MUNGUIN'S NEW REPUBLIC

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If you are over 50 and live in England, you’ll be relieved to know that they’ve dropped this scatterbrained idea. 

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What is it with symbolism and the Brits?

This summer, this spitfire will fly over hospitals in England to say thank you to the NHS.

How about they just fund the service and try not to sell it off to the highest bidder?

Because, to be honest, I imagine the NHS staff will be a bit too busy to go out looking for planes flying over to say thank you.

The French government just gave employees of L’Assurance Maladie a pay rise.

Novel idea, forking out money for something that isn’t all show, eh?

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Labour’s Sarah Smith tweeted a couple of days ago that it was a nonsense that Philip May was knighted for being there for Mrs May. She also mentioned that Dennis was knighted too (although his was actually hereditary so that her idiot son would one day inherit).

There were a few glaring errors in her argument.

Firstly, if the way to reward people for doing their reasonably well-paid jobs is to hand them some out-dated title in a ridiculous 18th century, Jacob Rees Mogg, kind of way, whatever title is given to a man, is automatically also given to his wife. Note, Mrs May is now Lady May, whether she uses the title or, like Mrs Thatcher, not.

When Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan, like good socialists that they were, went to the House of Lords, their spouses became “Ladies” whereas Dennis Thatcher would have remained Mr Thatcher. So she was obliged to give her husband his hereditary K so that he would have a title too. It matters to this kind of person.

Even in royalty, a woman who marries a prince becomes a princess and then on marriage, the prince also becomes a duke so she becomes a duchess. But a man who marries a princess remains whatever he was prior to the marriage. On occasions, the man will accept an honorary title from the queen… Tony Armstrong Jones (Earl) or Angus Olgivie (K)… but it is never a royal title and they don’t get to use HRH, unlike Kate Middleton or Megan Markle… and they are not afforded the courtesy of courtiers and others bowing to them.

But dear old Sarah the Socialist’s bigger faux pas was to forget that her own mother was given a peerage after the death of Sarah’s father, John Smith, who led Labour just prior to Blair and who died in post in 1994.

Ooops, red face, Sarah, although in fairness, she later acknowledged it …

 

sarah smith

@BBCsarahsmith

@BBCsarahsmith

The glaring flaw in this argument is obviously my Mother’s peerage. I will shut up now – if no one tells her I forgot about my own Mum!

Guest Post by Kangaroo

 6.

Thanks are due to Andi, John, Erik, Brenda… and probably a few other people I’ve managed to miss out, given how disorganised I am.

Thanks to Dave and Dave

I spent yesterday clearing the furniture out of my mother’s house. I had mentioned elsewhere to John, in connection with that, that charity shops wouldn’t take books. He said he could remember from his youth that ‘library books had a warning on the pocket where the card went: “Please report any infectious diseases immediately before returning this book” or words to that effect. Perhaps back then, TB or whatever diseases were prevalent in Scotland could be passed on through book exchange. Munguinites would probably be able to give us the whole story behind that”.’ 

So there’s a wee challenge. Does anyone remember anything about that?

Thanks to DonDon, Devo for Indy, Dave, John.

APPEARS NOT TO BE SAUCE FOR THE MR YAXLEY LENNON GANDER

I’m beginning to wonder if this Brexit thing may not be all it was cracked up to be.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I recall that there was not going to be a downside to Brexit and we had not only all the cards but a hand full of aces. However, bit by bit, it seems, promises have turned out be the kind of piecrusts which have attracted vermin to the larder.

There were those who promised that there would be a free trade deal and others who said that that we were certainly not about to leave the single market. Indeed the current prime minister was one of them, as was ba’heid here.

No, Mr Farage, it wouldn’t be terrible at all, indeed, I desperately wish we were more like Norway and Switzerland in numerous ways, not to mention their partners in EFTA, Liechtenstein and Iceland.

But that wouldn’t have allowed us to take back control of pretty much anything… even though having actually done it we are about to hand it all to Mr Trump.

Additionally, as these four countries are very rich, they don’t mind not benefiting greatly from grants for development, agriculture, science and technology, social funding, etc, at the same time as paying into the EU and supporting the four freedoms.

But Nigel’s OK because it seems he took the step of ensuring his rights by getting himself a German Passport.

Nigel ist ein kluger Junge.

In the meantime, dear old Jacob Rees Mogg, has seen a company of which he is a director, move its base to Ireland, is fear cliste é Jacob, and the chairman of one of the Brexit organisations, Nigel Lawson (you’ll remember him, the one who said his main home was in France so he could claim £16,000 in overnight expenses) applied to remain in France as a citizen but was refused. Maybe Nigel n’est pas si intelligent ou peut-être il ne parle pas couramment  français?

So I fear that these guys, whom you’d hope would know a lot more about Brexit than Munguin or me, must be aware that it ain’t gonna be all peachy and creamy.

Munguin is already looking out his Antarctican passport. What about me, I hear you ask. Aye indeed, I hear myself ask it too, but, reply comes there none!But Mr Yaxley Lennon, also known by his gig name Tommy Robinson, who also strongly advocated Brexit, has a different reason for leaving.

He says that he has been the victim of arson attempts, or rather his wife’s house has. (There’s a court case coming up and there may be damages so he doesn’t have a house any more.)

So, first of all, let’s be clear, I have no time at all for arsonists or people who use violence to make their political points. Robinson may hold repugnant views (May? Munguin) and he may be a violent thug himself (May? Munguin), but arson isn’t even vaguely appropriate revenge for his unsavoury behaviour. Additionally, he’s got two kids, damn it!

So, I can’t blame him for making a run for it…

But here’s the thing…

This is a man who has ranted against refugees who have been fleeing equally terrifying situations. Running from war zones in Syria, for example, where their houses have been bombed or burnt and their kids’ lives and theirs have been put in danger.

And this is a man who has spoken out against the EU and freedom of movement.

Yet, when his wife and kids’ lives have been threatened, he’s off to live as a refugee in the European Union.

Given that he demanded that people who went to England must be able to speak English fluently, I hope his, his wife’s and his children’s  Spanish is absolutamente de primera clase.

Anyway, I wonder when Katie Hopkins will do a bunk… Let it be soon.

Thanks to John (and Erik), Brenda, Dave (and Gerry), Andi.