United Kingdom
May 18, 2023 — John Hinderaker
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Harry and Meghan) are among the world’s most annoying people. They are the ultimate in having one’s cake and eating it too; i.e., abandoning royal duties but insisting on royal status. Unsurprisingly, they are massively unpopular in the U.K. In their never-ending quest to remain in the public eye, despite the fact that they do nothing noteworthy, they claimed rather hysterically to have been
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March 9, 2023 — John Hinderaker
I wrote here about the Lockdown Files, leaked WhatsApp messages among Britain’s politicians and bureaucrats regarding that country’s covid shutdowns. The files show that Britain’s government deliberately instilled fear in order to justify lockdowns (“When do we deploy the new variant?”). But the latest revelation is among the most significant yet. The Telegraph reports, with links in the original: Matt Hancock was censored by the Cabinet Office over his concerns
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March 5, 2023 — John Hinderaker
The U.K.’s Telegraph has obtained more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages that circulated among government officials, cabinet members and others over the course of Britain’s covid shutdowns. They are being referred to as the “Lockdown Files,” and have created a stir analogous to Elon Musk’s release of the Twitter files here in the U.S. The Telegraph summarizes some of the WhatsApp content: [Secretary of State for Health and Social Care] Matt
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February 6, 2023 — John Hinderaker
Britain’s National Health Service is a product of the socialist wave that overtook the U.K. following World War II. It has long been held up as an exemplar by those who seek to impose socialized medicine in other countries, like ours. But today, the state of the NHS is dire. The Wall Street Journal headlines: “The U.K.’s Government-Run Healthcare Service Is in Crisis.” Now the state-funded service is falling apart.
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December 4, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Is the notoriously left-wing BBC finally getting religion? The Telegraph reports: The BBC chairman yesterday indicated “the BBC does have a liberal bias” but added “the institution is fighting against it.” Richard Sharp, in an interview in the Sunday Times, said he and Tim Davie, the director-general, had drawn up a ten-point plan on impartiality, anti-bias training along with reviews of news output in a drive to tackle the issue.
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November 29, 2022 — John Hinderaker
I am somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, returning home after ten days in England. It was our first trip overseas since pre-Covid. We spent five nights in London, two in the Cotswolds, one in Oxford, and a final night in London before heading home. Here are a few observations, for whatever interest they might have. * Everything is back to normal. Flights are normal, restaurants and bars are bustling, and
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November 27, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Being in England during the World Cup is interesting. It is a relatively minor sports event in the U.S., but, obviously, not here. A couple of days ago I pulled into a gas station in the Cotswolds to gas up our rental car. I pumped the gas and went inside the station to pay. There was a middle-aged guy at the cash register; he looked at the American Experiment quarter-zip
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November 22, 2022 — John Hinderaker
I do plan on commenting on the news later today, but this is pure tourism. My wife and I walked toward Buckingham Palace this morning, but found the Mall blocked and an expectant crowd lined up. Which reminded us that the South African head of state is in town for meetings with royals and politicians. So we stood and watched for a while. First a band marched toward us from
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November 7, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Britain’s “conservative” administration led by Rishi Sunak has opened the door to paying “climate reparations” to poor countries: Britain has opened the door to paying climate change reparations to developing countries by supporting talks on the issue at the Cop27 summit. On Sunday, at the meeting in Egypt, UK negotiators backed a last-minute agreement to address “loss and damage” payments to countries badly affected by climate-related disasters. Climate-related disasters have
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October 28, 2022 — John Hinderaker
The Left hungers for racism–of the approved sort–but it is hard to find. Trevor Noah, the host of the Daily Show, went looking for racism in the ascension of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Noah purported to see a “backlash” against Sunak, for which there is zero evidence. To be fair, though, when has a total lack of evidence ever stopped a liberal comedian–isn’t the Daily
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October 16, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Here in the U.S., it is often said that the Democrats are the Evil Party, and the Republicans are the Stupid Party. That goes in spades in Britain, where the Conservative Party is in the midst of a historic self-immolation. It started when they ousted Boris Johnson as party leader and thus as Prime Minister. Boris has his faults, most notably an unaccountable fondness for “green” energy. Which of course
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September 29, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Conservative electoral victories across Europe have the continent’s left-wing establishment nervous. New British Prime Minister Liz Truss and her chancellor have announced a program of tax cuts intended to incentivize growth in Britain’s economy. Who knows? It has worked before, it may work again. But the International Monetary Fund isn’t waiting to find out. It demands that the U.K. change its announced policy to conform to liberal norms. The Telegraph
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September 26, 2022 — John Hinderaker
If you have the feeling that liberals would like to kill you, you aren’t paranoid. You are catching on. Around the world, we are seeing increasingly violent talk from the Left. All too often, that talk has led to violent action. When Congressman and Senate candidate Tim Ryan says “we’ve got to kill and confront” the movement of “extremist Republicans,” you are right if you think he means you. This
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September 21, 2022 — Scott Johnson
CNN’s Don Lemon played the fool — okay, he did his thing as usual — in conversation with Strelmark president and “Royal Watcher” Hilary Fordwich. Lemon packs slavery, reparations, the empire, and the monarchy into his boffo question. Fordwich dispatches it in a baloney meets the grinder moment. Lemon was unprepared to engage beyond the shibboleths. That must be why this highly satisfying video has gone viral. Quotable quote: “It’s
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September 13, 2022 — John Hinderaker
On Saturday evening (Sunday in Australia), I appeared live on Sky News’ Outsiders program to talk about how Americans have responded to the passing Queen Elizabeth II. We also talked about demands for “reparations” and the merits of the British Empire. It is a short segment, only around six minutes, but you may find it of interest:
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August 9, 2022 — John Hinderaker
This is from today’s Telegraph: In the end, it could be even worse than had been feared. Today saw the release of a new forecast for the energy price cap – and it does not make for comfortable reading. Experts predict that the figure will hit more than £4,200 in January [$5,082 for a single month]. In a new dire outlook for households, Cornwall Insight said bills are set to
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July 7, 2022 — John Hinderaker
It is usually hard to understand the politics of another country. This fact is illustrated by Boris Johnson’s resignation as Prime Minister of the U.K., more or less at the point of a sword. The offenses that ostensibly brought Johnson down were trivial, especially given that not three years ago, he led his party to their biggest victory since 1987, under Margaret Thatcher. Johnson was hounded by “Partygate.” I didn’t
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