“The press will side with an alleged child molester if it means they can use it against Tommy Robinson. The press & the MSM are now pure propaganda “ (Gerard Batten- former UKIP leader)
So today if you looked at the papers you will have noticed that Tommy Robinson has been at it again! Got himself arrested, been in another fight- when will that thug ever learn!?
No turns out the remainstream media aren’t telling you the bigger picture. Turns out that Tommy Robinson’s 8 year old had her bottom grabbed by a middle-aged man at a children’s swimming pool. Turns out Tommy Robinson thus got arrested for ‘restraining’ this man afterwards when Tommy’s daughter pointed him out. Turns out the nonce in question got off jack-free.
Lets be clear Tommy probably didn’t settle at restraining this man, he probably beat the shit out of him as would any sane father. But the fact is middle-aged men are alone at a children’s swimming pool in Center Parcs with no partner or kids and groping random children, and the press could not give a shit.
People’s opinion of Tommy Robinson is now irrelevant because the only person that matters is his 8 year old daughter. She never deserved this.
The media don’t care about her, the police don’t care about her, and now she thinks that if a stranger gropes her and she speaks out- her father gets arrested.
Populism is on the rise throughout the West- first we voted to leave the EU here in Britain and then Donald Trump defeated the Queen of Corruption Hilary Clinton. Since we’ve seen a growing tide of Euroscepticism throughout EU member states, most evidently in France with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, in Italy with Matteo Salvini’s Northern League and in Holland with Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom.
Of course the Establishment and the remainstream media dismiss the contemporary wave of populism as ‘far-right’. Utter nonsense. Outlets such as the Guardian label anyone right of centre ‘far-right’, and this of course plays into the actual far-right’s hands, albeit them being a tiny minority of people.
So the reason i’ve been discussing politics with my Dutch friends is because I have lately took an interest into the possibility of Holland holding an EU referendum. The ever growing likelihood of a Dutch referendum runs parallel to the increasing popularity of nationalist-populist Geert Wilders. Wilders is the main advocate for a Dutch referendum as he has been for many years; similar to Nigel Farage.
Wilders like myself is a big critic of Islam and this is the reason the liberal media falsely label him as far-right. Again, like myself, Wilders’ criticism of Islam does not come from irrational bigoted opinions it comes from years of study. Geert actually travelled to and studied in the Middle-East and he is now a supporter of the Jewish homeland Israel. Imagine far-right fascists supporting a Jewish homeland!
Out of all the conversations with my Dutch pals (5 to be precise) i’m going to pick two in particular- the two most contrasting opinions.
Mariska says that she hopes that Holland stays within the EU and she is also not a fan of Geert Wilders. Mariska says that she loves her country yet she also identifies as a European and World citizen. She thinks Wilders is a charismatic man who’s personality is able to manipulate the fears of Dutch citizens and he simply “says what people want to hear”, and she contradicts me in the fact that she thinks Geert’s popularity is actually declining.
Armin on the other hand (that is not this person’s real name but he/she specifically asked not to have his/her name mentioned) is a big fan of Geert Wilders and he says that he would love to see Holland become an independent sovereign state. We talked about the Dutch problem of Moroccan raping gangs grooming underage children and how this relates to the English problem of Pakistani raping gangs grooming our children. Me and Armin both worry about the influence of Islam on our children’s future.
The feeling and general atmosphere amongst the Dutch feels very similar to the one we had here in Britain leading up to our EU referendum in 2016. There are valid arguments for both in and out sides and it seems reasonable that a vote should be put to the people.
As for Geert Wilders, amongst the Dutch he is like Marmite; similar to Nigel Farage or perhaps more precisely Tommy Robinson (because that bitch Farage stays silent when it comes to Islam).
However I don’t think that a vote will be put to the people for one simple reason- the geographical location of Holland. If you look at the UK, it is much easier for the British Isles to leave the EU simply because we are separated from the continent as it is as an Island. Holland however is in the middle of central Europe. Thinking back to the numerous times i’ve taken the Eurostar to Holland.. I had to pass through four EU countries to get to Amsterdam!
The freedom of the press should be appreciated throughout the West because it is part of Western democracy and free speech. With a free press there will always be media bias, however the bias the mainstream media have shown when reporting on Donald Trump’s presidential actions have reached a level beyond ridiculousness which can only result in sincere counter-productivity to the democracy of American people.
This week I switched on the news and saw Donald Trump shaking hands with Vladimir Putin at their summit in Helsinki and my immediate reaction was along the lines of “wow what a moment in history, two leaders of staunch rival nation-states; two countries that have hated one another ever since WW2, making friends making allies… what does this mean for the future opportunities of world peace (excited emoji face inserted here)”
Then I saw newspaper headlines from around the world…
The Wall Street Journal over the pond reported on how the Trump-Putin summit was a “national embarrassment” to America and how Trump had “projected weakness” The Daily Mirror here in Britain reported on how Trump ‘backed down’ to Putin and how Trump was in general.. Putin’s bitch.
Over in Finland the Kauppalehti mocked the gifts that were exchanged between the two Presidents
Coward, traitor, and non-patriotic are the words used to describe Trump in his meeting with Vladimir Putin (non-patriotic? seriously? It was the American patriots who voted Trump into power!). All this because Trump and Putin had a healthy and friendly summit. Its as if critics from the press want America to go to war with Russia rather than be at peace!
Trump and Putin are trying to start off fresh relations between the two countries, relations that have previously involved dangerous high tension ever since former KGB agent Vladimir Putin first came to power. Imagine this; a future bi-polar world order dominated by two nuclear ALLIES of America and Russia, opposite to the bi-polar world order experienced during the Cold War.
Maybe its true that Putin interfered in the American elections, although Putin staunchly denies it. But even if so, was Trump meant to call Putin a liar on global TV? That would have ended any chance of a future relationship between America and Russia, and that would have sufficed even harsher criticism for Trump from the mainstream media.
Trump outlined examples of how America and Russia could work together, for instance on tackling terrorism and sharing future anti-terror information, with Russia having been repeatedly attacked by Islamic extremists for the previous two decades. In 2004 Islamists held 1000 people hostage at a school in North Caucasas, Russia, resulting in more than 300 people dead 186 of which were school children. In 2010, 40 people were killed by suicide bombers on the Moscow underground system, as were on the St Petersburg underground system last year.
If only the mainstream media/Western Islamic sympathisers put more effort into reporting actual news stories like these instead of trying to undermine the democratic American vote.
When the mainstream media reported on the Trump-Putin summit with their inherent determination at smearing Donald Trump, they failed to notice the future opportunities that an American-Russian alliance could bring. Russia could have a major influence on the abandonment of North Korea’s nuclear weapon programme, with Russia being important on the basis of North Korea’s economic survival, but yet having nothing to gain from North Korea’s nuclear weapons.
Trump could also acquire Putin’s help in withdrawing American troops from Syria, as well as Putin potentially being able to convince Iran to withdraw their troops. The exchange would result in Bashar Al Assad remaining in power of Syria, which is more than fair seen as the Syrian people overwhelmingly democratically elected Assad.
The only reason America initially wanted Assad overthrown was to takeover Russia’s pipeline. Fortunately Donald Trump has less interests in American imperialism. Be grateful that Hillary Clinton didn’t win the American election because if she had, she would have carried on her Husband’s legacy and took over Russia’s pipeline, inevitably causing the Russian economy to collapse. Never mind unprecedented levels of tension between America and Russia in another Cold War, Hillary Clinton as American President would mean a nuclear war
Media bias has always been a part of democratic politics with media outlets; newspapers in particular, always aligning to certain political parties or certain sides of the political spectrum. However since Donald Trump became President Media bias has reached a whole new level with constant criticism of every policy Trump carries out and constant smearing by the American press, headed of course by CNN. Fake news. It is not only in America, all British news channels and the vast majority of British newspapers are anti-Trump and now Sky TV no longer have any right-wing news channels on their package after dropping Fox News. So much for democracy.
This news headline is obviously fake and not real, but the joke reflects CNN’s continuous efforts at smearing Donald Trump
In Britain last week thousands of people were out on the streets of London protesting at the arrival of Donald Trump in Britain ahead of a summit with Theresa May. The effort the press went into to cover the story of these anti-Trump protesters was ‘over the top’ to say the least. Live coverage of the protests all day long. Funny how the news channels couldn’t do the same when similar numbers of people from Football Lads Alliance marched in protest of Islamic Extremism, also in London. Not even 30 seconds of coverage on the news for the FLA. It was exactly the same with the Free Tommy Robinson protests THE DAY AFTER the anti-Trump protests, also in London.
As for the anti-Trump protests in London last week, where were they when Saudi Arabian leader Mohammed Bin Salman visited Great Britain this year, a man who governs a regime where women aren’t allowed to leave their house without a male companion and where woman are tortured in prison for removing their hijabs? Where were they when Turkey’s leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Britain in May, a man who imprisons journalists for writing news reports criticising his opinion? Where were they when Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited the UK recently, a man who wants to make himself ‘dictator for life’ by eliminating any future democratic elections in China?
I’ll tell you where they were- they were at home not giving a shit. The only reason these protesters were in London last week was because they’ve jumped on the anti-Trump bandwagon, a bandwagon which was made fashionable by hypocrite political commentator Owen Jones, hypocrite Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, and of course the hypocrite mainstream media.
Just look at the result of Donald Trump’s approach to the Korean conflict. Controversial at times yes of course, but look whats happening now; North Korea are set to abandon their nuclear weapons programme, and North and South Korea are going through the process of peace talks for the first time in the history of modern civilisation! Worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize for Donald Trump in my opinion. Before you start laughing, I bet if it was the exact same situation regarding the Korean peace talks 5 years ago with Obama as American President he would have won a Nobel Peace Prize. Yes I know he’s already won one I can’t remember what for though. Because he is black? It surely wasn’t because of the thousands of innocent middle-eastern civilians Obama killed with drone attacks? No? Probably because he is black.
I know that through reading this article it may seem that I am against the freedom of the press. Well I am not. I am not a communist and I am not a fascist, I believe that free press and free speech are both important aspects of a healthy democracy. Even media bias is good, people will favour certain media outlets based on their own political opinions. However I feel that since Donald Trump became President, media bias is no longer restricted to different certain media outlets, whether they be newspapers or news channels. It is instead bias seen throughout the mainstream media and the general press. This needs to change because as the way things are, the free press in which the mainstream media has always embraced is starting to look like the press seen within an authoritarian state-ruled society. Propaganda corrupting people’s political knowledge.
The Football Lads Alliance started out as a response to the Islamic terror attacks which we saw in Manchester and London last year; a small number of like minded rival football fans angry at the limited response from the government and the political elite following those terror atrocities.
Since the movement started in the summer last year, the FLA has grown massively in numbers and two marches have already taken place in London, with a further march being planned in Birmingham next month. What I want to discuss in this article is the media’s perception of the FLA; the extent of how much the media has in fact covered the two previous marches, and what image of the FLA the press has tried to portray.
After the first march in which there were 10,000 people, nobody in the press bothered to cover the story. The only people who knew of the march were members of the FLA page on Facebook, which at a guess was maybe 50,000 people. The general population had no idea that 10,000 people marched through their capital city that day, never mind what they were marching for. The BBC didn’t cover the 10,000 FLA marchers, but that very same day the BBC had time to cover the story of a 1000 feminist protesters… in Germany!
After the second FLA march, the press started to take an interest, albeit mainly the minor media outlets who no one takes seriously anyway. The reports from the press suggested that the FLA were far-right racists, which in fact was just an attempt from the press to keep the liberal left and the politically correct at piece of mind. Despite not being part of the two previous FLA marches, I myself have been part of the FLA Facebook group right from the very start and I have seen the leader and founder of the FLA, John Meighan, post the same messages throughout; “no racism and no violence”.
Thousands of rival football fans unite in London
The FLA is a movement that welcomes anyone from any background providing they are opposed to terrorism and extremism, something which has unfortunately become part and parcel of living in a city (I’m sure I’ve heard someone say that before???).
I thought it would be useful to ask John Meighan a few questions and note down the answers. I already knew what his answers to my questions were going to be before I had even asked them, but I asked him anyway because in my opinion, this is how a democratic free press should work. Talk to the primary source of the topic that will be covered in order to get the most valid report, whilst maintaining no bias with complete neutrality of opinion. This will thus allow readers to form their own fair opinion.
J Mitchell- What is the FLA and why did you start the movement?
J Meighan- The FLA is a street movement formed in response to the terror attacks in the UK. It was founded after the London Bridge Attack, but the real game changer was the Manchester terror attack where young children lost their lives
J Mitchell- What were you intending to achieve when you started the FLA movement?
J Meighan- We were initially planning a small march through London with like minded people, but this soon evolved into tens of thousands marching
J Mitchell- How do you feel about the very limited response from the media (the BBC in particular) and the political class?
J Meighan– This was unsurprising. In meetings and interviews with the BBC and other media outlets it is clear that they have a narrative. Football rivals peacefully marching through London together is just too much of a happy ending, which doesn’t cut any ice fitting with their agenda
J Mitchell– Of the media outlets who have responded, they have labelled the FLA fascist and racist. How do you feel about this?
J Meighan– It was inevitable because anything right of left is seen as racist. I feel annoyed, frustrated and angry because it’s simply not true. The truth is in the pudding. The truth is in the two marches. You will always get idiots who latch on to any movement and use it for their own agenda, but we have tried to actively manage that issue and will continue to do so as and when it is possible.
Millwall, West Ham and Tottenham wreaths side by side
Lets have a look at John’s answer to question number 3 with regards to the fact that the media already had a narrative and that rival football fans marching peacefully is just too much of a happy ending. This is such a shame. The press had no interest after the FLA’s first march simply because it was peaceful and therefore successful. If things went sour and the rival football fans started kicking ten bells out of each other, the BBC would have been all over it!
After the second march the Independent newspaper decided to do a report, but not on the story of yet another successful march in which this time 30,000 rival football fans marched peacefully together; again with no one being arrested. The Independent chose to write about an incident in which the FLA marchers came across Stand up to Racism demonstrators, acting as an anti-Islamophobic counter-demonstration. Minor insults and derogatory chants were exchanged but nothing major. There certainly wasn’t any fighting; hence why no arrests were made. The FLA marchers were angry because they couldn’t understand why the Stand up to Racism counter-demonstrators were present. No one was being Islamophobic! Does being against Islamic extremism and terrorism count as Islamophobia? The question that the Independent should have been asking is “why were the counter-demonstrators even there at the scene?”
Stand up to Racism were opposing the FLA march. A bit weird seen as the FLA aren’t racist
As you get to the lesser powerful media outlets the bull**** gets even worse. The Searchlight Magazine and the Socialist Worker for example both label the FLA as fascist racists, the Searchlight Magazine claiming that in the FLA’s second march, “London witnessed the largest demonstration of the far-right in since before WW2”, and the Socialist Worker saying that “racism was at the heart of the FLA”. Come on Searchlight Magazine! Far-right? Really? Why does anything that is not left-wing liberal suffice the racist label these days? Even Wikipedia tells lies claiming that FLA founder John Meighan has previously served a prison sentence for football violence. Not true!
What I think is that the press were hoping that the rival football fans would clash during the FLA’s first march, and then there would have been an interesting story to report, even more interesting than feminist campaigners in Germany! Unfortunately for the press the march was peaceful. The press then couldn’t ignore two marches, therefore the Independent et al toed the lines of a sensitive society where everyone and anyone gets offended by everything and anything. They knew that there was nothing wrong with the two marches or the FLA movement as a whole, but the safest option for the press and the media is for them to demonise the Football Lads Alliance in order to keep the sensitive and easily offended people happy.
But I must ask what about keeping these rival football fans happy and listening to what their concerns are? Is it a social class issue? Prime Ministers come and go but every time each one of them promises to give more voice to the working people. Well now’s the chance! The FLA are working-class people, they are the biggest working-class movement since the miners’ strikes. Middle-aged pompous Guardian readers who latch on to a “Save Our NHS” demonstration, whilst feeling secure from any potential danger with their Bupa insurance DO NOT count as working-class. The FLA is the perfect example of who politician’s ‘supposedly’ want to hear from more often. But nah, still the political class aren’t interested in what the working people have got to say, as per usual.
There has been one or two politicians who have spoke out criticising the FLA, the usual suspects of course, i.e. Diane Abbott. Where was Diane Abbotts criticism of Sadiq Khan allowing the Al Quds march in London; Muslims with links to Hezbollah canting “death to Jews”?
Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation. Here’s their flag on the streets of London during Al Quds day
There’s obviously the risk of the FLA attracting far-right white supremacists and Nazi’s, but surely there is with any up and coming new movement. John Meighan has already said that the FLA group is politically neutral it is neither left or right, and he told me specifically that the FLA are aware that “idiots will latch on to the movement and use it for their own agenda, and the FLA will actively try to manage that issue”. You can’t ask for more than that.
The Football Lads Alliance are a group of working-class people trying to get their voices heard in a society dominated by the media and the political class. With the press already trying to belittle the FLA movement, they are practically claiming that any criticism of terrorism and Islamic extremism is in essence Islamophobic and racist. If you can’t criticise terrorism what can you criticise?
The FLA is a movement that welcomes anyone from any background providing they are opposed to terrorism and extremism, something which has unfortunately become part and parcel of living in a city (I’m sure I’ve heard someone say that before???).
Socialist Worker saying that “racism was at the heart of the FLA”. Come on Searchlight Magazine! Far-right? Really? Why does anything that is not left-wing liberal suffice the racist label these days? Even Wikipedia tells lies claiming that FLA founder John Meighan has previously served a prison sentence for football violence. Not true!
My Opinions 