But what of Ukip?

It's a while since I paid any attention to the fortunes of Ukip. A quick look at Raheem Kassam's timeline on Twitter this evening reminds me just what an unpleasant bunch they are. There seems to be a running dispute as to whether the party should be a BNP style entity run by Anne Marie Waters or an alt-right entity headed up by someone else presumably. The expression "bald men fighting over a comb" springs to mind.

Both Kassam and Carswell now seem to be in agreement that Ukip is dead. Ordinarily I wouldn't give a tinkers damn in that Ukip has squandered its momentum and wasted its potential. It has few, if any, intellectual assets and is still labouring under the misapprehension that Ukip flavour misanthropy is a winning ticket. There is nowhere for it to go if it regresses further up the ultra right cul-de-sac. They all hate each other and are too concerned with battling over the dregs to focus on the tasks before it.

If there was ever a role for Ukip post-Brexit then it would be to carry the momentum of the referendum over to convert the sentiment expressed against the establishment into a more concrete movement for change. But actually, it doesn't know what it wants - except that it has something to do with Muslims.

The great sadness in this is that if we look at those now influencing the direction of Brexit it is the usual array of business groups and remain inclined think tankers and academics. This is ground Farage ceded a long time ago by choosing the populist path. The consequence of that is that there are no thinking leavers steering the agenda. Farage made certain of that.

Occasionally though, one gets a reminder that Ukip at one time was a good party of good people, and this television appearance by leadership contender Ben Walker shows that there is some self-awareness in the party. If the brand could be detoxified then it could be salvaged into a civic constructivist ideas party - influencing from the fringe. I think Ben Walker has the right idea in making it a more consultative entity, reaching out to branches and making the running of the party more inclusive, but this is really closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. This needed to happen ten years ago.

It is difficult now to see how it can be snatched away from the Farage devotees. Moreover, the obvious problem for Ukip now is that there is nothing much to sustain it. It has no real intellectual foundation, its reason for being has passed and its primary source of funding, the EU, is soon to be no more. All that is left is a toxic brand in the shadow of Farage and no real idea of what it wants to be.

I take the the view, for what it's worth, that if anyone can transform Ukip and revive it then it's Ben Walker. A decent man with a good CV. A healer and reformer. If there is anything left of the Ukip I once knew then it can be saved. For that though it must ditch the hard right dogma and turn its back on the Breitbart crowd. That may mean a significant pruning in support, but Ukip cannot rebuild unless the cancer is carved out. It pretty much means starting from scratch but as far as I'm concerned if Ben isn't the next leader then it does not deserve to survive.

The right sort of immigrant

Some years ago I met a charming and talented woman. I did not think much of her politics. She was a bit of a lefty. Over the years though, with a little encouragement, she has come to see the light and has come to see the left for what they are - particularly in respect of Jeremy Corbyn and the modern left. It would appear that just recently she has had her conservative awakening. Not wishing to be patronising but this is what we righties call "adulthood".

What makes this lady especially interesting is that she is very much a self-made woman, having made a tremendous success of her life, starting out as a Polish immigrant working in the fields. She is now a top HR consultant. Today she surprised me by pointing out that she is not in the least bit concerned for the extension of her EU citizenship.

When Britain voted to leave the EU, she was naturally concerned since she has build quite a life for herself here. This is not surprising when you have the likes of Ian Dunt publishing all manner of histrionics - adding further to the perception that rights are in peril and that somehow Britain is a more racist and unpleasant place.

I told her that there is no real reason to panic. As a resident of more than five years she has certain acquired rights and that there will be an accord of a type regardless of the mode of Brexit. Even if talks failed and we reverted to WTO rules, this would be one of the first issues to be brought back into consideration when rebuilding our relationship with the EU. With every passing day it would appear that there was no real reason to worry.

To be entirely intellectually honest, I must mention that the lady in question has experienced some harassment. Whether or not there is any direct causal link to Brexit is a matter for debate. I would surmise that prejudice is something that EU migrants will encounter regardless - largely because people are bastards wherever you go.

On the whole though, this lady made it clear that she accepts and respects the UK's decision to leave and she expects to live under the rules established - which are unlikely to be inferior to British citizenship - which is more than sufficient. She has chosen to make a life here and ultimately wishes to be a British citizen participating in British civic life come what may.

This lady to my mind is a model immigrant. She is basically the walking cliché Polish immigrant; - hard-working, motivated and successful. What makes her problematic for the remain inclined is that she refuses to see herself as a victim, she does not fall into the category of metro-left and her concept of citizenship is closer to Mrs May's "citizens of nowhere" speech than that of EU flag waving forelock-tuggers.

As it happens, she is particularly bewildered by by the staggering lack of patriotism from some in believing that losing EU citizenship in some way means going back to the dark ages. She remarked that to be a modern Brit one must self-deprecate and treat Britishness as a taboo. She asked me how this came to be. "People do not wait in camps in Calais because for your weather" she said. Quite.

She then asked me how it was that spoiled British youth could back a man like Jeremy Corbyn. To my surprise she expressed her "revulsion" at Labour voters. The simplest explanation is that collectively we have allowed the poison to spread.

Leftist thought and language has worked its way into the popular vernacular as an everyday social currency. People espouse that kind of politics for social convenience - much like our celebrity class. It is shallow, narcissistic and full of lazy assertions and assumptions based on a complete ignorance of economics. Unless people do stand up to it and speak out then it prospers. We have failed to confront it.

The fact that we have allowed ourselves to be censored through political correctness, and not pick fights or fall out in public is why it has taken root. Being conservative is somehow considered a social faux pas and something to apologise for.  

In this, the British education system has been corrupted by leftists where, through identity politics, conservatives have been silenced and marginalised - and that is why you have a cosseted and spoiled youth in thrall to a vile creature like Corbyn. A populist through and through. 

It has gained ground because we have failed to make the moral case for liberty, citizenship and conservatism. We have repeatedly caved into the left out of cowardice and continued to retreat from British conservative values of self-reliance, fiscal prudence and self-advancement. We have a youth who believe the answer to poverty is a bloated state rather than wealth creating policies. We have let left wing attitudes slide instead of treating it as antisocial behaviour. The absence of a conservative party is our downfall.

Not for the first time has an Eastern European lady in my life exhibited more conservatism and more Britishness than any of my compatriots. It was my great pleasure and privilege to have been friends with Helen Szamuely. Helen was never afraid to start an argument or be unpopular even in social situations - and was ever happy to make an enemy of stupid people. Helen was unapologetic - and for a Hungarian - she really showed British conservatives how to be conservative. 

Once again I find that it takes an immigrant to add moral clarity to the debate. That is the example we must follow - to never let a lazy or casual leftist assertion pass even out of social convenience or politeness. If we wish to remain the sort of place that hard working people want to come to, it is our values we must defend, not the baubles and trinkets of EU membership.

The tenants are fifty percent of the problem

Another thing I will say on Grenfell, one of the biggest problems an EHO will face, as much as pisspoor building design is the tenants themselves. The complain about damp - but they seal up the vents. They use the hallways for dumping their shit and storing their garbage. Fire extinguishers are often stolen and sold off. Seen this before when armed forces advocacy groups whine about poor standards of housing for personnel.

Half the problems is the wives who don't report the problems, let things rot, don't clean up and then they wonder why they live in squalor. MoD houses tend to be quite good. They don't have these problems in RAF houses which are the exact same ministry design - but Army wives... well, not wishing to offend but... garbage on legs.

Now don't jump down my throat here because I'm victim blaming. The fact is that people do have a collective responsibility to report things - and most of the time, when they say the council haven't done something about leaky pipes etc, is literally because nobody bothered to report it. They lie about it all the time.

Then look at the social makeup of these places. Again we have problems when you stack blocks and streets full of primates from the back hills of Mirpur - throwing dirty nappies into the back yard and flushing general refuse down the toilets. They simply don't know how to function in modern housing because they've had in basic training as to what it means to live in the developed world. That was a real issue for EHO's in the 80's and 90's, in Yorkshire and Lancashire especially. Cram them all into a tower block and you then have very serious problems.

One of the measures we took in the late nineties was to beef up the tenancy contract and make sure tenants had their responsibilities explained to them in person. The idea was that if they are found in breach of contract then action can be taken. Problem is, if the council has to evict it has to rehouse - and when you are evicting lazy tenants from one slum, the only place you can put them is in another slum.

This dynamic is why EHOs do not evict from overcrowded HMOs because it lumbers the council with having to find places for them. This is why there is such a toxic feeling about freedom of movement. We have utterly failed to enforce the law because we have basically made it a human right for any hapless biped to be housed come what may - regardless of how slovenly and antisocial they are.

For them to then play victim and go and smash up the local housing office or threatened staff - as is quite typical - is really quite disgusting. But then what do you expect when you have removed all the consequences for selfish and antisocial behaviour? Were I in charge I would just have a three strikes policy where you're then given a choice of deportation or jail.

Bottom line though, social housing is the worst idea British politics has ever had. It's never going to be good because you're basically, for the most part, housing losers and trailer trash and by doing so you are creating high concentrations of scum. The only way to avoid doing that is to spend serious money distributing them and putting them in good homes - which is unfair to everybody else - especially if they're just going to shit on it or destroy it.

The short of it is, you want a good house, either move out of London or pull your fingers out of your arse. Beyond basic shelter, that's about the fullest extent of our obligations - and even that is far too generous in my view.

Social housing might have worked in the pre-war era before we stopped giving a shit about who we let in and under what circumstances when we were able to cash in on the empire - but those times are long gone, and if we're absolutely honest - even that was a shit idea because much of what was built in that era has had to be demolished and that which has not probably should be. Ultimately government fucks up everything it touches so why would you want it to house you or look after your health?

Every manifestation of socialism is a cancer on a free and prosperous society and the fact we don't teach this to children at an early age is why you're seeing a surge for Cobyn. If you don't teach your children to hate communists where are they going to learn it? Not from state run schools that's for damn sure since half the teachers are paid up members of the fucking KGB.

You're never going to get adults who will take responsibility for themselves if you teach them they have a right to expect all of the fundamentals for free. That's why socialists grow up to be losers and that's how they end up ghastly pebble dashed huts and burning to death. One of the best survival skills you can teach a child is free market liberal economics. They might fail at life - but they won't blame others if they do.

Dear London... get over yourselves.

Dear Londoners,

Please please please, for the love of Christ, get over yourselves. There are people who, for reasons that escape me, save up for years to afford a deposit to live and work in London. People work bloody hard to earn above the average wage, only to afford shared rooms and tiny hovels. People of modest means who just don't see themselves as victims or hapless serfs. People who may never get rich - but at least have pride in themselves and no sense of entitlement.

If for some reason you have been granted a living space entirely of your own in central London (at a heavily discounted rate) you are not "underprivileged" or forgotten. You are in fact one of the most privileged citizens on the planet.

Nobody is going to argue that Grenfell Tower isn't a travesty - and a systemic collapse of competence in that manner is inexcusable, but in more general terms, your sense of entitlement is baffling the rest of the country.

To be frank, you don't speak for all of us - and you certainly don't speak for the "aspirational working class". Aspirational working class people have much higher aspirations than sitting on a waiting list to be handed the keys to a concrete box only moments after an Albanian refugee has perished of a heroin overdose.

In fact, there are mums all over the country who nag their children to do their homework and do well at school specifically so they don't end up on a council waiting list. Moreover, you don't have a right to housing near where you were brought up. Where did you get that idea?

By all means bang your drums and wave your socialist flags on a Friday afternoon, but actual working class people are, well, you know, at work - so they can afford the hovel that's half the size of your council flat - and on the outer rings of the tube network.

You complain about "social cleansing" but when I watch y'all on Youtube I'm starting to think they might have a point. It's not like you geniuses are actually contributing to anything - except maybe the knife crime statistics. (props on that by the way)

And I know I'm not supposed to sneer at "working class views" but if working class views are now "how can I make this all about me and my entitlements?" then don't be surprised if peope do sneer. It's not snobbery. It's just a basic sense of decency.

I suppose I shouldn't complain though. After all London is a magnet for absolutely everything that sucks in this country. I suppose it's worth subsidising your like to stay in London just so the rest of us can continue to enjoy the many other excellent cities in the UK - and enjoy our decent sized affordable homes without you piping "speed garage" out of "sub woofers" attached to your rustbucket Volkswagens.

Just be mindful, though, that there's a jolly good reason nobody cares about you. It's because you have childish views, dreadful politics and there is nothing likeable about any of you. Come to think of it, you deserve London - and London deserves you.

My tolerance ends where liberty is threatened

Ok, I can just about stretch to an opinion on Farron. Why has Tim Farron been singled out for being a Christian? Well, he holds illiberal views and led a liberal party. When challenged on it, he was unable to give a straight up answer. For me the latter is the greater sin. If you believe something then come out and say it. It's a basic test of integrity.

But then there is a wider debate here as to how much god bothering do we tolerate? Personally I am a secularist and a social libertarian. I want to see the maximum liberty possible extended to every individual so that they may live out their lives according to their own choices.

Personally I don't get the whole gay marriage thing, I'm a little bit wary of it, but the bottom line is that it does not affect me in any way. Why should my convictions, or lack of them, have any bearing on the choices of others? If Farron is unable to prioritise his politics over his adherence to scripture then he has to stand down. You're either a liberal or you're not.

As to the DUP and the anti-abortionists, it's really up to the people of Northern Ireland to sort that one out for themselves. So long as they don't bring their politics into our politics then fine. This is more a matter of sovereignty.

Personally I don't see why anybody's religious convictions should get to dictate the life choices of women. It's always better of women are free to choose, to be able to get the information and support they need - and safe, dignified treatment. I hate people who would deny a person the right to choose.

So should these people be hounded out of politics? I would have thought so yes. Politics is trial by fire. Stand up for your beliefs. See what flies. Someone of resilience will stick by their convictions and if they can ride it out with intellect and skill then the voters will be the final judge.

It is a tricky one though. Part of tolerance is respect for views you don't like but at what point does that tolerance risk becoming apathy? I think we do have to be on guard against regressive forces who would prioritise their stone age beliefs over the liberty of individuals. They should be held to account for their views and it is vital we are absolutely clear where they stand.

I have a few Christian friends, one of whom I respect immensely, but my general experience of god botherers is that they don't respect the choices of others and use scripture in place of argument. To me that comes over as zealotry bordering on mental illness. Those such people I wouldn't put in charge of a whelk stall let alone a country.

Worse still it seems to me that the Christians I know are the least "Christian" people I know. I was brought up CofE and the general gist I got is that we must be kind to each other, charitable and forgiving. As I understand it, that whole forgiveness thing is a cornerstone of the faith, yet I do not find god botherers either charitable or forgiving. Mainly just judgemental prudes and tyrants without reason.

Ultimately these such people are a direct threat to mine and your liberty. My tolerance ends when the religious convictions of others condemn people and take away their free will. I will defend any person of faith and their right to practice their faith, out of respect for their liberties, but if I catch your dog on my lawn I will shoot it.

As to Farron, I kinda feel sorry for the guy. I don't think he is a bad man. Profoundly wrong perhaps, but really, this country in real terms is secular - and we are better off because people are free to make their own choices. I can't trust that he can shelve his private beliefs simply because men of real conviction cannot.

You can make all the classic arguments about moral permissiveness and where that leads, but ultimately people suffer the consequences of their choices. That's pretty much how it should be lest we go back to treating women like property. In that, it is incumbent upon us to better teach the consequences of certain choices, but anything that flies in the face of free will gets a thumbs down from me. It's not something I have tolerance for.

Brexit: Corbyn's issue illiteracy

The idiot Corbyn is once again talking about leaving the single market but preserving access to it. For those who need it spelled out, this is pure illiteracy. Everyone has access to the single market. If I'm a dildo producer in Elbonia I can export to the EU but I must pay a tariff and go through the third country customs channels. Because Elbonia does not have a preferential trade agreement with the EU it has a low score on the EU database so a container is 100% likely to be stopped at the docks while goods are sent away for formaldehyde testing at the expense of the producer. Meanwhile the container is taking us space incurring a thumping daily fee for every day it is held - which can be anywhere up to two weeks depending on the workload of labs. Ten times more expensive than tariffs. This is why non-tariff barriers are the greater threat to UK trade.

So say we were to drop out of the EU without a deal we would assume the same status as Elbonia. Having already been a member of the EU we'd have a slightly better risk assessment - but we'd still end up having our containers diverted and inspected. Then if we sign a free trade deal with Elbonia where we don't inspect their goods then our risk assessment score is reduced. That's why we have to be careful about the deals we sign after Brexit. Elbonian dildos have high levels of carcinogenic toxins.

If we want to avoid that scenario then we must have a deal where our own testing houses are approved by the EU. This would be a mutual recognition agreement on conformity assessment. That way any goods cleared for sale here can also be sold in the EU. That though does mean an EU agency will have to perform routine inspections of our testing houses to ensure compliance to the standards they set out. That means adopting their standards not only for the production of goods but also for the testing and the methodologies therein. It's complex for ordinary goods but when it comes to food and animal products it gets highly involved. This is why Norway contributes to the various EU agencies in order to keep the costs down for business.

Now multiply this dynamic to the three hundred or so other policy areas - including medicines and chemicals. We would need a patchwork of agreements covering all these different areas. Technically we would be outside the single market but it means you still import EU procedures, regulations and standards. The short of it being that if the EU council decides on the meaning of a regulation then you adopt it without question. Being outside of the single market you have no means of veto and you are not involved in the decision making process.

The fact is, when the EU accounts for half of our exports and it being the nearest and largest market, there is no escaping EU institutional influence and that nebulous "sovereignty" we seek is not so clear cut. Every shortcut we take has ramifications for our trade with the EU. Every decision has consequences that ripple out.

It's all very well saying we want "tariff free access" but that doesn't come close to what we need. Thanks to the "Anything But Arms" agreement even the likes of Elbonia have tariff free access but unless it can meet EU standards and prove it then costs of trade are prohibitive. This is what our political class does not understand. It is the regulatory union (the single market) that facilitates trade. Being out of it means more direct costs for business, more delays and substantially less trade - none of which can be easily recouped by way of seeking deals elsewhere.

Since Brussels is a regulatory superpower and the UK being reliant on EU trade it will always have considerable influence on our laws. Even New Zealand and Canada have found cause to rethink their food safety laws so as to trade on more favourable terms with the EU. A well documented phenomenon known as "The Brussels Effect". So as much as there is nothing to be gained by leaving the single market it doesn't actually solve anything.

Moreover, the point of staying in the single market is that it takes all the trade issues out of the Article 50 negotiations and puts them into a different framework which is not time limited thus removing uncertainty and reducing the risk of becoming Elbonia overnight - which would destroy nearly all of our EU trade.

The single market may not be optimal but it is a fact of life. We cannot pretend otherwise and if we really do want to leave the EU it's the safest and fastest way to do it. At least then the political integration is ended and we'd have the Efta firewall. On present trajectory, chasing an illusory perfection, we are likely to crash out with nothing to show for it and will have to rebuild our trade relations over decades only to achieve what we could have had now. We are risking the UK's prosperity on the back of the profound ignorance of our politicians and media. This is the debate that was lacking from the election and it seems to be absent now. There is a wilful refusal to get to grips with it. That will be our undoing.

More depravity from the Corbynistas

Soviet bunting in London. Depraved.

What fucks me off most about this far left revival is that we're now going to be dragged back into tedious old debates having to explain the basics to morons. It always plays out like this. We have to teach them basic economics and a few facts of life. You know - that one about not taking out a credit card to pay off your other credit cards. And then because they're obsessive antisemites we'll have to have that super boring debate about Israel. Already I've been told this evening that anti-zionism is not antisemitism.

Ok fine. Let's enter that premise. Zionism is a concept. But then it's better described as colonisation. Exactly what the Europeans did to America, and yes there was ethnic cleansing and yadda yadda yadda. So answer me this. Why is it not a left wing obsession to challenge the legitimacy of the USA and demand it stops existing? I'm sure there are some crackpots who do think that but it is not a mainstream fixation.

Just yesterday I saw a Facebook commenter with a hammer and sickle avatar saying "Israel has no right to exist". So does Israel have a right to exist? Doesn't fucking matter. The fact is that it does exist and there's not a god damn thing you can do about it.

Y'see what we don't settle with politics we settle with wars. And there was a war. The six day war. The aggressors lost and in the aftermath Israel took some pretty absolute security measures including turfing Arabs off their land. Fair? Not really. But again - not that far removed from what the USA did. Ultimately this is the event that brings us to the paradigm we know today. Any history prior to that is just masturbation. Go any further back and the debate ends up in the mists of time to see who committed the original sin. That's how warped this debate is.

But then we get the old "apartheid state" shit. For reasons that seem fairly obvious to me, the Israelis have decided that if your neighbouring countrymen decide to strap bombs to themselves and blow up school buses with alarming regularity then it's probably wise to build a really big fucking wall around them. To insist that the wall comes down is to essentially demand that Israel does not defend itself. You are advocating the end of Israel and the mass murder of Jews. You can kinda see why they would take that as antisemitic. Not least since unwashed dreadlocked Westerners are not demanding that Lebanon take down theirs.

So what is a legitimate criticism? I'm not the arbiter of that but my distaste comes when they're using punishment tactics. That though is a difficult one because you can't really expect Israel not to respond to a neighbouring country whose ruling authority is openly at war with you and has pledged to destroy you. Not really any middle ground there.

And this is why I have a problem with your Mr Corbyn. He thinks there is a middle ground and is prepared to roll out the red carpet for these scumbags and broadly he believes Israel should make concessions. And this to me raises a few questions. Nobody on the left is saying that the West should sit down and talk to ISIS. They're not that depraved. So why should Israel negotiate with Islamists sworn to destroy them - who preach it to their young children that Jews are evil and should be killed.

But it's not all antisemitism from the left. I note the guy who unfurled the antisemitic banner in Bristol the other day needed it explaining why it was antisemitic. Why? Because he's a moron. It's kind of a prerequisite to be a far leftist - to brainlessly adopt the right on causes of the left to show "solidarity" (ie conformity) with the groupthink. There is no intellectual examination of the issues, no self-audit for moral consistency and a general willingness to accept the leftwing narrative of Palestinian victimhood - one of the toxic elements that perpetuates this grubby conflict.

It is that same bovine idiocy that has millennials taking to the streets waving communist flags, defacing war memorials and destroying private property. A long standing tradition of the far left for as long as it has existed. The self-styled "anarchists" who demand more state control and confiscation of property.

In this people often chastise me for speaking in broad terms about "the left" - repeating the empty mantra that the left/right paradigm no longer exists. Sorry but is absolutely does and it never went away. You can add caveats and nuances and I will entertain those but the extremes always espouse the core of the ideology and moderates are merely people who hold the same basic ideas only not so intensely and usually not willing to resort to vandalism and violence. As much as the behaviour must be challenged the ideas must be challenged also - and if you hold any of these sympathies then you are indeed culpable for not auditing your own views.

If you passively allow these lazy notions to go unchallenged then you are effectively enabling the cancer within our culture. And yes, it is a cancer in that communists have absolutely zero regard for our civilisation and would gladly destroy it in order to bring about their communist utopia. Not massively unlike ISIS. Historically the left have proven just as savage. This is why the hammer and sickle offends me every bit as much as a swastika.

Worse still are the pretensions to moral superiority. The latest fad is to have "I punch fascists" in your Twitter bio. That basically means "I use violence to silence people I disagree with". These people, incidentally, are the same ones posting photos of themselves burning newspapers. The subtext here is that anything even moderately conservative is in their eyes "fascist" and therefore feel entirely justified in censoring it. You see they are the sole arbiters of the meaning of the word fascist and it is nebulous enough to mean whatever they wish it to so to suit the occasion. In basic terms, this is thuggery. It is not a principled world view. It is, to coin an expression, virtue signalling - the desire to prove ones own sense of righteousness. It is pure vanity.

This is why I will have very little patience for the "tolerant left" this week as they pull apart every last detail of the DUP. As I understand it the DUP are actually pretty foul people but being this a democracy they have every right to hold their views and part of tolerance is accepting that. You can lay no claim to virtue and tolerance if your agenda is to harass people over matters of faith.

Perhaps they have deeds in their past which are worthy of examination - but ultimately if you are a leftist you have no moral authority and no right to criticise anybody - because ultimately your entire world view is informed by antisemitic prejudice and a century of intolerance and murder. If you are not a practitioner then you are an apologist and enabler. This is why I despise the left about as much as I do Islamists - because basically they are the same with the same goals - The submission of others to their intolerant will by any means available. Until the socialists publicly disavow the hard left and expel Momentum I will view them as enablers of prejudice - and ultimately enemies of my country.

That moment when you remember the left are depraved

Corbyn - a man who has no problems speaking on a platform with people more than happy to wave the flags of Hamas, Hezbollah, IRA, Communism, or whatever filth the left ascribes to.

And let's not beat around the bush here. Get into a conversation with a leftist and sooner or later they will bring up Israel. I do have opinions on that subject but my default line is that we have more important things to talk about than an ethno-nationalist spat going back more than half a century. But why do they bring it up?

Well it's simple. They are obsessed with it. Nothing else matters to them. It's a perfect cover. They can shroud their flagrant anti-semitism in quasi-legitimate moral outrage - which is always disproportionately directed at Israel, regardless of the fact that both Egypt and Lebanon treat Palestinians equally abysmally.

Not for nothing can you find leftists sharing platforms with Islamists. They ultimately share the same goal.

The reason I have chilled out in recent years is because I no longer seek out debates with leftists and the memory fades as to just how repellent they really are. But thanks to Corbyn they're all coming back out of the woodwork and it all comes flooding back as to what utter pieces of filth they are. This is when I really lose my shit.

And then there is the sheer economic illiteracy. As tweeter Ciarán McGonagle points out, echoing some of my own sentiments, Labour now appear to reside in non-interconnected world where economic policy can be imposed unilaterally without regard to global context, where increasing tax on upwardly mobile corporates and high earners inevitably leads to increased revenues without risk of relocation. Where the City's hegemony is inevitable and can be squeezed for new revenues as though other nations are incapable of competing for business. Where Government can pick and choose which international laws and regulations it deigns to adhere to without losing global influence in making those laws. Where the Govt can nationalise and subsidise industry at a whim without fear of reprisal or economic consequence.

It's a magic wand fairly land where you can peddle "solutions" from 1945 as though the last seventy years didn't happen - and because of the cult like status of Corbyn they will invent absolutely any mental contortion to justify economy wrecking policies. Not forgetting their insistence on foisting this shitty socialist heath system on us.

And this is actually where my heart sinks because apart from the antisemitism and sharing platforms with jew hating terrorists - and giving houseroom to antijewish conspiracy theorists, you can say a lot the same about the Tories. The cowardly drift leftward is ultimately why Britain is in the shit. Time and again conservatives have caved into these scumbags

You know, seriously, so long as you don't mind bringing up vacuous shallow shitbird offspring, if you do have children, raise them as leftists because they will never have to be held to account for the repulsive views they hold, and they will never be expected to act like adults.

They'll be more successful at work because they can effortlessly glide between social scenes spouting the same socially convenient claptrap without being called out on it. Their warped and morally degenerate worldview has somehow become the social currency of the West and conservatives self-censor just to be able to put forth moderately conservative ideas - which are then shrieked down by bunch of leftist harridans.

Worse still is the fucking hypocrisy. The thuggish scum who call themselves "antifascist", only too happy to use violence and subversion to silence opinions they disagree with, using their cultural dominance to have decent people removed from their jobs in academia and public service. And let's not forget their sick "gender is a social construct" bollocks which ultimately lands young people with mental illnesses, often leading to gender reassignment and suicide in later life.

If there is any strand of toxic authoritarianism you can think of you will always finds the left at the front of the queue. The same shitbirds pushing the global warming shit on us as an excuse to close down democracy. Satan is going to have to dig an eighth circle of hell to deal with modern leftists. The worst vermin ever to walk this earth.

This is actually a stark reminder to me that I should step out of my Brexit cave a bit more often because I forgot what shitheads they really are. It reminds me that there is a moral dimension to elections and actually, moronic though the Tories are, two decades of economic oblivion is still preferable to Corbyn and his band of twisted sociopaths. You won't catch me voting Tory but no way can a decent person endorse this depravity. Fuck that. If we further tolerate any of their wickedness then the west does not deserve to survive.