What name for a woman who jumbles up letters?

Ana Gram

The myth of the dying Tory Party.

1997 was a heavy defeat for the Conservative and Unionist Party. The word unionist was much mocked as the part was annihilated outside England. The Tories came third in Scotland and had no seats whereas the fourth placed LIb Dems won 10 seats. In Wales the Conservatives were still the second largest party and had no MPs despite getting as many votes as the Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru combined both of whom won constituencies.

The Tory Party was greying. It appeared to hav little appeal beyond the southern English bourgeoisie in the countryside.

Even in 2005 things looked bleak. The Conservatives did not connect well with ethnic minorities and the Young. The ethnic minorities are growing fast.

In 2004 Robert Kilroy _Silk said that the Tory Party was dying. To many it seemed to be plausible. The party was not about o vanish but perhaps to stagnate and then decline and decline<.

Now the Conservatives have increased their share of the vote for the fifth election in a row. It is unprecedented for any party to do that. They have won over many ethnic minority people especially Indians. The party is doing better in urban area/ The party is a major force in Wales and Scotland. In nothern England the party has a serious presence/. One weak area is the Young. The Conservatives need to do much better with the youth vote especially students. People tend to become Conservative as they get older. But Labour performed so strongly among the Young that the Tories cannot afford to be complacent. Young people gradually turning into Tories will not happen automatically.

What do you call a screaming Welshman?

Hywell.

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What is the best name for a man from the border of England and Scotland?

 

Roman Walls.

The DUP should be permitted to forge an alliance with the Conservative.

It would be unfair if Members of Parliament were effectually forbidden from making a pact with parties from Great Britain. Yet this is what Labour and the Liberal Democrats are calling for. That is discrimination; the very thing that the left claims to revile.

Are Sinn Fein allowed to form an alliance with other parties in the Republic of Ireland? I do not see why not. The Irish Government is a co guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. But no one suggests that SF will never be allowed to serve in the government in Dublin. So why is it unthinkable for the DUP to be mere allies of the London Government?

As it happens to date other parties in the South of Ireland have not co operated with Sinn Fein. But eventually they will. The electoral arithmetic means that one day it shall occur.

Owen Jones railed against the DUP for being anti abortion. They are allowed to express this view and a large minoroty of people have that Outlook. Labour MPs are alos pro Life in a few cases. If being pro Life is so horrid will Jones demand that they be expelled from the party? If not he should resign from the party. If being pro Life is totally unacceptable he should not share a party with those who hold that view. Comrade Jones notes that the DUP do not approve of same sex marriage. Marrying another man is not a fundamental right as he claims. It is a highly contentious one. Few countries allow this and it is a very new thing in England. Most Labour politicians were against same sex marriage till only ten years ago.

Jones false accused the DUP of being pro terrorist. Rev Paisley spoke out against the UFF and UVF. When a Catholic priest was kidnapped by people in retaliation for the kidnapping of an RUC officer Paisley appealed for the priest’s safe release. He was set free.

*Jones says that loyalist terrorists bakck the DUP; tHERE are no loyalist terrorists left. It is years since loyalist terrorists killed anyone. It is true there are some gangsters who were formally loyalist terrorists and these hoods sometimes kill each other. This is ordinary crime and not related to any ideological conflict.

Jones is a bigot and he equates loyalism with terrorism. This is grossly unfair and demonises a whole community. A loyalist is a hardline unionist. He or she has a Protestant identity which is connected to their British identity. Some are members of loyal orders;

If the DUP is so outrageous surely it is wrong for Sinn Fein to work with them. As a socialist and someone very friendly to Irish republicanism this should horrify Jones.

 

Expatriate life in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Capital of Az.

city of two million; very windy; not too cold.

down by Caspian Sea many amenities. Venice boats; ferris wheels; shopping centres;

*Muslil country but very secular

a lot of traffic; excellent v cheap metro; crowded at peak hours

• hôtels five star or one.

Affordable but not accomm/

Plenty of restaurants not great variety.

do not criticise the president; Do not mention Armenia.

beaches nearby

trips into th countryside; forests. *

do not use BSB

*

The Grennfell Tower Fire

I was not surprised by this tragedy. We were promised a barbecue summer.

Did that remark SPARK any discussion?

Grenfell Tower was a very close knit community. People there got on like a house on fire.

They said that Kensington is a hot location.*

You may think it is warm  here but in Grenfell Tower the atmosphere is more like minus 73.

 

Trump wrong on Cuba.

President Trump intends to downgrade trade links with Cuba. President Obama’s bold and Wise diplomacy towards Cuba opened a new chapter in US-Cuban relations. Restrictions on Americans visiting Cuba as tourists and Americans doing business there were relaxed very considerably. As part of this demarche Mr Obama visited the Republic of Cuba himself. The United States and Cuba restored full diplomatic relations. This was all very welcome.

I had vainly hoped that as a businessman Donald J Trump would care only about filthy lucre. But no he prétends to have principles. The Donald now wants to lower commerical links with Cuba. These are providing greater prosperity for people on both sides of the straits.

Trump is failing even in his own terms. Much of his Platform is not being implemented. Perhaps because he is frustrated and his knows his base is feeling disquiet the president has chosen to throw them some red meat. Restricting business deals with Cuba will play well with the anti-socialist headbangers.

It is true that Cuba is not a free country./ It is not very oppressive either. Trump does not care a fig for human rights as he has frequently proven when he boasts that he wants to use the foulest tortures on suspects and deliberately kill civilians. He has also literally cosied up to one of the worst dictators in the world. Cuba’s political situation is a lot prettier than Saudi Arabia’s.

D J Trump may well be desperate to distract attention from Russia gate. This scandal rumbles on and on. As the evidence against him refuses to go away he wishes to divert public attention by ramping up tensions with a weak neighbour.

The embargo did not work after 55 years. Why will it work know? This is yet another example of Trump’s stupidity and irrationality. Every other country in the world trades With Cuba. They will taken the opportunities that the United States does not. President Trump intends to forbid American companies having any dealings with the Cuban military which controls huge swathes of the economy.

*Diplomatically is is also asinine. The United States needs more friends and not more foes. If this was so vital why tarry until now? I vainly hope the business lobby will bend Trump’s ear. Maybe he was worried because his hotel chain did not have a slice of the action in Cuba. Perhaps that is his ulterior motive.