‘Guidance for Scotland’s biggest health board also says that any woman who complains about a transwoman sharing their ward should be advised that “the ward is indeed female-only and that there are no men present”.’
Labour ought to be clear FAV in this market by now. Starmer is a dud.
You're declaring Starmer a "dud" Stuart based on punters, not on opinion polling. Starmer's Labour have a c. 20% lead in the polls, and that's during Rishi's honeymoon.
When people write that "Starmer is a dud" I try to think of the last time Labour had a dull, managerial leader and Clement Attlee springs to mind. The difference is Attlee had some heavyweights in his Cabinet - Starmer does not yet appear to.
Attlee also seemed to be able to accommodate the more radical left part of his party, Starmer not so much. Stomping on the left until it goes green may have benefits in terms of impressing Tory voters but there will be other consequences.
Attlee was in a permanent battle with the radical left. They hated him almost as much as he hated them!
The Arizona governors race is still up in the air .
The remaining ballots in Maricopa county will increasingly break towards the GOP.
This is because a disproportionate amount will be coming from more rural and suburban areas . Overall in terms of GOP leaning areas there are approx 220,000 ballots to count v 65,000 ballots in Dem leaning areas .
Hobbs currently leads Lake by just over 34,000 votes .
A Labour MP who announced a month ago that she was quitting to work for the health service is now refusing to stand down while she tries to secure a peerage.
Rosie Cooper, 72, said on September 20 that she was stepping down as the member for West Lancashire to become chairwoman of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.
But she is now in a stand-off with Labour after she presented a list of demands she wants met before she names the date of her exit. It is understood to have angered senior party figures and thrown the party’s by-election plans into disarray.
In anticipation of the poll in the seat, which Labour has held since 1992, the party had moved staff from elsewhere in the north of England and the Midlands to Lancashire to help with campaigning. It has also selected Ashley Dalton, a part-time charity worker, as its candidate.
Cooper’s demands have included seeking guarantees around her police protection, which she receives as a result of a far-right extremist being jailed over a plot to murder her in 2019.
These concerns were considered to be legitimate and have been acted on by Labour, with the parliamentary authorities also agreeing to a new security package to ensure that Cooper will continue to receive protection for several years after she stands down as an MP.
But in recent weeks, multiple sources say that Cooper has tabled fresh demands for the party to award her a peerage.
If anyone still thinks we should keep the House of Lords after the last 10 years, can you please drop me a VM?
I just want to know what you're smoking, where I can get some and how much it will cost.
I do, but I want it heavily reformed. One of which - no MP to be able to be made a peer for 10-15 years - was to avoid just such a situation as you describe.
Then add minimum attendance or you lose your place and right to title.
Woke up to the news about the Democrats keeping control of the Senate, and most likely going on to win it outright 51-49.
It's a stunning result in the context.
Betting on a largely unknown Ron de Santis in 2024 against the proven winner Joe Biden is, in my opinion, foolish unless the odds are generous. I would want 10-1 before going in.
Labour ought to be clear FAV in this market by now. Starmer is a dud.
You're declaring Starmer a "dud" Stuart based on punters, not on opinion polling. Starmer's Labour have a c. 20% lead in the polls, and that's during Rishi's honeymoon.
When people write that "Starmer is a dud" I try to think of the last time Labour had a dull, managerial leader and Clement Attlee springs to mind. The difference is Attlee had some heavyweights in his Cabinet - Starmer does not yet appear to.
Attlee also seemed to be able to accommodate the more radical left part of his party, Starmer not so much. Stomping on the left until it goes green may have benefits in terms of impressing Tory voters but there will be other consequences.
Attlee was in a permanent battle with the radical left. They hated him almost as much as he hated them!
And yet he had Shinwell and Bevan in his cabinet and oversaw the creation of the welfare state. Who are the equivalent figures for Starmer and what will be his equivalent radical policy?
The Sunday Rawnsley, offered as blessed relief from the accursed cricket (and despite his not understanding laying a bet):
The longer the stretch of uninterrupted Conservative rule, the bigger the scandals tend to get.
Exhibit number one is Matt Hancock. He’s jetted down under to trouser a large sum from an unreality TV show and justifies going absent without leave from Westminster on the grounds that representing his constituents is less important than showing the public “who I am”. Matt, mate, no one is interested in discovering the “real” you.
Our next exhibit is Gavin Williamson, the pound-shop Machiavelli whose one genuine talent was exploiting the neediness of successive Tory leaders by persuading them that he could grub together support in parliament so long as they weren’t squeamish about how he did it. The only people to be saddened by his removal are Rishi Sunak, who looks like a weak fool for putting “Sir” Gavin in his government, and punters who had laid bets that Suella Braverman would be the first minister to be ejected from the Sunak cabinet.
Fear of being shamed used to be an important regulator of the conduct of politicians. Now there is no transgression so appalling that the perpetrator cannot scheme for a rapid comeback – often successfully.
This culture of shamelessness helps to explain why this protracted period of Tory rule has been splattered with so many and such a variety of scandals from Partygate to lucrative Covid contracts delivered to Tory mates by the crony express. The Conservatives broke a threshold that they should never have crossed when they gave the leadership of their party to the moral vacuum called Boris Johnson.
In a classic case of Johnsonian cakeism, he wants to give berths in the Lords to Conservative MPs who stuck with him to the end, but post-date the peerages to after the next election so the Tories don’t have to face the verdict of voters at byelections. There have been dodgy honours lists before, but this sets a new low for boundary trampling. As you would fully expect from Mr Johnson.
Mr Sunak should tear up Mr Johnson’s shopping list of baubles and peerages for his sugar daddies, courtiers and cronies. Honours are awarded in the name of the crown and with advice from the prime minister. There’s no law that entitles ex-prime ministers to hand out gongs and reserve seats in the upper chamber of the legislature. It’s just a custom. When a custom is grossly abused by a man who was fired in disgrace from Number 10, the custom can and should be overridden.
We know that Mr Johnson is a man without shame. Mr Sunak, how about you?
No surprise that PB's pub bore posts moronic shit like this:
"About two centuries before the British took India, the racist supremacist Muslim Mughals took India, and built pyramids out of skulls. The Mughals were far far worse than the British. By some estimates they killed 40-80 million Indians. Others go higher"
Labour ought to be clear FAV in this market by now. Starmer is a dud.
You're declaring Starmer a "dud" Stuart based on punters, not on opinion polling. Starmer's Labour have a c. 20% lead in the polls, and that's during Rishi's honeymoon.
When people write that "Starmer is a dud" I try to think of the last time Labour had a dull, managerial leader and Clement Attlee springs to mind. The difference is Attlee had some heavyweights in his Cabinet - Starmer does not yet appear to.
When people write that “Starmer is a dud”, it is not his dull managerialism that they are referring to. Some dull managerial types make excellent politicians.
No, it is his tone-deafness and horrifying poor judgment. Brexit, just to take one example, is a pile of putrefying shit and vomit, and Starmer has smeared himself and his party in the concoction.
Both Sunak and Starmer have been in the Commons five minutes, and boy does that inexperience show.
He does seem to be a reasonable office manager, but his ability at retail politics is woeful. Timid policy with no vision or snappy soundbites is going to cost him. His biggest asset is the pisspoor state and toxicity of the Tories.
No surprise that PB's pub bore posts moronic shit like this:
"About two centuries before the British took India, the racist supremacist Muslim Mughals took India, and built pyramids out of skulls. The Mughals were far far worse than the British. By some estimates they killed 40-80 million Indians. Others go higher"
No surprise that PB's pub bore posts moronic shit like this:
"About two centuries before the British took India, the racist supremacist Muslim Mughals took India, and built pyramids out of skulls. The Mughals were far far worse than the British. By some estimates they killed 40-80 million Indians. Others go higher"
Yet Johnson does better v Starmer in the redwall seats, the South West, Wales and East.
Sunak only does better than Johnson in Scotland and the bluewall.
So while Sunak has more confirmed Tory constituency holds, Johnson had potential for more seats won overall
One of us has completely missed the point of the header. It reads to me that Johnson was going to see the Tories obliterated across the land.
Yet the final Opinium poll under Johnson in July had the Conservatives on 33%.
The final Opinium poll under Truss had the Conservatives on 23% and the current Opinium poll rating for the Conservatives under Sunak has the Conservatives on 28%, So the real damage to the party was done by Truss, with Sunak still not having recovered to the levels Johnson had in the summer
No surprise that PB's pub bore posts moronic shit like this:
"About two centuries before the British took India, the racist supremacist Muslim Mughals took India, and built pyramids out of skulls. The Mughals were far far worse than the British. By some estimates they killed 40-80 million Indians. Others go higher"
Comedy fielding there from England. Hopefully won’t make too much of a difference, Pakistan looking to be closer to 140 than 160. Last two overs going for 3 and 5, with a wicket in each.
Not a big follower of I’m a celebrity. But on the back LD this, I am not sure the government will want to talk about their covid record all that much at the next General Election.
I’m not sure any government will. Every government made mistakes, because it was a really difficult challenge. Did you ever conceive in your life that lockdown would be a thing? And how do you balance telling people to stay home with being able to earn a living? How do you best protect the vulnerable? Do you try to eliminate the virus (see NZ), but what happens if other countries don’t (see also NZ). Certainly in the U.K. the devolved governments set their stall on being more restricted for longer, but both made errors. Sturgeons government suffered the same care home issues as Johnson’s. Drakeford oversaw supermarkets fencing off sections to avoid being unfair to smaller retailers, and closing a football ground because the toilets were in Wales. We bemoan the wasted money on PPE and track and trace, yet after the first crisis the NHS had enough PPE and if you ever used a ‘free’ test kit, ask where the bill for that went.
We know how harsh hindsight can, and probably will be. When the vaccines were confirmed as working we should have locked down hard until the over 60’s had had their shots. It would likely have saved 10s of thousands. For me that was the biggest error. Others will disagree, but fair criticism should levelled based on what was known at the time.
Most of the cash on PPE, track and trace scams ended up in Tories , their families and buddies pockets. All that cash that we now need tax rises to pay for. They should b etarring and feathering them and their crooked pals and running them out of the country.
So with the Democrats holding the Senate and the GOP still not gaining the House Biden has had the best set of midterms since Bush in 2002
And remember, 2002 was in the shadow of 9/11 and shortly before the invasion of Iraq. Not exactly normal times.
Things would, naturally, have been quite different had Biden gotten his turn sooner, different political environment entirely, but given the main concern about him is around his age, it's a real shame, as he seems to be pretty decent at being President, despite unpopularity.
‘Guidance for Scotland’s biggest health board also says that any woman who complains about a transwoman sharing their ward should be advised that “the ward is indeed female-only and that there are no men present”.’
Labour ought to be clear FAV in this market by now. Starmer is a dud.
You're declaring Starmer a "dud" Stuart based on punters, not on opinion polling. Starmer's Labour have a c. 20% lead in the polls, and that's during Rishi's honeymoon.
When people write that "Starmer is a dud" I try to think of the last time Labour had a dull, managerial leader and Clement Attlee springs to mind. The difference is Attlee had some heavyweights in his Cabinet - Starmer does not yet appear to.
When people write that “Starmer is a dud”, it is not his dull managerialism that they are referring to. Some dull managerial types make excellent politicians.
No, it is his tone-deafness and horrifying poor judgment. Brexit, just to take one example, is a pile of putrefying shit and vomit, and Starmer has smeared himself and his party in the concoction.
Both Sunak and Starmer have been in the Commons five minutes, and boy does that inexperience show.
He does seem to be a reasonable office manager, but his ability at retail politics is woeful. Timid policy with no vision or snappy soundbites is going to cost him. His biggest asset is the pisspoor state and toxicity of the Tories.
I just cannot grasp why he is such a scaredy-cat. Labour have a golden opportunity here to crush the Tories. Absolutely mash the fuckers. And instead he’s doing his very best to ape them. It is tragic to witness. Labour are going to profoundly regret their timidity, and curse their failure to recruit any talent whatsoever during the last decade.
Several remarked yesterday how they missed Cyclefree’s contributions to the site. She’s still on Twitter (https://mobile.twitter.com/Cyclefree2) and here’s a excerpt from an article she liked recently:
So why do civil liberties violations and calls for further clampdowns follow trans activism wherever it goes?
The short answer is that the trans movement threatens civil liberties because the movement is not what it claims to be and thus is threatened by free and open enquiry. If a movement cannot withstand scrutiny, it will create and enforce taboos—and undermine civil liberties in the process. One of the trans movement’s central claims is that there is no conflict between its claims and demands and the rights of any other group. Stonewall, a leading trans rights organisation in the United Kingdom, states upfront that ‘we do not and will not acknowledge a conflict between trans rights and “sex based women’s rights”.’ Merely ‘claiming [that] there is a conflict between trans people’s human rights and those of any other group’—such as women, children, religious minorities, or lesbian and gay people—is defined as transphobic hate speech that governments and private corporations alike should censor.
Labour ought to be clear FAV in this market by now. Starmer is a dud.
You're declaring Starmer a "dud" Stuart based on punters, not on opinion polling. Starmer's Labour have a c. 20% lead in the polls, and that's during Rishi's honeymoon.
When people write that "Starmer is a dud" I try to think of the last time Labour had a dull, managerial leader and Clement Attlee springs to mind. The difference is Attlee had some heavyweights in his Cabinet - Starmer does not yet appear to.
When people write that “Starmer is a dud”, it is not his dull managerialism that they are referring to. Some dull managerial types make excellent politicians.
No, it is his tone-deafness and horrifying poor judgment. Brexit, just to take one example, is a pile of putrefying shit and vomit, and Starmer has smeared himself and his party in the concoction.
Both Sunak and Starmer have been in the Commons five minutes, and boy does that inexperience show.
He does seem to be a reasonable office manager, but his ability at retail politics is woeful. Timid policy with no vision or snappy soundbites is going to cost him. His biggest asset is the pisspoor state and toxicity of the Tories.
I just cannot grasp why he is such a scaredy-cat. Labour have a golden opportunity here to crush the Tories. Absolutely mash the fuckers. And instead he’s doing his very best to ape them. It is tragic to witness. Labour are going to profoundly regret their timidity, and curse their failure to recruit any talent whatsoever during the last decade.
The crushing defeat of Corbyn in 2019 made quite clear British voters do not want the far left in government, so Starmer is right to be cautious to reassure swing voters
‘Guidance for Scotland’s biggest health board also says that any woman who complains about a transwoman sharing their ward should be advised that “the ward is indeed female-only and that there are no men present”.’
Unbelievable, Sturgeon and her cohorts have a lot to answer for.
It’s already led to cases like this in the NHS (location not disclosed):
A patient who was raped by a transgender woman on a hospital ward could not have been raped because her attacker is defined as a woman, heard the House of Lords.
Police were told by hospital staff that the reported incident was not true, telling officers: "There was no male in the hospital, therefore the rape could not have happened."
No surprise that PB's pub bore posts moronic shit like this:
"About two centuries before the British took India, the racist supremacist Muslim Mughals took India, and built pyramids out of skulls. The Mughals were far far worse than the British. By some estimates they killed 40-80 million Indians. Others go higher"
This is how the site you link to describes itself (these are the site's own words) -
Truncile.com, owned by Trunicle India Pvt. Ltd., derived from True Chronicles, is a pro nationalist opinion and news portal, launched in July 2020. Trunicle focuses on topics that are related to India policy, governance and current affairs. It also focuses on publishing positive & development oriented articles for youth who today struggle to find relevant material online. Trunicle does this by empowering individuals to come and raise their voice for what is RIGHT. (emphasis mine)
Labour ought to be clear FAV in this market by now. Starmer is a dud.
You're declaring Starmer a "dud" Stuart based on punters, not on opinion polling. Starmer's Labour have a c. 20% lead in the polls, and that's during Rishi's honeymoon.
When people write that "Starmer is a dud" I try to think of the last time Labour had a dull, managerial leader and Clement Attlee springs to mind. The difference is Attlee had some heavyweights in his Cabinet - Starmer does not yet appear to.
When people write that “Starmer is a dud”, it is not his dull managerialism that they are referring to. Some dull managerial types make excellent politicians.
No, it is his tone-deafness and horrifying poor judgment. Brexit, just to take one example, is a pile of putrefying shit and vomit, and Starmer has smeared himself and his party in the concoction.
Both Sunak and Starmer have been in the Commons five minutes, and boy does that inexperience show.
He does seem to be a reasonable office manager, but his ability at retail politics is woeful. Timid policy with no vision or snappy soundbites is going to cost him. His biggest asset is the pisspoor state and toxicity of the Tories.
I just cannot grasp why he is such a scaredy-cat. Labour have a golden opportunity here to crush the Tories. Absolutely mash the fuckers. And instead he’s doing his very best to ape them. It is tragic to witness. Labour are going to profoundly regret their timidity, and curse their failure to recruit any talent whatsoever during the last decade.
cf. 1996-7 (or indeed the first part of Blair's first term)
Yet Johnson does better v Starmer in the redwall seats, the South West, Wales and East.
Sunak only does better than Johnson in Scotland and the bluewall.
So while Sunak has more confirmed Tory constituency holds, Johnson had potential for more seats won overall
One of us has completely missed the point of the header. It reads to me that Johnson was going to see the Tories obliterated across the land.
The TLDR is that Johnson's distribution of support delivers more seats at high poll ratings but fewer seats at lower poll ratings.
Yes, but Johnson causes lower poll ratings!
Hence the dilemma for the Conservatives. It's a bit like the one the Republicans have with Trump.
Both Johnson and Trump reach parts that their parties struggle to reach otherwise. In both cases, it's tricky to get a winning path without those new parts.
But the cost in the old core, and in energising the opposition, is just too great.
Plus they are both terrible people to put in actual power.
Scottish ministers claim it is 'not in public interest' to release independent valuation of Lochaber assets
Ministers have refused to back up claims made in the media the value of the Lochaber smelter is worth more than the taxpayer liability connected to the deal.
‘Guidance for Scotland’s biggest health board also says that any woman who complains about a transwoman sharing their ward should be advised that “the ward is indeed female-only and that there are no men present”.’
Unbelievable, Sturgeon and her cohorts have a lot to answer for.
It’s already led to cases like this in the NHS (location not disclosed):
A patient who was raped by a transgender woman on a hospital ward could not have been raped because her attacker is defined as a woman, heard the House of Lords.
Police were told by hospital staff that the reported incident was not true, telling officers: "There was no male in the hospital, therefore the rape could not have happened."
No surprise that PB's pub bore posts moronic shit like this:
"About two centuries before the British took India, the racist supremacist Muslim Mughals took India, and built pyramids out of skulls. The Mughals were far far worse than the British. By some estimates they killed 40-80 million Indians. Others go higher"
This is how the site you link to describes itself (these are the site's own words) -
Truncile.com, owned by Trunicle India Pvt. Ltd., derived from True Chronicles, is a pro nationalist opinion and news portal, launched in July 2020. Trunicle focuses on topics that are related to India policy, governance and current affairs. It also focuses on publishing positive & development oriented articles for youth who today struggle to find relevant material online. Trunicle does this by empowering individuals to come and raise their voice for what is RIGHT. (emphasis mine)
‘Guidance for Scotland’s biggest health board also says that any woman who complains about a transwoman sharing their ward should be advised that “the ward is indeed female-only and that there are no men present”.’
Unbelievable, Sturgeon and her cohorts have a lot to answer for.
It’s already led to cases like this in the NHS (location not disclosed):
A patient who was raped by a transgender woman on a hospital ward could not have been raped because her attacker is defined as a woman, heard the House of Lords.
Police were told by hospital staff that the reported incident was not true, telling officers: "There was no male in the hospital, therefore the rape could not have happened."
Does the Scottish government think that gaslighting rape victims is the new progressive future?
It's just ignorance. Our sexual offences legislation is gender neutral and there is no reason why a woman with a penis could not be found guilty of rape.
Several remarked yesterday how they missed Cyclefree’s contributions to the site. She’s still on Twitter (https://mobile.twitter.com/Cyclefree2) and here’s a excerpt from an article she liked recently:
So why do civil liberties violations and calls for further clampdowns follow trans activism wherever it goes?
The short answer is that the trans movement threatens civil liberties because the movement is not what it claims to be and thus is threatened by free and open enquiry. If a movement cannot withstand scrutiny, it will create and enforce taboos—and undermine civil liberties in the process. One of the trans movement’s central claims is that there is no conflict between its claims and demands and the rights of any other group. Stonewall, a leading trans rights organisation in the United Kingdom, states upfront that ‘we do not and will not acknowledge a conflict between trans rights and “sex based women’s rights”.’ Merely ‘claiming [that] there is a conflict between trans people’s human rights and those of any other group’—such as women, children, religious minorities, or lesbian and gay people—is defined as transphobic hate speech that governments and private corporations alike should censor.
‘Guidance for Scotland’s biggest health board also says that any woman who complains about a transwoman sharing their ward should be advised that “the ward is indeed female-only and that there are no men present”.’
Unbelievable, Sturgeon and her cohorts have a lot to answer for.
It’s already led to cases like this in the NHS (location not disclosed):
A patient who was raped by a transgender woman on a hospital ward could not have been raped because her attacker is defined as a woman, heard the House of Lords.
Police were told by hospital staff that the reported incident was not true, telling officers: "There was no male in the hospital, therefore the rape could not have happened."
No surprise that PB's pub bore posts moronic shit like this:
"About two centuries before the British took India, the racist supremacist Muslim Mughals took India, and built pyramids out of skulls. The Mughals were far far worse than the British. By some estimates they killed 40-80 million Indians. Others go higher"
This is how the site you link to describes itself (these are the site's own words) -
Truncile.com, owned by Trunicle India Pvt. Ltd., derived from True Chronicles, is a pro nationalist opinion and news portal, launched in July 2020. Trunicle focuses on topics that are related to India policy, governance and current affairs. It also focuses on publishing positive & development oriented articles for youth who today struggle to find relevant material online. Trunicle does this by empowering individuals to come and raise their voice for what is RIGHT. (emphasis mine)
FWIW, I suspect that with his government career over and an expensive divorce settlement coming up (presumably also for Gina) £400k was an offer Matt Hancock simply couldn't afford to turn down.
He convinced himself that it was a way of connecting with the public better (in his mind) and he might have a slim chance of changing public perceptions of him, leading to something else in future, so why not roll the dice?
FWIW, I suspect that with his government career over and an expensive divorce settlement coming up (presumably also for Gina) £400k was an offer Matt Hancock simply couldn't afford to turn down.
He convinced himself that it was a way of connecting with the public better (in his mind) and he might have a slim chance of changing public perceptions of him, leading to something else in future, so why not roll the dice?
There’s also a degree of self flagellation. Putting yourself in the stocks and hope public outrage at you burns itself out.
FWIW, I suspect that with his government career over and an expensive divorce settlement coming up (presumably also for Gina) £400k was an offer Matt Hancock simply couldn't afford to turn down.
He convinced himself that it was a way of connecting with the public better (in his mind) and he might have a slim chance of changing public perceptions of him, leading to something else in future, so why not roll the dice?
I hope there's at least one additional 0 that shouldn't be there.
FWIW, I suspect that with his government career over and an expensive divorce settlement coming up (presumably also for Gina) £400k was an offer Matt Hancock simply couldn't afford to turn down.
He convinced himself that it was a way of connecting with the public better (in his mind) and he might have a slim chance of changing public perceptions of him, leading to something else in future, so why not roll the dice?
There’s also a degree of self flagellation. Putting yourself in the stocks and hope public outrage at you burns itself out.
Hancock wanted to be rehabilitated like Ed Balls on strictly. He made at least three mistakes. He’s still an mp. He’s picked the wrong show. He’s not Ed balls.
Comments
‘Guidance for Scotland’s biggest health board also says that any woman who complains about a transwoman sharing their ward should be advised that “the ward is indeed female-only and that there are no men present”.’
https://twitter.com/kathmurray1/status/1591708311153524737
He has also been helped massively and unintentionally by SCOTUS.
But I don’t think there’s any denying his presidency has been underrated up to now.
The remaining ballots in Maricopa county will increasingly break towards the GOP.
This is because a disproportionate amount will be coming from more rural and suburban areas . Overall in terms of GOP leaning areas there are approx 220,000 ballots to count v 65,000 ballots in Dem leaning areas .
Hobbs currently leads Lake by just over 34,000 votes .
Sunak only does better than Johnson in Scotland and the bluewall.
So while Sunak has more confirmed Tory constituency holds, Johnson had potential for more seats won overall
Then add minimum attendance or you lose your place and right to title.
No resignation honours.
No hereditaries.
A maximum number to match the Commons.
Mandatory retirement at, say, 80.
No mass party appointments following an election.
And so on.
https://twitter.com/cartoon4sale/status/1591713632257445889?s=46&t=wC7C3rKPrUYgzC9P47_hfw
Swap characters for Tory Party and Sunak dining while Johnson bangs on the window.
The longer the stretch of uninterrupted Conservative rule, the bigger the scandals tend to get.
Exhibit number one is Matt Hancock. He’s jetted down under to trouser a large sum from an unreality TV show and justifies going absent without leave from Westminster on the grounds that representing his constituents is less important than showing the public “who I am”. Matt, mate, no one is interested in discovering the “real” you.
Our next exhibit is Gavin Williamson, the pound-shop Machiavelli whose one genuine talent was exploiting the neediness of successive Tory leaders by persuading them that he could grub together support in parliament so long as they weren’t squeamish about how he did it. The only people to be saddened by his removal are Rishi Sunak, who looks like a weak fool for putting “Sir” Gavin in his government, and punters who had laid bets that Suella Braverman would be the first minister to be ejected from the Sunak cabinet.
Fear of being shamed used to be an important regulator of the conduct of politicians. Now there is no transgression so appalling that the perpetrator cannot scheme for a rapid comeback – often successfully.
This culture of shamelessness helps to explain why this protracted period of Tory rule has been splattered with so many and such a variety of scandals from Partygate to lucrative Covid contracts delivered to Tory mates by the crony express. The Conservatives broke a threshold that they should never have crossed when they gave the leadership of their party to the moral vacuum called Boris Johnson.
In a classic case of Johnsonian cakeism, he wants to give berths in the Lords to Conservative MPs who stuck with him to the end, but post-date the peerages to after the next election so the Tories don’t have to face the verdict of voters at byelections. There have been dodgy honours lists before, but this sets a new low for boundary trampling. As you would fully expect from Mr Johnson.
Mr Sunak should tear up Mr Johnson’s shopping list of baubles and peerages for his sugar daddies, courtiers and cronies. Honours are awarded in the name of the crown and with advice from the prime minister. There’s no law that entitles ex-prime ministers to hand out gongs and reserve seats in the upper chamber of the legislature. It’s just a custom. When a custom is grossly abused by a man who was fired in disgrace from Number 10, the custom can and should be overridden.
We know that Mr Johnson is a man without shame. Mr Sunak, how about you?
https://trunicle.com/worlds-biggest-holocaust-islamic-invaders-killed-more-than-80-million-hindus-in-india/
The final Opinium poll under Truss had the Conservatives on 23% and the current Opinium poll rating for the Conservatives under Sunak has the Conservatives on 28%, So the real damage to the party was done by Truss, with Sunak still not having recovered to the levels Johnson had in the summer
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election#Graphical_summary
I'd infer that Johnson's distribution of support also tilts slightly toward LibDem gains and away from Labour gains.
Oh.. you mean the cricket
Let's hope so.
It should be easy for England, so long as they don’t lose too many early wickets.
So why do civil liberties violations and calls for further clampdowns follow trans activism wherever it goes?
The short answer is that the trans movement threatens civil liberties because the movement is not what it claims to be and thus is threatened by free and open enquiry. If a movement cannot withstand scrutiny, it will create and enforce taboos—and undermine civil liberties in the process. One of the trans movement’s central claims is that there is no conflict between its claims and demands and the rights of any other group. Stonewall, a leading trans rights organisation in the United Kingdom, states upfront that ‘we do not and will not acknowledge a conflict between trans rights and “sex based women’s rights”.’ Merely ‘claiming [that] there is a conflict between trans people’s human rights and those of any other group’—such as women, children, religious minorities, or lesbian and gay people—is defined as transphobic hate speech that governments and private corporations alike should censor.
https://freethinker.co.uk/2022/10/the-falsehood-at-the-heart-of-the-trans-movement/
Betfair 1.25 on England making the runs.
So midterms success does not guarantee a big re election landslide for the President 2 years later
Great bowling, just have to hope the batsmen don't choke.
The other catch is that the effect will outlast the cause!
A patient who was raped by a transgender woman on a hospital ward could not have been raped because her attacker is defined as a woman, heard the House of Lords.
Police were told by hospital staff that the reported incident was not true, telling officers: "There was no male in the hospital, therefore the rape could not have happened."
https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/hospital-says-patient-could-not-26506744
Truncile.com, owned by Trunicle India Pvt. Ltd., derived from True Chronicles, is a pro nationalist opinion and news portal, launched in July 2020. Trunicle focuses on topics that are related to India policy, governance and current affairs. It also focuses on publishing positive & development oriented articles for youth who today struggle to find relevant material online. Trunicle does this by empowering individuals to come and raise their voice for what is RIGHT.
(emphasis mine)
https://trunicle.com/about-us/
Both Johnson and Trump reach parts that their parties struggle to reach otherwise. In both cases, it's tricky to get a winning path without those new parts.
But the cost in the old core, and in energising the opposition, is just too great.
Plus they are both terrible people to put in actual power.
Ministers have refused to back up claims made in the media the value of the Lochaber smelter is worth more than the taxpayer liability connected to the deal.
https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/scottish-ministers-claim-it-is-not-in-public-interest-to-release-independent-valuation-of-lochaber-assets-3913561
The “public” or “the SNP government’s” interest?
https://www.firstpost.com/opinion-news-expert-views-news-analysis-firstpost-viewpoint/whitewashing-genocides-and-history-phobia-why-ks-lals-claims-of-80-mn-hindus-killed-by-islamic-barbarism-hold-water-11618501.html
He convinced himself that it was a way of connecting with the public better (in his mind) and he might have a slim chance of changing public perceptions of him, leading to something else in future, so why not roll the dice?
https://twitter.com/GeorgeDobell1/status/1591738949189636096
Too few runs left for Pakistan?
Or too few wickets left for England?