisions taken by a foreign body on UK & it’s citizens, must be stopped at all costs. 

When the rights of foreigners come before the country’s own citizens it’s time to leave. This is something that should have been done at the same time as leaving the EU. We campaigned and won the right to be a sovereign nation. We must leave the ECHR and bring in a UK owned ‘Bill of Rights’. This must be agreed by the people of this country not Parliament. 

If in many years to come this country can sustain taking in large numbers of economic migrants, then great. However, the infrastructure is not in place for its own people never mind those illegally entering the UK. The country also needs to reduce the amount of work visa being issued to many countries around the world. 1,000,000 foreign nationals came to the UK on work Visa’s last year during Covid 19.

I, as a local Councillor see local people having to go back home to parents with their families in overcrowded housing condition. Families being separated and moved to other parts of the country. If you have a partner and cannot prove how long you have lived together you cannot live with them if the Council is helping them out. 

In my local town there are no private properties available to rent as London Boroughs send those on their waiting lists to us and other towns. London Borough’s pay large deposits to landlords and agents to guarantee those on their waiting lists above locals. No social housing is being built even though there is such a huge need. 

We have insufficient medical services, too few GP’s, patients unable to see a GP, too few beds in ICU units, overcrowded A&E departments. 

Schools are overcrowded and having to spend time teaching foreign children English. Children leaving primary and secondary school illiterate. Insufficient vocational education, too many children being pushed for academic education. Pushing vast numbers to university instead of training for future carpenters, electricians, bricklayers, engineers, or plumbers. 

If the country continues the way it is going, we will end up with most of the country’s citizens getting poorer with no housing, no education, mental health continuing to rocket. People dying as they would be unable to get any medical care. 

People calling for more migrants to come, pushing wages down while trying to fight for better wages and conditions for those already here, is perverse. Businesses looking for cheap labour and rubbing their hands together.  Let’s look after our own first and when we have improved our infrastructure and helped all our own then by all means put infrastructure in place and bring in those in need at an agreed number. 

This whole of Parliament has for the last 6 years been pitting people against each other on all these matters. We need to have a grown-up conversation about this country going forward but this useless Parliament are incapable of doing so. 

The people are the masters not the servants – we are stronger together. 

Back to Part 2 | On to Part 4

Image: details, original, amended.