Writing from London

Bayeux Tapestry - uncensored version. I love writing this newsletter. But it is a lot of work! Please support me by subscribing A faintly ridiculous form of status competition has seized the English cultured classes. Bragging rights belong to those who have secured tickets to see the Bayeux Tapestry while it is on loan to the British Museum. All tickets went within hours of going on sale on 1 July.

[CREDIT: Wiki Commons] I know there are many claims on your time and wallet, but please consider subscribing to independent journalism that supports liberal democracy. The radical right is corrupt. I am not hurling insults around like some teenage politician. I am saying that it is a matter of established fact that Donald Trump and Nigel Farage have engaged in extraordinary schemes for self-enrichment. Their supporters may believe in restricting migration and slaying the woke menace.

Quick blast from me on how Farage is still getting away with it, despite the terrific investigative journalism from the Guardian and the Sunday Times into his links with the crypto industry. Opponents of the radical right are not making an obvious point. Farage pretends to be tough on crime. But as we have seen he takes money from crypto billionaires and lobbies the Bank of England to advance their interests. Crypto is organised crime’s favoured means of moving and laundering money.

Photo by Shane on Unsplash Any case that involves Elizabeth Hurley, Sir Elton John, Prince Harry, Sadie Frost Law, and other celebs and politicians alleging invasion of privacy has more than enough news value going for it. Most people can avoid a dark issue below the surface. But that is no reason for us to duck it. As you probably heard, the case against the Daily Mail came to a conclusion yesterday with a devastating judgement against the prince and the celebrities.

If you want to situate the lies of politics and the concentration of wealth and power in a single address, you couldn’t do better than One Hyde Park, London SW1X 9SH. There you can find some of the greatest hypocrites and most expensive apartments in the world. The flats were developed by the Candy brothers – Christian and Nick, who like so many men on the make in London have found their fortunes by serving the super-rich.

Photo by Norbu GYACHUNG on Unsplash The trans rights campaign has risen faster and fallen further than any other campaign in recent history. Go back only to the early 2020s, and private and public sector institutions, whole governments, international sporting bodies, arts administrators, charities, and the child stars of Harry Potter, who bared their teeth as they bit the hand that fed them, were all committed partisans.

Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette, 1885, oil on canvas, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam Because they are such a menace, I keep posts on Trump and Putin free for readers on low incomes. If you can afford to support my journalism, however, please consider becoming a free or indeed a paid subscriber. You would help me enormously! By any rational standards – and I accept that we are not in an age where they apply – the war Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu began against Iran has ended in defeat.

My apologies for resending — I missed out the podcaster player the first time around! The feeling of crisis is so acute you can stick a pin in a newspaper and guarantee to find a story that makes the feeling worse. Over the weekend we had - • German car manufacturers beginning their deepest ever restructuring to stem “the bleeding” from an influx of Chinese rivals that could “permanently” shrink Europe’s largest economy.

The feeling of crisis is so acute you can stick a pin in a newspaper and guarantee to find a story that makes the feeling worse. Over the weekend we had - • German car manufacturers beginning their deepest ever restructuring to stem “the bleeding” from an influx of Chinese rivals that could “permanently” shrink Europe’s largest economy.

The destruction of Gaza has revived the radical left, and given it electoral victories and a reason to exist. In this moment of intense anger few on the left can see the dangers of a descent into paranoid conspiracism. To most rational people the current Israeli government is accountable for the suffering in Gaza and Lebanon – although Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran share the blame as well. Meanwhile Israel is wholly responsible for the attacks on civilians in the West Bank.