“Russia has now forcibly deported 300,000 Ukrainian children to its own territory in order to assimilate them.”
This is Hitler-esque in terms of evil intent. One can only shudder at what is intended for the parents and extended families.
Hard not to draw some pretty unpalatable historic parallels for those dragging their heels on weapons shipments and sanctions. Or those like Kissinger, calling for a “negotiated settlement”.
Apparently, one of the clear but unstated aims of the Putin Invasion is to absorb millions of white Ukrainian Christians into Russia, thus helping with Moscow’s demographic timebomb (at least for a while) and also balancing out the relatively growing number of darker-skinned Muslims/Asians inside Russia
As you say, it is perfectly Hitlerian. Hitler did exactly the same to blonde “Aryan” Polish kids. Simply stole them
Like you, I do not see how we can ever compromise with this, in the medium-long term
The USSR did that a great deal in the 1930s to 1950s. Entire populations uprooted and moved.
However, identity is more pronounced nowadays. There is a Ukrainian identity, and the Internet makes it easier to be part of a wider diaspora. Many of the people being forced into Russia will be from the eastern states, and might be inclined towards Russia. But if even 10% see themselves as Ukrainian, then Russia will be letting itself into potentially significant issues in the future.
I actually question how long the Russian empire can hold itself together, given the way it s using troops from its regions as cannon fodder.
Apparently there's a big ethnically Ukrainian population in the far east of Russia, in the Vladivostok area. Been there for years allegedly.
I believe the Kuban has the highest ethnically Ukrainian population, it is also the region of Russia that most strongly support the special military operation, I seem to remember Anatoly Karlin talking about it in his interview with my old school chum Freddie Gray. Of course one isn't considering the two Donbass Republics as part of Russia, yet.
Okay, so you’re in favour of the forced migration abduction. Are you also in favour of the rape?
Didn't the Ukrainians have to sack the woman who made up the rape claims, they were that ridiculous it was embarrassing and undermined the fight against a very real problem.
So you’re admitting that the rape of Ukranian women by invading Russian soldiers is “a very real problem”?
“Russia has now forcibly deported 300,000 Ukrainian children to its own territory in order to assimilate them.”
This is Hitler-esque in terms of evil intent. One can only shudder at what is intended for the parents and extended families.
Hard not to draw some pretty unpalatable historic parallels for those dragging their heels on weapons shipments and sanctions. Or those like Kissinger, calling for a “negotiated settlement”.
Apparently, one of the clear but unstated aims of the Putin Invasion is to absorb millions of white Ukrainian Christians into Russia, thus helping with Moscow’s demographic timebomb (at least for a while) and also balancing out the relatively growing number of darker-skinned Muslims/Asians inside Russia
As you say, it is perfectly Hitlerian. Hitler did exactly the same to blonde “Aryan” Polish kids. Simply stole them
Like you, I do not see how we can ever compromise with this, in the medium-long term
The USSR did that a great deal in the 1930s to 1950s. Entire populations uprooted and moved.
However, identity is more pronounced nowadays. There is a Ukrainian identity, and the Internet makes it easier to be part of a wider diaspora. Many of the people being forced into Russia will be from the eastern states, and might be inclined towards Russia. But if even 10% see themselves as Ukrainian, then Russia will be letting itself into potentially significant issues in the future.
I actually question how long the Russian empire can hold itself together, given the way it s using troops from its regions as cannon fodder.
Apparently there's a big ethnically Ukrainian population in the far east of Russia, in the Vladivostok area. Been there for years allegedly.
AIUI for that reason: they were moved there by the Soviet government.
I'd really love to think that the days of forced government migrations were over, after the hundreds of millions who were subjected to it in the twentieth century.
Don't worry, Russia is subject to the ECHR so there's no way Russia would be committing such atrocities.
Or so I'm led to believe by recent debates about how vital the ECHR supposedly is.
Russia was thrown out when they attacked the Ukraine...
As for leaving the ECHR - given that Winston Churchill founded it - that may not be the best legacy Bozo would aim for.
Russia left didn't they as it had become a political body, as we should?
I think you will find Russia joined the fighting at the request of the Donbass Republics, very much in line with international law.
Donbass 'Republics' not recognised internationally, except by Russia and puppets.
That's nothing like 'in line with international law'.
“Russia has now forcibly deported 300,000 Ukrainian children to its own territory in order to assimilate them.”
This is Hitler-esque in terms of evil intent. One can only shudder at what is intended for the parents and extended families.
Hard not to draw some pretty unpalatable historic parallels for those dragging their heels on weapons shipments and sanctions. Or those like Kissinger, calling for a “negotiated settlement”.
Apparently, one of the clear but unstated aims of the Putin Invasion is to absorb millions of white Ukrainian Christians into Russia, thus helping with Moscow’s demographic timebomb (at least for a while) and also balancing out the relatively growing number of darker-skinned Muslims/Asians inside Russia
As you say, it is perfectly Hitlerian. Hitler did exactly the same to blonde “Aryan” Polish kids. Simply stole them
Like you, I do not see how we can ever compromise with this, in the medium-long term
The USSR did that a great deal in the 1930s to 1950s. Entire populations uprooted and moved.
However, identity is more pronounced nowadays. There is a Ukrainian identity, and the Internet makes it easier to be part of a wider diaspora. Many of the people being forced into Russia will be from the eastern states, and might be inclined towards Russia. But if even 10% see themselves as Ukrainian, then Russia will be letting itself into potentially significant issues in the future.
I actually question how long the Russian empire can hold itself together, given the way it s using troops from its regions as cannon fodder.
Apparently there's a big ethnically Ukrainian population in the far east of Russia, in the Vladivostok area. Been there for years allegedly.
AIUI for that reason: they were moved there by the Soviet government.
I'd really love to think that the days of forced government migrations were over, after the hundreds of millions who were subjected to it in the twentieth century.
Don't worry, Russia is subject to the ECHR so there's no way Russia would be committing such atrocities.
Or so I'm led to believe by recent debates about how vital the ECHR supposedly is.
Russia was thrown out when they attacked the Ukraine...
As for leaving the ECHR - given that Winston Churchill founded it - that may not be the best legacy Bozo would aim for.
Russia left didn't they as it had become a political body, as we should?
I think you will find Russia joined the fighting at the request of the Donbass Republics, very much in line with international law.
Thanks for confirm your are the current Russian stooge / bot.
It's great that this site is deemed worthy enough for Russia to send one - but next time could we have one that is vaguely good.
The French parliamentary election in Seine St Denis 11 is particularly interesting. There was just one candidate. One. Hard left. Unsurprisingly, she got 100% of the vote
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
“Russia has now forcibly deported 300,000 Ukrainian children to its own territory in order to assimilate them.”
This is Hitler-esque in terms of evil intent. One can only shudder at what is intended for the parents and extended families.
Hard not to draw some pretty unpalatable historic parallels for those dragging their heels on weapons shipments and sanctions. Or those like Kissinger, calling for a “negotiated settlement”.
Apparently, one of the clear but unstated aims of the Putin Invasion is to absorb millions of white Ukrainian Christians into Russia, thus helping with Moscow’s demographic timebomb (at least for a while) and also balancing out the relatively growing number of darker-skinned Muslims/Asians inside Russia
As you say, it is perfectly Hitlerian. Hitler did exactly the same to blonde “Aryan” Polish kids. Simply stole them
Like you, I do not see how we can ever compromise with this, in the medium-long term
The USSR did that a great deal in the 1930s to 1950s. Entire populations uprooted and moved.
However, identity is more pronounced nowadays. There is a Ukrainian identity, and the Internet makes it easier to be part of a wider diaspora. Many of the people being forced into Russia will be from the eastern states, and might be inclined towards Russia. But if even 10% see themselves as Ukrainian, then Russia will be letting itself into potentially significant issues in the future.
I actually question how long the Russian empire can hold itself together, given the way it s using troops from its regions as cannon fodder.
Apparently there's a big ethnically Ukrainian population in the far east of Russia, in the Vladivostok area. Been there for years allegedly.
I believe the Kuban has the highest ethnically Ukrainian population, it is also the region of Russia that most strongly support the special military operation, I seem to remember Anatoly Karlin talking about it in his interview with my old school chum Freddie Gray. Of course one isn't considering the two Donbass Republics as part of Russia, yet.
Okay, so you’re in favour of the forced migration abduction. Are you also in favour of the rape?
Didn't the Ukrainians have to sack the woman who made up the rape claims, they were that ridiculous it was embarrassing and undermined the fight against a very real problem.
Probably the worst comment I have ever read on this forum.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
“Russia has now forcibly deported 300,000 Ukrainian children to its own territory in order to assimilate them.”
This is Hitler-esque in terms of evil intent. One can only shudder at what is intended for the parents and extended families.
Hard not to draw some pretty unpalatable historic parallels for those dragging their heels on weapons shipments and sanctions. Or those like Kissinger, calling for a “negotiated settlement”.
Apparently, one of the clear but unstated aims of the Putin Invasion is to absorb millions of white Ukrainian Christians into Russia, thus helping with Moscow’s demographic timebomb (at least for a while) and also balancing out the relatively growing number of darker-skinned Muslims/Asians inside Russia
As you say, it is perfectly Hitlerian. Hitler did exactly the same to blonde “Aryan” Polish kids. Simply stole them
Like you, I do not see how we can ever compromise with this, in the medium-long term
The USSR did that a great deal in the 1930s to 1950s. Entire populations uprooted and moved.
However, identity is more pronounced nowadays. There is a Ukrainian identity, and the Internet makes it easier to be part of a wider diaspora. Many of the people being forced into Russia will be from the eastern states, and might be inclined towards Russia. But if even 10% see themselves as Ukrainian, then Russia will be letting itself into potentially significant issues in the future.
I actually question how long the Russian empire can hold itself together, given the way it s using troops from its regions as cannon fodder.
Apparently there's a big ethnically Ukrainian population in the far east of Russia, in the Vladivostok area. Been there for years allegedly.
AIUI for that reason: they were moved there by the Soviet government.
I'd really love to think that the days of forced government migrations were over, after the hundreds of millions who were subjected to it in the twentieth century.
Don't worry, Russia is subject to the ECHR so there's no way Russia would be committing such atrocities.
Or so I'm led to believe by recent debates about how vital the ECHR supposedly is.
Russia was thrown out when they attacked the Ukraine...
As for leaving the ECHR - given that Winston Churchill founded it - that may not be the best legacy Bozo would aim for.
Russia left didn't they as it had become a political body, as we should?
I think you will find Russia joined the fighting at the request of the Donbass Republics, very much in line with international law.
Thanks for confirm your are the current Russian stooge / bot.
It's great that this site is deemed worthy enough for Russia to send one - but next time could we have one that is vaguely good.
Not really, it should be pretty obvious the Russians don't bother with such hasbara nonsense. Such claims are used by malign actors, whether MI6 or the Democrat Party, to censor opinions they don't like. I am just having some fun before I head off to the dump, or should I say recycling centre.
“Russia has now forcibly deported 300,000 Ukrainian children to its own territory in order to assimilate them.”
This is Hitler-esque in terms of evil intent. One can only shudder at what is intended for the parents and extended families.
Hard not to draw some pretty unpalatable historic parallels for those dragging their heels on weapons shipments and sanctions. Or those like Kissinger, calling for a “negotiated settlement”.
Apparently, one of the clear but unstated aims of the Putin Invasion is to absorb millions of white Ukrainian Christians into Russia, thus helping with Moscow’s demographic timebomb (at least for a while) and also balancing out the relatively growing number of darker-skinned Muslims/Asians inside Russia
As you say, it is perfectly Hitlerian. Hitler did exactly the same to blonde “Aryan” Polish kids. Simply stole them
Like you, I do not see how we can ever compromise with this, in the medium-long term
The USSR did that a great deal in the 1930s to 1950s. Entire populations uprooted and moved.
However, identity is more pronounced nowadays. There is a Ukrainian identity, and the Internet makes it easier to be part of a wider diaspora. Many of the people being forced into Russia will be from the eastern states, and might be inclined towards Russia. But if even 10% see themselves as Ukrainian, then Russia will be letting itself into potentially significant issues in the future.
I actually question how long the Russian empire can hold itself together, given the way it s using troops from its regions as cannon fodder.
Apparently there's a big ethnically Ukrainian population in the far east of Russia, in the Vladivostok area. Been there for years allegedly.
I believe the Kuban has the highest ethnically Ukrainian population, it is also the region of Russia that most strongly support the special military operation, I seem to remember Anatoly Karlin talking about it in his interview with my old school chum Freddie Gray. Of course one isn't considering the two Donbass Republics as part of Russia, yet.
Okay, so you’re in favour of the forced migration abduction. Are you also in favour of the rape?
Didn't the Ukrainians have to sack the woman who made up the rape claims, they were that ridiculous it was embarrassing and undermined the fight against a very real problem.
So you’re admitting that the rape of Ukranian women by invading Russian soldiers is “a very real problem”?
I think in his eyes the existence of Ukraine is the very real real problem, so drawing attention to the rape of Ukrainian women is embarrassing and undermines that fight/special military operation.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
Oh I'm 100% sure he is a bot - Donbass Republics (i.e. the Mafiosi / separatist controlled areas within Eastern Ukraine) was rather more than a clue. No one except someone in Russia would call them Republics.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
But he hasn’t actually done that: endorsed rape
He has clumsily referenced the Ukrainian politician/lawyer who was sacked for elaborating rape claims. That is, uncomfortably, true
I am sure he will say something genuinely outrageous and bannable in a few minutes, but let’s stick to our free speech principles
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
Actually falsifying such claims is very serious, which is why the US bowed to pressure from women's groups and had that Ukrainian prosecutor dismissed. As ever the US calls the shots in Kiev.
"FORMER Ukrainian Ombudsman, Lyudmila Denisova, has broken her silence after she was removed from her post for making several explicit complaints about the conduct of Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
UPDATE 12.40 pm (June 10) – Denisova has spoken out after she was fired on Tuesday, May 31 for making scandalous accusations against Russian soldiers, in which she claimed that were raping, torturing and killing women, children and babies in Ukraine.
She was removed from her role as Ukraine’s Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights after she received a vote of no confidence in the Ukrainian parliament which passed by a margin of 234-to-9.
Following her sacking, Denisova had kept quiet, however, in an interview published by a Ukrainian news outlet, she admitted that she “exaggerated” reports of sexual crimes by Russian soldiers in order to get Ukraine more weaponry."
I have heard alarming claims about what Azov have been up to in Mariupol.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
Oh I'm 100% sure he is a bot - Donbass Republics (i.e. the Mafiosi / separatist controlled areas within Eastern Ukraine) was rather more than a clue. No one except someone in Russia would call them Republics.
I think labelling refugees from mixed ethnicity cities in the Ukraine who go to Russian cities in Russia and get substantial material support from both government & civil society as "forced deportations" is one of the most insane lies of this war so far, especially given they are often staying with relatives. Since the coup in 2014 Russia has absorbed an enormous number of refugees fleeing the Ukraine.
So how may of the 600k forcibly deported children are "staying with relatives", and can you evidence this "substantial material support" ?
Sounds more as though you are repeating Putin's lies.
Can you provide any evidence of these forcible deportations, incredible accusations require some level of evidence? Are you seriously claiming there isn't a large ethnically Russian and Russophile population in the Ukraine with relatives in Russia, that the Donbass militias don't exist, that Russia hasn't taken in millions of refugees from the Ukraine as documented by the UN?
Of course it's difficult to provide definitive evidence when an essentially totalitarian regime commits crimes in the course of a war of aggression, since access to those who are forcibly deported is practically impossible. But the evidence of Russia's own statements - for example the legislation to allow adoption of Ukrainian children, taken for their country, by non relatives - is very clear. There is no evidence of millions of willing refugees - and plenty of evidence that civilians escaping cities devastated by Russian aggression were not allowed to evacuate to their own country.
As for Russian occupied Donbas, it is a mafia state similar to Chechnya. The vast majority of the cannon fodder sent to the front with inadequate weapons by the Russians are not exactly willing conscripts.
Morning all. Quite looking forward to the results Thursday. Whilst expecting a whomping for the blues in both theres still a disconnect between all the polling, everywhere and the narrative. We have an unpopular but not yet deceased government, a lacklustre opposition and a return to form for safe protest Lib Dem party hoovering up mid term people in a grump votes. Compared to previous parlys the Tories are well placed to remain largest party yet the mood music seems all 1995ish. I think the Wakefield result is the key one given the curcumstances and that its the two possible parties of government head to head. If the Tories stay within 10% Labour are getting humiliated next time out. Over 20% lead is i think an indication of PM Starmer in waiting. 10 to 20 and we await the movements into a GE. Tiverton, meh, who cares? The LDs will win, probably about 50/55 to 35/40ish, Davey will do an embarassing photoshoot in Tiv Town Centre and the new LD will be out of a job at the next election.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
@Johnsmith has clearly come in to wind everyone up but I can't see that he's endorsed rape.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
I’m not going to defend this Putinist shmuck but I will defend PB’s commitment to free speech to my dying breath (well almost)
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
But he hasn’t actually done that: endorsed rape
He has clumsily referenced the Ukrainian politician/lawyer who was sacked for elaborating rape claims. That is, uncomfortably, true
I am sure he will say something genuinely outrageous and bannable in a few minutes, but let’s stick to our free speech principles
In doing so he is promoting the lie that rape has not been used as a weapon of war by Russian soldiers. That is both a disgusting lie and direct support of the rapes being committed.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
I’m not going to defend this Putinist shmuck but I will defend PB’s commitment to free speech to my dying breath (well almost)
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
Yes he has. Says that rape claims are made up. Direct support for the rapes which are actually being committed by denying their existence.
I think labelling refugees from mixed ethnicity cities in the Ukraine who go to Russian cities in Russia and get substantial material support from both government & civil society as "forced deportations" is one of the most insane lies of this war so far, especially given they are often staying with relatives. Since the coup in 2014 Russia has absorbed an enormous number of refugees fleeing the Ukraine.
So how may of the 600k forcibly deported children are "staying with relatives", and can you evidence this "substantial material support" ?
Sounds more as though you are repeating Putin's lies.
Can you provide any evidence of these forcible deportations, incredible accusations require some level of evidence? Are you seriously claiming there isn't a large ethnically Russian and Russophile population in the Ukraine with relatives in Russia, that the Donbass militias don't exist, that Russia hasn't taken in millions of refugees from the Ukraine as documented by the UN?
Of course it's difficult to provide definitive evidence when an essentially totalitarian regime commits crimes in the course of a war of aggression, since access to those who are forcibly deported is practically impossible. But the evidence of Russia's own statements - for example the legislation to allow adoption of Ukrainian children, taken for their country, by non relatives - is very clear. There is no evidence of millions of willing refugees - and plenty of evidence that civilians escaping cities devastated by Russian aggression were not allowed to evacuate to their own country.
As for Russian occupied Donbas, it is a mafia state similar to Chechnya. The vast majority of the cannon fodder sent to the front with inadequate weapons by the Russians are not exactly willing conscripts.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
I’m not going to defend this Putinist shmuck but I will defend PB’s commitment to free speech to my dying breath (well almost)
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
Yes he has. Says that rape claims are made up. Direct support for the rapes which are actually being committed by denying their existence.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
I’m not going to defend this Putinist shmuck but I will defend PB’s commitment to free speech to my dying breath (well almost)
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
Yes he has. Says that rape claims are made up. Direct support for the rapes which are actually being committed by denying their existence.
But some rape claims WERE made up. That is sadly true
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
I’m not going to defend this Putinist shmuck but I will defend PB’s commitment to free speech to my dying breath (well almost)
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
Yes he has. Says that rape claims are made up. Direct support for the rapes which are actually being committed by denying their existence.
But some rape claims WERE made up. That is sadly true
Does that mean that no rapes took place? We know they did. Whats next? Providing succour to the wholesale slaughter of towns where the residents were thrown into a pit?
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
But he hasn’t actually done that: endorsed rape
He has clumsily referenced the Ukrainian politician/lawyer who was sacked for elaborating rape claims. That is, uncomfortably, true
I am sure he will say something genuinely outrageous and bannable in a few minutes, but let’s stick to our free speech principles
One person exaggerating what was actually happening, and what is real and there is evidence for, and getting fired as a result is not the same as everything being fictionalised.
The liar was fired, and quite right too, but sadly a lot of the rapes are not exaggerated and everyone knows that, but it seems "JohnSmith" wants to lie about it. Or has been fed a pack of lies by his complicit media which has no free press where he lives ...
Though its worth noting again that the free press has been destroyed in Russia for many years now, before Russia left the ECHR following its second invasion of Ukraine, so many people living there know no better than the lies they're fed daily, and again the ECHR did absolutely nothing to prevent that situation arising while Russia was a member.
I think labelling refugees from mixed ethnicity cities in the Ukraine who go to Russian cities in Russia and get substantial material support from both government & civil society as "forced deportations" is one of the most insane lies of this war so far, especially given they are often staying with relatives. Since the coup in 2014 Russia has absorbed an enormous number of refugees fleeing the Ukraine.
So how may of the 600k forcibly deported children are "staying with relatives", and can you evidence this "substantial material support" ?
Sounds more as though you are repeating Putin's lies.
Can you provide any evidence of these forcible deportations, incredible accusations require some level of evidence? Are you seriously claiming there isn't a large ethnically Russian and Russophile population in the Ukraine with relatives in Russia, that the Donbass militias don't exist, that Russia hasn't taken in millions of refugees from the Ukraine as documented by the UN?
Of course it's difficult to provide definitive evidence when an essentially totalitarian regime commits crimes in the course of a war of aggression, since access to those who are forcibly deported is practically impossible. But the evidence of Russia's own statements - for example the legislation to allow adoption of Ukrainian children, taken for their country, by non relatives - is very clear. There is no evidence of millions of willing refugees - and plenty of evidence that civilians escaping cities devastated by Russian aggression were not allowed to evacuate to their own country.
As for Russian occupied Donbas, it is a mafia state similar to Chechnya. The vast majority of the cannon fodder sent to the front with inadequate weapons by the Russians are not exactly willing conscripts.
Wait a minute, so those teenagers in ageing T-72s are not enjoying being told to shoot at their cousins?
But JohnSmith insists this is some benign peacekeeping operation.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
I’m not going to defend this Putinist shmuck but I will defend PB’s commitment to free speech to my dying breath (well almost)
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
Yes he has. Says that rape claims are made up. Direct support for the rapes which are actually being committed by denying their existence.
Jumping in here. He said that some woman exaggerated rape claims and was sanctioned for it and apparently admitted it. He also said that this detracted from a "very real problem" presumably referring to rape.
So he may be 150% a Russian propagandist but why are we always so quick to fear what he might say. Engage with and dismiss the arguments - who cares who says them. Does no one any harm to refine their own thoughts discussing with someone whose opinions differ from our own.
Criminal barristers vote overwhelmingly to strike from next Monday - shutting down courts - in their dispute with Govt over legal aid funding (the cash that pays for defence, allowing many trials to get on). Decision comes after @TheCriminalBar ballot https://twitter.com/BBCDomC/status/1538814164742946819
The real irony of Putin's war of aggression is that it is the *Russians* who are effectively fascist now. Not the people in Ukraine they claim to be "liberating" from fascism by raping and killing them.
Of course what won't be so funny is the dire economic consequences of the sanctions policies, but I will try and have a laugh whilst I can.
Whilst you can, isn’t going to be very much longer.
Given that John Smith is currently sat at a desk somewhere in Russia rather than in a field with a gun in the Ukraine we can safely say he is doing better than others at the moment..
Criminal barristers vote overwhelmingly to strike from next Monday - shutting down courts - in their dispute with Govt over legal aid funding (the cash that pays for defence, allowing many trials to get on). Decision comes after @TheCriminalBar ballot https://twitter.com/BBCDomC/status/1538814164742946819
they could share a picket line with railways ticket office staff.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
I’m not going to defend this Putinist shmuck but I will defend PB’s commitment to free speech to my dying breath (well almost)
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
Yes he has. Says that rape claims are made up. Direct support for the rapes which are actually being committed by denying their existence.
But some rape claims WERE made up. That is sadly true
Does that mean that no rapes took place? We know they did. Whats next? Providing succour to the wholesale slaughter of towns where the residents were thrown into a pit?
You are over-reacting, and probably playing his game. He has got us talking about the narrow subset of Ukrainian rapes that were exaggerated or confected, rather than the very real war crimes Putin’s army is committing every hour in Ukraine
Let it go. He is trying to wind you up to get exactly this reaction, and hijack the thread. He will soon say something genuinely bannable and slanderous or whatever, and will then disappear. as they all do
Of course what won't be so funny is the dire economic consequences of the sanctions policies, but I will try and have a laugh whilst I can.
Whilst you can, isn’t going to be very much longer.
Given that John Smith is currently sat at a desk somewhere in Russia rather than in a field with a gun in the Ukraine we can safely say he is doing better than others at the moment..
LOL, white-collar soldier, too frit to even join the fight properly.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
I’m not going to defend this Putinist shmuck but I will defend PB’s commitment to free speech to my dying breath (well almost)
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
Yes he has. Says that rape claims are made up. Direct support for the rapes which are actually being committed by denying their existence.
But some rape claims WERE made up. That is sadly true
Does that mean that no rapes took place? We know they did. Whats next? Providing succour to the wholesale slaughter of towns where the residents were thrown into a pit?
Do we, by all appearances the Russians have been fighting with admirable restraint, quite unlike the likes of Azov, Kraken and Aidar. Still more is the pity no effort was made to ever have the Ukraine implement the Minsk Agreement. In the end the US is heading for an infamous defeat and an economic calamity the consequences of which we just don't know yet, as ver we have followed them in to the abyss. As Lord Richards said we used to do to strategy in this country...
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
I’m not going to defend this Putinist shmuck but I will defend PB’s commitment to free speech to my dying breath (well almost)
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
Yes he has. Says that rape claims are made up. Direct support for the rapes which are actually being committed by denying their existence.
Jumping in here. He said that some woman exaggerated rape claims and was sanctioned for it and apparently admitted it. He also said that this detracted from a "very real problem" presumably referring to rape.
So he may be 150% a Russian propagandist but why are we always so quick to fear what he might say. Engage with and dismiss the arguments - who cares who says them. Does no one any harm to refine their own thoughts discussing with someone whose opinions differ from our own.
Depends on what you think he means by the "very real problem" which the false claim distracted from. As he is a pro-Putin bot who talks of the "special military operation" I am quite confident the problem isn't that women and girls are being raped by his soldiers. Or that civilians are being slain and buried in mass graves. Its that the west is helping Ukraine resist.
I like debate. But we don't debate the rights and wrongs of rape.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
I’m not going to defend this Putinist shmuck but I will defend PB’s commitment to free speech to my dying breath (well almost)
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
Yes he has. Says that rape claims are made up. Direct support for the rapes which are actually being committed by denying their existence.
But some rape claims WERE made up. That is sadly true
Does that mean that no rapes took place? We know they did. Whats next? Providing succour to the wholesale slaughter of towns where the residents were thrown into a pit?
You know you've reached a truly impressive level of hysteria when it's the Honorary Consul in Yerevan who is trying to talk you down.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
I’m not going to defend this Putinist shmuck but I will defend PB’s commitment to free speech to my dying breath (well almost)
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
Yes he has. Says that rape claims are made up. Direct support for the rapes which are actually being committed by denying their existence.
But some rape claims WERE made up. That is sadly true
Does that mean that no rapes took place? We know they did. Whats next? Providing succour to the wholesale slaughter of towns where the residents were thrown into a pit?
Do we, by all appearances the Russians have been fighting with admirable restraint, quite unlike the likes of Azov, Kraken and Aidar. Still more is the pity no effort was made to ever have the Ukraine implement the Minsk Agreement. In the end the US is heading for an infamous defeat and an economic calamity the consequences of which we just don't know yet, as ver we have followed them in to the abyss. As Lord Richards said we used to do to strategy in this country...
Thanks for confirming that you deny your soldiers are raping women and girls.
Criminal barristers vote overwhelmingly to strike from next Monday - shutting down courts - in their dispute with Govt over legal aid funding (the cash that pays for defence, allowing many trials to get on). Decision comes after @TheCriminalBar ballot https://twitter.com/BBCDomC/status/1538814164742946819
they could share a picket line with railways ticket office staff.
Wonder if we'll see wigs a-flying Orgreave stylee?
“Russia has now forcibly deported 300,000 Ukrainian children to its own territory in order to assimilate them.”
This is Hitler-esque in terms of evil intent. One can only shudder at what is intended for the parents and extended families.
Hard not to draw some pretty unpalatable historic parallels for those dragging their heels on weapons shipments and sanctions. Or those like Kissinger, calling for a “negotiated settlement”.
Apparently, one of the clear but unstated aims of the Putin Invasion is to absorb millions of white Ukrainian Christians into Russia, thus helping with Moscow’s demographic timebomb (at least for a while) and also balancing out the relatively growing number of darker-skinned Muslims/Asians inside Russia
As you say, it is perfectly Hitlerian. Hitler did exactly the same to blonde “Aryan” Polish kids. Simply stole them
Like you, I do not see how we can ever compromise with this, in the medium-long term
The USSR did that a great deal in the 1930s to 1950s. Entire populations uprooted and moved.
However, identity is more pronounced nowadays. There is a Ukrainian identity, and the Internet makes it easier to be part of a wider diaspora. Many of the people being forced into Russia will be from the eastern states, and might be inclined towards Russia. But if even 10% see themselves as Ukrainian, then Russia will be letting itself into potentially significant issues in the future.
I actually question how long the Russian empire can hold itself together, given the way it s using troops from its regions as cannon fodder.
Apparently there's a big ethnically Ukrainian population in the far east of Russia, in the Vladivostok area. Been there for years allegedly.
AIUI for that reason: they were moved there by the Soviet government.
I'd really love to think that the days of forced government migrations were over, after the hundreds of millions who were subjected to it in the twentieth century.
Don't worry, Russia is subject to the ECHR so there's no way Russia would be committing such atrocities.
Or so I'm led to believe by recent debates about how vital the ECHR supposedly is.
Russia was thrown out when they attacked the Ukraine...
As for leaving the ECHR - given that Winston Churchill founded it - that may not be the best legacy Bozo would aim for.
Russia left didn't they as it had become a political body, as we should?
I think you will find Russia joined the fighting at the request of the Donbass Republics, very much in line with international law.
A blatant lie, since the 'republics' have no legal status.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
I’m not going to defend this Putinist shmuck but I will defend PB’s commitment to free speech to my dying breath (well almost)
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
Pretty sure that you have on occasion asked for Nats to be banned from here because you find our secessionist chat displeasing to your proud Brit ears, posters with other non-U-to-Leon views as well.
I note both the Guardian and BBC ran the Carrie £100k Foreign Office job story again this morning, without eliciting any on the record denial from No.10.
If that story can be genuinely stood up, then the PM is in real trouble. Trying to get your mistress into a public-funded job for which she’s in no way qualified, is out of order. Far more significant than birthday cake.
It has been stood up. Had been reported twice previously with little attention. Its only because the idiots in Number 10 conspired with the Times to so obviously pull the story that everyone is now talking about it.
Honestly though will anyone care? They are corrupt. We all know that already. And apparently people are happy to support corruption. And lies. And criminality. And malfeasance. because Starmer supports chicks with dicks menacing our British values.
The difference is, that it’s now getting to people like me - people who, up until now, have been generally supportive of the government while admitting they’re not perfect. People who didn’t care about birthday cake.
I get that - and glad to see that you have stopped providing succour to malfeasance lies and criminality.
But most people DO care about partygate. Its not about a slice of cake and frankly you make yourself look dim parroting this load of Tory spin.
Partygate is both utterly trivial - the PM really didn't indulge in wild parties, swinging from the chadeliers - at best there were gatherings he attended that shoulded have done, and at the same time utterly infuriating for 99% of the country who did their damnedest to abide by the ever changing rules, because they believed it was the right thing to do, and expected those setting the rules to do the same. Its like when the lie is worse than the crime, or the cover-up. Many people stuck rigidly to the rules, others like myself, did the best, but occasionally broke them (I broke a contact isolation to go and see a burst water main 400 yards from my house, and I walked my dog in the woods when I was supposed to stay at home - as a scientist I weighed the evidence and strongly suspected that outside and staying away from others I posed no risk). For whatever reason the culture of the civil service and No 10 leadership called everything wrong in the their behaviour. Some allege its because of their intrinsic arrogance - rules don't apply to us. I think for some of them that's true, others didn't go along with it, or assumed as the boss said ok, it was ok.
It was not ok. And the subsequent lies to parliament have made it far worse.
The voters will not forgive Johnson. I think we will see two new opposition MP's on friday morning. I certainly hope so.
There’s no superinjunction on the story about Boris Johnson trying to get a job for Carrie at the FO, because if there were, The Guardian couldn’t publish this. So something else has gone on and I think @thetimes should really explain what that was… https://twitter.com/mediaguardian/status/1538580002639257600
“Russia has now forcibly deported 300,000 Ukrainian children to its own territory in order to assimilate them.”
This is Hitler-esque in terms of evil intent. One can only shudder at what is intended for the parents and extended families.
Hard not to draw some pretty unpalatable historic parallels for those dragging their heels on weapons shipments and sanctions. Or those like Kissinger, calling for a “negotiated settlement”.
Apparently, one of the clear but unstated aims of the Putin Invasion is to absorb millions of white Ukrainian Christians into Russia, thus helping with Moscow’s demographic timebomb (at least for a while) and also balancing out the relatively growing number of darker-skinned Muslims/Asians inside Russia
As you say, it is perfectly Hitlerian. Hitler did exactly the same to blonde “Aryan” Polish kids. Simply stole them
Like you, I do not see how we can ever compromise with this, in the medium-long term
The USSR did that a great deal in the 1930s to 1950s. Entire populations uprooted and moved.
However, identity is more pronounced nowadays. There is a Ukrainian identity, and the Internet makes it easier to be part of a wider diaspora. Many of the people being forced into Russia will be from the eastern states, and might be inclined towards Russia. But if even 10% see themselves as Ukrainian, then Russia will be letting itself into potentially significant issues in the future.
I actually question how long the Russian empire can hold itself together, given the way it s using troops from its regions as cannon fodder.
Putin's acting as if Russia has the demographic profile and birthrate of the USSR in 1940, when indeed, young men could be used as cannon fodder.
That devilish irony, the sardonic observations, all done with a dash of the surreal. The jokes he would tell. That weird reference to “Lord Richards”. The banter and the bathos. The gaiety that echoed down the hallways of the evening, as we crossed swords like young gallants, laughing along the pastel boulevards of St Petersburg
And now he’s gone
A world is passing away before our eyes. Yet few can see it
I think labelling refugees from mixed ethnicity cities in the Ukraine who go to Russian cities in Russia and get substantial material support from both government & civil society as "forced deportations" is one of the most insane lies of this war so far, especially given they are often staying with relatives. Since the coup in 2014 Russia has absorbed an enormous number of refugees fleeing the Ukraine.
So how may of the 600k forcibly deported children are "staying with relatives", and can you evidence this "substantial material support" ?
Sounds more as though you are repeating Putin's lies.
Can you provide any evidence of these forcible deportations, incredible accusations require some level of evidence? Are you seriously claiming there isn't a large ethnically Russian and Russophile population in the Ukraine with relatives in Russia, that the Donbass militias don't exist, that Russia hasn't taken in millions of refugees from the Ukraine as documented by the UN?
Of course it's difficult to provide definitive evidence when an essentially totalitarian regime commits crimes in the course of a war of aggression, since access to those who are forcibly deported is practically impossible. But the evidence of Russia's own statements - for example the legislation to allow adoption of Ukrainian children, taken for their country, by non relatives - is very clear. There is no evidence of millions of willing refugees - and plenty of evidence that civilians escaping cities devastated by Russian aggression were not allowed to evacuate to their own country.
As for Russian occupied Donbas, it is a mafia state similar to Chechnya. The vast majority of the cannon fodder sent to the front with inadequate weapons by the Russians are not exactly willing conscripts.
So your evidence is a Wikipedia article?
The article links to numerous reports. I note you don't give links to your pathetic and disgusting claims.
Take the example of Mariupol; a quick search throw up plenty of evidence.
That’s quite impressive, less than an hour from ‘Joined’ to ‘Banned’.
Maybe this is like the “Microsoft Support” guy regularly who calls my Mum, and it’s our collective civic duty to keep the next one posting as much crap as possible here, so they don’t spend their time in places where the community might be somewhat more impressionable?
I am off now, feel free to fulminate about my comments in my absence.
I'm curious how he knew he was off immediately before he was banned?
Kind of makes me think that John's real name is Robert and he's in California not Russia and is merely having fun with us. 😉
Wouldn’t be surprised. Think of the rapid-fire succession of Putinists on here as buxom tv weathergirls who encourage ageing male viewers to take an unhealthy interest in meteorology.
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
I’m not going to defend this Putinist shmuck but I will defend PB’s commitment to free speech to my dying breath (well almost)
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
Yes he has. Says that rape claims are made up. Direct support for the rapes which are actually being committed by denying their existence.
But some rape claims WERE made up. That is sadly true
Does that mean that no rapes took place? We know they did. Whats next? Providing succour to the wholesale slaughter of towns where the residents were thrown into a pit?
Do we, by all appearances the Russians have been fighting with admirable restraint, quite unlike the likes of Azov, Kraken and Aidar. Still more is the pity no effort was made to ever have the Ukraine implement the Minsk Agreement. In the end the US is heading for an infamous defeat and an economic calamity the consequences of which we just don't know yet, as ver we have followed them in to the abyss. As Lord Richards said we used to do to strategy in this country...
“Russia has now forcibly deported 300,000 Ukrainian children to its own territory in order to assimilate them.”
This is Hitler-esque in terms of evil intent. One can only shudder at what is intended for the parents and extended families.
Hard not to draw some pretty unpalatable historic parallels for those dragging their heels on weapons shipments and sanctions. Or those like Kissinger, calling for a “negotiated settlement”.
Apparently, one of the clear but unstated aims of the Putin Invasion is to absorb millions of white Ukrainian Christians into Russia, thus helping with Moscow’s demographic timebomb (at least for a while) and also balancing out the relatively growing number of darker-skinned Muslims/Asians inside Russia
As you say, it is perfectly Hitlerian. Hitler did exactly the same to blonde “Aryan” Polish kids. Simply stole them
Like you, I do not see how we can ever compromise with this, in the medium-long term
The USSR did that a great deal in the 1930s to 1950s. Entire populations uprooted and moved.
However, identity is more pronounced nowadays. There is a Ukrainian identity, and the Internet makes it easier to be part of a wider diaspora. Many of the people being forced into Russia will be from the eastern states, and might be inclined towards Russia. But if even 10% see themselves as Ukrainian, then Russia will be letting itself into potentially significant issues in the future.
I actually question how long the Russian empire can hold itself together, given the way it s using troops from its regions as cannon fodder.
Apparently there's a big ethnically Ukrainian population in the far east of Russia, in the Vladivostok area. Been there for years allegedly.
I believe the Kuban has the highest ethnically Ukrainian population, it is also the region of Russia that most strongly support the special military operation, I seem to remember Anatoly Karlin talking about it in his interview with my old school chum Freddie Gray. Of course one isn't considering the two Donbass Republics as part of Russia, yet.
Okay, so you’re in favour of the forced migration abduction. Are you also in favour of the rape?
Didn't the Ukrainians have to sack the woman who made up the rape claims, they were that ridiculous it was embarrassing and undermined the fight against a very real problem.
Only the contrary, she was sacked for jeopardising the future prosecution of actual cases by publicly discussing details before cases were brought - and for the inappropriate disclosure of what victims had undergone at the dads of Russian rapists.
It does not disprove Russian atrocities, but rather demonstrates Ukranian desire to follow due process. Something utterly absent under the regime you admire.
There’s no superinjunction on the story about Boris Johnson trying to get a job for Carrie at the FO, because if there were, The Guardian couldn’t publish this. So something else has gone on and I think @thetimes should really explain what that was… https://twitter.com/mediaguardian/status/1538580002639257600
I really don't understand how Johnson has got away with this one. Perhaps the new Ethics adviser will raise it, hang on, what's his name?....B Johnson?
I really don't understand how Johnson has got away with this one. Perhaps the new Ethics adviser will raise it, hang on, what's his name?....B Johnson?
One for the PB collective, including Roger. I need to get some old film posters repaired which have some slight tears and one or two slightly more major ones. Can anyone recommend a good poster repair place in London? Also, if anyone had any ideas of good framers (ironically, I know one in Paris but not here).
Labour Sleaze latest sees Lammy under investsigation for some of his financial interests 🔴 EXCLUSIVE: David Lammy is being investigated by Parliament’s Standards Commissioner over alleged breaches of the MPs’ Code of Conduct on declaring financial interests worth more than £27,000 | @CamillaTominey Tsk tsk
“Russia has now forcibly deported 300,000 Ukrainian children to its own territory in order to assimilate them.”
This is Hitler-esque in terms of evil intent. One can only shudder at what is intended for the parents and extended families.
Hard not to draw some pretty unpalatable historic parallels for those dragging their heels on weapons shipments and sanctions. Or those like Kissinger, calling for a “negotiated settlement”.
Apparently, one of the clear but unstated aims of the Putin Invasion is to absorb millions of white Ukrainian Christians into Russia, thus helping with Moscow’s demographic timebomb (at least for a while) and also balancing out the relatively growing number of darker-skinned Muslims/Asians inside Russia
As you say, it is perfectly Hitlerian. Hitler did exactly the same to blonde “Aryan” Polish kids. Simply stole them
Like you, I do not see how we can ever compromise with this, in the medium-long term
The USSR did that a great deal in the 1930s to 1950s. Entire populations uprooted and moved.
However, identity is more pronounced nowadays. There is a Ukrainian identity, and the Internet makes it easier to be part of a wider diaspora. Many of the people being forced into Russia will be from the eastern states, and might be inclined towards Russia. But if even 10% see themselves as Ukrainian, then Russia will be letting itself into potentially significant issues in the future.
I actually question how long the Russian empire can hold itself together, given the way it s using troops from its regions as cannon fodder.
Apparently there's a big ethnically Ukrainian population in the far east of Russia, in the Vladivostok area. Been there for years allegedly.
I believe the Kuban has the highest ethnically Ukrainian population, it is also the region of Russia that most strongly support the special military operation, I seem to remember Anatoly Karlin talking about it in his interview with my old school chum Freddie Gray. Of course one isn't considering the two Donbass Republics as part of Russia, yet.
Okay, so you’re in favour of the forced migration abduction. Are you also in favour of the rape?
Didn't the Ukrainians have to sack the woman who made up the rape claims, they were that ridiculous it was embarrassing and undermined the fight against a very real problem.
Only the contrary, she was sacked for jeopardising the future prosecution of actual cases by publicly discussing details before cases were brought - and for the inappropriate disclosure of what victims had undergone at the dads of Russian rapists.
It does not disprove Russian atrocities, but rather demonstrates Ukranian desire to follow due process. Something utterly absent under the regime you admire.
Unfortunate autocorrect there - should have been 'hands', not 'dads'...
Hello @PBModerator are we going to ban the latest pro-putin sock puppet @JohnSmith? As he's just posted in support of soldiers raping women and girls I think its time for the ban hammer.
No, too soon
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
I'm pro free speech but endorsing the rape of women crosses the line and merits it for me @PBModerator
A world of agree. That comment was the very worst possible. Rape as a weapon of war is disgusting, appalling and profoundly wrong. "JohnSmith" supports the "denazification" of Ukraine.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
I’m not going to defend this Putinist shmuck but I will defend PB’s commitment to free speech to my dying breath (well almost)
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
Yes he has. Says that rape claims are made up. Direct support for the rapes which are actually being committed by denying their existence.
But some rape claims WERE made up. That is sadly true
Does that mean that no rapes took place? We know they did. Whats next? Providing succour to the wholesale slaughter of towns where the residents were thrown into a pit?
Do we, by all appearances the Russians have been fighting with admirable restraint, quite unlike the likes of Azov, Kraken and Aidar. Still more is the pity no effort was made to ever have the Ukraine implement the Minsk Agreement. In the end the US is heading for an infamous defeat and an economic calamity the consequences of which we just don't know yet, as ver we have followed them in to the abyss. As Lord Richards said we used to do to strategy in this country...
So Ukraine faked the civilians executed with their hands tied and just dumped in the street.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 26m Just on the Simon Walters story. I’ve now spoken to two separate sources who I trust completely who confirm Boris did attempt to employ Carrie at the foreign office whilst he was foreign secretary.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 26m Just on the Simon Walters story. I’ve now spoken to two separate sources who I trust completely who confirm Boris did attempt to employ Carrie at the foreign office whilst he was foreign secretary.
Criminal barristers vote overwhelmingly to strike from next Monday - shutting down courts - in their dispute with Govt over legal aid funding (the cash that pays for defence, allowing many trials to get on). Decision comes after @TheCriminalBar ballot https://twitter.com/BBCDomC/status/1538814164742946819
It's OK, there are plenty of agency staff on minimum wage who can step up to the plate.
Reflecting on the situation with @JohnSmith reinforces the view that the Ukraine adventure is truly a bizarre misstep by Putin. Why not just continue with provocative acts that confuse people, defy explanation and can be plausibly denied? Why start a war of aggression in a moment of rage that alienates you from most of your supporters/sympathisers and is very difficult, if not impossible, to justify? I keep thinking back to Wallace's comment 'gone full tonto' and it seems he got it right.
Much of the act when these characters appear seems to be about peddling random assertions about Russia and its objectives to see which ones are viewed sympathetically by this 'educated audience'. A meme building operation.
There’s no superinjunction on the story about Boris Johnson trying to get a job for Carrie at the FO, because if there were, The Guardian couldn’t publish this. So something else has gone on and I think @thetimes should really explain what that was… https://twitter.com/mediaguardian/status/1538580002639257600
I really don't understand how Johnson has got away with this one. Perhaps the new Ethics adviser will raise it, hang on, what's his name?....B Johnson?
No, they’ve got a new guy lined up, complete stickler for the rules apparently.
Though there is something impressive in how Dickens' caricature has stood the test of time. This might have sounded slightly archaic a decade or so back, but in the time of Johnson, it is as if fresh minted.
...“The time had been, when this burst of enthusiasm would have been cheered to the very echo; but now, the deputation received it with chilling coldness. The general impression seemed to be, that as an explanation of Mr Gregsbury’s political conduct, it did not enter quite enough into detail; and one gentleman in the rear did not scruple to remark aloud, that, for his purpose, it savoured rather too much of a ‘gammon’ tendency.” “‘The meaning of that term — gammon,’ said Mr Gregsbury, ‘is unknown to me. If it means that I grow a little too fervid, or perhaps even hyperbolical, in extolling my native land, I admit the full justice of the remark. I AM proud of this free and happy country. My form dilates, my eye glistens, my breast heaves, my heart swells, my bosom burns, when I call to mind her greatness and her glory.’”...
Am I missing something important with the Carrie story, he didn't get her hired, so why does whether he tried to or not matter? If he had, it might be different, but he didn't.
I know plenty of people who have suggested or hired their spouse or significant other for a role, its perfectly natural as you already generally trust your spouse or significant other so it makes sense to do so a lot of the time.
If he'd overridden procedure and forced her into the role, that would be scandalous, but merely suggesting her then accepting the decision when she wasn't hired . . . why is that even a story?
There’s no superinjunction on the story about Boris Johnson trying to get a job for Carrie at the FO, because if there were, The Guardian couldn’t publish this. So something else has gone on and I think @thetimes should really explain what that was… https://twitter.com/mediaguardian/status/1538580002639257600
I really don't understand how Johnson has got away with this one. Perhaps the new Ethics adviser will raise it, hang on, what's his name?....B Johnson?
No, they’ve got a new guy lined up, complete stickler for the rules apparently.
They are not getting a pay cut but their pay rise is likely to be in the region of 4% and I expect that to be the norm across the public sector
It is nothing to do with pay, it is everything to do with the unions flexing. I am surprised they are not claiming they are do it to "de-nazify" the railways.
As some of you will know we have spent the weekend in Leeds viewing our granddaughter's new student accommodation and moving her into it
We left on Saturday from Llandudno and travelled via the A55, M6, M62, and M60, and the traffic was dreadful throughout most of the journey. The area around the Thelwall Viaduct and interchange with the M62, in both directions, and especially southbound was near complete standstill and for most every road sign the rail strike dates with warnings not to travel were perfectly clear and in Wales were bilingual as you would expect
Coming home yesterday was better as we returned by the east and south of Manchester along the M56 avoiding the Thelwell viaduct
However, if this is how our motorways were last Saturday, how on earth the country avoids total travel paralysis this week I really do not know
On the strikes themselves, it is at a time like this that I support a conservative government to look after taxpayers interests and not buckle to the strength of the public sector unions who will need to settle for a sensible pay increase which will no doubt be in the region of 4% or we face a summer of discontent which I believe may well strengthen HMG position
We really do not need a class war and as I have said before, with the exception of the lower paid and vulnerable who do need support the rest of us are simply going to be poorer
You do have such confidence in the "Conservative" Government. Have you not noticed they are the ones wanting a class war for electoral reasons?
Compare Scotland where there has been an agreement of about that level.
It has not prevented the paralysis of Scotland's railways this week
No, because that is due to HMG being a UK wide thing.
One for the PB collective, including Roger. I need to get some old film posters repaired which have some slight tears and one or two slightly more major ones. Can anyone recommend a good poster repair place in London? Also, if anyone had any ideas of good framers (ironically, I know one in Paris but not here).
Don't bother. There are plenty of new ones on eBay,
Am I missing something important with the Carrie story, he didn't get her hired, so why does whether he tried to or not matter? If he had, it might be different, but he didn't.
I know plenty of people who have suggested or hired their spouse or significant other for a role, its perfectly natural as you already generally trust your spouse or significant other so it makes sense to do so a lot of the time.
If he'd overridden procedure and forced her into the role, that would be scandalous, but merely suggesting her then accepting the decision when she wasn't hired . . . why is that even a story?
Yes - the interesting thing about the Carrie story is why did the Times decide to pull it, when it was already public knowledge.
Perhaps the Times could also publish and then pull some stories about cabinet ministers accepting donations from mysterious Russians......
The seats Labour needs to win will want it gone. The Lib Dems need to target seats where voters might be open to it and they are already making that case.
Am I missing something important with the Carrie story, he didn't get her hired, so why does whether he tried to or not matter? If he had, it might be different, but he didn't.
I know plenty of people who have suggested or hired their spouse or significant other for a role, its perfectly natural as you already generally trust your spouse or significant other so it makes sense to do so a lot of the time.
If he'd overridden procedure and forced her into the role, that would be scandalous, but merely suggesting her then accepting the decision when she wasn't hired . . . why is that even a story?
At the time Carrie wasn't his wife or even significant other - Carrie was the latest bit on the side...
Now, most men with a bit on the side pay the expenses of said flossie but Bozo seems to prefer to find another means of providing said flossie with cash - say by identifying a scheme in London that can provide grants that don't need to be repaid or a cushy job...
Lammy apparently has four investigations into him opened on Wednesday last week. More footy game freebies! Failure to declare earnings from speeches on black history month. 'Overseas trips', gifts and hospitality. Rotten old business this gravy train. And, in the interests of balance, Boris and the mouth full of teeth can do one for yet more dodgy shit
I really need the LD leader to have a financial impropriety so i can call him Sir Ed Gravy
Am I missing something important with the Carrie story, he didn't get her hired, so why does whether he tried to or not matter? If he had, it might be different, but he didn't.
I know plenty of people who have suggested or hired their spouse or significant other for a role, its perfectly natural as you already generally trust your spouse or significant other so it makes sense to do so a lot of the time.
If he'd overridden procedure and forced her into the role, that would be scandalous, but merely suggesting her then accepting the decision when she wasn't hired . . . why is that even a story?
Next - why is attempted murder a thing? I can see why murder is a crime, but attempted murder, no harm, no foul applies surely?
Am I missing something important with the Carrie story, he didn't get her hired, so why does whether he tried to or not matter? If he had, it might be different, but he didn't.
I know plenty of people who have suggested or hired their spouse or significant other for a role, its perfectly natural as you already generally trust your spouse or significant other so it makes sense to do so a lot of the time.
If he'd overridden procedure and forced her into the role, that would be scandalous, but merely suggesting her then accepting the decision when she wasn't hired . . . why is that even a story?
At the time Carrie wasn't his wife or even significant other - Carrie was the latest bit on the side...
Now, most men with a bit on the side pay the expenses of said flossie but Bozo seems to prefer to find another means of providing said flossie with cash - say by identifying a scheme in London that can provide grants that don't need to be repaid or a cushy job...
Does the nature of her being a bit on the side, rather than a spouse, make a difference?
If he'd forced her into the role it would be a scandal, but he didn't, so it all seems a bit meh.
I agree that publishing then pulling the story is weird, and that's possibly made the story more interesting in a Streisand way, but other than that its a bit boring of a story.
The seats Labour needs to win will want it gone. The Lib Dems need to target seats where voters might be open to it and they are already making that case.
You can have FOM but tie it to making benefits etc linked to contributions. So no benefits in the first X years. I believe other countries do this.
Now I don't believe many of our European migrants actually came for the benefits, most wanted to work. But that was one of the narratives that won the referendum, so you can shoot the fox and have FOM for the excellent staff our country needs in so many sectors.
They are not getting a pay cut but their pay rise is likely to be in the region of 4% and I expect that to be the norm across the public sector
It is nothing to do with pay, it is everything to do with the unions flexing. I am surprised they are not claiming they are do it to "de-nazify" the railways.
Am I missing something important with the Carrie story, he didn't get her hired, so why does whether he tried to or not matter? If he had, it might be different, but he didn't.
I know plenty of people who have suggested or hired their spouse or significant other for a role, its perfectly natural as you already generally trust your spouse or significant other so it makes sense to do so a lot of the time.
If he'd overridden procedure and forced her into the role, that would be scandalous, but merely suggesting her then accepting the decision when she wasn't hired . . . why is that even a story?
He had to declare the relationship. It is standard procedure.
It is a conflict of interest and also a potential blackmail risk.
As Foreign Secretary he supervises MI6 and you don’t want the FS compromised.
Comments
That's nothing like 'in line with international law'.
It's great that this site is deemed worthy enough for Russia to send one - but next time could we have one that is vaguely good.
However, turnout was just 23%
This is a deep malaise
I am 95% sure he is a Russian bot (“John Smith” - really?) but he hasn’t said anything that merits a ban, yet. Let him speak, until that happens
He has clumsily referenced the Ukrainian politician/lawyer who was sacked for elaborating rape claims. That is, uncomfortably, true
I am sure he will say something genuinely outrageous and bannable in a few minutes, but let’s stick to our free speech principles
UPDATE 12.40 pm (June 10) – Denisova has spoken out after she was fired on Tuesday, May 31 for making scandalous accusations against Russian soldiers, in which she claimed that were raping, torturing and killing women, children and babies in Ukraine.
She was removed from her role as Ukraine’s Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights after she received a vote of no confidence in the Ukrainian parliament which passed by a margin of 234-to-9.
Following her sacking, Denisova had kept quiet, however, in an interview published by a Ukrainian news outlet, she admitted that she “exaggerated” reports of sexual crimes by Russian soldiers in order to get Ukraine more weaponry."
I have heard alarming claims about what Azov have been up to in Mariupol.
How does raping women and girls achieve this? Are they having the nazi raped out of them?
Ban hammer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crimes_in_the_2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine#Deportations
Of course it's difficult to provide definitive evidence when an essentially totalitarian regime commits crimes in the course of a war of aggression, since access to those who are forcibly deported is practically impossible.
But the evidence of Russia's own statements - for example the legislation to allow adoption of Ukrainian children, taken for their country, by non relatives - is very clear.
There is no evidence of millions of willing refugees - and plenty of evidence that civilians escaping cities devastated by Russian aggression were not allowed to evacuate to their own country.
As for Russian occupied Donbas, it is a mafia state similar to Chechnya. The vast majority of the cannon fodder sent to the front with inadequate weapons by the Russians are not exactly willing conscripts.
Quite looking forward to the results Thursday. Whilst expecting a whomping for the blues in both theres still a disconnect between all the polling, everywhere and the narrative. We have an unpopular but not yet deceased government, a lacklustre opposition and a return to form for safe protest Lib Dem party hoovering up mid term people in a grump votes. Compared to previous parlys the Tories are well placed to remain largest party yet the mood music seems all 1995ish.
I think the Wakefield result is the key one given the curcumstances and that its the two possible parties of government head to head. If the Tories stay within 10% Labour are getting humiliated next time out. Over 20% lead is i think an indication of PM Starmer in waiting. 10 to 20 and we await the movements into a GE.
Tiverton, meh, who cares? The LDs will win, probably about 50/55 to 35/40ish, Davey will do an embarassing photoshoot in Tiv Town Centre and the new LD will be out of a job at the next election.
@JohnSmith has not said the things you claim. Go back and read
The liar was fired, and quite right too, but sadly a lot of the rapes are not exaggerated and everyone knows that, but it seems "JohnSmith" wants to lie about it. Or has been fed a pack of lies by his complicit media which has no free press where he lives ...
Though its worth noting again that the free press has been destroyed in Russia for many years now, before Russia left the ECHR following its second invasion of Ukraine, so many people living there know no better than the lies they're fed daily, and again the ECHR did absolutely nothing to prevent that situation arising while Russia was a member.
But JohnSmith insists this is some benign peacekeeping operation.
So he may be 150% a Russian propagandist but why are we always so quick to fear what he might say. Engage with and dismiss the arguments - who cares who says them. Does no one any harm to refine their own thoughts discussing with someone whose opinions differ from our own.
https://twitter.com/BBCDomC/status/1538814164742946819
You are over-reacting, and probably playing his game. He has got us talking about the narrow subset of Ukrainian rapes that were exaggerated or confected, rather than the very real war crimes Putin’s army is committing every hour in Ukraine
Let it go. He is trying to wind you up to get exactly this reaction, and hijack the thread. He will soon say something genuinely bannable and slanderous or whatever, and will then disappear. as they all do
nes?I like debate. But we don't debate the rights and wrongs of rape.
Kind of makes me think that John's real name is Robert and he's in California not Russia and is merely having fun with us. 😉
It was not ok. And the subsequent lies to parliament have made it far worse.
The voters will not forgive Johnson. I think we will see two new opposition MP's on friday morning. I certainly hope so.
Absolutely no accusation being made.
That devilish irony, the sardonic observations, all done with a dash of the surreal. The jokes he would tell. That weird reference to “Lord Richards”. The banter and the bathos. The gaiety that echoed down the hallways of the evening, as we crossed swords like young gallants, laughing along the pastel boulevards of St Petersburg
And now he’s gone
A world is passing away before our eyes. Yet few can see it
Take the example of Mariupol; a quick search throw up plenty of evidence.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/thousands-of-mariupol-survivors-being-detained-and-e2-80-98tortured-e2-80-99-in-russia-controlled-prisons-in-occupied-ukraine/ar-AAXrRjm
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61208404
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/filtration-camps-russia-ukraine-war_n_624ac8b9e4b0e44de9c485ea
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/04/hundreds-of-ukrainians-forcibly-deported-to-russia-say-mariupol-women
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60894142
https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/31/putins-gulag-based-empire-of-abduction-deportation-and-modern-slavery/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61683513
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/12/ukrainians-who-fled-to-georgia-reveal-details-of-russias-filtration-camps
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ukraine-filtration-camps-osce/31825625.html
Once the invasion by the fascist you so clearly admire is defeated, a great deal more will emerge.
@Big_G_NorthWales check your privilege.
Maybe this is like the “Microsoft Support” guy regularly who calls my Mum, and it’s our collective civic duty to keep the next one posting as much crap as possible here, so they don’t spend their time in places where the community might be somewhat more impressionable?
It does not disprove Russian atrocities, but rather demonstrates Ukranian desire to follow due process. Something utterly absent under the regime you admire.
🔴 EXCLUSIVE: David Lammy is being investigated by Parliament’s Standards Commissioner over alleged breaches of the MPs’ Code of Conduct on declaring financial interests worth more than £27,000 | @CamillaTominey
Tsk tsk
Fuck off.
@DPJHodges
·
26m
Just on the Simon Walters story. I’ve now spoken to two separate sources who I trust completely who confirm Boris did attempt to employ Carrie at the foreign office whilst he was foreign secretary.
(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges
·
26m
Just on the Simon Walters story. I’ve now spoken to two separate sources who I trust completely who confirm Boris did attempt to employ Carrie at the foreign office whilst he was foreign secretary.
Much of the act when these characters appear seems to be about peddling random assertions about Russia and its objectives to see which ones are viewed sympathetically by this 'educated audience'. A meme building operation.
Though there is something impressive in how Dickens' caricature has stood the test of time.
This might have sounded slightly archaic a decade or so back, but in the time of Johnson, it is as if fresh minted.
...“The time had been, when this burst of enthusiasm would have been cheered to the very echo; but now, the deputation received it with chilling coldness. The general impression seemed to be, that as an explanation of Mr Gregsbury’s political conduct, it did not enter quite enough into detail; and one gentleman in the rear did not scruple to remark aloud, that, for his purpose, it savoured rather too much of a ‘gammon’ tendency.”
“‘The meaning of that term — gammon,’ said Mr Gregsbury, ‘is unknown to me. If it means that I grow a little too fervid, or perhaps even hyperbolical, in extolling my native land, I admit the full justice of the remark. I AM proud of this free and happy country. My form dilates, my eye glistens, my breast heaves, my heart swells, my bosom burns, when I call to mind her greatness and her glory.’”...
I know plenty of people who have suggested or hired their spouse or significant other for a role, its perfectly natural as you already generally trust your spouse or significant other so it makes sense to do so a lot of the time.
If he'd overridden procedure and forced her into the role, that would be scandalous, but merely suggesting her then accepting the decision when she wasn't hired . . . why is that even a story?
https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/20219875.rail-strikes-scotland-services-slashed-next-week-talks-fail/
https://www.ebay.com/itm/125337251491
Perhaps the Times could also publish and then pull some stories about cabinet ministers accepting donations from mysterious Russians......
The seats Labour needs to win will want it gone. The Lib Dems need to target seats where voters might be open to it and they are already making that case.
Now, most men with a bit on the side pay the expenses of said flossie but Bozo seems to prefer to find another means of providing said flossie with cash - say by identifying a scheme in London that can provide grants that don't need to be repaid or a cushy job...
Rotten old business this gravy train.
And, in the interests of balance, Boris and the mouth full of teeth can do one for yet more dodgy shit
I really need the LD leader to have a financial impropriety so i can call him Sir Ed Gravy
Why are the rail workers a special case?
If he'd forced her into the role it would be a scandal, but he didn't, so it all seems a bit meh.
I agree that publishing then pulling the story is weird, and that's possibly made the story more interesting in a Streisand way, but other than that its a bit boring of a story.
Now I don't believe many of our European migrants actually came for the benefits, most wanted to work. But that was one of the narratives that won the referendum, so you can shoot the fox and have FOM for the excellent staff our country needs in so many sectors.
It is a conflict of interest and also a potential blackmail risk.
As Foreign Secretary he supervises MI6 and you don’t want the FS compromised.