Peter Hill
ABUNCH of Tory MPs are so obsessed with stopping Brexit that they are prepared to bring down the Government and let Jeremy Corbyn and his far-Left throwbacks destroy the country. For that is what will happen if they join Labour in voting to keep Britain in the EU customs union.
Such a crucial issue must be a confidence vote and if Theresa May lost she would have to call a general election. The Tories are in such a mess that only a miracle could see them re-elected. Optimists say: “The voters will come to their senses and reject Corbyn’s extreme plans.” I wish I agreed but I believe forces are combining to make an ultra-socialist government all too possible.
The bulk of taxes are paid by a minority of the population – the mass of voters would be delighted to see them milked even more. Capitalism is discredited: fat cats trousering fortunes while employees struggle on low wages, bankers and bosses rewarded for failure, pensions at risk, the young priced out of the housing market. People under the age of 50 don’t fear socialism.
As for Brexit it looks more and more like a dead duck. It might not even happen and if it does we will still be chained to Brussels and unable to do trade deals with other countries. I wish I could see a silver lining but I can’t. q AN army major is facing his eighth investigation over the death of a teenager in Iraq nearly 15 years ago. Royal Engineer Robert Campbell has always denied any wrongdoing and says this latest probe is cruel and vindictive. He accuses the Army of treating soldiers as “political fodder”.
He has returned his medals to the Queen and resigned his commission. Who can blame him? Seven times he has been cleared of accusations that Said Shabram, 19, who drowned in Basra in 1993, was forced into a river by British soldiers after being caught looting.
Hundreds of false accusations have been made, and tens of millions have been paid to claimants as the army top brass bends over backwards to look politically correct. No other fighting force has had to put up with such a battering from its own side.
This witch-hunt must stop right now. q THE care home residents who enjoyed a pole dancing display have raised a laugh among most people and po-faced criticism from others, especially local councillors in snooty Christchurch, Dorset. I feel angry about the whole business because some people seem to think that the old aren’t fit to make choices.
From there it’s just a little step to suggest that the old shouldn’t be allowed to vote.
There is already a widespread belief that the so-called baby boomer generation are too well off and should give up their houses to make way for young families.
We’ve been blamed for Brexit and now we’re told that since we will be dead soon we shouldn’t be able to vote about the future. Incredible, isn’t it, that the idiots spouting this nonsense don’t understand that they will be old themselves one day. q I AM all for the truth but an exhibition at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery has gone over the top in condemning the British Empire as “unfailingly dreadful and uniquely evil”. The museum says The Past Is Now exhibition is a “test laboratory” with outside activists deciding the tone.
Information boards talk about the “unique brutality” of European colonialism and our aggressive and racist policies. No doubt the museum is deliberately being controversial to stir up interest but they wouldn’t dream of letting anyone stage a show praising the many achievements of colonialism such as the bringing of law, democracy and medical advances.
It’s always the wicked West. What a yawn. q IN the half-mile walk from the station to home I’ll pass at least half a dozen beggars wrapped in old blankets and coats and wheedling: “Spare any change…?” I don’t give them money because I believe no one needs to beg in this country. I especially wonder why so many young people are wasting their lives huddling in doorways all day long with a tin in front of them.
Police in Ely, Cambridgeshire, say all those claiming to be sleeping rough in the city are fraudsters, some making substantial sums, and that offers of help and support have been made to everyone who needs it. Begging is a growing profession that has no place in Britain. q DINERS at the Fat Boar restaurant in Wrexham are being offered a 25 per cent discount if they leave their mobiles at the door on Mondays. Great idea. It’s intolerable having to listen to loud phone conversations while trying to enjoy a meal and extremely rude, especially if the culprit is sitting at your own table. And why do people have to keep hauling out their device to check on emails and social media every two minutes?
Then there are the arrogant so-and-sos who walk down the street gazing at their screens and relying on us to dodge out of the way. I also have to avoid others who don’t even have a phone but walk with their heads down gazing at the pavement. Serve them right if someone barged into them. q THE EU is now threatening not to recognise British driving licences, meaning we won’t be able to hire a car or even drive our own vehicle on the Continent. And they won’t allow our planes to fly in their airspace. Petty, spiteful and desperate.