No, I explained at length exactly what Johnson and Farage were all over NSC from the moment they first appeared on the political scene. I warned people against supporting them, and gave what has proven to be an incredibly accurate account of what would happen if Brexit was voted for at the referendum. I highlighted the NIP issues, the issues with implementing border controls (which we still haven't done) the impact on British exporters, the effect on the fishing, logistics, care, hospitality, NHS and other industries too many to mention, the Inflation it would cause and all the various other associated problems etc etc etc
I then continued to explain the best possible way out of the situation that we found ourselves in, post the 2016 referendum when May was PM. I warned against Johnson becoming leader of the conservative party and also warned in no uncertain terms about what would happen if he actually won a majority.
When he did win, I told everybody to batten down the hatches and try and protect themselves from the inevitable and entirely predictable incoming shitstorm. I even gave quite detailed financial advice on what to do to try and minimise the effect of Farage/Brexit/Johnson and protect yourself and your family.
It's all here on NSC, a good few thousand posts to this effect on here The Brexit Thread and on here The 2019 Election thread so fill your boots.
I'm really not sure what more I could have done to try and stop people from being stupid
Absolutely no after timing whatsoever, it's almost spooky
If that is one of the rat runs I use to dodge Lewes on the way to the Amex, terrific. It means I can hurtle along at 60 MPH without fear of a puncture and knocking my alignment out. Bravo! If I accidentally run over any old buffers with shotguns, walking between partridge shoots, I will of course be saddened. Possibly even disappointed.Far be it for me to stick up for a Tory aristocrat, but that's a bit of a misrepresentation of the facts here...
The road in question is not the private drive to Firle Place for starters. It's fair to say that the road isn't a public road (i.e. looked after by the highways authority or whatever they are called), so strictly speaking it is a private road belonging to the Firle estate.
However, for the road in question, 95%+ of the traffic will be for Charleston Farmhouse and it doesn't serve Firle Place at all (although it does also provide access to a working farm and a few houses). It wouldn't even need to be a properly surfaced road if it wasn't for the 100,000+ visitors to Charleston every year (which don't directly benefit the Firle Estate).
The charity that runs Charleston Farmhouse as a tourist attraction & art festival venue is completely independent from the Firle Estate. I have no inside knowledge of this, but would find it perfectly reasonable if after the Farmhouse was given to the charity, an arrangement whereby the charity is responsible for maintaining the access road was agreed.
The implication in these media reports is that a wealthy aristocrat (Gage) has used levelling up money to get his personal drive resurfaced, when the story is more accurately one of a charity applying for a grant to improve visitor access to their venue (which just happens to be a road on land that is owned by the Firle Estate/Gage).
Maybe the Gage family obtained some favourable tax breaks for donating Charleston to the charity in the first place, but it seems a little harsh to make out that they have now somehow conned some money out of the levelling up fund for their own benefit.
A better question might be why an arts venue (let's face it, aimed mostly at the middle classes) with revenues well over £3m pa, in the wealthy south-east, needs access to the levelling-up fund anyway. Leafy Firle and its surrounds isn't what immediately springs to mind when I think of places that need "levelling-up". No wonder the money ran out.
It's interesting that The Mail (spit) ran with the story (which is over 2 years old) though. It's not their usual type of target at all (more typical is one of the comments below: "I am glad to hear this. I would rather our government spent this money on something that is genuinely a part of our historical heritage, rather than on the new arrivals")
Right, I'm off to scrub myself clean after that
Their target is a bit more complex than implied, which is why GBNews have spent so much effort to get George Galloway on there.
It must be brilliant to be able to libel whoever you want for whatever gain, knowing you face no personal financial risk whatsoever
www.independent.co.uk
I believe the rule is that because she used Government-headed paper to do it that means the Government, and as such us as the taxpayer, is responsible, and not her personally.Minister uses taxpayer money to pay for libel damages to scientist over Hamas claim
Minister Michelle Donelan has been forced to apologise to two academics after she accused them of extremism