Best Of

Notes from the Tice session.

He’s an accomplished speaker in a small group situation: naturally loud voice, articulate, reasonably on top of his brief. I think it’s a mistake to lump all Reform people together as knuckle-heads - he has a brain. Not a brain that thinks the same way as mine, but a brain nonetheless.

Ideologically and stylistically he’s very much a Redwoodite Tory. The conversation could easily have been with someone on the right of the Tory party any time in the last 30 years. Deregulation, let’s get business people into government, cutting waste, common sense etc etc. The wrinkle vis a vis most Thatcherite types is a greater attachment to national champions, government intervention in the ownership of public utilities, and PPP. And of course a very clear enmity towards net zero and all things renewable, which is now mainstream conservative ideology but didn’t used to be.

To my question on corporation tax, he said they couldn’t make firm policy thus far out from an election but he praised Osborne’s tax roadmap.

He steered well away from anything culture war related, apart from a lone scoffing reference to “woke” investment funds. Nor foreign affairs. Clearly not his lane.

A clear indication that they would do “what they do in the USA” (he actually said that) and create a partisan civil service with Perm secs and their staff appointed by the government.

This was, in essence, like watching an hour of Dominic Cummings. Or indeed @Luckyguy1983 of this parish with a dollop of @Casino_Royale .

The BBC will broadcast Scotland's first men's World Cup match since 1998, when they take on Haiti on 14 June, as well as their final group match against Brazil.

England's second group match - against Ghana on 23 June - will also be shown on BBC, as well as their knockout fixtures in the last 32, last 16, and semi-final provided they reach those stages.

England's other Group L matches - against Croatia and Panama - and Scotland's meeting with Morocco will be shown on ITV.

If Wales or Northern Ireland qualify via March's play-offs - both are in a section of four competing for one place- their group match against Canada on 12 June will be broadcast on the BBC.

Two group fixtures for the Republic of Ireland will also be shown if they come through the play-offs.

The BBC will have three of the top four picks in the round of 16 and three of the top five picks in the round of 32.

Both broadcasters will show the final.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cgjnd28w56po

I will not be watching games at 2am for sure , or even ones starting at 11pm, utter crap. I will wait and watch Scotland in the quarter final onwards.

I have a horrible feeling that before I die, it will have become orthodoxy that the Holocaust never happened.

What makes you say that ?

How can a historically documented event, with video and picture evidence it happened simply be debunked by anyone other than fringe cranks ?

The photographs are fakes. The people who were tried were tortured into making false confessions. The eyewitnesses were liars. David Irving and Norman Finklestein have proved it was all massively exaggerated. Stalin was worse. Churchill was worse. FDR was worse. Zionists exaggerated the whole thing to garner support for Israel.

What about Hiroshima and Nagasaki? What about the GULAG? What about the Bengal Famine? What about Jim Crow?

Those arguments will suffice for stupid people.