By admin 
In my relentless quest to be as unpopular as possible, my greatest ally is a man named Graham Phillips, who now lives like a 21st century Robinson Crusoe in a windswept, icy ruin in a war zone.
I am not asking you to like Mr Phillips, or even sympathize with him – that is difficult, even in these times of good will.
But you shouldn’t condone what our government is doing to him. This winter he lives in a bombed, unheated apartment building in the city of Mariupol, which Russia captured from Ukraine.
He has no glass in his windows. When he wants to take a bath, he builds a wood fire under an abandoned bathtub in the garden, fills it bucket by bucket and waits until the water is hot enough. He is commendably stoic about the bare circumstances of his life.
Mr. Phillips profiled himself as something of a journalist when the Ukrainian conflict first took hold a decade ago. Some of his early reporting, about visits to prostitutes, is downright nasty.
He behaved questionably (I say this quietly) towards a British POW captured by the Russians, and towards others in similar situations. He has shown more sympathy for the Russian cause in Ukraine than is right or wise for someone who calls himself a journalist.
I’m not sounding the alarm about this because I agree with him or approve of him.
He blames me for that every now and then, but that’s just a shame. I’m not taking his case because I like him. Yet there is something impressive about his tenacity.
British blogger Graham Phillips (pictured) is being severely punished in Mariupol, but has never been accused or convicted of any crime
In a rather brutal article about him in The Critic magazine, journalist William Fear admitted Mr Phillips’ dedication to his war reporting.
“He goes to the front lines and records videos from separatist positions, even as Ukrainian shells hit the ground nearby. Indeed, he seems almost unfazed when the grenades explode.
“He has the same wide-eyed expression as in all his other videos. There is truth in Phillips’ reporting, and for that reason alone he is worth watching, whatever you think of his motives.”
The point of all this is that Mr Phillips appears to be the only living British person who has no human rights whatsoever. He lives under harsh legal penalties, but has never been charged or convicted of any crime.
The punishments he receives are unlimited. No date has ever been set for his release. For example, Mr Phillips is legally prohibited from paying council tax on his London home.
Yes, that’s right, he is legally prohibited from adhering to the law. If he tried, the city would be banned from taking the money.
Think for a while about this rule, and how it might affect you, and you will see that it is not unfair to say that these circumstances make him a prisoner of the state, perhaps for life.
Ukraine must be weaker than I thought if this little-known person’s insignificant video blogs threaten its territorial integrity, sovereignty, stability or independence
He cannot pay or receive anything except with a special permit from His Majesty’s Ministry of Finance, which is quite difficult to obtain. Even then, his bank doesn’t have to do business with him. It’s allowed.
It seems that crowdfunding, once his main source of money, is off limits for him. He is the only citizen of this country to undergo this treatment. No other British-born person is subject to such sanctions. Those who are are foreigners who can laugh at them as long as they stay away from this country.
The reason for this treatment, as stated by the State Department, is that ‘Graham Phillips (is) a video blogger who has produced and published media content that supports and promotes actions and policies that destabilize Ukraine and undermine its territorial integrity and sovereignty or threaten. or independence of Ukraine’.
Gosh. Talk about a widely supported complaint. Ukraine must be weaker than I thought if this little-known person’s insignificant video blogs threaten its territorial integrity, sovereignty, stability or independence.
My own writing, broadcasts and debates criticizing Ukraine and British policy towards it could similarly be used against me under a slightly weaker government than we have now.
A few inches back or forth, and I could also light damp logs under a dilapidated bathtub, while the snow swirls around me, or simply live in a doorway, courtesy of His Majesty’s Government.
And what about someone (there seem to be quite a few) who “promotes actions and policies that” destabilize Israel, another close ally, and “undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence” of Israel? Is there anyone sanctioning them?
Mr. Phillips, with the help of a number of courageous, independent lawyers, tried in vain to have this arbitrary, medieval punishment lifted. The courts passed over it.
It is not entirely clear who made the decision to treat Mr. Phillips this way, but a sentence that can be imposed without a jury trial and that has no clear ending is certainly exactly what Vladimir Putin likes.
Do we fight Mr Putin by behaving like him? Certainly not. Free the Mariupol One. His treatment is a stain on our justice.
You’ve come a long way, Gromit
Wallace and Gromit must take a turn. They should start appearing in short films again and stop starring in full-length films.
The Wrong Pants is one of the most perfect works of art ever created: funny, witty, beautiful to look at, Northern, affectionate, captivating, enormously English, immeasurable, unspoiled by progress. I can watch it again and again, and I have.
Wallace and Gromit should appear in short films again and stop starring in feature-length films, such as BBC special Vengeance Most Fowl
The same applies to A great day out. Both are short but so concentrated that they contain the power of much longer films. There were a lot of echoes of both in the BBC Christmas Day special Vengeance Most Fowl, but it just went on too long.
My theory is that the meticulous stop-motion method used to create them concentrates so much time into a short film space that they don’t have to be long.
We also need to see more of Wendolene Ramsbottom, star of A Close Shave but sadly retired after revealing an allergy to cheese.
I think she bears a lot of resemblance to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, so maybe it’s time for some school drama.