by John Ward
Another Sunday, another nutter to add to the list of reasons why Sadiq Khan says Britain has “an Islamophobia issue”.
However, rather inconveniently for Mayor Khan, the attack took place in Paris. Again. Innocent people out on a Saturday night in the Opéra quarter (a smart-to-bohemian area I know very well in the 8th) and another Son of Allah careens through the streets yelling “Allah Aqbar!” killing one person and gravely wounding another four.
Doubtless the bloke was objecting to the rampant and completely unwarranted Tsunami of hate-speech about Islamics in London. You know….the hate speech that has Sadiq’s Boys in Blue out on the streets, and GCHQ at the listening posts day and night. Meanwhile, 59 dead in London from gun, acid and knife crime, and it’s only May. Let us pray there isn’t a long hot summer.
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But at long last on Saturday night, another “activist” did something useful. Dr ACATavism put everyone out of their misery by interrupting a UK contender to be the British Eurovision entry this year. He garbled a bit about UK media Nazis (I’d hardly call that evidence of delusional behaviour) before being hustled away. On the other hand, he didn’t complain about the truly profound mediocrity of the song itself – and he is a rapper by trade, it seems – so perhaps he is a lyric short of melody after all.
His reference to UK media Nazis led me to see what The Sun dun said about wot ‘e done. True to Murdoch form, the currant bun led with “Who was the Euro-stage invader?” and then failed to tell us his real name, nationality or sexual orientation. They did correctly identify him as ‘Dr ACATavism’ – a triumph for investigative journalism given that chummy had the stage name plastered all over his teeshirt.
However, the Newscorp culture-smasher did say that Dr AC wants freedom for Nazis in the UK media. This definitely clinches his level of derangement, as the UK MSM gives a voice to every Nazi of the Left and Right from Owen Jones to Michael Fallon already. His protest is thus akin to Mary Berry and Pru Leith interrupting the Graham Norton Show to demand more media access for pastry cuisinières.
On the other hand, it’s in The Sun – and thus a prime IABATO* candidate.
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The Sunday Times Rich list tells us there are now 145 billionaires in Britain. The Top Five alone are worth Eighty-six billion quid, and four of the five are not Caucasian. But as we all know only too well, the United Kingdom is institutionally racist.
Unsurprisingly, none of them are under fifty years old. So at some point over the next half-century, they are going to go to that place where they don’t play billiards. A rough estimate is that some 0.5 trillion Pounds will be either paid in death duties or be inherited by their families over that period.
I would prefer it if (a) none of that money goes to the Exchequer, and (b) only 10% ends up staying in the family.
My conclusion on inheritance taxes (which I know irritates large numbers of my friends and followers) is a very simple one: we must radically redesign the system in order to reduce waste.
What do I mean by waste?
Just this….based on my quantitative experience: if you give a huge dollop of this boulah to the State, they will waste it on things like HS2, Trident renewal, free gifts to the EU, the Special Relationship, and Pop LGBTs against Racism; and if you let these often laudable entrepreneurs leave it all to their kids, siblings and wives, the recipients will squabble among themselves, and then waste what they get on litigation, loose women, gold-digging men, drugs and donations to the Socialist Workers’ Party.
Going back to my stated preference: I would abolish all inheritance taxes, and replace them with a 90% contribution on death to the community, with 10% going to their chosen inheritors.
In the context of the ST Rich List, at 20 inheritors per billionaire, that 10% residue would come to £12.5M per recipient. My humble, grounded view is that, if they can’t have a very nice life with that behind them, then you have me confused with someone who gives a damn.
As for the 90% “confiscation” (and I freely admit that’s what it is) my aim has nothing to do with ‘wealth redistribution’, as the last century has taught us over and over again that such is ephemeral at best, and conducive to idleness at worst. And crucially, it would not go to the State.
It would go instead – on a per head rather than regional basis – to a National Mutual Fund (NMF) with zero connection (or accountability) to either Westminster or the civil service or indeed local government as currently constituted.
The NMF would be equivalent to an electoral college, but its members would have a proven track record of commercial perspective and constructive donation to social causes. It would be accountable on two bases: first, the spending of its funds in equal amounts per capita to both struggling unemployed youth and struggling senior citizens; and second, to re-election by a broad range of charitable institutions, charitable donors, mutually bound commercial entities, and local citizens.
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And finally, I leave you with the news that, in the South of France, the midday temperature is 11°C, and we have just had a downpour of hailstones.
Enjoy your Sunday lunch.