Ben Kentish @BenKentish Iain Duncan Smith sticks the boot into Rishi Sunak. Asked by @AndrewMarr9 about the Chancellor’s claims that IT systems won’t let him ⬆️ benefits, IDS: “It’s not true. I don’t believe a word of it…This is what officials pass you when they think they don’t want to do something.”
Actually, I think Sunak was mainly referring to legacy welfare systems, but perhaps IDS is still correct about officials.
IDS claimed benefits for a period when out of work and I exphas a greater understanding of those who rely on them when in personal difficulties than the ex Goldman Sachs, son in law of a billionaire Rishi
Away with your IDS man of the people. He really isn't.
IDS literally ran the benefits system for several years as minister. So either he is lying or Sunak is lying or there is a massive misunderstanding.
As a dog returneth to its own vomit (Proverbs 26.11) so is 45 urging Dr Oz to declare "victory" in Pennsylvania. BEFORE over 20k Republican Primary ballots (mostly postal) are processed, verified and counted. AND re-counted as per state law.
Surprisingly consistent of him.
Belive the strategy (to extent more than glandular) is to show that it's NOT just our Secret POTUS who is wailing about having HIS "election" stolen. But even someone as warm and fuzy as Dr Oz who is a fellow US TV icon.
Will be interesting to see to what extent Oz plays along. Particularly if the as-yet uncounted votes break for McCormick. Who was leading last night UNTIL the election-day vote started coming in. And most of the still uncounted was cast via the mail BEFORE primary day also.
Are there any plans amongst the western allies to send Boris to Saudi Arabia again? A few barrels of oil a day extra right now would be extremely useful.
We should be pointing out the terrible food position to them at every opportunity. How can chaos in Egypt and perhaps elsewhere in the middle east be in their interest.
According to something posted here today, OPEC are saying there's no more refinery space so it wouldn't make any difference pumping out more crude oil. I don't know what goes into building a refinery, so I don't know whether we should be asking them to build more, or building them ourselves. Better to invest in more North Sea oil if that's possible.
I think RCS posted a couple of days ago, things are pretty flat out to capacity now.
Another story is UK and EU turning tankers away that want to dock, as that side of things maxed out too.
Are there any plans amongst the western allies to send Boris to Saudi Arabia again? A few barrels of oil a day extra right now would be extremely useful.
We should be pointing out the terrible food position to them at every opportunity. How can chaos in Egypt and perhaps elsewhere in the middle east be in their interest.
According to something posted here today, OPEC are saying there's no more refinery space so it wouldn't make any difference pumping out more crude oil. I don't know what goes into building a refinery, so I don't know whether we should be asking them to build more, or building them ourselves. Better to invest in more North Sea oil if that's possible.
I think RCS posted a couple of days ago, things are pretty flat out to capacity now.
Another story is UK and EU turning tankers away that want to dock, as that side of things maxed out too.
Sometimes it does feel rather like we are totally screwed.
Are there any plans amongst the western allies to send Boris to Saudi Arabia again? A few barrels of oil a day extra right now would be extremely useful.
We should be pointing out the terrible food position to them at every opportunity. How can chaos in Egypt and perhaps elsewhere in the middle east be in their interest.
According to something posted here today, OPEC are saying there's no more refinery space so it wouldn't make any difference pumping out more crude oil. I don't know what goes into building a refinery, so I don't know whether we should be asking them to build more, or building them ourselves. Better to invest in more North Sea oil if that's possible.
I think RCS posted a couple of days ago, things are pretty flat out to capacity now.
Another story is UK and EU turning tankers away that want to dock, as that side of things maxed out too.
So, wait, what? We're using as much oil as we can land with current capacity? That sounds a little surprising. Or are we saying there's a bottleneck internally that's backing all the way up to the ports? Shortage of truckers?
Before he came to power, there was a lot of talk about Boris Johnson’s weakness being his lack of friends in the party. Still his weakness, or a strength?
Still both.
In the short term, it strengthens him against minor attacks. Becuase he has no real friends, he doesn't have to let loyalty hold him back from doing what it takes to cement his position.
In the longer term, it means that his fall from grace will be spectacular. Because when the balance of pro and anti flips, there won't be much of a Praetorian Guard to protect him.
Most premierships are made from sheet metal- they get increasingly dented as time goes on. Johnson's is made of glass- many things bounce off it, but at some unpredictable point it will shatter and leave dangerous shards everywhere.
The unknown is when this will happen. And it could still be 10 days or 10 years.
Timothy Snyder @TimothyDSnyder · 22h It is senseless to create an "off-ramp" in the real world, when all Putin needs is one in a virtual world he completely controls. Talking of "off-ramps" just gives Russian leaders something to laugh about in what are otherwise difficult times. 8/17
Timothy Snyder @TimothyDSnyder · 22h It is senseless to create an "off-ramp" in the real world, when all Putin needs is one in a virtual world he completely controls. Talking of "off-ramps" just gives Russian leaders something to laugh about in what are otherwise difficult times. 8/17
Misunderstanding Russia through clichés of "cornering" and "off-ramps" will make the war last longer, by distracting from the simple necessity of Russian defeat
Are there any plans amongst the western allies to send Boris to Saudi Arabia again? A few barrels of oil a day extra right now would be extremely useful.
We should be pointing out the terrible food position to them at every opportunity. How can chaos in Egypt and perhaps elsewhere in the middle east be in their interest.
According to something posted here today, OPEC are saying there's no more refinery space so it wouldn't make any difference pumping out more crude oil. I don't know what goes into building a refinery, so I don't know whether we should be asking them to build more, or building them ourselves. Better to invest in more North Sea oil if that's possible.
I think RCS posted a couple of days ago, things are pretty flat out to capacity now.
Another story is UK and EU turning tankers away that want to dock, as that side of things maxed out too.
Sometimes it does feel rather like we are totally screwed.
Well, inflation was always tipped to go up quickly but drop quickly, the main fear was sticking at around 4 on the way down. If we focus too much on inflation, the bigger damage could be to growth, anti inflation measures hurting growth too much, so actually a good argument for BoE to tough it out on inflation and not raise rates much. If inflationary pressures are mostly beyond our borders, may be another good reason to keep rates low and focus on protecting growth instead.
As Big G was posting yesterday (and I took a lot of flack for posting about 6 weeks ago) Sunak’s keeping powder dry till seeing the whites of its eyes budget don’t look so bad anymore now, does it?
The economy will contract because of the cost of energy. You normally do a hundred, you can’t afford the energy for a hundred, you do thirty. Contraction. Stats we are seeing now is before predicted peak of costs, so more contraction on top this is built in, the remaining question, how long the coming UK recession continues for. That’s where the BoE and Treasury should pay attention and do the clever work - however it’s done, money to energy companies, tax cut for businesses, that is what is needed in coming months. CPI Inflation is a bit of a red herring. The trumpeted zero unemployment is red herring too. Economic contraction means trouble with bills because the skilled job is gone, your pay is gone, not enough products being bought. Economic contraction the bigger problem.
This sort of thing just emphasises for me how little I know about the internal politics of other countries (even knowing about the power sharing) The Iran-backed Shia Muslim Hezbollah movement and its allies have lost their majority in Lebanon's parliament, results from Sunday's election show.
The bloc's candidates won 62 of the 128 seats, three fewer than it needed.
Hezbollah retained its own seats, but President Michel Aoun's Christian Free Patriotic Movement lost support.
A rival Christian party with close ties to Saudi Arabia, the Lebanese Forces, made gains and independent candidates promising reforms won 13 seats.
As a dog returneth to its own vomit (Proverbs 26.11) so is 45 urging Dr Oz to declare "victory" in Pennsylvania. BEFORE over 20k Republican Primary ballots (mostly postal) are processed, verified and counted. AND re-counted as per state law.
Surprisingly consistent of him.
Belive the strategy (to extent more than glandular) is to show that it's NOT just our Secret POTUS who is wailing about having HIS "election" stolen. But even someone as warm and fuzy as Dr Oz who is a fellow US TV icon.
Will be interesting to see to what extent Oz plays along. Particularly if the as-yet uncounted votes break for McCormick. Who was leading last night UNTIL the election-day vote started coming in. And most of the still uncounted was cast via the mail BEFORE primary day also.
Are there any plans amongst the western allies to send Boris to Saudi Arabia again? A few barrels of oil a day extra right now would be extremely useful.
We should be pointing out the terrible food position to them at every opportunity. How can chaos in Egypt and perhaps elsewhere in the middle east be in their interest.
According to something posted here today, OPEC are saying there's no more refinery space so it wouldn't make any difference pumping out more crude oil. I don't know what goes into building a refinery, so I don't know whether we should be asking them to build more, or building them ourselves. Better to invest in more North Sea oil if that's possible.
I think RCS posted a couple of days ago, things are pretty flat out to capacity now.
Another story is UK and EU turning tankers away that want to dock, as that side of things maxed out too.
So, wait, what? We're using as much oil as we can land with current capacity? That sounds a little surprising. Or are we saying there's a bottleneck internally that's backing all the way up to the ports? Shortage of truckers?
No, me neither. My solution would be this: If a game is still tied after 120 minutes, the tie is awarded to the semi-finalist who lost by the least (or, in the case of Forest vs Sheffield United last night, the 7th place team in the league). You would know beforehand who the nominated winner would be if neither of the teams playing does enough to win.
Only someone with no principles or values would do real junk food adverts in this day and age… ☺️
Anyway, i need to drag myself away, doing ears and tails tomorrow . 🥱
Some amazing threads and conversations tonight, I’ve learnt some amazing things. Have you seen in the last thread where football tribes in Liverpool and Manchester and cities in Scotland too came from sectarian divides? The post from St Bart where after sectarian violence in Liverpool, people located to other parts of town out of the wrong neighbourhoods.
Only someone with no principles or values would do real junk food adverts in this day and age… ☺️
Anyway, i need to drag myself away, doing ears and tails tomorrow . 🥱
Some amazing threads and conversations tonight, I’ve learnt some amazing things. Have you seen in the last thread where football tribes in Liverpool and Manchester and cities in Scotland too came from sectarian divides? The post from St Bart where after sectarian violence in Liverpool, people located to other parts of town out of the wrong neighbourhoods.
Ben Kentish @BenKentish Iain Duncan Smith sticks the boot into Rishi Sunak. Asked by @AndrewMarr9 about the Chancellor’s claims that IT systems won’t let him ⬆️ benefits, IDS: “It’s not true. I don’t believe a word of it…This is what officials pass you when they think they don’t want to do something.”
Actually, I think Sunak was mainly referring to legacy welfare systems, but perhaps IDS is still correct about officials.
IDS claimed benefits for a period when out of work and I exphas a greater understanding of those who rely on them when in personal difficulties than the ex Goldman Sachs, son in law of a billionaire Rishi
Away with your IDS man of the people. He really isn't.
IDS literally ran the benefits system for several years as minister. So either he is lying or Sunak is lying or there is a massive misunderstanding.
He didn’t “run” the benefits system. He was Secretary of State with a vague idea of how some things worked. They never see or care about the real detail. Now personally I am sceptical that this CAN’T be done, but I can imagine lots of complex second order effects or unknowns if it isn’t usually done.
I'm a big Adam Tooze fan, but he's cherrypicked his dates to make his point *and* a large chunk of the increase in corporate profits is confined to - yes - the energy sector.
I'm a big Adam Tooze fan, but he's cherrypicked his dates to make his point *and* a large chunk of the increase in corporate profits is confined to - yes - the energy sector.
As the memes put it, you would have to believe that low inflation means corporations were unprofitable and saintly for an entire decade right up to 2020, and in 2021 they suddenly became profitable and evil.
I'm a big Adam Tooze fan, but he's cherrypicked his dates to make his point *and* a large chunk of the increase in corporate profits is confined to - yes - the energy sector.
As the memes put it, you would have to believe that low inflation means corporations were unprofitable and saintly for an entire decade right up to 2020, and in 2021 they suddenly became profitable and evil.
Only someone with no principles or values would do real junk food adverts in this day and age… ☺️
Anyway, i need to drag myself away, doing ears and tails tomorrow . 🥱
Some amazing threads and conversations tonight, I’ve learnt some amazing things. Have you seen in the last thread where football tribes in Liverpool and Manchester and cities in Scotland too came from sectarian divides? The post from St Bart where after sectarian violence in Liverpool, people located to other parts of town out of the wrong neighbourhoods.
A Freudian slip from George W Bush, condemning “the decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq. I mean of Ukraine.”
Nutella is evil. It is supposed to be chocolate and nuts, but contains precious little of either (15% cocoa, 13% nuts). It's mainly sugar and fat. It's hideous, foul-tasting and foul-smelling stuff.
Needless to say, both Mrs J and the little 'un disagree with me on this...
No, me neither. My solution would be this: If a game is still tied after 120 minutes, the tie is awarded to the semi-finalist who lost by the least (or, in the case of Forest vs Sheffield United last night, the 7th place team in the league). You would know beforehand who the nominated winner would be if neither of the teams playing does enough to win.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
A new £600 million plan to fight benefit fraud and save the taxpayer £2 billion over the next three years is to be unveiled by the Government.
The plan will involve 2,000 trained specialists reviewing two million universal credit claims over the next five years.
DWP officers will also be bolstered with new powers, including to undertake arrests, execute warrants, conduct searches and seize evidence.
A new civil penalty to ensure those who commit fraud face “adequate” punishment has also been proposed, along with increased powers to require banks to securely share data on a larger scale.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
Rishi Sunak has been so brilliantly taken down by Team Bozza that I propose a new PB verb: “to be Sunacked” - ie, to be comprehensively and ruthlessly knocked out of a political race by your supposed party allies
Eg “I hear that Dick Pasty, of Mebyon Kernow, is about to be Sunacked by Star E Gazeypie, for putting the cream on his scone FIRST”
I'm not sure I'd back Sunak at 50/1 now. He's still a lay.
The economic crisis is going to get worse and he's completely incapable of rising to the challenge.
He's much more likely to be sacked and politically friendless on the backbenches.
On topics, all the ingredients - tired & listless government and out of ideas, poor competence, hubris, and sexual scandal - are there for the Conservatives to lose the next election now, and election results bear this out.
But, that doesn't mean Labour 'win' because few are convinced by them either.
Meanwhile, Boris and NutNut don’t look themselves on the Metro 🫣
Kenneth Branagh is astonishing. If you didn't tell me that wasn't Boris I'd never have guessed it wasn't.
Kenneth is indeed astonishing. A brilliant and versatile actor and his facial expression here is ace. However, I think it fair to point out that most of this resemblance has less to do with Kenneth Branagh and more to do with the makeup department.
I suppose it's very Boris though to claim credit for something he didn't do.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
A new £600 million plan to fight benefit fraud and save the taxpayer £2 billion over the next three years is to be unveiled by the Government.
The plan will involve 2,000 trained specialists reviewing two million universal credit claims over the next five years.
DWP officers will also be bolstered with new powers, including to undertake arrests, execute warrants, conduct searches and seize evidence.
A new civil penalty to ensure those who commit fraud face “adequate” punishment has also been proposed, along with increased powers to require banks to securely share data on a larger scale.
Thats curious. Just last week we were told that the Civil Service was over staffed and should be cut by 20%, not that the idlers do anything other than raid the fridge anyway.
One of the great ironies of the self harm that Brexit has inflicted on Britain is that Remania has prospered while Leaverstan continues to wither. A classic example of the wrong solution.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
Tackling benefit fraud is a good idea but this data grab looks like an authoritarian wet dream, and the likely sums involved in any individual case pale into insignificance against the other frauds you mention.
One of the great ironies of the self harm that Brexit has inflicted on Britain is that Remania has prospered while Leaverstan continues to wither. A classic example of the wrong solution.
Brexit was never the solution to the levelling-up problem. It is the other way round. Levelling-up is the attempted solution. As Dominic Cummings acknowledged (and possibly Arron Banks too) many left-behind voters were persuaded to vote for Brexit only because they thought it would bring prosperity, which would need to be delivered by other means.
One of the great ironies of the self harm that Brexit has inflicted on Britain is that Remania has prospered while Leaverstan continues to wither. A classic example of the wrong solution.
Brexit was never the solution to the levelling-up problem. It is the other way round. Levelling-up is the attempted solution. As Dominic Cummings acknowledged (and possibly Arron Banks too) many left-behind voters were persuaded to vote for Brexit only because they thought it would bring prosperity, which would need to be delivered by other means.
Yet the gap grows bigger...
At best Brexit is an irrelevant distraction, at worst actively harmful, for example with cuts in regional aid.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
I look forward to Labour's first move in government being the sacking of the 2,000 people doing their 'evil' work.
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
I look forward to Labour's first move in government being the sacking of the 2,000 people doing their 'evil' work.
(Hint: they won't.)
There is no way that Labour will support 2000 people trying to hound down alleged benefit fraudsters.
This is just another example of the culture wars going on. It feeds the fools who believe it.
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
And yet regional payments have been cut. While quite obviously promises from Johnson are not worth listening to. This from Wales for example:
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
I look forward to Labour's first move in government being the sacking of the 2,000 people doing their 'evil' work.
(Hint: they won't.)
There is no way that Labour will support 2000 people trying to hound down alleged benefit fraudsters.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
I look forward to Labour's first move in government being the sacking of the 2,000 people doing their 'evil' work.
(Hint: they won't.)
There is no way that Labour will support 2000 people trying to hound down alleged benefit fraudsters.
This is just another example of the culture wars going on. It feeds the fools who believe it.
Hard to argue against, though, without sounding like you support benefit fraud.
Doesn't change the observations that: 1 The worst abuses in the benefits system probably come from manipulation of housing benefits.
2 Way more money is lost to HMG by underpayment of tax.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
I look forward to Labour's first move in government being the sacking of the 2,000 people doing their 'evil' work.
(Hint: they won't.)
There is no way that Labour will support 2000 people trying to hound down alleged benefit fraudsters.
This is just another example of the culture wars going on. It feeds the fools who believe it.
No one objects to welfare fraud being addressed, but the pattern of previous crackdowns has been harrassment of the disabled. I am frequently involved with appeals by my patients.
Generally these teams are incentivised to make "savings", and in the main it is easier to achieve these by bullying the vulnerable than actually tracking down the real fraudsters. It is the "hostile environment" turned on our own citizens.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
I look forward to Labour's first move in government being the sacking of the 2,000 people doing their 'evil' work.
(Hint: they won't.)
There is no way that Labour will support 2000 people trying to hound down alleged benefit fraudsters.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
Tackling benefit fraud is a good idea but this data grab looks like an authoritarian wet dream, and the likely sums involved in any individual case pale into insignificance against the other frauds you mention.
It will be a venture where the financial cost outweighs the financial benefit. Nonetheless hard working RedWallers hate a benefit "scrounger", so it is valuable window dressing.
Sadly there will always be people who abuse the system and, yes, they do need to be weeded out. But focusing on this right now is back to the Nasty Party, throwing meat to the red wall again. I expect the Daily Mail will now run a series of benefit fraud stories on its front pages. The problem, as alluded to below, is that there are very vulnerable people on benefits and I'm PROUD of this country for supporting them. The last thing they need is the added anxiety of thinking some git in an Audi is about to turn up in their driveway and begin aggressively knocking on their door. It's gross.
The real fraud in this country is being committed at company level. The BBL situation was a scandal, as have been various PPE and other cronyism contracts.
Meanwhile companies like Shell are completely taking the mickey. The tax avoidance going on is shocking.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
Tackling benefit fraud is a good idea but this data grab looks like an authoritarian wet dream, and the likely sums involved in any individual case pale into insignificance against the other frauds you mention.
It will be a venture where the financial cost outweighs the financial benefit. Nonetheless hard working RedWallers hate a benefit "scrounger", so it is valuable window dressing.
It is not the financial cost that worries me so much as the loss of privacy. It sounds like a big data grab that will be used for fishing trips. The DWP can already get the bank data of those it is investigating. This proposal (details to be announced) is to grab everyone's data and then trawl through it on the off chance something will turn up.
One of the great ironies of the self harm that Brexit has inflicted on Britain is that Remania has prospered while Leaverstan continues to wither. A classic example of the wrong solution.
Brexit was never the solution to the levelling-up problem. It is the other way round. Levelling-up is the attempted solution. As Dominic Cummings acknowledged (and possibly Arron Banks too) many left-behind voters were persuaded to vote for Brexit only because they thought it would bring prosperity, which would need to be delivered by other means.
Brexit makes it harder to level up because it makes the economy smaller, meaning that levelling up some areas involves making other areas poorer. Tories used to know that it's easier to divide the pie more fairly if the pie is getting bigger, but in their culture wars iteration they have become all about zero sum games. Although actually they aren't even doing any levelling up, so who knows what they believe. What a farce.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
I look forward to Labour's first move in government being the sacking of the 2,000 people doing their 'evil' work.
(Hint: they won't.)
There is no way that Labour will support 2000 people trying to hound down alleged benefit fraudsters.
This is just another example of the culture wars going on. It feeds the fools who believe it.
If Labour came into power threatening to cut *any* useless dead wood from the CS it would cost them a large chunk of their loyal client vote.
What they might offer to do is 'redeploy' them but all that does is move the dead wood elsewhere.
Once administrators have been hired it's very, very difficult to get rid of them and Labour won't even try.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
A new £600 million plan to fight benefit fraud and save the taxpayer £2 billion over the next three years is to be unveiled by the Government.
The plan will involve 2,000 trained specialists reviewing two million universal credit claims over the next five years.
DWP officers will also be bolstered with new powers, including to undertake arrests, execute warrants, conduct searches and seize evidence.
A new civil penalty to ensure those who commit fraud face “adequate” punishment has also been proposed, along with increased powers to require banks to securely share data on a larger scale.
One of the great ironies of the self harm that Brexit has inflicted on Britain is that Remania has prospered while Leaverstan continues to wither. A classic example of the wrong solution.
Brexit was never the solution to the levelling-up problem. It is the other way round. Levelling-up is the attempted solution. As Dominic Cummings acknowledged (and possibly Arron Banks too) many left-behind voters were persuaded to vote for Brexit only because they thought it would bring prosperity, which would need to be delivered by other means.
Brexit makes it harder to level up because it makes the economy smaller, meaning that levelling up some areas involves making other areas poorer. Tories used to know that it's easier to divide the pie more fairly if the pie is getting bigger, but in their culture wars iteration they have become all about zero sum games. Although actually they aren't even doing any levelling up, so who knows what they believe. What a farce.
Surely all of us know that? It's getting and keeping power.
Sadly there will always be people who abuse the system and, yes, they do need to be weeded out. But focusing on this right now is back to the Nasty Party, throwing meat to the red wall again. I expect the Daily Mail will now run a series of benefit fraud stories on its front pages. The problem, as alluded to below, is that there are very vulnerable people on benefits and I'm PROUD of this country for supporting them. The last thing they need is the added anxiety of thinking some git in an Audi is about to turn up in their driveway and begin aggressively knocking on their door. It's gross.
The real fraud in this country is being committed at company level. The BBL situation was a scandal, as have been various PPE and other cronyism contracts.
Meanwhile companies like Shell are completely taking the mickey. The tax avoidance going on is shocking.
PB pedantry: whether something was "alluded to below" or above depends on which way comments are sorted — newest first or oldest first — and that is different for the main site and the Vanilla site. "Alluded to earlier" is better, although of course unless you can see the future and have won the last seventeen lotteries, we know that is what you meant.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
I look forward to Labour's first move in government being the sacking of the 2,000 people doing their 'evil' work.
(Hint: they won't.)
There is no way that Labour will support 2000 people trying to hound down alleged benefit fraudsters.
This is just another example of the culture wars going on. It feeds the fools who believe it.
If Labour came into power threatening to cut *any* useless dead wood from the CS it would cost them a large chunk of their loyal client vote.
What they might offer to do is 'redeploy' them but all that does is move the dead wood elsewhere.
Once administrators have been hired it's very, very difficult to get rid of them and Labour won't even try.
The problem is not civil service dead wood; it is the loss of privacy and Labour (especially New Labour) is as fond of Big Brother as the next Tory. Remember giving councils anti-terrorist powers to spy on irresponsible dog owners?
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
I look forward to Labour's first move in government being the sacking of the 2,000 people doing their 'evil' work.
(Hint: they won't.)
There is no way that Labour will support 2000 people trying to hound down alleged benefit fraudsters.
This is just another example of the culture wars going on. It feeds the fools who believe it.
If Labour came into power threatening to cut *any* useless dead wood from the CS it would cost them a large chunk of their loyal client vote.
What they might offer to do is 'redeploy' them but all that does is move the dead wood elsewhere.
Once administrators have been hired it's very, very difficult to get rid of them and Labour won't even try.
The problem is not civil service dead wood; it is the loss of privacy and Labour (especially New Labour) is as fond of Big Brother as the next Tory. Remember giving councils anti-terrorist powers to spy on irresponsible dog owners?
That's another problem, but there is very definitely a problem with civil service dead wood.
Meanwhile, Boris and NutNut don’t look themselves on the Metro 🫣
Kenneth Branagh is astonishing. If you didn't tell me that wasn't Boris I'd never have guessed it wasn't.
Kenneth is indeed astonishing. A brilliant and versatile actor and his facial expression here is ace. However, I think it fair to point out that most of this resemblance has less to do with Kenneth Branagh and more to do with the makeup department.
I suppose it's very Boris though to claim credit for something he didn't do.
It's not just his facial expression. It's his posture, his voice, his frame, his walk - he is a superb character actor.
And it's not just for Boris that he's done this. He's done it in multiple roles - like Shackleton, Tim Collins in 10 days to war, and Hamlet. If you see KB on the cast list always go and see it.
The only one for which it didn't work was Poirot, which is weird because he's a fictional character, but he disappeared up his own obsession and gave him a ludicrous moustache.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
I look forward to Labour's first move in government being the sacking of the 2,000 people doing their 'evil' work.
(Hint: they won't.)
There is no way that Labour will support 2000 people trying to hound down alleged benefit fraudsters.
This is just another example of the culture wars going on. It feeds the fools who believe it.
And comments like that explain why people are so reluctant to switch to backing Labour again.
They suspect that if re-elected they will just get up to their old tricks again, and pursue their own obsessions.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
Pure evil from the Nasty Party
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
Tackling benefit fraud is a good idea but this data grab looks like an authoritarian wet dream, and the likely sums involved in any individual case pale into insignificance against the other frauds you mention.
It will be a venture where the financial cost outweighs the financial benefit. Nonetheless hard working RedWallers hate a benefit "scrounger", so it is valuable window dressing.
It is not the financial cost that worries me so much as the loss of privacy. It sounds like a big data grab that will be used for fishing trips. The DWP can already get the bank data of those it is investigating. This proposal (details to be announced) is to grab everyone's data and then trawl through it on the off chance something will turn up.
A fair point. On a daily basis this Government rolls out a project which offends my Centrist sensibilities. The client base (the Daily Mail and the Sun's Harry Cole) love it. So what do I know?
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
The argument basically comes down to the fact that it structurally locked in UK taxpayer funding for Britain's regions because Westminster wouldn't have spent it on the same. Indeed, we know that's true: democratic pressure will always be far greater to spend it on the NHS instead.
Of course, the real solution to this should be to lobby Westminster to fund regional development properly with a ringfenced budget of £10bn+ per year (and not £1-2bn) but MPs seem more interested in international aid rather than domestic aid.
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
A new £600 million plan to fight benefit fraud and save the taxpayer £2 billion over the next three years is to be unveiled by the Government.
The plan will involve 2,000 trained specialists reviewing two million universal credit claims over the next five years.
DWP officers will also be bolstered with new powers, including to undertake arrests, execute warrants, conduct searches and seize evidence.
A new civil penalty to ensure those who commit fraud face “adequate” punishment has also been proposed, along with increased powers to require banks to securely share data on a larger scale.
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
The argument basically comes down to the fact that it structurally locked in UK taxpayer funding for Britain's regions because Westminster wouldn't have spent it on the same. Indeed, we know that's true: democratic pressure will always be far greater to spend it on the NHS instead.
Of course, the real solution to this should be to lobby Westminster to fund regional development properly with a ringfenced budget of £10bn+ per year (and not £1-2bn) but MPs seem more interested in international aid rather than domestic aid.
International aid is - in many cases - really just contracts for UK firms.
Edit to add: of course, we're nowhere near as guilty of this at as the French. For them, pretty much every Euro comes back as an export order for Thales or Alstom.
Sadly there will always be people who abuse the system and, yes, they do need to be weeded out. But focusing on this right now is back to the Nasty Party, throwing meat to the red wall again. I expect the Daily Mail will now run a series of benefit fraud stories on its front pages. The problem, as alluded to below, is that there are very vulnerable people on benefits and I'm PROUD of this country for supporting them. The last thing they need is the added anxiety of thinking some git in an Audi is about to turn up in their driveway and begin aggressively knocking on their door. It's gross.
The real fraud in this country is being committed at company level. The BBL situation was a scandal, as have been various PPE and other cronyism contracts.
Meanwhile companies like Shell are completely taking the mickey. The tax avoidance going on is shocking.
As ever, this is a massively complex issue as it involved individuals. 'Fraud', when it occurs, can be accidental (someone not understanding the system), drifting (*) (when someone's circumstances change but they still claim benefits), or deliberate (out-and-out fraud). With a vast range in between and overlaps.
I'd also argue that there's a massive problem (not from the state's perspective) with people *not* claiming benefits they are entitled to and which would help them. Either through not understanding the system, laziness, ineptitude or embarrassment. People not claiming is good for the state, obviously, at least in the short term, but bad for the individuals.
It all comes down to the purpose of the benefits system. Is it more than a welfare safety net? Should it be?
Reflecting on the almost stabbing earlier. Was really impressed with potential stabee. When the girlfriend got between them and gave him the space to get up, he could have done some serious damage. He was eight inches taller, about six stone heavier, twice as fit and 100 times more sober. But he didn't. Just kept repeating. "It wasn't me. I didn't do that. You've got the wrong blerk mate. Go home before you regret it." Even as stabby bloke threatened him, his family and his mates. Not sure I could have been that cool in the circumstances.
Why does that impress you...to my mind kick the fucker into the middle of next week and one less idiot in the world. You know stabby guy is going to do it again and next time may well kill someone.
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
The Good News is that now we have left the EU we have largely stopped this kind of communism. Instead of the inefficiency of paying money to Brussels who then distribute it to the areas we left poor, we simply don't pay the money to Brussels, and don't pay it to the regions either.
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
A new £600 million plan to fight benefit fraud and save the taxpayer £2 billion over the next three years is to be unveiled by the Government.
The plan will involve 2,000 trained specialists reviewing two million universal credit claims over the next five years.
DWP officers will also be bolstered with new powers, including to undertake arrests, execute warrants, conduct searches and seize evidence.
A new civil penalty to ensure those who commit fraud face “adequate” punishment has also been proposed, along with increased powers to require banks to securely share data on a larger scale.
Meanwhile, Boris and NutNut don’t look themselves on the Metro 🫣
Kenneth Branagh is astonishing. If you didn't tell me that wasn't Boris I'd never have guessed it wasn't.
Kenneth is indeed astonishing. A brilliant and versatile actor and his facial expression here is ace. However, I think it fair to point out that most of this resemblance has less to do with Kenneth Branagh and more to do with the makeup department.
I suppose it's very Boris though to claim credit for something he didn't do.
It's not just his facial expression. It's his posture, his voice, his frame, his walk - he is a superb character actor.
And it's not just for Boris that he's done this. He's done it in multiple roles - like Shackleton, Tim Collins in 10 days to war, and Hamlet. If you see KB on the cast list always go and see it.
The only one for which it didn't work was Poirot, which is weird because he's a fictional character, but he disappeared up his own obsession and gave him a ludicrous moustache.
With Poirot possibly an issue was the sheer definitive nature of David Suchets performance, leading to too much of a reinterpretation. Must not be Suchet.
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
The argument basically comes down to the fact that it structurally locked in UK taxpayer funding for Britain's regions because Westminster wouldn't have spent it on the same. Indeed, we know that's true: democratic pressure will always be far greater to spend it on the NHS instead.
Of course, the real solution to this should be to lobby Westminster to fund regional development properly with a ringfenced budget of £10bn+ per year (and not £1-2bn) but MPs seem more interested in international aid rather than domestic aid.
International aid is - in many cases - really just contracts for UK firms.
Yes, although we are not quite as cynical about this as the French and Americans. As for China...
DWP to recruit more civil servants, give itself power of arrest, and wave goodbye to privacy
A new £600 million plan to fight benefit fraud and save the taxpayer £2 billion over the next three years is to be unveiled by the Government.
The plan will involve 2,000 trained specialists reviewing two million universal credit claims over the next five years.
DWP officers will also be bolstered with new powers, including to undertake arrests, execute warrants, conduct searches and seize evidence.
A new civil penalty to ensure those who commit fraud face “adequate” punishment has also been proposed, along with increased powers to require banks to securely share data on a larger scale.
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
The Good News is that now we have left the EU we have largely stopped this kind of communism. Instead of the inefficiency of paying money to Brussels who then distribute it to the areas we left poor, we simply don't pay the money to Brussels, and don't pay it to the regions either.
Huzzah!
So much you neglect to mention such as those eu funds had to be matched like for like and were generally spent on shite no one in the regions wanted or benefitted that much from...take cornwal where I come from....we got the eden project....a lot of money went to london architects, german manufacturers...what did cornish people actually get a few min wage jobs and even more traffic chaos.
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
The Good News is that now we have left the EU we have largely stopped this kind of communism. Instead of the inefficiency of paying money to Brussels who then distribute it to the areas we left poor, we simply don't pay the money to Brussels, and don't pay it to the regions either.
Huzzah!
So much you neglect to mention such as those eu funds had to be matched like for like and were generally spent on shite no one in the regions wanted or benefitted that much from...take cornwal where I come from....we got the eden project....a lot of money went to london architects, german manufacturers...what did cornish people actually get a few min wage jobs and even more traffic chaos.
I'm sorry to get all technical, but there were hundreds of different types of EU "aid", and only some of them involved a requirement for matching funding from Central government. (And, of course - and this used to make me gag - you could usually get the requirement for matching removed if you were prepared to plaster your project with posters with the EU flag on.)
Reflecting on the almost stabbing earlier. Was really impressed with potential stabee. When the girlfriend got between them and gave him the space to get up, he could have done some serious damage. He was eight inches taller, about six stone heavier, twice as fit and 100 times more sober. But he didn't. Just kept repeating. "It wasn't me. I didn't do that. You've got the wrong blerk mate. Go home before you regret it." Even as stabby bloke threatened him, his family and his mates. Not sure I could have been that cool in the circumstances.
Why does that impress you...to my mind kick the fucker into the middle of next week and one less idiot in the world. You know stabby guy is going to do it again and next time may well kill someone.
Fuck it: why bother with courts or justice, you just get your boot in.
Reflecting on the almost stabbing earlier. Was really impressed with potential stabee. When the girlfriend got between them and gave him the space to get up, he could have done some serious damage. He was eight inches taller, about six stone heavier, twice as fit and 100 times more sober. But he didn't. Just kept repeating. "It wasn't me. I didn't do that. You've got the wrong blerk mate. Go home before you regret it." Even as stabby bloke threatened him, his family and his mates. Not sure I could have been that cool in the circumstances.
Why does that impress you...to my mind kick the fucker into the middle of next week and one less idiot in the world. You know stabby guy is going to do it again and next time may well kill someone.
Fuck it: why bother with courts or justice, you just get your boot in.
The guy was trying to stab him in this case. I have no problem if he defends himself and an idiot happens to end up bleeding out. Its not like he was not guilty
Meanwhile, Boris and NutNut don’t look themselves on the Metro 🫣
Kenneth Branagh is astonishing. If you didn't tell me that wasn't Boris I'd never have guessed it wasn't.
Kenneth is indeed astonishing. A brilliant and versatile actor and his facial expression here is ace. However, I think it fair to point out that most of this resemblance has less to do with Kenneth Branagh and more to do with the makeup department.
I suppose it's very Boris though to claim credit for something he didn't do.
It's not just his facial expression. It's his posture, his voice, his frame, his walk - he is a superb character actor.
And it's not just for Boris that he's done this. He's done it in multiple roles - like Shackleton, Tim Collins in 10 days to war, and Hamlet. If you see KB on the cast list always go and see it.
The only one for which it didn't work was Poirot, which is weird because he's a fictional character, but he disappeared up his own obsession and gave him a ludicrous moustache.
With Poirot possibly an issue was the sheer definitive nature of David Suchets performance, leading to too much of a reinterpretation. Must not be Suchet.
There is no point for anyone on earth to ever try playing Poirot again.
Reflecting on the almost stabbing earlier. Was really impressed with potential stabee. When the girlfriend got between them and gave him the space to get up, he could have done some serious damage. He was eight inches taller, about six stone heavier, twice as fit and 100 times more sober. But he didn't. Just kept repeating. "It wasn't me. I didn't do that. You've got the wrong blerk mate. Go home before you regret it." Even as stabby bloke threatened him, his family and his mates. Not sure I could have been that cool in the circumstances.
Why does that impress you...to my mind kick the fucker into the middle of next week and one less idiot in the world. You know stabby guy is going to do it again and next time may well kill someone.
Fuck it: why bother with courts or justice, you just get your boot in.
The guy was trying to stab him in this case. I have no problem if he defends himself and an idiot happens to end up bleeding out. Its not like he was not guilty
Also if it had gone to court stabby guy assuming he would even get a custodial sentence would be out in a year or two and will continue as he is till he kills someone.
Reflecting on the almost stabbing earlier. Was really impressed with potential stabee. When the girlfriend got between them and gave him the space to get up, he could have done some serious damage. He was eight inches taller, about six stone heavier, twice as fit and 100 times more sober. But he didn't. Just kept repeating. "It wasn't me. I didn't do that. You've got the wrong blerk mate. Go home before you regret it." Even as stabby bloke threatened him, his family and his mates. Not sure I could have been that cool in the circumstances.
Why does that impress you...to my mind kick the fucker into the middle of next week and one less idiot in the world. You know stabby guy is going to do it again and next time may well kill someone.
Ffs, this reminds me of the PB reaction to the Will Smith punch.
Because the guy would only need to get one stab in to kill you or permanently disable you, traumatising your girlfriend and friends as they attempt to stop the bleeding.
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
The Good News is that now we have left the EU we have largely stopped this kind of communism. Instead of the inefficiency of paying money to Brussels who then distribute it to the areas we left poor, we simply don't pay the money to Brussels, and don't pay it to the regions either.
Huzzah!
So much you neglect to mention such as those eu funds had to be matched like for like and were generally spent on shite no one in the regions wanted or benefitted that much from...take cornwal where I come from....we got the eden project....a lot of money went to london architects, german manufacturers...what did cornish people actually get a few min wage jobs and even more traffic chaos.
I'm sorry to get all technical, but there were hundreds of different types of EU "aid", and only some of them involved a requirement for matching funding from Central government. (And, of course - and this used to make me gag - you could usually get the requirement for matching removed if you were prepared to plaster your project with posters with the EU flag on.)
Even if funding didnt get matched doesnt change a lot of the projects did little to benefit locals. now if they had paid to extend the m5 past plymouth that would have been a plus. Instead they gave us the eden project which made and continues to make a lot of money little of which benefits cornwall as most of the construction money went elsewhere as does most of the profit it makes
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
The Good News is that now we have left the EU we have largely stopped this kind of communism. Instead of the inefficiency of paying money to Brussels who then distribute it to the areas we left poor, we simply don't pay the money to Brussels, and don't pay it to the regions either.
Huzzah!
So much you neglect to mention such as those eu funds had to be matched like for like and were generally spent on shite no one in the regions wanted or benefitted that much from...take cornwal where I come from....we got the eden project....a lot of money went to london architects, german manufacturers...what did cornish people actually get a few min wage jobs and even more traffic chaos.
I'm sorry to get all technical, but there were hundreds of different types of EU "aid", and only some of them involved a requirement for matching funding from Central government. (And, of course - and this used to make me gag - you could usually get the requirement for matching removed if you were prepared to plaster your project with posters with the EU flag on.)
This is why much of the Highlands is plastered with huge "funded by the EU" signs. Was a bit annoying given the UK was a net contributor.
I don't really know why UK Gov doesn't do the same for everything else in Scotland, given the fiscal transfer. Should've done the Queensferry crossing, the A9 dualling, the A96, CalMac...
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
The Good News is that now we have left the EU we have largely stopped this kind of communism. Instead of the inefficiency of paying money to Brussels who then distribute it to the areas we left poor, we simply don't pay the money to Brussels, and don't pay it to the regions either.
Huzzah!
So much you neglect to mention such as those eu funds had to be matched like for like and were generally spent on shite no one in the regions wanted or benefitted that much from...take cornwal where I come from....we got the eden project....a lot of money went to london architects, german manufacturers...what did cornish people actually get a few min wage jobs and even more traffic chaos.
I'm sorry to get all technical, but there were hundreds of different types of EU "aid", and only some of them involved a requirement for matching funding from Central government. (And, of course - and this used to make me gag - you could usually get the requirement for matching removed if you were prepared to plaster your project with posters with the EU flag on.)
This is why much of the Highlands is plastered with huge "funded by the EU" signs. Was a bit annoying given the UK was a net contributor.
I don't really know why UK Gov doesn't do the same for everything else in Scotland, given the fiscal transfer. Should've done the Queensferry crossing, the A9 dualling, the A96, CalMac...
Not as big a contributor as Scotland is to the UK and gets next to F all back for it
Reflecting on the almost stabbing earlier. Was really impressed with potential stabee. When the girlfriend got between them and gave him the space to get up, he could have done some serious damage. He was eight inches taller, about six stone heavier, twice as fit and 100 times more sober. But he didn't. Just kept repeating. "It wasn't me. I didn't do that. You've got the wrong blerk mate. Go home before you regret it." Even as stabby bloke threatened him, his family and his mates. Not sure I could have been that cool in the circumstances.
Why does that impress you...to my mind kick the fucker into the middle of next week and one less idiot in the world. You know stabby guy is going to do it again and next time may well kill someone.
Fuck it: why bother with courts or justice, you just get your boot in.
The guy was trying to stab him in this case. I have no problem if he defends himself and an idiot happens to end up bleeding out. Its not like he was not guilty
That's not what you said.
If someone is attacked and defends themselves, then one should have a very wide degree of latitude. But that's not what you said.
You specifically said "kick the fucker into the middle of next week and one less idiot in the world". You argued for killing the guy, whether it was needed to defend oneself or not.
Don't try and weasel word your way out of your original statement.
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
The Good News is that now we have left the EU we have largely stopped this kind of communism. Instead of the inefficiency of paying money to Brussels who then distribute it to the areas we left poor, we simply don't pay the money to Brussels, and don't pay it to the regions either.
Huzzah!
So much you neglect to mention such as those eu funds had to be matched like for like and were generally spent on shite no one in the regions wanted or benefitted that much from...take cornwal where I come from....we got the eden project....a lot of money went to london architects, german manufacturers...what did cornish people actually get a few min wage jobs and even more traffic chaos.
I'm sorry to get all technical, but there were hundreds of different types of EU "aid", and only some of them involved a requirement for matching funding from Central government. (And, of course - and this used to make me gag - you could usually get the requirement for matching removed if you were prepared to plaster your project with posters with the EU flag on.)
Even if funding didnt get matched doesnt change a lot of the projects did little to benefit locals. now if they had paid to extend the m5 past plymouth that would have been a plus. Instead they gave us the eden project which made and continues to make a lot of money little of which benefits cornwall as most of the construction money went elsewhere as does most of the profit it makes
You've got a bit of a thing about the Eden Project, haven't you!
Meanwhile, Boris and NutNut don’t look themselves on the Metro 🫣
Kenneth Branagh is astonishing. If you didn't tell me that wasn't Boris I'd never have guessed it wasn't.
Kenneth is indeed astonishing. A brilliant and versatile actor and his facial expression here is ace. However, I think it fair to point out that most of this resemblance has less to do with Kenneth Branagh and more to do with the makeup department.
I suppose it's very Boris though to claim credit for something he didn't do.
It's not just his facial expression. It's his posture, his voice, his frame, his walk - he is a superb character actor.
And it's not just for Boris that he's done this. He's done it in multiple roles - like Shackleton, Tim Collins in 10 days to war, and Hamlet. If you see KB on the cast list always go and see it.
The only one for which it didn't work was Poirot, which is weird because he's a fictional character, but he disappeared up his own obsession and gave him a ludicrous moustache.
With Poirot possibly an issue was the sheer definitive nature of David Suchets performance, leading to too much of a reinterpretation. Must not be Suchet.
There is no point for anyone on earth to ever try playing Poirot again.
Suchet totally mastered it. He was and is Poirot.
I love the Suchet Poirot, but the first Branagh Poirot was decent.
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
The Good News is that now we have left the EU we have largely stopped this kind of communism. Instead of the inefficiency of paying money to Brussels who then distribute it to the areas we left poor, we simply don't pay the money to Brussels, and don't pay it to the regions either.
Huzzah!
So much you neglect to mention such as those eu funds had to be matched like for like and were generally spent on shite no one in the regions wanted or benefitted that much from...take cornwal where I come from....we got the eden project....a lot of money went to london architects, german manufacturers...what did cornish people actually get a few min wage jobs and even more traffic chaos.
I'm sorry to get all technical, but there were hundreds of different types of EU "aid", and only some of them involved a requirement for matching funding from Central government. (And, of course - and this used to make me gag - you could usually get the requirement for matching removed if you were prepared to plaster your project with posters with the EU flag on.)
Even if funding didnt get matched doesnt change a lot of the projects did little to benefit locals. now if they had paid to extend the m5 past plymouth that would have been a plus. Instead they gave us the eden project which made and continues to make a lot of money little of which benefits cornwall as most of the construction money went elsewhere as does most of the profit it makes
You've got a bit of a thing about the Eden Project, haven't you!
It is a bit of a fraud. Not been for years but it used to have A hundred acres of gift shop selling plastic tat and it used to have a skating rink - great for me, I used to take my little uns, but surely the most profligate first world fuck you fossil energy application on the planet.
Foxy as Britain was a net payer into EU funds regional aid as you put it was simply the EU giving Britain some of the funds it had already paid them back
The Good News is that now we have left the EU we have largely stopped this kind of communism. Instead of the inefficiency of paying money to Brussels who then distribute it to the areas we left poor, we simply don't pay the money to Brussels, and don't pay it to the regions either.
Huzzah!
So much you neglect to mention such as those eu funds had to be matched like for like and were generally spent on shite no one in the regions wanted or benefitted that much from...take cornwal where I come from....we got the eden project....a lot of money went to london architects, german manufacturers...what did cornish people actually get a few min wage jobs and even more traffic chaos.
I'm sorry to get all technical, but there were hundreds of different types of EU "aid", and only some of them involved a requirement for matching funding from Central government. (And, of course - and this used to make me gag - you could usually get the requirement for matching removed if you were prepared to plaster your project with posters with the EU flag on.)
This is why much of the Highlands is plastered with huge "funded by the EU" signs. Was a bit annoying given the UK was a net contributor.
I don't really know why UK Gov doesn't do the same for everything else in Scotland, given the fiscal transfer. Should've done the Queensferry crossing, the A9 dualling, the A96, CalMac...
Not as big a contributor as Scotland is to the UK and gets next to F all back for it
Hmm, when a lot of the Highland roads were upgraded from single track, maybe Scotland was a net contributor?
Always thought it was a bit mad that Scotland went for independence just as the oil ran out, and the balance inverted. Wait for wind!
Meanwhile, Boris and NutNut don’t look themselves on the Metro 🫣
Kenneth Branagh is astonishing. If you didn't tell me that wasn't Boris I'd never have guessed it wasn't.
Kenneth is indeed astonishing. A brilliant and versatile actor and his facial expression here is ace. However, I think it fair to point out that most of this resemblance has less to do with Kenneth Branagh and more to do with the makeup department.
I suppose it's very Boris though to claim credit for something he didn't do.
It's not just his facial expression. It's his posture, his voice, his frame, his walk - he is a superb character actor.
And it's not just for Boris that he's done this. He's done it in multiple roles - like Shackleton, Tim Collins in 10 days to war, and Hamlet. If you see KB on the cast list always go and see it.
The only one for which it didn't work was Poirot, which is weird because he's a fictional character, but he disappeared up his own obsession and gave him a ludicrous moustache.
With Poirot possibly an issue was the sheer definitive nature of David Suchets performance, leading to too much of a reinterpretation. Must not be Suchet.
Also leads to the issue of why bother? Suchet's performance across so many years, up to and including his character's death, is just unsurpassable. It will need a couple of decades before it is worth anyone else trying to interpret it. (Plus the supporting cast in the Poirot series comprised the finest actors of the time. )
And I say that as someone who is massively impressed by Ken Branagh. His Renaissance Shakespeare at the Birmingham Rep in the late 80s showcased a remarkable talent. I've never seen anyone own the stage like he did.
Comments
Will be interesting to see to what extent Oz plays along. Particularly if the as-yet uncounted votes break for McCormick. Who was leading last night UNTIL the election-day vote started coming in. And most of the still uncounted was cast via the mail BEFORE primary day also.
Another story is UK and EU turning tankers away that want to dock, as that side of things maxed out too.
In the short term, it strengthens him against minor attacks. Becuase he has no real friends, he doesn't have to let loyalty hold him back from doing what it takes to cement his position.
In the longer term, it means that his fall from grace will be spectacular. Because when the balance of pro and anti flips, there won't be much of a Praetorian Guard to protect him.
Most premierships are made from sheet metal- they get increasingly dented as time goes on. Johnson's is made of glass- many things bounce off it, but at some unpredictable point it will shatter and leave dangerous shards everywhere.
The unknown is when this will happen. And it could still be 10 days or 10 years.
First Division, European Cup and UEFA Cup.
Mind, I have to go back to the days of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup for the Toon's only trophy in my lifetime.
Goodnight!
Timothy Snyder
@TimothyDSnyder
·
22h
It is senseless to create an "off-ramp" in the real world, when all Putin needs is one in a virtual world he completely controls. Talking of "off-ramps" just gives Russian leaders something to laugh about in what are otherwise difficult times. 8/17
https://twitter.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1526705590969544704
As Big G was posting yesterday (and I took a lot of flack for posting about 6 weeks ago) Sunak’s keeping powder dry till seeing the whites of its eyes budget don’t look so bad anymore now, does it?
The economy will contract because of the cost of energy. You normally do a hundred, you can’t afford the energy for a hundred, you do thirty. Contraction. Stats we are seeing now is before predicted peak of costs, so more contraction on top this is built in, the remaining question, how long the coming UK recession continues for. That’s where the BoE and Treasury should pay attention and do the clever work - however it’s done, money to energy companies, tax cut for businesses, that is what is needed in coming months. CPI Inflation is a bit of a red herring. The trumpeted zero unemployment is red herring too. Economic contraction means trouble with bills because the skilled job is gone, your pay is gone, not enough products being bought. Economic contraction the bigger problem.
The Iran-backed Shia Muslim Hezbollah movement and its allies have lost their majority in Lebanon's parliament, results from Sunday's election show.
The bloc's candidates won 62 of the 128 seats, three fewer than it needed.
Hezbollah retained its own seats, but President Michel Aoun's Christian Free Patriotic Movement lost support.
A rival Christian party with close ties to Saudi Arabia, the Lebanese Forces, made gains and independent candidates promising reforms won 13 seats.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-61463884
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/18/trump-endorsement-mastriano-pa-republicans-00033573
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/05/15/national-grid-slashes-gas-shipments-meant-tackle-energy-crisis/
I’m getting up at dawn and helping with sheep. Nite 😴
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDLGlvOav6M
If they challenge and fail it has to be soon to have a secong go.
My solution would be this:
If a game is still tied after 120 minutes, the tie is awarded to the semi-finalist who lost by the least (or, in the case of Forest vs Sheffield United last night, the 7th place team in the league). You would know beforehand who the nominated winner would be if neither of the teams playing does enough to win.
Harry Cole
@MrHarryCole
·
54s
EXC: Cops finally begin contacting crunch eyewitnesses to Sir Keir Starmer’s lockdown beer and curry sesh…
Anyway, i need to drag myself away, doing ears and tails tomorrow . 🥱
Some amazing threads and conversations tonight, I’ve learnt some amazing things. Have you seen in the last thread where football tribes in Liverpool and Manchester and cities in Scotland too came from sectarian divides? The post from St Bart where after sectarian violence in Liverpool, people located to other parts of town out of the wrong neighbourhoods.
And Magna Carta is just a myth.
Amazing stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1eY_6hBsd0
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/apr/27/inflation-corporate-america-increased-prices-profits
Its not just energy. Corporate America is more rapacious post COVID.
Have you had a cameo on call my agent yet?
https://news.sky.com/video/europa-league-final-violent-clashes-before-europa-league-final-12616220
https://twitter.com/michaeldamianw/status/1527078137582047236
Needless to say, both Mrs J and the little 'un disagree with me on this...
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2017/jan/20/is-nutella-really-that-bad-for-you
A new £600 million plan to fight benefit fraud and save the taxpayer £2 billion over the next three years is to be unveiled by the Government.
The plan will involve 2,000 trained specialists reviewing two million universal credit claims over the next five years.
DWP officers will also be bolstered with new powers, including to undertake arrests, execute warrants, conduct searches and seize evidence.
A new civil penalty to ensure those who commit fraud face “adequate” punishment has also been proposed, along with increased powers to require banks to securely share data on a larger scale.
... snip ...
The plan, which will be published in full on Thursday, also includes powers that will improve the department’s access to information from an as yet unspecified “wider range” of organisations.
https://www.gbnews.uk/news/new-600m-plan-to-fight-benefit-fraud-to-be-unveiled/298055
"Carrie" looks nothing like Carrie - which is another reason I thought it might be Johnson, since he's no stranger to having another woman on his arm.
And all the while the big multi-nationals make billions of pounds of profit on which they pay little or no tax. And Sunak and Chums throw away billions on corrupt PPE deals and fraudulent bounce back loans.
The economic crisis is going to get worse and he's completely incapable of rising to the challenge.
He's much more likely to be sacked and politically friendless on the backbenches.
But, that doesn't mean Labour 'win' because few are convinced by them either.
https://kathleenstock.substack.com/p/cocooning-philosophy
I suppose it's very Boris though to claim credit for something he didn't do.
Northern England Regions Feel Let Down by Boris Johnson’s 2019 Election Promises https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/uk-levelling-up/red-wall-constituencies-falling-behind.html?utm_medium=deeplink
One of the great ironies of the self harm that Brexit has inflicted on Britain is that Remania has prospered while Leaverstan continues to wither. A classic example of the wrong solution.
At best Brexit is an irrelevant distraction, at worst actively harmful, for example with cuts in regional aid.
(Hint: they won't.)
This is just another example of the culture wars going on. It feeds the fools who believe it.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-regions-gove-levelling-up-b2057549.html
Doesn't change the observations that:
1 The worst abuses in the benefits system probably come from manipulation of housing benefits.
2 Way more money is lost to HMG by underpayment of tax.
Generally these teams are incentivised to make "savings", and in the main it is easier to achieve these by bullying the vulnerable than actually tracking down the real fraudsters. It is the "hostile environment" turned on our own citizens.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/farewell-to-welfare-as-blair-orders-britain-to-work-1152423.html
https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/labour-overhaul-benefit-fraud-ads/153918
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1077530.stm
etc, etc.
I believe cracking down on housing benefit fraud was even in Blair's 1997 manifesto.
The problem, as alluded to below, is that there are very vulnerable people on benefits and I'm PROUD of this country for supporting them. The last thing they need is the added anxiety of thinking some git in an Audi is about to turn up in their driveway and begin aggressively knocking on their door. It's gross.
The real fraud in this country is being committed at company level. The BBL situation was a scandal, as have been various PPE and other cronyism contracts.
Meanwhile companies like Shell are completely taking the mickey. The tax avoidance going on is shocking.
What they might offer to do is 'redeploy' them but all that does is move the dead wood elsewhere.
Once administrators have been hired it's very, very difficult to get rid of them and Labour won't even try.
And it's not just for Boris that he's done this. He's done it in multiple roles - like Shackleton, Tim Collins in 10 days to war, and Hamlet. If you see KB on the cast list always go and see it.
The only one for which it didn't work was Poirot, which is weird because he's a fictional character, but he disappeared up his own obsession and gave him a ludicrous moustache.
They suspect that if re-elected they will just get up to their old tricks again, and pursue their own obsessions.
Of course, the real solution to this should be to lobby Westminster to fund regional development properly with a ringfenced budget of £10bn+ per year (and not £1-2bn) but MPs seem more interested in international aid rather than domestic aid.
Would it not be more cost-effective to beef up HMRC's Fraud Squads? After all tax evasion costs us all far more than Benefit Fraud.
Ot am I being hopelessly naive?
Edit to add: of course, we're nowhere near as guilty of this at as the French. For them, pretty much every Euro comes back as an export order for Thales or Alstom.
I'd also argue that there's a massive problem (not from the state's perspective) with people *not* claiming benefits they are entitled to and which would help them. Either through not understanding the system, laziness, ineptitude or embarrassment. People not claiming is good for the state, obviously, at least in the short term, but bad for the individuals.
It all comes down to the purpose of the benefits system. Is it more than a welfare safety net? Should it be?
(*) I cannot think of a better word
Huzzah!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60117513
The National Audit Office criticised the government for not preventing Covid loan fraud.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59504943
Edit. Sorry 'bout that Carpal Tunnel in Right is better, but not much!
Suchet totally mastered it. He was and is Poirot.
Because the guy would only need to get one stab in to kill you or permanently disable you, traumatising your girlfriend and friends as they attempt to stop the bleeding.
I don't really know why UK Gov doesn't do the same for everything else in Scotland, given the fiscal transfer. Should've done the Queensferry crossing, the A9 dualling, the A96, CalMac...
https://order-order.com/2022/05/18/labour-frontbencher-stephen-doughty-re-investigated-over-illegal-drug-use/
Sounds like blatant police corruption.
If someone is attacked and defends themselves, then one should have a very wide degree of latitude. But that's not what you said.
You specifically said "kick the fucker into the middle of next week and one less idiot in the world". You argued for killing the guy, whether it was needed to defend oneself or not.
Don't try and weasel word your way out of your original statement.
The second, on the other hand, was turgid.
Always thought it was a bit mad that Scotland went for independence just as the oil ran out, and the balance inverted. Wait for wind!
And I say that as someone who is massively impressed by Ken Branagh. His Renaissance Shakespeare at the Birmingham Rep in the late 80s showcased a remarkable talent. I've never seen anyone own the stage like he did.