Mel Kite

Birmingham-based. British, Aussie-ish. Guernsey-ish.

[Mel Kite @melkite121]

@JamesMelville Art

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

Keir Starmer gives Sadiq Khan a peerage.

What a piss take.

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

Keir Starmer — ever a man of his word til the end.
In June 2023 he explicitly ruled out ever indulging in a resignation honours list (BBC Radio 4 Today).
Today he’s marked his resignation with 21 peerages, overwhelmingly public-sector/legal jobsworths. Barely a single wealth creator among them.
Classic line up of the New Establishment which has run the country under Labour and Tory governments for the past three decades and is now firmly in control. Largely (if not entirely) with the following characteristics:
*Career almost entirely in public sector, often taking salaries from several sinecures at once as they work up the greasy taxpayer-funded pole.
*Associated with various ‘right-on’ causes.
*Largely middle class, London chattering class, Oxbridge well represented (of course).
*Fashionable left but not too left. Good mainstream Labour links.
Thus is the antediluvian House of Lords perpetuated by the Left as well as the Right as a comfortable state-funded retirement home for the well-connected ‘good and great’ past their sell-by date — when it should simply be abolished.

[Bernie @Artemisfornow]

Dear Adam,

I have taken time to think about your apology. Mostly because, having made a mistake publicly before, I was keen to accept yours. It hurts when people don’t understand that you are sorry for messing up. I get that, probably more than most.

But here’s the thing… I’m not sure you understand what you did wrong. And so you don’t really understand what you are apologising for or why. With that in mind, I want to help you.

I didn’t know Ann, except as a powerhouse in politics and that so many people have spoken of her friendship and great loyalty. How lovely, I wish I had known her.

I am utterly disinterested in her sexual prowess or the state of her virginity. But I would have enjoyed hearing you speak of her great accomplishments. Not as a woman, but simply as a human being.

Here’s a list.

She served in the House of Commons for 23 years and won five general elections.

She served as a government minister in Social Security, Employment and the Home Office, where she was Minister of State for Prisons.

She rose to become Shadow Health Secretary and then Shadow Home Secretary.

She was appointed to the Privy Council.

After leaving Westminster, she built an entirely new career as an author, broadcaster, documentary-maker, stage performer and television personality.

Then, at the age of 71, she returned to elected politics and became a Member of the European Parliament.

She was a longstanding advocate for Britain leaving the European Union and, when the political establishment failed to deliver the referendum result, she left the Conservative Party after more than 50 years and stood for the Brexit Party.

She was elected as an MEP and took the argument for British independence directly into the European Parliament.

She was also an unapologetic defender of free speech. She continued to speak openly on difficult and unfashionable subjects when others chose silence, it was easier to do that, she accepted the criticism and hostility that came with it rather than surrendering her convictions.

Her Catholic faith was central to her life. She converted to Catholicism, met Pope John Paul II in Rome and was later made a Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great by Pope Benedict XVI for her service to politics and public life.

She remained a powerful public voice well into her late seventies, defending her beliefs despite decades of ridicule and hostility.

That is an extraordinary life of public service, courage and reinvention.

Yet, when asked to speak about her after her sudden and violent death, you chose to tell the country that she was a “spinster”, an “old maid” and a virgin. You discussed a failed relationship and suggested that afterwards she simply dedicated herself to other activities.

Do you understand the reduction involved in that?

You took the life of a highly accomplished woman and assessed it according to whether she had married, whether she had sex and whether a man had wanted her.

That is what was wrong. That is what you should have known.

It wasn’t simply that your words were poorly chosen or badly timed. It was the instinct to view a woman’s entire life through her relationship with men, even when her achievements should have rendered that completely irrelevant.

Nobody discussing the death of an accomplished male politician would think it necessary to tell viewers whether he was a virgin, speculate about his sex life or describe him as an ageing bachelor whose romance had failed.

I don’t want you cancelled. I don’t believe that people should be denied forgiveness when they make mistakes.

But a meaningful apology has to identify the actual wrong.

Ann was murdered after a lifetime of public service. At the moment her achievements should have been remembered, you diminished her to an unmarried woman who apparently hadn’t had sex.

She deserved better than that. And I’m still not sure you get it. But every woman who watched you speak of her and then read your apology does.

Bernie.

[LBC @LBC]

Ann Widdecombe, the former MP and MEP who also featured on Strictly Come Dancing, has died aged 78
https://t.co/ZKGqFodgE5

[WarMonitor🇺🇦🇬🇧 @WarMonitor3]

People don't realise but tensions with Russia right now and Europe are at the same levels if not more than in the Cold War.

[WarMonitor🇺🇦🇬🇧 @WarMonitor3]

Ukrainian drones have hit the largest oil refinery in Russia the Omsk refinery making it one of the most signifiant strikes of the war at also the furthest from the frontline a massive 2500km away from Ukraine.

[Mel Kite @melkite121]

@SmithKathr75596 @MmisterNobody Agree 👍

[Roberto Piazza @RobertoPia97244]

@isaacrrr7

[John Redwood @johnredwood]

Gas is supplying 59% of our electricity this morning. Those expensive wind turbines are having another day off.

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

Labour thinks it has found the holy grail with Andy Burnham. It’s more likely to end up in an unholy mess
https://t.co/2wvapc2A5M

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

The Rape Gang Inquiry - what happens next.

I intend to use my parliamentary privilege to name perpetrators and their enablers in the chamber.

This will be done incredibly carefully with our legal team involved every step of the way to ensure that no future prosecutions are jeopardised.

We are cooperating with the authorities in order to help cases be opened and reopened, but my faith in the system to independently deliver justice is not high...

That is why we are pursuing private prosecutions and civil litigation.

A target list has been identified, and it continues to grow.

This all has to be handled very carefully, for obvious reasons, but I am determined to act. We have had enough talk, now we need to act.

Our aim is straightforward.

Put people in prison. Deliver justice. Finally.

We will act. Not talk.

[Matt Cartoons @MattCartoonist]

My latest cartoon for tomorrow's Telegraph
Buy a print of my cartoons at https://t.co/ILFJjPmckx
Original artwork from https://t.co/bVPAkgE34y

[Sharron Davies HoL MBE @sharrond62]

People are frightened to speak the truth or do their job because of ‘words’ & name calling. Do what is right - not what’s easy, in these very troubling times. Keeping your head down is compliance. The things we value will be gone before we know it if that is what most people do😔

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Those who knew must go to prison for a long time

[Mel Kite @melkite121]

@NadineDorries @RupertLowe10 @Conservatives You just made yourself irrelevant

[Concerned Citizen @BGatesIsaPyscho]

“Where is Keir, where is Keir”

“We’ll just start without him”

The UK PM remains completely and utterly irrelevant at the G7.

[Mel Kite @melkite121]

Never here Keir...or there!
Let's ALL move on without him - it's a vibe 😊
#G7 #KeirStarmer #starmer
@10DowningStreet

[Mel Kite @melkite121]

@PeterRoffey5 @mrmikeMTL That's easy for you to say 😊

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

This is an outrageous, disgraceful smear on John Healey — and an outright lie. There are a ton of ways to finance more for defence — starting with net zero — without taking a penny from schools or hospitals. Reeves should be ashamed of herself for allowing this nonsense. Suggests she’s really desperate.