UK Politics Thread

[Jimbuna]

Boris Johnson has said the UK could take in 200,000 or more Ukrainian refugees as the government extends its help to more people fleeing the war.

The scheme allowing close relatives of Ukrainian people settled in the UK to come over will be widened to include adult parents, grandparents, children over 18 and siblings.

UK firms will also be able to sponsor a Ukrainian entering the country.

The changes follow criticism that the UK is doing less than EU countries.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60569292

[Jimbuna]

No surprises here then.

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]

This is nothing short of disgraceful.

Ukrainians on way to UK hit paperwork dead-end in Calais
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60652914

[Jimbuna]

You simply couldn't make this up

Former Commons speaker John Bercow has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation, Sky News understands.

Earlier today, Mr Bercow was found guilty of bullying House of Commons staff by the standards watchdog and banned from holding a pass allowing him access to parliament buildings for life.

A report published by the Independent Expert Panel into the former Commons speaker's conduct states Mr Bercow "has been a serial liar" and "a serial bully".

Former Conservative MP Mr Bercow stood down as speaker in 2019 after a decade in the chair and controversially defected to the Labour Party last year.
https://news.sky.com/story/john-berc...ament-12560710

[mapuc]

He must have some superpower or some special skills 'cause he has an ability to put himself in "situations" Like this one

Boris Johnson has caused fury among political leaders across Europe – and outrage among opponents of Brexit at home – after he compared the resistance of the Ukrainian people to Russia’s invasion to the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...cised-as-crass

Markus

[Skybird]

Shameless sucker.

Johnson, not Markus.


When I look around in the Western world, what great figures are at the helm of nations and supranational institutions, I immediately get stomach cramps. And beyond the West it does not seem to be any better.

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been delivering his Spring Statement as the costs of fuel, energy and food soar.

Sunak says 70% of workers will get an effective tax cut as he raises the threshold for paying National Insurance (NI) by £3,000

He also announces a 5p cut to fuel duty to come into force at 18:00 tonight.

And he announces that the basic rate of income tax will go from 20% to 19% by the end of Parliament in 2024

The Office for Budget Responsibility says inflation and higher taxes from April mean households face the biggest fall in living standards since records began.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves says Sunak should have scrapped the planned rise to NI and put a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.

The chancellor's challenge has been laid bare as prices rose by 6.2% in the 12 months to February - the fastest for 30 years.

[August]

Hope this isn't true but I read that the Scottish government prosecuted a man for a rude tweet!

I cannot resent a lawyer for making arguments that he is obliged to make under existing law, but the British should not lose sight of the fact that, in a free country, none of those things should matter in the slightest. The right to free speech is not contingent upon how many followers one has, or how widely one’s words are shared, and nor is it obviated when some two-bit plod is offended. The government defended its prosecution on the grounds that the man being posthumously insulted “had become known as a national hero, who stood for the resilience of the people of a country struggling with a pandemic and the services trying to protect them.” But this, too, ought to be totally irrelevant. If one is unable to say rude things about popular figures, then one isn’t free. At some point, presumably, the Brits will come to demand better. Alas, today is not going to be that day.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corne...-a-rude-tweet/

[Jimbuna]

Looks like it is but on a personal note and because of who the tweet was aimed at I have zero sympathy for said individual.

[MGR1]

Originally Posted by August

Hope this isn't true but I read that the Scottish government prosecuted a man for a rude tweet!

https://www.nationalreview.com/corne...-a-rude-tweet/

The UK doesn't have anything like the 1st Amendment, our Constitution is unwritten and defacto it constantly changes. Successive Parliaments are not beholden to the actions of their predecessors, i.e. our current Tory Government is not legally limited to any agreements or policies enacted by the previous Tory Government and can change or repeal any prior Act of Parliament at will. When it comes to devolved matters, the UK Government can override the Scottish Government if it chooses to do so, but generally doesn't unless it's to protect the integrity of the UK.

What we do have is Freedom of Expression within legally defined limits, those limits change depending on what happens in the courts.

Mike.

[Jimbuna]

This month sees millions of Brits facing energy price increases of over 50% a rise in national insurance contribution, cost of food and petrol etc. etc. and the wife of the Chancellor, the man responsible for most of those tax hikes getting on with her life God Bless her

A Whitehall inquiry is under way into how the tax affairs of Chancellor Rishi Sunak's wife were leaked to the media, the BBC has been told.

Akshata Murty has said she will pay UK taxes on her overseas income, following a row over her non-domicile status.

She owns £700m in shares of the Indian IT giant Infosys - founded by her father - from which she received £11.6m in dividend income last year.

Labour has said the row raises questions about Mr Sunak's judgement.

As a non-domiciled (non-dom) UK resident, Ms Murty is not required by law to pay UK taxes on her overseas income. The BBC estimates this would have saved her £2.1m a year in UK tax.

After details of her non-dom status appeared in the press on Wednesday evening, Mr Sunak said his wife had not "done anything wrong" and it was unfair to attack her as a "private citizen".

But on Friday, Ms Murty announced she would change her tax arrangements, telling the BBC she did not want to be a "distraction" for her husband.

Asked about the U-turn on the BBC's Sunday Morning programme, Policing Minister Kit Malthouse said the couple had recognised the situation "offended against a British sense of fair play".

"They recognise that there was a disconnect perhaps in the British public's understanding of what was appropriate, and they've corrected that situation now for the future," he added.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61055789

[Jimbuna]

Boris Johnson has been fined by the police for attending a birthday party thrown for him during a Covid lockdown.

The prime minister confirmed he had paid the fine for going to the hour-long gathering in the Cabinet Room on 19 June 2020.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has also been fined, while the PM's wife, Carrie Johnson, confirmed she had paid a fine relating to the same event.

Mr Johnson apologised but said he would not resign over the incident.

"I accept in all sincerity that people had the right to expect better," he said in an interview, at his Chequers country retreat.

"[But] now I feel an even greater sense of obligation to deliver on the priorities of the British people."

[Moonlight]

None of them will resign as the current crop of MPs have no honour anymore, if it was Keir Starmer who had been fined he'd make something up as in "Its not in the best interests of the country for me to resign at this time as I'm needed at the forefront of the Labour opposition battles that lay ahead". All of them are self serving corrupt b stards, the sad thing about it all is that the idiots who voted for them in the first place will do so at the next election as well.