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In Other News …… – politicalbetting.com
In Other News …… – politicalbetting.com
Before we get to that, a brief thought on the PM and his amendments to the Ministerial Code. At the heart of most scandals is a conflict of interest: putting your own personal interests ahead of those you should take into account. The PM is ultimately responsible for the Ministerial Code and its enforcement. How is that supposed to work when it is him accused of breaching it and he is under investigation? He should not be judge and jury in his own cause. Nor should he be rewriting it while under investigation. But that is the system we have. It has only worked because PMs have, on the whole, been Good Chaps who understood the need to try and abide by it and, crucially, understood the need to abide by agreed conventions and restraints on Prime Ministerial power. Boris is not such a Good Chap. So, once he goes, matters will snap back to how they were before, right? Not so. It would not matter if the PM was the Archangel Gabriel with the wisdom of Solomon. The conflict of interest is still there. How to resolve it? An independent regulator with the power to initiate investigations? A court? And how does this fit with the fact that the government has been elected? This tension has been highlighted by the PM’s behaviour but it will still be there when he is gone. Among all the sound and fury, this issue has barely been addressed let alone resolved.
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The government will launch a review on when and where imperial measurements can be used, to coincide with the Queen's Jubilee weekend.
https://www.bbc.com/news/61621893
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10864245/Boris-Johnson-brings-Crown-symbol-pint-glasses-Queens-Platinum-Jubilee.html
As Angela Rayner said, the government is weaponising nostalgia. It is unlikely these measures will have any practical effect.
Vladimir Putin may be dead with body double taking his place, MI6 bosses claim
Russian leader Vladimir Putin might already be dead with MI6 sources claiming he could have been replaced by a body double. It follows intense speculation about the warmonger's health
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/vladimir-putin-dead-body-double-27089711
* Something you want to believe about your adversary who just had a relatively good week
* In a newspaper headline
* In the Daily Star
* Based on an anonymous source
* From British Intelligence
The nasty side starting to show..........
https://news.sky.com/video/beth-rigby-tells-boris-johnson-three-in-five-britons-think-you-should-12621313?dicbo=v2-3e6e52f53b62705e44ebb98252f63794
And as for @Cyclefree's other points, the world has a lot wrong with it and it is probably going to stay that way for some time.
I was reflecting a few days ago on the fact that the UN "Security" Council has 5 permanent members made up of:
One nation controlled by a warmonger
One nation conducting a genocide
One nation in full insular nationalism mode
One nation tearing itself in half politically thanks to Trump
The French
Mrs C, you're right that we should keep things in perspective. Thank goodness we're not French.
Does anyone know what became of the by-election polls that Wavy person last night claimed inside knowledge on? I was suspicious that someone should sign up and then claim specialist knowledge as this is the sort of thing unscrupulous people do to move the Spread markets in their favour.
Hope I was wrong?
Basically this person just signed up to the site, then claimed inside knowledge of two polls, one showing Labour to win massively in Wakefield, the other that the tories would hold Tiverton & Honiton.
I was instantly suspicious because inside knowledge is often claimed in order to spike or spook the Spread markets. Also because I don't believe the one about Tiverton & Honiton. It doesn't fit imho.
The difference between Ukraine and Uighur isn't the enormity of the crime, it's that one crosses an international boundary and the other doesn't, because Xinjiang is part of China. There are good, practical reasons for having different responses to these different types of things.
I can never be as outraged at the course of political or world events as Cyclefree - it's just a difference in world view. Cyclefree looks at the world like a loving but extemely disappointed mum who is about to ground you and remove your internet and TV privileges for a week. It's not a criticism though, that's Cyclefree's schtick - every columnist has one, and it means the readership knows what to expect and a fanbase develops.
A note on something - the Israel thing is very sad, but unsurprising in some ways. Sunni and Shia are at daggers drawn. Israel has aligned itself strongly with Sunni elements (as has the West), in my view wrongly, but given history, unsurprisingly I suppose. It has struck Shia countries like Syria, become very cuddly with Sunni Saudi Arabia, and even supported some dubious elements in the Syrian civil war, aimed at destabilising Assad. Iraq is a Shia regime, so this new law could well be an attempt (albeit a horribly blunt and racist one) to prevent hostile espionage.
The repression is total, and the Uighur have little or no means of resisting the regime’s dreadful crimes.
It was certainly commented on.
The reason Johnson’s radical and disgraceful rewriting of the introduction to the new ministerial code is so significant is precisely because the PM is the arbiter of the code itself.
It’s fair comment to highlight the point again, as Cyclefree does.
Ken Clarke’s intervention yesterday was also to the point.
UK ‘dangerously close to elected dictatorship’ under Boris Johnson, Ken Clarke warns
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/johnson-ken-clarke-elected-dictatorship-b1964326.html
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/may/28/champions-league-final-kick-off-delay-liverpool-real-madrid-paris
Liverpool said they were “hugely disappointed” by what had unfolded. “Supporters should not have to experience the scenes we have witnessed tonight,” the club said. “We have officially requested a formal investigation into the causes of these unacceptable issues.”
Liverpool should ask themselves why this happens to them so often.
Now, the organisation last night was probably shambolic, just as it was at Hillsborough. But turning up 20 minutes before kick off is asking for trouble. Get in the ground early. It’s rule number 1 when you go to a big game.
Betting PostF1: backed over 16.5 classified finishers at 2.2
https://enormo-haddock.blogspot.com/2022/05/monaco-pre-race-2022.html
If the numbers of the last three races this year or last three Monaco Grands Prix are replicated, it should come off. Not very exciting as bets go, mind.
I was tempted by Sainz at 9.4 for the win.
Interesting they are reviving it for Putin.
Lubov Plaksuk, a former history teacher who has been serving in the Ukrainian army since 2016, has become the commander of the Armed Forces’ artillery subdivision.
She managed to tame the 2S5 Giatsint-S 152 mm self-propelled gun in just four days.
https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1530796355177824257
For the most part they were there 2.5 hours before, as the article itself states.
Please leave aside the hideous Liverpool-bashing and just deal with the facts.
A few posters on here should hang their heads in shame and apologise, including to TSE.
“I do not believe that we can restore all of our territory by military means. If we decide to go that way, we will lose hundreds of thousands of people,”
That’s in by-elections, but the last time they lost Oswestry in a by-election it presaged what remains their worst ever electoral defeat - the Liberal landslide of 1906.
@Beibheirli_C just to add a bit of detail to your descriptions:
One nation controlled by a warmonger
One nation conducting a genocide (with a freshly minted alliance with the warmonger)
One nation in full insular nationalism mode (with demonstrable manipulation of the by the warmonger)
One nation tearing itself in half politically thanks to Trump (who met without anyone else present with the warmonger)
The French (who have just resisted electing a potential President with strong links to the warmonger)
The French seem to be doing rather well, considering.
Clearly plenty of Liverpool fans had got in 15 minutes before kick off. But clearly almost every Real fan was in 15 minutes before kick off.
So which is it? Were Liverpool fans treated worse than Real fans or did Liverpool fans do something different to Real fans?
But when you spare a thought, try not to rupture yourself laughing.
If you don't know what the hell you are talking about don't talk.
From that left-wing rag the Sunday Telegraph:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/05/28/champions-league-final-kick-off-delayed-severe-fan-congestion/
"Fans were caught in bottlenecks despite arriving at the stadium with hours to spare, with the organisation around the arena described as "shambolic" as the chaotic situation left many supporters fearing for their safety.
Pepper spray was also used on fans, with UEFA now facing serious questions over safety and policing as many children were left in tears, some after being pepper sprayed."
The Sunday Telegraph Chief Football Correspondent
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/05/28/pepper-sprayed-disgraceful-french-riot-police-champions-league/
"It was outside Gate Y that I was caught in the pepper spray used indiscriminately by French riot police inside the Stade de France. I was talking to Liverpool fans who were waiting patiently, some for up to three hours, to try and get inside the stadium when it wafted into my face, stinging my eyes, lips and tongue. I saw it being sprayed. I could not quite believe it. One fan closer to the spray than me was bent double, retching, as he struggled to cope.
It was a shock, a complete shock – had what had happened just happened? - and it was utterly disgraceful. This is Uefa’s showpiece event, the biggest and most prestigious match of the season at one of the largest stadiums in Europe which is used to hosting such big matches. And yet the police were, it appeared to me, using pepper spray in the direction of fans who were simply standing patiently holding their tickets and pleading to be allowed in.
And, by the way, there was not a Uefa official to be seen. I did not see anyone in the hour I was outside the stadium trying to find out what was going on. No-one tried to offer any explanation or help the fans. And I only spoke to fans who had tickets. I made sure of that."
Next time, @tlg86, @Leon et. al. CHECK YOUR BLOODY FACTS before dredging up your hate-filled preconceived bile. Grrrrrr.
Sad to say.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61621470
Edit - incidentally, don’t exaggerate. There are only 5,000 civil servants at the DfE.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/muzzled-how-senior-officials-fought-to-water-down-sue-gray-report-vrw5xk0t6 https://twitter.com/AdamBienkov/status/1530627345262219264/photo/1
BoZo would never do that. Oh, wait...
The Arcuri inquiry has found Johnson deleted crucial evidence stored in digital devices, email accounts and computer drives before he left as mayor https://www.mylondon.news/news/uk-world-news/boris-johnson-teams-city-hall-24087497.amp
But in 2022 we should not see this. How are we not capable of managing crowds? Outer ring of steel to screen for those with tickets. Then it’s easy.
I am coming to the conclusion that due to Covid and the hiatus in big sporting events with crowds, we’ve forgotten how to manage them. Us, at Wembley and now the french.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61618902
Though how seriously you can take him is questionable.
…In a sometimes terse exchange with the BBC's Clive Myrie, the ambassador also denied Russian forces were shelling civilians and said allegations of war crimes in the town of Bucha were a "fabrication"…
Madness.
The U.K. under Johnson is like Mugabes Zimbabwe 😂😂😂😂😜
From the reports the management of access and egress to the stadium was shambolic yet they hold plenty of well attended events there.
At least they made it there, there was also the case of the hundreds of fans left abandoned by a coach company who failed to pick them up as promised in spite of paying for the trip.
And good morning all.
And have a good morning.
And then we have to consider what happens even if the mythical tally of 54 letters is ever reached. It would then be necessary to find not 54 but 180 Tories willing to give Johnson the heave-ho, rather than bluster, prevaricate, hide under a rock somewhere on Dartmoor wishing for it all just to stop, and generally try to convince themselves that this will only make things even worse, or that now isn't precisely the right time for whatever spurious reason. It is at this juncture that we turn to history, and remind ourselves that the Sainted Margaret - after over eleven years in power, the poll tax debacle, and a growing public perception that she'd gone loopy - nevertheless won the support of an absolute majority of Tory MPs when challenged for the leadership by Heseltine. She only ended up falling on her sword because the rules were different at the time and a supermajority was required to avoid a second ballot. Johnson doesn't have this problem - if he can get 55% of them to back him like she did, then he is safe for another year.
In summary, the Tory parliamentary party consists mostly of limp dicks. Don't expect too much from them.
The more data we upload to councils and commercial firms, the more likely it is to get hacked one day. Copies of passports, driving licences, and birth certificates, along with payslips, bank statements and utility bills. All stored in one place. What could possibly go wrong?
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=what+is+pepper+spray
And whilst Steve Baker has broken cover, most of them are either too frit, or- worse- like the current situation.
PS its not always touts that cause an issue. I have mentioned before that tickets we legally bought via the genuine website for Monty Python Live were flashed as already having been used when we got there. I never found out what happened, but thankfully I had the proof of purchase on my phone, and the people who were sat in our seats did not, but it caused massive disruption for us - but we were escorted away from the queue while it was resolved, we weren't left to hold up the queue behind us.
It is hard to blame any organiser who requires special measures to deal with them ahead of letting them into the stadium. That is not being anti-Liverpool. Equally, it is not being anti-Liverpool to note that Real Madrid fans weren't pepper-sprayed, as they made their way to their seats. They were no problem, as Nottingham Forest fans were no problem as they went into Hillsborough in 1989.
Organisers take the view that, for whatever reason, over-exuberant Liverpool fans getting into a ground present a particular and unique challenge. Liverpool fans need to earn a reappraisal of that approach. They did nothing to earn it yesterday.
But betting real money based on an anonymous tip is… brave
As usual, the French and Irish flags happily intermingled. I remember taking a few football fans to Sale to see them play Wasps some years ago. They were very surprised to see fans mingling and drinking together at the ground.
As regards the football, I have a Liverpool post code, but Liverpool have gone off the boil in the last three weeks. It could be a busy season telling on them. I admit to turning it off at half-time. Sorry, Mr Eagles, but they need a summer break. I feel some sympathy for the fans but the Leinster fans will be just as disappointed.
‘In Spanish “security problems” were blamed but the English announcement was clear in pointing the finger at “the late arrival” of fans. That was clearly not the issue, though. If they were late getting into the ground, it was because of disorganisation outside. The former Liverpool CEO, Peter Moore, called it “victim blaming at its very best”.’
The rapidity with which you and other posters started flinging the mud at Liverpool fans last night, with snide references to Hillsborough, was distasteful, to say the least, whether they booed your precious national anthem or not.
Blair was one of our more successful PMs. And yet we had the blatant bribery of Ecclestone where his defence was that he was a pretty straight kind of guy, the blatant lies to the HoC based on evidence made up, literally, by his consilgere which took us to war for god's sake and the repeated returns of Peter Mandelson who took indifference to what the public thought to a completely different level. I make this point abour Blair but I could make similar points about most other PMs. You need that ruthlessness, arrogance and drive to get there in the first place. The Archangel Gabriel got eliminated in the first round because he didn't cut enough deals. Ask Rory.
The reality is that we have an elected dictatorship where the only restraint on what the PM does is the ability of the MPs of his own party to bring him down if he goes too far or is particularly blatant or, much more important, threatens their future employment. The upside is that dictatorship can be chucked out at the next election if we the people get cross but that doesn't happen very often. In this context Ministerial codes are frankly something of a joke, something to make the deluded think we have some control over this dictatorship, that the rule of law can somehow be used to bring them under control.
So, I don't get very excited about Boris bringing the Code into line with reality just a bit. I think the idea that he is to be subject to some unelected allegedly impartial judge completely unacceptable and also ridiculous. His MPs either back him or they don't. That will be tested again when the HoC Committee comes to the astonishing conclusion that he lied through his teeth about Partygate- who knew???
The Code isn't there to protect the public, the Code is there to protect the politicians so that when a scandal erupts people get distracted into debating the Code rather than the scandal.
Might as well ban the breathing of oxygen, both are equally necessary.
They’re one of our worst exports.
You could equally say:
1. Warmonger (Russia)
2. Ruthless dictator (China)
3. Country that has struck out on an independent path is fulfilment of a peaceful referendum but is still fully engaged with its partners to defend western values (Uk)
4. A sadly divided nation where both sides are at fault, but which usually does the right thing eventually (US)
5. A nation that is willing to sell out its neighbours for their own commercial and strategic interests (France)
Nice to see that Anglo-Saxon values remain strong