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General UK politics VIII - The Last Tory

catsmate said:
It's a shock to see it happening though. Perhaps whipping (in the parliamentary sense) should be banned?
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Whipping was invented (by Parnell's IPP) because it was too easy to bribe MPs to go against party lines, often with positions nominally in Ireland which were avenues for graft.
 
Andy_Ross said:
Elon says he has the "blueprint to a Reform government in 2029."

Plans are being made to save Britain.
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He's talking about a country that had zero problems purloining and dressing up a dead body and floated it ashore in a foreign country in order to fool a foreign power. Elon better be careful. He might become the next "volunteer" for such a dangerous mission.
 
A piece in the Times speculating that Elon could bung Reform a £100 million and focus his X fanboys on the UK.

Now he has the US government he will be after a new acquisition and he's already said he is going to 'save' the UK.
 
Andy_Ross said:
A piece in the Times speculating that Elon could bung Reform a £100 million and focus his X fanboys on the UK.

Now he has the US government he will be after a new acquisition and he's already said he is going to 'save' the UK.
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Reform won't accept it, they've already come out against foreign interference in elections & they're all men of principal. /s
 
Gulliver Foyle said:
Whipping was invented (by Parnell's IPP) because it was too easy to bribe MPs to go against party lines, often with positions nominally in Ireland which were avenues for graft.
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Parnell did not invent the parliamentary 'whipper in', it predates him by at least a century. Burke mentions the practice.
Parnell used it, seasoned with threats, to deliver a cohesive voting block to whomever gave him what he wanted.
 
Could somebody explain what this whipping strategy really is? I have never understood what penalties could be imposed MPs that vote against their party - except kicking them out from the next election.
 
steenkh said:
Could somebody explain what this whipping strategy really is? I have never understood what penalties could be imposed MPs that vote against their party - except kicking them out from the next election.
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A bit of dark art (in more than one sense) https://www.theguardian.com/politic...what-are-the-limits-for-parliaments-enforcers

In a 1995 BBC documentary, Westminster’s Secret Service, Tim Fortescue, a whip under Ted Heath between 1970 and 1973, explained: “Anyone with any sense who was in trouble would come to the whips and tell them the truth, and say now, I’m in a jam, can you help? It might be debt, it might be … a scandal involving small boys, or any kind of scandal.

“And we would do everything we can because we would store up brownie points … and if I mean, that sounds a pretty, pretty nasty reason, but it’s one of the reasons because if we could get a chap out of trouble then he will do as we ask forever more.”
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steenkh said:
Could somebody explain what this whipping strategy really is? I have never understood what penalties could be imposed MPs that vote against their party - except kicking them out from the next election.
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A combination of blackmail - per Wudang's post - threats of being over-looked for advancement, promises of possible advancement, sometimes physical intimidation (some of The Thick of It is not far from reality), threats of de-selection, promises of a move to a safer seat.

Really, you name it - anything to give the whips an edge or a lever to enforce "party discipline".

This is why we mockingly call our MPs "lobby fodder".
 
Covid corruption commissioner starts fraud probe

The new Covid corruption commissioner has started an investigation into personal protective equipment (PPE) fraud.
Tom Hayhoe's first task will be reviewing the £8.7bn of PPE bought during the pandemic that then had to be written off the government's books.
Mr Hayhoe is also likely to review the previous government's abandoning of attempts to reclaim money from deals worth £674m.
The National Crime Agency is separately investigating possible criminal offences committed in the PPE procurement system.

www.bbc.co.uk

Covid corruption commissioner gets to work

Tom Hayhoe's first task will be reviewing the £8.7bn of pandemic PPE that had to be written off.
www.bbc.co.uk
 
Accountants Mazars acting as auditors refuse to sign off Tees Valley regeneration project’s accounts

Auditors have refused to sign off two years of accounts at Lord Ben Houchen’s Teesside regeneration body, while also pointing to “significant weaknesses” in its value for money arrangements.

As part of the audit process, Mazars was required to provide a view on whether the body was delivering value for money during the period.

It relied on the findings of an independent Tees Valley review into the STDC published earlier this year, and concluded there were “significant weaknesses in the corporation’s arrangements for financial sustainability, governance and improving efficiency, economy and effectiveness”.
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Time for the NAO investigation.

www.ft.com

Forvis Mazars refuses to sign off Tees Valley regeneration project’s accounts

Auditor could not get sufficient assurance of Ben Houchen’s body before deadline
www.ft.com www.ft.com
 
South Western Railway to be renationalised by Labour

Labour has pledged to renationalise rail services as operator franchises come to an end, and South Western's contract finishes in May 2025.

The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024, which passed last week, allows the government to take rail contracts back into public ownership.

The government plans to set up a new arms length body, Great British Railways (GBR), which will take over service contracts currently held by private firms as they expire in the coming years.
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www.bbc.co.uk

South Western, C2C, and Greater Anglia to be renationalised

The rail operators will be renationalised in May, as part of the government's manifesto promise.
www.bbc.co.uk
 
Conservative Party tweeted

First he gave away the Chagos Islands, now he’s eyeing up the Elgin Marbles.

Keir Starmer loves giving away British assets.
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That's funny, I thought it was some guy at the British Museum called George Osborne that was arranging it?
 
Carrot Flower King said:
A combination of blackmail - per Wudang's post - threats of being over-looked for advancement, promises of possible advancement, sometimes physical intimidation (some of The Thick of It is not far from reality), threats of de-selection, promises of a move to a safer seat.

Really, you name it - anything to give the whips an edge or a lever to enforce "party discipline".

This is why we mockingly call our MPs "lobby fodder".
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1713436553829.jpeg
 
Conservative Party tweeted

First he gave away the Chagos Islands, now he’s eyeing up the Elgin Marbles.​
​
Keir Starmer loves giving away British assets.​

That's funny, I thought it was some guy at the British Museum called George Osborne that was arranging it?
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"British assets"??! They're GREEK assets, you blithering idjit! The British Museum has just been borrowing them on an indefinite loan.
 
Andy_Ross said:
Accountants Mazars acting as auditors refuse to sign off Tees Valley regeneration project’s accounts



Time for the NAO investigation.

www.ft.com

Forvis Mazars refuses to sign off Tees Valley regeneration project’s accounts

Auditor could not get sufficient assurance of Ben Houchen’s body before deadline
www.ft.com www.ft.com
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I think the wheels are beginning to fall off little Ben's scheme. I wonder how long before the peelers call to the mayoral palace and whether he'll hang around to receive them.
 
Carrot Flower King said:
A combination of blackmail - per Wudang's post - threats of being over-looked for advancement, promises of possible advancement, sometimes physical intimidation (some of The Thick of It is not far from reality), threats of de-selection, promises of a move to a safer seat.

Really, you name it - anything to give the whips an edge or a lever to enforce "party discipline".

This is why we mockingly call our MPs "lobby fodder".
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Danish politicians would love to have a whip to chastise recalcitrant MPs, especially if they could be forced to stay in the party. It happens regularly that MPs drop out of their party and go single, or join another party.
 
zooterkin said:
And, of course, it was the Tories that negotiated the return of the Chagos Islands, Starmer is pretty much just signing what they agreed.
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Isn’t this much how Trump negotiated a humiliating retreat from Afghanistan, and Biden executed it?
 
steenkh said:
Isn’t this much how Trump negotiated a humiliating retreat from Afghanistan, and Biden executed it?
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Although to be fair, in this case, it was the right thing to do and has been one of many sources of shame for Britain
 
Norman Alexander said:
"British assets"??! They're GREEK assets, you blithering idjit! The British Museum has just been borrowing them on an indefinite loan.
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Well. quite.

We got all this swag, and we took it back to old blighty, and we hid it - this is the clever part - in a museum.
Now it's the modern day and all them countries we stole stuff from are asking for their stuff back.
But don't be worried, we're totally saying a blanket no.
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~ James Acaster, 'Repertoire'
 
I like it when the Earl of wherever wants to see an old Italian painting and there's outrage because it is part of our heritage and must be 'saved' for the nation. The govt should cough up £30 million or so to buy it and keep it in the country.

What bollocks.
 
Andy_Ross said:
I like it when the Earl of wherever wants to see an old Italian painting and there's outrage because it is part of our heritage and must be 'saved' for the nation. The govt should cough up £30 million or so to buy it and keep it in the country.

What bollocks.
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I just spent 5 minutes trying to parse that. Should see be sell in your post?
 
Andy_Ross said:
I like it when the Earl of wherever wants to see an old Italian painting and there's outrage because it is part of our heritage and must be 'saved' for the nation. The govt should cough up £30 million or so to buy it and keep it in the country.

What bollocks.
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Bung my Bro-in-Law half a mill and he'll do a very good copy (we have a couple of his "Gaugins", other friends of his have "Picassos" and I'm sure there are a couple of "Magrittes" floating around somewhere): everyone's happy.
 
Mark Thomas did a nice piece of activisim years back where he checked the register that rich 'Earl Whatevers' can register their artwork on as a tax break, on the condition that it is available for public viewing. Thomas, very politely, asked to see the artworks, sometimes with something of an entourage in tow, all very keen to see some obscure painting or sculpture. Some were fine, some were a bit 'oh, well it's quite awkward' but eventually had to give in, and several of them were quietly removed from the register and the tax paid.
 
Worm said:
Mark Thomas did a nice piece of activisim years back where he checked the register that rich 'Earl Whatevers' can register their artwork on as a tax break, on the condition that it is available for public viewing. Thomas, very politely, asked to see the artworks, sometimes with something of an entourage in tow, all very keen to see some obscure painting or sculpture. Some were fine, some were a bit 'oh, well it's quite awkward' but eventually had to give in, and several of them were quietly removed from the register and the tax paid.
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I remember that. Mark Thomas is very good. Did you see the episode where he, together with a bunch of sixth form convent schoolgirls (in Dublin?) applied for export licences for various banned weapons. And ended up with the schoolgirls presenting to Parliament

 
Taxpayers are set to pay £4billion more than expected to build new prison places after the Tories botched their plans, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has warned.

The watchdog also said the then-government's 2021 pledge to create an extra 20,000 cells spaces by building more prisons, temporary wings and refurbishing existing cell blocks is now not expected to be met until 2031 - around five years later than promised.

Reasons behind delays include "unrealistic timelines" and overestimating the ability to get planning permission for three out of the six new prisons due to be built. Prison expansion plans are now expected to cost between £9.4billion and £10.1billion, which will be at least £4.2billion over previous estimates stated in 2021.

www.mirror.co.uk

Taxpayers left with 'eyewatering' bill after Tories botched prison building plan

Taxpayers are set to pay £4billion more than expected to build new prison places after the Tories botched their plans, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has warned
www.mirror.co.uk www.mirror.co.uk
 
Andy_Ross said:
Taxpayers are set to pay £4billion more than expected to build new prison places after the Tories botched their plans, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has warned.

The watchdog also said the then-government's 2021 pledge to create an extra 20,000 cells spaces by building more prisons, temporary wings and refurbishing existing cell blocks is now not expected to be met until 2031 - around five years later than promised.

Reasons behind delays include "unrealistic timelines" and overestimating the ability to get planning permission for three out of the six new prisons due to be built. Prison expansion plans are now expected to cost between £9.4billion and £10.1billion, which will be at least £4.2billion over previous estimates stated in 2021.

www.mirror.co.uk

Taxpayers left with 'eyewatering' bill after Tories botched prison building plan

Taxpayers are set to pay £4billion more than expected to build new prison places after the Tories botched their plans, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has warned
www.mirror.co.uk www.mirror.co.uk
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Expect a slew of "Labour can't keep blaming the Tories for everything" commentators.
 
Dominic Cummings was right ...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyv2g2pe5ro.amp

When they were in opposition, many Labour figures took the view that the Conservatives had hobbled their own government through a needlessly antagonistic relationship with the civil service.
Few talk that way now. “The biggest disappointment of going into government has been the quality of the civil service,” one leading government adviser said.
Another added: “The Cummings analysis is where we are in lots of ways."
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Reform failed to pick a single seat in yesterday’s council by-elections.

They have won just 5 seats in 166 by-elections since the General Election.

Yesterday’s fails include Wales and Scotland where they’re campaigning hard, claiming to be the main opposition party in both countries.
 
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