Hodgson has built a platform for greatness, but can we deliver?

Going into the Euro 2012 championships was always going to be a tough task. We had injured players, personal tragedies and a manager that had only been in the job a couple of weeks. Nevertheless, there were some significant achievements from England, including holding off France, beating Sweden and winning the group. It was tragic to see England crash out once again due to penalties, but it was inspiring to see us hold off a great side like Italy for so long.

It was worrying to see so many chances fly towards Rooney, only for him to miss, stumble or botch the opportunity. If so much striking strategy is to be framed around one man, then at the very least he should be expected to take a shot at it.

Roy Hodgson has created a solid and professional platform for England. We performed much better than the humiliation we received in South Africa two years ago. Roy has the media and the British people onside. To continue to win this respect, he needs to work harder to get England to the next level. Euro 2012 will be remembered as a fairly good performance, going against expectations. By the time England leave for Brazil in 2014, fans will be expecting a much better performance.

Bloated Union Chiefs don’t give a damn about the Olympics

Another day, another major event coming up in the national interest, another excuse for those greedy Trade Union Chiefs to initiate a crippling strike. This time it’s over bonuses for bus drivers – yes bonuses – I repeat the word because to many hundreds of thousands of hardworking Britons the idea of a bonus seems a world away. In fact many of us are just glad to be in a job.

Union leaders love strikes, it’s their fulltime occupation to initiate mass walkouts, stir up trouble and do as much damage to the economy as possible. Without these tasks to fill their time then they could risk being found out - by that I mean the danger that their members might one day turn round and ask exactly what their six-figure salaries are for.  After all, it’s often the membership fee that covers their ludicrous salaries, which are spent on champagne at posh restaurants.  There is some hope - organisations like the Trade Union Reform Campaign exist to stop these selfish Union bosses wrecking the  country whilst on the payroll of the taxpayer, and that's a start.

But at a time when Brits should be coming together to get our economy working again, it really is depressing to see such an opportunistic money-grabbing manoeuvre initiated against the national interest. Trade Unions have a role to play, but as always the powers of the Unions are abused for the selfish interests of a wealthy elite at the top of them.

Jimmy Carr’s hypocrisy is no laughing matter

The revelations that left-wing ‘comedian’ Jimmy Carr has been dodging millions of pounds in taxes should come as no surprise, hypocrisy is the secret sauce that gives champagne socialists their rush of superiority.

Rewind just a few months back and you’ll remember Ken Livingstone’s tear jerking political broadcast with tag lines slamming high rail fares and the cost of living. Just like Carr, Ken Livingstone was also exposed as a tax dodger. In Ken’s case the situation was even more bizarre, he used a defensive tactic saying that most people would pay less tax if they could. He couldn’t seem to comprehend that by dodging his taxes, he was depriving the treasury of much needed revenues that could have helped fund the public services he claimed to support.

Champagne socialists seem born with an inherent belief of superiority. After years of attacking Tory toffs and inherited privileges, John Prescott decided it was time to enter the House of Lords. After years of criticising an unequal society, Polly Toynbee sent her kids to a posh private school. Ken Livingstone campaigned for ordinary Londoners, yet denied them revenues by dodging taxes. And Jimmy Carr parades himself as a champion of the left, but selfishly enjoys ludicrous tax schemes not available to millions of poorer people.

I don’t believe for one second that these individuals don’t know what they’re doing. In many cases they actually seem to thrive off the flack they take from being labelled hypocrites, it fosters a sense of superiority because they can say one thing and do another, the normal rules don't apply to them. What a power rush that must be.

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Stylist Nicky Clarke Warns Rooney Over Carroll Hair Product

A perfect example of rapid response media coverage popped up on my computer screen this afternoon following yesterday’s bone crunching game against Ukraine. In the post-match interview, newly returned England striker Wayne Rooney revealed to the world that he borrowed some of long-haired teammate Andy Carroll’s hair product before the match.

Other tabloids covered the story with headlines suggesting that Rooney eventually wanted long hair like Andy Carroll. But this afternoon Rooney was officially warned that using his Andy’s product could make his hair greasy – by top hairstylist Nicky Clarke who counts several A-list celebs amongst his clients.

For a full online hit on the Telegraph, I’d say this was a nice example of positive, off the cuff press coverage.

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Brits Won’t Warm to a Wet Flannel Like Ed Miliband

The news is breaking that a leading Labour Party Councillor has dumped the party, branding Ed Miliband as a poor leader and a wet flannel.

The description is particularly damaging to the embattled opposition leader because it has a distinct ring of truth. Even Lord Sugar’s top aide has previously mocked Red Ed’s weak and wet handshake in the national press.

Like Neil Kinnock, Ed has a serious image problem and one which could well cost him the election, even against an unpopular Government.

Wayne is Back, but can he Roo it?

Tomorrow evening sees the historic clash between England and Ukraine, and Wayne Rooney will be back. However, some impressive performances from Andy Carroll and Danny Welbeck mean there is a lot to live up to. As we mentioned recently, Roy Hodgson has got England off to a terrific start with everything to play for.

Let’s hope Rooney can put the ball in the back of the net and send us on our way to the quarter finals.

The Three Lions Roar Again

With only a few weeks in the job and virtually no time to train the team, our man Roy Hodgson has done us proud. Ever since the names of Group D were announced there was much speculation that England would fail to beat tough teams like France and reach the quarter finals. To add to our woes, top team members like Lampard and Rooney were held back due to injuries and match bans. It’s now true that England could go through to the next round with a mere draw against Ukraine next Tuesday. But with Rooney back and a confident team established from a mixture of solid football tactics and touches of magic, a victory would provide us with the momentum we need to go all the way. This morning’s papers (and as always, I’ve read them all) make reference to us going to hell and back last night. Last night’s victory over Sweden wasn’t as smooth as we’d have liked, but then again, this is England. Tweet

Come on Roy, Do it for England

This afternoon England will be playing France in their opening game of Euro 2012. At the centre of this historic battle is newly appointed Chief Roy Hodgson who will undoubtedly become the fall guy if the lions don’t deliver. So far, the former West Brom manager has seen his chosen team suffer a plague of bad luck, from stomach bugs, personal tragedies, injuries to suspensions. Yet this evening the England team has a chance to make a fresh start.

One only has to rewind back to the days of Steve McClaren to see how cruel the press can be when things don’t go England’s way. Everybody is saying what a tough game it’s going to be tonight, and that’s all the more reason for our boys to show the country, and the world, that the lion is ready to roar again.

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Why Champagne Socialists like Prezza ALWAYS get angry on other people’s behalf

By Steven George-Hilley

It was a shocking tale of vile exploitation of vulnerable workers during the Jubilee celebrations. Unemployed staff had been treated like slaves, forced to sleep under a bridge in damp conditions in scenes described by the former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott as resembling a Labour Camp. The scandal broke on the front page of national left-wing newspaper The Guardian, citing at least two unnamed sources who were so overworked and distressed they felt they needed to speak out.

This morning, however, a very different picture of the events began to emerge, as another newspaper revealed that many of the workers had a ‘great time’. A volunteer steward said,  ‘Organisers found somewhere for us to shelter, and said that if any of us wanted to get into our sleeping bags to keep warm, then we could. Most of us just stayed up chatting. It was a good laugh, and we had access to the portable loos the whole time.’ The steward added that the company paid of his licence and NVQ in crowd safety, provided boots worth £80 and a uniform, claiming that the deal equated to around £45 per hour.

It seems that whenever a decent scheme is created to help young people get a foot on the ladder, Labour cannot resist stepping forward to trash it. Rewind only a few months and you’ll recall the positive Workfare programme, designed to help unemployed youngsters into work, being torn apart by phoney expressions of outrage and carefully planned protests by those on the left.

What may surprise wealthy politicians like Lord Prescott however is that contrary to what he may believe, people often like a bit of elbow grease, especially when it comes packaged with assistance for academic courses and proper equipment.  By hijacking the Jubilee celebrations with a barrage of ludicrous and counterproductive allegations, Prescott has tried - and failed - to tarnish a positive weekend of national celebrations in a shameless example of political point scoring.

You see, getting angry on other people’s behalf is what people like John Prescott and Bob Crow simply have to do. If they didn’t get angry, then how could they justify their ludicrous salaries? How could they justify their top roles in public life? How could they justify their positions as leaders of the champagne socialist movement? Take away Lord Prescott’s phoney outbursts of anger and you are left asking, what really is the point of him?

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A Tribute to Polly Toynbee, the self-appointed Queen of Socialism

Community spirit - celebrations

By Steven George-Hilley

Last night, Britain was graced with the infallible opinion of her Royal Highness, Polly Toynbee, Queen of Socialism and owner of the luxury holiday homes in distant lands. It turns out that our dear Polly considers the Jubilee celebrations as a “mirage of nationhood,” even going so far as to ask, “What’s to celebrate?”

This is doubtless a baffling question for the hundreds of thousands of people, from all cultures, backgrounds and walks of life, who will be coming together for community street parties over the weekend to celebrate the occasion. But, wherever you go someone is looking to spoil the party, and the Guardian’s token socialist never misses a chance to rain on the parade.

What’s most distressing about Toynbee’s article is that she struggles to hide her sheer dislike for the traditions and values that unite people across our country. Her mocking tone about ‘royalists’ stinks of a deep rooted jealousy and dislike for a well liked Queen, who is looked up to and respected by the majority of the land.

Perhaps even more shocking is her bizarre attempt to link the event to Christianity, typecasting our monarchy against religious iconography straight out of a dusty history book. But this assertion completely ignores the many different faiths that will be uniting over the weekend under one simple banner of British unity and mutual tolerance and cohesion.

Toynbee seems completely oblivious to the parallels between the wealthy Royal family and herself. She attacks privilege and the idea of ‘blue blood’, whilst simultaneously believing state school is not good enough for her own bloodline, choosing to send her children to an elite private school. Likewise, she enjoys the privilege of relaxing in a luxury villa (her own Balmoral), whilst many of Britain’s poorest people struggle to find decent Council accommodation. She may snigger at the Queen’s annual address to the public, yet she happily preaches her own muddled view of the world to her subjects via her column in a national newspaper.

Socialists like Toynbee, who are born with an inherent belief of self importance and superiority, will never understand the values that underpin celebrations like the Diamond Jubilee. At the core, this weekend’s events aren’t really about the Queen and the monarchy, it’s all about celebrating the shared values and traditions that make Britain such an amazing place to live. 

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