POOR BOYS FAILED BY SOCIETY

The disadvantage that poor young
boys experience in schools is merely a
reflection of how society treats them
more generally. It has to be said that
a key reason underlying this situation
has been the growth of feminism.

Feminism increasingly defines the 
identities of young, mainly working
-class men. Middle-class followers

of the feminist movement have

successfully skewed society to 

reflect their own, continuing, anti-male 

agenda. Divorce law, including financial

settlements, child custody and one-sided

anonymity in cases of alleged sexual 

impropriety are examples 

Endemic since the 1980s, it is a process

that has been given added impetus by

accelerating economic and social

change. It has happened at a time

when Britain has been transformed

into a service-focused economy.

The result has been the greater 

empowerment of women in the 

workplace over the past fifty years.

They have benefited from improved 

educational opportunities and the

ability to control their fertility. It has 

meant growing financial independence 

from men, not only for those in work, 

but also for young, single mothers who 

have been prioritised for housing and 

receive attractive state benefits.

Along with this has been the changing 

perception of what is meant by a 

nuclear family. It is a complex and 

fluid picture. Marriage continues 

to decline with 42% of marriages 

ending in divorce. 

Serial monogamy and cohabitation 

between single-sex couples are 

common. Gone is much of the 

stability and certainty of family life 

in the 1950s.

In its place are more fragmented 

environments, often devoid of the

influence of paternal role models, 

which are so important in the 

development of the male identity.

Feminist opinion-formers in 

politics, education, the law and 

especially in the media are not 

seeking a comapact between the 

sexes, but female preferment, in 

the form of positive discrimination. 

The impact of the corrosive influence 

that the feminist lobby has had on 

female attitudes to men has been 

profound.

In education, where only 12% of 

primary school teachers are male, 

the predominantly female culture 

cannot, nor in many cases would 

it seek to, encourage the 

development of the male identity 

as such. 

Female characteristics are seen as 

good, male as bad. Many male 

graduates are put off teaching 

by the threat of being falsely 

accused of improper behaviour, 

the consequences of which are 

often devastating. 

Gender bias continues into 

secondary education. Some ten 

years' ago, Jenny Murray, presenter 

of the BBC Woman's Hour, asked 

a guest why boys outperformed girls 

in GCSEs. She was told that boys 

responded better to the pressure of 

an examination, whereas girls 

preferred coursework.

Murray's reply was that if that was 

the system, then change it. It was,

leading to less rigour, which 
undermined the credibility of the

examination in schools and further

up the learning chain in higher

education. 

This background provides many of
the root causes for many of the 

chronic social problems that 

disadvantage young men. They 
leave school with inferior or no

qualifications, poorer job prospects

and face unemployment. 

Dismissed as potential husbands, 

fathers and providers by young 

women who are supported by the 

state, they feel unwanted and 

express growing anger. 

Greater tolerance in society for 

generalised 'men are useless' 

statements, jokes, advertisements 

and so on, than would be used to 

refer to any other group, reflects a 

situation for which there is an 

increasing human and economic 

cost. 

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MARXISM AND THE BBC

Labour may have fallen into the political abyss, but, fear not, the obscenely-rewarded Marxist attack-dogs at the BBC will continue to carry the torch for the hard left, as it corrodes the fabric of our democracy. The BBC’s glaring political bias and profligate funding of its global news output calls for an urgent root-and-branch review of its activities. In the meantime, Conservative politicians should not subject themselves to aggressive and tendentious interrogation by the BBC on its main news channels. If, as likely, the method of BBC funding remains intact until 2026, it should be a requirement that the Corporation adhere to the terms set out in its Royal Charter, including those of fair and balanced reporting. Although the proposed decriminalisation of non-payment of the licence fee is welcome, it will do nothing to address the question of the over 75s, losing their free TV licence, effectively cutting the connection of many with the outside world. Perhaps this could be avoided if the corporation were to eliminate the waste of taxpayers’ money. Here, the reported £32m spent by BBC Scotland on six new channels no-one watches, may well the tip of an extremely large iceberg. The most appealing part of the Andrew Marr Show this morning was a rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah -which is precisely how I feel about the result of Thursday’s election. Hallelujah! Boris, the Prince Hal of British politics, has delivered

IDENTITY POLITICS AND THE DECLINE OF DEMOCRACY

The deep divide between Brexiteers and Remainers signals the journey to oblivion
for traditional Left/Right party politics. Simultaneously, the growing dissonance 
between the political elite and those whom they represent is fragmenting the
electorate into an increasingly disparate array of identity groups, each demanding
amends for a particular injustice or cause in their community.

This does not bode well for the future of democracy and is making the country 
ungovernable. Politically radical elements are increasingly manipulating voters to 
vent their frustration at being ignored and thereby disenfranchised by career
politicians in the Westminster bubble, not through the ballot-box, but by other
means.

FEMINISM SCREWS IT FOR THE BOYS

hle 

agenda. Divorce law, including financial

settlements, child custody and one-sided

anonymity in cases of alleged sexual 

impropriety are examples 

Endemic since the 1980s, it is a process

that has been given added impetus by

accelerating economic and social

change. It has happened at a time

when Britain has been transformed

to a mainly service economy.

The result has been the greater 

empowerment of women in the 

workplace over the past fifty years.

They have benefited from improved 

educational opportunities and the

ability to control their fertility. It has 

meant growing financial independence 

from men, not only for those in work, 

but also for young, single mothers who 

have been prioritised for housing and 

receive attractive state benefits.

Along with this has been the changing 

perception of what is meant by a 

nuclear family. It is a complex and 

fluid picture. Marriage continues 

to decline with 42% of marriages 

ending in divorce. 

Serial monogamy and cohabitation 

between single-sex couples are 

common. Gone is much of the 

stability and certainty of family life 

in the 1950s.

In its place are more fragmented 

environments, often devoid of the

influence of paternal role models, 

which are so important in the 

development of the male identity.

Feminist opinion-formers in 

politics, education, the law and 

especially in the media are not 

seeking a comapact between the 

sexes, but female preferment, in 

the form of positive discrimination. 

The impact of the corrosive influence 

that the feminist lobby has had on 

female attitudes to men has been 

profound.

In education, where only 12% of 

primary school teachers are male, 

the predominantly female culture 

cannot, nor in many cases would 

it seek to, encourage the 

development of the male identity 

as such. 

Female characteristics are seen as 

good, male as bad. Many male 

graduates are put off teaching 

by the threat of being falsely 

accused of improper behaviour, 

the consequences of which are 

often devastating. 

Gender bias continues into 

secondary education. Some ten 

years' ago, Jenny Murray, presenter 

of the BBC Woman's Hour, asked 

a guest why boys outperformed girls 

in GCSEs. She was told that boys 

responded better to the pressure of 

an examination, whereas girls 

preferred coursework.

Murray's reply was that if that was 

the system, then change it. It was 

and the result of less rigour has 

undermined the credibility of the

examination system in schools and 

further up the learning process in

higher education. 

This creates the backgound for the

the root causes of many of the 

chronic social problems relating to 

young men. They leave school with 

inferior qualifications, poorer job 

prospects and face unemployment. 

Dismissed as potential husbands, 

fathers and providers by young 

women who are supported by the 

state, they feel unwanted and 

express growing anger. 

Greater tolerance in society for 

generalised 'men are useless' 

statements, jokes, advertisements 

and so on, than would be used to 

refer to any other group, reflects a 

situation for which there is an 

increasing human and economic 

cost. 

Nothing less than fundamental change is needed in order to bring NHS spending
under control. The results of your poll showing that the public is willing to pay
higher taxes in support of further funding is well intentioned, but merely a
re-statement of Gresham's Law: Good money after bad. The NHS does a superlative
job attempting to do the manifestly impossible: providing a world-class health
service to all, on demand, from taxation and borrowed money. It is against the
background of an ageing population and those who believe that there is an off-the-shelf solution to every medical problem, cost of increasingly sophisticated treatments and a large and complex organisation, employing over 1.25m which, as previous
re-organisations have shown, is extremely resistant to change.

Sixteen million patients began NHS treatment last year, up over 5.1% on the previous
12 months. When Beveridge set up the NHS in 1948, his assumption was that it
would pay for itself by improving the health of the nation.This Panglossian notion
is now far removed from reality, as never before. An alternative  model must be
developed, perhaps based on more successful healthcare systems in other countries,
such as a combination of public and private provision. The sacred cow's days are
clearly numbered, especially when it appears that, in terms of process, the UK is
an international leader in healthcare, while outcomes - the number of patients kept
alive - reveals a more pessimistic picture.

Corbyn's Fools' Paradise

Welcome to the weird world of Jeremy Corbyn and his intended reincarnation of 1950s'- style Soviet Russia. Go ahead and smile dismissively if you will, but consider the economic illiteracy of the politics he espouses. Without exception, it is a history of false promises built on a sea of debt. An example is his promise to cancel all student loans running at £100bn. How would this money be found? From investors in the international bond market? With the national debt running at £1.9 trillion, more than the total value of the goods and services we produce, I think not.
Or, perhaps, he would simply print more money, producing
the kind of hyperinflation experienced in Germany's Weimar Republic where the value of money halved every few hours.
Corbyn's fools' paradise could be just a vote away at an early general election, as could the kind of soup-kitchen queues at government food distribution centres shown in the photograph.

ROBOTIC THERESA

The accelerating impact of robots on our way of life is there for all to see. Why we
even have one running the country. Developed using the latest driverless-car 
technology, it is, of course, female with a nervous laugh and lifelike facial
expressions. Theresa's computer-activated voice is wowing voters up and down
the country with such spellbinding phrases as "strength and stability" and strong
stable family" and "we'll build a better Britain, not just for the privileged few".
You can bet that the Tory manifesto will contain further evidence of Lynton
Crosby's creative genius, in order to convince voters that a landslide is needed
to implement Labour's left-wing manifesto.

Never give a sucker an even break

Vote May with a big majority and you get Corbyn. In this election growth

and wealth creation will be barely mentioned. What will feature will be how the government plans to introduce a death tax on the family home to

fund healthcare for the world and his wife and to maintain Britain's

position as a global superpower for distributing rising levels of foreign aid,

paid for on borrowed money. We live in a socialist country and the choice on June 8 is between paying much higher taxes and much higher taxes. Some will think why bother to work hard and contemplate living abroad. Others will say what is the point of risking starting a business, do as 

millions both here and abroad do and live off benefit and the

forebearance of our creditors. The national debt is running at £1.6 trillion,

equal to our GDP, on which the annual interest is £50-odd billion, more than we spend on defence and education.

8RecommendReply

Human and Financial Cost of Medical Negligence

Sir




Why, given the high number of unnecessary mastectomies performed
by Ian Paterson, did his life-changing surgical interventions did not 
result in earlier action by the two Spire clinics and Heart of England
NHS Trust and suspension by the General Medical Council?

Times article (Comment, April 29) quotes The Kings Fund:"Surgery is not a 
solitary act." In this case it clearly was with the key imperative of the Hippocratic
Oath: "Do no harm", completely ignored. The article goes on to state that
"safe effective surgery is team-based, with accountability and empowerment
distributed across the team".

Instead, events clearly point to a rogue surgeon practising with reckless
arrogance, unconstrained by a complete systemic lack of supervision. Public 
confidence in healthcare professionals is affected. Human misery is compounded
by the fact that, to date, £18 million has been paid to Ian Paterson's victims, part 
of the £56 billion - almost half of the NHS budget - set aside to meet future
claims for medical negligence, at a time of existential crisis. As always, the 
lawyers are main beneficiaries. In 2016 they received £418 million.

Conservative Government in Name Only

Mrs May's refusal to rule out capital gains' tax on high-value homes is a
reminder that we have a Conservative government in name only. The
suggested threshold of £5m would merely be a staging post for 
establishing the principle for taxing primary residences.

If the figure were not indexed, over time, the effect of inflation would be
to push more homes over the threshold and make them liable for tax.
In addition, the government of the day could say that the £5m threshold
was not generating enough revenue to cover accelerating public spending
and reduce it accordingly. The knock-on effect such a move on an already
stagnant housing market, job-mobility and the wider economy can only
be imagined.

Artificial Intelligence to revolutionise world of work

As "Future Work" (Times leader, February, 15) predicts, advanced automation
will transform employment and society in ways we can only begin to imagine.

Globally, we are now witnessing the birth of the fourth industrial revolution: the
age of accelerating artificial intelligence, of learning machines that possess 
vastly superior cognitive skills to the human brain. They will design and operate
highly-complex nano and macro-technology systems, which will completely
revolutionise and challenge our way of life

Anything that can be systemised will be, the objective being to engineer the cost
of labour out of manufacturing and other processes. The result, as Mark Carey
has said, will be up to 15m job losses, half the UK workforce, including 85,000 public
sector jobs automated by 2030.

Of course, new job opportunities will arise, but not at a rate fast enough to
absorb the huge swathes of displaced employees, not just in low-skilled jobs,
but also in professional employment and this will impact on consumption. The ability
to consume is key to the functioning of a free-market economy and if the 
unemployed are unable to consume, how will taxes be raised to support the
social infrastructure? As your piece points out, the Swiss recently held a 
referendum on whether to introduce a basic wage for everyone, but this
concept seems totally inadequate in addressing what is an existential threat.






























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Common Purpose - the secretive organisation that runs Britain

Sir

The circumstances of Sir Ivan Rogers' departure certainly play to
stereotype of an entitled establishment' running the country.
The EU referendum has seen widespread mobilisation
in the public sector by those who wish to deny the British people their wish
to leave a failed construct, which is not fit for purpose.

However, the intransigent attitude of some senior civil servants suggests a wider
narrative. It is symptomatic of an anti-democratic sphere of influence, where
whatever the stripe of the government in power, a clandestine organisation
known as 'Common Purpose' attempts to thwart the democratic will - in
this case the triggering of Article 50 and forcing a second referendum.

The influence of Common Purpose is extensive and constant. Its common
purpose as far as Britain's EU membership is concerned is to infiltrate the
Brussels ethos into UK institutions, in order to prevent change.

Few will have heard of Common Purpose. It is a charity that selects
and trains future leaders of society. It has enormous power across the NHS,
BBC, police, church and many of Britain's 8,500 quangos.CP alumni are trained 
to lead outside elected authority and influence government policy.

Theresa May's walk in the park

.


Theresa May will be looking forward to her walk in the park when Sophie
Ridge interviews her on Sunday. Doesn't the viewer deserve something 
better than a young fairly inexperienced interviewer to cross-examine
the prime minister on key issues at this critical time for the country?

COMMON PURPOSE AND ITS ANTI-DEOCRATIC AIMS

The UK establishment is perhaps the most secretive in the free world.
The Times leader 'Open Justice' in a recent edition scratches only the
surface of an anti-democratic process that means that whatever the
political stripe of the government in power the influence of an
organisation known as 'Common Purpose' remains constant. Its
common purpose as far as Britain's EU membership is concerned
has been to infiltrate the Brussels ethos into UK institutions, in order
to prevent change.

Few will have even heard of 'Common Purpose'. It is a charity that selects
and trains future leaders of society and it has enormous clandestine
power across the NHS, BBC, police, church and many of Britain's
8,500 quangos. CP alumni are trained to lead outside authority and pervert
the democratic process. They are given positions of unaccountable
authority with gold-plated salaries, so long as they stay on message.
Even dangerous mistakes result not in dismissal, but only a move
sideways, or even promotion. There is a whole catalogue 
of examples,
past and present, of which your readers will be only too well aware.

Until UK governance, in all its forms, is made more transparent and
accountable, our democracy will remain something of a sham.

Commnetators are right to suggest that we may be 

approaching a tipping-point, where raising taxes 
becomes counter productive.

Evidence suggests that there is an inverse 
relationship between the tax rate and the amount 
of revenue collected. The higher the tax rate the 
lower the Government's revenue In making the 
case for lower taxes, we need only look to the 
Russian Federation, following the demise of the 
Soviet Union in 

1991. In order to invigorate a sclerotic economy, 
the introduction of a flat tax resulted in a 25% rise 
in revenue from personal income tax, followed by 
a similar increase in the second year and 15% in 
year three.

The Laffer curve predicts such an outcome, 
attributing the primary reason for increased 
revenues to higher levels of economic growth, 
stemming from the introduction of the flat tax. If 
the UK Government were to adopt this model it 

would also benefit the exchequer by increasing 
declared income and reducing bureaucracy by 
simplifying the way tax is calculated and collected.

 A flat tax would have a transformative effect on 
employers and employees alike. It would 
incentivise, generate growth, boost consumer 
confidence and raise living standards.

Lame Duck President Tells Britain What To Do

President Obama's inappropriate intervention in exerting pressure on Briton to stay in
the EU, does nothing to strengthen the case for doing so. Indeed, what would be
the response of the US if, in the unlikely event, the UK attempted to influence
its foreign policy?

A free-enterprise economy operating in an open, representative democracy
led to the rise of the United States as the pre-eminent global power. It has
underpinned the defence and economies of Western countries since the
Second World War.

These values represent everything that the EU is not. Its Commission, far
from representing the will of the people, represents an unelected and
unaccountable elite. Jean Monet, a founding father of the
EU, planned the deceit which has been visited on the peoples of Europe:
"European nations should be guided towards being a superstate, without
understanding what is happening".

The introduction of the flawed single currency, the monumentally wasteful
Common Agricultural Policy, large unaudited capital transfers to the 26
largely net recipient countries, funded by Germany and the UK (on borrowed
money), are manifestly socialist and antithetical to the free-market principles
the US has always stood for.

With 7% of the world's population, 25% of its GDP but 50% of global spending
on welfare and the unrelenting tide of immigrants, time for the EU is indeed running
out. In the absence of fundamental structural economic and political reform,
yet more quantitative easing by the ECB cannot delay for much longer the
inevitable Implosion of the entire EU project. Is this what President Obama
wants the UK locked into? We must resist President Obama's invitation to "outsize" 

our influence with the US, since it is based on the false premise of an imagined special relationship

relationship which is, in reality, its own national self-interest.

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Immigration - Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

Official figures show that in the

past year 257,000 EU immigrants

have arrived in the UK and 630,000

EU citizens have requested National

Insurance numbers.

These figures, taken together with

with the news in Times article (Feb

27) 'Blair accused of opening doors

to 2m migrants' suggests little has

changed in government obscuring 

inconvenient facts from public gaze

Notwithstanding the debatable

benefit of marginally higher GDP, the 

effects of such a massive inflow can

be seen in the NHS, housing and 

education, where scarce resources are 

being stretched to breaking point.

We are where we are but should remind 

ourselves how this situation has arisen. 

The continuing assertion that, when in office, 

Labour acted in good faith in not properly 

assessing the impact of immigration and 

of integration is contradicted by the facts. 

A publication of 2000, obtained under the 

Freedom of information Act, contained a 

secret Cabinet Office report, which 

characterised Labour's open-door 

immigration policy as a deliberate attempt 

to rub the Right's nose in cultural diversity.

Current projections are that each year

immigration will add to the UK population

the equivalent of a city the size of Bristol

size of Bristol.

We must regain the ability to control our

borders.

Official figures show that in the

past year 257,000 EU immigrants

have arrived in the UK and 630,000

EU citizens have requested National

Insurance numbers.

These figures, taken together with

with the news in Times article (Feb

27) 'Blair accused of opening doors

to 2m migrants' suggests little has

changed in government obscuring 

inconvenient facts from public gaze

Notwithstanding the debatable

benefit of marginally higher GDP, the 

effects of such a massive inflow can

be seen in the NHS, housing and 

education, where scarce resources are 

being stretched to breaking point.

We are where we are but should remind 

ourselves how this situation has arisen. 

The continuing assertion that, when in office, 

Labour acted in good faith in not properly 

assessing the impact of immigration and 

of integration is contradicted by the facts. 

A publication of 2000, obtained under the 

Freedom of information Act, contained a 

secret Cabinet Office report, which 

characterised Labour's open-door 

immigration policy as a deliberate attempt 

to rub the Right's nose in cultural diversity.

Current projections are that each year

immigration will add to the UK population

the equivalent of a city the size of Bristol

size of Bristol.

We must regain the ability to control our

borders.

Sent from my iPad

Sent from my iPad