Question Time 11th May 2023
The Panel:
Helen Whatley (Conservative)
Thangam Debbonaire (Labour)
Ash Sarkar (Broadcaster)
Richard Coles (Broadcaster)
Nick Ferrari (Broadcaster)
Venue: Bexhill-on-Sea
This week’s diverse and inclusive Question Time features a full house of selectively educated bods on the far side of the QT desk, five from public school (including La Bruce) and one from grammar school.
The grammar school girl is Puffin’s favourite Ash (the tash) Sarkar, a journalist, broadcaster, political activist and a contributing editor at Novara Media. She has also been a lecturer at the Sandberg Institute. In 2017 the 31-year-old was a course tutor for the Amsterdam temple of learning’s Temporary Programme Shadow Channel MA. A course which, according to their website, focused on;
“radical imagination, solidarity and collective joy. When we say radical, we speak with Barbara Smith, co-founder of the Combahee River Collective: we don’t mean in your face, lobbing verbal grenades—radical means having a deep understanding of structural oppression and being willing to eradicate that.”
Oh.
The website goes on to boast of Ash The Tash’s fellow tutors. Household names such as Marian Rosa van Bodegraven, Siomara van Bochove, Zuzana Banasinska and Jeroen Exterkate.
Grammar school girl Ash was educated at Latymer School, Edmonton, North London, and holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in English literature from Univesity College London.
Ash’s employers, Novara, are an extreme ultra hard far-left media company that focuses on reporting on the so-called ‘crisis of capitalism,’ so-called ‘racism’ and so-called ‘climate change.’ Novara and parent company Thousand Hands Ltd claim their main income comes from donations and subscriptions.
However, they receive funding from the extreme hard far ultra-left Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (not her real name, careful now, Rozalia Luksenburg). Added to which Novara founder, Arron Bastani (nhrn Aaron Peters) has also contributed to Puffin’s favourite George Soros’s OpenDemocracy media platform. Hmm. Below the fake mainstream media’s radar, the left fight like cats in a sack. The Worker’s Party of Britain’s nutty but readable takedown of Novara can be read here.
Question one. Is the Archbishop of Canterbury right? No, he’s left, so far to the left he’s nearly over the horizon. A QT Review truism demands repetition: a ha’porth of fishwife is worth a guinea of clergy.
Richard Coles agreed with Archbishop Welby. He appointed himself a lawyer and said the Illegal Immigration Bill will itself be illegal. “Escaping from unimaginably tough circumstances.” That’s what the reverend thinks of France. He hid behind safe and legal routes and blamed people traffickers. Familiar code words for being in favour of mass uncontrolled illegal immigration.
Richard Keith Robert Coles FRSA FKC is a broadcaster, musician, writer and reired Church of England priest who gained fame as a member of the 1980s pop group The Communards. Until recently he was a frequent contributor to BBC Radio 4 programmes, including “Saturday Live” and “Thought for the Day.” In addition to his media work, he has also written several books, including his memoir “Fathomless Riches” and a novel called “The Madness of Grief.”
Privately educated Richard (£20,000 a year Wellingborough School) was a mature undergraduate at Leeds University (theology) before being awarded an MA by the University of Leeds for his research into the Greek text of the Epistle to the Ephesians. Speaking of the Greek, one of those modern vicars, the Rev Coles was married to David until bereaved in 2019.
Richard’s older brother is the interesting Andy Coles, the author of a tradecraft manual for undercover officers when a Detective Inspector with the Metropolitan Police.
Exposed as a former undercover officer himself, Andy was forced to resign from his position as Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire but remains a Conservative councillor in Peterborough’s Fletton and Woodston ward.
What? FKC? Fellow of Kings College London. Philistines.
Helen disagreed. The status quo is morally wrong. ‘Migrants’ risking their lives and people trafficking are wrong. Asylum can be granted to those who really need it, but not after arriving here illegally by boat.
The Rev decided the big number of immigrants arriving here is a small one. Helen disagreed again.
An idiot in the audience said we are forcing people to come here illegally. No, we aren’t. They’re choosing to come here from France. Another fool said we’ve always welcomed illegal immigrants. No, we haven’t. We’ve never wanted them. They’ve always been forced upon us.
Thangam Debonnaire sided with Satan Welby.
Am I the only Puffin who thinks that his role at the Coronation has gone to Welby’s head? And he’s only going to get worse?
Thangam DEbbonaire (not her real name, Thangam Elizabeth Rachel Walton) is a Member of Parliament representing the loony Bristol West constituency. In the interest of equality of opportunity, Ms Debbonaire benefitted from an all-girlie Labour Party candidate list and has been continuously serving as an MP since May 2015.
The 56-year-old has held various parliamentary positions including Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and Shadow Secretary of State for Housing and Homelessness. It goes without saying that Thangam has never had a job. Before entering politics, Ms Debbonaire was in the voluntary sector for 25 years in the field of domestic violence and was Women’s Aid’s first-ever National Children’s Officer.
Comrade Debbonaire was educated privately at Bradford Girl’s Grammar School and at the £33,000 per annum Chetah’s School of Music before dropping out of Oxford. Eventually she earned a degree in Management Development and Social Responsibility from Bristol University.
Debbonaire wanted safe and legal routes here to work. All of this is a giant red herring. What difference will it make? All those refused entry via a safe and legal route will try to get here illegally anyway. Thangam sprinkled salt onto the nonsense by referencing ‘Chemical’ Mo Farrah as if some kind of a good example.
Ash the Tash’s geography isn’t great. She decided these people are coming from Afghanistan, Sudan and Syria, rather than the safe country that is France. She wondered who ‘we’ are as a country. We? Dunno, can a Puffin familiar with Ash’s country (Bangladesh) let us know below the line? The policy is a nastiness Olympics because the Tories want a pat on the back from the Daily Mail.
While the nation cringed, a carefully selected BBC audience clapped. There s a facility near Bexhill which is scheduled to take 2,500 illegal immigrants. Do the BBC really expect us to believe that an audience genuinely made up of Bexhill residents would applaud 2,500 illegal immigrants being dumped on them?
Nick Ferrari put his red spectacles on and read out some numbers. In the past immigration has been high. He wrongly said we’d ‘welcomed’ millions over the years. He quoted the local newspaper. The local camp where the illegal immigrants are to be housed is riddled with asbestos and had recently nearly burned to the ground. Hang on a minute, if it’s made of asbestos how come … Never mind.
The government also has to speed up the application process. Again a red herring. Are any of these applicants ever turned down? And even if some are, what are you going do with them? Keep in mind the guerilla tactics carried out by politically motivated Common Purpose lawyers representing the illegals pro bono.
Hereditary journalist Nicolo is the son of Fleet Street legend Lino (or Dan) Ferrari. Lino was called up and served in France when his career as a cub repoter was interrupted by war. In peacetime, the altar called. The lucky lady being Barrow-in-Furness-born Kent policewoman Evelyn. After starting the Ferrari News Agency, the family prospered on the woes of bishops who’d run off with actresses and parish councillors who’s who’d run off with the money. After selling his press agency, Mr Ferrari senior moved to Fleet Street where he rose from the Daily Mirror’s news desk to be head of their investigations unit.
In the interests of equality of opportunity, Nick’s father got him a job at the Daily Mirror when he left school (£22,000 a year Eltham College). Since then Nick has worked his way through London media, via L!ve TV’s ‘Topless Darts’ and ayatollah-backed Iranian Press TV, to become a morning radio star on the capital’s LBC.
A nut in the audience suggested cooperation with European partners, the ones who are dumping illegal immigrants on us. The soy was high. The people breaking the law to get here were undiluted victims. Little innocents every one of them.
A lady in the audience lived four doors away from the camp, Northeye camp, a former prison. She was concerned about the safety of local children. A foster carer was worried he wouldn’t be able to prove he was a safe place for foster children with a camp close by. All of the panel, including the Tory, were bursting to scream ‘Racist!’
Finally, Helen said they were coming from a safe country and a lot of them are Albanians – another safe country.
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately is the Member of Parliament for Faversham and Mid Kent. First elected in 2015, she has increased her majority in consecutive elections. Ms Whately has served as Minister of State for Health and Social Care twice, in addition to serving as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and Arts Minister. In her biodata, Helen claims a background in healthcare and NHS resourcing. This is somewhat disingenuous as her health sector experience only extends as far as being a management consultant for Pricewaterhouse.
Educated at Woldingham School (£37,000 per annum), Helen completed the sixth form at Westminster School (£46,000 per annum) and then read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Upon graduation, she began her career in management consultancy.
Helen’s husband Marcus is the founder and a director of Estover Energy, the people who turn forestry into electricity, vast amounts of carbon dioxide and, bizarrely, green subsidies. They presently have three plants; Speyside which powers a distillery and supplies to the grid, Cramlington which powers two pharmaceutical manufacturers and Kent which supplies electricity to another Puffins’ favourite – Pfizer.
Ash jumped in. If illegal immigrants were only allowed to stay in the first safe country they came to we would never take anyone because we’re an island. As if being swamped by illegal immigration is somehow a good thing.
A gentleman in the audience made a sensible point. At the present rate, the Northeye camp will fill up in two weeks. Then what?
Silence from the pro-immigration shills on the panel.
Question two. Why are Southern Water allowed to tip sewage into the sea?
Thangam blamed the government. But what would Labour do? She wanted chief executives to be held accountable. La Bruce reckoned it would cost £50 billion to rebuild our Victorian sewage system. Nobody mentioned all the extra people using it these days.
Nick Ferrari could solve the problem at a stroke. Bring in a law overnight to jail water company chief executives as if anti-monarchists before a Coronation. Thunderous applause. La Bruce showed us some dirty pictures of sewage being released into the sea.
Somebody said that before the companies were privatised the service was better. No, it wasn’t. There weren’t any water companies before privatisation. Such responsibilities lay with local authorities. A complete Cinderella, the problems were worse.
Helen said the goveenrmt was already on the case but it will take time. When pressed, she said, to laughter, it was going to take 25 years. Nick mocked. He couldn’t wait 25 years for a swim.
A man in the audience said he goes sea fishing. Two miles out is the waste pipe outlet from Bexhill. It puts out raw sewage which then comes ashore. His suggestion, again to applause, was that customers should be allowed to withhold the wastewater part of their water bill.
Ash the Tash said there is no incentive for water companies to improve. They are owned by foreign corporations and should be nationalised. All of the money could then go to fixing the problem. But that’s not the Labour Party’s policy. Thangam said it would cost too much to buy the water companies from the shareholders.
At which point your humble reviewer was tired of the smell of sewage coming from the telly and slid off to bed, as if the contents of a Bexhill toilet being flushed out to sea.
© Always Worth Saying 2023
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