Hello and welcome to UK Column studio #2 So it's a great
pleasure to bring you into this studio because it's relatively
relatively recent edition for the UK Column.
And I'm delighted to be joined today by Gemma Cooper.
And Gemma and I are going to talk about festivals because UK
Column team have been to quite a few festivals over the years.
We're delighted to get invitations, we've enjoyed them
all. The weather has been different
in as much as we've experienced, everything from blue sky and
sunshine to some quite strong winds and heavy rain, but
nevertheless they're a a lovely environment and of course
recently we went to Sounds Beautiful in Dorset.
What a location, Gemma. Oh, it was just absolutely
stunning. I was really aware that Sounds
beautiful was in its kind of first inception at that location
last year and how successful it was.
And I thought and everyone was really raving about it and I
thought, well, you know, there's but there's a lot of freedom
festivals now. Thank goodness.
We all need them. But when I got to Gaunts Estate,
I was like, oh wow, it really was really was beautiful and and
such a lovely place for like minded people to get together,
relax, be away from the matrix, you know, and be with like
minded people. And there was no screens, no
heart didn't see, no phones. I mean, it was just a wonderful
place to be away from, from the world and all the robots running
it, you know, it was great. Yeah, the world's an an
increasingly mad world. And from my experiences at the
the festivals is that you can absolutely relax because anybody
that's there, you can chat to them about any subject you like
and you can have a good conversation.
There are serious conversations, there are amusing conversations,
there are personal conversations, but people are
talking and interacting. And as, as we'll hear in one of
the clips, somebody is sort of saying, you know, could it be
like this all the time? Isn't it So wonderful events?
And we are very grateful to the Sounds Beautiful team for
putting on that event in Dorset. Now, you spent some time taking
some film footage, which is we're going to watch and we're
going to share with our viewers today.
But tell us a little bit about your approach to making that
little film and who did you have assisting you?
Well, I was really lucky I had Steve Jeffries from Edge of the
Matrix, who's getting a huge following on, on his YouTube
channel for the work he's been doing.
He's self taught and taught himself 2020 onwards and how to
use it. Then he's become a, a brilliant
cameraman and, and shoot edit. He's really good.
And he was, and I said, do you fancy making a little film?
You know, of, of, of sounds beautiful, 'cause that's, that's
my background. You know, I'm a broadcast
journalist and reporter, as it were.
And he said, yeah, he jumped at the charts, especially to make
something for the columns. So we went out with the camera
and we just tried to really capture a flavour of how good it
was and, and the vibe, you know, which is quite difficult to do
through a screen, you know, capture the vibe.
But you know, we'll leave it to the for you to judge.
But I think we, I think we did a good job.
We tried to capture the music, the atmosphere, of course UK
columns place in the festival and what UK column was there to
do. And what UK column did do there,
which was, you know, take over the the talk tent for for a
couple of hours on the on the Sunday.
And we just went off and had a lovely time and everyone was
really friendly and it was great.
Yeah, it was a lovely thing. And I think back to my old
career in the Broken Biscuit Company, and it wasn't always
like that, you know, it wasn't always as relaxed.
It was, you know, and often we'd, you'd get sent out with an
agenda, even if that one was in your own head because of where
you were working. But this was like, we're not
going to have an agenda. We're going to go out filming.
We're going to see what happens. We're not going to try and
curate it. We're just going to capture it.
So yeah. Yeah, it was really good.
And what was your description of the BBC?
The Bad Biscuit. The broke slang, isn't it?
There are many anachronisms now for the BBC.
The most polite one you're allowed to use it is Broken
Biscuit Company. There are others, but that
they're not for broadcast. No, OK, But just for just for
people who who who watch this video so that they understand
that's the background that you're talking about.
So, yeah, fascinating. And I think we should also give
your cameraman a special mention because he's, he's pretty unique
in that he's, he was Royal Navy and he achieved a Green Beret at
that time doing some, you know, special training and work.
So credit where it's due. Oh, yeah.
I mean, it's just like, yeah, you know, he was in the in the
military and then fire service. And he's done a lot of
interviews himself. So all this is out there in the
public domain. And then 2020 came and he could
see through it straight away, especially in the fire service.
And and he'd seen agendas creeping in, I think to the fire
service. He didn't put words in his
mouth. But as I say, he has spoken out
about this before. And then 2020 came and he just
thought, right, I can't, I can't live like this.
Can't live while everyone's telling me Liv and went off and
did his own thing. And he's he's doing really well
with it. And just goes to show, you know,
out of trauma and tribulations and all the stuff we went
through, how many people are now leading different lives?
Yeah. Absolutely true.
Well, let's share your video production with the audience and
then we'll come back on screen and we'll have a little chat.
In a field in Dorset, the Freedom Community gathered truth
seekers from all over the UK at the stunning Gaunts Estate all
together for a weekend of revelry and relaxation with like
minded people. While the mainstream juggernaut
of Glastonbury Festival was going on 50 miles up the road,
here was an entirely different celebration.
People defying the establishment, not bowing to it.
People living in the moment, not on social media.
After the tremendous success of Sounds Beautiful last year,
organisers Wendy and Steve rolled up their sleeves and
decided to do it all again. You don't think you're going to
be able to do it, but then you, the festival births itself and
then you, you forget. So after the festival, you relax
and go. Wow.
We did it and then you forget for another year and you need
that year in between, really, believe me, to be able to do it
all again well. I was about to say, will you do
it all again? Well, we'll wait and.
See. I'm I'm up for it.
Some of the biggest performers and activists in the alternative
community were here. And many who were here showed
it's possible to build systems outside the matrix.
And of course, there was UK Column.
People came in to meet the team, talk about the state of our
world and what we can do to fix it.
The highlight of the weekend was the recording of UK Column News
in front of the live festival audience.
It wasn't a word so an idiot can understand, yet they're geniuses
in my opinion. I'm a devotee.
Very good presentation. I mean they always speak utter
sense as far as I'm concerned. So and things that we need to
hear in a very kind of straightforward down to earth
way because we can get. Tied up in all the little bits
and we need to understand the real problem.
And they do just brilliant job planning.
Made me feel I've got a community, I've got a group that
I can be part of and we're not, we're not sort of totally on
different lines, we all. We all understand that, which is
so difficult sometimes that even in what we created in the last
five years, there's there's sections of them that have
reverted back to the establishment when it comes to
that. And so you feel like, is it just
a few of us to see through that? And instead here you feel with
UK column, especially stepping out like this, you feel that
we're kind of all on the same page.
I was very impressed with the level of knowledge that they all
had and it's certainly given me food from, I thought, especially
regarding the techniques that the government use to publicise
crap about everything. I felt it was an excellent
presentation, in fact I'm going to be watching UK column because
I've only seen snippets of it before but it's very well
researched and I liked all the research they did but they made
it user friendly. 11:00 The first, first act on in the tent,
I was like, that's a bum deal. That should be like a bit
further on in the afternoon when everyone's around, but it's
rammed, isn't it? So I think, I think the UK
column crowd are very loyal and they're very, they're very
passionate and I think they they support you don't they like with
a lot of love, they could feel a lot of that.
You know, a lot of support. It was packed, I couldn't get a
seat. I was on the outside looking in
as usual. I, I, I've always supported UK
column for many years. They've been warriors for 20
years. Maybe you sit down, I don't
know. It's about, it feels a long
time, always relevant, which I like.
And they always show evidence. They go into depth.
They they raise questions that you don't think about.
The UK column team did not stop the whole weekend.
New friends were made and old ones greeted.
Events like this important for connection and camaraderie.
Everybody here so far has been very friendly and curious.
They want to know what's going on in the world.
So to see that marquee full of people who come see UK column
news was utterly brilliant. And it was obvious, it was just
obvious by their demeanour that they were engaging with us as we
delivered the news. So yeah, it's been, it's been
wonderful. It says, it says that we're
reaching people and they, they really appreciate coming to see
us, you know, for real instead of, you know, on a, on a screen.
And I think that's really important that the, the column
come out and do these events because it's, it's lovely.
I've had loads of people come up to me today and ask me questions
and have a chat and it's, it's really nice that people are, you
know, we did have a pack tent 11:00 on a Sunday morning.
It's really it's, it's really good sign.
There's a new audience has come as well, which has got to be,
you know, so some people that were here last year have given
this year a miss. They'll come back next year, but
there's new people here this year as well.
So you know, this has got to be an indication of of the growing
numbers. I think any opportunity to get
out and talk to people wherever you are is is fantastic.
And I think this place is I'm, I'm slightly biassed being a
countryside lover, but but to be somewhere that's surrounded by
such beautiful woodland and pasture.
And I would say to see an environment that looks like it
should and then to stick people in the middle of it who are
certainly not of the same mind, because that would be fairly
dull. But people who share values and
all the rest of it, it's just, it's lovely.
And I think it's gone very well for us.
A lot of people would say, even people here have said to me, oh,
well, this is great. But it's an echo chamber.
You know, it's just the, it's the truth community or the
freedom community or whatever getting together.
So I would, I would reframe that to do reframing exercise.
It's more like a team. This is like a team meeting.
Soon it will be back to the studio and office for the UK
Column team, but the memories of this weekend will be with us for
a very long time. Gemma Cooper with Steve James,
cameraman for UK Column in Dorset.
There we are wonderful little clip and I'm going to say Gemma,
a huge thank you for you putting that together, not only as a an
advert and a a promotion for Sounds Beautiful itself, but
also for the UK column. And before it goes out of my
head, I want to say I I really love those opening drone shots
because I think that was fairly early in the in the event and
you you the tents are starting to arrive.
The cars are there some people there, but just that beautiful,
peaceful scenery and that's what captured people.
I think it is. It's not like driving into a big
flat field and that's all there is there.
You've got this slightly rolling countryside and then the main
arena is is set down in a very slight valley.
Valley isn't it? The foot of a valley.
Yeah, and I think it's I, there's a couple of factors
because the atmosphere of the place is quite unique and I'd
never heard of Gaunt's house, which is where it was at
Wimborne, Wimborne, St. Giles, I think it was in Dorset.
And so I did a bit of background research on Gaunt's House and
it's run by this amazing man. I didn't meet him on the
weekend, but I thought it's it just shows how somebody's energy
goes into a place. And they only rent out to people
that they kind of agree with the philosophy of what they're doing
because they could hire out to corporates and make millions,
but they don't do that. They only hire it to people
whose philosophy they agree with and they run all these
alternative workshops and events at other times of the year just
at Gordon's house, all on the theme of personal inner
development. So whoever this man is, whoever
the team are there, they're clearly really switched on and
that energy has permeated into the grounds.
I, I really could feel there's something special about this
place. And then you've got the other
thing, which is just sheer natural beauty, the way that the
the grounds have been created and curated and, and it's we
need that more than ever now because we are glued, glued to
technology when the irony is we're now in a studio and we're
going to be broadcasting how wonderful the festival was from
a screen to you at home. But it's really about being
there. And so the double whammy of the
feeling of the energy of the team behind Gaunts Estate and
feeling their intention and then just being with nature away from
the screens. I didn't see anybody holding up
mobile phones to film the band. People were just watching the
bands, you know, and. They they very relaxed, but this
is a very good point. You can watch this video.
We're very pleased if you do. But but actually the whole thing
is being there in the open in that country environment with
the people. That was spectacular and I also
want to say it really tremendous for the UK column team to be
able to meet people who've given us support over many years.
Some we've met before at other events and some absolutely new.
So people come and introduce themselves and say they're
supporters and it's yeah, it's a lovely experience.
And I always find it particularly good talking to
people and understanding a little bit about who they are,
where they've come from. In particular how they found the
UK column. And, and it was lovely in your
clip to hear the complimentary comments from people who'd sat
in the little marquee and heard our delivery of UK column news
at that festival of events that that was fun.
It was, and what I thought, and I think it was reflected in what
the, the video we've just seen is how many people at the, at
the festival were there to see the column.
And they all turned out, bearing in mind it's on the last day of
the festival, it's 11:00 in the morning, you know, so a lot of
people nursing, you know, possibly a few saw heads.
And the tent was packed. And that to me spoke, spoke
volumes. You know, the acts of the facts.
Look how people behave, not what they say.
And everybody flocked to to the tent.
It was a packed house. And that is indicative of the
support that the column has got and the strength of loyalty that
people have for for us and what we are doing.
Because I think sometimes, you know, it's easy for us sometimes
to think, are people still getting it?
Do they do they like what we do? And, and clearly the answer is
yes, which is great. And that's, I think, as you
rightly say, the column has been to other festivals.
That was before my time. But I I understand you get the
same reaction wherever you've been over the last few years.
Yeah. It's true.
And occasionally when you're at a service station or you're
driving somewhere and somebody comes up to you and says I think
you are Brian Garish, Mike Robinson.
And, and it turns out that somebody who watches the UK
column news is recognised as that happens quite frequently
now to an extent that it gives us, it gives us some idea of our
reaching audience because a lot of people say to us how big is
the UK column audience? And it's very difficult for us
to tell because we've been so heavily censored, YouTube in
particular, when we were easily getting 100,000, well close to
because we would do 100,000 YouTube silver disc isn't it?
I think you'd get for 100,000. And we were very, very close to
that. And then all of a sudden we were
censored. But if you travel around the
country and somebody stranger you think approaches you and
says I know who you are, and I watch the UK column, that is,
that's really quite something. Unless it's 77th Brigade, I know
who you are and I watch the column.
Well, we, we try not to get, we try not to get dragged into the
deep stuff. Yeah.
Now I was lucky enough to be able to do a couple of
interviews with people, more than a couple actually with
people who were at the at the event.
And we decided that if we did some interviews, we try and make
it very casual, very relaxed. And so we had a very simple set
up of a camera and a microphone and a couple of camping chairs
in the UK column tent. And we've just chosen 2 because
these are two people who were particularly focused on the UK
column and why they're supporters of the UK column.
And you and I, we're going to have a look at those clips and
again, we'll comment on them, but just absolutely lovely to
sit and have those large, well, impromptu sort of interviews,
conversations and learn what makes people tick.
Absolutely. And and learn, as we'll see in
the first clip we're about to watch, you know, what brought
people to the column and I think that will resonate with a lot of
people. If you're watching at home this
I think the first interview will resonate with many people of how
they found the column. Indeed.
So we'll show the first one, which is my interview with a
lady called Mary. And I'm smiling as I do this
because I found A very amusing. But also incredibly astute.
So let's see Mary in action. Mary, thank you very much for
joining me. Here we are in the UK content,
as I'm sure everybody can see from our backdrop and the
banners that are around us today, we're all made by a very
keen supporter, Jenny, who we're very grateful to.
Mary, you wandered in a few minutes ago and we were having a
little bit of a chat about what was going on in the country and
things, and then I had the opportunity to speak to you.
So you're Mary? Mary.
How long have you supported the common?
Since the lockdown, actually I was going quite insane.
A girlfriend, a friend of a friend actually phoned me and
said how's it going? And I said not terribly well.
I resigned from my post with Cranston.
I hope they don't mind me mentioning that.
But big or huge organisation? And what sort of organisation
was that? Drug and alcohol treatment.
They, they had a detox in city roads, which is quite famous
really, that sadly that's closed.
In fact, there isn't a detox in London anymore.
Brian. Yeah, and they had dry houses,
supporting houses, rehabs, you know, it was a very big
organisation, which baffles me as something can be charitable
organisation and profit making. That never makes any sense to
me, but mine isn't the reason why.
Anyway, I resigned at the end of 2019 with a plan and I was going
to have Christmas with my son and then I was going to go out
to Southern Asia to visit my daughter, who's in Thailand.
She was in Chiang Mai. I've been to Thailand, but I
haven't seen Chiang Mai. She was working in a rehab.
I started hearing about this COVID-19, didn't take much
notice. I did have a concern.
Supposedly it started in China. She's in, she's in Thailand.
She's surrounded by it if it exists.
But yeah, I, I kind of ignored the situation.
All of a sudden they started closing boulders and grounding
flights and etcetera, etcetera. So I thought, OK, that's that
plan out the window. I'm really quite highly
qualified 20 years in in that game and I'll do some
volunteering. And there was absolutely
nothing, just absolutely nothing.
There was no support for people that were in recovery.
It was a very, very sad situation.
A lot of people died from the lockdown.
I've got first hand experience of that.
Anyway, time's going on. I'm trying to violence anything,
anything, food banks, absolutely anything.
St Mango's, you know, Turning Point, absolutely anything.
Nothing was happening and I just felt more and more isolated.
Nothing made sense. You know, they say that it's a
very small thing that triggers and it and it is.
My brother and I were trying to play tennis to stay sane and
they locked the tennis courts. So we took the padlocks off.
So they took away the Nets. You know as well as I do, Brian,
you can't play tennis without social distancing.
Even if you're playing mixed up always, you've got one on the
net and one on the base. Similar.
Everything that they was telling us to do was absolutely contrary
to staying healthy. No sunshine, no vitamin D, no
exercise, no no mixing with it was just crazy.
A friend of a friend, I was very lucky, phoned me.
How you doing? Not terribly well, she said.
You've got to go on one of the marches, you've got to speak to
like minded people or you will go and sing you.
You've got to come on one of the marches and that's and I went on
the March and then I got the Light newspaper.
From The Light newspaper I discovered UK Column Radio.
That's lovely, yeah. Yeah, and that was, that was how
it went on. I, I then fortunately A fellow
phoned me and and said how's it going?
No, not terribly well. And I got a job, I got a job
with their Hep C trust and I was seconded to the NHS, which is a
whole nother story, Brian. So you saw things, you started
to see things from the inside, from the.
Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.
We're we're all working for big pharma.
NHS is a logo now and, and it's really sad what's going on.
It's just absolutely unbelievable Brian, it's our
money. It's just unbelievable.
And I was fed up with driving an ambulance in January of this
year. I decided to retire because, you
know, you start to get a feeling that you're complicit in this
and it's not a very good feeling.
You know, the whole situation has been absurd.
It's not gone away. You can't speak.
You can't say what you think. It's whisper, whisper.
If your views get known, it's going to cost you your job.
But I've got colleagues that used to say to me, if these
people really know what knew what I really think, Mary, are
to lose my job. Yeah, you would definitely.
Yeah. He's to say, you know, the only
advantage that we have is we've got an S&M situation and we know
exactly who they are and they don't know.
Yeah, there's a really interesting point, isn't it?
We got to the stage where just for speaking your own mind, not
not even being rude or aggressive, but if you speak
your own mind on certain policies, you are at risk of
losing your job. And that is a major change in,
in this in this country. The whole morality of this
country has changed dramatically and it's certainly in the last
20 years, I think. So you discover the UK column.
I'm keen that we can just put a little bit back to our audience.
What? What?
What did the column give you or what did you you've joined US1
Yeah. Why?
Why did you decide to support us and become a proper member?
Well, you can't listen to the BBC.
Well, you can if you don't lose your sense of humour.
Yeah, it's, it's most entertaining when you can see
right through it. The UK column alleviated some of
the isolation. When you think, when you think
you're the only person who thinks the way you do.
It's a bit like waking up in the Matrix.
It's, it's isolating. It's frightening.
You know, I've, I've, I've got children that sometimes listen
to them and think, well, how did they get brainwashed?
They've got me as a mother. How did they get so brainwashed
and. Give you the answer to that.
It's news on the hour, every hour, which of course is the BBC
mantra. And I can remember when he was
alive, my father saying to me one day, why do we need the news
every hour? And of course the answer I
should have given him at that time is because Dad, they are
drunk trying to brainwash us and they need to drill it in every
every hour. They've been extremely
successful. Yeah, there's no two ways about
that. And you know, I do say to
people, I don't watch. I don't, I don't, I try not to
read any, you know, mainstream media at all.
Although I do like the Daily Mail.
He Little John still makes me laugh.
Although there was a time when my sense of humour went, went
out with Little John. Richard.
Little John's amazing. But, you know, it got to the
point where when something so real, it ceases to be funny,
although most of the time when you know, this, this couldn't
make it up is good. And I think Peter Hitchens is an
amazing journalist. So I do, I do, but and and it
makes good. I've got a real fire.
So it's antsy for the fire. But the BBC just just, it's,
it's absurd, outrageous. I use the word outrageous
because every time I'm hearing reports from them, it is so
biassed, it's so manufactured. So I, I, I do, I do hear a
little bit of BBC, usually the radio, but I can't tolerate that
Mike Robinson will listen to it because he says I listen to it
and find out what they're saying and doing.
But I actually find I'm going to say it makes me feel ill.
I, I go into a hotel now and you know, inevitably in the, in the
main room or the bar area, there's a big TV screen and you
can't even relax in that sort of environment without the BB CS
news appearing on a vast TV screen.
It's it's outrageous. And did you know when I first
joined UK Column News? Because I was a bit
apprehensive. I'm not the most techie savvy
person in the world. It's not my generation.
And I tried to pay through PayPal, right, and it stopped.
Yeah, they cut off the payment. Well, this is something which
does happen to our members and, and it's it can be very
frustrating, particularly for Mike who sorts a lot of this
stuff out. But yeah, people are having all
sorts of problems and it's nothing to do with us.
It it just happens. And you say, is it is it
accidental or is it is deliberate?
We don't know. But you're not the only one that
that it happens to is is very strange situation.
Yeah. Just a few minutes ago, you you
said to me that we'd kept you sane during that period of the
lockdown period. And I said to you that this was
something that from time to time people do tell us in the column.
And the last time we've been to events like this, camping and
and music and socialising, people come into the little UK
column shop tent and they often say, can I have a hug?
And when they've had their hug, they say, you kept me sane.
And some of them were clearly in a really bad position.
Yeah. And we did something during that
COVID time that resonated with people.
So it's definitely. I'm glad you found us.
Me too. Yeah, me so.
Last couple, couple of comments just on the event here, which
sounds beautiful. So have you been to one of these
things before? Never.
So what made you come to this one?
I wanted to meet you, Brian, to be honest.
So now everybody's going to think that this was a, a
planned, excuse me, a planned interview.
Well, I'm afraid it was on my part.
Yeah, OK. It was orchestrated on my part.
I just wanted to see the UK column team.
I just wanted to to meet the people.
People don't look the same on a on a plastic screen and I'm not.
At times I've thought I did actually email you and you
emailed me back immediately. It's so impressive because the
event was kind of advertised a few months ago and then it went
quiet. I didn't hear anything and I was
thinking where did they say? I'm sure they said in Dorset.
I can't remember the dates. I wonder where it, I don't know
where Wimborne is. So I just emailed you and you
emailed back the flyer and. You're here, Yeah.
And then you said to me, Brian, are you camping?
And I said, of course, because this is what it's all about.
And then you said you were staying in at.
Don't say where, but you're staying in a farm.
Yes, yes, and and very lovely is too.
Absolutely delightful. I'm sure that has a proper bed,
yes, And carpets. It does indeed.
And a shower. I I have a log cabin.
Oh, really? I really do.
Yeah. It's really delightful.
Well, I'm going to say the UK common team are camping.
We we've got two big tents we can stand up in, which is great.
And we've got some smaller, some smaller tents, but we're, we're
doing the full thing which is camping.
So there we are. But you're only a youngster, of
course. I do actually have all the
equipment. I've got blow up beds and all of
the equipment. If my daughter would have been
with me then I may have done that because there's two of us
doing things. But you know, I thought it's
something I've always wanted to do.
I agree that it's Glastonbury for people with a brain, you
know, it's and and and why ever not it's you know.
It's fun, isn't it? Absolutely.
And the fact you can talk to people on serious subjects, you
can talk to people on normal innocent family stuff and you
can, there's always a lot of laughing and joking and the, the
music and it's, it's a nice atmosphere.
There has to be the only thing that counteracts fear is is
humour. You know, as soon as you start
laughing at things, it it dissipates.
When I'm speaking to my daughter Harriet, we were speaking the
other day about the, the, the fellow who went around Barnard
Castle, what was his name? And I was, I was mimicking the
conversation that must have gone on.
You know, just go out there and speak to the press, say anything
you know, ad Lib, make it up as you got say you was testing your
eyesight. Why not?
That's a good. And as soon as she starts
laughing, she sees it. Humour tends to cut through.
Yeah. Fear, and you know, it just
works. What a brilliant place to end.
Yeah, what a brilliant place to end.
Mary, thank you very much for sitting down and chatting to me.
And a huge thank you for your support for the UK column
because it's it's really appreciated.
It's you guys that keep us going.
And next year is 20 years for the UK column.
And we could only have done it with all the support for our
members and people who make donations.
So that's wonderful. Doing the most amazing job.
Brilliant. Thank you.
Well, there we are. What did you think of that,
Gemma? I thought it was absolutely
exceptional and and it was a real reminder, you know, of what
we went through, you know, talking about playing tennis.
And they put the padlock on the gate.
In lockdown. Yeah, in lockdown.
And that so many people found the column in lockdown,
desperate at home. Am I the only one that can see
that there's something not right with this?
Am I the only one who thinks this way?
No, there's millions of us, billions probably.
And so finding us at such a desperate time.
But at what? When Mary was talking there, you
know, that they paddled the gate of the tennis court and then
they took the net down. You know, the, the weird cruelty
and the brainwashing and the gas lighting and the, and the and
the messaging. I thought, yeah, it's really
easy for us to forget what we went through.
But we went through it. And even now, I think in the
alternative movement, freedom movement, there's a kind of
willingness to put it all behind us.
But we can never forget it. And.
And it did. It did bring people to us.
And clearly, clearly we were. Yeah.
And clearly we were a help. We were a help to those people.
And, and Mary was really great and saying how she was doing
badly and how we helped her. And I've heard that a lot since
I've been working for the column.
I've heard that so much about how the column literally saved
people's lives and saved people's sanity.
And she's clearly bounced back from the trauma.
Well, I. I, I, well, she was delightful
to talk to and, and interview and she did make me smile when
she said, well, I, I went out to play tennis and then the found
they padlocked the gates and we got rid of the padlocks and then
they took the net away. And then she makes that
wonderful comment about you can't get more socially
distanced than you need to be to play a game of tennis, which I
thought was absolutely on the button.
An interesting mixture in there, isn't it?
Because there was a lot of humorous stuff, but also some
really, you know, serious stuff, not only about the impact of of
COVID on on Mary and her her family and friends, but she was
also started talking about, you know, what she sees happening in
society. And she mentioned that that she
had been working for a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre
and she'd had enough of that basically and stopped.
But then she makes that little remark and there isn't one now
in London. And you think, you think massive
city, super city, London with a lot of problems, a lot of poor
people, a lot of people with really serious issues, and this
sort of facility is no longer available.
This is an increasingly cruel world, isn't it?
I, I, I couldn't believe that fact, you know, you know, no
drug and alcohol detox. There was a detox centre she
specifically referred to, wasn't it, if I'm not mistaken?
And I, my immediately thought was, you know, you just said
it's a cruel world. I thought, is that deliberate?
Is that a deliberate, you know, taking money away from mental
health taking, which is definitely happening, and taking
money away from addiction treatment.
And addiction has a very spiritual dimension to it.
You know, people call it a spiritual illness.
So instead of rehabilitating people and their souls and their
spirits, let's just take all that away and let them suffer,
you know, and look at 2020, how they made us suffer.
And you do rather wonder. Whether a malicious mind thought
up the policy to take it away, Well, I I don't have any trouble
with this because I do believe we're facing policies created by
malicious people. I think this is the reality, but
it's interesting, isn't it, Gemma, because we're we're
meandering around in our reminiscences of of the sounds
beautiful festival. But look where the conversation
is is gone. So we've we've gone from
humorous things and the beauty of the setting through to quite,
quite a serious topic here. And this is really a little
snapshot, isn't it, of what happens at the festival.
The people are there. They're there to listen to
music, to relax, to be there a lot of children, you know, just
people relaxing and having a good time.
And then in amongst it you've got conversations which could be
just normal social conversations or much deeper subjects.
And I can't remember who said it, but I definitely overheard
somebody talking about the fact that these sorts of festivals
where there's also speakers alongside the music and the
shops are, are the thinking persons Glastonbury.
And I thought that's a pretty accurate description, isn't it?
So, and we've reflected that we're we're thinking back to a
music camping festival. But out of that came some pretty
serious and important topics. Oh, very much so, yeah.
Because you know that the tent was thought on the first day as
soon as people saw our tent, not the talk tent we were in on the
Sunday, but the UK column tent went up and the UK column flags
went up. We were just inundated with
people coming in wanting to tell, you know, tell you
especially about things and corruption and but for their own
lives, you know, lived experience, not some crazy out
there theory, but lived experience.
And they would flocking in and and wanting to speak and but I
think it's because people were relaxed and felt safe.
They were an environment where they felt safe to do that
without fear of like who's listening or is this
conversation on online being recorded or anything like that.
It was a safe environment and they trusted us.
They trusted the column and our longevity.
So yeah, that's what being an outside I think and with like
minded people does You you can become authentic and the
festivals and. Moe sounds beautiful and of
course we're off to hope in a few weeks.
Hope Sussex. And you know, we're going to, we
plan on being out and about as much as we can to just try and
reassure people and, and hear them, listen to their.
Stories and to get out there and and mix with people.
This this is absolutely true. I did 3 of the serious
interviews which will be available on the festival page
on the UK column website. So one was on the topic of
agraphonics, which is basically people have heard about growing
in in a water based medium. This is this is growing crops
together in a specialised way but with very high yield.
So I had a very interesting discussion about that.
I also talked to another gentleman who's intermediary
himself and that was very interesting to be able to chat
and find out what somebody else has been doing.
And then out of the blue, I also had a conversation with a guy
which was about the the true child abuse saga in in Belgium.
And that was a fascinating interview.
But I'm going to say I was slightly taken aback that that
subject came into the UK column tent.
And and it came into the tent because we had another person
that had found the UK column wanted to come and meet us and
wanted to tell us about the amazing research work they've
done around that very, very dark story.
So whole mix of things going on at this event and we've we've
done our best to capture those. But we thought today the way to
end was to do the short clip with Jenny, who's been a
supporter of the UK column for a very long time.
She's very lively, very bouncy, done lots of good work for us in
producing banners and helping in a whole heap of other ways.
So it was lovely to to see Jenny there and also to be able to sit
down and do a little interview with her.
I think you'll enjoy it. I had a lot of fun.
Let's have a look, Jenny or Jennifer.
Jenny, you've got to be really careful with shortening people's
names or lengthening them because it can go either way
against you. So I know, I know a certain lady
who's been Jillian, but that was always how she was addressed by
her parents, possibly in a little bit of a stern way.
So then there's Jill and then there's people who are called
Michael, but then call them Mike.
But you're Jenny, I'm Jenny. Brilliant.
So let's just let's describe the scene.
We are here in the remnants of the UK column, Marquis.
The walls have all been taken down.
So hence the backdrop is is the fields or the H into the next
field? A lot of stuff being packed up,
a lot of conversations going on and I promised you we'd do a
little interview about you. We know you as the sign lady.
Tell tell us about the signs you have created from UK column.
OK, right. I I've had my own business since
I was 19 and I first started, I went to clubs and I noticed
there was no backdrops. So when I was 19, I started
painting them and I started hiring them out and then I put
on nights and I also did my own backdrops for nights and I did
weddings as well because that was quite well paid.
And then about 3-2 years ago, I went to the first Freedom
Festival. I loved it.
So I now do the backdrops for the Freedom Festival and some
other festivals as. Well, right and you should have
a backdrop of Jenny's banners. They were here.
They've now disappeared. But when our viewers listeners
have a look at some of the other interviews that we've done over
this weekend, I am sat against the back problem, some of
Jenny's banners. So that's lovely.
As we've already said it to you all say again, thank you very
much for doing that it. Was a pleasure doing them.
Good. How long have you known the UK
column? Quite a few years since 2019.
So yeah, quite a few years. How did you first come into
contact? With my friend, I went to India
with a good friend of mine called Nick, and he was talking
about you guys all the time. So I spent about six months in
India. Then as soon as I got back to
the UKI Googled you and, and ever since I've been watching
you and I kind of knew about you anyway because you do a lot of
YouTube videos years ago. So I was watching them as well.
And and then I'll make you face to face at the Freedom Freedom
Festivals. Yeah, well, you were really nice
because I you came up and you wanted a selfie.
That's right, yes. In fact, if I remember
correctly, because the weather wasn't as nice as it is here and
you had an umbrella on my head. I did.
That wasn't me, yes. Maybe we'll have to.
We'll be able to look for that little photograph again
actually, because it I'll put it on there instead of usually,
yeah. It was a good photo.
I've actually got it on my Facebook page as well.
OK, so what's your take on the Sounds Beautiful Festival?
I. Went last year and I was so
impressed with it. I just went as a friend, you
know, and just went with a couple of friends and I was so
impressed with it. When I got back to my house I
ordered some more tickets straight away and then I rang up
the lady called Wendy who organises it and I said to you
what you decor and I'll do it as one and one and three and she
says yes, please come down. So I came down on the Tuesday
and I've been here ever since. And it's been fantastic.
We would like to see more people at the Sounds Beautiful event.
And I think the, the way to do this is, is everybody needs to
be upping the promotion because if you didn't come, you just
don't know what you missed. It's been absolutely lovely.
So I'd, I'd like to see more of these events because the young
lady I talked to just now was 23 and she said, you know, more or
less I can't talk to my age group because they just don't
understand what's going on. But I've been here and it's just
been, it's been lovely to talk to people.
And that's, I think that's a really powerful thing.
Yeah, I was getting that actually last year, a lot of
people coming up to me and they were saying exactly the same
thing. And they've got their friends
left and they're really lonely and they come up here and
they've got new friends and and we're like family now.
So we come here every year and there's quite a few freedom
festivals. So we meet each other there and
it's like a tribe now, now of people.
And they were very lonely, a lot of people really lonely, which
upset me last year because everyone was saying, oh, how
lonely they were. And I thought these events are
really important just to connect to the right people and that
you're not on your own and to come to these events.
And that's how we win this fight is if we actually meet each
other face to face. And then you meet all these
people contacts. I met a lady with land, She's
got 4 acres of land in France and she wants people to go over
and help her after it. And I said, yeah, come here.
She has actually come. She's spent hours trying to get
in because the signs aren't any good.
But the signs will be better next year because I'm going to
go and do them. So I will do the signs.
But yeah. Yeah, OK.
Driving around for hours trying to get in.
Yeah, this is absolutely. True, you know, don't be, don't
be at home lonely, come out and meet people and have fun.
And also, yeah, discuss how you we stop all these horrible
things. Here comes the low question
right at the end. You've been here for a few days.
Have you been good? I've been very good actually,
Yes, yes. And I've met so many new friends
and I've got, we've got another evening and the evenings will be
good because they have fire and they have a couple of fires on
and we're all sitting by the fire.
Once the music goes out, it has to go out about 1:00 because a
bit sound complaints. But in the evening we all get
together and go around the fire, and we all like singing and
dancing and drumming, and then it carries on.
And I've got to bed about 4:30 last night.
And I was actually up this morning for yoga at 7:00.
Yeah. So I think I've been very good.
You've been very good. And, and I will also say that
early this morning, I think it's about 6:10, I've just to the
fire pit just to see what, what it was like, because I always
know it's the fire's still a light, but it's mainly ashes and
some members that were glowing. What really impressed me was
that there was a plastic, big plastic container and all the
beer bottles and everything had all been neatly stacked in
there. So it's all clean and tidy.
And I thought that's wonderful. Very.
Good. Yeah, people here and you can
leave stuff out. It never gets.
Really. Honest people here and if you've
lost anything, if you need any water or food or coffee to start
people and they'll give you it. It's a lovely atmosphere and
it's a really, really high vibration.
Really high vibrations. That's how life should be.
Yes, definitely. Yeah.
I went to another festival last week now, saying it'd be lovely
if life is like this every day. And there's a lot of festivals.
So in theory you can. You can make your life every day
like mimic festivals and meet lots of people.
Yeah, brilliant, Jenny, Thank you.
Thank you very much for everything you've done for us.
Thank you very much. That was painless, wasn't it?
It was OK actually, but I don't know if it's going to be any
good of. Course it's going.
To be so. We're going to stream this.
Yeah. Are you going to let me see it
before it's just going to? No, no, that's.
Seriously, there's people going to get worried, but trust us, it
was a good interview and and our viewers and listeners are going
to love seeing you and hearing you good well.
I'm still smiling because I can still feel myself sat in the UK
column tent as it was being dismantled, and it would have
been very nice if we'd have maybe had some other clips of
the tent being being actually dismantled around us.
But it was great fun and it was probably a wonderful thing to be
able to look through that backdrop and to see the into the
fields and the tents over the other side.
But Jenny's done brilliant work and it's just wonderful that she
stayed with us over all that time.
And I I I just think as a little CLI to end it it, it was lovely.
Well, I think as well, you do get a glimpse of the beauty of
the site there. I mean, it just looks like a
bucolic English countryside scene, you know, with the grass
wafting and some tents and Marquis in the background and
the blue sky. And I'm.
It makes you want to go back, You know, it makes me want to go
back seeing that shot. And and Jenny is such a bright
and sunny person. She embodies, you know,
positivity and that shot, the shot, she's a.
Doer. She's a doer.
Yeah. And she's done so much for us.
And if you come to our events, you'll see the backdrops that
she's done for us, which all handcrafted, hand done.
And they're just lovely. And we have them up in the tent,
as you can see there with the interview with Mary.
And yeah, it was, it was a lovely way to end it.
And and I just love the stuff that she was saying, you know.
Oh, the, the signs on the door weren't very good, but don't
worry, I'm doing them next year, you know, and things like that,
you know, full of confidence. And and also again, though,
there was that area of seriousness of like, but a lot
of people come to these things because they're really lonely.
She, you know, that's what Jenny said and she said how much that
upset her. And but now these festivals, of
which there are a lot of being a lifeline.
And I think that's really the key.
And if anyone's wavering and thinking, oh, there are too many
freedom events and there are too many things going on, we'll try
and you should determine. Do what resonates with you, but
at least goes to some. Because I think we've moved away
from the marches. You know that Mary talked about
going on the marches and that brought back a lot of memories
for me and I'm sure for you, the marches.
But that was a different energy. That's what was needed then.
Now I think as we're moving towards this kind of shift in
consciousness, we need to be relaxing and having fun with
each other. Because actually that relaxing,
having fun and laughing will beat what we're up against more
than marching angrily along London with a banner saying get
off your, you know, take your masks off.
That was then, this is now. And it is a form of protest to
be out in the field with like minded people.
And also looking after yourself, yes, and making yourself feel
good by, by the environment you you put yourself in.
It's a very powerful thing. That's the power of it.
So very powerful. Because the better we feel, not
only physically but mentally about ourselves, and the more
positive we are, the better place we are to fight the really
terrible people that are messing this world up.
Absolutely, and it just reminds me of what Mary said.
To go back to Mary's interview, she said you've got to diffuse
it with humour and she talked about she couldn't remember
Dominic Cummings name, but at the end of her interview talking
about who was the man at Barnard Castle, you know, Dominic
Cummings and we all remember that story and you know, his
ridiculous excuses. But she was like, take the sting
out of it, laugh, relax. That that just takes all their
power away. Powers with us, powers with us.
And it's how we are now moving forward.
Now that we've all had a rude awakening to how the world is
run, you know it's up to us to defeat it in the in the most
positive way. Yeah, absolutely true.
So what a place to end. I think on humour.
You and I are both smiling. I think the audience would be
smiling a bit more if we were to show some of the outtakes and
our little efforts in the studio today.
That may be for another time, but.
I thought you were going to say the audience would like it more
if they could see what we got. We're getting up to in our tent
in the evening, The UK column team.
Well, we, we, we should have filmed that.
No, maybe not. Well, we did.
At a previous event we had had a wonderful evening where it got a
bit cold in the evenings a couple of times, but we were in
in the tent and we were able to get everybody squeezed round a
little table. We did the real thing because we
had a gas lamp going, which of course gives you light and also
a bit of heat and possibly we had a drink and we were playing
cards and it it was absolutely lovely.
So yeah, there we are. Lot of fun.
Gemma, thank you very much for joining me.
It's been really great. Thank you.