The Naton State

If ever there was a walking, talking exemplar of courage today, then surely that description befits Somali born Ayann Hirsi Ali.

As a victim of female genital mutilation and a former Islamist sympathiser, Hirsi Ali has dared to incur the wrath of both Islamists and their many apologists as she fearlessly calls out the breathtaking double standards of mainstream Western politics. Hounded by both those outside the law as well as those who make it, she has fearlessly campaigned for the reform of Islamic doctrine, particularly in relation to the issue of women’s rights. She is also a thorn in the side of feminist grievance culture as she constantly calls out their hysterical denunciation of an incorrect word or an advertising campaign, while highlighting their hypocritical silence when it comes to women’s rights in Islamic communities.

Fleeing to the Netherlands to escape an arranged marriage, Hirsi Ali has lived under constant threat of violence from one source or another for the better part of twenty years. That threat became all too real when her colleague Theo Van Gogh was murdered in 2004. Hirsi Ali had written the script for his controversial film entitled Submission (2004), which is a short but hard hitting critique of the condition of women in Islamic societies.

Brexit

True Colours IV

16 September 201912 March 2021 - by Charles Naton - Leave a Comment

Now we see you!

Ever since the Brexit referendum of 2016, I’ve been writing at length about how this whole process has been immensely helpful in peeling back the layers of doublespeak and obfuscation that have calcified around our political and media class for decades now.

Despite the fine words about democracy and respecting the referendum result, many of us suspected that when push came to shove, the establishment would never actually allow this country to leave the European Union…under any circumstances.

We were right.

Faced with the unprecedented situation of a government and Prime Minister genuinely committed to implementing the largest democratic mandate in British history, the last veil of deceit has been torn from our hideously deformed body politic. The naked opportunism, dishonesty and contempt for the intelligence of the electorate are even uglier than many of us would’ve liked to contemplate.

Now we find ourselves in the ludicrous position of a Parliamentary class screeching about a supposed prorogation “coup” while arbitrarily awarding itself new powers to legislate. When they’re not doing that, they’re attempting to drag the judiciary into the political process by legislating from the bench when the politics doesn’t go their way. At the same time they refuse to allow an unreliable electorate to break the deadlock. Having whined about a general election for literally years, MPs have twice baulked at letting the great unwashed finally deliver their verdict. I think we all know why.

Media

Guerrilla Politics 101

21 August 201929 April 2020 - by Charles Naton - Leave a Comment

The future has already arrived, although few people seem to have noticed.

Despite what many pundits are writing in the popular press, the publication of Boris Johnson’s much discussed letter to Donald Tusk is much more than some bombastically blonde breed of megaphone diplomacy. The story behind its appearance is much bigger and its roots run far deeper.

When viewed alongside Donald Trump’s lively Twitter feed and Matteo Salvini’s Facebook livestreams, Johnson’s letter and his recent People’s PMQs are part of a newly emerging normality.

Welcome to the new guerilla politics!

With the BBC being caught out for its blatant dishonesty during the European Elections and details of the former Chancellor’s Brexit sabotage still emerging, Johnson knows he can’t trust the mainstream media or the Civil Service to represent his views or interpret his instructions objectively. As a result he is one of an increasing number of politicians taking to the internet and engaging directly with the electorate to bypass the selective filters and increasingly obvious agenda of the corporate media sector. It also affords politicians of all stripes the chance to fight back with some long overdue criticism of the mainstream media machine. The bus hiding behind Johnson’s shoulder during PPMQs is my personal favourite.

Politics

A Tale of Two Cities

14 August 201929 April 2020 - by Charles Naton - Leave a Comment

The very murky death of Jeffrey Epstein has once again focused public attention on the gross distortions that money, politics and patronage have wrought on a supposedly impartial legal system. With the FBI having been caught out protecting Hillary Clinton while trying to hound a duly elected President from office, we shake our heads sadly at the blatant and frankly terrifying politicisation of a once respected law enforcement agency.

At least we don’t have such a dangerously partisan legal culture in this country, right?

Right?

Anyone who thinks such a systemic corruption of policing priorities couldn’t happen here should consider the questions swirling around the Carl Beech fiasco. It’s illuminating and depressing to compare and contrast the unfounded witch hunt of Operation Midland with the way Operation Central was eventually, finally and grudgingly launched in 2008.

The Metropolitan Police could barely contain their glee as they turned their huge resources to hounding a group of fading establishment figures at the behest of an obvious fantasist. Warrants were obtained, houses were searched and Beech’s ludicrous and demonstrably false allegations were declared to be “credible and true” before any investigation had been concluded. The Met were positively salivating at the thought of putting a bunch of old men through the meat grinder, and they weren’t going to let a complete absence of credible evidence stand in their way.

I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that the accused men were retired Tories or their supporters.

Politics

Who’s Afraid of Boris?

28 July 201929 April 2020 - by Charles Naton - Leave a Comment

Don’t believe the hype.

Despite all the tall talk and the set-piece protests, a general election is the last thing the Labour Party wants right now, or at any time in the foreseeable future come to think of it.

How do we know this? Well, they could’ve supported Jo Swinson’s pre-emptive confidence motion, tabled the moment Johnson took office, but they didn’t have the nerve. The embarrassingly low turnout at the recent national rally also shows that Corbyn fatigue has well and truly taken hold.

Whatever Boris Johnson’s faults may be, his first Commons session as Prime Minister shows that he’s willing to go there, as our American friends say.

The look on Jeremy Corbyn’s face said it all as Johnson stood at the despatch box and went through the list, beginning with the Labour leader’s paid appearance on Press TV and ending with his now viral Invasion of the Body Snatchers jibe. John McDonnell didn’t escape the blonde whirlwind either, with a reminder of his sacking by Ken Livingston now part of the official Hansard record.

Within the space of five minutes, Johnson tore up the cultural rulebook and exposed the hollowness, vacuousness and moral bankruptcy of the Labour front bench. Their preferred weapon of virtue signalling class politics was neutralised at a stroke, leaving them all but defenceless. I might’ve felt sorry for them, were they not such a dangerous and downright vindictive group of people.