Most people on social media are morons who are ignorant – I have a solution

AS you are reading this in a newspaper, it’s fair to assume you are reasonably well informed and have a basic grasp of what’s going on in the world.

But the problem is that newspaper sales are declining. So an awful lot of people don’t have a basic grasp of what’s going on in the world.

And it’s not like they’re getting the information they need from the BBC because figures show that in the last five years, the number of people not paying their licence fee has jumped from 2.4million to 3.6million.

I see the effects of all this everywhere I go.

People I speak to are completely ignorant of world events.

The shootings in Australia. Trump’s tariffs. Starmer’s latest cock-up. They simply don’t know about these things.

Terrifyingly, they think they get all the information they need from social media.

But they really don’t. Because a lot of the people on social media are morons.

This week, I saw one girl on TikTok saying that Anthony Joshua’s car accident in Nigeria was a bit suspicious coming just days after his big fight with that YouTuber in America.

She reckoned it was all just a big PR stunt.

Two men were dead. But that didn’t stop her expounding her theory that the crash had been staged for publicity purposes.

Then there was someone else who came along to say that it was “disgusting” Joshua had chartered a private jet to fly him to a British hospital.

Two things on that: Firstly, it wouldn’t be “disgusting” to do that if he can afford it, which he can.

And secondly, he didn’t charter a jet. He was taken, in a van, to a hospital in Lagos.

The real problem here is that there’s no way of telling on social media whether you are watching a qualified journalist who’s presenting a fact-checked and legally sound story.

Or some cast-off from Love Island with a chip on their shoulder.

On the internet, Jacob Rees-Mogg and some herbert broadcasting from his mother’s basement are exactly the same.

And the result is: Millions of people in Britain don’t know anything.

And if they do accidentally pick up a nugget of truth, they don’t believe it.

Is there anything to be done? Well I’ve often argued that mobile telephones should be fitted with a breathalyser so no one can post a message if they’re drunk.

But maybe we need to go further and insist you have to pass an IQ test before you’re allowed to address the masses.

Oh, and maybe there should be some kind of facial recognition lock that prevents anyone from posting a message if they have a beard.

Because otherwise, people like Jeremy Corbyn have access to the world.

And that can’t ever be a good thing.

Invest? Not a chance

BRITAIN has the lowest investment of any of the world’s seven richest nations.

The Government is still merrily pumping our cash into the spluttering economy. But businesses and individuals?

Nah. They’d rather put their money in a more stable state. Like, for example, Tajikistan.

It’s easy to see what’s going wrong. I have a good idea for a new business.

It would create jobs and get money moving round the local economy.

But with this government in power, there seems little point.

I’d have to invest a lot of time and money, I’d have to work hard and if there was any profit after I’d paid the rates and the National Insurance and the HR teams to make sure the staff had some wellness, Rachel Reeves would take it all away from me.

So I’ll wait, thank you very much, until we have someone more sensible in Number 10.

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I WONDER what new year resolutions Sir Keir Starmer has made for 2026.

Be less of a dick? Hope so. But let’s see how far he gets into the year before he breaks it.

My bet’s on about January 6.

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Feeling fuelish

I LEFT the lights on in the Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster I’ve been using over the holiday period so in the morning, the battery was flat.

Feeling very cross with myself, I jump-started it and left the engine running to charge the battery up again.

And then I forgot I’d left the engine running so now there’s no fuel in it.

How was I ever a motoring journalist?

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THE one thing I know with absolute certainty is you never, ever criticise a bride’s wedding dress.

It may make her look like a blancmange, but you are not allowed to even think this, let alone say it out loud.

So imagine my horror when a newspaper columnist called Sarah Vine decided to have a go at the dress Holly Ramsay wore for her wedding.

She said that in the windy weather it made her look like she’d got “tangled up in a bedsheet”.

Now look. It is absolutely fair enough to have a go at those who stick their heads above the parapet. I do that all the time.

But Holly is simply the daughter of chef Gordon Ramsay.

Why lay into her? It seems to be just cruel.

I should explain at this point I’ve known Gordon and his family for some time.

They’ve even been to stay, and my eldest daughter remains friends with Holly. So I know she’s a sweet kid.

And as a result of that, I also know that Sarah Vine should be ashamed of herself. Lay into the father if you must.

But his kids? No. Leave them alone, and especially so on their wedding day.

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Frosty Cotswolds morning is out of this world

OVER many years of constant travelling, I’ve seen some extraordinarily beautiful views.

The sun setting, seemingly simultaneously, in both the East and the West over the Altiplano in Western Bolivia. That was a memorable moment.

So too were the tea plantations, in the evening light, in central Uganda, Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, the Hoover Dam in America, the Dordogne in France, Ben Tongue in Northern Scotland and the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.

I once saw a volcano erupt underneath a glacier in Iceland and that was pretty spectacular.

But on Wednesday morning, I opened the curtains, in the Cotswolds, right here in the UK, and was greeted by the breathtaking sight of a cold, frosty, pinky-yellow dawn.

And I have to say I’ve seen no view in the world which could match it.

So by all means, slag off Britain.

But just occasionally, accept that we are very lucky to live here.