General UK politics

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GlennB said:
I see that The Fail and The Spectator are joining the rat platoons, swimming to safety.

I hope the stench of this lingers to the next GE, and I strongly suspect it will. Sunak will inherit a poisoned chalice.
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So do I but I fear that a couple of years effort by the Sun, Mail, Express and Telegraph ably supported by Laura Kuenssberg at the BBC will sell the message that the new Prime Minister and cabinet have nothing whatsoever to do with the last, discredited, sleaze-ridden, party-tainted, Covid-bungling lot.

After all, they managed to convince the British public that the current Boris Johnson led government which is acing Brexit is completely different to the Boris Johnson led government which completely bungled it - despite there being no difference in Brexit policy. :boggled: :confused:

Heck, there's still no guarantee that Boris Johnson won't simply blame the departing aides for everything and manage to cling to power.
 
Another aide has left but Number 10 are spinning this as Boris Johnson seizing the bull by the horns and clearing house. This is a message that a significant number of Conservative MPs are pushing and may end up being the accepted narrative.
 
I see the usual placatory nonsense is going on around Government circles.

Boris has acted like Boris. While some of the details may be surprising or even shocking, overall, I'm not sure that anyone can be suprised that he has spent his time as Prime Minister acting like a bumbling self-entitled ball of arrogance. But now there is talk of him 'changing' and 'restoring trust' and somehow becoming a totally different Prime Minister to the one they selected.

Tory's seem to think he is capable of change. He isn't. It's total idiocy. Being 'Boris' has made him Prime Minister, why on earth would he change that? Fundametally, they - and by default, we - got exactly what it said on the tin. The fact that the tin was full of rancid butter and depleted uranium is not his fault - it's always been that way.

What they want is a different Prime Minister. You get that by selecting a different Prime Minister, not by trying to mould the one you already have into something different.
 
The Don said:
Maybe, then again the target audience for the gaslighting aren't likely to seek out the whatsapp messages.
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It also shows that that group of "pro-Johnson MPs" includes at least one who wants to embarrass him and the attempts to support him.
 
A fifth adviser has resigned from Downing Street within 24 hours amid pressure on Boris Johnson's leadership
Elena Narozanski had been a member of No 10's policy unit under Munira Mirza, who quit on Thursday

Elena Narozanski was an education policy specialist at No 10.
She was a former adviser to Michael Gove and Theresa May, and headed up the New Schools for London programme when Boris Johnson was the capital's mayor.

On BBC live feed.
 
Conservative candidate Anna Firth has been voted in as the new MP for Southend West following the fatal stabbing of Sir David Amess.

The by-election came at a time of turmoil within the government amid growing pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Sir David had been the area's MP since 1997 and the seat was not contested by Labour, the Liberal Democrats or the Greens.

Less than a quarter of the electorate turned out to vote, while there were twice as many spoiled ballot papers as there were votes for the second-placed candidate Jason Pilley, of the Psychedelic Movement.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-60235797
 
Captain_Swoop said:
Conservative candidate Anna Firth has been voted in as the new MP for Southend West following the fatal stabbing of Sir David Amess.

The by-election came at a time of turmoil within the government amid growing pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Sir David had been the area's MP since 1997 and the seat was not contested by Labour, the Liberal Democrats or the Greens.

Less than a quarter of the electorate turned out to vote, while there were twice as many spoiled ballot papers as there were votes for the second-placed candidate Jason Pilley, of the Psychedelic Movement.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-60235797
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An election which Labour and the Lib Dems rightly didn't contest as that would raise the spectre of a terrorist act changing the party allegiance of a constituency.

There have been some Conservative idiots (ETA: including the newly-elected MP) claiming the election was vindication of Johnson
 
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Jacob Rees-Mogg has been accused by a Labour MP of perpetuating a "harmful clinical falsehood" about the morning after pill.

Asked if he would make time for a debate on sexual and reproductive health, the minister said he would not "speak in favour of abortifacients".
But the World Health Organization says the pill does not induce an abortion, so would not come under that label.

Dame Diana Johnson called for Mr Rees-Mogg to correct the record.

The issue was raised by the Labour MP in the Commons on Thursday after a campaign by the women's parliamentary Labour party, journalist Rose Stokes and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service led to Boots cutting the price of the emergency contraception from £15.99 to £10.99.

Dame Diana said the move had "removed the sexist surcharge that is attached to that medication", but claimed cuts to public health budgets and the fragmentation of the NHS meant it was "more difficult for women to access contraception advice".

She asked Mr Rees-Mogg - who is leader of the House - whether he could designate some time in the Commons to debate an MPs' report on sexual and reproductive health in the UK, and its recommendations for "proper funding and accessibility for women's contraceptive health services".

But the minister - who is Catholic and has spoken publicly against abortion - replied: "The right honourable lady cannot expect me to speak in favour of abortifacients [substances that induce an abortion]."

His remark led to a backlash on social media, with campaigners and charities calling on him to correct the record.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60267025
 
Another Conservative MP has called for Boris Johnson to resign as the turmoil at 10 Downing Street continues.

Former minister Nick Gibb is the latest Tory to submit a letter of no confidence in the prime minister.
He said his constituents were furious that No 10 had been "flagrantly disregarding" the Covid rules they set.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror reports a photograph of Mr Johnson holding a beer at a birthday gathering has been handed to police investigating Covid breaches.
The paper said the picture is one of 300 submitted to the Metropolitan Police investigation into 12 alleged gatherings and is thought to have been taken by the PM's official photographer, who is funded by the taxpayer.
It says it shows the prime minister holding a can of beer at an event in No 10's Cabinet Room in June 2020, alongside Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who was holding a soft drink.

At the time, gatherings of more than two people inside were banned by law.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60268378
 
WhatsApp messages between disgraced former Tory MP Owen Paterson and then-health secretary Matt Hancock have revealed the extent to which he was lobbying on behalf of a firm paying him more than £8,000 a month.

Randox was paying Mr Paterson, who had been the North Shropshire MP since 1997, £8,333 a month for 16 hours work, the register of financial interests showed.

On Friday, the government released documents, forced by Labour, showing the extent to which Mr Paterson was pushing the then-health secretary over Randox's offers to provide COVID testing.
Nearly £600 million worth of COVID testing contracts were awarded to Randox, with normal competition rules skipped due to the emergency situation.

Mr Paterson started pushing Randox's tests in January 2020
WhatsApp messages show Mr Paterson gave Mr Hancock Randox boss Dr Peter Fitzgerald's contact details on 26 January 2020 - two months before the UK's first lockdown.
Mr Paterson said he told Mr Fitzgerald to "expect an email" from the health secretary, who contacted the Randox boss that night.
Mr Hancock then told Mr Paterson on 5 February 2020 that Public Health England (PHE) would be in touch with Mr Fitzgerald "directly".

On 25 February, Mr Paterson again contacted Mr Hancock, saying Randox had not been contacted by the government for 19 days, while its test kits had been shipped to "China, Mexico, Ukraine, Oman, Tunisia and Guatemala".
He added: "PHE's attitude looks incomprehensible given current developments. Are you voting today? Can we discuss briefly? Great announcement on pharmacies by the way!"
Mr Paterson then told Mr Hancock there is "absolutely no sense of urgency".
He added: "Exasperating! Nb I'm a consultant to Randox. PS Good news on nurses!"

Forwarding Mr Paterson's messages on to officials, Mr Hancock called him "Owen Patz" and asked for "chapter and verse" on the situation, saying he was "very worried about this".
"If we are treating other companies like this we are failing," the then-health secretary added.
In later messages, before a meeting, a senior official in then-health minister Lord Bethell's office said on 11 May 2020: "Lord Bethell has indicated that he would like a 1:1 with Owen Patterson [sic] beforehand as well (who I understand is a consultant employed by Randox)."

In July 2020, it was found some Randox kits may not meet safety standards, and one email said: "PM worried about swabs and the number of swabs that turned out not to be sterile when tested."
But in September 2020, Mr Paterson sent a WhatsApp message asking Mr Hancock to "revisit even briefly and privately" the long-term future of Randox's involvement in testing, as he had visited the firm in Northern Ireland for the first time and was impressed.
He added there was "widespread exasperation that Randox's achievements have not been promoted".

In October 2020, Mr Paterson complained that a story in The Guardian said the government "only gave Randox the testing contract because I'm a paid consultant".
He asked Mr Hancock: "If it comes up, can you kill this once and for all as I know absolutely nothing about the contact?"
Mr Hancock replied: "Of course."

https://news.sky.com/story/owen-pat...tent-of-lobbying-12532995?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter
 
Lord Agnew, who suddenly resigned last month as the minister in charge of tackling COVID fraud, warned Mr Hancock the government was "paying dramatically over the odds" for Randox's tests.
 
Captain_Swoop said:
Lord Agnew, who suddenly resigned last month as the minister in charge of tackling COVID fraud, warned Mr Hancock the government was "paying dramatically over the odds" for Randox's tests.
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Presumably he left because he knew they were simply going to write off the fraud and therefore wouldn’t have a job……
 
Nadine Dorries Says New Laws Would ‘Hold Netflix To Account’ Following Jimmy Carr’s ‘Appalling’ Holocaust Joke
The Culture Secretary has denounced the comic for his "abhorrent" joke made about the Traveller community in his latest Netflix special.

During an interview on Saturday’s BBC Breakfast, the Culture Secretary condemned the comic’s joke made during his one-hour Netflix special, His Dark Material, as “shocking, abhorrent and unacceptable.”
Dorries suggested that in the future, new laws would “hold Netflix to account” for such content.

“We are looking at legislation via the Media Bill which would bring into scope those comments from other video on-demand streaming outlets like Netflix,” she said.
“So it’s interesting that we’re already looking at future legislation to bring into scope those sort of comments.”

The MP said Carr’s comments were “abhorrent and they just shouldn’t be on television”, but it was then put to her that in a tweet in 2017 she had claimed that “left-wing snowflakes are killing comedy”.
She said: “Well, that’s not comedy.

“What Jimmy Carr did last night is not comedy. And you know, I’m no angel on Twitter, nobody is, but I just would like to say that nothing I’ve ever put on Twitter has been harmful or abusive.
“But that last night… Jimmy Carr’s comments, no one can call that, you know, snowflake or wokeishness, that’s just… it was just appalling.”

She said the comments were “shocking and abhorrent and unacceptable, not just because he was making fun on the basis of people who died in the most appalling circumstances, but on the pain and suffering of many thousands of families”.

In a separate interview with Times Radio, she said: “We don’t have the ability now, legally, to hold Netflix to account for streaming that but very shortly we will.”
Asked on Sky News if there was any way this new law would put restrictions on free speech, she said: “No, absolutely not. We’ve been very, very… well because I’m a Conservative, I’ve been very, very careful about that.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/en...-netflix-new-laws_uk_61fe57f3e4b0b69cfe8f6f97


A reminder that the Government is pushing for legal powers to arrest Gypsies, Roma and Travellers and confiscate their homes, and imprison adults for three months if they stop in places that have not been designated for them.
 
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I seem to remember that another group of people, seemingly familiar to Mr Carr, weren't that fond of the Roma either. :rolleyes:
 
The Don said:
Another aide has left but Number 10 are spinning this as Boris Johnson seizing the bull by the horns and clearing house. This is a message that a significant number of Conservative MPs are pushing and may end up being the accepted narrative.
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By that arguement a chip pan fire is seizing the bull by the horns & clearing the kitchen.
 
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