Armistice Day is one of those disturbing occasions of the year when humanity’s folly is laid bare. It should be an occasion to remind said humanity about the stupid waste occasioned by war and its war-crazed planners who generally elude the dock; instead, it’s an occasion to extol its virtues and remind the reactionaries that war can be a mighty fine thing to pursue in the name of an ideology, cock-eyed belief or a sense of self-worth. Unquestioning solemnity, medals and tears are the order of the day, the ritualistic plat du jour.
These occasions are never challenged, nor impugned. The origins of the war that gave name to the occasion are simplified, if they are ever mentioned. And never shall that injunction be violated. That is certainly the view of Suella Braverman, the UK Home Secretary who must be increasingly getting under the skin of the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.
Being a cut and dried jingo, Braverman treats Armistice Day as the sort of occasion to be revered and kept in aspic. No politics should ever enter unless she politicises it, nor criticism about war and its viciousness be permitted. Peaceniks are especially reviled. Remember debts and lost lives; never ask why those debts were incurred in the first place.
There is then a supreme irony in terms of Braverman’s views on peace protests that take place on Armistice Day, one which, by definition, involved the laying down of arms and the cessation of conflict. But that is the lot of the war loving demagogue in search of votes: irony is rarely acknowledged.
In a throat grabbing exercise of some ferocity against the vast sea of protests against the Israel-Hamas War, Braverman took to The Times to attack marches running into the hundreds of thousands as an unquestioned “assertion of primacy by certain groups – particular Islamists.” She was particularly beside herself that they should take place on, of all days, November 11.
For the Home Secretary, these were unquestionably “hate” marches that would be more commonly associated with the lusty sectarians of Northern Island. Even worse were those selective senior officers in the Metropolitan Police picking favourites when it came to protests. “Right-wing and nationalist protestors who engage in aggression are rightly met with a stern response yet pro-Palestinian mobs displaying almost identical behaviour are largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law?” By the time Braverman had finished her bulldozing, she had insulted the whole constituency of Northern Ireland, mocked those favouring the Palestinian cause for freedom, and lacerated the operational independence of London’s own police forces.
The sense about Braverman making her own unilateral dash in all of this was confirmed by a spokesperson for Sunak. The article, we are told, was not “cleared” by Number 10 ahead of time. Editorial suggestions made by the PM’s office were roundly ignored. As for the Saturday protest, Sunak had met the Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley ahead of time to discuss security regarding the march. Neither thought it problematic that it should take place, given that the protests would avoid the Whitehall area and stay away from The Cenotaph, where the customary, holy delusions were to take place.
Her views have certainly struck a satisfactory note for some, suggesting that such feigned outrage might have some political weight among the spectral majority populists always love screeching about. “In her comments about the pro-Palestinian Armistice Day protests and the actions of the police, Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, was bravely stating what the majority of the country thinks,” wrote one reader of The Daily Telegraph.
The Daily Mail agreed, expressing fury at the “soft policing of these protests” packed with “snarling bigots” contemptuous of Britain’s glorious history of war. Tory deputy chair Lee Anderson affirmed the position, claiming the Home Secretary was merely “guilty of saying what most of us are thinking.”
These were certainly not the views shared by a number of Conservatives. Lord Soames, for one, opined that, whether in agreement or not with the pro-Palestinian protests, they should go ahead. “It’s nowhere near the Cenotaph. It’s in the afternoon and most of these people, 90% of those people are not there to make trouble.”
Ex-cabinet minister Baroness Warsi firmly insisted that Braverman be sacked. “She’d been briefed by the Met of what the route of the march was going to be, and the fact that they didn’t have concerns at this stage, she has now made this a live political issue because that’s the way she operates, right?” As a result, patriots had turned into arsonists. “They set this country alight, they pit community against community, they create these fires. And that is not the job of a government.”
Dominic Grieve, who served as attorney general between 2010 and 2014, had one line of advice for Sunak: “The best thing the Prime Minister can do for us is to ensure that there is a new home secretary (before Sunday).” That she remains in office suggests not just Sunak’s absence of backbone, but Braverman’s imminent bid for his job. To now sack her would be something the newly minted martyr would be able to dine out on for months to come, all the time plotting for a Number 10 bid.
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Well past a former “glorious ripeness”, the warmongering and imperialistic British Tories imagine they are the only true heirs, and of what? Braverman and Sunak, among many, are learners of cultural memory and ancestry, and murderous thieving might put the British in charge of the destiny and lives of ancestors, lessons to be learned, almost certainly badly. Force and threats are the way, are they, or is civilisation a little better, if tried honestly? Endless repeated betrayals, deals, failures and misjudgements are behind today’s agonies in Gaza, and what have British leaders to say now? A fierce pruning of the conservatives seems likely, timely, necessary, as if it will atone for a scarred past.
Lest.we.forget.domestic.violence.poverty.Yassmin.Abdel.Mageid.political.corruption.Words.of.Mass.Deception.Zionist.genocide.Vietnam.profiteering.the.unknown.soldier.war.as.ultimate.obscenity.
Has it escaped our attention the way those displaying medals defined by size get the most interview time on TV?
USA does it like crazy with a foot square multi collour medal focus, then a patchwork of curious pieces of embroidery sprinkled over the jacket.
One has to imagine this guy can not only tie his own shoelaces, but also cook an acceptable scone.
It gets a bit laughable when the more tin pot nations print theirs out on a piece of card.
My ex was always easy game for a man in a uniform, but the way that this nation still worships those who gain from war, it gets tragic.
Yes indeed NEC, we must never forget Yassmin Abdel Mageid.
I just hope she’s doing well.
l no longer dare comment on Anzac day , Remembrance day , even the mindless greed of Halloween . We are constsntly being suckered into certain ways of thinking , with no good rationale behind them. Why do we commemorate 1 war twice each year ? Yet a more justifiable one, in so far as any war is justified , with a more positive outcome ,in WW2 which some of us are old enough to remember is bundled in with the earlier one and the later wars in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan . Though platitudes are mouthed about peace , it is war that is really glorified all along. But get yourself vilified with no positive outcome if you say so, is my observation . Yet no one in my circle is now old enough to have relevant memories , as l have !
There are wars and there are wars. Wars where we shouldnt get involved and wars where we should. Unfortunately, we get involved in lots of wars where we should just stay home.
Unfortunately some shit head politicians will always choose to go. We need to hold to account those who are gung ho, people like Howard. Lest we forget should be hung around their necks. Lets not let them glorify their dirty work. These bastards had no skin in the game but were willing to send others. Blinded by their own arrogance.
I respect Remembrance Day.
It is an international observance that commemorates the final armistice ceasing ‘the war to end all wars’, and tends to be conducted with little fanfare or flag-waving
Thus, on (or around) 11:00hrs on the 11/11, I temporarily cease task and stand silent for a mindful minute, contemplating the sheer stupid cost and waste of wars on both civilians and soldiers, and spare a thought for those still suffering state-sanctioned murder (Gaza & Ukraine spring to mind).
I don’t do Anzac Day.
It is a purely domestic construct that celebrates the commencement of a poorly conceived amphibious invasion undertaken on behalf of imperial ambitions, and tends to get wrapped up in a combination of ultra-nationalistic flag-waving and drunken belligerence.
If I wanted to commemorate anything about the Gallipoli campaign it would be 20th December, the morning that the last Diggers silently evacuated from Turkish soil..
Isn’t Cruella dumber than a box of hammers?
But then again, who are we to speak after Howard’s trashing of Anzac Day, with it deteriorating to jingoism?
I would love to see the elite in the same straights as the folk they use and often scapegoat for a start and a critical analysis of how the attack on Truth creates an obscenity like Gaza, as an example of what arises when a dumbed down society where reality is denied and information withheld
Remembrance Day is about millions of young people condemned to a wretched death for the vanity of a few oligarchs and profiteers, not a Michael Palin episode of Ripping Yarns.
Q; Who wins modern wars?
A; Ultimately, international finance.
She’s been sacked….
According to a poll published on 12th October 56% of Israeli voters wanted Benjamin Netanyahu to resign.
Polling published on 5/11 had the “phuq off Bibi” faction at 76%.
There are solutions that don’t involve more explosions.
Sidenote;
Since I mentioned Ukraine, the embattled nation has made progress in its bid toward EU membership status.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67354323
The main dissenter is Orban of Hungary, who is threatening veto.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/10/hungarys-orban-says-negotiations-on-ukraines-future-eu-membership-should-not-move-forward
In a blatant snub to the democratic process that is so typical of the British upper classes, Suella Braverman has been sacked and former Prime Minister and conservative mate David Cameron has been made Home Secretary.
So, how can this happen when there has been no by-election to get Cameron into parliament, in fact the electorate have been completely ignored and Cameron has been shuffled through the back door by being given a knighthood and an entitlement to sit in the House of Lords and thus to take a privileged role in the UK parliament as a Cabinet minister.
Whilst our constitutional processes in Australia are often criticised, at least we didn’t fall into the trap of allowing the British aristocracy to impose on us a system that allows our Lords and Masters to flip democratic processes and bring their unelected mates into office.
Correction to my post above : newly elevated Lord Cameron has actually been made Foreign Secretary and James Cleverly has moved from Foreign Secretary to Bravernan’s former role of Home Secretary.
corvusboreus, to answer your question, nobody ultimately. The Romans invented the art of winning a war, total wipeout, no survivors. Even one survivor is enough to start it up again sometime in the future. Modern weapons are far deadlier and more accurate in their destructive abilities but somehow, the cockroaches survive, lol. The arms suppliers grow rich because the narcissists controlling the spend think more of the same is needed. My hammer isnt big enough for that nail…. Thats where the problems lay………stockbrokers and lawyers determining what toys are needed. You couldnt write the script……
High on the list of “hate filled” adjectives is the word antisemitic.
Probably hovering somewhere near the word hamas.
These words are mostly used in a weaponized fashion, and defined by the broad media.
The definition is frequently modified to suit the argument in many cases.
For some time now, I have been critical of the way the state of Israel goes about its defense.
So i realise that this makes me antisemitic, and im content with that.
Now i am learning just how illegal the rule in Israel has been, and its appalling.
Not just recently but going back decades, and always facilitated by USA (and this country it pains me to add)
So anyone jumping on the bandwagon trying to use the antisemitic expression to gain the moral high ground has now been shot down in flames.
The evidence is paraded in front of our eyes every waking moment