Just a note to say from me at least your slightly lengthier articles are appreciated, and this one is characteristically good.I just want to say that OGH never gave me a word limit.ELEVEN paragraphs. We all love Miss @Cyclefree - I’d vote for her as Prime Minister - but please, shove it in ChatGPT and reduce it to three?Word limits have varied over time. OGH used to impose a limit of around 800 words. As Cyclefree expanded, her articles started to come in at around the 1,200 mark and was teased on length. Viewcode then brought in one at around 1,400 words and the debate intensified. Then Ydoethur(?) got one published at 1,800 words and the debate ceased. At approx 1,118 words this article "Pitched Out" is well within three of those four limits.
Ta muchly
(Tho I do agree with the argument)No - this is wrong. The courts do not determine guilt when someone pleads guilty because they have been coerced into doing so on the basis of false / fraudulent evidence, as happened in many of the Post Office cases. The fault there lies very firmly with the Post Office and Fujitsu.Just a heads up for fans of Jason Beer KC.And he was in the Post Office inquiry. I thought he was verging on unfair on many of the witnesses but he never even approached the issue of the courts and their handling of the prosecutions. It isn't diminishing the wrongness of the Post Office and Fujitsu in my view to point out that the courts were meant to determine guilt from innocence, the courts and the very well paid barristers were the actual miscarriers of justice.
He is representing Greater Manchester Police in the Malkinson inquiry.
He will try and defend & excuse the indefensible.
In others where people pleaded not guilty, the PO's barristers were at fault as were the witnesses from Fujitsu.
Finally, criminal prosecution work is pretty poorly paid - one reason why the work done was rushed and done without care or much competence. That is not a professional response but it is the reality. Once again, people need to realise that false economies are in reality bloody expensive.
https://x.com/RossKempsell/status/1879491305484783971Just rejoice at that news.
@RossKempsell
Labour's Chagos sellout is collapsing - Mauritius refuses to sign after Cabinet meeting this morning, sending negotiators back to London, presumably to bid up the price to UK taxpayers even more
Easy to say when every possible hypothetical the government might be heading in the slightest direction of doing wrong is picked over incessantly.I can't help but notice that PB isn't chock-a-block with 'Labour's clueless crash of the economy' today, with attention being turned to other lines of attack.There are so many lines to attack its difficult to keep up with them
Are the key economic indicators slightly better today? Reading around, it looks as if they may be. And if they are, is this just a hiccup on the road to dismal decline?
Good eveningDepends what he “manages” in Ukraine. If it’s Ukraine’s capitulation then that’s not hard. If it’s Russia withdrawing to their 2014 position then fair play to him.
Apparently Trump credited with Israel-Gaza conflict
Starmer waits Trump's OK on the Chagos deal
Next Ukraine - Russia and if Trump manages that then he will be seen to have a huge impact
My, myMaking all the criminal cases be so delayed they have to be dropped due to pressure from him is an escape? Yes, it could be comparable.Surviving the lawfare against him and getting reelected is his escape from Elba?He's more Napoleon in the Hundred Days than either.He's more Disraeli than Eden.Chagos is the Suez crisis in reverse. Maybe it will have a similarly dramatic effect on British foreign policy.Where does Trump's assertion of control over strategic territory in Panama and Greenland sit in the Suez stakes?
Suez:
Britain - We will assert our control over strategic territory.
US - No you won't.
Chagos
Britain - We will give up our control over strategic territory.
US - No you won't.
I wonder his Waterloo will be? The sack of Panama? Or would that be Morgan he can do?
UKPO was amazingly efficient for me, as well. I applied for a 2nd passport to replace my old 2nd passport (I have 2 passports due to my job). This was complicated by the fact my reason for applying for a new passport was because my prior one was full of stamps, it legally still had 5 years to runGovernment department efficiency update:That's impressive - even in the 'good old days' I remember being told to allow 3 months to be sure your new passport arrived in time!
Completed online application for my son for his new passport on evening of 7th Jan. Received text back confirming receipt. Sent old passport back on 8th Jan. Received text back confirming receipt. Received new passport in the post yesterday (14th).
It can be done - efficient, using technology. Impressed. Looking at their stats, average waiting time has been under 10 days for over a year now.
Selling off the gold was small change compared to selling off the council houses on the cheap. What are the sold ones worth now?
Spot on again from Cyclefree.
[snip]
There has never been any serious attempt at holding Gordon Brown to task for selling off the gold. I know that even if he and Tony Blair were made bankrupt the money raised would be negligible against the loss. But if they had been then the present even more incompetent bench of chancers might have been put off seeking high office and so there would have been a monetary as well as emotional saving to the nation that would have been of a similar magnitude.
[snip]