Operation Epic Fury and why the UK is acting differently this time

In 2025, Iran was attacked by Israel, the USA joining in afterwards. At the time I commented about how UK bases were not being used in the attacks, notably how bombers had to fly from the USA to bomb Iran. 

This time, thanks to Iran retaliating against other nations, the UK is to allow UK bases to be used by US forces to strike the missiles being used to attack nations other than Israel.  Not allowing full use of UK bases has annoyed Trump and also there are many in the UK who think we should be backing the USA fully. Needless to say, many think that we have gone too far in supporting the USA. 

What both sides do not mention is that Starmer did not allow UK bases to be used to attack Iranian missile sites and launchers when Iran were only retaliating against Israel in 2025. 

To be fair, it should be up to the media to point this out, but either they have not noticed, or do not care.  My views on the media bias against Labour have been posted before and I suspect the media will be happy to let Labour get castigated by both sides again. 

Anyway, if the wag-the-dog theory is true, it has worked. While all the Epstein documents were meant to be released, it is reported that some are missing, notably documents relating to an unsubstantiated claim involving Trump and a 13 year old. 

Can You Keep a Secret?

The secret for this film is that it is probably not worth watching the film. It started poorly but did improve. It may be that the film is aimed at a much younger audience than me and it may be that my children would appreciate it more. The Guardian gave it two out of five, and I would agree that is a fair score. 

And on the topic of scores, Arsenal won today, which I am grateful for, but the holding in the penalty area confuses me. My understanding is that defenders should not hold onto attackers, but it may be that Arsenal got lucky again. 

Back from Bristol

My wife and I drove our daughter back to Bristol today.  Due to driving by electric car, the journey is longer than it has been when we have used her hybrid as we need to stop to charge the car. Which means it is about a twelve hour day. She can and has used the train, but I like the drive there. My son spent the time in Colchester recovering from a hectic week and greeted us on our arrival.

While the drive was exhausting, it was worth it. The picture is taken from when my wife and I had lunch while my car was charging.  Our dog got to eat as well, and we may return here if the weather is good (they do not allow dogs inside). 

Labour, its election failure and those to come

Labour lost and considering the seat they lost, they lost badly. Many have stated that the seat would have been won if Andy Burham had been allowed to stand, but if he had, Labour would still face a nightmare in the local elections in May.

Yes, it looks as if it will be a two way fight between Reform and The Green’s in those elections, but the next general election is not until 2029.

A change in leadership may bring about a better communication strategy but it will not overcome the media bias against Labour.

While Your Party have made significant steps to fighting in the next General Election in 2029, they may have just as negligible an effect on The Green Party that Restore Britain will have on Reform UK. 

Labour are doing what they are paid to do

Zack Polanski is coming out fighting, stating what he thinks, but by doing so, ensuring that I am not going to vote Green.  I do agree with many policies of The Green Party.  He has argued that Labour are doing what they are paid to do.  But he is right. 

Labour have reversed the decision by the Tories to challenge the decision of the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu. 

When it comes to Israel, I want Labour to do more, but it has taken action against Israel when it comes to trade and our government has told Israel what it is doing is wrong. 

It has been accused of listening to union paymasters when it comes to the minimum wage.  There are numerous other examples, but when Labour is doing what it is paid to do, that is not a bad thing. 

PMQs and drugs

PMQs today was interesting.  Of the many things that came up, the one I want to address today is drugs and legalisation.

I have stated that I feel that they should be legalised and regulated, but Starmer raised an important point, that being date-rape drugs.  While his view in PMQ's is that drugs should not be legalised and regulated, I do think that he is right about date rape drugs like GHB and flunitrazepam (also known as Rohypnol).  I had a chat with my daughter about this later in the day.  We both agreed that drugs like this should not be legalised as the idea of legalisation and regulation is about risk reduction to the user. 

It is because of this, that I do not think that there is a point in the legalisation and regulation of anabolic steroids.  Drugs ruin peoples lives, and making them legal will not stop them doing so, but doing so may help reduce some of the harm that they cause. Also, it will probably reduce the rates of drug related crime and has seen to have advantages abroad. 

How do I get onto the Reform UK blacklist?

My daughter, being back in Colchester was happy to get post. It was addressed to those in the house who can vote, which made me think it was from the council about voter registration. She was shocked to see that it was Reform UK trying to get us to vote for them.

So far, we have been blacklisted by The Tories (I debate them) and Jehovah’s Witnesses. I want to know how we can get Reform to block us as well. I do not believe in being rude to them, I believe in robust debate to hold them to account, which, as I have posted before, is something our media do not do.