ROD LIDDLE
It’s dead right to be up in armbands against woke Football Association
Guehi, Mazraoui and Morsy are heroes for standing up to the FA
THERE are probably more dense, craven, hypocritical creatures in the country than the people who run the Football Association.
Problem is, I haven’t been able to find them. I’ll keep looking.
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The FA is supposed to be a sporting body. It is also supposed to be totally apolitical.
But it spends its time grandstanding on woke issues. And doing the bidding of odious campaigning organisations such as Stonewall.
Schools, firms, companies and government departments are running away from Stonewall, by the way. For its extremist promotion of the transgender agenda.
But whatever Stonewall says, the dunderheads at the FA lap up. And it has got them into trouble, rightly.
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The FA had demanded that all team captains wear a stupid rainbow armband to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ etc, etc community.
That is, quite clearly, making a political statement. There is no other way to define it.
To their eternal credit, some players felt unhappy about this. And a handful decided to make a stand.
So Marc Guehi, of Crystal Palace and England, wrote on the armband: “Jesus Loves You”. Marc is a devout Christian. I can’t see what is remotely wrong with what he wrote.
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But the hypocritical FA gave him a slap on the wrist for promoting religion. Incredible.
How can they do that when THEY are promoting a political message? Marc’s dad, John, a minister, was furious. “This country is a Christian country, and we are reminded of that when we go into public buildings that have the royal coat of arms, which has the words ‘Dieu et mondroit’ [God and my right].
England star Marc Guéhi's talks about his father's faith and missing church on Sundays
“I back my son for what he did. He’s my son and, of course, I stand with him. I don’t see anything wrong in the message that was on his armband, do you?
“I haven’t had a chance to speak with him yet about it.”
Well said that man.
He also pointed out that Marc hadn’t refused to wear the wretched armband. Other players had.
One of them was the talented Sam Morsy, of Ipswich Town. Sam is part English, part Egyptian. And he is a Muslim.
So quite rightly he refused to wear the armband because it conflicted with his beliefs. But he got into no trouble. Because he’s a Muslim, not a Christian.
It was the same with Manchester United’s Noussair Mazraoui. He is a Muslim as well. The bosses at Manchester United planned for all the players to wear rainbow jackets.
You’d think they might concentrate on making United slightly less useless, wouldn’t you?
Anyway, Mazraoui refused, quite rightly. And so Manchester United dropped the idea. Again, there was no sanction.
Listen, as far as I am concerned, all three players — Guehi, Mazraoui and Morsy — are heroes for standing up to the FA.
Political campaigns
It is entirely wrong that the FA should force footballers to kowtow to a political belief which they do not share.
It follows the other brave players who stood up to the FA during its last bout of woke grandstanding. That horrible taking-the-knee business.
Credit, then, to Lyle Taylor (then of Charlton Athletic) and Wilfried Zaha (then of Crystal Palace) for making their objections known.
And for the likes of Millwall and Middlesbrough who ignored the injunction completely.
I think it’s time for the FA to decide, once and for all, that it will force no more political campaigns and slogans on the clubs, the players and the fans.
Concentrate on running the game properly. And leave the politics to the politicians. And the players to their consciences.
Kaur's arty car has got me all revved up
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CONGRATULATIONS to Scottish artist Jasleen Kaur. She has just won the world’s most stupid art award, the Turner Prize.
There was one piece of work that really caught the jury’s eye.
They said it showed “how we might live together in a world increasingly marked by nationalism and division”.
And what was it? A Ford Escort with a paper doily on top. Bingo!
I’m telling you, we ought to get in on this act.
I mean, the prize is worth £25,000!
Next year I’m going to submit a work that will, according to me, “help to fight racial prejudice and persuade nations to reduce carbon emissions”.
It will be a Fiat Uno with a tampon on top. Or perhaps a Renault Captur with a tin of chicken soup balanced on the steering wheel.
Bright hopes fading
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THE economy isn’t looking too bright, is it?
A new report suggests that companies are flooding away from the London Stock Exchange. Some 45 have de-listed this year – the most since 2010. Which coincidentally was the last time Labour was in power.
Inflation has stopped coming down. Which means interest rates are remaining high. And wages won’t be going up because of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ raid on national insurance.
Labour has managed all this in just four months.
Imagine what fun they are going to have for the next five years.
Power switch
Two of our elderly nuclear power stations are going to be kept open for a few years longer.
Hartlepool, which was due to shut down in 2026, will stay open for another year at least.
This is because Labour is worried our lights will all go off because of Ed Miliband’s obsession with wind turbines.
Listen, Starmer. Stop bunging pay rises to your friends in the public sector. And instead invest in a bunch of modular nuclear power stations. And secure our country’s energy security AND reduce carbon emissions.
Elon's party invite
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HERE’S my open letter to Elon Musk . . .
Dear Elon,
LOVE the cars and the space stuff, mate. And it was fun to see you getting behind Donald Trump. Always had a lot of time for you.
But I think you are making a miscalculation.
It’s been reported that you might donate £100m to Nigel Farage’s Reform Party. Don’t do it, Elon.
Nigel’s a decent bloke. But all Reform wants to do is hurt the Tories. And they are a major reason why Labour has such a majority.
If you want to hurt Labour, bung some dosh to the Social Democratic Party. Our aim is to replace Labour. And I think you’d approve of our manifesto.
Plus I’ll make sure we keep all the receipts and stuff. I look forward to hearing from you.
Best, Rod
THE health czars have got porridge in their sights.
Yes, that nutritious meal of rolled oats and hot milk.
It is one of the foods that is going to fall under the TV ad ban. With no adverts at all before 9 o’clock in the evening.
This is intended to deter da kidz from buying the stuff. Trouble is, da kidz don’t watch TV, so it is a waste of time.
Anyway, no more porridge for you. And you can forget about crumpets, too. They’re also on the list.
Just stick to raw kale and dust.
A GREAT idea from former Brexit Secretary David Davis. He has a plan to expand our army.
We have had terrible recruitment problems recently. And the world is getting more and more dangerous.
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David thinks we should form an army reserve of students. They would train and serve during their very long holidays. And in return, the state would pay off their ludicrously high student debts.
Makes sense to me – now over to you, Sir Keir.
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