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Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Art, morals and power
In this darkly absorbing and deeply intelligent novel, German writer Daniel Kehlmann charts the choices made by the real-life Austrian-born film director G. W. Pabst, a master of the silent and early sound eras. Known as 'Red Pabst' for his empathetic exploration of social issues, he leaves Europe after Hitler's rise to power, joining a community of cinematic exiles in Hollywood. Then, in a seemingly inexplicable turnaround, he returns to Austria — annexed by the Nazis and now called Ostmark — and ends up creating films under the patronage of the Reich propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Clearly, Pabst has struck some kind of Faustian bargain, but Kehlmann's writing is so subtle it's difficult to mark the exact moment at which the filmmaker falls into complicity. Testing the boundaries between art, power and moral responsibility, The Director evokes creative life under totalitarian rule with exacting precision and scathing effect. Heike Steinweg photo Daniel Kehlmann's latest novel traces the movements of director G.W. Pabst, who fled Austria after Hitler's rise to power but voluntarily returned while the Nazis were still in power. Dividing his time between Berlin and New York, Kehlmann has generated buzz in the English-speaking world with such works as Measuring the World and the International Booker-nominated Tyll (translated, as is The Director, by Ross Benjamin). Kehlmann's approach to period stories is idiosyncratic and urgent, cutting the realistic horrors of history with sharp, ironical humour. This is not a comprehensive or conventional biographical novel. Kehlmann uses the outline of Pabst's life but fills it in with passages that are imagined and inventive, sometimes terrifying and sometimes out-and-out surreal. Working in long, loosely connected chapters, many of which function as standalone vignettes, Kehlmann takes us first to 1933, with Pabst somewhat adrift at a Los Angeles party. He's awkward and overheated and his English is poor. Kehlmann also has a running joke about how Pabst is constantly being confused with fellow Weimar filmmakers F. W. Murnau and Fritz Lang. 'No good coffee anywhere, but the fruit juices are astonishing!' says a cheerful compatriot, but Pabst seems unable to adapt to this sunny paradise — and to his demotion to the cinematic B-list. Not longer after, the novel relocates to France, where Pabst and his wife, Trude, are spending a drunken evening with German refugees in a Paris bar. Desperate for documents and safe passage out of Europe, these actors, writers and critics are shocked when Pabst reveals he is voluntarily returning. (The chapter ends with a sombre listing of these historical characters' fates — who escapes to America, who dies by suicide when a transit visa expires, who is murdered by the Nazis.) Pabst's reasons for going back to Austria remain deliberately opaque. He explains that he must visit his aging mother, but Kehlmann slyly suggests this might just be the first of the director's many rationalizations and self-delusions. Pabst's actual biography has hazy areas, and Kehlmann demonstrates how this haze can be a byproduct of fascism, as people cover over guilt with blurred memories and disputed histories. The Director introduces us to various real-life figures, from Greta Garbo (aloof, imperious) to a comic British writer who is clearly P.G. Wodehouse (humorous, hapless) to Goebbels (whose meeting with Pabst showcases Kehlmann's brilliantly sinister use of doppelgangers and double meanings). Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl is portrayed as an appalling moral monster who is also inadvertently, grotesquely hilarious. Kehlmann also has an Orwellian eye for the kind of totalitarian infiltration that goes beyond controlling citizens' actions to policing their words and even thoughts. Trude attends a book club with the wives of high-ranking Nazis, a supposedly pleasant social occasion where a wayward opinion can have dire consequences. No wonder Trude enters into an 'internal exile' of perpetual drunkenness. The Director In another scene, prisoner-of-war Wodehouse — making a compulsory appearance at a film premiere — learns to his bemusement that the Hitler regime has outlawed criticism. Practitioners of this supposedly 'Jewish and Bolshevik' discipline are now replaced with 'describers.' (They aren't even allowed to say whether a film is good because that would imply that it could be bad.) The demand for 'genuine Aryan cinema' hangs over Pabst's film The Molander Case, based on a book by bestselling Nazi hack Alfred Karrasch. The film was in the late stages of production in Prague when the Soviet army reached the city and remains unfinished and unknown, allowing Kehlmann to turn it into an enigmatic question. Is it as cinematically brilliant as Pabst's (highly unreliable) narrative insists? And even if it is, could it possibly be worth Pabst's deal with the devil? Art remains when the mess of politics is over, Pabst says to Trude in one scene, but she seems to have a clearer sense of the cost. Kehlmann's own responses to Pabst's moral situation — the director's small, incremental compromises and then his sudden, terrible capitulation — are incisive and unsparing, full of absurdities and killing ironies. And they are never didactic, this novel of ideas remaining immediate, entertaining and a really good read. Alison Gillmor writes on film for the Free Press. Alison GillmorWriter Studying at the University of Winnipeg and later Toronto's York University, Alison Gillmor planned to become an art historian. She ended up catching the journalism bug when she started as visual arts reviewer at the Winnipeg Free Press in 1992. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Boston Globe
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
New Hampshire native Jennifer Simard brings trademark deadpan to Tony-nominated run in ‘Death Becomes Her'
But thanks to a magic potion that grants her eternal youth, Helen gets a gorgeous glow-up and embarks on a quest of vengeance against her rival. When Madeline strikes the same Faustian bargain for immortality, the ladies engage in an unhinged war of brutal insults and bodily destruction involving shovels, shotguns, and more. Advertisement Jennifer Simard Courtesy Advertisement For years, Simard has been beloved by theater insiders for her ability to achieve a big impact with a small but electrifying gesture, slight turn of the head, or strange vocal intonation. That talent is on full display in 'Death Becomes Her' when her character, forced into a mental institution, chews on her 'yummy hair' as visions of her frenemy haunt her addled mind; when the unhinged Helen seduces Ernest with a double entendre-laden song while plotting Madeline's demise. Or perhaps most notoriously, when she's waving away smoke from a gunshot wound to the gut while snarking, Whether she's giving a sarcastic eye-roll, tossing off an acerbic zinger, or seducing with a come-hither stare, Simard intimately understands the art of underplaying. 'It's almost like an experiment. How small can I be to achieve the same result? Sometimes you just have to say the words and not put a lot of frosting on it,' Simard says in a recent Zoom interview from her dressing room at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. 'I always believe in letting the audience come to you, as opposed to pushing. Less is more, so that when you have to paint with a broad brush stroke, it's coming from an honest place that you've already used a fine brush stroke for.' Raves Noel Carey, who co-wrote the music and lyrics for 'Death Becomes Her' with Julia Mattison, 'Jen can get huge laughs with one word set at half volume. … She does a really good job of putting the cap on the crazy and letting it boil. But you can see [Helen's] conniving wheels turning.' Advertisement Megan Hilty, left, and Jennifer Simard, right, in "Death Becomes Her." Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman/Matthew Murphy 'Death Becomes Her' might be a combination of an uproarious camp sensibility and the grotesquely macabre, but it also contains incisive social critiques — of impossible beauty standards for women, the difficulties of aging, and the lengths people will go to maintain their youthful looks. 'You have a double standard quite often,' Simard says. 'I don't know how many times I've read, 'Wow, she's really let herself go,' and then other people saying, 'Oh, she's had too much work done.'' So Simard takes Helen's fears and insecurities seriously. 'I believe the best comedy is rooted in pain, and Helen has a lot of pain,' Simard says, 'and you can just mine so much humor from that.' In time, the two frenemies realize that they're each other's 'persons,' the yin to their rival's yang. 'These two women don't hate each other,' Simard explains. 'The other woman makes them feel alive, and that's what we discover by the end. It's disguised as this all-out war, but really they just can't live without one another.' Growing up in New Hampshire, just outside of Nashua, Simard performed in musicals in high school and at dinner theaters and regularly attended shows both in Boston and at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. As a little kid, she remembers sitting in the front row at 'Fiddler on the Roof,' tugging on her mother's sleeve, pointing to Tevye's youngest daughter and saying, 'Mom, I don't want to be down here. I want to be up there [on stage],' she says. 'So I knew from a very young age that's what I wanted to do.' Advertisement She attended the Boston Conservatory for a semester, but dropped out when she started landing professional gigs, including a season at Boston's now-defunct outdoor Publick Theatre and a production of 'Nunsense' in the North End. Then she landed a job in the venerable musical-theater parody show 'Forbidden Broadway,' moved to New York, and never looked back. Spoofing Broadway stars and belting big numbers in 'Forbidden Broadway' and performing in the original cast of the long-running 'I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change' was ideal training ground for how to ring laughs out of every moment. 'She's game for anything,' says While Simard had appeared on Broadway in shows like 'Shrek: The Musical' and 'Sister Act' and was beloved by in-the-know fans, it took years of struggling against the tide for her to finally break through to wider acclaim as gambling-addict Sister Mary Downey in 'Disaster!' She earned a Tony nomination for her antic performance, and it led to higher-profile parts in 'Hello, Dolly,' 'Company,' and 'Mean Girls.' 'I don't think anything else I've done subsequently would've happened without it,' she says. 'It put me on a different level — or section of a map.' Simard credits her New England roots for teaching her how to persevere against all odds — 'the industrial Northeast, baby, we're pretty tough' — and her late mother, Yvette, for inspiring her 'devious' and cracked sense of humor. 'She was the funny one,' she says. 'Any humor I have is pretty much through her.' Advertisement Right now, she's basking in that sweet-spot combination of a role that's 'creatively satisfying' in 'a commercial hit that people are clamoring to see. … You just don't take that for granted because it's rare, if it ever happens.' She's also savoring her Tony nomination, which she says epitomized her 'resilience' at a difficult time. 'I've been through a lot in my personal life in the last two years,' she says. After two decades of marriage, 'I've had to navigate a divorce and, like Helen, lean on my best friend — my person. … So to get this recognition now is really special.'
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Gas decision has ruined Labor's environmental credibility
Are we hell-bent on pumping even more emissions into our atmosphere for short-term gain (' Albanese just extended a major fossil fuel project for 45 years. Here's what it means ', May 29)? The North West Shelf expansion, now set to go ahead, will have gas producers salivating and fossil fuel lobbyists feeling encouraged. Donald Trump's denialism and full-blown environmental vandalism has emboldened naysayers and anti-science conspiracists around the globe. But why would the Labor government, having built on its policies to cut emissions from electricity generation, transport and industry, approve other projects which, in the case of the NW Shelf, would add on-site emissions of 7.7 million tonnes a year? Why would the government not feel emboldened, since the election, to say no to the gas companies who want to keep us addicted? Why would the government not demand that the gas we already have be provided to Australian consumers, not sold to the highest bidder overseas to fill the overseas gas companies' coffers? Fiona Colin, Malvern East Environment Minister Murray Watt, in announcing preliminary approval to Woodside for its North West Shelf Project's 45-year extension plan, stated that the decision was made after 'consideration of rigorous scientific and other advice … from a wide cross-section of the community' and 'subject to strict conditions'. Given that the wide-ranging negative environmental impact of ocean drilling for gas is well documented, and in this case there is also the high risk of damage to the culturally significant 50,000-year-old Aboriginal rock art in the region to the extent that it would lose World Heritage status, we need to know – what is the scientific evidence for the government's case and what are the strict conditions that would be consistent with Labor's pre-election promises to promote the development of renewable energy. It seems to me that the government is risking a Faustian bargain. Paul Casey, Callala Bay I'm bitterly disappointed that the Albanese government has extended the life of Woodside's North West Shelf gas industry. Wishfully, I thought Labor would be the better environmental manager of our two major parties, and I am horrified that they have failed the first test in their second term of government – protecting Australia's magnificent natural and cultural heritage. The WA Tourism website says 120,000 people are employed in the state's industry, at least 50 times the number employed by Woodside gas. Thousands of tour operators would lose their jobs due to the degradation of WA's natural wonders such as Scott Reef. Losing a few thousand Woodside jobs is hardly a tragedy compared to the desecration of our country caused by this extension. Margot Vaccari, Berowra Still reeling from the graphic scenes of carnage on the sea floor shown in the must-see film Ocean, I'm wondering what role our government will take in the UN Ocean Conference being held in France next month. Come on, Albo – we voted for you and environmental protection. The Woodside decision and the destructive message it sends doesn't sit well with your pre-election policies. Neither does it augur well for your legacy. It seems as if you are choosing to channel bottom-feeder Trump rather than the extraordinary David Attenborough. Rosemary Russell, Neutral Bay What a disgrace. Giving Woodside an extension for 40 years, no less. They've already made their money out of NWS and now an extension. Thanks for the $40 billion over 40 years, Woodside, and how much did you get back from the $40 billion a year the Government subsidises fossil fuel industry in Australia? North West Shelf employment of about 2200 is 0.03% of employment in Western Australia. Big deal – not. And what do you do about all the emissions you produce getting the gas to sell overseas for Japan to sell on at great profit? I'm appalled by this government's decisions on gas and coal approvals. Totally disgusted. Jon Percival, Taringa (Qld) With news of the Woodside approval, every young Australian should now understand that we have a government that puts the economic interests of the fossil fuel industry ahead of their futures. The fast-emerging climate crisis will present young people with a very challenging future. Surely they have a right to expect our current political leaders to be taking every possible step not to make the situation worse. Catherine Rossiter, Fadden (Qld) Fossil fuel fantasies Having first-hand experience after visiting in 2018, I can assure Santos MD Kevin Gallagher that it is not Victoria which has the North Korea mindset, but the gas industry (' Santos says investment conditions in Victoria are like North Korea ', May 29). Much like the recent North Korean warship launch, the argument that Australia needs more gas development falls over as soon as it is exposed to the real world – where outside the fossil fuel industry and its media enabler's rigid and predictable groupthink, renewable energy sources remain cheaper, cleaner, more timely and do not irreversibly destroy a liveable planet for future generations. That these shysters have been able to pay virtually no tax while exporting most of Australia's gas offshore is a national shame and tragedy, so let's not add to the debacle by swallowing fossil fuel fairytales. As Australian patriots might say: no representation without taxation. Chris Roylance Paddington (Qld) It is intriguing how much Kevin Gallagher knows about investment conditions in North Korea given the international sanctions against the country. Perhaps he is paid so much as CEO to compensate for swallowing his moral compass to do his work. His whinge about a democratic society making the destruction of their environment more onerous sounds like a win to me. I suspect the same kind of complaints were made in the 19th century by those investing in the slave trade. Giles Parker, Riverview Use Royal Randwick for housing Peter McGauran, chairman of the Australian Turf Club, claims that a great opportunity to financially secure the future of thoroughbred racing has been lost with the vote not to support the sale of Rosehill racecourse (' Rosehill won't become a mini-city, but there's a Plan B just down the metro line ', May 29). Your correspondent Mike Keneally has proposed, as an alternative, the disposal of Canterbury track (Letters, May 29), while acknowledging it is a smaller area than Rosehill. Another option would be for racing to focus on Warwick Farm and Rosehill tracks and dispose of Royal Randwick racecourse, which is not only a larger land area than Rosehill but of far greater value for housing development as it is already well served by the light rail system and is close to important health services and the University of NSW. As well, the new suburb of Royal Randwick, being adjacent to Centennial Park, would have ready access to recreational facilities. Thus, it would be ideally suited to high-rise residential development similar to that at nearby Queen's Park. McGauran claims that selling Rosehill would have financially helped the racing industry. This seems to suggest that the industry is suffering difficulties, at a time when the number of NSW races with prize money above $1 million continues to increase and would-be owners are struggling to buy a yearling for less than a few hundred thousand dollars. Bruce Coomber, Sawtell Should Premier Chris Minns compulsorily acquire Rosehill racecourse for housing despite opposition from 'high-profile' wealthy trainers (' Timid city needs V'landys 'can-do', May 29)? The arguments in favour are very strong, though of course it's not only the wealthy, well-connected and powerful people who run racing we should be concerned about as we wrestle with the crisis of housing affordability. We need a laser focus on vastly increasing not just the amount of housing, but well-designed housing with good urban amenity such as parks, sports fields, public transport and schools all based on suburbs that are designed to be walked around, not car-based. To get good suburbs, we need more than government making land available; we need the firm hand of government mandating good urban design and the direct provision of public housing in spades. Of course NSW being what it is, the conflict of interests between wealthy and powerful developer interests are likely to be even more problematic to the delivery of good housing than the horse and gambling crowd, influential as they are. Colin Hesse, Nowra Rosehill had a train station. It now has a light rail stop at Rosehill Gardens – some 600 metres from the main entrance to the course. Grand Avenue is congested with heavy vehicle traffic from industries that feeds into James Ruse Drive, which is a carpark most weekday mornings and afternoons. The whole notion of placing a mini-city in this location was fraught with many more issues than the value of the land or turf club members' votes. George Zivkovic, Northmead For the record, those who advocate development of Canterbury racecourse for housing need to understand that the racecourse, built beside the banks of the Cooks River, lies on reclaimed swamp; every time it rains, it returns to its mangrove origins. Recent housing developments nearby are pumping water out of their basements constantly and have rapidly dropped in value. John Bailey, Canterbury Unions: It's complex It's great to see the lid lifted on corruption in the CFMEU but unfortunate that it fires up those who demonise the trade union movement (' CFMEU confessions ', May 29). Unions have played a huge role in improving the lives of millions of Australians. Sadly, many younger people who have benefited from battles fought by previous generations are reluctant to belong to a union. I can't help feeling collective bargaining is becoming more important than ever as work is casualised or outsourced and AI threatens countless other jobs. Rob Mills, Riverview Regulators dozed off Caitlin Fitzsimmons' article exposes the deplorable service provided by Sydney Water and the EPA (' Forever chemicals in Sydney water ', May 28). Both agencies have been asleep at the wheel as these chemicals pollute our water and bodies. Remember how the EPA failed to act on radioactive materials at Hunters Hill many years ago, and we are still waiting for the same agency to identify the source of the asbestos spread in public parks and playgrounds. Maybe a royal commission into Sydney Water and the EPA would force management of both 'regulatory bodies' to do their jobs. Lin Sinton, Killarney Heights Taxing the wealthy Ross Gittins nails it once again (' Ignore rich men's super tax whine ', May 28) but omitted one important point regarding the alleged evil of taxing unrealised capital gains. Despite the fears that the sky might fall in if these gains were to be taxed, it should be remembered that a similar tax already exists – state Land Tax. It is levied annually on the unimproved value of property held (excluding the family home) above a specified threshold, even though the property has not been sold. It may not be a popular tax, but it forms an important part of the state's finances. Vince Taranto, Roselands Style over substance House sellers are not only ones being ripped off by the price of online advertising (' House sellers are being ripped off – and the ACCC is onto it ', May 29). There is also the expensive practice of 'styling' – in other words, convincing the vendor that the property will sell more easily or for a better price if there are 10 cushions on the bed. Add in the state government rip-off called stamp duty on a new purchase and it is no surprise a considerable proportion of the older generation do not consider downsizing. Stephanie Edwards, Leichhardt Lesson lost If Giselle Kapterian survives the recount, she will be immediately given a shadow ministry position. This will take her focus away from her electorate, which she barely knows, to her shadow position. And the Liberals wonder why Bradfield has become the ultimate marginal electorate? Years of neglect landed them in this position. They've learned nothing. Megan Pursche, Gordon Let the sun set Your editorial on the demise of the British Empire sets an odd jarring note of remorse that this has come about, when it should be a cause for rejoicing (' London lets the sun go down on the British Empire ', May 29). Professor Geoffrey Sachs of Colombia University says 'no country has done greater harm to the world than the British'. The results of British interference and British theft are still having repercussions today; our own ABC ran a show called Stuff the British Stole. A fitting farewell for the British Empire would be the nickname given to the Union Jack by Irish republicans – the butcher's apron. Denis Doherty, Glebe Sorry to rain on the glorious parade of the empire, but the afterglow you are witnessing is from the unresolved embers of the many fires created by Britain in its colonies. The natives may have received incidental benefits, but undoubtedly the biggest winner from colonialism was the British Treasury. Let's stop reading the history as written by the victors. Good riddance. Manbir Singh Kohli, Pemulwuy Problems loom for Ley Liberal leader Sussan Ley has already proven a more savvy politician than predecessor Peter Dutton (' Team sorted, now the hard graft must start ', May 29). I suspect the collective IQ of the opposition frontbench is at least double what it was. However, perhaps her smartest move was to appoint Jacinta Price to the outer ministry, where she will be forced to hold her divisive tongue. Ley owes voters a huge debt of gratitude for dispensing with Dutton, who would have been an albatross around the Liberals' neck. She might even have a reasonably credible opposition if she can keep the wolves in her party at bay and persuade David Littleproud to keep his ego in check. Perhaps the biggest challenges facing this fragile alliance are the twin issues of net zero and nuclear power, which appears to be an impossible task. This could result in the downfall of both leaders and the demise of the Coalition's hopes of a speedy recovery. Graham Lum, North Rocks Musk epiphany As an astute businessman (he is the world's richest man, after all), Musk should have known about Trump's preferences well before now ('' Disappointed' Musk splits with Trump, says key tax bill undermines DOGE ', 29 May). Tax cuts for the rich were already enacted in Trump's first term. This is just a continuation of that. His tariff policies were part of his election platform and have been telegraphed for many years. And making someone a 'whipping boy' implies that they are innocent. By contrast, DOGE seems to have merited all the opprobrium it has been getting. It would seem that Musk has been blindly following the cult leader rather than sticking to common business sense. Maybe the scales have belatedly been lifted from his eyes? Still, at least he should benefit from the tax cuts. David Rush, Lawson Silent not forgotten I know Coral Button's generation as the Silent Gen, of which my parents were members (Letters, May 29). 'Silent' characterised this generation. They experienced many hardships, especially deprivations linked to the Great Depression and World War II without complaint. The Australia we have today is built on their toil. We should all be grateful for the foundation their efforts laid for the generations that followed. Meg Pickup, Ballina Higher cause When I got an A in English throughout my non-selective high school exams sometime last century, it prepared me for getting my letters published in the Herald. No selective high school could have done better. Dorothy Gliksman, Cedar Brush Open for business I was never a big fan of US President Ronald Reagan's conservative brand of politics, but I do like this quote of his: 'Politics I supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realise that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.' Eric Palm, Gympie
New European
20-05-2025
- Politics
- New European
Letters: Tory members have killed their own party
Critical was the Faustian bargain Tory MPs made in allowing Boris Johnson to reach the last two, so going forward to the inevitable coronation from the membership. Tory MPs knew perfectly well that Johnson was without integrity, but allowed him to become leader anyway, for short-term electoral gain. Well, they got their reward, but reaped the long-term destruction of their party. Re: 'The Tories are dead' (TNE #435). I trace the root of the Conservative Party's decay (so ably chronicled in Matthew d'Ancona's piece) to allowing the members to vote for their leader. Apart from David Cameron, I think it's fair to say most of the subsequent choices have been either poor or disastrous. I presume it is now impossible for a 'One Nation' candidate to become leader, given that the membership will invariably select the least electorally suitable candidate. Martin Treacey Superb piece. Puts me in mind of my old MP, Dominic Grieve, an intelligent, thoughtful, and incredibly decent man (whom I never voted for, but I would today). Such figures are now as far from today's Conservative Party as the Earth is from the moon. RSP Zatzen Robert Jenrick will end up as Tory leader and do a deal with Nigel Farage, who will demand a very high price – he will want to be leader of a combined 'Conservative and Reform Party'. I guess as the decades go by that may get shortened to simply 'Conservative', and then younger generations without first-hand memory of the merger may treat it as a continuation of the Conservative Party of old. It will, of course, be very different, a bit like how Donald Trump's Republicans are very different to Dwight D Eisenhower's (or even George Bush's). A revolutionary rather than evolutionary change. David Roberts Matthew d'Ancona's obituary for the Tories is, I fear, premature. They are very much alive and as cruel, self-serving and misguided as always. The same policies. The same disgusting rhetoric. They just call themselves the Labour Party these days. Clive Foster Nottingham, Notts To celebrate, or not? 'The wrong way to celebrate VE Day' was a good and apt piece by Patience Wheatcroft (TNE #435). There is a difference between patriotism and nationalism which many fail to distinguish. I'm tired of these over-the-top jingoistic celebrations marking VE Day. It's part of looking backwards to a bygone 'golden age' when Britain 'ruled the waves'. Of course defeating Nazism and fascism was the right thing to do (my parents came to Britain as small children – German Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany), but it's time to move on. We are friends with Germany now and have been for many years. We desperately need a new relationship with the EU that lays the foundations for the new course this country will need to take in a rapidly changing world. Katherine Eisner Patience Wheatcroft deserves absolute praise. The painful and embarrassing union jack-adorned Mall last weekend was terrifying. Remember this was Victory in EUROPE Day. Where were the flags of our numerous allies and the countries that suffered under the yoke of abject nationalism? More column centimetres for Patience, please. Neil Davies Brixham, Devon I didn't enjoy Patience Wheatcroft's piece. The entire article had this running theme of shame for the idea that people would be happy to celebrate a monumental day of achievement for the allied nations. What is branded as 'zealous patriotism' adds up to face painting and waving a flag. The author rightly highlights the solemn experiences of the soldiers in both world wars and beyond, and we do in fact have a national day of mourning; Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday are a time of solemn reflection and mourning for the countless lives that have been lost in conflict. VE Day is important specifically because it is a celebration. It celebrates the end of six years of conflict that engulfed Europe and beyond, which culminated in the defeat of an evil fascist government and its conquest and subjugation of millions of people. VE Day is a pinnacle achievement that denotes the hardship and sacrifice that came before it. The current political climate isn't lost on any of us. The increase in support for Reform is concerning, the clear evidence that Britain is not great but is in fact in a state of managed decline isn't lost on anyone. VE Day is one of the few days of legitimate pride I believe we can feel as a country for doing something unequivocally good, for having something to actually celebrate and bring us together as a country. Antony Lee Labour's hollow victory Re: 'A complete unknown', by James Ball on Morgan McSweeney. The election Ming Vase strategy suggested there was a grand plan to protect. We now know there never was any plan. The government is as clueless as Liz Truss's government. That's one hell of an achievement. Guy Masters If anything, blame should have been levelled at Morgan McSweeney last July for the amazing lack of depth there was in Labour's 'victory'. It took years for the combined might of the Tories to make themselves unelectable. McSweeney has done it for Labour on his own in little time at all. Steve Buch Choosing your time The most inappropriate feature of Sonia Sodha's 'Assisted dying: a price too high' (TNE #435) was the emphasis she placed on her survey of SEND 16-year-olds. I know from personal experience that when you are in your 80s, your perspectives change, even if you have made it so far without any terminal or even threatening condition. Much more germane, then, is the experience related by Esther McVey MP of a visit to a care home in her constituency. While admitting to being instinctively drawn to the 'slippery-slope' side, to her credit she described how, in a discussion of the issue among the 50 or so residents, the question was put, 'When your time comes, would you rather it came in a setting, in company, at a time, and in a manner of your choosing, or to just let nature take its course?' How many takers were there for option B? One. Charles Baily Bedford, Beds Assisted dying is for people who are suffering in a way intolerable to them from a currently incurable disease that is likely to result in death within six months. The conditions covered by AD could be listed (and not include anorexia, for instance). No suffering is inflicted on a person who is expected to die in six months but dies slightly earlier. Huge suffering is relieved by allowing people to avoid some small part of the final agonies of cancer, dementia etc if they wish. Peter Basford Trump's strategy I think Paul Mason may have missed the point in 'A reality PM in a fantasy world' (TNE #435). Trump doesn't want a strong Europe. He knows Europe is stronger with the UK than without it, just as the UK is stronger in Europe than outside it. In doing a unique deal with the UK, Trump is not doing Starmer a favour – he is trying to do his best to ensure that the UK and Europe don't develop closer ties again. He is trying to divide and conquer. Dave Norton Market Rasen, Lincs No regrets, no respects A few years ago I went to Paris in the winter. I wanted to visit Père-Lachaise ('Where Paris goes to die', TNE #435). It was a snowy day, and on reaching the entrance, I was stopped from going in and told the snow meant only those attending that day's funerals could enter. I told the gamekeeper that I wanted to pay my respects to Edith Piaf, who had entertained me, live, when I lived in the city in the 1960s. The gatekeeper solemly looked down the list of those about to be buried and told me he could not see her name. He did not understand the laughter from those near me in the queue. Anne Page Death by another name Re: Nauseating neologisms (TNE #433 & #434): 'pre-loved', 'specially abled' and 'crossing the rainbow bridge' (which means dying). Carolyn Beckingham Lewes, Sussex Dire extinctions Philip Ball (Critical Mass, TNE #434) is, rightly, massively critical of the hype around Colossal Biosciences' de-extinction of the dire wolf. All the same, we are living at a time of mass extinction, where species are being lost at a rate of knots. Maybe some of the last species lost could be brought back to life by biotech engineering. But is that pointless without also reversing the causes of habitat loss and harm? Reintroduction of some species into the wild risks other species' extinction if we don't fully understand the food chain. If we can undead extinct species, we will do it selfishly – for us, not for them. Life is for the living, but bringing back the dodo is for the birds. Roland Lazarus Billericay, Essex History foretold I have just finished reading a novel about an American president whose new far right Republican Party has won a landslide victory. With control of both houses, he sets about amending the constitution to cement his power while taking control of the judiciary, security services and the media. That might sound familiar, but this novel was written in 1998. June, 2004 was written by historian Laurence W Britt and contains eerily familiar scenarios. America's supposed economic recovery is achieved at the expense of isolation, even leaving the UN. Britt has his own version of Fox News; accusations of wrongdoing are simply denied before 'alternative facts' are disseminated through friendly media. Former friends and colleagues are promoted to senior positions in the military, security services and the judiciary, while the president enjoys the loyal support of a fanatical Christian militia. Without spoilers, it is fair to say that the book's epilogue reads like a recent edition of TNE. The final paragraph features an op-ed in the New York Times: 'Abuse of power is the greatest threat to democracy because it is the first step on the road to the end of democracy. If abuse is left unchecked, or worse, endorsed, then the path to a totalitarian state is wide open.' Avoiding spoilers may prove academic, however. Getting hold of a copy of July, 2004 is not easy. After a few months of fruitless search in this country, I finally struck lucky through a secondhand bookseller in Texas. The idea of an administration amending the Constitution may have been a little too fanciful for many potential readers, but how chillingly prescient. If you can get hold of a copy, it really is a compelling read. Stephen Rodgers BELOW THE LINE Comments, conversation and correspondence from our online subscribers Re: Germansplaining on free speech (TNE #435). The old maxim 'I disagree with every word you said, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,' was first (rightly) modified to outlaw inciting violence, then inciting hatred. And in Germany, of course, it's always been important to clamp down on lies about the Holocaust. But have we gone too far now? And in doing so, handed over a 'victim narrative' to extremists? Maybe we all need to relearn the art of debate, including ridicule of obvious nonsense! Tony Jones Rats in a Sack (TNE #435) reports rumours that Labour are pondering whether to abolish the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Given that this would be a terrible idea both in terms of finance and vote-losing potential, Keir Starmer will probably adopt it immediately. David Morris I could not agree more with Marie Le Conte on old-school photography (Dilettante, TNE #435). Our very good camera stopped working and the parts to repair it were no longer available. We bought a tiny, cheapish replacement, with a connection to upload your photos to an iPad, in a package deal. The camera is smaller than many mobile phones and easily fits in a pocket. I use it on our holidays by just pointing and clicking at whatever looks interesting, particularly architecture. It is amazing when you look at them later and see things in them you did not spot at the time. Adam Primhak 'Plato and the piano' (TNE #434) was a wonderful piece by Emily Herring. I am a lifelong music nut like her, loving all musical genres, and took up the drums in later life. I especially love the theory and the journey in getting from point A to B through persistence and practice. And I constantly seek that wonderful state of mind when it feels like the instrument is 'playing itself', which I have been lucky to experience on several occasions. I heartily recommend the book Effortless Mastery by jazz pianist Kenny Werner, which was recommended to me by my drum tutor, for those interested in the mindfulness of music. Plus anything by Howard Goodall on the music theory side. Keep playing! Mark Brandon JOIN THE CONVERSATION Subscribe and download our free new app to comment and chat with our writers
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12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Starmer's tough policy on migration is the biggest con since Meg Ryan simulated an orgasm in a diner
Does Keir Starmer really want to reduce immigration? Does an alcoholic willingly hand over a vodka bottle? Our Prime Minister has never met an immigrant or asylum seeker he didn't like. The small-boat illegals who break into our country in their tens of thousands are all 'vulnerable people being ruthlessly exploited by vile gangs', as far as this north London human rights lawyer is concerned, no matter the cost to the British people in sexual assaults, acid attacks, diluted national values and culture, increased competition for public services and rental accommodation. We are supposed to believe the Labour leader who coldly threatened the protestors after the Southport massacre with harsh punishment for their 'far-Right thuggery' has had a Damascene conversion. (Protestors were not 'far-Right' at all, as an official report just concluded, they were simply distraught about what had become of their country now it contained maniacs from places where they machete small children to death.) Suddenly, two-tier Keir can't wait to impose tough new immigration rules: 'Without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together,' he intoned in that watery croak. Oh, please. Pass the sickbag, Marjorie. What a charlatan, what a shameless shape-shifter, what a snake. Keir Starmer is worried that Britain is at 'risk' of becoming 'an island of strangers'. KEIR STARMER! Keir Starmer, the open-borders champ who loses no opportunity to demonise anyone who dares to express doubts about Labour's beloved 'communities' full of such 'strangers'. Keir Starmer, who has voted against almost every measure to reduce immigration, opposing any attempt to deter illegal migration by processing arrivals offshore – like the unceremoniously-dumped Rwanda scheme. Keir Starmer, who won't authorise a national inquiry into the rape gangs lest it reveals the Faustian pact between his party and immigrants who have not only refused to integrate, but have played on liberal idiots like him so skilfully they are apparently able to rape white girls almost with impunity. Keir Starmer, whose government is drawing up a new definition of Islamophobia that could amount to a de facto blasphemy law – silencing people who would really rather their Christian country was not the Western capital for sharia law courts. Keir Starmer, the former shadow immigration minister to Jeremy Corbyn, who wrote in 2020: 'Britain is economically, culturally and socially richer as a result of immigration. We should celebrate this and the huge contribution migration has made to our country. If I am elected leader of the Labour Party, I will always defend migrants' rights and make the positive case for immigration. We must never accept the Tory or media narrative that often scapegoats and demonises migrants. Problems of low pay, housing and public services are not caused by migrants…' Of course not, heaven forbid! Keir Starmer who went on to criticise the Tory 'obsession with chasing arbitrary, unenforceable and unachievable immigration targets. I would never adopt such a target-based approach to immigration'. So it was goodbye to the hostile-environment approach, vowed Starmer. He planned to close 'cruel' immigration detention centres and relax the family reunion rules. Because people fleeing war or persecution 'should not face a lengthy and restrictive' process before they are reunited in the UK with 27 of their closest relatives and three of their wives who can't wait to claim benefits in Hounslow and take a flat from an indigenous family. (OK, he didn't say that last bit, but it's what his attitude means in practice.) Keir Starmer who, five years ago, said his approach to immigration was 'welcoming and compassionate'. Or soft, deluded, catastrophic and a threat to national security and everything we hold dear as voters who backed Reform UK at the local elections see it. Ah, yes, Reform. Make no mistake, behind the PM's new, tough-guy stance on immigration lurks the terror of his Government being swept away at the general election by a turquoise tsunami. (Just wait and see what Reform does to Welsh Labour at the Senedd elections next year; I hear that a large number of serving ministers are standing down for fear of Farage.) 'The Tories lost control of our borders and let net migration soar to record levels undercutting hard-working Brits, I won't stand for it,' said the PM in a cringeworthy, try-too-hard tweet. 'I promised to restore control and cut migration, and I'm delivering with tough new measures. British workers – I've got your back!' Ugh. Can we believe that the arch-globalist kissing cousin of Emmanuel Macron, the EU-philiac who did everything he could to engineer a re-run of the Referendum, is suddenly best mates with the workers who voted in their millions to be an independent, sovereign nation, taking back control of our borders? Don't be ridiculous. Keir Starmer is the biggest fake since Meg Ryan simulated an orgasm in a diner, and at least Ryan's performance hit the entertainment G-spot. Starmer's fills you with a kind of bemused contempt. Unfortunately for the Conservatives, the Labour leader is right about the scale of their betrayal – the deafening numbers admitted in the so-called Boriswave created vast and permanent demographic change and the Tories were rightly annihilated after letting in almost a million migrants within 12 months. It is all very well for Kemi Badenoch to say, as she did at the weekend, 'Our country is a home, not a hotel' when, in the final years of her party's 14-year rule, the UK was less a precious home and more a sprawling, all-inclusive Butlins. We were promised an Australian points-based system admitting highly-skilled individuals, not a salary threshold for admission so low it let in the (third) world and his wife. At least with their proposed 'Deportations Bill', the Tories show they realise they are on death row as far as the electorate is concerned. It's deport or die. The bill has provisions for the removal 'of all foreign criminals, mandatory age checks, tougher visa rules'. The Human Rights Act will be disabled for immigration cases, asylum support will be repayable and there is no permanent right to stay in the UK if you rely on benefits. All good, as far as it goes. But still no pledge to leave the European Court of Human Rights, essential if we are serious about controlling our borders and derailing the immigration-lawyers' gravy train. At this rate, Labour will promise to leave the ECHR before the Conservatives! Do you think I am being a tad harsh, ladies and gents, on the Prime Minister's stirring new stance on immigration? After all, there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents etcetera... I really don't think so. It is the work of decades to repair the damage excess immigration has done to our nation, and the longer it's postponed the uglier the reckoning will be. If you look at the Government's new measures, they are pretty paltry. A bit of tinkering with the length of time foreign students can stay without getting a good job, a ban on recruitment of overseas workers (unclear how, or indeed if, this would work), a reduction in the number of work visas that looks a lot better than it actually is, a toughening up of English language requirements which you just know will never be enforced. The NHS has already decided that expecting nurses to speak the language of most patients was 'discriminatory' . While the Government's white paper does agree that we should have a much more selective system, with far lower levels of net migration, the policies come nowhere near delivering that. Karl Williams, of the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, says it looks like Labour 'are aiming for between 200,000 and 300,000 immigrants per annum', as during the 2010s. 'While that's a two-thirds reduction on recent highs that's still extraordinarily high.' The Prime Minister has cunningly not set a cap on overall numbers, arguing that the failure of successive Tory governments to meet a series of targets 'undermined trust'. Hmm. Nothing like failing to set a target at all, Sir Keir, to pull the wool over the public's eyes, eh? The Office for National Statistics has predicted that net migration will settle at 340,000 from 2028, but some experts say that, with more people staying here longer, just over 500,000 is nearer the mark. Yet again, we see how the people are gaslit by their leaders to accept as totally normal levels of immigration which are far greater than at any time in our history, and ruinous for national cohesion and the wellbeing of those who were born here. Do the British people want an extra half a million foreigners, a city the size of Edinburgh, coming to their knackered, overstretched, increasingly ghettoised country every single year? I make that a resounding No. That is why Reform's 'net zero immigration' and pledge to deport all illegal arrivals while taking a draconian approach to the small boats is winning so many votes – they scored an astonishing 33 per cent in the most recent poll (Labour on 20 per cent, Tories on life support at 16). On that showing, the only party that can beat Reform is Reform. Starmer will live to regret his grandstanding on immigration as it becomes clear he's all talk and no action. In private, I'm told that ministers are relying on a significant fall in the legal immigration figures due to measures brought in by the outgoing Tory home secretary James Cleverly. Downing Street will be delighted to take the credit for that decrease and hope it placates the mounting public fury over uncontrolled immigration. Give the voters' little heads a reassuring pat, do next to nothing, quietly park the issue and hope that's enough to get them off your case. Sir Keir Starmer knows full well why Reform are surging in the polls, but the man has a profound distaste for implementing the measures that could help Labour close the gap. He adores immigration, he abhors borders, and he thinks his is the moral, enlightened view and the rest of us who don't agree are a bunch of bigots. Perhaps we could pay for him to have some of those English lessons so he understands the country he notionally leads? Instead of having the back of British workers, as he claims, Sir Keir is about to stick a knife between their shoulder blades while claiming to be a brilliant osteopath. It's a con. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
