Another article begins with an apology . . . and I can’t even blame the drink! But the fact is that I have more information on Extinction Rebellion (XR), including its Welsh roots. Well, not really Welsh, just in Wales, like so many of these buggers.
I was also sent something by a regular reader who’s been invited to a conference in Cardiff next month so he can sit for six hours being told that deep down he’d really like to be in the Ku Klux Klan. (I suspect he will not be attending.)
At less than 2,200 words this is quite a bit shorter than recent offerings.
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EXTINCTION REBELLION, AGAIN
In the previous episode I told you that ER was officially launched on October 31, 2018. But I didn’t tell you where, or by whom. The driving force behind the launch was Julian Roger Hallam, and at the time he was living on a smallholding in Carmarthenshire.
This WalesOnline report from September 2019 is headlined, “The Welsh farmer who became the mastermind of Extinction Rebellion“. Mmm. He may regard himself as a farmer, and he might live (part-time) in Wales, but if he’s a “Welsh farmer” then I’m a Chinese astronaut.
The second paragraph says, “His small 10-acre farm near Llandeilo sounded like something out of a John Steinbeck novel”. If the journalist is referring to The Grapes of Wrath then I must assume she hasn’t read the book.
But let’s not be too picky.
Hallam seems to have been elbowed out of XR when the others realised what an Olympic standard narcissist he is, who’ll say and do anything to draw attention to himself. And that includes trivialising the Holocaust.
Others have darker suspicions about Hallam, and XR. Touched on in ‘Roger Hallam – Extinction Deception‘, a long read but worth it for the insights it gives into the lunatic fringes of the environmental movement.
Here’s a taster.
Hallam is gone to Just Stop Oil or wherever, but Extinction Rebellion is still with us, hardly less extreme, and with its claws firmly into the so-called ‘Welsh Government’.
What follows either complements or supplements what I’ve already told you in Wales: Ruled By Pressure Groups and Wales, Idiots And Envirogrifters. So let’s try to pick up where we left off . . .
You’ll remember that Extinction Rebellion e-mailed Climate Minister Julie James July 13, 2022, and the message was headed: “URGENT REQUEST FOR A MEETING”. (Here’s a pdf version.)
There may have been no response because another e-mail was sent on August 1, and re-sent the following day. It’s worth picking out some points. (Here I may indulge in a little imaginative paraphrasing)
First paragraph. “OK, so we know you’re on holiday, and you’re probably surfing down Rhossili, but we gotta meet”.
Second paragraph: “This glorious summer weather gives us the perfect opportunity to scare people shitless by exaggerating the temperatures and pretending people are keeling over in Llandudno from sunstroke. We were appalled to hear your boss Starmer talk about ‘Growth’! Bloody hell! that’s the last thing we want on our Long March to turnip-munching medievalism”.
Third paragraph: “So get your skates on or Wales will not achieve the nirvana we just tantalised you with. Because if we can achieve it, then important people will flock here in private jets to fly over and admire Welsh people singing in close harmony as they work the collective turnip patch”.
In case you find some of the images I’ve just conjured up a little unsettling we’ll quickly move on to this document. Which was almost certainly influenced by XR.
It’s important for a number of reasons, not least because, as it runs from 2022 to 2026, it’s happening now. Or rather, and despite having ‘Public Engagement’ in the title, it’s a period in which others are making decisions for us, and around us.
For as it says at the foot of page 13 (and top of 14), in the section headed ‘Audience’, what the ‘Welsh Government’ is seeking is a partnership with pressure groups to spread the gospel of Net Zero to tackle ‘climate change’.
Though I’m not sure who else is on “Team Wales“.
I was also struck by the term “trusted messengers“. Which cropped up again on page 24, and again, with “Team Wales partners“.
But what really intrigued me about this section was the admission, at the end, that there is little public support for Net Zero. And that the ‘Welsh Government’ believes it must rely on it “partners“, like Extinction Rebellion, to push the message.
In fact, Julie James makes a very similar admission in her introduction, on page 7. (My emphasis.)
Delivering technology and infrastructure solutions to some of the key barriers to public action on climate change is also urgent. We know that households across Wales need affordable tools and solutions to make the change, and we know that many of these are out of budget-reach for many households.
XR doesn’t just have access to politicians, it also pokes its collective finger in the chests of civil servants. From reading XR”s own output I get the impression that these extremists can access all areas of Corruption Bay.
But the fundamental problem for politicians, civil servants and envirogrifters remains – saving the planet don’t come cheap. And when ignorance, apathy or half-hearted acceptance are replaced by outright hostility, when Dai Public realises how much it’s gonna cost him, then the whole scam is in serious trouble.
We are witnessing the first real signs of that with the growing resistance to the 20mph speed limit – even before it’s introduced. There will almost certainly have to be a big and face-losing climb-down.
I have more information on XR but much of it is in the form of screenshots which are out of context and undated. If I can put them into some kind of order I’ll return to the subject.
Though one thing that shines through clearly from the exchanges between the ‘Welsh Government’, Extinction Rebellion and others is that they’re desperate to give the impression of having consulted the public, and enjoy public support for their lunacies . . . without ever consulting the real Welsh public.
As I’ve suggested, it’s done by ‘consulting’ colleagues and sympathisers, assorted pressure groups and carefully selected ‘panels’, in order to give the required outcome.
It’s called ‘consultative democracy’. The term is misleading, and the process is undemocratic.
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SENEDD INSIGHT / THE KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE
I was surprised to receive a rather curious document that had been sent to a regular reader, inviting the recipient to attend a conference in Cardiff. (Here it is in pdf format.) You’ll see that it originates with summat called Senedd Insight.
Senedd Insight has a website. A Twitter / X account. And a Linkedin page.
Given the name, I naturally assumed that this outfit is in some way connected with our wonderful, talent-packed Senedd. But no.
Further perusal of the available information revealed that “Senedd Insight is a division of The Knowledge Exchange Group Ltd“.
Hold on for the ride!
The Knowledge Exchange Group has a website, and the company of that name is registered with Companies House. The address given, 1 Northumberland Avenue, off Trafalgar Square, sounds impressive. But we’re in the realm of “flexible office space“.
The latest accounts reveal a deficit of £96,089 and a debt with HSBC.
Until 2018 The Knowledge Exchange Group was known as Knowdata Ltd, and used an address at 18 The Ropewalk, in Nottingham. Which has a number of brass plaques, including one for an accountant.
So who’s behind Senedd Insight? Well, I can tell you it’s a one-man band, and that one man is named Neil Kamal Kharbanda.
Kharbanda had another company called Government Knowledge Ltd, formerly Government Knowledge Training Ltd. Which could have been the precursor to The Knowledge Exchange Group.
After it too relocated to Northumberland Avenue Government Knowledge went down the Swannee owing a lot of money. Over a hundred grand to HMRC. Disregard the “Intercompany Loans“, these are often imaginative attempts to salvage something from the debris. The ‘loans’ themselves may be entirely fictitious.
Neil Kharbanda had yet a third company, this was The Public Service Directory Ltd. It departed this Vale of Tears in May 2017, some £76,000 in the red.
At the risk of sounding unkind, that is not a business record to inspire confidence. But let’s give him a chance, what else can we learn?
Turning back to the invitation sent out, I have to say it looks quite impressive . . . if you don’t think about it too much. There’s certainly a lot of speakers, the usual mix of academics, third sector / pressure group chisellers and others reliant on the public purse.
There are one or two who don’t fit that description, such as, “Amari Smith-Samuel, Diversity and Inclusion Lead, Network Rail Wales & Western“.
But still, most of those attending will have their fees paid from the public purse. I mention this again because attending this festival of chip-on-shoulder ranting don’t come cheap. Here are the rates.
And, remember, it only runs from 9:30 to 3:30, with perhaps an hour for lunch.
Let’s average it out at £350 a head and say 200 attend, that’s £70,000. Even taking out fees for the speakers that’s not bad for a day’s work.
Of course the venue will need to be paid for, which raises another interesting point, because in the invitation received by my source the venue hasn’t yet been booked. It just says: “The full-day conference will take place in a centrally located conference venue in Cardiff. The venue will be confirmed shortly.”
That brings back memories, for I used to go to meetings like that back in the ’60s, often after a summons like this:
“We are meeting in Carmarthen on Saturday. Be in Nott Square at 11:07, with a folded copy of the ‘Ferret Fanciers Monthly’ in your left hand. There you will be approached by an Oriental female who will whisper the location of the venue into your right ear. Pay close attention because her English is poor and she has a lisp.”
Ah! but happy days!
Returning to the Knowledge Exchange Group . . . the latest accounts report a deficit of £70,000, yet it claims 17 employees at the “flexible office space” off Trafalgar Square. Can that be right?
Maybe they aren’t in London, for I think Neil Kamal Kharbanda of Northumberland Avenue is also Neil Kamal Kharbanda of GroData Solutions LLP in Delhi, India.
I believe they are the same man because Knowledge Exchange Group shows on the very basic GroData Linkedin page.
But there remains so much we don’t know, which is why I have a list of questions addressed to no one in particular. And in no particular order.
- Given the name, most people would assume a connection between Senedd Insight and Senedd Cymru. Is there a link?
- If so, what is that link?
- If there’s no link, how does the Senedd feel about its name being used in this way, for after all it is the only ‘Senedd’ in the world?
- How does the ‘Welsh Government’ feel about paying so much in fees, either directly or indirectly, to a man with a worrying business record?
- If asked, would the Senedd provide facilities for a Senedd Insight conference?
- Are all those speakers really signed up?
- Will the money made from this conference in September be used by Mr Kharbanda to pay off his debt to HMRC?
- How many conferences are there every year at which we, the Welsh people, will be excoriated by those whose salaries we pay?
If I had the time I’d contact the organisations for which the speakers work and ask why they’re supporting an event promoting ethnic differences and racial antipathies.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
I hate to be bringing more bad news, but come on, this is Wales. Where’s the good news?
Wales, where those who claim to run the country are clowns, and those who really run the show are fanatics like Extinction Rebellion. And then, feeding off this shit-show we have people like Neil Kamal Kharbanda.
Who, as we know, is not alone. Wales has more parasites than the mangiest, most flea-bitten creature on Earth. If Wales was a dog it would be put down.
There’s so much material here for Franz Kafka or Dario Fo if they were still alive. But they’re gone and so there’s no one to tell the world this tragi-comedy of leftist fuckwits given money every year and making a country worse than it was the year before . . . or the year before that . . . or the year . . . .
Think about that – more money yet they make things worse! There’s a special talent in play here. It should be studied by anyone wanting to run a country into the ground.
Because, unfortunately, that’s what’s happening to Wales.
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© Royston Jones 2023