Angela Steps Up While Starmer Takes Knee Abroad – Guido Fawkes

Where was he? Where was the PM for PMQs? He was taking the knee at the G7, and reminding the world of George Galloway’s sally in the Commons all those years ago, about the UK’s relationship with the US President: “Like that of Monica Lewinsky’s: disreputable, dishonourable and always on its knees!”

Out!

We went straight into Israel-Iran and the promise of nuclear apocalypse: “Given the strong consensus in this House,” Adrian Ramsay began, raising hopes for a denunciation of the Commons’ weakness for consensus. But he’s from the Green party, so he asked for a free vote in the House before the deploying of RAF jets. 

Unfortunately for the Greens, the jets were deployed days ago. Keir’s plan for de-escalation hasn’t emerged from its escalation phase. He’s set himself the task of stabilising the Middle East. If it’s anything like stabilising the UK economy they better all watch out. 

Daisy Cooper for the Lib Dems prayed that the UK wouldn’t “blindly follow the US into war again.”

We probably won’t. We’ve got Ukraine fighting the Russians for us, and Israel fighting Iran on our behalf. We can’t afford it, most of the country doesn’t really care, and those who do are on the side of our enemies. 

We can only hope that in the event of a Soviet invasion the Israelis come to our defence.

In an otherwise creditable performance, Chris Philp also called for de-escalation. It ranks alongside “two-state solution,” “diplomatic process” and Greta’s Peace Boat as productive policy. Another missed chance for the Tory party to take an interesting position.

On surer ground, Philp de-escalated into Pakistani rape gangs. He said how “Authorities deliberately covered up the systematic rape of young girls and some boys” caring more about “community relations than about protecting vulnerable girls.”

It was like watching the Book of Mormon – amazing that such things could be said out loud, in public. Labour’s backbenches had to sit there and take it. They could only scream, “Racist Nazi bigot!” into their own internal silence. 

Having located the bruise, Philp gave it a pretty thorough punching. It was “vital that scandals like this are never again covered up because of the racial background of the perpetrators.”

An aggressive depression settled visible on all those new MPs in Gaza-friendly seats. They could feel their majorities declining every time they failed to leap, shout, point, denounce the new Faragism. 

Philp segued from Pakistani rape gangs into asylum-seeking rapists, “many of whom entered the country illegally”, and asked whether “the small boats crisis is also a crisis of public safety?”

Angela was trying on the mantle of premiership a little tentatively, reading most of her answers, malapropping her way through others, offering to “update the House” like a proper premier. She updated us with the fact that a smuggler had been jailed for 25 years. Gang-smashing, you see. She didn’t have any news of the whereabouts of the 4,000 migrants he’d smuggled – instead she jeered at the £700m spent on “persuading just four volunteers to be removed to Rwanda.”

Philp took the bait saying that since Rwanda was scrapped illegal immigration across the Channel was up by 30%. Angela had positioned herself for a return volley – only 40,000 migrants had entered illegally since July whereas 43,000 migrants had arrived when the Rwanda agreement was in place. Ha! 

Unusually for these occasions, Philp re-volleyed her volley. The Rwanda scheme had never started. And when Australia started a similar scheme, it worked within months.

In the excitement of the special Olympics rally, its futility became apparent only later. 

“The party opposite” dominates these exchanges. The Tory “You’re doing it wrong,” is countered by Labour’s “You did it wrong first.” 

Both statements are true, both are true but useless. And the only party to come out ahead is Reform. 

What a relief from the knockabout it would be if questioners would get information or actual undertakings out of the Government, rather than demanding apologies or admissions of guilt or handing out abuse as if they were sketchwriters. 

What we genuinely want to know at this stage is – how is the Government planning to save its members and supporters from charges of aiding and abetting the rape of thousands of underage white girls?

The remit. The judge. The time limit. The powers. 

It is unthinkable that the PM will allow himself to be called and interrogated by a judge, and required actually to answer questions put to him. That would certainly be worth the price of admission.