UK Politics Thread part II [Archive] - Page 5

Moonlight

11-20-23, 07:59 AM

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt shelves plans to slash inheritance tax in his Autumn Statement amid fears of a Red Wall backlash if the 'death tax' is cut for the wealthy

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12768739/Chancellor-Jeremy-Hunt-shelves-plans-slash-inheritance-tax-Autumn-Statement-amid-fears-Red-Wall-backlash-death-tax-cut-wealthy.html

Whoever came up with this idea in the first place should be hung, drawn and quartered.
I'm surprised they didn't try to justify this by using Liz Truss and her "Trickle Down Economics" idea that they tried to con us with, that has since been debunked all over the world as a load of bollocks.

Trickle down-economics in the UK
Trickle down-economics came to the forefront of UK politics when Liz Truss's Government announced its mini-budget on Friday 23 September. The plans included that:

The cap on bankers’ bonuses would be abolished
The rise in corporation tax and national insurance would be reversed
Stamp duty would be cut
The top income tax rate would be scrapped
The decisions were made to put millions into the pockets of the wealthiest to spur economic growth. Liz Truss said ‘Lower taxes lead to economic growth, there’s no doubt in my mind.’

But markets didn’t agree with her.

Whenever a government does not make enough money through tax to cover its spending, the money has to come from national debt. The mini-budget is estimated to reduce revenue by £45 billion but has no intention to cut spending.

Typically, increases in government borrowing lead to greater returns on bonds because the dramatic increase in supply (without an increase in demand) causes the securities to fall in value. The bond yields have to increase to remain competitive and bring in investors.

After the mini-budget, 2-year UK government bonds hit the highest level since the 2008 crisis. This should in theory strengthen the pound as foreign investors rush to invest in domestic assets – but this didn’t happen.

Within a matter of days, £500 billion was wiped off UK markets. There was a run on sterling that caused it to fall to multi-decade lows against the dollar, and the FTSE tumbled as British assets were sold off.

In an unprecedented move toward a non-emerging market, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) made a statement criticising the decision. The supranational body urged the government to reconsider the tax cuts that it said would stoke inequality within the country.

Jimbuna

11-20-23, 08:34 AM

A reasonable increase in the personal allowance and retention of the triple lock will suit me fine thank you.

Jimbuna

11-20-23, 02:29 PM

Tories move to clamp down on low paid migrants with immigration stats due to hit 500,000

It's reported foreign workers will now need a salary of more than £30,000 to come to Britain, up from the current £26,200 required by workers outside "shortage occupations".

However, even the new figure is well below the median UK wage of £33,000.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/tories-move-to-clamp-down-on-low-paid-migrants-with-immigration-stats-due-to-hit-500-000/ar-AA1kdCrr?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=12f77696710444e0ae89094e5d6bee09&ei=19

Jimbuna

11-21-23, 05:39 AM

Best make it quick then and don't forget to close the door behind you.

Humza Yousaf warned SNP's 'absurd' bid to rejoin EU will make Scotland 'a basket case'

Humza Yousaf's SNP risks turning Scotland into an "utter basket case of a failed state" with his party's plan to take an independent Scotland back into the European Union, Reform UK deputy leader Ben Habib has warned.

Mr Habib was commenting after the publication of the SNP's seventh paper on independence, entitled: "An independent Scotland in the EU."

The 78-page document says the process of re-joining the bloc would be "closely aligned" with the process of establishing a Scottish pound, something discussed in a previous paper.

The document also described plans for checks on goods which are traded across the border between an independent Scotland and England, envisaging what it calls a "single trade window" online.
However, former Brexit Party MEP Mr Habib was far from convinced.

He told Express.co.uk: "The fact is, Scotland would not be independent if it joins the EU.

"It would have given up its ancient successful union with the rest of Great Britain to join a failing one with the EU."

It was obvious that there could be no route for Scotland rejoining without "standing on its own two legs" for at a number of years, Mr Habib pointed out.

He explained: "The EU will insist on being able to assess Scotland as a genuinely independent country, test its economic capability and indeed its general ability to govern itself.

"The notion that it could hop and skip its way into the EU is absurd."

It was this intermediate period of genuine independence which exposed Mr Humza's ambitions as unworkable, Mr Habib said.

He continued: "Right now, it is English generosity that props up Scotland.

"What will he do when that ends? Launch a new currency? Print his own monopoly money with no meaningful economy to back it up?

"All the complaints made by him about the post-Brexit British economy will pale by comparison to the utter basket case of a failed state he would create.

"The new Scottish currency would tank; Scotland would be bust before you could say Robert is your father's brother."

Referencing Hilaire Belloc's 1907 poem Jim, in which the title character is famously eaten by a lion during a trip to the zoo, Mr Habib added: "No Mr Humza, you will not be able to deliver. My advice to you is:

"...Always keep a-hold of Nurse, for fear of finding something worse!"

Unveiling the paper last week, Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson said: "A Yes vote in a referendum on that question in Scotland would begin the process of our negotiations with the UK and then, in time, with the EU.

"And, we would imagine that, that would take in the same sort of order as other countries that have joined, that's anything between two years and five years.

"But we would be starting from a very different position.

"We're literally the only part of the European Union that's been taken out against our will and we're the only part of the formerly part of the European Union that is seeking to rejoin."

Mr Robertson subsequently told Express.co.uk:

External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson said: "Independence would give Scotland direct representation in European decision-making for the very first time, providing opportunities for our economy to grow inside a market which is seven times the size of the UK and escape the damage of the UK's hard Brexit, which is hitting Scotland's economy and communities hard."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/humza-yousaf-warned-snp-s-absurd-bid-to-rejoin-eu-will-make-scotland-a-basket-case/ar-AA1kfAuN?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=8ca95508bd574d3fa08b8d4b3cd5b53a&ei=39

MGR1

11-21-23, 12:57 PM

Best make it quick then and don't forget to close the door behind you.

This highlights an omnipresent problem: policy platforms apart, Reform's "Too English" to succeed in Scotland, the SNP are "Too Scottish" for the rest of the UK.

Until and unless the Western Central Belt stop voting for them en masse (which is the only way to get rid of them, demographics and political weighting being as they are), the SNP are going to be a feature of the British political landscape for the forseeable future. There isn't much the rest of Scotland can do about it. Not enough people, simple as.

Mike.

Jimbuna

11-22-23, 07:11 AM

Moonlight

11-22-23, 08:16 AM

French police chief in charge of stopping illegal migrant Channel crossings to Britain has been 'absent' most of the past 14 years playing golf and swimming instead, damning internal report claims

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12777791/French-police-chief-charge-stopping-illegal-migrant-Channel-crossings-Britain-absent-past-14-years-playing-golf-swimming-instead-damning-internal-report-claims.html

I wondered why thousands of Migrants have been able to cross the channel so easily, now we know why.

Jimbuna

11-22-23, 10:54 AM

Looking forward to watching Hunts autumn statement on tv where no doubt he will attempt to bribe the public into voting Tory next year.

Personally, I'm undecided because I feel that currently Labour are no better but after thirteen years of Tory rule perhaps they deserve a chance.

More from me after the details are made public.

Just the one positive for me as far as I'm concerned...

'The state pension will increase by 8.5% from April 2024 to £221.20 a week, as the government honours the triple lock'

So no Tory votes from my household and if Labour offer nothing more next year I'll have to give serious consideration to voting Lib Dem.

Moonlight

11-22-23, 02:02 PM

^Jesus Christ!, I'd book yourself an appointment with a psychiatrist first old boy, don't tell them that you're thinking of voting LibDem until the 4th or 5th session, you'll need to break the ice first as that kind of confession could send them over the edge. :haha:

Jimbuna

11-23-23, 06:24 AM

To top it all off and despite Rishi's promise to tackle illegal immigrants, the 2022 figure of 606,000 has now risen to 672,000

Jimbuna

11-23-23, 07:14 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/CL1nDLTd/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Moonlight

11-23-23, 08:04 AM

More begging letters, it's never ending with the Labour Party.

Tories hit the panic button after net migration is upgraded by the equivalent of the population of Cambridge to ANOTHER new record of 745,000 a year - driven by arrivals from outside the EU looking for work

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12783349/Net-migration-high-huge-pressure-Rishi-Sunak.html

HMS Great Britain is heading full throttle through the ice floes, very soon we're going to hit one of them head on, "Well Done" to all of our Political Parties who have wanted this to happen, the Takeover will be complete in less than 20 years.

All Hail our new master, Mohammed "**** off you White Currants" Mohammed. :O:

Jimbuna

11-23-23, 01:18 PM

This article explains adequately my main grievance with the current government.

Millions of pensioners paying more income tax now than when Tories took power
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/millions-of-pensioners-paying-more-income-tax-now-than-when-tories-took-power/ar-AA1kqf38?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=e2d655d2e9f9481da114261a39552656&ei=15

Moonlight

11-23-23, 02:39 PM

This is my main grievance with the Tories, they've turned the UK into a stinking rubbish tip where the rats of the earth infest our streets.

'When do we say: enough is enough?' Ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman demands major new clampdown on legal immigration to ease pressure on housing and the NHS as net arrival numbers are revised UP to new record of 745,000 in a year
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12784719/Ex-Home-Secretary-Suella-Braverman-demands-major-new-clampdown-legal-immigration.html

Jimbuna

11-24-23, 07:21 AM

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has drawn up a set of proposals to attempt to cut immigration to the UK.

The ideas, which he has shared with No 10, are not yet government policy, but are being discussed internally.

Among the suggestions are a required minimum annual salary of £35,000 in order to receive a work visa.

It comes after official figures put last year's net migration figure higher than previously thought - at a record 745,000 people.

This has led to calls for more action to bring down migration from Tory MPs.

Rishi Sunak said "levels of immigration are too high" and need to come down "to sustainable levels".

The prime minister added that the government's plans to clamp down on dependents of students arriving in the UK is "the single toughest measure that anyone has taken to bring down the levels of legal migration in a very long time".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67515674

£35,000 and fewer dependants sounds all well and good but what about the illegals?

Moonlight

11-24-23, 07:35 AM

I remember a minimum annual salary being bandied about around Priti Patels' Home Secretaries time, I think the Tories finally settled on a salary of £0 pounds and a benefit handout of £25,000 or more, I always said that the Tories would **** everything up as usual and I was right. :o

Jimbuna

11-24-23, 08:15 AM

Meanwhile, north of the border....

Former first minister Alex Salmond has launched legal action against the Scottish Government over its botched investigation of harassment complaints against him.

The Court of Session confirmed to the PA news agency on Friday the case, Alex Salmond v Scottish ministers, had been called.

The Herald reported the now-Alba Party leader has alleged “misfeasance” by civil servants and is seeking £3 million in damages and loss of earnings.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/alex-salmond-launches-legal-action-against-scottish-government/ar-AA1ksJ7v?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=ce7c6348241140b78f158c5a7999250e&ei=27

MGR1

11-24-23, 12:08 PM

It's all very Macbeth, but with an uglier cast.

Mike.:D

Jimbuna

11-24-23, 12:21 PM

I'm not sure how successful he'll be ...going up against the 'system' and all that.

MGR1

11-24-23, 01:24 PM

I'm not sure how successful he'll be ...going up against the 'system' and all that.

He's apparently been calling for a "United Front" with the SNP on independence, but this possible court case won't help that idea in the least. Unless he's just trying to bully Useless now that Sturgeon's out of the way.

Mike.

Jimbuna

11-24-23, 01:36 PM

I must admit I used to like the guy back in the day.

Jimbuna

11-25-23, 01:16 PM

Pray God NO!

Brexit debate ‘could be reignited’ after David Cameron praises European Union

David Cameron has said Britain needs closer ties with the European Union, prompting fears the Brexit debate could be ‘reignited’.

The Foreign Secretary said the bloc is a ‘friend, a neighbour and partner’ and praised cooperation between the EU and the UK in supporting Ukraine.

But he was warned not to ‘reignite’ the debate around Brexit.

Lord Cameron told the BBC: ‘When you look at the engagement in Ukraine, that probably is the best example of how it’s worked.

‘There’s no doubt that Britain is the leading European power in helping Ukraine. I heard that over and over again from the president downwards. But we’re doing that in partnership with our European colleagues.

‘So I think we can make “friend, neighbour and partner” work, and I’m determined to do so’
It is Lord Cameron’s first time back in front line politics following his resingation as Prime Minister in 2016 when he led the unsuccessful Remain campaign.

Pro-Brexit Conservative MPs were left upset by the remarks, with Richard Drax, a member of the defence select committee saying: ‘You might want to remind Lord Cameron that we left the EU – no ifs or buts – and we’re doing very well, thank you.

‘I hope that Lord Cameron’s comments are not in any way reigniting the Brexit debate, because that would be entirely wrong.’

Sir Michael Fabricant said: ‘His statement simply reinforces the concerns of those voters who think David Cameron hasn’t moved on from the referendum.’
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/brexit-debate-could-be-reignited-after-david-cameron-praises-european-union/ar-AA1kvHDW?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=fba8cd3bb6714acaa003677c6c5aec87&ei=9

Jimbuna

11-26-23, 09:59 AM

This stinks to the high heavens.

The Tories are facing fresh cronyism claims after handing gongs to 96 sitting MPs since coming to power.

Analysis found two thirds of the knighthoods or damehoods were handed to serving Tories (64), 26 to Labour, five to the Liberal Democrats and one to the Democratic Unionist Party. It marks an eightfold increase on the last Labour Government, when only 11 sitting MPs were given such honours between 1997 and 2010.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/surge-in-knighthoods-doled-out-to-sitting-tory-mps-sparks-fresh-cronyism-row/ar-AA1kxXdM?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=6e7a2d3a47fb47afb36d83bbdc5a3b45&ei=13

Jimbuna

11-26-23, 01:16 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/gjnBZ9mQ/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.cc/64xhkm7f)

Jimbuna

11-27-23, 05:50 AM

Too little too late...the horse has already bolted me thinks.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to toughen up migration rules under a Tory leadership contest deal with Suella Braverman, the former home secretary's allies say.

The Telegraph newspaper says it has seen a copy of a plan Mr Sunak agreed with Mrs Braverman last year.

The document includes a pledge to increase the salary migrants would have to earn to enter the UK.

But Mr Sunak's allies dispute the idea he struck a deal with Mrs Braverman.

Sources close to the prime minister insist there was a more general policy discussion about legal and illegal migration, rather than an agreement on specific policy proposals.

The claim of a deal came in Mrs Braverman's scathing letter to Mr Sunak after the prime minister had sacked her as home secretary.

In the letter, Mrs Braverman said she supported Mr Sunak's Tory leadership bid last year because of "the firm assurances you gave me on key policy priorities", which included reducing "overall legal migration".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67541308

Jimbuna

11-28-23, 06:34 AM

You can tell a general election is in the offing when sculptures made almost 500 years before the birth of Christ become the subject of a very public diplomatic snub in November 2023.

No 10 is embroiled in a deepening row with Athens after cancelling a meeting between Rishi Sunak and the Greek PM.

Downing Street believed it had assurances that Kyriakos Mitsotakis would not speak publicly about the Parthenon Sculptures - also known as the Elgin Marbles - on his UK visit.

A Greek source has denied this.

On Sunday, Greece's leader told the BBC that having some treasures in London and others in Athens was like cutting the Mona Lisa in half.

No 10 then scrapped the PM's meeting with Mr Mitsotakis at late notice.

Labour has described the row as "pathetic".

A Greek government source disputed there had been any assurances given to the UK about Mr Mitsotakis talking about the marbles while he was in the country.

They said discussions preparing for the meeting with the UK PM had been smooth until late afternoon on Monday - long after Mr Mitsotakis's BBC interview with Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67551732

Jimbuna

11-29-23, 07:14 AM

Never thought I'd see the day when I would agree with anything Jacob Rees-Mogg said but I have to admit I believe he is spot on the money here.

Rees-Mogg claims Sunak is Britain’s most ‘lifeless’ leader for more than 500 years

Senior Tory Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has warned Rishi Sunak he must wake up and act or lose the next general election, in an extraordinary attack on his own party.

The Boris Johnson ally attacked Mr Sunak’s government as the most inert since the reign of Henry VI in 1453.

Sir Jacob, who served as business secretary under Liz Truss, compared the current PM to the 15th-Century monarch, saying “since then, we have never had so inert a government – until today”.

“The current government … needs to awake from its catalepsy if it wishes to win the election,” he warned.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/rees-mogg-claims-sunak-is-britain-s-most-lifeless-leader-for-more-than-500-years/ar-AA1kEBSY?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=62077ee24718405e9c197242be1000f9&ei=8

Moonlight

11-29-23, 08:07 AM

Smoggy should take a long hard look around the House of Commons and see the retards who voted for Sunak, that Lettuce would have done a better job than the Tory Cadavers of today have. Long Live The Lettuce. :up:

Jimbuna

11-29-23, 10:16 AM

Most definitely not...no thank you.

The UK has been urged to rejoin the EU to "fix" Brexit, by one of Europe's most senior politicians.

Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission President, told a Politico event: "I keep telling my children, you have to fix it. We goofed it up." She had been asked if Britain could ever reverse Brexit.

She said: "First of all, thank God, with the Windsor agreement, we had a new beginning for old friends. Very important ... you have to fix it [Brexit]. So I think here, too, the direction of travel, my personal opinion is clear.”

Support for rejoining the bloc has been at a record highs since the 2016 EU referendum, with 63% supporting rejoin while those who want to stay out of the EU is at 37%. This has largely been driven by younger people reaching voting age, and a small minority of Leave voters switching sides.
YouGov announced earlier in the year that 46% of voters want a referendum in the next 10 years, 10 percentage points higher than those that don’t. Small businesses have had issues with extra costs and red tape, while farmers are fighting to stay afloat as government subsidies reduce.

However, research has shown that now Britons are largely apathetic about the EU, and Leave voters think Brexit has gone badly but blame it on politicians instead of leaving the EU.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/brexit-uk-should-rejoin-the-eu-ursula-von-der-leyen-says/ar-AA1kJc8F?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=5768b9f44a0f47218f5c10f8533ab53c&ei=8

Rockstar

11-29-23, 05:12 PM

What the hell is going on over there, you have so many unassimilated migrants you now gladly choose to bow down to one particular group who wish to do harm others? Gee, let me guess who’s on the city council, London has fallen. Happy Ramadan to everyone in the U.K.

https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/council-sparks-anger-after-halting-chanukah-menorah-plans-over-community-tension-concerns/

https://i.postimg.cc/XYCNt7X2/IMG-3215.jpg

Moonlight

11-30-23, 02:21 AM

Jimbuna

11-30-23, 07:09 AM

Rishi must already be experiencing sleepless nights without this lot adding to them :)

Sixteen people have been arrested after climate campaign group Just Stop Oil staged a protest outside Rishi Sunak's west London home on Wednesday night.

Just Stop Oil said about 18 people gathered at the Kensington property holding placards and "made themselves heard by beating pots and pans".

It is not known whether the prime minister or his family were inside at the time.

No 10 declined to comment on the incident.

The Metropolitan Police said those arrested have been taken to a number of central London police stations and remain in custody.

A statement issued by Just Stop Oil called the protest a "wide awake disruption", with some of its placards reading "no rest for the wicked".

The group highlighted its opposition to the prime minister's decision in July to grant 100 new North Sea oil and gas licences.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67573852

Jimbuna

11-30-23, 09:14 AM

I hope hell would freeze over before this happens.

Not that it's any of the OECD's business anyway.

Calls to scrap the state pension triple lock to pay for net zero policies by the Europe-based OECD yesterday triggered fury on this side of the Channel.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development urged ministers here to water down the pension promise.

The proposal was immediately slapped down by Downing Street, which said the Government is 'very clearly committed' to the triple lock.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed in last week's Autumn Statement that the state pension triple lock policy will be honoured in full next year. Campaigners and charities said it was vital to keep the triple lock, which guarantees the annual rise in the state pension.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/anger-over-oecd-call-to-axe-state-pension-triple-lock-to-pay-for-net-zero/ar-AA1kL136?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=232b1ec83eff44ffa3619bab447edeca&ei=14

Rockstar

11-30-23, 09:26 AM

The inmates have took over the Asylum old boy, we worthless Scum, as we are known by in the Westminster corridors of power, should embrace our new Muslim faith with open arms and go forth on a conquest of love. Or to put it more bluntly, pick up an AK47 and start blasting away at the degenerates who do not subscribe to the Religion of Peace's point of view. :O:

These two below are what's wrong with the UK, the highest Civil Servants in the Home Office and they haven't got a bleeding clue between them about any immigration details.
In fact Sir Matthew Rycroft has got a knighthood for not knowing anything about immigration, he's the Home Office's permanent secretary and Simon Ridley its interim second permanent secretary. For two hours they faced the Commons home affairs committee in one of the worst massacres I have ever seen. :haha: I'm laughing, but it's not bleeding funny.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-12807023/QUENTIN-LETTS-Home-Office-twosome-shrivelled-grilled-MPs.html

So now you know about the backroom staffs abilities, times that by minus 10 and you have our Lords and Masters of The Tory Party, this makes your shindig with Mr Trump pale in comparison, I'm hoping to wake up one day and discover that I've been having a nightmare, please god I hope so. :O:

Is the U.K. so overrun you’re now afraid to step on your new masters toes for fear of offending them or that they might burn down your cities?

New York City didn’t back down as Londonstan did. They had their Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. There were pro-Palestinian protestors chanting “shut it down”. Only a few beat downs were required by New York's finest to keep things under control. The protestors were not allowed to overrule the event.

Btw, it not my shindig. If you look at the U.S. politics board Europeans seem to have the most to say about the orange man. Likely because most if not all article's linked are from the British and European news sources or fringe sites like RawStory or Alternet. No offense but you couldn’t even respond to specific comment about London England politics without working Trump into the argument. It’s not me man, it really isn’t. :03:

Moonlight

11-30-23, 11:00 AM

If you can't understand that my post was full of sarcasm from beginning to end, then all I can say again is, the takeover has already begun here, our authorities listen to hate speeches from the Religion of Peace but do nothing about it, when they do arrest them all they get is a slap on the wrist, we White Brits on the other hand, will be banged up in a prison cell if we said half as much as these Imams do, that's justice, Tory style for you.

Lets be clear about the Trump thing, almost everyone in the UK couldn't give a rats ass if all the politicians of the USA were alive today and dead tomorrow, furthermore, most of us just wish the good ol US of A would grow an ass hole and bleeding disappear up it......Forever.

Jeff-Groves

11-30-23, 11:56 AM

most of us just wish the good ol US of A would grow an ass hole and bleeding disappear up it
I do believe your wish is coming true seeing as the Politicians already have their heads up their asses!
:hmmm:

Jimbuna

11-30-23, 11:57 AM

Matters have taken a not totally unexpected turn for the worse.

Rishi must be in a right pickle as to which way he should jump.

EU diplomats are said to have privately warned the UK not to withdraw from the international human rights agreements, such as the ECHR and the UN Refugee convention.

The UK is currently weighing up plans to backtrack on the agreements, in order to get the Rwanda migrant plan off the ground.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and a significant number of backbenchers on the right of the party are pressing the Government to withdraw from the agreements.

But Home Secretary James Cleverly and Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who both came to post after Braverman was sacked, are more reluctant to do so, partly due to concerns over how it might impact the UK's international relations.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/vdl-s-officials-meddle-again-as-eu-warns-britain-not-to-backtrack-on-echr/ar-AA1kM6Gc?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=9bb353bca7074efa810c4122d5231e63&ei=18

MGR1

11-30-23, 12:53 PM

Well, the Tories certainly have got themselves up the proverbial creek without a paddle over this.

They can't play the moral high ground card when it comes to, say, Russia, China and Iran whilst trying to withdraw from the ECHR for what are, ultimately, purely domestic political reasons.

Doing so would give an even greater reason for the UK's opponents to laugh at us for alleged double standards. We'd be "All Mouth and No Knickers", to be blunt. More so than the UK already is.

Mike.:hmmm:

Rockstar

11-30-23, 01:02 PM

Jimbuna

11-30-23, 01:28 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/fR95x2Tn/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.cc/mPTQ4SH8)
https://i.postimg.cc/0QcC8hZm/Untitleda.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

11-30-23, 01:51 PM

Alistair Darling, the Labour chancellor who steered the UK through the 2008 financial crisis, has died aged 70, a family spokesperson has said.

Following Labour's landslide 1997 election win, Lord Darling served in cabinet for 13 years under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

He was best known as the steady pair of hands who shepherded the UK economy as half its banking system collapsed.

The ex-Edinburgh MP died after a short spell in hospital, his family said.

A gentleman I feel privileged to have met.

R I P

Onkel Neal

11-30-23, 04:53 PM

WTH has happened to my motherland?! :timeout:

https://x.com/RadioGenoa/status/1730255316611203549?s=20

Jeff-Groves

11-30-23, 06:35 PM

Just about time to recognize England as a Terrorist Country.
Welcome to Our Club Mates!

Rockstar

11-30-23, 08:43 PM

Muslim mayor cancels city’s annual Jewish celebration, one which commemorates the overthrow of a foreign power in Jerusalem 2100 years ago… anyone surprised?

Welcome to Londonstan

To be honest I seriously doubt the Mayor allowed the event to be cancelled because he’s a Muslim, though it can’t hurt his popularity in the streets. I think he did because the Police are weak, untrained and ill equipped to prevent a large unassimilated population of Islamic immigrants from torching the city at will.

So much for cultural diversity :haha:.

”It was a grave mistake to let in so many people of totally different cultural and religious concepts because it creates a pressure group inside each country that does that,” - Kissinger

Moonlight

12-01-23, 05:08 AM

Revealed: 1,500 Afghans scrambled to UK in secretive mission as minister speaks of Britain’s ‘enormous debt’

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/revealed-1-500-afghans-scrambled-to-uk-in-secretive-mission-as-minister-speaks-of-britain-s-enormous-debt/ar-AA1kOYM6?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=22588914fa5d4a0c968f79ec97a3fdaa&ei=15

It's immigration on a never ending scale, so, Defence minister James Heappey says we owe these Afghans a huge debt?, just remind me again Mr Heappey, how did these new Afghan immigrants win the war against the Taliban?, I can't remember any victory celebrations can he?.
I would say these Afghans were as useful as a "Dose of Gonorrhoea" in a whorehouse, the lives of 454 British servicemen and women can be attributed to that fact, was it incompetence or was their some collusion going on, seeing as how these Afghans and the British Army lost that war, I would say it was the latter.

Eventually their will be a new war on "Terror" and it will be fought on the streets of the UK, "You Reap What You Sow", that price will be paid for in blood.

Well Done Tony Blair, and a special mention too for David Cameron. :salute:

Jimbuna

12-01-23, 06:28 AM

Nothing beats "Passing the buck"

Rishi Sunak has blamed high levels of net migration on Boris Johnson, saying he had “inherited these very large numbers” that he was determined to bring down.

The prime minister vowed to “do what is necessary” to bring net migration down, as he comes under pressure from the right of his party to reduce the number of new arrivals to the UK before the next election.

Revised estimates showed last week that net migration reached a record 745,000 in 2022, after post-Brexit changes to the immigration system brought in under Boris Johnson. Net migration for the year to June 2023 is estimated to have been slightly lower, at 672,000.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/rishi-sunak-says-he-inherited-very-high-immigration-from-boris-johnson/ar-AA1kNYDR?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=6f6a16d3d4024594ba45abae3a8f970d&ei=34

Jimbuna

12-02-23, 05:36 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/7Y822cvj/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Moonlight

12-02-23, 07:37 AM

Why don't you sue them for harassment?. :haha:

Jimbuna

12-02-23, 08:45 AM

I doubt they have sufficient funds :)

Skybird

12-02-23, 08:56 AM

^ Well, in that case you are always free to chip in five pounds - and then sue them. :up:

Jimbuna

12-02-23, 09:01 AM

^ Well, in that case you are always free to chip in five pounds - and then sue them. :up:

Send me ten Euro and I'll gladly oblige :03:

Jimbuna

12-03-23, 11:53 AM

How bloody annoying is this during these days of high cost living? :nope:

Taxpayers foot £300,000 bill for MPs’ soaring energy costs at second homes

MPs charged taxpayers almost £300,000 for energy bills and other utilities at their second homes over the past year, a new analysis by The Independent has found.

Campaigners said the record-high figure shows that Britain’s politicians are “insulated” from the cost of living crisis, since so much of their energy costs are covered by the public purse, while millions struggle to pay.

Tory ministers Suella Braverman, James Cleverly, Alex Chalk, Victoria Prentis, Alister Jack and James Heappey are among senior figures who claim gas and electricity costs at their second homes.

MPs’ claims for gas, electricity and water amounted to £292,000 in 2022-23, according to an analysis of data from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).

It marks a significant increase on last year’s bill for MPs’ utilities, which totalled £253,000 – a reflection of the spike in gas and electricity prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/taxpayers-foot-300-000-bill-for-mps-soaring-energy-costs-at-second-homes/ar-AA1kV8G9?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=a85c5ac405d245dab5f70b7a9572ed19&ei=25

Rockstar

12-04-23, 01:26 PM

.............................

Jimbuna

12-04-23, 01:30 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/g2LhBdGN/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Moonlight

12-04-23, 06:55 PM

^I'd pay the Government £10,000 quid for the privilege of necking that currant, I'd even provide my own rope and pay my own expenses too, if the government want that other old bat necking she is worth about £10 quid, now do the decent thing and say yes. :yep:

Jimbuna

12-05-23, 05:13 AM

Home Secretary James Cleverly is in Rwanda to sign a new treaty with the east African nation on the government's asylum plan.

The planned policy - first announced in April 2022 - would see some asylum seekers sent to Rwanda to claim asylum there.

But the plan has hit legal setbacks and was blocked in its previous form by the Supreme Court, which called it unlawful amid concerns about Rwanda's justice system.

The government hopes an enhanced treaty - and "emergency" domestic legislation - will prevent its scheme hitting more legal obstacles.

The BBC has also been told that the new deal could see British lawyers stationed in Rwandan courts to address.

Ahead of his trip, Cleverly stressed that Rwanda was a safe country - and he was committed to deterring migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats.

The UK has already paid the Rwandan government £140m for the scheme - but no migrants have yet been sent there.

Jimbuna

12-05-23, 05:29 AM

Seeing as how I lost a few friends to this I'll readily admit I'm overjoyed Rishi failed in his plan to delay this.

Rishi Sunak suffers his biggest revolt yet as PM rocked by Commons defeat

Rishi Sunak last night suffered his first House of Commons defeat since becoming Prime Minister, with MPs voting to establish a compensatory body for victims of the infected blood scandal.

The amendment, tabled by Labour, was passed by 246 votes to 242.

Sunak has a working majority of 56 MPs, with 22 MPs rebelling to support the amendment.

The Haemophilia Society said the Prime Minister "should be ashamed" he had been forced "to do the right thing".

The Government will be required to establish a new body which will administer full compensation within three months of the bill becoming law.

Thousands of people died in the 1970s and 1980s after being infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products imported from the US.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/rishi-sunak-suffers-his-biggest-revolt-yet-as-pm-rocked-by-commons-defeat/ar-AA1l1flO?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=0d1505ac1b0d417888dc6006885f4913&ei=13

Moonlight

12-05-23, 05:57 AM

About bloody time too, every family who has ever lost someone to this scandal should be compensated too. :up:

Moonlight

12-05-23, 11:08 AM

JASON GROVES: Rishi Sunak gets tough on immigration at last, but will he regret not acting sooner?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-12825379/jason-groves-rishi-sunak-immigration.html

It's too late to save your hide Fishy Rishi, you are a dead man walking, you can't see it but we can. Good Riddance To Bad Rubbish. :O:

Jimbuna

12-05-23, 01:49 PM

I should imagine the 1922 committee have close to enough signed letters to see him off before long.

Jimbuna

12-05-23, 02:10 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/LsbtNMQV/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/Hx8QNPf1/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Moonlight

12-05-23, 05:11 PM

^It's never ending, be a devil and slip them one.

'Remove Sunak!' Conservative Democratic Organisation Chairman calls for Tory MPs to act

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/remove-sunak-conservative-democratic-organisation-chairman-calls-for-tory-mps-to-act/ar-AA1l1t4E?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=12f59c6af13144e0a91d8fd1d9d37159&ei=6

Oh bloody hell Sunak, your influential members think you're a currant too. :haha:

Jimbuna

12-06-23, 11:26 AM

Watching Boris on tv at the Covid enquiry is better than watching a musical comedy.

Moonlight

12-06-23, 04:24 PM

Rishi's Rwanda plan blows up in his face: PM faces coup threat from Tory right as immigration minister Robert Jenrick QUITS hours after new emergency law is published - warning courts will STILL be able to block flights

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12833421/Rishi-Sunaks-new-migrant-flight-law-rule-Rwanda-safe.html

This government is falling apart at the seams, do us all a favour and **** off into a dark abyss will you. Sunak and Cleverly both need to go and those Wets and Centrists need to be De-Selected as well, nothing will get done while those pillocks are in charge.

Jimbuna

12-07-23, 07:01 AM

Rishi Sunak defends his Rwanda bill as "the right approach" as pressure mounts within the Tory party and a minister quits.

The PM says the bill is the "toughest immigration law ever" and insists it will successfully prevent further legal challenges stopping flights taking off to the East African country.

But he admits that the European Court of Human Rights will still be able to challenge asylum seeker deportations.

Robert Jenrick earlier quit as immigration minister over the new law, saying it wasn't tough enough.

Ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman echoed his criticism and said it would not effectively stop Channel crossings.

But Sunak says going any further will risk sinking the policy altogether.

The PM also confirmed that the Commons vote on the Rwanda bill next week will not be treated as a confidence vote in his government.

Aside from the new law, the government has also signed a new treaty with Rwanda declaring that it is a safe country to try and get the policy implemented.

It comes after the Supreme Court blocked it, saying Rwanda was not safe and could return refugees to the countries they fled.

Take note of the important bit then possibly prepare for another unelected pm or possibly even an announcement of a general election.

Jimbuna

12-08-23, 08:19 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/yxTdhPtc/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/Y2Nhwr00/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

12-09-23, 05:51 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/cLLhV17G/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/6pbcwsz2/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

12-09-23, 11:53 AM

And they’re off: Kemi Badenoch takes an early lead in the Tory leadership stakes

We have not one but two articles by Conservative leadership candidates in the newspapers this morning. Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, has an article in The Sun saying Brexit was a vote of confidence in the country. And Robert Jenrick, described by the online version of The Daily Telegraph as “immigration minister”, which was his job until Wednesday, has written a longer version of his resignation letter.

The collapse in Tory discipline has been so rapid that someone who is well connected to what he calls “the party in the shires” has mentioned Bob Hawke to me. This is code between us for a late change of leadership before an election, which is what the Australian Labor Party did in 1983. After the election was called, it ditched Bill Hayden, its uninspiring leader, and put Hawke in. He went on to win not just that election but three more.
That late switch was made in opposition, but it can be done in government. Anthony Eden went to the country immediately on taking office in April 1955, and in that election increased the Tory majority from 17 to 60. Boris Johnson is the only other recent example, managing to convince his opponents to give him the election he wanted three months after he became leader in 2019.

Those cases are both very different from the situation now, however. Eden was popular and had been the heir presumptive for some time; and the economy was booming. Johnson was quite popular, and many voters accepted that an election was needed to break the Brexit deadlock.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/voices-and-they-re-off-kemi-badenoch-takes-an-early-lead-in-the-tory-leadership-stakes/ar-AA1lfDxa?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=cbc8c0413c7f486b9af31074b72e4b65&ei=18

Jimbuna

12-09-23, 12:37 PM

MPs who lose at general election to get taxpayer-funded help finding jobs

The MPs who are defeated at the next year’s general election will get taxpayer-funded support to find a new job.

House of Commons authorities are examining ways to deliver a new “career transition” scheme for politicians before voters go to the polls in 2024.

Officials are looking to pay a recruitment firm to help with CV writing and job coaching, the BBC first reported.

A Commons spokesperson confirmed to The Independent the programme was “due to be in place” in time for the next election.

It comes in response to report by a committee of MPs that said many departing MPs struggled after leaving parliament – urging a series changes to make the job more attractive to aspiring politicians.

The cross-party group recommended that MPs should get medals and more generous redundancy payments in help them after life in parliament.
For MPs defeated at the 2019 election, the average loss-of-office payment was £5,250 – equivalent to just under one month of their £84,000 salary.

The committee found that Westminster’s pay-outs compared poorly with comparable countries, with an ousted MP in Germany who has served for 18 years getting £162,000 compensation.

“This could be an event with family and friends and / or presentation with a medallion of service,” the MPs in the Commons administration select committee said, in a suggestion which raised eyebrows.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/mps-who-lose-at-general-election-to-get-taxpayer-funded-help-finding-jobs/ar-AA1lfvhe?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=cbc8c0413c7f486b9af31074b72e4b65&ei=26

Jimbuna

12-10-23, 08:49 AM

Tories facing general election wipeout with just 130 seats, says polling guru

Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives are facing their worst ever result at the general election and could be left with just 130 seats, according to Professor Sir John Curtice.

The country’s top polling guru warned of the bleak situation faced by the Tories as they head into winter with the news dominated by infighting over the prime minister’s Rwanda deportation plan.

Prof Curtice said Mr Sunak’s party would be “lucky to win [many] more than 200 seats” and could see an even worse result if its dire poll ratings continued.

“If these patterns were to be replicated in a general election, the outcome for the Conservatives could be bleak indeed – maybe as few as 130 seats, the worst outcome in the party’s history,” he wrote for The Sunday Telegraph.
The outcome would be even worse than the 165 seats the Tories were left with in 1997, when the party, then led by John Major, was thumped by Tony Blair’s Labour – which won a landslide 179-seat majority.

With Labour enjoying a consistent polling lead of close to 20 points, Prof Curtice said voters appear to have “stopped listening” to the Tories on the big issues.

He warned Mr Sunak that his recent anti-immigration push had “not gone well”. The elections expert said it looked like the Rwanda bill “could divide the party just as [Theresa] May’s ill-fated Brexit deal did in 2019”.

On the major split currently looming in response to Mr Sunak’s plans, Prof Curtice wrote: “Divided parties rarely prosper at the polls. In pursuing their disagreements with Mr Sunak over immigration, Tory MPs should realise they are potentially playing with fire.”

He added: “Even though the polls have repeatedly indicated that the government’s Rwanda policy is relatively popular – at least among those who voted Conservative in 2019 – the first polls since this week’s developments suggest they also are unlikely to move the electoral dial.”

He continued: “We should not be surprised. Although many 2019 Conservative voters are unhappy about the level of legal and ‘illegal’ immigration, those who feel that immigration has gone up a lot are not especially likely to say they will not vote Conservative again.”

There is speculation at Westminster that Mr Sunak may be forced into a snap election in the early part of 2024 if he struggles to get his Rwanda bill through parliament.

But cabinet minister Michael Gove insisted that Mr Sunak’s government is “not contemplating” holding an early general election if the Rwanda bill is voted down. Asked if it was an option, the senior Sunak ally told Sky News: “No, we’re not contemplating that.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/tories-facing-general-election-wipeout-with-just-130-seats-says-polling-guru/ar-AA1lgXU1?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=9247677013b3476595c4f5846cbcea9c&ei=8

Jimbuna

12-11-23, 10:55 AM

Conservative MPs are debating Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's updated plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The scheme is designed to send people who arrive in the UK in small boats to Rwanda to have their asylum claim considered.

Some Tory factions are critical of the updated plan, with MPs on the right saying it risks being blocked by the courts again, while others say it ignores international law.

The European Research Group says it provides a "partial and incomplete solution" to the problem of legal challenges being used to delay people being flown to Rwanda.

The group's legal team says the bill does not go "far enough to deliver the policy as intended"

Changes were needed after the UK's highest court blocked the scheme in November, saying asylum seekers could be sent to places where they could be harmed.

The government has signed a new deal with the east African nation, which declares Rwanda a safe country.

Jimbuna

12-12-23, 05:58 AM

It would appear that the traitor is attempting to distract from his scandal-ridden party and his government's incompetence on a whole host of issues instead of focussing on the global cost-of-living crisis and matters that affect Scottish peoples day to day difficulties.

Humza Yousaf flies EU flag daily but refuses to fly Union flag in treacherous move

Humza Yousaf has demanded that the European flag be flown daily from Scottish Government buildings

Scotland's First Minister is following in the footsteps of his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon with that request.

Scottish Conservative deputy spokesperson for the constitution, external affairs and culture Alexander Stewart MSP said: "Humza Yousaf - just like his predecessor - clearly wants to play petty politics on the issue of flags.

Official guidance published on Monday states: "The First Minister has instructed that the European flag is flown from [Scottish Government] buildings. This will be on a daily basis except for specific flag flying dates."

The Union flag to be hoisted just once a year on Remembrance Day.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/humza-yousaf-flies-eu-flag-daily-but-refuses-to-fly-union-flag-in-treacherous-move/ar-AA1llg39?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=4f1e1bc42ed1411283622777fdd11df6&ei=23

Moonlight

12-12-23, 10:09 AM

Rishi goes to war with Tory Right: PM insists he WON'T retreat over Rwanda plan after 'bacon sandwich showdown' in No10 with furious rebels who fear vote tonight is 'last chance' to toughen Bill - as panicking whips drag minister back from Abu Dhabi

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12854315/Channel-boats-Rwanda-Rishi-Sunak-Tory-Commons-vote.html

@Rishi, piss off back to India you bleeding Twonk and take that tax dodging bitch of a wife with you.

Jimbuna

12-12-23, 01:18 PM

Well now, this certainly takes the biscuit!

Fortunately the British taxpayer is paying their legal aid bills so they won't be out of pocket :nope:

Migrants who crossed Channel in boats claim damages for ‘unlawful’ treatment

Sixteen asylum seekers who crossed the Channel in small boats three years ago have made damages claims against the Home Office after complaining about their treatment on arrival in England, a High Court judge has heard.

The migrants have complained about “unlawful” searches, mobile phone seizures and “data extraction”, “non-return” of “items”, or possessions being returned “damaged”, Mr Justice Nicklin was told on Tuesday.

Lawyers representing ministers indicated that claims were being disputed.

Mr Justice Nicklin, who oversaw a preliminary High Court hearing in Court 13 at the Royal Courts of Justice complex in London, said the case would be reconsidered next year.

The judge said the migrants could not be named in media reports of the case.
He said issues relating to the reporting of names would be reconsidered at another hearing.

A barrister representing the migrants indicated that each was claiming about £20,000.

“Between 25 April and 6 November 2020, the claimants crossed the English Channel in small boats from Calais,” Eric Metcalfe told the judge in a written case outline.

“On their arrival in the UK, each of the claimants claimed asylum.

“They were also searched – in some case strip-searched – by (Home Office) officials.

“Among other things, the (Home Office) seized their mobile phones and any SIM cards and told them they were required to provide their PIN codes.”

He added: “In every case, the (Home Office) failed to return the claimants’ phones and SIM cards for a period of several months.”

Mr Metcalfe indicated that claimants were getting legal aid.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/migrants-who-crossed-channel-in-boats-claim-damages-for-unlawful-treatment/ar-AA1lovoR?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=95bcf93543fe408d8b566dab5dc67722&ei=19

Moonlight

12-12-23, 02:26 PM

^It doesn't surprise me one bit, I wonder how much they've scrounged off the taxpayer since they've been here, @Rishi Sunak, I have the answer to all these migrant scum if you'd just listen. :salute:

Jimbuna

12-13-23, 08:45 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/DfxBMQqw/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.cc/4nh6K9LD)
https://i.postimg.cc/ZK0Vt9cF/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

12-13-23, 08:54 AM

Todays pantomime offering from Westminster....sometimes referred to as PMQ's

Keir Starmer says "yet again, the Tory Party is in meltdown" as he faces Rishi Sunak at the final Prime Minister's Questions of 2023

But Sunak defends his government's record in 2023, claiming falling inflation, a growing economy, "tax cuts coming", and boats "down by a third"

Starmer also says nearly 140,000 children are going to be homeless this Christmas - "a shocking state of affairs"

But Sunak says rough sleeping is down by 35%, with hundreds of thousands fewer children in poverty, "thanks to this government"

Yesterday evening, Sunak's flagship policy to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda cleared its first hurdle in the Commons.

Sunak saw off a Tory rebellion, with none of his own MPs voting against the plan despite threats to do so - though some abstained.

MPs also pay tribute to Mark Drakeford - who earlier announced he was stepping down as Welsh first minister.

Moonlight

12-13-23, 10:19 AM

Doncaster MP Nick Fletcher compared to Enoch Powell and dubbed "Nazi" after "racist" speech

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/doncaster-mp-nick-fletcher-compared-to-enoch-powell-and-dubbed-nazi-after-racist-speech/ar-AA1lqzoK?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=16c90856f5ad4cd585f03eec112a0d41&ei=42

The usual Twonks and dick heads call Nick Fletcher either a racist or a nazi, I would ask these pillocks if they'd ever been to Doncaster?, but I already know that they haven't.
I was in Doncaster about 4 years ago and it was a migrant cesspit then, I would assume that Mr Fletcher is speaking truthfully about the scale of the problems in Doncaster, the migrant locals were mostly from Pakistan, the Middle East or Africa when I was last there and the odds of it improving are about -95%, you'll also find out that the council leaders are the usual leftie bleeding dick heads of the Labour Party.

@Sunak, £1 a head for each migrant plus expenses for the rope, just give me the nod you bleeding currant.

Jimbuna

12-14-23, 01:31 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ67sOJ9OY4

ET2SN

12-14-23, 01:49 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/DfxBMQqw/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.cc/4nh6K9LD)
https://i.postimg.cc/ZK0Vt9cF/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Seriously, "Let's get Britain's Future BACK". :haha:

It makes no sense if you read it factually.
Whatever Britain's future might be, you're going to get one. :yep: Whether you like it or not. :O:

I wonder which wanna-be dictator taught him that? :hmmm:

Moonlight

12-15-23, 07:50 AM

Penny Mordaunt

Penny Mordaunt launches into brutal festive takedown of SNP as party slammed for '£500 MILLION overspend'

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/penny-mordaunt-launches-into-brutal-festive-takedown-of-snp-as-party-slammed-for-500-million-overspend/ar-AA1lxK9d?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=ae422706fb9f469f8a6b38ea5aa4340c&ei=56

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qISCQ-u_ZIA

Don't cross swords with Penny if you haven't got the brains and wit to keep up with her.

Jimbuna

12-15-23, 11:52 AM

Was out earlier with the wife and bought in most of the last minute items so I'll begrudgingly thank Rishi for the £500 winter fuel payment which paid for most of it.

Jimbuna

12-16-23, 07:47 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/k5X02gJw/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Moonlight

12-17-23, 08:03 AM

Experts say they were 'duped' into appearances in Michelle Mone's PPE documentary amid investigation into company linked to 'Baroness Bra' that was awarded £200 million in government contracts

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12872301/Experts-Michelle-Mone-documentary-investigation-government-PPE-contracts.html

Baroness Michelle Mone saw a chance to make some easy money and she took it, this is not going to end well for her, or for her reputation.
Will she lose her Baroness title or go to prison?, that's a definite No, the government and the Lords whitewash machine will spring into action and come to her rescue, they can't afford a scandal like that as questions will be asked as to who else knew about this PPE scam.
And there we have it on a plate, most of them will either know someone or have heard whisperings of it in the corridors of power but, as usual they said nothing about it, not very honourable is it?. :O:

Jimbuna

12-17-23, 08:39 AM

Rishi is so desperate he is now trying to cherry pick candidates who will support him in the forthcoming election.

Sunak faces Tory rebellion over ‘plan to stitch up’ candidate selection

Rishi Sunak is facing a revolt from the Right of his party over alleged plans to impose shortlists of parliamentary candidates on Tory associations.

More than 40 MPs, including Liz Truss, Suella Braverman, Sir John Hayes, and Jonathan Gullis, have written to the Prime Minister urging Mr Sunak to stop an attempt to impose a “shortened” selection process for prospective MPs.

The MPs warn that such a move would be “a matter of huge concern to us” and “damage the democratic process”.

The intervention comes amid widespread unease among the Right over Mr Sunak’s approach to major policies such as illegal migration and the legislation designed to overcome legal barriers to the Rwanda deportation scheme.
Senior Tories expect a major clash over the legislation in January after the Prime Minister managed to head off a full scale rebellion last week.

Earlier this year, The Sunday Telegraph revealed concerns among senior Tories that Conservative headquarters (CCHQ) was attempting to “stitch up” safe seats in favour of “blue prince” candidates aligned with Mr Sunak, ahead of an election expected next year.

Talk of CCHQ’s alleged plans to impose “by-election rules” – allowing the party to impose shortlists on associations – on a national scale, as soon as next month, has reignited those concerns.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/sunak-faces-tory-rebellion-over-plan-to-stitch-up-candidate-selection/ar-AA1lBHC1?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=8ad51ba693c64441ab38478d916d2ada&ei=20

Jimbuna

12-18-23, 01:25 PM

Yet another scandal for Rishi to try and sort out.

Michelle Mone hits back at Rishi Sunak over PPE scandal

Baroness Michelle Mone has hit back at Rishi Sunak, saying she was "honest" with the government over contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE).

The peer has admitted lying to the media about her links to a company that supplied millions of pounds worth of personal protective equipment to the government during the Covid pandemic.

But she insisted the government knew about her involvement.

The prime minister said he was taking the issue "incredibly seriously".

In an interview with the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Baroness Mone conceded she stands to benefit from the profits made by PPE Medpro, which is led by her husband.

Asked about her admission she did not tell the truth about her links to the company, Mr Sunak said: "The government takes these things incredibly seriously, which is why we're pursuing legal action against the company concerned in these matters."

"But it is also subject to an ongoing criminal investigation. And because of that, there's not much further that I can add," he told reporters on a visit to Scotland.

Responding to Mr Sunak's comments on X, Baroness Mone said: "What is @RishiSunak talking about?

"I was honest with the Cabinet Office, the government and the NHS in my dealings with them.

"They all knew about my involvement from the very beginning."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67748301

Jimbuna

12-19-23, 06:18 AM

The wife and I both received the £10 xmas bonus this morning despite the fact neither of us are in rteceipt of any government benefits :o

Ah well, thanks Rishi :)

Jimbuna

12-19-23, 01:11 PM

Looks like the SNP are in as little control of public finances as Rishi and Jeremy are.

Thousands of Scots face income tax hike as SNP introduce new 45p 'advanced rate' and put a penny on the top band as Humza Yousaf's government scrambles to fill £1.5billion hole in spending plans

Thousands of Scots are facing higher tax bills after the SNP today confirmed the creation of a new 45 per cent 'advanced' rate of income tax.

Shona Robison, the deputy first minister and finance secretary, announced the move to MSPs as she unveiled the Scottish government's latest budget.

The newly-created 'advanced band' will be placed on Scots who earn between £75,000 and £125,140.

Those who earn above £125,140 were also told they will be levied more, with the top rate of income tax in Scotland rising by 1 per cent next year to 48 per cent.

The changes came as the SNP-led Scottish government sought to fill a £1.5billion blackhole in its spending plans.

It means Scotland will have six income tax bands next year, while the rest of the UK has three.

Higher earners in Scotland will pay more than any other part of the country.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/thousands-of-scots-face-income-tax-hike-as-snp-introduce-new-45p-advanced-rate-and-put-a-penny-on-the-top-band-as-humza-yousaf-s-government-scrambles-to-fill-1-5billion-hole-in-spending-plans/ar-AA1lJRP0?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=c36e03121709484a87713db0601d8772&ei=18

Jimbuna

12-20-23, 10:02 AM

This decision by the UK Government is absolutely ridiculous, there has never been a statute of limitations for such serious crimes.

Troubles legacy act: Ireland takes human rights case against UK

The Irish government is to begin a legal challenge against the UK government over its decision to offer immunity for Troubles-era crimes.

The UK's controversial Troubles legacy act became law in September, despite opposition from Dublin and all Northern Ireland's political parties.

Critics argued the law gave an amnesty to killers and removed access to justice for victims.

Ireland will bring a case under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Victims and survivors have already taken the government to court in the High Court in Belfast.

The 30-year conflict cost more than 3,500 lives and left thousands more seriously injured.

The bill was introduced by Boris Johnson's government in 2021 in a bid to "draw a line under the Troubles".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-67769920

Gorpet

12-21-23, 01:54 AM

This decision by the UK Government is absolutely ridiculous, there has never been a statute of limitations for such serious crimes.

Well Jim, Times are changing.And Keir Starmer and his administration will have all the answers. We here in the U.S.know when Keir and his Admin.get in it will take pressure off the of the U.S. war effort. In Ukraine We have been told your Island has to be again the Island of Democracy and who knows . Get everyone ready, Joey and the Democrats want a World war. Mr. Putin isn't going along with the rich kids who want the new world order. Good for Putin. Oh and this over immigration of NATO countries.It's easy to see they are the meat for the coming war. Hell we had 15,000 young men no women cross our border in 24 hrs.Well Jimbo something is going to happen next year. It's not about a dictator its about the wealthy and the rich taking over the entire Planet. Oh damn back to Rome we go.

Jimbuna

12-21-23, 08:24 AM

I'm not sure this guy can make up his mind what he actually supports and believes in.

Perhaps he should ask his constituents who he was elected to represent.

Andrew Bridgen: Ex-Tory MP quits Reclaim Party after seven months

North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen has quit the Reclaim Party seven months after joining it.

He became the party's sole MP in May, after being expelled by the Tories for comparing the side effects of Covid vaccines to the Holocaust.

But in a statement, he said he had now decided to leave over a "difference in the direction of the party".

He added that he still supported Reclaim's "policies and values".

"I need to make a very important decision with a general election pending in the first half of next year," he added.

Laurence Fox, the actor who set up Reclaim in 2020, said the party wished him "every success in his bid for re-election in North West Leicestershire".

"As a reflection of that support, we have made a considerable donation to Andrew's campaign fund," he added.

In a press release, the party added they remained "aligned" in numerous policy areas but "feel they are better positioned to pursue their objectives independently".

Reclaim, which has put campaigning against "woke" policies in public institutions a key part of its platform, has said it plans to field candidates at next year's general election.

Mr Bridgen's decision to leave the party does not automatically trigger a by-election, and he will now sit as an independent MP.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67770990

Jimbuna

12-22-23, 07:13 AM

Scotland's first minister has been mocked over a "bold claim" world leaders have been "lining up" to seek advice from the Scottish government.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross ridiculed a statement made by transport, net zero and just transition secretary Mairi McAllan in the chamber last week.

She said world leaders have been approaching the SNP administration for "advice on how we have managed to lead the way so successfully on a number of fronts".

With their names remaining a mystery, Mr Ross teased Humza Yousaf during First Minister's Questions on Thursday.

Highlighting a number of scandals surrounding the SNP, he said: "Has Justin Trudeau been on the phone looking for a camper van?

"Maybe it's Emmanuel Macron calling the health secretary to hear how to stream the Celtic match from Morocco?

"Maybe, maybe it's Joe Biden asking for advice how to deal with a disastrous predecessor at the heart of a criminal investigation?

"I don't know, it could have been any of those things."

Mr Ross said the world leaders would not have been asking the SNP "how to build ferries or how to run an education system".

He added: "And they definitely won't have been asking Humza Yousaf for economic advice because he's making hard-working Scots pick up the bill for his mistakes."

Mr Ross had been questioning the first minister over the Scottish budget announced earlier this week.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/first-minister-mocked-over-claim-world-leaders-lining-up-for-advice-from-scottish-government/ar-AA1lQFI6?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=416a9bbf3f0542a0ac317d78e38b102a&ei=43

:har::har::har:

Jimbuna

12-23-23, 07:43 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/G9w6jjH1/222.jpg (https://postimg.cc/JHxTrZNT)
https://i.postimg.cc/v8gB3HcP/333.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

12-24-23, 09:22 AM

One question springs immediately to mind and that is....Why the delay?

Plans requiring people to earn £38,700 a year before bringing family to the UK will be introduced in early 2025, Rishi Sunak has said.

The rise from the current £18,600 level was announced earlier this month and had been scheduled for the spring.

However, the government has rowed back and now says the increase will come in two stages.

Next spring, the threshold will rise to £29,000, with the further increase not applying until the following year.

Speaking in Lincoln, Mr Sunak defended the timetable, saying: "The principle here is absolutely right that if people are bringing dependants into this country as part of their family, they must be able to support them.

"We're doing exactly as we said we would. We're just doing it in two stages. So it will go up in a few months time and then it will go up again the full amount in early 2025."

He added: "The levels of migration are far too high. They've got to come down."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67801167

Moonlight

12-25-23, 09:18 AM

He added: "The levels of migration are far too high. They've got to come down."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67801167

Well, he could make a start by going back to India and taking that currant of a wife with him, I'm sure the white population of England would appreciate his self sacrifice, go on Rishi, **** off and give us all a much needed Christmas present. :O:

Jimbuna

12-26-23, 07:23 AM

It would appear the not so clever man is in deep water again.

Home Secretary James Cleverly apologises for 'ironic joke' about spiking wife's drink

Home Secretary James Cleverly has apologised for making an "ironic joke" about spiking his wife's drink at a Downing Street reception.

He reportedly said the ideal spouse was "someone who is always mildly sedated so she can never realise there are better men out there".

According to the Sunday Mirror, he also mentioned Rohypnol - a so-called "date rape" drug.

Senior Labour party figures have described the comments as "appalling".

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said spiking - putting alcohol or drugs in someone's drink or body without their consent - was a "disturbing and serious crime which is having a devastating impact on young women's lives".

"It is truly unbelievable that the home secretary made such appalling jokes on the very same day the government announced a new policy on spiking," she added.

And charity Women's Aid said political leaders were relied upon to "take action to end violence against women and girls, and the misogyny that underpins it".

"It is vital that spiking survivors see ministers treating the subject seriously and not downplaying the reality so many women face," it said on X.

Another women's rights organisation, the Fawcett Society, called on Mr Cleverly to resign, asking: "How can we trust him to seriously address violence against women and girls?"

In a statement, it said: "It's sickening that the senior minister in charge of keeping women safe thinks that something as terrifying as drugging women is a laughing matter."

A spokesman for the home secretary said: "In what was always understood as a private conversation, James, the home secretary tackling spiking, made what was clearly meant to be an ironic joke - for which he apologises."

A source told the BBC he did not recollect the exact wording he had used, because it was a private off-the-record event, but recognised that any joke along those lines was inappropriate - which was why he was apologising.

The incident happened on 18 December, when political journalists were invited to a drinks reception in 10 Downing Street along with political aides, ministers and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

On the same day, Mr Cleverly had promoted a raft of new government measures to tackle spiking and described it as a "perverse crime".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67813689

Skybird

12-27-23, 11:25 AM

I warned about this madness in postings already almost 20 years ago. Nobody believed me, some laughed at me. I hear nobody laughing anymore these days. Tichy's Einblicke writes about this event in the UK:

UK: Teacher sacked for rebelling against gender ideology

It didn't take a day for the British government's new guidelines on how to deal with supposedly transgender pupils to prove a failure and harmful. A long-serving math teacher had to resign because he had "misgendered" a pupil. He had only listened to his conscience.
It is a development that is taking place in one way or another in many Western countries, including Germany, as shown by the calls to order against AfD MP Beatrix von Storch and the politician's resulting lawsuit against the organs. It is about the issue of so-called "gender reassignment", also known as transgenderism for the sake of disguise. Yes, it is formally a gender change, a change to a different gender identity, but the goal is probably the other biological sex in over 90 percent of cases.

So far, there are only a few patients who want to belong to an unclearly defined "third gender". But all those undergoing medical treatment inevitably slip into something like this, because they do not really belong to either their old "gender" (if they do, then the one without reproductive ability) or the new, desired "gender". So it's also somehow about transsexuality. This could perhaps (not certainly) be better explained by those affected themselves.

The whole area is linguistically and conceptually mined. Where people used to talk about transsexuals (including in a corresponding law), we now talk about transgender people, which most people will hardly be able to imagine. So much for the theory of the matter, it will have to suffice here. Because the conversation is becoming increasingly specialized without the overwhelming majority having a vital interest in its continuation. However, the interest of this - mostly silent - majority is probably to be allowed to continue living more or less as "normally" as before. But this right is as much at stake in Germany as it is in the USA and elsewhere.

In the UK, the Conservative government recently introduced guidelines on how to deal with the issue in schools. On the first day they came into force, Kevin Lister, 60, lost his job as a math teacher at a further education college after 16 years. He had refused to address a 17-year-old female pupil by her male name and the corresponding pronouns. The girl currently "identifies" as a boy.

The whole area is linguistically and conceptually mined. Where people used to talk about transsexuals (including in a corresponding law), we now talk about transgender people, which most people will hardly be able to imagine. So much for the theory of the matter, it will have to suffice here. Because the conversation is becoming increasingly specialized without the overwhelming majority having a vital interest in its continuation. However, the interest of this - mostly silent - majority is probably to be allowed to continue living more or less as "normally" as before. But this right is as much at stake in Germany as it is in the USA and elsewhere.

In the UK, the Conservative government recently introduced guidelines on how to deal with the issue in schools. On the first day they came into force, Kevin Lister, 60, lost his job as a math teacher at a further education college after 16 years. He had refused to address a 17-year-old female pupil by her male name and the corresponding pronouns. The girl currently "identifies" as a boy.

In contrast, Conservative MP and former Prime Minister Liz Truss had called on the government to make the guidelines legally binding. The recently resigned Home Secretary Suella Braverman - a leader of the party right - called for "robust" and statutory regulation to clearly define the issue for all.

Now the predicted salad has happened. The sacked Lister compared the guidelines to the Telegraph to a bulldozer driving through the remaining regulations for school lessons. Teachers in particular would ultimately be left unprotected by decisions that they could not foresee. It introduces the arbitrariness of school administrators: "Any school, anywhere in the country, can now do to any teacher who chooses to follow the guidelines what they did to me. They can fire them and have their license (to teach) revoked." And behind the arbitrary decisions made by schools will again be the threat of a mob that may be unhappy with the decisions and can be made up of parents, charities, NGOs, pressure groups and more.

The guidelines come from the ministry of Kemi Badenoch, who - one would have assumed - leans more towards the Tory right on these issues. However, the friction in this Tory government in particular is extreme because it sees itself constantly called into question by poll results and is therefore increasingly giving in to woke pressure from the media and other organizations.

And so the guidelines from Badenoch do have some loopholes. For example, schools do not have to accept every gender reassignment request from an underage pupil. But there are also no clear rules on how to deal with such an alleged "transition" at school age. This is the crux of the matter in this dispute, which from a distance is reminiscent of the problems faced by Canadian psychology professor Jordan Peterson. It is about both the pupil or student concerned and the wider social environment, which is almost forgotten today.

But questions of identity (including personal identity) are of course capable of triggering a general lack of orientation in society or in any community if they are not answered clearly or are obviously nonsensical. As school or university teachers, Peterson and Lister were also bound by their personal conscience. If a teacher can no longer follow this inner compass, then he ceases to exist as an authority figure. Another case of the "dominoes of decadence", in which one tile breaks into the next. Today in the British Isles, tomorrow in Germany.

German original: https://www.tichyseinblick.de/kolumnen/aus-aller-welt/uk-lehrer-kevin-lister-gender-ideologie/

Moonlight

12-28-23, 05:18 AM

Jeremy Hunt draws up a plan to slash inheritance tax by HALF as he sets March 6 for the date of his vital pre-election budget

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12905293/jeremy-hunt-plan-cut-inheritance-tax-half-march-budget.html

All the pain that the average earner has suffered in the last few years and all they see for it is a tax cut for the wealthy, Income tax thresholds are infinitely more important than inheritance tax thresholds you currants.

Jimbuna

12-28-23, 12:15 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/FKrqfnkM/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.cc/ZWQj2HcH)
https://i.postimg.cc/VNKhXBjd/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Moonlight

12-31-23, 07:09 AM

ISIS fanatic who snuck into Britain illegally is given UK citizenship despite security service terror threat warning

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12913061/ISIS-fanatic-Britain-illegally-UK-citizenship-security-terror-threat.html

This country is a breeding ground for these muslim terrorist scum, in fact I'd hazard a guess that there's more terrorists in Europe than there is in the rest of the western world.
The security services know who they are so they can easily be disposed of, there's no need for any fake accidents, just a rope and some hungry pigs will do the job, can you make bone marrow from human bones?, if yes, the pig business will soon take off, wtf are you currants waiting for, Christmas?,

Jimbuna

01-03-24, 12:24 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/28QCbPLS/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.cc/YhC5TDx5)
https://i.postimg.cc/R0DmxmyX/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

01-04-24, 02:19 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/wvV6MBxz/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.cc/628s1tGb)
https://i.postimg.cc/pLFR8CVq/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

01-05-24, 09:41 AM

Well don't go counting me in.

The Tories are only supported by over-65-year-olds ahead of a looming general election, a tracker of polls reveals.

Rishi Sunak’s party is trailing Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour with voters in every age group except the over-65s, according to The Economist.

The party enjoys the support of 40 per cent of people in the oldest age bracket, compared with just 18 per cent of those aged between 18 and 34. At the last election, two thirds of over-65s voted for the Conservatives.

Meanwhile Labour is backed by more than half of 18 to 34-year-olds, and leads in the polls with everybody 64 and under.

After Mr Sunak announced plans to hold an election in the second half of 2024, the tracker shows his party trailing Labour by 19 points - the largest gap a year out from polling day since Sir Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide.

And, in a boost to Sir Keir after Jeremy Corbyn’s historic election defeat, Labour leads the Conservatives in every region, with the strongest support in its heartlands in the North and Midlands.

Britain is set for a gruelling election campaign in 2024 after the PM ruled out a spring vote and revealed he wanted to go to the polls much later in the year.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/tories-only-winning-among-certain-age-group-polls-show/ar-AA1muVfh?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=bfab3b510a184381872a9586de7c38e5&ei=22

Jimbuna

01-06-24, 02:15 PM

Rishi Sunak had significant doubts about sending migrants to Rwanda when he was chancellor, papers seen by the BBC suggest.

They suggest Mr Sunak wanted to scale back No 10's original plans.

They also indicate he was not sure the plan would stop Channel crossings.

And they suggest he was reluctant to fund reception centres to accommodate migrants instead of using hotels or private housing because "hotels are cheaper".

As prime minister, under pressure from his party, Mr Sunak has made the Rwanda plan one of his top priorities.

The scheme to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing and potentially resettlement, in order to deter people from crossing the English Channel in small boats, was first announced by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022.

Mr Sunak - who became prime minister in October 2022 - was Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Rwanda policy was announced.

The deal has been repeatedly delayed by legal challenges and no asylum seekers have been sent from the UK so far.

The No 10 documents were prepared in March 2022, as Mr Johnson was trying to persuade Mr Sunak to sign off on more funding for the plan. This was shortly before the deal with Rwanda to process migrants was signed.

They suggest Mr Sunak was concerned about the cost of sending asylum seekers to the African country, and wanted to limit the numbers initially.

They say, the "chancellor wants to pursue smaller volumes initially, 500 instead of 1,500" in the first year, and "3,000 instead of 5,000 in years two and three".

The exact numbers in the eventual plan have never been confirmed, but in April 2022 the BBC saw the accommodation the asylum seekers would be housed it, which were thought to have enough space to process up to 500 people a year, in line with what Mr Sunak seems to have argued for.

The documents describe a significant difference of view between No 10 and 11 Downing Street on the effectiveness of the proposed scheme saying the chancellor believes the "deterrent won't work".

Mr Sunak is also described as being reluctant to fund so-called "Greek-style reception centres", sites where migrants could be housed, rather than being put up in hotels which were said to be costing £3.5m a day at that point, the documents suggest.

They say, the "chancellor is refusing to fund any non-detained accommodation, eg Greek-style reception centres, because hotels are cheaper".

The documents suggest the Treasury preferred sending migrants to be housed around the country, known as "dispersal".

The papers also reveal that No 10 suggested Mr Sunak should be told to "consider his popularity with the base" if he was reluctant to sign up to changes to the migration system, including the Rwanda plan.

Despite the proposal being ruled unlawful by the UK Supreme Court, the prime minister has vowed to change the law so that flights can take off to Rwanda.

Yet the revelations about his doubts over the plan are likely to be awkward, especially as some MPs on the right of his party have urged him to go still further to meet his goal of stopping migrants crossing the Channel, potentially leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.

A source close to the prime minister told the BBC: "The prime minister was always fully behind the principle of the scheme as a deterrent.

"As chancellor it was his job to make sure it delivered and taxpayers' money was appropriately spent."

A government source said: "As chancellor, Rishi funded the Rwanda scheme and put it at the heart of his 10-point plan the month after becoming PM.

"Now he is passing the Rwanda Bill following the Supreme Court judgment to get flights off the ground. He is the first prime minster ever to oversee a reduction in small boat crossings, which were down by 36% last year."

In a statement, Labour MP and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "This shows what an utter con the Tories' Rwanda scheme is and how weak Rishi Sunak has now become.

"The prime minister knew the plan was incredibly costly and wouldn't work, and resisted it while he was chancellor. But he is so weak he has now agreed to write cheques to Rwanda for £400m without sending a single person there in a desperate attempt to shore up his leadership.

"Whether it be on Rwanda or hotel use, the Tories are continually going for gimmicks rather than ever getting a grip.

"It's time they gave up on this sorry charade and adopted Labour's plan to go after the criminal smuggling gangs, negotiating a new security deal with Europe to better protect our borders and set up a new returns unit to ensure those with no right to be in the UK are removed swiftly."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67897560

Jimbuna

01-07-24, 01:33 PM

Rishi Sunak considers plan to exonerate Post Office Horizon scandal victims

Post office operators whose lives have been ruined by the Horizon scandal could be exonerated under plans being considered by the government, Rishi Sunak has said.

The prime minister also confirmed that Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, could strip the Post Office of its powers to prosecute after more than 700 branch managers were wrongly handed criminal convictions.

It follows a national outcry over the treatment of post office operators between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Fujitsu software made it appear as though money was missing from their outlets.

This week, an ITV drama has highlighted the scandal and heightened demands for the government to take action.

Hundreds were jailed or left bankrupted and at least four people took their own lives, and most victims have not received compensation.
Asked whether the justice secretary was looking at plans to exonerate the Post Office’s victims or take away the Post Office’s ability to prosecute, Sunak said: “The justice secretary is looking at the things that you’ve described, it wouldn’t be right to pre-empt that process, obviously there’s legal complexity in all of those things but he is looking at exactly those areas.”

In an appearance on BBC One’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, he added: “Everyone has been shocked by watching what they have done over the past few days and beyond and it is an appalling miscarriage of justice.

“Actually seeing it and hearing about it again just shows what an appalling miscarriage of justice it is for everyone affected and it’s important that those people now get the justice they deserve.”

Chalk is looking at potential ways for the Post Office to be stripped of its role in the cases of operators who are seeking to appeal and overturn their convictions, it is understood.

To date, 93 convictions have been overturned and, of those, only 27 people have agreed “full and final settlements”.

According to the Sunday Times, this includes whether the Crown Prosecution Service could take over, which may make it easier for convictions to be quashed.

A source told the newspaper that Chalk had long held concerns about the ability of some arms-length bodies to mount private prosecutions, as well as the low rate of successful appeals among post office operators.

Even after the Horizon computer system was found to be defective, the Post Office has in recent years opposed a number of appeals by operators.

Earlier this week, ITV began broadcasting Mr Bates vs the Post Office, a four-part drama charting the scandal and the fight for justice by wrongly prosecuted branch owner operators.

Fifty new potential victims have contacted lawyers this week, including five who wish to appeal against their convictions.

Victims of the scandal are “traumatised”, a former post office operators has said. Lee Castleton, who was forced into bankruptcy after being pursued through the courts for hundreds of thousands of pounds in Post Office legal costs, said: “The victims are traumatised. It has been a long time of 25 years and £135m has been paid to some of the victims, but we have had £150m-plus paid to lawyers.

“These lawyers are putting lots of pressure and it is difficult. The schemes are difficult.”

“We are just normal run-of-the-mill people. We have legal people with us but it is so difficult and it is like a war.

“Why would anybody put the Post Office and DBT (the Department for Business and Trade) in charge of recompensing the victims?” said Castleton, who was played by the actor Will Mellor in the drama.

It is not known how much cash was paid back for imaginary shortfalls but so far £151m has been paid in compensation. Operators claimed tens of millions of pounds wrongly clawed back went into Post Office profits.

The Post Office is under criminal investigation over “potential fraud offences” committed during the Horizon scandal, the Metropolitan police have confirmed.

Officers are “investigating potential fraud offences arising out of these prosecutions”, for example “monies recovered from subpostmasters [operators] as a result of prosecutions or civil actions”, Scotland Yard said on Friday evening.

The Met is also investigating two former Fujitsu experts, who were witnesses in the trials, for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

There are also growing calls for Paula Vennells, who served as chief executive of the Post Office between 2012 and 2019, to be stripped of her CBE. Last night a petition demanding she lose the honour had garnered more than 760,000 signatures.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/rishi-sunak-considers-plan-to-exonerate-post-office-horizon-scandal-victims/ar-AA1mAo4R?ocid=msedgntp&pc=EDGEDSE&cvid=150e02c189b44bd885e2bb4c4cacbbe8&ei=29

Jimbuna

01-08-24, 01:36 PM

The minister with responsibility for the Post Office is set to give an update to Parliament relating to Horizon compensation and convictions.

Kevin Hollinrake will issue a statement, after ex-minister David Davis called for sub-postmasters and mistresses involved in the scandal to be exonerated.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has also said all cases need to be revisited, while Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said it was important that victims were properly compensated.

Earlier, the prime minister said the government "will do everything we can to make this right for all those affected"

Rishi Sunak would also "strongly support" the honours committee if it chose to look into revoking the CBE of former Post Office boss Paula Vennells.

Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted 736 sub-postmasters and mistresses based on information from a computer system called Horizon.

More than 700 branch managers were given criminal convictions when the faulty software made it look as though money was missing from their sites - 93 of these convictions have been overturned.

Jimbuna

01-09-24, 02:31 PM

Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells is handing back her CBE with immediate effect after facing mounting pressure over the Horizon IT scandal.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67925304

And so she should.

Jimbuna

01-11-24, 07:05 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/0yWVDrdn/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/d0h4Bv5Y/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimg.cc/JyWN7ww6)
https://i.postimg.cc/SKHV15Pz/Untitledc.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

01-12-24, 12:59 PM

ABSOLUTELY DISGRACEFUL!

Government defends spending £27,000 on wine during Covid

The government has defended spending nearly £27,000 replenishing its wine cellar during the Covid pandemic.

The figure for 2020-22 was revealed in a Foreign Office report.

Foreign Office Minister Andrew Mitchell said all events organised by Government Hospitality during this period were "in strict accordance with Covid-19 restrictions".

He highlighted figures from the report showing use of the cellar fell by 96% in 2020 to 2021.

Some 130 bottles were drunk during this period, compared with 3,336 in 2019 to 2020.

The figures increased between 2021 and 2022 to 1,303, but were still well below pre-pandemic levels.

The alcohol, stored in the basement of Lancaster House in central London, is given to guests of the government.

The wine cellar is expected to finance itself through sales of some of its high value stock and payments from other government departments.

However, sales were not possible during the pandemic, only resuming in 2022.

A hospitality fund was originally set up in 1908 to provide for "high-level visiting overseas government guests and domestic guests".

In 1922 a committee was established to purchase alcohol and the Government Hospitality wine cellar was created.

After the outbreak of World War Two, the cellar was topped up with wines requisitioned from the German Embassy and for part of the conflict, some of the cellar was relocated to Warwickshire "for safe keeping".

A 2010 review concluded that the cellar was delivering value for money but recommended it should be a "self-financing regime for the medium term, with targeted sales of high value stock helping to pay for future purchases".

These days the Government Wine Committee, which meets around three times a year, advises Government Hospitality on purchasing new stock.

The committee is chaired by former diplomat Sir David Wright and the committee members are unpaid.

The overall market value of the cellar's contents is estimated to be £3.66m, compared to £3.34m two years before.

Between 2020 and 2021, £14,621 was spent on 516 bottles of Bordeaux, costing around £28 each.

The following year, £12,356 went towards purchasing 636 bottles of English and Welsh sparkling wines,18 bottles of gin, and four bottles each of whisky and liqueurs.

The pandemic prevented any sales of stock between 2020 and 2021 but they restarted in 2022.

Responding to the report, Labour's shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry said: "For months we have asked why the government was suppressing the publication of this report, and now we know the answer.

"While the rest of the country was facing Covid restrictions and a cost-of-living crisis, the government was getting through 1,433 bottles from its wine cellar, and replenishing the stocks with a net spend of more than £100,000 over the three years from 2019-22.

"They lived the high life at taxpayers' expense while the rest of the country struggled, and it will never be forgotten."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67952153

Jimbuna

01-13-24, 12:23 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv2KYodmis8

Jimbuna

01-14-24, 02:46 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/YSQHwv58/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/4d5RmrN9/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimg.cc/LYnbWQP9)

Jimbuna

01-15-24, 09:49 AM

Tories heading to worst General Election result since 1997 with shock poll predicting Rishi Sunak would lose 200 seats if votes were cast TODAY losing 11 cabinet ministers including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt

Rishi Sunak is heading for a 1997-style election wipeout, a major poll warned last night.

The survey of 14,000 voters found the Tories are on course to lose nearly 200 seats at this year’s General Election, giving Sir Keir Starmer a 120-seat majority.

The projected result would be the biggest collapse in support for a governing party since 1906, with an 11.5 per cent swing to Labour.

At least 11 Cabinet ministers would lose seats, including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Mr Hunt's constituency, South West Surrey, would be lost to the Liberal Democrats, the poll suggests.

This would make him the first Chancellor to lose their seat at an election, with other Tory MPs including Penny Mordaunt, Grant Shapps and Sir Iain Duncan Smith, also at risk.

The YouGov study also suggests the Reform Party could hinder Tory fortunes. Although Reform is not forecast to win any seats, it could cost Mr Sunak 96 MPs – the difference between a Labour landslide and a hung parliament.

Meanwhile, Nigel Farage yesterday said he was ‘seriously considering’ a return to frontline politics after a survey, by Survation, suggested he could well win a seat when Britain goes to the polls.

According to The Telegraph, every Red Wall seat won from Labour by Boris Johnson in 2019 will be lost and the Scottish National Party is predicted to lose almost half of its seat to Labour - keeping only 25.

The Tories will win 196 fewer seats than in 2019, which is more than Sir John Major lost in 1997.

The YouGov pol will be looked at closely by Conservative MPs who believe that a change of leader might be the only way to avoid disaster at the general election.

It was commissioned by the Conservative Britain Alliance and carried out by YouGov.

If the poll is to be believed, the election result would be the biggest collapse in support of a governing party since 1906.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/tories-heading-to-worst-general-election-result-since-1997-with-shock-poll-predicting-rishi-sunak-would-lose-200-seats-if-votes-were-cast-today-losing-11-cabinet-ministers-including-chancellor-jeremy-hunt/ar-AA1mY1KL?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=eac3a13a64904078a162762f1f3b73f9&ei=21

Jimbuna

01-15-24, 01:41 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cVLna5Gl48

Jimbuna

01-16-24, 09:16 AM

The Labour Party would need a record swing in votes at the next general election to win a majority in the House of Commons, according to analysis of the new electoral map.

The next election will be fought on new constituency boundaries, redrawn to reflect population changes and to try to even out voter numbers in each area.

An analysis of these changes for BBC News, ITV News, Sky News and the Press Association suggests Labour needs a national swing of 12.7% to win with just a small majority.

That's considerably higher than the 10.2% achieved by Tony Blair in 1997 and higher even than the 12% achieved by Clement Attlee in 1945.

The swing from the Conservatives to Labour would need to be uniform, to follow the same pattern everywhere, with other parties seeing no change in performance since 2019.

In practice, the picture will be more complicated, so this is a rough guide. But a uniform national swing has been a reliable model for general elections in the UK over a long period of time.

Jimbuna

01-17-24, 02:08 PM

MPs are continuing to debate the government's plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda - and deter Channel crossings - ahead of a crucial vote later.

Downing Street says it's "confident" the bill will pass at its third and final reading this evening, despite a major rebellion on Tuesday.

Two Conservative deputy chairmen quit their roles to join about 60 Tory MPs backing an amendment toughening the legislation.

If the bill does pass - as is expected - it will next go to the House of Lords which can suggest amendments.

Earlier, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer clashed over the bill at Prime Minister's Questions, with the Labour leader saying Tuesday's rebellion had left the PM "brutally exposed"

Meanwhile, the president of Rwanda tells the BBC he will return UK taxpayers' money if no asylum seekers arrive - but any challenges the bill faces are the "UK's problem"

Dargo

01-17-24, 02:12 PM

Meanwhile, the president of Rwanda tells the BBC he will return UK taxpayers' money if no asylum seekers arrive - but any challenges the bill faces are the "UK's problem"So IRL he says I keep the money and if you in the UK have problems with that you have to pay more.:D

Jimbuna

01-17-24, 02:21 PM

So IRL he says I keep the money and if you in the UK have problems with that you have to pay more.:D

Nothing would surprise me where todays politicians are concerned :yep:

Jimbuna

01-18-24, 02:21 PM

Humza Yousaf: I've never been comfortable with 'national' in SNP name

SNP leader Humza Yousaf has said he has "never been comfortable" with having "national" in his party's name.

Appearing on the BBC's Political Thinking podcast, Yousaf was asked about the associations with the word 'nationalism'.

The first minister said the SNP's name could be "misinterpreted" by others.

Host Nick Robinson said: "Here in Scotland, the idea of being a nationalist is not a phrase that often people in the SNP like, but it's something of pride. It's pride in identity and pride in country. It's a belief in self-government, escaping from being ruled from outside. And yet in most of the parts of the world nationalism is often seen in a very different way as kind of hostile to others, aggressive."

Yousaf responded: "I've never really been comfortable with the fact that we have national in our party's name, not because I think the founding members of the SNP had any far-right inclination - they certainly didn't - or a nationalist inclination, the way that you express it there, but because it can be misinterpreted.

"But we are the Scottish National Party - we have a very strong brand, a very strong identity.

"We've worked really hard to make it really clear. It is now well understood that we're a civic national party, we're a party that believes it doesn't matter really where you come from, what's important is where are we going together, and there's no doubt about our politics being very rooted in the left and the centre left of our political discourse."
https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,humza-yousaf-ive-never-been-comfortable-with-national-in-snp-name

Moonlight

01-18-24, 02:39 PM

Humza Yousaf: I've never been comfortable with 'national' in SNP name

It's a much better word than "Terrorist", isn't it Yousaf. :O:

Jimbuna

01-19-24, 02:11 PM

I suspect this woman is wasting her breath. Rishi simply isn't interested.

Woman challenges Rishi Sunak over state of the NHS

Rishi Sunak has been challenged about the state of the NHS in an awkward encounter with a woman during a visit to Winchester in the south of England.

In a clip filmed by Sky News, a member of the public urged Mr Sunak to take the NHS "back to how it used to be".

He began to walk away as she told him her daughter spent "seven hours waiting".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it showed the PM didn't "understand what so many people are going through".

In the exchange, Mr Sunak said he was "sorry to hear" about the woman's problems and defended his government's actions on the NHS.

He said waiting lists had fallen in October and November of last year - two months when there were "virtually no strikes".

"It just shows when there aren't strikes we really can make progress. We didn't last year because of all the strikes."

The disgruntled woman - reported by Sky News to be a former NHS worker - replied that Mr Sunak could "stop it all". She also pleaded with him not to relocate Winchester's accident and emergency department to Basingstoke.

Under plans announced last year, the accident and emergency department in Winchester is set to be closed, with a new acute specialist hospital, costing £900m, to be built in Basingstoke.

At one point Mr Sunak laughs at a comment from the crowd and the exchange ends with the pair shaking hands.

Mr Sunak continues his tour of Winchester, a seat the Conservatives hold, but with a tiny majority over the Lib Dems.

Responding to the clip, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it "further reinforces I think what many people across the country think - that this prime minister doesn't talk to people, doesn't engage, doesn't understand, what so many people are going through".

He added: "We have a terrible problem with our waiting lists and that is why we have been really clear that we would get rid of the non-dom tax status where the super-rich don't pay their tax in this country and use that to bring down those waiting lists.

"We have got a plan, we engage with people over our plan, we don't laugh and walk away."

Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine said: "Out of touch does not even begin to describe Rishi Sunak's attitude to the NHS".

At the start of 2023, Mr Sunak made cutting NHS waiting lists in England one of his five key priorities.

The overall number of waits for non-emergency treatment in England was 7.6 million in November. This represented a fall from October of about 96,000, but around 400,000 higher than it was at the start of 2023.

Mr Sunak has previously argued that he could have met his target if NHS workers had not gone on strike.

The Health Foundation think tank has said that industrial action by consultants and junior doctors only lengthened the waiting list by around 210,000.

Last week, the BBC reported that most key NHS had been missed for at least seven years across the UK.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68032002

Otto Harkaman

01-20-24, 04:12 AM

Britain must prepare for war. America won’t save us this time

The first important premise to understand about these warnings, and Admiral Bauer’s in particular, is that the threat to Nato is no longer a shared threat independent of geography. As the centre of gravity within Washington decision-making shifts decisively eastward to counter China in a longer-term struggle in the Indo-Pacific, the mood music coming out of Washington is that Europe should be able to look after its own security affairs, with minimal assistance from the US. Given the scale difference between Russia and China, and that the collective economies of European Nato are well in excess of four times that of Russia’s, this is not an unreasonable position to take.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/19/britain-must-prepare-for-war-america-wont-save-us-this-time/

Jimbuna

01-20-24, 01:23 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/XvbkzjTS/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/9fYY53h4/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

01-20-24, 01:26 PM

I appreciate the increase is minimal but the principal in itself reeks of Tory favouritism.

Rishi Sunak's hike on flights will impact Brits' holidays - but not private jets

Average Brits who can't afford private jet travel will fork out more to go away on holidays under new tax plans.

Known chartered jet enthusiast Rishi Sunak will oversee a rise in domestic Air Passenger Duty which will impact the price of plane tickets for those jetting away on normal airlines. At the same time, the Government will freeze tax paid on private jet flights.

Passengers travelling by economy will see the tax added to the cost of their fare raised from £6.50 to £7 under plans announced in last year's Budget due to come into effect from April. Travellers using premium economy or business class flights will see the duty increase from £13 to £14. Tax for private jets remains frozen at £78.
A Treasury document setting out the policy said: "This measure will impact on some individuals who travel by air, who may see an increase in air fares."

Given how slim the margins are when it comes to air fares - with Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary admitting that some of his airline's flights cost less than the tax levied on them - even a small rate change is likely to be felt by customers.

If all of the duty change is passed on to passengers, then a family of four will pay £56 in tax on a return domestic plane trip. The increase this year comes after the government slashed domestic air duty in half in a bid to get more Brits flying domestically, despite the fact the form of transport is as much as 14 times more polluting than going by train.

The freezing of duty for private jets will make life just that little bit easier for those who use the mode of transport, which is one of if not the most environmentally damaging ways to travel. Inflation has been as high as 8% annually during 2023, meaning the well-heeled private jet users are several pounds better off than they would be if tax kept up with inflation.

The Prime Minister has faced scrutiny over his private jet use since he started running the Government. Mr Sunak took £500,000 worth of private jet trips in less than a fortnight in 2022, official data show.

He has also come under fire from climate campaigners and opposition MPs for taking a trip by helicopter to Dover, which would have taken just over an hour by train, and another helicopter ride to Southampton, which would come in at one hour 14 minutes by rail. Helicopter rates were also frozen in the latest tax plans.

An HM Treasury spokesperson said: "We are absolutely committed to delivering on our net-zero commitments. That’s why private jets will be excluded from the domestic Air Passenger duty (APD) cut and a new ultra-long haul is being introduced to ensure that those who fly furthest contribute the most. Charging APD on helicopters runs the risk of incentivising the use of lighter aircraft that wouldn’t be as safe in harsh environments and some use aviation gasoline, which already incurs fuel duty.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/rishi-sunak-s-hike-on-flights-will-impact-brits-holidays-but-not-private-jets/ar-BB1gWGLF?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=4fc25c9ae9954748a5f0d2a342ca2ad4&ei=15

Jimbuna

01-21-24, 02:46 PM

This worries me because I'm fresh out of new ideas and I've exhausted current financial allowances.

What to do now to shield your money from Labour

With a general election pencilled in for the autumn, Labour’s charm offensive on tax has cranked into overdrive.

Speaking in Davos this week, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves hinted at tax cuts for top earners as she tried to recast Labour as the party of growth.

Lowering taxes on “working people” remains a priority, she said, including those paying the highest 45p rate.

A multi-year campaign of Tory stealth taxes means Britons are buckling under the heaviest tax burden since the 1940s.

Yet despite Ms Reeves comforting words the pain could be about to get worse.

Labour insists it has “no plans” to increase rates of income tax, or to introduce a wealth tax. But plans change, and the party’s proposals to add levies to private schools, reimpose limits on pension savings and scrap “non-dom” status are fueling fears of wider tax hikes.
Many middle-class Britons are worried about what a Labour government would mean for their money and are rearranging their financial affairs accordingly.

Sitting back and banking on an electoral upset is becoming a worse idea by the day. The most extensive YouGov polling for half a decade predicts a Tory wipeout in the Commons, cut down to just 169 seats to Labour’s 385.

“The question isn’t whether Labour will get in, but what they’re going to change when they do,” says David Lesperance, founder and head of international tax advice firm Lesperance & Associates.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/what-to-do-now-to-shield-your-money-from-labour/ar-BB1h0OIw?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=d527107963c34734b9e827003af27faf&ei=14

Moonlight

01-21-24, 03:23 PM

I don't expect to see a Tory Wipeout, in fact I expect them to win the GE but with a reduced majority, I'm predicting a long forecast Tory win, what I do expect to see though is Keir Starmer and his lefty cronies trying to explain what a woman is when some journalist throws that barbed hook into their midst.
Then there will be concerns about the Labour Parties stance on Migration and re-joining the EU which they haven't been clear on so far, there will be fireworks for sure but, the Tories have mixed it with far better politicians than this set of currants and they've still come out on top. :O:

Jimbuna

01-22-24, 11:50 AM

Nicola Sturgeon plotted to use Covid to boost SNP's independence bid in 'shameful' move

Nicola Sturgeon's Cabinet plotted to use Covid to boost the drive for Scottish independence.

The SNP Government said in March 2020 it had "paused" preparations for a second referendum to focus on tackling the pandemic.

But minutes from a Scottish Cabinet meeting on June 30, 2020, released to the UK Covid Inquiry, show ministers agreed that "consideration be given to restarting work on independence and a referendum".

They said the case for breaking up the UK should be updated with the "arguments reflecting the experience of the coronavirus crisis and developments on EU exit".

The Scottish Tories have tabled a question at Holyrood and demanded Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf explain the situation.

Continue reading
The party's shadow constitution secretary Donald Cameron said: "This astonishing and shameful revelation from the UK Covid Inquiry explains why Nicola Sturgeon and many of her senior colleagues were so keen to delete their WhatsApp messages.

"If a discussion on pushing their independence obsession was talked about around the Cabinet table, we can only imagine the extent of the SNP's crass constitutional opportunism on private messaging.

"The Scottish people are entitled to know why a government that assured us public safety was its sole focus was gaming its push for another independence referendum while the death toll mounted.

"Humza Yousaf was a senior figure around the Cabinet table at the time. Did he voice any objections to this disgracefully skewed priority? If not, why not?

"I have this morning submitted a Topical Question on this. If it's selected, I would urge the First Minister, in the interests of his own credibility and integrity, to respond on behalf of his government.

"The Scottish people deserve an explanation for the scandalous decision to focus on SNP political objectives during a public health emergency."

The Scottish Cabinet minutes were published last Friday as the inquiry took evidence from Ken Thomson, who was then manager of the Scottish Government's Covid Coordination Directorate.

Jamie Dawson KC, lead counsel for the inquiry's module on Scotland, grilled him about claims the SNP Government's Covid response had been politicised to further the independence cause.

Mr Thomson rejected the claim and added: "The second way I hear that criticism is that somehow in her decisions the First Minister was seeking ... to be different for the sake of being different to remind people that Scotland has the ability to take decisions on its own. And I also don't agree with that."

Mr Dawson then read out the Cabinet minutes about using the pandemic to boost independence.

Mr Thomson admitted "that runs slightly contrary to what I said in my previous answer".

He added: "As we moved out of the lockdown restrictions, more of the ordinary business of the Scottish Government started to resume, including this bit."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/nicola-sturgeon-plotted-to-use-covid-to-boost-snp-s-independence-bid-in-shameful-move/ar-BB1h4PFL?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=9eeebd47c1de406fbd7f513ef9a54e27&ei=31

Jimbuna

01-23-24, 02:38 PM

Even after fourteen years of Tory rule this doesn't come as a surprise.

Council funding: Leaders warn of the end of local government

The rising cost of homelessness could lead to effective bankruptcy and "the end of local government", councils have warned.

About 50 council leaders gathered at a summit in Westminster earlier chaired by Eastbourne Borough Council (EBC).

Speaking at the emergency meeting, EBC leader Stephen Holt said the government must prevent "a national crisis".

The government said it recognised councils were "facing challenges" and had announced £64bn worth of funding.

Liberal Democrat councillor Mr Holt said EBC was projected to spend nearly £5m on temporary accommodation this financial year, compared to £1.4m five years ago.

He said this meant that for every £1 that is collected in council tax, 49p went on temporary accommodation.

Mr Holt said: "Simply put, without government intervention to tackle the tremendous cost of temporary accommodation and homelessness, the next step for many councils of all stripes is emergency budgets and section 114 notices," meaning effective bankruptcy.

He said this was not a political issue and called on the government to increase the housing benefit subsidy cap for temporary accommodation placements.

Michael Jones, Labour leader of Crawley Borough Council, said costs and homelessness were "accelerating".

He told the meeting: "I don't think it is over-dramatic given the pressures facing councils to tell the government that they are presiding over the end of local government if they fail to take the urgent action needed."

Councillor Emma Taylor-Beal, cabinet member for housing and citizen services at Worthing Borough Council, said budgets were "taking a real physical and mental toll" on councillors.

"It's hard to retain staff and staff sickness has increased as a result of the stress they're under," she added.

In a statement, a spokesperson from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: "We recognise councils are facing challenges and that is why we have announced a £64bn funding package... to ensure they can continue making a difference..."

They said the government was committed to reducing the need for temporary accommodation by "preventing homelessness before it occurs" and was providing councils with £1bn through the Homelessness Prevention Grant over three years.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-68069729

Jimbuna

01-24-24, 01:34 PM

You'd be forgiven if you thought there was an election due soon

Councils to get extra funding to tackle cash crisis

England's local authorities will receive a £600m funding boost from the government following recent warnings of further bankruptcies.

Communities Secretary Michael Gove said they would share £500m to help fund children's and adult social care.

In December, he announced a total of £64bn would be made available to councils for 2024-25.

Earlier this week, more than 40 Tory MPs signed a letter urging Rishi Sunak to increase that to avert major cuts.

The letter, organised by the cross-party County Councils Network (CCN) and signed by several former cabinet ministers, warned that, without emergency cash, many authorities would be forced to cut frontline services and to hike council tax in a general election year, as they struggled to balance their books.

Councils have warned that cuts to services will range from support for vulnerable people to museums, recycling centres and leisure facilities.

The package of £600m is less than council leaders were pushing for, but has been welcomed by some of those running local government.

However, it will not address the long-term challenge of funding services such as social care, and council tax is still likely to rise in many places.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68083108

Jimbuna

01-25-24, 02:12 PM

Tax cut promises may need to be rolled back - IFS think tank

Promises of tax cuts during general election campaigns may have to be rolled back as the UK economy faces some of its worst problems since the 1950s, a leading think tank has said.

"Tax cuts today add to the risk of tax rises or spending cuts tomorrow," the Institute for Fiscal Studies said.

Politicians need to be honest about tough economic trade-offs, it added.

But the Treasury said the economy was turning a corner, and that growth would mean more funding for public services.

IFS director Paul Johnson said that if political parties looking to form the next government "are promising tax cuts, let's hear where the spending cuts will fall".

"It might be easy to announce immediate tax cuts, without any hint of what it is the state currently does that it will stop doing, or what taxes will rise in future, but this trade-off cannot be wished away," the IFS's report said.

The government gets most of its income from taxes, but if it cannot cover its spending, it has to either borrow more, raise taxes, or cut public spending.

Last month, government borrowing was lower than expected, and interest payments on debt dropped sharply due to a fall in the rate of inflation.

Analysts said this gave the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, more "wiggle room" to cut taxes.

However, the IFS said that for the next government it would be more difficult to reduce the amount of debt the UK has compared with its economic output "than in any other parliament since the 1950s" - just after World War Two.

National debt is at levels last seen in the 1960s after the government spent billions supporting the economy during the Covid pandemic, and subsidised energy bills after a spike in energy prices caused in part by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Interest payments on that debt, combined with sluggish growth, will make reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio more difficult.

There will be "limited scope to cut taxes or increase spending by a meaningful amount", because the two main UK-wide parties - the Conservatives and Labour - have pledged to get national debt as a share of national income falling, the IFS added.

Last week, Mr Hunt hinted that he was aiming to cut taxes in the spring Budget.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68086302

Jimbuna

01-26-24, 01:10 PM

Not all corruption goes unanswered Rishi.

Ex-Tory peer Michelle Mone's assets frozen

Assets controlled by former Tory peer Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman have been frozen under a court order obtained by the Crown Prosecution Service.

PPE Medro, a company led by Mr Barrowman, is under investigation by authorities.

It was awarded contracts worth more than £200m to supply PPE to the NHS through a so-called VIP lane.

The company is also being sued by the Department for Health and Social Care.

The Financial Times reported that restrictions had been placed over £75m worth of assets, including a townhouse in Belgravia, properties in Glasgow, an estate on the Isle of Man and numerous bank accounts.

The order prevented the sale of some assets and placed restrictions on others, the paper said.

A spokesperson for Baroness Mone and Mr Barrowman has confirmed that assets controlled by the couple have been frozen or restrained under a court order obtained by the CPS.

The National Crime Agency is currently investigating "suspected criminal offences" in contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE) awarded during the Covid pandemic to PPE Medpro.

Commenting on the court order, the couple's spokesperson said: "This comes as a result of a consensual process during which negotiations took place with the CPS. It allows the wider businesses and assets of the Barrowman family to operate normally and free from any restrictions or uncertainties. "Doug and Michelle did not contest the application and were happy to offer up these assets, which means they can begin the task of proving their innocence more quickly.

"Mr Barrowman finds it deplorable that private matters such as this are being conducted in the public realm via leaks from government departments and the CPS."

Last year, the couple admitted in a BBC interview that they had lied to journalists about their involvement with the firm but Baroness Mone said that was "not a crime". She has since told the Sunday Times that she felt like she was being treated like the former Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, after her bank accounts were frozen under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

PPE Medpro, which made profits of around £60m on its deals with the government, is being sued by the Department for Health and Social Care for £122m plus costs for "breach of contract and unjust enrichment".

Millions of gowns the company supplied to the NHS were never used but the couple say these were supplied in accordance with the contract, and PPE Medpro has said it will "rigorously" defend the claim.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68087776

Jimbuna

01-28-24, 07:18 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/zvN6kBQP/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/QCqPYDGN/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

01-28-24, 01:50 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/2SS2QJkY/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/pLckqZrF/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

01-29-24, 01:48 PM

Oh how my heart bleeds for him, he should try living on an ordinary working mans salary.

George Freeman quit as minister as he 'couldn't afford' mortgage

A Tory MP said he quit his ministerial role because he could not afford to pay his mortgage on a salary of £118,300.

Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman resigned as science minister in November.

In a blog post, he said he stood down: "Because my mortgage rises this month from £800pcm to £2,000, which I simply couldn't afford to pay on a ministerial salary."

Downing Street said it had "no plans to change our approach to ministerial pay".

Mr Freeman, who resigned amid Rishi Sunak's cabinet reshuffle, added: "We're in danger of making politics something only hedge fund donors, young spin doctors and failed trade unionists can afford to do."

A Norfolk MP since 2010, he held ministerial posts in successive Conservative governments and pocketed severance payments after departing.

He received £7,920 when he quit Boris Johnson's government in July 2022, before returning to his role as science minister under Mr Sunak, some 16 weeks later, according to Labour analysis.

Ministers under the age of 65 are entitled to a loss-of-office payment amounting to a quarter of their ministerial salary if they leave their role and are not appointed to a new one within three weeks.

Mr Freeman, who spent more than a decade in the life sciences and technology sectors before entering Parliament, will be able to make more money outside of government.

On top of his MP's salary of £86,584, he is free to take on second jobs, subject to approval by anti-corruption watchdog the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.

Many homeowners are facing steep increases in monthly mortgage payments as they come off fixed-rate deals.

It comes after mortgage rates soared and the value of the pound tumbled in the wake of Liz Truss's mini-Budget in September 2022.

They had already been on the rise after a string of rate hikes by the Bank of England to curb inflation.

Mr Freeman also highlighted the toll his ministerial role had taken on him and his family.

"I was so exhausted, bust and depressed that I was starting to lose the irrepressible spirit of optimism, endeavour, teamwork and progress which are the fundamentals of human achievement," he said.

He added that his children "have paid a very high price" for his career choice.

"Government is a cruel mistress. Modern politics is a savage playground," he said.

Mr Freeman also told The New Statesman on Monday his finances "are not what they were - at all", having gone through "a very painful divorce" and with parents "who are both getting elderly".

"It's time to... (prioritise) the things that I feel, rather painfully personally, that I've had to neglect," he told the magazine.

"As my (second) wife said the other day, I'm not 26, 36, or 46. I'm now 56. Nearly 57. Three stone overweight, 30 years poorer."

He said he would stand for re-election at the general election this year, but said: "It looks very like that we're going to have a Labour government."

The Conservative Party had "been through a volcanic period of turmoil" and "has not looked like a party of unified commitment to purposive renewable," Mr Freeman said.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "It's right that we ensure that ministerial pay reflects the wider fiscal situation."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-68133873

Jimbuna

01-30-24, 01:52 PM

:har::har::har:

Rishi Sunak insists he is ‘absolutely confident’ ahead of 2024 general election

Rishi Sunak has insisted he is “absolutely confident” ahead of the 2024 general election, despite being 20 points behind Sir Keir Starmer in the polls.

The prime minister told ITV’s This Morning that he was ready for the contest and said Britain has “turned a corner”.

Mr Sunak’s assertion comes amid warnings from major pollsters that he faces a 1997-style election wipeout, and despite several relaunches of his leadership failing to make a dent in Labour’s poll lead.

“We have clearly been through a tough time over the last year as a country,” Mr Sunak said.

He added: “We are still dealing with the legacy of Covid, backlogs in the NHS, the war in Ukraine driving energy bills, but I really believe that at the start of this year we have turned a corner and are heading in the right direction.”

Asked by presenters Rylan Clark and Rochelle Humes if he is “confident” about the general election, Mr Sunak said: “I am, absolutely.”

He said “the plan we have put in place is working”, pointing to the reduction in inflation as evidence.

And he added: “By tomorrow, everyone will have had a tax cut by the way because of our management of the economy. If you are earning £35,000 you are going to get a tax cut worth £450.

“That is what we are starting to deliver, if we stick with this plan I will be able to give everyone that peace of mind that there is a brighter future for them and their children.”

But despite optimism about this year’s contest, Mr Sunak played down the prospect of a longer stint in Downing Street.

“With the best will in the world, I am probably not going to be here in 13 or 14 years,” Mr Sunak said.

His comments came weeks after a major YouGov survey predicted the Tories are on track for a 1997-style general election wipeout.

According to the poll, the Tories could retain as few as 169 seats, while Labour would sweep into power with 385 – giving Sir Keir Starmer a massive 120-seat majority.

Alarmingly for the Tories, it said chancellor Jeremy Hunt could be one of 11 cabinet ministers to lose their seats, in what would be the biggest collapse in support for a governing party since 1906.

Other ministers under threat include education secretary Gillian Keegan and defence secretary Grant Shapps.

As well as trailing Labour in the polls, the Tories are facing an assault on the right from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

The party, formerly called the Brexit Party, risks splitting the vote in tens of Tory seats, opening the door to Labour and adding to the scale of Mr Sunak’s losses.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/rishi-sunak-insists-he-is-absolutely-confident-ahead-of-2024-general-election/ar-BB1hufAs?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=d04d7df5a9324f8ab4679a64b2f73170&ei=32

Moonlight

01-31-24, 06:56 AM

^The bleeding idiot is deluded, they're in a fight for their lives, what ever dirty tricks they've used in the past they can just rip those up and come up with some new ones.
No MP is going to be in a safe seat at the next GE, those days have gone for now, there are too many different issues that these MPs have caused that have maddened the voters, which ever leader fixes the most of them will probably win, but, which of the useless pillocks will realise that first. :o

Moonlight

01-31-24, 07:05 AM

Squirming Nicola Sturgeon FINALLY admits she deleted pandemic-era WhatsApps, allowed 'burner' phones on expenses and shouldn't have used private SNP email - as she faces inquiry grilling

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13027887/Nicola-Sturgeon-Covid-pandemic-WhatsApps-SNP.html

I thought the Covid enquiry team was going to give her a good shafting and then they were going to hang the little currant, more on this later.

Jimbuna

01-31-24, 01:48 PM

Can't say I'm surprised at how callous this party has become.

Multi-millionaire Sunak laughs at struggling Iceland worker struggling to pay his mortgage

Sir Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of laughing at an Iceland worker struggling to pay his mortgage, as the pair clashed over cost-of-living concerns at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Labour leader Sir Keir said the Conservatives have “forfeited the right to be lecturing others about the economy” before warning that somebody moving off a fixed-rate mortgage will be paying an average of £240 more each month.

Sir Keir said this was a reminder that “working people are paying the price” for the “damage” done to the economy by the Government, and he went on to highlight the case of Iceland employee Phil, who lives in Warrington.

As Conservative MPs heckled the Labour leader, he told the Commons: “Laughing at an employee at Iceland who is struggling with his mortgage – shame.
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/multi-millionaire-sunak-laughs-at-struggling-iceland-worker-struggling-to-pay-his-mortgage-367889/

Moonlight

01-31-24, 04:17 PM

That's why Starmer has a large Poll Lead, he never says what he's going to do to fix the countries problems, I'll tell you this for nothing, when he does tell us what the Labour Party are going to do, that poll lead will vanish pretty quickly and so will his chances of becoming Prime Minister too. :O:

Jimbuna

02-01-24, 06:46 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/JhFZG46S/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/d1TddPg3/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

MGR1

02-01-24, 02:00 PM

All things considered, Labour would be a change. Not a particularly good one, but a change nonetheless.

After the SNP and Sturgeon's latest performance I'm expecting the Glasgow Mob to reluctantly skulk back to Labour in their voting patterns. The true diehards are going to swing their support behind Salmond and Alba.

As for Reform, not a hope. Like UKIP they suffer from their vote not being geographically concentrated in a few constituencies like the SNP, so the FPTP system works against them.

Northern Ireland is it's usual complicated mess. I think the Unionists and other Protestant bigots (the TUV) have backed themselves into a corner lately. Westminster does seem to want to wash it's hands entirely of the Province. Depends on how long it takes for the odds to shift decisively behind a United Ireland.

Mike.:hmmm:

Jimbuna

02-01-24, 02:12 PM

^ Broadly agree :yep:

Jimbuna

02-01-24, 02:25 PM

‘I don’t buy it’: Scottish secretary dismisses Sturgeon’s tears at Covid inquiry

Rishi Sunak’s Scottish secretary Alister Jack has rejected Nicola Sturgeon’s claim she did not seek to politicise the Covid crisis – claiming he “didn’t believe her for a minute”.

The former SNP leader fought back tears at the Covid Inquiry on Wednesday – rejecting accusations she fought with the UK government to advance the Scottish independence cause.

But the Conservative cabinet minister poured scorn on Ms Sturgeon’s claims, as he appeared to mock her tearful performance.

“I watched that evidence from yesterday and I didn’t believe it for a minute,” Mr Jack told the Covid inquiry hearing in Edinburgh on Thursday.

The senior Tory MP added: “I think Nicola Sturgeon could cry from one eye if she wanted to.”
Amid ongoing controversy over the SNP-led government’s approach to message deletion, Mr Jack admitted that he had deleted “all” of his WhatsApp messages in November 2021.

“I deleted WhatsApps from my mother, my wife, my friends – I mean I just deleted all my WhatsApps – because that created the capacity that allowed my phone to carry on,” he said. “At the time, I didn’t think anything of it.”

Similar argument to Ms Sturgeon, Mr Jack played down the significance of messages – telling the inquiry he did not conduct “government by WhatsApp” and preferred to speak to colleagues on the phone or face to face.

Apologising, he added: “I’m a bit of a luddite – I’m the only member of the Cabinet not to have any social media accounts. But that’s no excuse – I regret that I deleted my entire account.”

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross – who has accused Ms Sturgeon on being – said Mr Jack had been “wrong” to delete all his WhatsApp messages.

Mr Ross said: “Alister Jack was wrong to delete his WhatsApp messages. He has apologised and he regrets it. Nicola Sturgeon has not apologised for doing it. She has said she was right because she was following government policy. That is a massive difference.”

Meanwhile, Mr Jack argued that it was “inevitable there would be tensions” between the Scottish and UK governments – but blamed the former SNP leader and first minister.

Ms Sturgeon had vehemently denied that she had politicised the pandemic to pursue Scottish independence, saying it would “absolutely” have been a betrayal of the Scottish public.

But messages between Ms Sturgeon and her top adviser Liz Lloyd showed they had discussed a “good old-fashioned rammy” with Boris Johnson’s government over the furlough scheme.

And Sturgeon cabinet meeting minutes from June 2020 show that her ministers agreed to consider how the Covid crisis could be used to boost support for Scottish independence.

“[Ms Sturgeon] saw her job as leader of a nationalist government to break up the UK,” Mr Jack told the inquiry, before saying tensions with the Scottish government “still existed”.

He added: “Devolution works very well but works very well when both governments want to work together. But when one government wants to destroy the UK and destroy devolution, then there are tensions.”

Ms Sturgeon was questioned in her inquiry evidence session about her government’s decision not to disclose an outbreak of Covid in Scotland in February 2020 to the public – a decision she said she would reverse in hindsight.

Mr Jack said the UK government was also not informed of the outbreak, despite both he and then UK health secretary Matt Hancock having spoken to then Scottish health secretary Jeane Freeman.

He said: “Another thing that had happened at that meeting that had come to light in May, that despite being with the health secretary for two hours, at no point did she mention that they had discovered an outbreak at the Nike conference in Edinburgh.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/i-don-t-buy-it-scottish-secretary-dismisses-sturgeon-s-tears-at-covid-inquiry/ar-BB1hCMT3?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=8fd537926bd74056a713a32b3e144604&ei=16

Moonlight

02-02-24, 09:58 AM

Revealed: Afghan asylum seeker 'acid' attack suspect Abdul Ezedi was convicted of sex assault and exposure in 2018 but STILL allowed to stay in the UK after claiming he had turned to Christianity

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13037279/chemical-attack-suspect-abdul-ezedi-sex-assault-guilty-not-jailed.html

I was going to put this in the Daily News Thread but, Asylum and Immigration belongs in the UK Politics Thread.

It has emerged that Ezedi is a former asylum seeker from Afghanistan who was allowed to stay in the UK despite pleading guilty to one charge of sexual assault and one of exposure, following two failed asylum applications.

'This case provides an opportunity not only to review the criteria for granting asylum but also for how we deal with those who are known criminals.
'It won't take much working out who has been here and subsequently received asylum and then committed a crime and how we can deport all of them.'

What is needed is an Iron Fist approach, any Migrant who has committed a crime, either here, or abroad should be deported at their own expense to their homeland, and if that means their Great, Great, Great, Great Grand parents historical homeland, so be it.

Yes, you'll have the Human Rights Wet Back Lawyers all over this law, but, as far as I'm concerned, the Health and Safety and Human Rights of every White British Citizen in the UK supersedes any Plastic British Migrants Human Rights, Case Closed.

Iron Fist, The Death Penalty.
If their countries send them back here, then they do so on the understanding that when they arrive back in the UK they will be immediately taken to a place of execution and hung until they are dead.

So I say this to all the politicians of the UK, grow a pair or get the **** out of the House of Parliament, and that means the House of Lords as well.

I'm available, you already know my price.

Jimbuna

02-02-24, 10:55 AM

MPs plead for security help after Tory minister quits over death threats

Aminister in Rishi Sunak’s government has said he is quitting parliament at the general election after a series of death threats and an arson attack on his constituency office.

Justice minister Mike Freer said he had avoided murder “by the skin of my teeth” – as MPs urged the government, their own parties and Commons authorities to do more to ensure proper security protection.

Mr Freer – the Tory MP for London’s Finchley and Golders Green seat since 2010 – said it was time to say “enough” as he could no longer put his family through fears for his safety.

The minister, who has pro-Israel views and represents a heavily Jewish constituency, said antisemitism was behind some of the intimidation and attacks on his office.
The MP said he was shocked to learn that Ali Harbi Ali – who went on to kill Southend West MP David Amess – had previously watched his Finchley office.

“There comes a point when the threats to your personal safety become too much,” he said in an interview with the Daily Mail.

Mr Freer said: “I was very lucky that actually on the day I was due to be in Finchley, I happened to change my plans and came into Whitehall. Otherwise who knows whether I would have been attacked or survived an attack. He said he came to Finchley to attack me.”

The MP and his staff started wearing stab vests at public events after learning that Ali had watched his Finchley office before going on to knife Amess to death during a constituency surgery in 2021.

The minister said he had also received threats from the group Muslims Against Crusades “about coming to stab me” and found “mock molotov cocktails on the office steps”.

The arson attack on his north London constituency office in December was “the final straw”, he said.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/mps-plead-for-security-help-after-tory-minister-quits-over-death-threats/ar-BB1hBt3x?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=684250b9b4eb4bebba3ef284f5e8befa&ei=46

Moonlight

02-03-24, 09:38 AM

SNP government launches 10th paper on Scottish independence on GROUNDHOG DAY - as report claims breakaway effort would lead to free-to-air sporting events and Eurovision entries

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13039045/SNP-Scottish-independence-GROUNDHOG-DAY-sport-Eurovision.html

Do the SNP think that the Scottish people are a bunch of bleeding thick Morons, No, don't answer that. :haha:

MGR1

02-03-24, 09:54 AM

Those of us outside the Clyde Valley (except Dundee, it appears) are capable of critical thought, y'know.:03:

Mike.

Moonlight

02-03-24, 11:09 AM

I know that, but do your politicians know it?.

Moonlight

02-03-24, 11:51 AM

‘Anyone but Peter Bone’: voters turn to Labour and Reform UK as Wellingborough byelection nears

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/anyone-but-peter-bone-voters-turn-to-labour-and-reform-uk-as-wellingborough-byelection-nears/ar-BB1hIig5?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=96eceb431a28461bb6cc711369fa8178&ei=173

The selection of Peter Bone's wife could be a disaster for the Tories, it's a blatant attempt by the Tory Party, or by Bone himself to run the constituency by Proxy. They've seen these shenanigans before and I don't think they're going to let it happen here, the Tories have an 18,000 majority, its an obstacle but, these hurdles have been overcome before, piss off into the night and disappear for ever Mr Bone head. :haha:

Jimbuna

02-03-24, 01:44 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/FR8v67d4/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.cc/xJvBJj3x)
https://i.postimg.cc/C580pSkf/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

02-03-24, 01:57 PM

Nothing but an increase in the personal tax allowance that these fraudsters froze six year ago will satisfy me.

Tax cuts for parents would revive Tories’ election chances, new poll suggests

Income tax cuts for parents would revive the Conservatives’ dire election prospects, according to a new poll.

The survey reveals a near universal demand for the Chancellor to cut taxes in his Budget next month, with seven in eight people calling for him to act.

Unlike other Western countries, the UK tax system has for nearly 40 years taxed the partners in a relationship as individuals rather than taxing household income – and so made no allowance for dependent children.

More than a third of parents (38 per cent) said they would be more likely to vote Tory if Jeremy Hunt unveils a “Budget for families” featuring significant tax cuts, compared with just 3 per cent who would be less likely. Among families with young children, the “more likely Conservative” cohort jumps to 47 per cent.
Overall, nearly one in five adults (18 per cent) say such a package would make them more likely to vote Conservative, three times more than the 6 per cent who would be less likely.

Labour supporters (by a factor of two and a half to one) and Lib Dems (three to one) would also consider switching to the Tories if tax cuts were targeted on families.

Appetite for family tax cuts is also surprisingly strong among the young (18 to 24-year-olds). By a margin of more than six to one (33 per cent to 5 per cent) young adults say they would be more inclined to vote Conservative if the Chancellor tilted in this direction.

The poll findings come after the Chancellor started playing down the prospect of big tax cuts in his March 6 Budget, warning the Cabinet on Wednesday that his scope for tax cuts is smaller than expected.

Tory MPs will regard his intervention as a belated attempt to manage expectations after weeks in which he and the Prime Minister have floated the promise of a Budget giveaway. The Tories are currently trailing Labour by around 20 points in the polls.

Overall, the survey found the public believes that the cost of living crisis has hit families with dependent children harder than any social group.

‌Three in five people (60 per cent) take this view as opposed to one in four (24 per cent) who disagree. Numbers in agreement rise to 75 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 and 84 per cent of those with dependent children.

The public also believes that the squeeze on household budgets is driving up levels of family breakdown, which they regard as a major social problem and associate with school failure, crime and unemployment.

A clear majority (51 per cent as opposed to 31 per cent) said that if families had more money in their pockets, levels of family breakdown would be reduced.

The poll of 2,000 adults by Whitestone Insight, commissioned by the Family Hubs Network, reveals widespread public dissatisfaction with the way the UK tax system fails to take account of the extra costs faced by parents in bringing up children.

Asked about this proposition, nearly two in three people agree that these costs are being ignored (63 per cent), a proportion that rises to 72 per cent among Labour voters and also among young people aged 18 – 24 (compared with 57 per cent of those aged 55 and over).

Among adults with children aged 18 and under, it rockets to 84 per cent.

The Family Hubs Network, co-founded by Lord Michael Farmer, a former Conservative Party treasurer, and Dr Samantha Callan, David Cameron’s former family policy adviser, will submit the poll findings to the Chancellor.

Lord Farmer said: “The unfairness of our individualised taxation system, interacting with massive pressures on living costs, is driving many families beyond breaking point.

“We are not arguing for new cash benefits but for families simply to be able to keep more of their hard-earned cash. The Government must reform how families are taxed.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/tax-cuts-for-parents-would-revive-tories-election-chances-new-poll-suggests/ar-BB1hIugY?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=70e6e5ee5e14409f919b36f15007d313&ei=12

Moonlight

02-04-24, 09:07 AM

EXCLUSIVE Amid disbelief that 'chemical attacker' was allowed to stay in Britain... BBC editor who is paid to help 15 Somalian criminals stay in the UK quits the Beeb after shocking Mail exposé

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13042143/Amid-disbelief-chemical-attacker-allowed-stay-Britain-BBC-editor-paid-help-15-Somalian-criminals-stay-UK-quits-Beeb-shocking-Mail-expos.html

The BBC, The Church but our MPs are not involved with this mess, why not?, what the hell is going on?.
There's everybody and nobody getting involved with this Immigration invasion, and meanwhile, our politicians do nothing about it, neither the Tories or the Labour Party are going to fix this free for all, so why should people vote for them?.
At the next GE I'm going to vote for the Reform candidate, our independent MP has done sod all about this Immigration fiasco and, he's been told in no uncertain terms on numerous occasions that he won't be an MP next year.
The Reform candidate talks the good talk, so I'll give him a chance to walk the walk, I don't think he'll be any good but, hey, we can live in hope.

MGR1

02-04-24, 09:39 AM

I know that, but do your politicians know it?.
Most of Scotland's senior politicians are Glaswegian, 'nuff said.

In the meantime:

Salmond lands new talk show on Turkish TV channel (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51d8v7zz3zo)

Former First Minister Alex Salmond is to front a new television show on a Turkish channel.
Actor Brian Cox has signed up to be the first guest on "Turkish Tea Talk" for public broadcaster TRT, alongside Alba leader Mr Salmond.
The ex-SNP leader previously hosted a show on Russian state channel RT, but quit amid the country's invasion of Ukraine.
Critics have called TRT a "propaganda arm" of the Turkish regime led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Oh michty me.:doh:

Mike.

Moonlight

02-04-24, 12:08 PM

Humza faces tax civil war - Kate Forbes launches attack on government's income tax hikes as rebellion grows in SNP ranks

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13041883/Humza-faces-tax-civil-war-SNP-tax-hike-increase.html

He should stop the excessive SNP spending first, University Education should not be free for a degree course and, Prescriptions in Scotland shouldn't be free either, lots of money to be saved there.
Why should the rest of the Scots who don't go to University, pay for the Students who do and, why aren't the ill paying for their medication as well, these are two areas that need fixing before there's any Tax Rises.
I'm sure there's a lot more things like this that are funded by government which shouldn't be, there you are Useless Yousaf, get cracking. :up:

MGR1

02-04-24, 01:09 PM

The Scottish Tories did look at re-introducing prescription fees, but found out it was going to cost more to administer than the amount of money raised in return.

They scrapped the idea as a non-starter, particularly when you realise that roughly one-fifth of Scotland's population has long term health conditions of one form or another.

Hardly a vote winner.

Mike.

Jimbuna

02-04-24, 02:25 PM

Yet another one is about to bite the dust.

A former Tory minister has announced he will stand down as an MP at the next election to spend more time with his wife, who has suffered a stroke.

Sir Bob Neill, 71, was first elected in 2006, and served as a junior minister in the coalition government.

The Bromley and Chislehurst MP chairs the Commons justice committee.

In a statement, Sir Bob said his wife "has always been there to support me, and I want to do the same for her and our family".

Ann-Louise, who suffered a stroke in 2019, has "been fighting bravely to recover" ever since, he said.

"It is a tough road for her, but we are very positive about it. Even so, I have concluded that it is right for me to spend more time supporting her."

In the statement, he praised Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for "giving the country the honest, diligent and pragmatic leadership that our country deserves", and said he would continue to work for his constituents until he stands down.

Sir Bob has previously served as a Tory party vice-chairman, and has chaired the Commons justice committee for the last nine years.

At the last general election in December 2019, he won his Bromley and Chislehurst seat by a majority of nearly 11,000 over Labour.

Last month he warned the Commons that legislating to overturn the convictions of Post Office workers caught up in the Horizon scandal would be "unprecedented".

Sir Bob is the latest in a series of Conservative MPs who have announced their plans to step down at the next general election.

Earlier this week, justice minister Mike Freer said he would do so after receiving death threats and an alleged arson attack on his constituency office.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68190390

mapuc

02-04-24, 03:21 PM

A question
When an MP steps down in your Parliament. Does s/he become an independent member of the Parliament and can vote as they desire or has s/he have to leave the Parliament.

If it is the latter how do you fill up the empty seat ?

Markus

Jimbuna

02-05-24, 09:45 AM

If they literally 'left Parliament' then the seat would be subject to a new election but if they simply stood down and left their party then they would become an independent MP for the remaining duration of said Parliamentary term.

mapuc

02-05-24, 10:24 AM

Thank you Jim, then it's almost as the same here in Denmark and Sweden-Except when a politician leave the Parliament a next in line take their place-No local election.

Markus

Jimbuna

02-05-24, 02:55 PM

Not a great many do....it is hard enough as it is getting rid of the buggas.

Moonlight

02-06-24, 12:31 PM

City's 10% tax rise approved amid financial crisis

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4nkzejrrx4o

The levelling-up secretary Michael Gove confirmed the news in a written statement.

He said: “It is disappointing that Birmingham City taxpayers are having to foot the bill for the council’s poor governance and decision making.

“Whilst the government will not oppose this request given the seriousness of the circumstances, any decision to increase council tax is solely one for Birmingham City Council, who should have taken into account the pressures that people in Birmingham are currently facing on living costs.”

Jimbuna

02-06-24, 01:46 PM

I doubt there'll be many councils who won't increase the council tax threshold by less than the 5% maximum allowed this year.

Jimbuna

02-07-24, 08:37 AM

The pressure surrounding the runup to the election must be impairing his judgement.

Shame indeed! :nope:

Rishi Sunak makes trans jibe in front of Brianna Ghey’s mother

Rishi Sunak has come under fire for mocking Sir Keir Starmer’s track record on trans rights while Brianna Ghey’s mother was a guest in parliament.

The prime minister’s latest blunder came not long after the Labour leader welcomed Esther Ghey, who was due to appear in the public gallery to observe PMQs, just days after her 16-year-old daughter’s killers were jailed for life.

In an ill-tempered exchange, Mr Sunak accused the leader of the opposition leader of u-turning on his definition of a woman.

He said it was “a bit rich” to hear about promises from someone who had broken every single promise he was elected on. Mr Sunak listed “pensions, planning, peerages”, among others, before adding that that the Labour leader had u-turned on “defining a woman, although, in fairness, that was only 99 per cent of a u-turn.”

Mr Starmer replied: “Of all the weeks to say that, when Brianna’s mother is in this chamber. Shame.”

The Labour leader added that the PM was “parading as a man of integrity when he has got absolutely no responsibility”, while shouts of shame ran up from the backbenches.

He added: “I think the role of the prime minister is to make sure that every single citizen in this country feels safe and respected, and it’s a shame the prime minister doesn’t share that”.

Despite the Labour leader’s comments - and a request from Labour MP Liz Twist to apologise - the PM did not offer an apology for his comments.

At the end PMQs, Mr Sunak did address Esther Ghey’s presence. He said: “Also to Brianna Ghey’s mum, who is here, as I said earlier this week, what happened was an unspeakable and shocking tragedy.”

He added: “In the face of that, for her mother to demonstrate the compassion and empathy that she did last weekend, I thought demonstrated the very best of humanity in the face of seeing the very worst of humanity, and she deserves all our admiration and praise for that.”

Though Ms Ghey may not have heard original remarks made by Mr Sunak, she would likely have heard Liz Twist asking for an apology and the prime minister’s subseqent backtracking.

Jess Phillips MP, shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, called the prime minister “an absolute disgrace”.

On social media site, X, she said: “Rishi Sunak is an absolute disgrace. Deplorable man with no heart, no sense, no clue. The sooner we are rid the better.”

She added: “How dare he be so gross in the face of the family of a murdered child. He is the lowest of the low.”

Rishi Sunak’s No.10 press secretary has not ruled out using the same line against trans people again.

The prime minister’s press secretary told reporters: “I can’t see into the future”, when asked if the Prime Minister would make a similar jibe.

They added that “it is legitimate” for Mr Sunak to “point out the number of u-turns the leader of the opposition has made,” and said they “don’t accept” the prime minister was using trans people as a punch line.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/rishi-sunak-makes-trans-jibe-in-front-of-brianna-ghey-s-mother/ar-BB1hV75r?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=172c9b84051949779fbbe94e812d3db5&ei=12

MGR1

02-07-24, 09:31 AM

I doubt there'll be many councils who won't increase the council tax threshold by less than the 5% maximum allowed this year.
Always a problem with Councils, regardless of how well or not they're run. Particularly when you factor in inflation and an aging and increasingly unhealthy population, etc.

They provide services that people need and want, but no-one wants pay the taxes that would fund them.

"That's a great idea, but I don't want to pay for it. Someone else can be taxed for the revenue instead." sums up the whole problem with funding UK public services.

Mike.:hmmm:

Jimbuna

02-07-24, 02:01 PM

True that :yep:

Moonlight

02-08-24, 05:22 AM

Labour meltdown at 'stupid' Keir Starmer as £28bn green investment plan is ditched just DAYS after he said it was 'desperately needed'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13060023/Labour-Keir-Starmer-green-investment-Reeves-election.html

I'm not surprised this policy has bit the dust, everyone in the UK would have paid for this needless yoke around our necks, it was only welcomed by Labour politicians and carrot munchers who have nothing between their ears.
Now then Starmer, what other policies are you going to dump next, come on man spit it out, you know you want to. :haha:

Jimbuna

02-08-24, 01:07 PM

Rishi continues to say the Tories are the party of low taxation :nope:

Jeremy Hunt urged to save millions from being dragged into paying income tax

Millions more people are paying income tax with the total number surging to 35.5 million an increase of 4.5m since 2010, new research has revealed.

An additional 2.8million have been dragged into paying the top rates of income tax and 1.7 million more people are paying the basic rate.

Income tax thresholds were frozen in 2021/22 and since then the largest increases in new taxpayers are in Yorkshire and the Humber, Wales and the North East.In contrast, London saw the smallest percentage increase of people paying income tax since 2021/22, both in terms of the basic rate, the higher rate and the additional rate.

As chancellor, Rishi Sunak froze the tax-free income allowance at £12,570 in 2021-22 and set the higher rate at which earnings are taxed at 40% at £50,270.
The Bank of England's inflation calculator shows that had these thresholds risen in line with prices they would now stand at around £15,000 and £60,000.

This year the chancellor Jeremy Hunt has imposed an additional rate of 45% on salaries and earnings above £125,141 instead of £150,000 last year.

Freezing the thresholds creates "fiscal drag", hitting more workers with higher tax bills as the years go by.

Since thresholds were frozen in 2021/22, an additional 1.1 million are paying the basic rate of income tax and an additional 1 million are paying the higher rate.

Sarah Coles, Head of Personal Finance at stockbrokers Hargreaves Lansdown said: "When Rishi Sunak froze income tax thresholds for 2021-22, inflation was nowhere near what we went on to experience.

"As a result this policy produced much more revenue than expected with many more people becoming both basic and higher rate taxpayers.

"While fiscal drag has been a great cash cow for the government, it has not been done in a way that was designed or planned by anyone, it has just happened by accident.

"As a result, even if people are aware they are paying a higher rate of income tax they might not be aware that they are paying loads of other sorts of taxes that are linked to it as well.

"Higher rate taxpayers pay more tax on savings interest, more on capital gains tax and more tax on dividends from investments.

"There are lots of other rates attached to income tax that makes life even more expensive for people than it already is.

"This can be mitigated by using Isas, pension savings and tax-planning as a couple to make sure you are not paying more tax than you have to."

Darwin Friend, research director of the TaxPayers' Alliance which carried out the research, said: "Taxpayers in every corner of the United Kingdom are struggling with the bruising impact of tax rises and threshold freezes.

"The transformation of Britain into a high-tax, low-growth economy has hit almost every household, from Edinburgh to Eastleigh and Cardiff to Colchester.

"Ministers must use the budget to give taxpayers the income tax relief they desperately need."

In 2014, the current foreign secretary Lord Cameron described lifting millions of people out of tax while prime minister as "one of the proudest things I have done in government."

His coalition government lifted the personal allowance from £6,475 to £10,000 in a move that won universal support.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/jeremy-hunt-urged-to-save-millions-from-being-dragged-into-paying-income-tax/ar-BB1hZ64n?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=0eb127a7491a4349b7a94ce0dad09bd4&ei=21

Jimbuna

02-09-24, 02:18 PM

Whilst on the topic of taxation.....read it and weep.

Millionaire Rishi Sunak paid same tax rate as teacher - and only slightly higher than nurse

Rishi Sunak paid almost the same tax rate as a nurse despite earning millions more, it has been revealed.

The super-rich published a summary of his tax return showing that he made more than £2.2million in the last financial year. The document shows he paid £508,308 in income tax and capital gains tax in the UK.

His vast income included £1.8million in capital gains from a single US-based investment fund, as well as £293,407 in other interest and dividends. He also got £139,477 in salary from his roles as MP and Prime Minister.

Mr Sunak paid an effective tax rate of 22.8% on his £2.2million income, which is the same rate as paid by a teacher on an average salary of £41,604, according to figures from Tax Justice UK. It is only slightly higher than the 21% effective tax rate paid by a nurse on a typical salary of £37,000.
Robert Palmer of Tax Justice UK said: “People will be shocked to learn the Prime Minister has such a low tax rate despite bringing in millions. But this is a feature of our broken tax system.

"At the moment someone who earns most of their money from their wealth - like the Prime Minister - pays a much lower tax rate than someone who relies on going out to work for their living. We need to fix this to make sure that income from wealth is taxed at the same rate as income from work.”

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt also published a summary of his tax return that showed he made a total of £416,605 last year, including £27,370 in rental income. He paid £117,418 in income tax and capital gains tax in the UK.

Mr Sunak first pledged to publish his tax returns during his failed Tory leadership campaign against Liz Truss in the summer of 2022.

The PM and his wife Akshata Murty are the richest inhabitants of Downing Street in history with an estimated £520milllion fortune, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

Earlier this week he was branded "out of touch" for agreeing to a £1,000 bet on whether deportation flights to Rwanda will get going before the election. He is also under pressure to come clean over whether he uses an NHS dentist.

Downing Street is refusing to say whether the super-rich PM knows what life is like for the millions of ordinary voters finding it difficult to get check-ups.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/millionaire-rishi-sunak-paid-same-tax-rate-as-teacher-and-only-slightly-higher-than-nurse/ar-BB1i2Jv2?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=d34410ed9c3d4a1aaba1bc111cb8bbe2&ei=14

Jimbuna

02-11-24, 09:04 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/T1b8Cmz8/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/pV5tWbp0/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimg.cc/DmhN6NQs)

Moonlight

02-11-24, 10:59 AM

For ****s sake, send them some cash and they might stop demanding money under false pretences. :haha:

Jimbuna

02-11-24, 01:44 PM

Approximately 2 year ago I unsubscribed from the mailing list and received a confirmation message. I wish I'd kept that message now.

Moonlight

02-12-24, 03:46 AM

Keir Starmer under pressure over soft treatment of Labour's Gaza conspiracy theorist Rochdale election candidate as party faces calls to suspend Azhar Ali before he is even elected

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13073249/Keir-Starmer-Labours-Gaza-conspiracy-theorist-Rochdale-Azhar-Ali.html

Starmer and the Hamas supporter eh, I couldn't ever vote for these two Twonks, that Rochdale currant is a prime candidate for a rope twerk and over half of the current Labour MPs would be lined up behind him. :up:

Jimbuna

02-12-24, 08:15 AM

Starmer finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place but I doubt Sunak would have acted any differently.

Jimbuna

02-13-24, 11:47 AM

Better late than never I suppose.

Rochdale by-election: Starmer insists he was decisive over Azhar Ali

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he took "decisive action" over comments made by Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali about Israel and Jewish people.

Labour has been criticised for initially standing by Mr Ali after it emerged he claimed Israel had "allowed" the 7 October attacks by Hamas.

On Monday the party said it was withdrawing support for him after further remarks came to light.

The Labour leader said this was a "tough" but "necessary" decision.

Speaking on a visit to Wellingborough, Sir Keir said: "Further information came to light yesterday calling for decisive action, so I took decisive action.

"It is a huge thing to withdraw support for a Labour candidate during the course of a by-election."

He added: "But when I say the Labour Party has changed under my leadership I mean it."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68284227

Moonlight

02-14-24, 05:59 AM

Labour's poll lead over the Tories falls by seven points in a fortnight amid rows over Rochdale anti-Semitism and Keir Starmer's U-turn on £28billion annual green spending

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13081807/Chaos-Labour-poll-lead-falls-seven-points-anti-Semitic-crisis-Rochdale-meeting.html

The Labour Party has changed under Starmer, so he says, no it hasn't, they're still the same Anti Semites they've always been and, he's got an even bigger problem with Anti Semitism within his Local Councils, they're rife with them, good luck sorting those out you Plonker.
Anti Semitism is a disease that's running right through his party from top to bottom, if the idiot asked the electorate for some examples he'd know that its been going on for 20 years or more.

Would I vote for one of these Labour Councillors or MPs, definitely Not.

Jimbuna

02-14-24, 10:33 AM

I think you'll find that anti semitism is a problem worldwide and not just the Labour Party.

In the meantime I received my tax notice for next year from HMRC this morning and it appears I'm moving up a band into the 40%

No doubt hurried along by the fact the Tories have frozen the tax free earnings allowance for the past six years.

Jimbuna

02-14-24, 01:10 PM

18 Cabinet ministers on course to lose seats in Tory election wipeout

Top Tories Grant Shapps, Penny Mordaunt and Gillian Keegan face being ousted in an electoral wipeout, a mega-poll has found.

A whopping 18 Cabinet ministers are set to lose their seats as the Conservatives could go down to as few as 80 MPs. The bombshell survey of 18,000 people forecasts that Rishi Sunak is on course to lead the party to its worst result in history.

The poll by Find Out Now and Electoral Calculus suggests Cabinet casualties would include Jeremy Hunt, Mel Stride, Claire Coutinho, Victoria Pentis, John Glen, Johnny Mercer and Simon Hart.

Current ministers who are likely to keep their seats - and might contest the next Conservative leadership contest - are James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch, Tom Tugendhat, and Michael Gove.
According to the poll, Keir Stamer is heading for a Labour landslide with an unprecedented majority of 254 seats. This would be an even bigger victory than Tony Blair’s historic win in 1997. According to the poll, Labour has 42% support giving it a 20 point lead over the Conservatives on 22%.

Over the past three weeks, the pollsters surveyed 18,151 people - which is nine times as many as a typical poll. The MRP (multi-level regression and post-stratification) method - that successfully forecast the 2017 and 2019 elections - was then used to project what this would mean in individual constituencies.

The results suggest Labour is set to pick up 452 seats. The Tories would lose 285 of the 265 seats they got in 2019, leaving them with just 80. The Lib Dems are on course for a comeback that would see them go back up to 53 seats. The SNP are forecast to slump slightly to 40 seats, while the Greens would get two.

Martin Baxter, founder of Electoral Calculus, said: "The public seem even more disenchanted with the Conservatives under Rishi Sunak than they were with John Major in 1997. A Labour landslide looks increasingly likely, and Labour voters want nationalisation, increased public spending and higher taxes. The next election could have a seismic impact on British politics as the recent Conservative era crashes to a close."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/18-cabinet-ministers-on-course-to-lose-seats-in-tory-election-wipeout-full-list/ar-BB1ihhDd?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=4930e3d606d040528c0ea50471c18e54&ei=54

Moonlight

02-14-24, 02:40 PM

^If that happens it will serve them right, all I've seen since 2010 are a set of useless currants who couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery.

Meanwhile the Tories move from one **** up to another.

Home Office pays to rent out 16,000 properties to asylum seekers despite housing shortage for Brits as officials fear move could create 'ghettos'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13081797/Home-Office-properties-asylum-seekers-housing-shortage-ghettos.html

Its time to take some decisive action with these Illegal Migrants, give them a last meal and a cuppa and send them packing in those small boats that they came here in. They're not our problem they're the EUs problem, let them sort the Scrounging Bastards out, they paid to get themselves over here and they can think themselves lucky that we're not charging them to go back to the EU.

I should be in charge of Legal and Illegal Migration, I'd clear everyone out of the UK who's been here since the Tories won the 2010 General Election and, I'd do it in less than one Parliament and with no exceptions.
Bye, Bye and **** Off.

Moonlight

02-15-24, 05:34 AM

Rishi Sunak faces double by-election disaster TODAY as nervous Tories brace for defeat in Kingswood and Wellingborough despite Keir Starmer's Gaza chaos

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13086513/Rishi-Sunak-byelection-Tories-Kingswood-Wellingborough-Keir-Starmer-Gaza-Labour.html

Two by-elections today, in the larger scheme of things they mean absolutely Nothing but, for the government they mean everything, this is the electorates chance to give a Yes or a No to the current governments policies and its not looking good for the incumbent party.

Will Labour win them?, Yes they should do. Will they increase their share of the vote?, probably, but not by much.
Will the Tory voters turn up, No, they'll stay away in droves and let the Tories know how unhappy they are at their weak governance.
How will the other parties do?, just like they have in the past I expect, nothing will stop the two behemoth's from being First and Second.

The Tories are going to have a bad day again and more rumblings of discontent will be heard in the corridors of power but, that's been going on for some time now.
The Labour parties policies are starting to unravel but. not enough to snatch defeat from victory.

2-0 to the Labour Party. :up:

Jimbuna

02-15-24, 09:42 AM

Well, the inevitable has happened and the sad thing is nobody is surprised.

Rishi can put any spin on it he likes but he can't deny the Tories have been in power for fourteen years now.

Oh and nobaody ask him how many illegals have been forced to leave the country.

The UK fell into recession in the second half of 2023, new figures show - we're answering your questions live.

GDP shrank by 0.3% in the last quarter of the year, following a fall of 0.1% in the previous three-month period.

Despite GDP falling in successive quarters, it did grow by 0.1% across the whole of 2023, the data shows.

GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is an important tool for judging how well an economy's doing.

One of PM Rishi Sunak's five pledges for last year was to "grow the economy"

But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt tells the BBC that when the commitment was made, Sunak was "very clear, tackling inflation had to come first"

Labour say Sunak "can no longer credibly claim his plan is working" and, with the Lib Dems, dubbed this "Rishi Sunak's recession"

Jimbuna

02-16-24, 02:56 PM

Tory gloom deepens after double poll blow

So, another two whopping by-election victories for Labour.

What is most striking about the results in Wellingborough and Kingswood is that they feel almost unsurprising, despite the scale of Labour's wins.

Why? Because it extends the trend of Labour marching forward and Conservative gloom.

The results underline the current likelihood, if the mood of the electorate does not shift, of Labour winning the general election.

But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is going out of his way to avoid even the merest whiff of complacency.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68316527

MGR1

02-16-24, 04:17 PM

The Tories fear their support being siphoned away by Reform more than they fear Labour, by the looks of it.:hmmm:

If we have a repeat of the UKIP/Brexit Party effect, particularly if Farage throws his weight behind the campaign, it does have the potential to seriously damage the Tories where they're strongest, in England. If the Tories do a hard swing to the right in an effort to shore up their support in their English heartlands, it'll basically kill the Scottish Tories as an electoral force up here, at least in the short term.

Reform is unlikely to do as well in Scotland because the SNP, the Greens and Alba have the protest party banner wrapped up between them. Not sure about Wales.

Ultimately it would make Starmer's job much easier if the political right starts eating itself.

Mike.

Moonlight

02-16-24, 06:07 PM

As it is the Tory Party cannot win the GE without changing tack, if they have to sacrifice the Scottish Tories to save the Tory home counties then that's what they'll do.
Sunak has to do something about those left leaning liberals who hide behind a Tory rosette, he needs to deselect them and replace them with candidates who support traditional Conservative policies and values or the Party could end up getting sliced and diced at the next GE.

The Labour Party needs to get their act together as well, they too cannot win the next GE on their own, they're going to need the LibDems and Reform to take votes from the Tories, I can see a hung Party looming and that isn't good for anyone.

Skybird

02-17-24, 06:57 AM

"Fascinating." (Spock)

Jimbuna

02-17-24, 08:46 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/L6nkcBDf/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.cc/GHnsYDZh)
https://i.postimg.cc/dVC21szV/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Moonlight

02-18-24, 07:02 AM

Tory backlash at Rishi Sunak 'wasting Brexit freedoms' after 'quietly putting sweeping EU equality rules into British law'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13097145/Tory-Rishi-Sunak-Brexit-EU-equality-law.html

The UK will never see any of the benefits from Brexit, (that's if there was any in the first place), you definitely won't get any from the MPs in the House of Parliament and that's a fact.
These currants have betrayed millions of people and yet, they'll come crawling to your front door begging you for your vote, the only thing these shameless bastards deserve is a one way trip to the Gallows and the Hangman's Noose.
But fear not those MPs will say, you'll all be learning at least one Middle Eastern language and possibly two or three before we're done, all thanks to the last 50 years of incompetent government from both sides of the house.
Take a bow you Morons and take the easy way out, put a loaded gun in your traitorous mouth and pull the trigger, you deserve such an ending.

Moonlight

02-18-24, 07:32 AM

Sir Keir Starmer faces fresh Labour row after senior member accuses 'murdered' Alexei Navalny of being a 'far-Right Nazi sympathiser' in wake of Kremlin critic's death

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13097013/Sir-Keir-Starmer-faces-fresh-Labour-row-senior-member-accuses-murdered-Alexei-Navalny-far-Right-Nazi-sympathiser-wake-Kremlin-critics-death.html

Starmer has us believing that he's changed the Labour Party for the better, if this article is a sample of that he's more deluded than Sunak is. I wouldn't vote for any of these candidates but, I would vote for them to be strung up by the neck until they're dead.
I wonder what Starmer will do?, will he get rid of it or will he not?.

Jimbuna

02-18-24, 10:16 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/L4DwydBx/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.cc/mhcmD5n9)

Jimbuna

02-19-24, 02:17 PM

The post office scandal is a national disgrace but now the rats responsible for it have realised there are no more life rafts available on the sinking ship and are resorting to individual damage limitation.

Kemi Badenoch says ex-Post Office chair claims 'made up'

The Business Secretary, Kemi Badenoch, has said claims by the former Post Office chair that he was told to delay compensation payments for sub-postmasters are "completely false".

Henry Staunton said he was told to stall payouts to allow the government to "limp into the election", apparently to help state finances.

But Ms Badenoch accused him of spreading "a series of falsehoods" and providing "made up anecdotes".

Mr Staunton has stood by his comments.

On Monday, Ms Badenoch made a statement to the House of Commons in which she said Mr Staunton's claims were "a blatant attempt to seek revenge following dismissal".

"There would be no benefit to us whatsoever of us delaying compensation," she added. "This does not have any significant impact on revenues whatsoever - it would be a mad thing to even suggest."

She said there was "no evidence whatsoever" that Mr Staunton was told by an official to stall payouts, later adding: "Actually if such a thing was said, it is for Mr Staunton himself to bring the evidence."

Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly prosecuted after a faulty computer system called Horizon made it look like money was missing from their branches.

Some sub-postmasters wrongfully went to prison, many were financially ruined. Some have since died.

The government has promised to quash convictions and pay compensation, but concerns have been raised over the speed and complexity in victims securing financial redress, with just 33 claims fully settled.

One sub-postmaster said the process of claiming compensation has been "like being treated like a criminal all over again".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68337728

Moonlight

02-20-24, 01:18 PM

GAMBLE SCANDAL MP Scott Benton faces suspension from Commons after being caught in gambling lobbying scandal

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/politics/26056734/mp-scott-benton-faces-suspension-from-parliament/

Another By-Election for Rishi?, the Tories need to call a GE as soon as possible and get this nightmare over with, you never know do you, putting Starmer and the Labour Party under pressure might just be their undoing.

I wonder where that Raynor woman is a lately, has Starmer filled her orifices with some dildoes to stop her dropping him in it, its not like her to stay this quiet for so long, a GE would bring her out to play me thinks.

Jimbuna

02-20-24, 01:36 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/pXTtrkRT/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Skybird

02-21-24, 05:13 AM

Dargo

02-21-24, 11:56 AM

Trident has grown a lil' bit old, hasn't it?

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68355395

What never ceases to amaze me is the outrageous matter-of-factness with which politicians, faced with the proven failure of something, claim in a tone of conviction that what has failed - now repeatedly - is working absolutely perfectly.The UGM-133 Trident II (Trident D5) has 190 successful test flights of the D5 missile since design completion in 1989 there have been fewer than 11 test flights that were failures. The D5 is the sixth in a series of missile generations deployed since the sea-based deterrent program began 60 years ago. The Trident D5LE (life-extension) version will remain in service until 2042.

Jimbuna

02-21-24, 02:40 PM

The UGM-133 Trident II (Trident D5) has 190 successful test flights of the D5 missile since design completion in 1989 there have been fewer than 11 test flights that were failures. The D5 is the sixth in a series of missile generations deployed since the sea-based deterrent program began 60 years ago. The Trident D5LE (life-extension) version will remain in service until 2042.

Agreed :yep:

Skybird

02-22-24, 08:37 AM

Fact remains the past two tests both failed and the missiles have not grown any younger.

Reassuring this is not really. It can feed the maniacs' perception of that the UK's detzrrence would fial anyway and thus oen cna ignore it. And if you listen to the monstrous drivel some of the Russian facvists vent on media... Well - is it really all drivel?!

Hitler preferred to kill Germany instead of accepting that Germany did not give him what he expected from it: victory. And he was and is not the only whacko in history's collection. The Kremlin is filled to the rooftop with such whackos now.

Skybird

02-22-24, 08:58 AM

"The UK almost shot its own minister." LOL

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-68369556

See what I mean one post above?

Jimbuna

02-22-24, 09:01 AM

I very much doubt the media outlets of Russia and China have much if any credibility at all in the eyes of the majority of the world.

Dargo

02-22-24, 12:09 PM

Media outlets of Russia have destroyed all leopards, F- 16's, HIMARS, patriot systems and Ukraine navy zillion times on top they already won the nuclear war with NATO even Russian people do not believe that any more what the propaganda is telling them.

mapuc

02-22-24, 12:18 PM

^ ??

Jimbuna

02-22-24, 12:44 PM

Rishi Sunak calls Sir Lindsay Hoyle's decision to break with convention on a Gaza ceasefire vote "very concerning"

The PM says "we should never let extremists intimidate us" into changing how Parliament works, after Hoyle allowed a vote on a Labour amendment to a SNP proposal.

It comes after the SNP's Westminster leader tells Hoyle his party has no confidence in him as Commons Speaker after yesterday's debate chaos.

More than 60 MPs now say they have no confidence in Hoyle, who has apologised twice for making the "wrong decision"

Meanwhile, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has denied threatening Hoyle, saying he “simply urged” the Speaker to ensure there was the “broadest possible debate”

On Wednesday, MPs approved a Labour motion calling for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire" following hours of debate which saw SNP and Conservative MPs walk out of the Commons.

Skybird

02-22-24, 01:48 PM

I very much doubt the media outlets of Russia and China have much if any credibility at all in the eyes of the majority of the world.
They must not blind the world.
Blinding their people only is fully sufficient.

Jimbuna

02-23-24, 02:49 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/wvF5cS4S/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.cc/TLLWTH69)
https://i.postimg.cc/L5bzGjpD/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

02-24-24, 11:11 AM

Lee Anderson: MP suspended from Tory party over criticism of London mayor

Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson has been suspended from the party after "refusing to apologise" for comments aimed at Sadiq Khan.

The Conservative Ashfield MP told GB News on Friday "Islamists" had "got control" of the mayor of London.

Responding on Saturday, Mr Khan described the remarks as "pouring fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred".

Losing the Conservative whip essentially expels Mr Anderson from his party in Parliament.

Just over an hour after Mr Khan's criticism, a spokesperson for the Tory party's chief whip Simon Hart said: "Following his refusal to apologise for comments made yesterday, the chief whip has suspended the Conservative whip from Lee Anderson MP."

Speaking on GB News Mr Anderson said: "I don't actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they've got control of Khan and they've got control of London… He's actually given our capital city away to his mates."

Pressure then mounted on Rishi Sunak to take action over the comments from the Ashfield MP after Mr Khan criticised a "deafening silence" from the prime minister and his Cabinet.

Until January Mr Anderson served as one of the deputy chairmen of the Conservative Party, but he resigned so he could rebel against the government over the Rwanda vote.

On Saturday afternoon, Mr Khan responded to Mr Anderson's comments which he described as "Islamophobic, anti-Muslim and racist".

"These comments pour fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred," Mr Khan said.

The London mayor added he was "unclear why Rishi Sunak and members of his Cabinet" were not calling out the remarks or condemning the comments.

Mr Anderson's remarks prompted criticism from some Tories - including former chancellor Sir Sajid Javid who reposted the video of Mr Anderson making the comments and wrote "a ridiculous thing to say".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68392621

Jimbuna

02-25-24, 09:41 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/Y24Btfgk/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.cc/mhG5w986)
https://i.postimg.cc/WpQLzF6Z/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/JzLf3fF4/Untitledc.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

02-26-24, 01:52 PM

WARNING: LONG READ

Lee Anderson refuses to apologise for Islamist claim about Sadiq Khan

Ex-Tory party deputy chair Lee Anderson has said his words were clumsy but has refused to apologise for suggesting Sadiq Khan is controlled by Islamists.

Mr Anderson was suspended as a Tory MP following his remarks which he says were borne out of frustration at the London mayor's record.

Rishi Sunak called the Ashfield MP's comments wrong but avoided saying if he thought they were Islamophobic.

Keir Starmer said the PM lacked the "backbone" to call out Islamophobia.

The Labour leader told reporters: "This is really basic. Islamophobia is something which should be called out by every political leader, and the prime minister isn't calling it out because he's too weak."

In an Evening Standard article Mr Khan said Mr Anderson had "poured petrol on the fires of hatred".

"It shouldn't be hard to call out comments that are so unambiguously ignorant, prejudiced and racist. Yet those at the top of the Conservative government are stubbornly refusing to do so."

The row was sparked by comments Mr Anderson made during a GB News discussion on Friday afternoon.

Mr Anderson said: "I don't actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they've got control of Khan and they've got control of London, and they've got control of Starmer as well."

He later added: "People are just turning up in their thousands, and doing anything they want, and they are laughing at our police. This stems with Khan, he's actually given our capital city away to his mates."

Mr Anderson had been responding to a Daily Telegraph article by ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman in which she said: "The truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the antisemites are in charge now."

Ms Braverman said Islamists "bullied the Labour Party" over its position on the war in Gaza and that some people on pro-Palestinian marches had links to Islamists.

Speaking to reporters on Monday Mr Sunak said Mr Anderson's choice of words "wasn't acceptable, it was wrong, that's why the whip was suspended".

He said it was "incumbent" on parliamentarians not to inflame debate "in a way that is harmful to others".

The prime minister also denied there were Islamophobic tendencies in his party.

Asked if Mr Anderson could be readmitted to the party if he apologised for his comments, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: "I'm not going to second-guess the future decisions the chief whip might make... a good start would be for Lee to reflect on what he said and to do what he was asked to do which was to retract those comments and to issue an apology.

"It's entirely up to him whether he does that and then we can judge accordingly."

In a statement released via GB News - who employ the MP as a broadcaster - Mr Anderson said he would not be saying sorry.

"When you think you are right you should never apologise because to do so would be a sign of weakness.

"My words may have been clumsy but my words were borne out of sheer frustration at what is happening to our beautiful capital city."

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper urged Mr Sunak to "make clear he [Lee Anderson] won't be let back into the Conservative Party".

Labour party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds has urged the Conservatives to adopt a definition of Islamophobia, as drawn up by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims.

However, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said the Conservatives had instead opted to use the term "anti-Muslim hatred" adding that the definition backed by Labour would create "a blasphemy law via the back door".

Baroness Warsi hit back saying "as you are well aware the definition like the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition on antisemitism is a non-legally binding working definition, not a 'law'."

She also said the government had "dragged its heels on any work to tackle this form of racism".

In 2019, the Conservative Party launched an inquiry into how the party handles discrimination claims, following allegations of Islamophobic behaviour.

The report found evidence of anti-Muslim views at local association and individual level but said claims of "institutional racism" were not borne out by the evidence.

Last year Prof Swaran Singh, who led the inquiry, said the party had been slow to implement some of his recommendations due to "political upheaval".

Asked about Mr Anderson's comments on BBC Radio London, Conservative MP - and former minister for London - Paul Scully said concerns that certain places such as Tower Hamlets in London and Sparkhill in Birmingham had become "no-go areas" needed "to be addressed".

He said: "Lee tends to shoot from the hip. He sometimes goes too far. This is an occasion when he has gone way, way too far."

Birmingham Labour MP Jess Phillips urged Mr Scully to apologise for his comments about Sparkhill which she labelled "utter drivel".

"My kids hang out in Sparkhill day and night, never had a moment's worry, I go there weekly and live literally five minutes walk from there and used to live there myself."

Conservative West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: "The idea that Birmingham has a 'no-go' zone is news to me, and I suspect the good people of Sparkhill. It really is time for those in Westminster to stop the nonsense slurs and experience the real world."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68400775

Jimbuna

02-27-24, 12:15 PM

Paul Scully: Former minister and MP sorry for 'no-go' areas comment

London Conservative MP and former minister Paul Scully has apologised for suggesting there are "no-go" areas in parts of Tower Hamlets.

He made the comment in radio and TV interviews on Monday, prompting accusations of Islamophobia and a rebuke from the prime minister.

Mr Scully had also said some people were "fearful for going out".

In a BBC Radio London interview on Tuesday, he said he "put his hands up" for using language he "regrets".

Mr Scully added he was "frustrated in the language" he used and lost "nuance" in the issues he wanted to get across.

The former minister for London, who was also a former mayoral candidate, said: "What I was trying to say, I thought I was being specific about but clearly not, is the fact that a lot of the conversation, and the vacuum that's allowed to then be filled by populists, is when prejudice builds up because of perception.

"There are areas of this country where there are tiny, tiny groups of people that cause people to feel uncomfortable in particular areas.

"That might be a white gang, that might be a black gang, a Muslim gang, whatever, and that then tends to write off whole communities for some people," he added.

The Sutton and Cheam MP described this perception about some communities as "totally inappropriate".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68412010

Jimbuna

02-29-24, 01:40 PM

NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY

Rish! cowers in No 10 as mob demands peace in lawless London

The United Kingdom, February 2024. A cold wind blew down Whitehall. The streets were nearly empty. The shops boarded up. Just a few veiled women, keeping their heads bowed as they hurried home. Inside 10 Downing Street, the prime minister cowered under his desk. “No more,” he sobbed.

Over in City Hall, Sadiq Khan signed the death warrants of another 50 motorists who had failed to pay the ULEZ charge. His original order had been that first offenders should only have both hands cut off, but he had been overruled by the ayatollahs. Sharia law should never be that lenient.

In Threadneedle Street, Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England was pacing the vast boardroom. The man he was expecting, the editor of the Financial Times, was late. On the table were laid out two bandanas and two suicide vests. In under an hour they – and Jeremy Hunt – would both be dead. Well, what would you do? After all that Jezza has done to the economy. The fight back of the deep state starts here.
Still, the caliphate was expanding its reach. Down in the Cotswolds, Boris Johnson was being dragged through the centre of Chipping Norton. In an hour’s time he would be stoned to death. The punishment for adultery. Let him be an example to other politicians. Up in the balcony of the town hall, David Cameron – AKA Lord Big Dave – allowed himself a wry smile. He would be throwing the first stone.

Er … actually, scrub that intro. That was the Lee Anderson and Liz Truss vision of Britain on Monday. It’s now Thursday.

The United Kingdom, February 2024. A cold wind still blew down Whitehall. The streets were also still empty and the shops boarded up. And Rishi Sunak hadn’t moved since Monday. Nobody had managed to talk him out from under his desk.

Out on Oxford Street, a group of murderous terrorists had formed an orderly queue outside Selfridges. They claimed to be waiting for the shop to open so that they could buy the new Call of Duty video game. But Rish! knew better. He alone had attended the Cobra briefing led by Suella Braverman. Before long, some of the terrorists would be waving flags and walking somewhere else. Some might even be smiling and demanding ‘peace’. Imagine that.

It was the same throughout the rest of this once prosperous land. In the countryside, sheep were lying with donkeys and crops were rotting in the fields. The roads were unpassable, blocked by overturned cars and looted lorries. The sun no longer shone and beggars howled to the skies, their cries unanswered. Bodies lay unburied in the street. And still the mob demanded ‘peace’.

James Cleverly was just the latest cabinet member to tiptoe into No 10 via the secret tunnel. It was far too dangerous for him to use the front door. He kept his head down in the corridors in case his movements attracted the attention of a sniper. He needed to coax the prime minister out. He hadn’t been to the toilet for days.

“What do you want?” Rish! sobbed. “Leave me alone! Leave me alone!”

“It’s OK,” said Jimmy Dimly tenderly.

“Is it safe? Is it safe?”

“Is what safe?”

“Is it safe? Is it safe? The country has descended into mob rule. We no longer have a functioning government. By the way, who is the prime minister? And which party has been in power for the last 14 years?”

“You don’t want to know,” said Jimmy D. “But I have a cunning plan. We’re going to let everyone have three protests and then say: ‘You’ve made your point. Enough is enough. Time to go home now and everything will be fine.’”

“You say all the sweetest things, Jimmy,” said Rish!. “I don’t know where I’d be without you.”

Weirdly, this wasn’t a line of reasoning that the security minister, Tom Tugendhat, chose to employ in his statement to the Commons on MPs’ safety. In fact, he got through the whole hour without mentioning the words ‘mob rule’. Almost as if he was a bit ashamed by his leader. Embarrassed by him. You get the feeling that the end of this parliament can’t come too soon for Tories like Tugendhat.

Instead, Tugendhat just stuck to basics. MPs are increasingly under threat and need protection. No one was going to argue with that. Though he was understandably unwilling to think what might have prompted the surge in death threats. That it might have all kicked off with the coarsening of the debate during the Brexit years. Rightwing newspapers branding MPs and judges as traitors and enemies of the people. And the government just standing by in passive acceptance. Nodding it through.

Back in Downing Street, Jimmy D was still trying to lure Sunak out.

“It’s the big annual Tory fundraiser tonight. The Black and White ball,” Dimly explained. “We need to extract as much dosh as possible with the election coming.”

“What have others given so far?” squeaked Rish!.

“Let me see … Suella has offered a lifelong break in Rwanda. Stay in a two-star hotel. The advance bidding on that has been slow. And Honest Bob Jenrick is offering to help with controversial planning applications. Pornographers especially welcome …”

“And what are you giving?’

“A luxury five-night stay on the Bibby Stockholm, with a banquet dinner cooked by 30p Lee.”

“That’s amazing.”

“In which case I will offer an honorary knighthood. Preferably to someone linked to my father-in-law’s business interests.”

“You’re all heart,” said Jimmy Dimly. ‘All this giving is very tiring’.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/another-tory-mp-forced-to-apologise-for-no-go-muslim-neighbourhood-comments/ss-BB1j6uNt?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=25e62cc94731485da9bd582672dc9e40&ei=24

Jimbuna

03-01-24, 02:09 PM

Just about sums up how politics are currently here in the UK

Few politicians can whip up a crowd - and generate controversy - quite like George Galloway.

In a career spanning four decades, he has been hailed as a hero of the anti-war left, ridiculed as a reality TV contestant and elected to Parliament seven times for three different parties.

The 69-year-old's latest political comeback, in Rochdale, shows he has not lost his appetite for a fight - or his talent for riling his opponents.

As he has done in previous by-elections, he mainly targeted his message at Muslim voters, promising, in this case, to be a powerful advocate for Palestinians in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

But he also took aim at the entire political and media establishment.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68405486

Jimbuna

03-02-24, 01:59 PM

The costs quoted here are nothing short of sheer lunacy.

UK to pay at least £370m to Rwanda for asylum deal, watchdog says

The UK will pay at least £370m to Rwanda as part of its plan to relocate asylum seekers there, the government's spending watchdog has revealed.

Up to £150,000 will also be paid for each person sent to the east African country over a five-year period.

Labour said the new figures in the report by the National Audit Office (NAO) were a "national scandal".

However, the Home Office said: "Doing nothing is not without significant costs."

A spokesperson said: "Unless we act, the cost of housing asylum seekers is set to reach £11bn per year by 2026.

"Illegal migration costs lives and perpetuates human trafficking, and it is therefore right that we fund solutions to break this unsustainable cycle."

The NAO report comes after MPs have been calling for greater transparency over the cost of the scheme.

Under the five-year deal, the UK would be able to send individuals who arrive in the country illegally to Rwanda to claim asylum there.

The aim of the policy is to deter people from crossing the English Channel in small boats - something Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made one of his key priorities.

However, the scheme has been stalled by legal challenges and no one has been relocated there yet.

The government says it is aiming for deportation flights to take off by the spring.

Legislation seeking to revive the plan has been approved by MPs and will be debated in the House of Lords next week, where critics are likely to seize on the latest costs.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68440653

Gorpet

03-03-24, 01:38 AM

Just about sums up how politics are currently here in the UK

Well this mans election, 2 parties and the whole government went into a meltdown.I think he will be good , Why there's no Brits left and this man could be the future.

Jimbuna

03-03-24, 01:24 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/br8VjGBt/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.cc/47LQ63Zf)
https://i.postimg.cc/rsJny8BY/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

03-04-24, 10:51 AM

It looks likeJeremy will need to pull a great many rabbits out of his hat come Wednesday but even if that were possible I doubt it would be enough to save Rishi HOOD.

Conservative support falls to lowest levels on record as Starmer lead stretches further

Support for the Conservatives has dropped to its lowest level on record, according to a new poll.

Researchers at Ipsos found backing for the Tories had fallen to just 20 per cent, meaning only a fifth of respondents say they intend to vote for them, the poll with the Standard found.

The survey marks the lowest level ever recorded by Ipsos in its Political Monitor survey which began in 1978.

Labour scored 47 per cent, giving Sir Keir Starmer’s opposition a 27 point lead over Rishi Sunak’s governing party – an increase from their 22 point lead in January.

The Liberal Democrats secured nine per cent and the Greens eight per cent; while Reform UK also scored eight per cent, while seven per cent of respondents said other.
Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos, said: “The historical comparisons continue to look ominous for Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives.

“The Ipsos Political Monitor series started in the late 1970s and has never recorded a Conservative vote share this low.”

Sunak’s satisfaction rating has also fallen to its lowest level since he took office, giving him a net rating of -54, while 83 per cent of those surveyed were dissatisfied with the government.

Starmer’s ratings have also fallen since January, leaving him with a net score of -26, which is only slightly above his lowest finding of -29 in May 2021.

Ahead of Wednesday’s Budget, Jeremy Hunt also saw his worst score as Chancellor, with 56 per cent of respondents reporting dissatisfaction, versus 52 per cent in February 2023.

According to Ipsos, the public think Labour’s Rachel Reeves would make the most capable Chancellor by 39 per cent to 24 per cent – up from her 12 point lead in October last year.

Skinner added: “Job satisfaction trends for the Prime Minister and his government since he took office are also heading downwards.

Combined with Labour taking leads on issues of economic credibility to go with their traditional strengths in public services, this means the Conservatives face big challenges across a number of fronts if they are to turn the situation around.”

Previous low points for the Tories include 22 per cent under John Major in the mid-1990s – and 23 per cent both in 1997, after Labour’s landslide win, and in December 2022.

The survey ran up to February 28, and 1,004 adults across Great Britain were interviewed.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/conservative-support-falls-to-lowest-levels-on-record-as-starmer-lead-stretches-further/ar-BB1jiu6r?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=08d6dbaf85a84c14a59cceb5e3901573&ei=13

Moonlight

03-04-24, 11:12 AM

^The worst Prime Minister there's ever been, leading the worst Tory government there's ever been, these muppets are taking incompetence to a level never seen in the UK before. :doh:

Foreign hate preachers face being deported from the UK in latest crackdown on extremism

More word salad from the useless bastard, just the same rhetoric he used when he spouted his mouth off about stopping the boats, **** off Rishi, no one believes you anymore. :haha:

Jimbuna

03-04-24, 12:50 PM

Can't say I'm surprised.

Defiant peers inflict heavy first defeat against Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill

Peers have inflicted their first defeat against Rishi Sunak’s proposed Rwanda asylum law putting the unelected Lords on a collision course with the Government.

The upper chamber backed by 274 votes to 172, majority 102, a move to ensure the draft legislation, aimed at clearing the way to send asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats on a one-way flight to Kigali, is fully compliant with the law.

The Prime Minister has previously warned the Lords against frustrating “the will of the people” by hampering the passage of his Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, which has already been approved by MPs.

Ahead of the next election, Mr Sunak has made “stopping the boats” a key pledge of his leadership.
The heavy Government defeat sets the stage for an extended tussle between the Commons and Lords during “ping-pong”, where legislation is batted between the two Houses until agreement is reached.

The controversial draft legislation and a treaty with Rwanda are intended to prevent further legal challenges to the stalled deportation scheme after the Supreme Court ruled the plan was unlawful.

As well as compelling judges to regard the east African country as safe, it would also give ministers the power to ignore emergency injunctions.

Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights has said the proposed Rwanda legislation was “fundamentally incompatible” with the UK’s human rights obligations and would flout international law.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/defiant-peers-inflict-heavy-first-defeat-against-rishi-sunak-s-rwanda-bill/ar-BB1jjudN?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=026266a533934b879a9fe9ffe68cb660&ei=48

Moonlight

03-05-24, 10:20 AM

Now Labour frontbencher who branded Rule Britannia 'alienating' says historic green benches in Commons are sexist and should be replaced because they are too big for women

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13158807/Now-Labour-frontbencher-branded-Rule-Britannia-alienating-says-historic-green-benches-Commons-sexist-replaced-big-women.html

Has this currant tripped over her tampax string too many times and has become mentally unstable, or has she always been this thick?, she's in the Labour Party so I'm assuming she's from a similarly infected population, yes, Bristol West!, I ****ing knew it.
They don't make them much thicker than those currants down in Bristol I can tell you, there's only one cure for her and that's a baseball bat to the head, delivered at optimum velocity of course, you've gotta make sure of success. :haha:

Jimbuna

03-05-24, 01:16 PM

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SNP branded 'out of touch' after applying to put 'for independence' alongside its logo on general election ballot papers

The Scottish National Party was branded 'out of touch' today after it was revealed the separatists have applied to put 'independence' alongside its logo on general election ballot papers.

Humza Yousaf's party has lodged an official request with the electoral commission to use one of two designs when people cast votes this year.

They both feature the word 'independence prominently'. It comes a day after the party made its latest attempt to convince Scots to back independence, a decade after losing the referendum.

But critics suggested the party should focus on other more pressing issues at the election later this year. The SNP is expected to lose a string of seats to Labour that could see it replaced as the biggest party in Scotland at Westminster.

Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: 'Nobody can now be in any doubt that the SNP cares more about dividing people than it does about the issues which really matter to voters in an election – like public services, the cost-of-living crisis, and the climate emergency.

'The nationalists are completely out of touch with the people of Scotland. 'This election must be about the people's priorities; not the SNP's negative campaign to break up the UK.'
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/snp-branded-out-of-touch-after-applying-to-put-for-independence-alongside-its-logo-on-general-election-ballot-papers/ar-BB1jmW7j?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=57ddcad001c9486ca890daa6b34626f3&ei=10

Moonlight

03-05-24, 05:02 PM

I think the SNP are flogging a dead horse with this constant Independence nonsense, they couldn't convince the Scottish people when they were in their prime and they'll struggle to convince them at the next General Election as well.
And that begs the question of, how will they fare in the next election?, I'm going to take a wild stab at this and say they'll lose 10 to 15 seats, or a nightmare scenario could develop where they lose 20 to 30 seats. Could they gain any seats?, well, with all these accusations of government mismanagement being bandied about that's not very likely but, its not totally impossible, I think Mr Useless Yousaf's time is up though and if he had any honour at all he'd do the decent thing and fall on his sword.

There are 3 or 4 hundred MPs down in Westminster who need to do that as well, all those career politicians need to go, they've never amounted to much in the past and they'll never amount to much in the future either, just do one decent thing in your life and **** off into the night will you. :up:

Jimbuna

03-06-24, 11:52 AM

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt cuts workers' National Insurance by another 2p in the Budget, meaning it falls from 10% to 8%

He also increases the child benefit threshold from £50,000 to £60,000

Hunt says the National Insurance cut, to begin next month, is worth £450 a year for the average worker.

It follows a 2p cut in last year's Autumn Statement - but there is no change to income tax.

Labour leader Keir Starmer calls the Budget a "last desperate act" with people paying "more and more for less and less"

New official forecasts say the government will collect 37.1p per pound of GDP in 2028/29 - the highest level in nearly 80 years.

The OBR also says the economy will grow faster than expected - that, plus some tax rises, and existing "fiscal headroom", are what's funding the cuts.

Hunt also increases the VAT threshold for small businesses to £90,000, and announces higher taxes on vapes and business class flights.

And he says he's "abolishing" the "non-dom" tax system, but new arrivals to the UK will still not pay taxes on foreign income for four years.

Jimbuna

03-07-24, 09:27 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/xqr1cZ6b/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.cc/SYrhPgFy)
https://i.postimg.cc/L4JkgZyH/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Moonlight

03-08-24, 07:06 AM

MAY STANDS DOWN Theresa May to stand down as MP at next election as former Prime Minister says ‘it’s been honour & privilege to serve’

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/politics/26430668/theresa-may-to-stand-down-as-mp/

How can you be useless for 27 years and get away with it?, it helps if you have brain dead Maidenhead constituents like she's had, now do the decent thing and take them all down to the town square and shoot the idiots dead, don't forget about Theresa, I wouldn't want her to miss out on the fun. :up:

Jimbuna

03-08-24, 11:26 AM

Labour to seek savings to fund policy promises after Jeremy Hunt's Budget

Labour now intends to pay for its NHS and school breakfast plans through future savings to public spending if it wins power, Rachel Reeves has said.

The party had planned to fund the flagship policies by replacing the UK's current "non-dom" tax regime.

But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the same move at Wednesday's Budget, to fund a cut to National Insurance.

His Labour counterpart Ms Reeves has admitted it will force her to tweak her own plans.

Speaking to the BBC, she said Labour would now "go through every pound" in the government's spending plans to fund the policies.

"But we will find that money, because it is a national priority, and its is a Labour priority," she added.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68499693

Jimbuna

03-09-24, 10:50 AM

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https://i.postimg.cc/wTvt6HRy/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Moonlight

03-09-24, 06:00 PM

^Just out of curiosity, if you send the Labour Party a small donation will it stop all of these begging letters?.

Jimbuna

03-10-24, 05:48 AM

I've tried clicking on the unsubscribe button a couple of times but doesn't seem to have any tangible effect.

TBH I'm not really that bothered really.

Jimbuna

03-10-24, 05:53 AM

Rachel Reeves - the shadow chancellor was asked if there would be cuts to government spending if Labour wins the next election.

Reeves admitted Labour would not be able to turn things around straight away - but has said there would be an "initial injection of cash" into public services.

Asked about Labour ditching its £28bn green pledge, Reeves blamed former PM Liz Truss and ex-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-Budget for affecting what an incoming Labour government can do and also said she's working with businesses to find investment.

When asked by a Labour voter what the difference is between Labour and the Conservatives' fiscal policies, Reeves said her party plans to close tax loopholes to inject cash into public services.

MGR1

03-11-24, 01:27 PM

A little late, but understandably this hasn't gone down too well:

Hunt says Scottish oil and gas industry is budget loser (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-68499331)

Even if their own message on oil and gas is a master example of confusion, the Nats are making hay, whilst the Scottish Tories are both fuming and disparing. SLab's somewhere in the middle, at least as far as I can tell.

As long as the Tories are able to win the election in England, then the rest of the UK can go hang, as it were.

People complain about the iniquities of the Barnett Formula (with justification), but how can Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make a go of trying to pay their way when their economies get trashed just to satisfy X party's voter base in England?

All that does is increase the need for transfer payments from England to the smaller nations.

Which satisfies no one.

Mike.:hmmm:

Jimbuna

03-11-24, 01:29 PM

^ Can't disagree with you there.

Jimbuna

03-12-24, 12:47 PM

Baptisms 'a ticket to something' for some asylum seekers - vicar

Some asylum seekers see baptisms "as a ticket to something" and most baptism requests were when they were appealing an asylum claim, a vicar has told MPs.

Rev Matthew Firth told the Home Affairs select committee he was brought groups of asylum seekers looking to convert.

MPs were hearing evidence after it was claimed Clapham attacker Abdul Shokoor Ezedi got asylum on the grounds of his conversion to Christianity.

The Bishop of Chelmsford told MPs she queried Rev Firth's claims.

"The figures don't quite add up to me," the Right Reverend Guli Francis-Dehqani said.

She added: "I have spoken to clergy who have turned people down [for baptism] because they did not feel they met the criteria."

The clergy took baptisms very seriously, she said.

Rev Firth, who was a priest at St Cuthbert's church in Darlington, left the Church of England in 2020, and is now a vicar for the Free Church of England.

He previously wrote in the Telegraph that there was a "conveyor belt" system of baptisms of asylum seekers hoping to obtain leave to remain in the UK on religious grounds.

He told MPs that when he came to St Cuthbert's in 2018 he found there was a "surprising number" of asylum seekers being baptised.

He honoured the ones that were already in process but then "started to look into it a bit further".

He said: "After those baptisms, week-in, week-out, significant groups of mainly Iranian and Syrian young male asylum seekers were being brought to me in sizeable cohorts."

Rev Firth told MPs that cohorts of "six or seven" people were brought to him "every two or three weeks".

Asked who brought the asylum seekers to him, Rev Firth said: "There was a particular individual who I think had received right to remain in the UK through the asylum application system."

"This particular individual", he added, "was bringing lots of people who [he] said needed to be baptised".

The Diocese of Durham has strongly rejected Rev Firth's claims.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68543879

Moonlight

03-13-24, 07:41 AM

Tens of thousands of migrants with failed asylum applications will 'be offered up to £3,000 to move to Rwanda'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13189341/migrants-failed-asylum-applications-offered-money-Rwanda.html

Sunak's going to send these Migrants for a holiday to Rwanda at the taxpayers expense is he, the only problem with that is, when the money runs out these Migrants will be back here with their hand out begging for some more money, its going to be an another epic failure by Sunak and his brain dead MPs.

The Bucket Plan.
I have a better plan than that one, why doesn't someone fill a bucket with water and stick Sunak's head in it for an hour, rinse and repeat for all Tory MPs who thinks Sunak's plan is a good idea.

Get a Border Force Bucket prepared and start sticking the crews heads in it, I'm sure they'll get the point of the message eventually, hmmmmm, the Civil Service needs a bucket as well.

There has to be a penalty for failure and a bucket of water is it, the Cost?, how much is a bucket of water worth?, a lot cheaper than £3,000 I expect. :O:

Jimbuna

03-14-24, 05:45 AM

^ A major betrayal of all those relying on food banks and our own homeless, quite a number of who are ex-service personnel.

Moonlight

03-14-24, 02:36 PM

^SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, Aunt Priscilla was a Volunteer Caseworker in the mid 70s to about 1992, if any ex-service personnel are struggling financially, emotionally or disability wise they should get in touch with them, they also do a wide range of other services too..

https://www.ssafa.org.uk/contact-us#:~:text=Contact%20Forcesline%2C%20our%20help%20 desk,using%20their%20Forcesline%20contact%20form.

Jimbuna

03-14-24, 02:40 PM

Probably what Rishi is relying on so he can continue to look after the illegals.

Moonlight

03-15-24, 06:28 AM

Rishi Sunak's woes deepen as defence minister James Heappey 'quits' amid bitter row over funding - joining Tory MP exodus after struggling PM ruled out May election

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13200915/Rishi-Sunaks-defence-minister-James-Heappey-quits-funding-Tory-exodus.html

Sunak won't be the leader of the Tory Party after the GE and it'll be a miracle if he leads them into it as well, the plotting going on in Westminster must be at fever pitch by now, I'd get out while you can Sunak or those knives might turn out to be real ones. :haha:

I think that Sunak, Hunt, and the likes of Cleverly have already sealed the fate of the Tories, he's already losing 62 veteran MPs, they might have been bloody useless but they were familiar names to their constituents and that's what counts when an election comes around.
Going into a GE with at least 62 Rookie MPs?, I've never heard of that scenario before, it will be the Tories "Longest Day" ever and, if they don't select the proper Tory candidates that disaster election they had in 1997 is going to be repeated. :O:

Jimbuna

03-15-24, 08:56 AM

No argument from me then.

‘Weak, useless, rich idiot’: New poll condemns Rishi Sunak ahead of upcoming election

Rishi Sunak’s fading hopes of holding on to power have suffered a humiliating new setback after a new poll showed voters see him as a “weak, useless, rich idiot”.

The verdict of Tory voters on the prime minister is almost as withering. Asked to state their “ideal” party leader, Conservative supporters picked Boris Johnson, followed by Margaret Thatcher, who died 11 years ago, and Nigel Farage ahead of Mr Sunak.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer fares slightly better among voters as a whole, seen as “weak and boring”, though also “honest and competent”.

But unlike Mr Sunak, Sir Keir has solid support from his own supporters: the majority of Labour voters regard him as their “ideal” leader - with no appetite for long-gone predecessors like Tony Blair.

The damning portrait of Mr Sunak, whose Tory party languishes behind Labour by 20 per cent in recent polls, emerged in a survey by JL Partners polling company. A total of 2,105 people took part in the survey on 9 and 10 March.

Asked to summarise each leader in a word, the top ten words most commonly chosen by voters as a whole to describe Mr Sunak, in order of popularity, are: “Weak, useless, rich, untrustworthy, incompetent, bad, idiot, rubbish, liar, smarmy”.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/weak-useless-rich-idiot-new-poll-condemns-rishi-sunak-ahead-of-upcoming-election/ar-BB1jWpQg?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=d8216fadc1d2419fb6d25fe6c19bf635&ei=13

Jimbuna

03-16-24, 06:20 AM

Vaughan Gething has been announced as the winner of the Welsh Labour leadership election.

The outgoing first minister, Mark Drakeford, will step down from the post next week.

In his acceptance speech, Vaughan Gething says he will be the "first black leader in any European country"

Vaughan Gething, Wales' economy minister and a former solicitor, was born in Zambia and raised in England before studying in Wales.

Gething ran against Wales' Education Minister Jeremy Miles, also a solicitor, who was born and brought up in the mining town of Pontarddulais.

Gething was health minister between 2016 and May 2021, and oversaw Wales' initial response to Covid.

Moonlight

03-16-24, 09:31 AM

EXCLUSIVEWhat IS happening to Brighton? Roads full of potholes, failed LTN plan, a drug-fuelled homeless crisis and bins overflowing - while woke councillors 'ignore' furious locals to plough cash into 'crazy pet projects'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13191975/Roads-potholes-failed-LTN-plan-drug-fuelled-homeless-crisis-bins-overflowing-woke-councillors-ignore-furious-locals-plough-cash-crazy-pet-projects-whats-happening-Brighton.html

I don't know why they're complaining now, they've voted for the Greens and the Labour Party to run the city for years, this is what you get for electing incompetent councillors, the voters have caused this mess, now get it sorted out.....
This situation has been the norm for that city for years, they voted these idiots in and they stood by and watched the stench of Socialism trashing all of their public services. Well Done you thick currants.

This will be happening to other cities as well, those councillors have covered things up for now but they can't keep a lid on it forever, more section 114 notices will be issued and that means the bare minimum of services will be enforced for these voters, I expect it to be a lot worse in the next few years as well.

Jimbuna

03-16-24, 09:51 AM

Irregardless of who's in power it is almost inevitable.

Jimbuna

03-17-24, 09:22 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/7671VyMZ/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/0jsYXHcd/Untitledb.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

03-18-24, 12:46 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/WzrxZ34p/432892879-10160561943643520-5221472721891576348-n.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Jimbuna

03-21-24, 07:17 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/B68rkZBx/original-B97-C9008-C034-4899-845-B-561457-BC7-C2-D.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Q93YW3Pt)

Jimbuna

03-23-24, 07:29 AM

Tory Greater Manchester mayoral candidate Dan Barker defects to Reform UK

The Conservative candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester has defected to Reform UK, accusing his former party of "giving up" on the north of England.

Dan Barker had been selected by the Conservatives in December to challenge current mayor, Labour's Andy Burnham.

He follows Lee Anderson, the former Conservative party deputy chair, who defected to Reform UK on 11 March.

Mr Barker said the Tories had abandoned northern areas to focus on other seats under threat from the Lib Dems.

The Conservatives have 15 days to select a new candidate for mayor. A party spokesman said a selection process for a new candidate will begin shortly.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68623838

Jimbuna

03-24-24, 09:53 AM

Becoming increasingly desperate as the general election draws near.

Triple lock for pensions to be in Tory manifesto, Jeremy Hunt says

Jeremy Hunt has said the Conservatives will keep the triple lock system to decide rises in the state pension if they win the election.

The chancellor confirmed the policy pledge, which means the increase in the state pension is the highest of average earnings growth, inflation or 2.5%.

He told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg he was confident the "expensive" promise would be paid by growing the economy.

Labour said it was "committed to retaining" the triple lock.

However the party is yet to confirm if the pledge will feature in its election manifesto.

"We will set out those plans for our manifesto in detail," Labour party chair Anneliese Dodds told the BBC programme.

The state pension is to rise by 8.5% in April.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68649894

Jimbuna

03-24-24, 11:30 AM

Voters tell Rishi Sunak he's better suited as banker as he's doing bad job as Prime Minister

Voters have told Rishi Sunak he'd be better suited sticking to being a banker as he's doing a bad job as Prime Minister.

Over a third think (34%) he is doing “very badly” while 29% think he is doing “quite badly”, according to research by Labour Together. Even 42% of people who voted Conservative in 2019 agreed Mr Sunak is doing a bad job. Just 50% of the public think he is well suited at being a politician, with more thinking he’d be well suited at being an accountant (61%) or a banker (58%).

It comes as fed up Tories spent last week plotting to replace Mr Sunak, who previously worked in investment banking and in hedge funds, with Commons leader Penny Mordaunt. She finally addressed the rumours this weekend to say talks of her challenging the PM were “nonsense”. Ms Mordaunt, who came third in the Tory leadership race won by Liz Truss in 2022, told BBC Politics South that she was "focussed on doing her current job" and called the speculation "bollocks".
Former Cabinet Minister Sir Simon Clarke, an ally of Ms Truss who in January publicly called for Mr Sunak to go, claimed just two more letters of no confidence in the PM needed to be submitted for him to be ousted. A total of 53 letters are required, with the number of those handed in only known by Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 backbench committee of Tories.

Ex-Boris Johnson aide Dominic Cummings was yesterday (SUN) accused of stirring the pot behind the scenes in a bid to “destroy” the Tory party, senior Conservative sources told the Mail on Sunday. Mr Sunak’s leadership has come under pressure after Lee Anderson, who had the Tory whip suspended, defected to Reform UK.

The party, founded by Nigel Farage as the Brexit party, is just four points behind the Conservatives, according to a recent YouGov poll. The survey put the Tories on 19% of the vote and Reform on 15%, while Labour remained miles ahead on 44%.

Some Tory MPs have urged for unity within the party amid the threat of Reform UK and complained that picking a new leader is not the right solution. Stoke-on-Trent North MP Jonathan Gullis said he wanted to "call out those idiots" who have been agitating against the PM.

Labour Together’s Director Josh Simons said: “The message from this polling is clear – the public knows that Rishi Sunak is out of touch and out of his depth. Not only do Britons think he is doing a bad job, they reckon he’s better suited to going back to banking.

“And with the Conservatives still languishing in the polls, while haemorrhaging voters to the insurgent Reform party, a career change for the PM might well come sooner rather than later.”

Labour Together interviewed 1,036 adults online in Great Britain between March 14 and 15.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/voters-tell-rishi-sunak-he-s-better-suited-as-banker-as-he-s-doing-bad-job-as-prime-minister/ar-BB1krBKO?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=d384225daa6e48d6a0306f0790c64034&ei=45

Jimbuna

03-25-24, 09:53 AM

No doubt Humza will blame Westminster.

SNP slammed for pushing 'anti-UK propaganda' about schools in an independent Scotland

The SNP has been accused of pushing "anti-UK propaganda" about schools in an independent Scotland, as the party gears up to launch its 12th independence paper.

The paper will be centred around "education and lifelong learning" in an independent Scotland.

Scotland's averagereading score fell by 11 points to 493 at the latest Pisa scores, as compared with 2018. It also lags behind England’s score of 496.

For maths and science, Scotland fell below average, scoring 471 and 483 respectively, another decline from 2018.

Ahead of its publication, Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, accused the Scottish government of being "obsessed with a negative campaign to divide Scotland".

She said: "Education is fully devolved to the Scottish Parliament and the SNP has ruined our reputation for excellence, with Scotland plummeting down the international tables. The decline in reading, maths and science means we have fallen behind England.

"This is what happens when you have a nationalist government obsessed with a negative campaign to divide Scotland and take away opportunities for our young people, rather than a government focused on creating opportunities for the next generation in our interconnected world.

"The people of Scotland want politicians to focus on what really matters, not waste taxpayers' money on yet another piece of anti-UK propaganda."

Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesman Willie Rennie added: "I can't decide if this is an outrageous waste of taxpayers' money that would be better spent in schools or just another boring yawnfest. Either way Jamie Hepburn must have something better to do."

Scottish Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth will visit a nursery garden in Fife today, alongside independence minister Jamie Hepburn to launch the latest independent paper.

Earlier this month, Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross has said he is worried for his children's future after a "year of failure" from Humza Yousaf.

He hit out at the SNP for "excessive spending on the wrong priorities and the failure to enact any positive change".

The MP pointed to a decline in Scottish school standards, saying he is worried the education of his two sons "will be significantly less than the education that I got in Moray".

Speaking to the Scottish Express, Ross warned: "I think Scots are scunnered with the SNP. They are absolutely fed up with the wastage they see from the Scottish Government, that excessive spending on the wrong priorities and the failure to enact any positive change.

"I'm worried about my two boys' education that they will get in Moray, which at the moment looks like it will be significantly less than the education that I got in Moray.

"I'm worried for family members and constituents and people in every part of Scotland who are facing excessive waits on the NHS.

"I'm worried for our businesses that don't get the support from the Scottish Government, even though the SNP/Green government have been given additional funding to help businesses in hospitality, leisure and tourism."

He added: "It's now two years in succession that the SNP government have failed to pass on the benefits of the business tax rates reduction for these purposes in those sectors, and that's inexcusable. People are rightly angry, annoyed and just fed up with this government.

"There is no doubt that Scotland was a world leader in education and we have fallen down the rankings, my sister is a teacher in Moray at the money and I know how difficult it is for teachers right now, so for Jenny Gilruth to say she has not even read a report about violence in schools, it shows they are not taking the issue seriously."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/snp-slammed-for-pushing-anti-uk-propaganda-about-schools-in-an-independent-scotland/ar-BB1kuFwH?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=4ffa0f80563b412e9a22503c9511945e&ei=144

Jimbuna

03-26-24, 08:59 AM

Fury as migrants fighting deportation handed £70m in legal aid funded by British taxpayer

Migrants fighting deportation from the UK were handed more than £70m in legal aid funded by the British taxpayer across the last five years. Solicitors and lawyers bills totalled £71m between 2019 and 2023 costing folk living in the UK an average of £38,000 a day.

Last year costs totalled £13m and a record £18m in 2020 and it seems bills will hit an all-time high this year as the Home Office continue to deal with a huge asylum backlog.

If the Home Office does not grant people the right to remain in the UK, they are able to retain solicitors to work on their appeals.

Critics say lawyers are profiting from vulnerable clients trying to live in the UK despite there being no realistic prospect of them being granted leave in Britain.

Expensive solicitors and barristers can be instructed using thousands in public funds if the case appears at an Immigration and Asylum Tribunal.

Conservative MP Nigel Mills told the Sun: "These figures show that the Legal Aid system needs to be monitored much more robustly to ensure we are not wasting money on spurious appeals and blatant delaying tactics.

"People are entitled to legal representation but taxpayers are entitled to know their money is not being wasted and that funding these appeals is justified.

"Appeals like these should only be allowed if there is very clear evidence the Home Office's decision is wrong.

"We need to get the message out that if you come here and you haven't got a case, you will be rejected and you will be deported."

Alp Mehmet, chairman of the Migration Watch think tank told the Sun: "Dealing with and removing illegal arrivals swiftly is the only way to discourage them from coming, save the taxpayer huge sums and stem the tide of clients for traffickers and activist lawyers."

A government spokesman added: "The UK has a proud history of welcoming and supporting those in need of our protection and legal aid helps ensure decisions on who can stay - and who cannot - are made correctly, preventing costlier court cases."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/fury-as-migrants-fighting-deportation-handed-70m-in-legal-aid-funded-by-british-taxpayer/ar-BB1kxm0X?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=4cacd93811b442b098185569499a15e3&ei=75

Skybird

03-28-24, 06:15 AM

April Fool's Day Law in Scotland.

When the "paywall" appears, there are two options at the bottom of the text: "Unterstützen Sie uns mit einem Beitrag" and "Ich unterstütze bereits". Click on the latter, and it should let you pass.
https://www-tichyseinblick-de.translate.goog/kolumnen/aus-aller-welt/schottland-hassredegesetz-meldestellen-polizei/?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de

This opens one question now. Should we cry or should we laugh?

In France, Canada and some other countries as well probably you can get sued and punished at court with high five digit penalties and even 2 years prison if you publicly do not agree and express your disagreement with the official Corona polcies of the government.

This far we already got - and it will get much, much worse. EU Digital Services Act, anyone?

Freedom gets 24/7 carpet-bombed these days, and its always the same malicous ideological camp behind it. In Scotland - and beyond. The time is near when I will need to conclude that I can no longer take the risk to post the opinions and arguments and links and thoughts that I do post. Nor anyone of you.

"So this is how liberty dies - with thundering applause."

Jimbuna

03-28-24, 09:09 AM

Rishi Sunak's crisis behind the scenes as No 10 insider gives 'summer election' verdict

Rishi Sunak has been urged to hold a summer general election - out of fear that the PM may not last until autumn, according to an insider. There is growing panic inside No 10 Downing Street that Mr Sunak could be ousted from office before a general election expected to take place in the second half of this year.

This comes amid fevered speculation about the number of letters of no confidence lodged against the PM. The threshold to remove trigger a vote on removing the Tory leader is 53 MPs.

Some of Mr Sunak's closest advisers in Downing Street have told him to go to the polls as early as June. The mood inside Downing Street is reportedly growing bleaker by the day.

Earlier today official figures confirmed that the UK economy went into recession at the end of last year, dealing a blow to Mr Sunak's attempts to reassure Tory MPs that the economy is turning around.
Also this week, leading pollster Sir John Curtice gave Labour a 99 per cent chance of forming the next government. There is panic among Tories over the threat from Reform UK with the party on the brink of overtaking the Conservative as the second-biggest in Wales, according to a new poll from Redfield and Wilton.

To add to the turmoil, two loyal Tory ministers, Robert Halfon and James Heappey, quit the government in a double blow to Rishi Sunak.

The pair join a growing exodus of Conservative MPs from the Commons, bringing the number of Tory MPs quitting at the next election to 63.

Tim Montgomerie, a prominent former Tory adviser, exposed the crisis behind the scenes in No 10. He revealed that a source in No 10 told him Mr Sunak was openly questioning his suitability as PM to advisers in Downing Street.

Mr Sunak reportedly told No 10 advisers: "Am I not very good at this? Why isn't anything happening?"

Keir Starmer launched Labour's local elections campaign earlier today, and surprised many by praising the ambition behind Boris Johnson's levelling up policy.

It is understood that May's local election results, which are expected to be bruising for the ruling party, could intensify the anger among Tory MPs.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/rishi-sunak-s-crisis-behind-the-scenes-as-no-10-insider-gives-summer-election-verdict/ar-BB1kGYq8?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=a4605195304f40b78174f9c95c5b6099&ei=14

Jimbuna

03-29-24, 05:19 AM

Fury at the UN's 'hypocrisy' for urging the UK government to scrap the Rwanda flights plan despite sending asylum seekers there

The United Nations was accused of 'double standards' last night after it urged the Government to abandon the Rwanda asylum scheme.

The international body's human rights committee called on Rishi Sunak to drop the programme – even though the UN itself sends refugees to Rwanda.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) said Rishi Sunak should repeal measures already in place to allow migrants to be handed a one-way ticket to the east African nation.

A source close to Home Secretary James Cleverly said: 'It has always been the height of irony and double standards that one arm of the UN says it has concerns about Rwanda as a country and another arm of the same organisation continually and consistently uses Rwanda to house and process asylum seekers.'

The separate UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) sent more than 2,000 asylum seekers from Libya to Rwanda aboard 15 evacuation flights between 2019 and the end of last year.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/fury-at-the-un-s-hypocrisy-for-urging-the-uk-government-to-scrap-the-rwanda-flights-plan-despite-sending-asylum-seekers-there/ar-BB1kIlBA?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=80622bed58c64362b9362850aae5bfb3&ei=22