Those of you who, kindly, follow (and increasingly comment on) my ‘From the man cave’ columns have not misread. The title really reads ‘From the caveman’. I am working in Italy this week and I thought I would be a clever dickie and title my column ‘From the man cave’ in Italian.
Turns out, using Google Translate from English to Italian that ‘from the man cave’ translates as ‘dall’uomo delle caverne’ which, back-translated to English means ‘from the caveman’. There is no such concept as the ‘man cave’ in Italy. Well, if the cap fits etc. So, this will be the running title for my man cave columns from this point on when I am not actually located in my beloved man cave.
Local elections
Turns out folk in Italy are not nearly as excited about the local elections in England as I thought they would be. But it is quite nice to get away from all that, mostly. I break with my rule of not listening to the daily drivel that is the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 when I am out of the country. At least it provides a backdrop and some entertainment while I shave.
Looks like Keir is going to give (or may have given) an important speech in which he will explain to the people of Britain, in his best snorkelling impression, how vital it is that they stick with him, with his Labour government, and stick to the plan – whatever that is. I did catch some footage of my University of Edinburgh contemporary Gordon Brown on TV while at Heathrow on Sunday morning.
I assumed he had died and that the BBC was paying its respects. But no, it turns out that instead of having some new ideas and some fresh faces to ruin the country, Sir Keir has decided to take up archaeology (my thanks to Sean Walsh for that one) instead of politics, and dig up some of the undead to do that for us. Thus, the presence of Gordon Brown creeping corpse-like along Downing Street followed shortly by Harriet Harman, or Baroness Harman, of Peckham in the London Borough of Southwark (in case anyone did not watch Only Fools and Horses).
Dear me! I don’t think that there is much grey matter on the front bench of the Opposition, but what must they be thinking about this? Starmer seems to be teetering on the brink of defeat by his own MPs and, instead of currying favour, he goes and pisses them all off by resurrecting some old favourites from the halcyon days of the last Labour government which did so well for the country. Rumours that one-hundred-year-old Sir David Attenborough will be asked to advise on environmental matters remain unconfirmed.
The benefits of polygamy
I frequently turn to my new best friend ChatGPT for suggestions for amusing sub-titles for sections of articles. I asked it to ‘suggest some funny sub-titles for a section of an article on how people who practice polygamy can now get increased benefits in the UK’. Usually, it spews out suggestions within milliseconds. But to that request, not a sausage – not even a pork one!
I must say that I find it hard to find anything funny to say about the decision of the UK Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to increase the benefits for husbands living with more than one wife. This, last time I checked was referred to as bigamy or polygamy and, last time I checked, bigamy was against the law. Once again, a classic example of what I referred to in my last Man Cave column as anarcho-tyranny.
Of course, there is only one community in the UK – in the world as far as I know – that practices polygamy, the Islamic community. I presented the bare facts to a Muslim friend who confirmed that bigamy remains illegal, but that her co-religionists get round this is by bringing one wife in while the other wife (or wives) enter the UK separately. I should point out that said Muslim friend reckoned this is simply another way of impoverishing the money-earning middle classes, of which she is one.
The UK Islamic community, the ones who have no respect for our culture, have all their ducks in a row on this one. The UK, by the back door, has been permitting the illegal, disgusting, un-Christian and exploitative practice of polygamy. And now, courtesy of our taxes, it has decided rather than imprisoning or deporting the perpetrators, to reward them instead. But, to call it out will, undoubtedly, be classified as Islamophobia or Muslim hate. Soon, whether Keir Starmer stays in power will be the least of our worries.
Roger Watson is a retired academic, editor and writer. He writes regularly for a range of conservative journals including The Salisbury Review and The European Conservative. He has travelled and worked extensively in the Far East and the Middle East. He lives in Kingston upon Hull, UK.
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All through watching Starmer’s speech, the phrase “Puppet Government” kept surfacing…
A very interesting read, as ever, from Roger Watson. However, given that he is a Scotsman, I’m surprised that he didn’t mention the latest shocker from north of the border, where an Indian man called Q Manivannan, a “Green” activist, has been elected to the Scottish Parliament, despite the fact that he has no right to live here permanently. As one couple said to me the day after the election: “Who on earth votes for the SNP – I’ve never met anyone who does, yet they keep being returned.” I would say ditto the Greens. But to be elected when he is not a permanent resident – what?%! I checked, and it wouldn’t be permitted under the law in India – against their constitution.
Additionally, this Q Manivannan identifies himself as someone who is “non-binary” – which is (worryingly) defined as “a personal, internal experience of gender that does not fit into “man” or “woman” boxes”. So, we now have one new MSP who doesn’t know if he’s male, female, a mix of both or something else. But we can trust his judgment on matters of Government policy and allow him to influence how the Scottish people live our lives?
Putting that incredibility together with the election of Iris Duane, another male who isn’t content in his own skin, literally, and wants to be recognised as a female, and I’m speechless. Iris reportedly spoke disparagingly about the late Queen Elizabeth at the end of her life heartlessly saying she couldn’t wait for her to “kick the bucket”; the following words of G.K. Chesterton spring to mind: “When people stop believing in God, it’s not that they believe nothing; they’ll believe anything.” Yip. Here we have as decision-makers in the Scottish Parliament, two people whom we can’t be sure are male, female or some as yet undiscovered sex, gender, whatever, participating in the decision making process at the highest levels in government, in ways which will affect those of us who are born and bred here. Maybe Roger’s expressed concerns in the above article are beginning to fade into something LESS than major concerns?