General UK politics

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Captain_Swoop said:
Downing Street today published a humiliating “lost” WhatsApp message that Boris Johnson sent a Tory donor begging for more cash to revamp his grace-and-favour flat.

The PM failed to inform his own ethics advisor about the message, which he sent to peer Lord Brownlow in November 2020 as the six-figure makeover spiralled out of control.
The text exchange shows the PM asked Lord Brownlow for "approvals" for the £112,000-plus makeover, moaning the flat above 11 Downing Street was a "bit of a tip” - despite the fact it had a new kitchen in the last decade.
He pressed the donor to provide money, saying he was "keen" to let the designer get on with it. Lord Brownlow replied promising to get on with the job, adding: "It’s only me and I know where the £ will come from".

Lord Geidt, the PM's advisor on the ministerial code, said the failure to disclose the texts to his probe into the funding of the refurb was "plainly unsatisfactory", demonstrated "insufficient respect" and presented a "threat to public confidence" in his role.
And while he suggested the texts alone did not undermine his conclusion that Mr Johnson had not broken the ministerial code, he said he would have had more questions for the PM had he know of their existence.
Yet despite voicing "grave concern" he cleared Mr Johnson of wrongdoing - after the PM claimed he forgot about the messages because they were on his old phone.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/breaking-boris-johnsons-humiliating-lost-25873177
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What a crap job, can you imagine trying to explain to Johnson every single day what constitutes ethical behaviour?
 
I’m sure the Guardian must be wrong, there is no way our government would act in such a way…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...mone-involved-ppe-medpro-government-contracts

……
Leaked files appear to suggest the Conservative peer Michelle Mone and her husband, Douglas Barrowman, were secretly involved in a PPE business that was awarded more than £200m in government contracts after she referred it to the Cabinet Office.

Barrowman, an Isle of Man-based financier, may have played a central role in the business deal that enabled PPE Medpro to sell millions of masks and surgical gowns to the government at the start of the pandemic, documents suggest.
…
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OK, we have now learned (pacé the Captain's post from yesterday evening and stuff on the likes of the Graun) that the Ministerial Code clearly contains a section which states that it is allowable for ministers to deliberately withold information pertinent to an investigation. I mean, how else can Geidt conclude that BlowJob didn't breach the Code? Oh, and it is also OK to blatantly lie about how and why this information was not disclosed (as John Crace points out, we are into Dilyn ate the phone territory here).

Marvellous!
 
Carrot Flower King said:
OK, we have now learned (pacé the Captain's post from yesterday evening and stuff on the likes of the Graun) that the Ministerial Code clearly contains a section which states that it is allowable for ministers to deliberately withold information pertinent to an investigation. I mean, how else can Geidt conclude that BlowJob didn't breach the Code? Oh, and it is also OK to blatantly lie about how and why this information was not disclosed (as John Crace points out, we are into Dilyn ate the phone territory here).

Marvellous!
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I presumed Dilyn was a performing dog brought in for a photo opportunity when a cuddly headline was needed.
 
There's a guy on GLR trying to defend Lord Brownlow saying he's a philanthropist who only wanted to get money from Boris Johnson to give away to the arts.

But philanthropy doesn't mean giving away taxpayers' money, it means giving away YOUR OWN money!

If Lord Brownlow wanted to give money away to the arts he should have done that rather than giving it to Boris Johnson to buy gold ******* wallpaper.
 
Captain_Swoop said:
There's a guy on GLR trying to defend Lord Brownlow saying he's a philanthropist who only wanted to get money from Boris Johnson to give away to the arts.

But philanthropy doesn't mean giving away taxpayers' money, it means giving away YOUR OWN money!

If Lord Brownlow wanted to give money away to the arts he should have done that rather than giving it to Boris Johnson to buy gold ******* wallpaper.
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That is so 20th century!
 
Captain_Swoop said:
There's a guy on GLR trying to defend Lord Brownlow saying he's a philanthropist who only wanted to get money from Boris Johnson to give away to the arts.

But philanthropy doesn't mean giving away taxpayers' money, it means giving away YOUR OWN money!

If Lord Brownlow wanted to give money away to the arts he should have done that rather than giving it to Boris Johnson to buy gold ******* wallpaper.
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You totally fail to understand that taxpayers money belongs to Boris and his chums. Sure the transfer can be complicated, dodgy overpriced contracts with no tendering but that is just a means to move the money to its rightful place.
 
Has anyone asked Theresa may why she left the flat in such a state that the Prime Minster called it a 'bit of a tip'?
 
Everybody has just accepted that Boris and his cabinet are massively corrupt liars and thieves haven't they?

It's not even big news anymore. They realise they can just ride it out, lie more outrageously, organise a whitewash and move on.
 
Captain_Swoop said:
Everybody has just accepted that Boris and his cabinet are massively corrupt liars and thieves haven't they?

It's not even big news anymore. They realise they can just ride it out, lie more outrageously, organise a whitewash and move on.
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Yep.

To the highlighted bit - I'd say the evidence is that they can't organise anything, never mind a whitewash, it just doesn't seem to matter.
 
Suella Braverman MP tweeted
@SuellaBraverman
Trial by jury is an important guardian of liberty & must not be undermined. However, the decision in the Colston statue case is causing confusion. 1/2

Without affecting the result of this case, as Attorney General, I am able to refer matters to the Court of Appeal so that senior judges have the opportunity to clarify the law for future cases. I am carefully considering whether to do so. 2/2
 
This is what happens when you get put a nondescript solicitor in a job way way above their capabilities
 
Captain_Swoop said:
There's a guy on GLR trying to defend Lord Brownlow saying he's a philanthropist who only wanted to get money from Boris Johnson to give away to the arts.

But philanthropy doesn't mean giving away taxpayers' money, it means giving away YOUR OWN money!

If Lord Brownlow wanted to give money away to the arts he should have done that rather than giving it to Boris Johnson to buy gold ******* wallpaper.
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The thing is that if Lord Brownlow is a philanthropist raising money for the arts ( I think he's on the board of the Royal Opera House, possibly Royal Albert Hall, but it's something of that level) it doesn't excuse Johnson's personal benefit or failure to report, infact if you do think that Brownlow's "Great Exhibition 2" idea had any potential benefit it makes Johnson's actions worse in some ways, it suggests that charities that don't have a couple of hundred thou to throw Spaffer's way aren't likely to even get considered. of course, if the idea was hopeless then it shows extreme cynicism toward his donor & that he's willing to progress, & waste people's time on, hopeless ideas if there's a payout for him.

There was a very similar defence on LBC, possibly a case of "The calls are coming from inside Tufton St".
 
Captain_Swoop said:
Suella Braverman MP tweeted
@SuellaBraverman
Trial by jury is an important guardian of liberty & must not be undermined. However, the decision in the Colston statue case is causing confusion. 1/2

Without affecting the result of this case, as Attorney General, I am able to refer matters to the Court of Appeal so that senior judges have the opportunity to clarify the law for future cases. I am carefully considering whether to do so. 2/2
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I think the confusion is mostly coming from commentators who have chosen to comment on the trial with explaining (or possibly even knowing) what the requirements of the crime, or the defence against it was. As I understand it the defense had two main threads but we don't (& won't) know whether one or both arguments secured their acquittal or even if the jury simply chose to return a perverse verdict, if they did that is their right as has been established case law since 1670. Of course if this government think they have the opportunity to overturn an long established right or freedom...
 
Nadhim Zahawi is Tory Co-Chair of a Parliamentary Group on Kurdistan

Wouldn't it be a massive coincidence and a insane conflict of interest if at the same time he took a £1k per hour job with an oil firm in Kurdistan?

Because that's what he did!


EXCLUSIVE: Zahawi banked £1.3million from an oil company, which included a final £285,000 “settlement payment” after he first became a Government minister in 2018

Tory minister Nadhim Zahawi banked £1.3million from an oil company while working as an MP, but he has been able to keep his total second job earnings hidden due to a Parliamentary loophole.

Mr Zahawi’s total earnings from Gulf Keystone Petroleum included a final £285,000 “settlement payment” after he first became a Government minister in 2018.

Mr Zahawi was co-chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Kurdistan in 2015 when he landed the job with Gulf Keystone, which has an oil field in Kurdistan and which paid him more than £1,000 an hour.

His Gulf Keystone income was declared in his register of interests, but his total second job earnings are not known thanks to Parliamentary rules allowing him to advise companies through Zahawi & Zahawi Ltd, a consultancy he set up with his wife.
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https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tory-minister-nadhim-zahawi-pockets-25457511
 
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