I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
'Untouchable and above the law'. We live in a country which recognises the separation of powers as between executive, legislature and judiciary/law enforcement. We see in the USA very clearly what is happening when this is dissolved in corruption.
No-one from you local shop lifter up to the very top wishes to be found out and made liable in any way for what they do wrong. I don't. If I park for 10 minutes without paying I like to get away with it.
The only bodies on earth that can enforce the genuine separation of powers in respect of calling the most powerful to account are the law enforcement agencies, police and others, CPS, lawyers and the courts. If they don't do it, no-one can. If they don't do it, we like the USA don't have a genuine separation of powers.
There is, human nature being what it is, no chance that the executive and legislature will act to put this right as against itself. The use of powers already existing is the only way to render those 'untouchable and above the law' properly accountable.
What about doing things that are not illegal, but purely incompetent? "Untouchable" is more than just apparent legal immunity.
I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
In my experience, people who want to do away with civil servants are also the kind of people who complain if they can't get through to someone from HMRC on the phone. The vast majority of civil servants work for moderate wages to try and deliver the public services that everyone else takes for granted. Perhaps you mean just the permanent secretaries and Non Execs?
How many Permanent Secretaries visited Epstein Island? How many are mentioned in the files?
It's quite a leap.
How many permanent secretaries covered up for those who did visit the island? Not such a big leap, is it?
Just think it's quite funny it took you two comments to find the real villains of the piece. Plenty of problems with the civil service but I'm not convinced Epstein is a big one.
Or maybe that's just what you decided to pick out of what I said? I pointed to a class of unaccountable and untouchable politicians, civil servants and executives. That you seem to have latched on to just one of the three groups is on you, not me.
I think a big part of the problem is labelling those who disagree with them as racists, thickos, lazy, uneducated etc. It enrages people.
Actually, scratch that: a massive part.
It doesn’t exactly make them want to go back to voting Labour or any of the parties either.
Lord Peter Mandelson leaked a sensitive UK government document to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans
You know, you go through life thinking you're a cynic who understands how the world works and then you come across things like this and you are genuinely shocked. How on earth was this man positively vetted for the Ambassador job?
Meanwhile when the papers are full of stories about men abusing women and girls for sex, the SNP has decided that it should be on the side of the abusers and will not be supporting a bill criminalising those who buy sex.
Lord Peter Mandelson leaked a sensitive UK government document to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans
You know, you go through life thinking you're a cynic who understands how the world works and then you come across things like this and you are genuinely shocked. How on earth was this man positively vetted for the Ambassador job?
They're not very good at this politics lark.
If the current forecasts are anywhere near correct and Reform win but end up short of a majority, Parliament 2029-2034 is going to be a clusterfuck with no progress given the lack of consensus on the way forward. You'd have thought that two parliaments (Boris/Starmer) with the major party having significant leads would allow policies to be implemented.
We'll be looking back to the golden years of 2010-2024 as saner times.
A good principle of sending any email is that it will get back to the people you'd least like to see it, and thus should be phrased accordingly.
Earlier today we saw the damning email but couldn’t 100% confirm who it came from (albeit it was obvious).
The reply gave the game away and I think confirms the Official Secrets Act was broken
Alarmingly, broken by a Top Minister fifteen years ago, and we're only finding out now.
What other Bad Shit is happening without anyone noticing?
Oh people noticed all right at the time. And some tried to do something about it. I reported Bad Shit to the authorities during the period we are talking about. Sadly, they did the square root of fuck all in response.
And if you have even glanced at some of my articles I have pointed out Bad Shit happening right now.
None so deaf..... Those who have the power to act either don't want to or lack the courage to do so. Hence problem -> crisis -> scandal -> outrage -> public inquiry ......
... When did Sterling lose it 'reserve currency' crown to the US? And how long did the switch take?
I think it was the first half of the 20th century, but where within that I don't know.
[EDIT: If you want a single year, Perplexity.ai says Bretton Woods in 1944, but the loss of reserve currency status was a process not an event and stretched from 1930s devaluations, 1944 Bretton Woods, 1971 Nixon Shock, through to 1972–1973 shift to floating exchange rates]
Two word answer: Bretton Woods.
Edit: your edit hit first.
Or three - World War Two.
To win WW2, the British Empire liquidated its entire gold reserves, those who understand know what that means, it essentially means you are mortgaging your entire nation and empire.
This, in the long term lost Britain its empire, bankrupted its people and led to the only recourse being a post-war loan from the USA to just continue existence which was only paid off in 2006. ...
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
Lord Peter Mandelson leaked a sensitive UK government document to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans
You know, you go through life thinking you're a cynic who understands how the world works and then you come across things like this and you are genuinely shocked. How on earth was this man positively vetted for the Ambassador job?
A good principle of sending any email is that it will get back to the people you'd least like to see it, and thus should be phrased accordingly.
Some of those emails appear to have been sent to a personal email address and forwarded on from there.
Why were they not caught by any half-way IT system? This is basic stuff. Utterly negligent if government IT systems allowed emails to be sent out like this.
Basic but unsurprising. The NCSC is stealing a living. We saw this with Covid Zoom calls going via China and with published personal (not government) email addresses of Cabinet ministers. Oh, and the Afghanistan leak, and the loss of a couple of cds with everyone's details. And that is betting without hosting government services where they are susceptible to secret American access.
Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 22m apart from everything else the Mandelson scandal implies for Starmer, cannot imagine a worse backdrop for a byelection than any story combining the words 'labour politician' and 'billionaire sex offender'. I genuinely feel for the poor sods out canvassing this week.
To be fair the Lib Dems won a by-election with the background of their leader being a pisshead and one of the people looking to replace him was shitting on male prostitutes.
We talk about the sleeze and scandals of the last government, but could anyone have predicted how far and fast this goverment has been enveloped in the most disgusting and tawdry scandal with Epstein, and now an ex Labour mp arrested on alleged rape and sexual offences, and Tulip Siddiq sentenced to 4 years in prison in the Bangladesh corruption trial
Lord Peter Mandelson leaked a sensitive UK government document to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans
You know, you go through life thinking you're a cynic who understands how the world works and then you come across things like this and you are genuinely shocked. How on earth was this man positively vetted for the Ambassador job?
He wasn't. Or Starmer ignored what he was told.
That's the conclusion that you are driven to. A man who had had to resign twice for misconduct, who was called the Prince of Darkness, who has been a wheeler and dealer at a high level for decades, was NOT positively vetted before being selected for the most politically sensitive ambassadorial post we have? What was Starmer thinking?
Despite Polanski and Greens being as unsuitable for government as Farage I would vote Green just to hope Reform do not win
That is an appallingly irresponsible attitude. Reform are roughly a political match for the Tories in 1997. The Greens want to see an end to property rental, an end to the nuclear deterrent, the decriminalisation of all hard drugs, and potentially the abolition of the police force.
I would hope that if you were ever given a real choice between the two, a more sober judgement would prevail over petty political point-scoring.
I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
'Untouchable and above the law'. We live in a country which recognises the separation of powers as between executive, legislature and judiciary/law enforcement. We see in the USA very clearly what is happening when this is dissolved in corruption.
No-one from you local shop lifter up to the very top wishes to be found out and made liable in any way for what they do wrong. I don't. If I park for 10 minutes without paying I like to get away with it.
The only bodies on earth that can enforce the genuine separation of powers in respect of calling the most powerful to account are the law enforcement agencies, police and others, CPS, lawyers and the courts. If they don't do it, no-one can. If they don't do it, we like the USA don't have a genuine separation of powers.
There is, human nature being what it is, no chance that the executive and legislature will act to put this right as against itself. The use of powers already existing is the only way to render those 'untouchable and above the law' properly accountable.
What about doing things that are not illegal, but purely incompetent? "Untouchable" is more than just apparent legal immunity.
Despite Polanski and Greens being as unsuitable for government as Farage I would vote Green just to hope Reform do not win
That is an appallingly irresponsible attitude. Reform are roughly a political match for the Tories in 1997. The Greens want to see an end to property rental, an end to the nuclear deterrent, the decriminalisation of all hard drugs, and potentially the abolition of the police force.
I would hope that if you were ever given a real choice between the two, a more sober judgement would prevail over petty political point-scoring.
Lord Peter Mandelson leaked a sensitive UK government document to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans
You know, you go through life thinking you're a cynic who understands how the world works and then you come across things like this and you are genuinely shocked. How on earth was this man positively vetted for the Ambassador job?
I think the question devolves to this "WAS this man vetted?" I mean seriously?
I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
'Untouchable and above the law'. We live in a country which recognises the separation of powers as between executive, legislature and judiciary/law enforcement. We see in the USA very clearly what is happening when this is dissolved in corruption.
No-one from you local shop lifter up to the very top wishes to be found out and made liable in any way for what they do wrong. I don't. If I park for 10 minutes without paying I like to get away with it.
The only bodies on earth that can enforce the genuine separation of powers in respect of calling the most powerful to account are the law enforcement agencies, police and others, CPS, lawyers and the courts. If they don't do it, no-one can. If they don't do it, we like the USA don't have a genuine separation of powers.
There is, human nature being what it is, no chance that the executive and legislature will act to put this right as against itself. The use of powers already existing is the only way to render those 'untouchable and above the law' properly accountable.
What about doing things that are not illegal, but purely incompetent? "Untouchable" is more than just apparent legal immunity.
How do we stop people failing upwards?
Prosecute some for Misconduct in a Public Office. Give them a real jail term - a decade.
This will cause a storm of anger at the "vindictiveness" - among those of that ilk.
"pour encourager les autres"
Which reminds me - must find the paper that analysed RN records and found a performance uptick in the decades following Admiral Byng's interview without chair.
I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
If I had the answer I'd be trying to do something about it. I have done my bit trying to change the culture within the places I've worked. Though the chances of anyone in politics listening to an old woman about anything approximate to zero, as I have been saying for years.
Why do you think it has taken this long to listen to what women have been saying about this? Or why women are not listened to on any other topic affecting them? This forum has not been innocent in that regard either.
Reform is part of the same rotten cabal not a fresh broom. The Greens are batshit insane, have little regard for the law and view women as second class citizens not entitled to their rights. Their leader - who has never taken drink or drugs - decided, while stone cold sober, that he could use hypnosis to enlarge their breasts. This is nota serious person. The Tories are boneless.
The chances of change being for the better are not high. I am not optimistic. Labour could have started the process but with a leader steeped in disingenuousness, dishonesty and a joyless illiberal authoritarianism and lacking judgment or, seemingly, any feel for the country he governs, it has missed its chance - and may have made matters worse.
It comes down to applying the same standards of ethics, morality, rewards and penalties at the top of organisations as we demand of the bottom.
We have, finally, moved to a world where senior NHS managers, who do things like conduct illegal campaigns of harassment against whistleblower, will be struck of the register and can't just *get another job as an NHS manager*. That's good. A start.
The case in point, today - Mandy - if a more junior person was being recruited, multiple resignations for ethics violations would make getting a job next to impossible.
For roles far below the level that Mandy was recruited for, the security services would build a life history detailing everything. I've had friends go for such jobs - got the calls from nice people asking about stuff 20 or 30 years back. Was this done? Who read the result, if it was?
It ought not to have taken a huge amount of digging.
It was fairly open knowledge that Mandelson maintained a relationship with Epstein post conviction. The Epstein plea bargain makes it very clear (on its first page) that he was guilty of rape and trafficking of children; the ridiculously lenient sentence doesn't obscure that.
Those two facts alone should have been put to the PM within a day, surely ? If they weren't, then Mandelson wasn't vetted at all.
Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 22m apart from everything else the Mandelson scandal implies for Starmer, cannot imagine a worse backdrop for a byelection than any story combining the words 'labour politician' and 'billionaire sex offender'. I genuinely feel for the poor sods out canvassing this week.
To be fair the Lib Dems won a by-election with the background of their leader being a pisshead and one of the people looking to replace him was shitting on male prostitutes.
I suspect the Find out Now poll is not far from the truth. The Greens are overhyped for Gorton and Denton which is not inner city Manchester, voted 50% Leave and is majority working class.
A Labour v Reform battle is likely and Labour have sensibly picked a local councillor and got Burnham back campaigning for them and will see tactical votes to beat Goodwin. Reform meanwhile will have Advance taking some of their votes, though Goodwin has been endorsed by Tommy Robinson
It is quite obvious what you want to happen. At least have the class to admit it.
... When did Sterling lose it 'reserve currency' crown to the US? And how long did the switch take?
I think it was the first half of the 20th century, but where within that I don't know.
[EDIT: If you want a single year, Perplexity.ai says Bretton Woods in 1944, but the loss of reserve currency status was a process not an event and stretched from 1930s devaluations, 1944 Bretton Woods, 1971 Nixon Shock, through to 1972–1973 shift to floating exchange rates]
Two word answer: Bretton Woods.
Edit: your edit hit first.
Or three - World War Two.
To win WW2, the British Empire liquidated its entire gold reserves, those who understand know what that means, it essentially means you are mortgaging your entire nation and empire.
This, in the long term lost Britain its empire, bankrupted its people and led to the only recourse being a post-war loan from the USA to just continue existence which was only paid off in 2006. ...
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
Counterfactuals are a waste of time, but...
If Halifax had had his way, a compromised peace with Hitler agreed, could the Nazis have beaten the USSR? Arguably the failings of Barbarossa would have occurred in any campaign into the East - the extreme distances, the ability of the USSR to move its production beyond the Urals, the sheer size of the USSR man-power pool, its industrial capacity, the lack of roads, the weather etc. Its hard to argue that the UK had much impact on the outcome in 1941 (a few pin prick air raids, the distraction in Africa, the delay in Greece notwithstanding).
Lord Peter Mandelson leaked a sensitive UK government document to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans
You know, you go through life thinking you're a cynic who understands how the world works and then you come across things like this and you are genuinely shocked. How on earth was this man positively vetted for the Ambassador job?
He wasn't. Or Starmer ignored what he was told.
That's the conclusion that you are driven to. A man who had had to resign twice for misconduct, who was called the Prince of Darkness, who has been a wheeler and dealer at a high level for decades, was NOT positively vetted before being selected for the most politically sensitive ambassadorial post we have? What was Starmer thinking?
Keeping Trump happy - I suspect.
But I suspect following today’s revolutions that SKS will be gone this year.
Remember it’s very hard to remove a Labour PM, I suspect this makes things a lot easier
I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
'Untouchable and above the law'. We live in a country which recognises the separation of powers as between executive, legislature and judiciary/law enforcement. We see in the USA very clearly what is happening when this is dissolved in corruption.
No-one from you local shop lifter up to the very top wishes to be found out and made liable in any way for what they do wrong. I don't. If I park for 10 minutes without paying I like to get away with it.
The only bodies on earth that can enforce the genuine separation of powers in respect of calling the most powerful to account are the law enforcement agencies, police and others, CPS, lawyers and the courts. If they don't do it, no-one can. If they don't do it, we like the USA don't have a genuine separation of powers.
There is, human nature being what it is, no chance that the executive and legislature will act to put this right as against itself. The use of powers already existing is the only way to render those 'untouchable and above the law' properly accountable.
What about doing things that are not illegal, but purely incompetent? "Untouchable" is more than just apparent legal immunity.
Despite Polanski and Greens being as unsuitable for government as Farage I would vote Green just to hope Reform do not win
That is an appallingly irresponsible attitude. Reform are roughly a political match for the Tories in 1997. The Greens want to see an end to property rental, an end to the nuclear deterrent, the decriminalisation of all hard drugs, and potentially the abolition of the police force.
I would hope that if you were ever given a real choice between the two, a more sober judgement would prevail over petty political point-scoring.
I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
'Untouchable and above the law'. We live in a country which recognises the separation of powers as between executive, legislature and judiciary/law enforcement. We see in the USA very clearly what is happening when this is dissolved in corruption.
No-one from you local shop lifter up to the very top wishes to be found out and made liable in any way for what they do wrong. I don't. If I park for 10 minutes without paying I like to get away with it.
The only bodies on earth that can enforce the genuine separation of powers in respect of calling the most powerful to account are the law enforcement agencies, police and others, CPS, lawyers and the courts. If they don't do it, no-one can. If they don't do it, we like the USA don't have a genuine separation of powers.
There is, human nature being what it is, no chance that the executive and legislature will act to put this right as against itself. The use of powers already existing is the only way to render those 'untouchable and above the law' properly accountable.
What about doing things that are not illegal, but purely incompetent? "Untouchable" is more than just apparent legal immunity.
How do we stop people failing upwards?
Prosecute some for Misconduct in a Public Office. Give them a real jail term - a decade.
This will cause a storm of anger at the "vindictiveness" - among those of that ilk.
"pour encourager les autres"
Which reminds me - must find the paper that analysed RN records and found a performance uptick in the decades following Admiral Byng's interview without chair.
Always felt a bit sorry for Byng. It shouldn't happen to someone of that Rank! But I think it did partly lead to the offensive character of the RN, something that Nelson took to the max. Being an officer at those times was not for the faint-hearted. Dressed to be visible and not allowed to duck or take cover in battle.
Despite Polanski and Greens being as unsuitable for government as Farage I would vote Green just to hope Reform do not win
That is an appallingly irresponsible attitude. Reform are roughly a political match for the Tories in 1997. The Greens want to see an end to property rental, an end to the nuclear deterrent, the decriminalisation of all hard drugs, and potentially the abolition of the police force.
I would hope that if you were ever given a real choice between the two, a more sober judgement would prevail over petty political point-scoring.
I utterly reject the Goodwiln - Robinson - Farage Trump tribute act and would vote for anyone best to beat them
They are nothing like the 1997 conservatives nor the party I have supported for over 60 years
Despite Polanski and Greens being as unsuitable for government as Farage I would vote Green just to hope Reform do not win
That is an appallingly irresponsible attitude. Reform are roughly a political match for the Tories in 1997. The Greens want to see an end to property rental, an end to the nuclear deterrent, the decriminalisation of all hard drugs, and potentially the abolition of the police force.
I would hope that if you were ever given a real choice between the two, a more sober judgement would prevail over petty political point-scoring.
Yep, I'd vote Reform to stop the Greens.
Same here, although unlikely here given the electoral demographics.
The Greens are Corbynism on Steroids. If they were the fluffy environmentalists that’s one thing but they aren’t and Polanski hasn’t really been subjected to much scrutiny.
... When did Sterling lose it 'reserve currency' crown to the US? And how long did the switch take?
I think it was the first half of the 20th century, but where within that I don't know.
[EDIT: If you want a single year, Perplexity.ai says Bretton Woods in 1944, but the loss of reserve currency status was a process not an event and stretched from 1930s devaluations, 1944 Bretton Woods, 1971 Nixon Shock, through to 1972–1973 shift to floating exchange rates]
Two word answer: Bretton Woods.
Edit: your edit hit first.
Or three - World War Two.
To win WW2, the British Empire liquidated its entire gold reserves, those who understand know what that means, it essentially means you are mortgaging your entire nation and empire.
This, in the long term lost Britain its empire, bankrupted its people and led to the only recourse being a post-war loan from the USA to just continue existence which was only paid off in 2006. ...
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
Counterfactuals are a waste of time, but...
If Halifax had had his way, a compromised peace with Hitler agreed, could the Nazis have beaten the USSR? Arguably the failings of Barbarossa would have occurred in any campaign into the East - the extreme distances, the ability of the USSR to move its production beyond the Urals, the sheer size of the USSR man-power pool, its industrial capacity, the lack of roads, the weather etc. Its hard to argue that the UK had much impact on the outcome in 1941 (a few pin prick air raids, the distraction in Africa, the delay in Greece notwithstanding).
There's also the political dimension - Stalin collapsed into a funk at the start of the invasion. And apparently expected himself to be dragged off and shot when his flunkies turned up to try and getting him moving.
Politically, the system held. But it very nearly fell.
While the German plan and insane and logistically ridiculous, they got to the commuter belt of Moscow. Given how centralised infrastructure in Russia was at the time, if Moscow was captured, the whole front would collapse back a long way.
I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
'Untouchable and above the law'. We live in a country which recognises the separation of powers as between executive, legislature and judiciary/law enforcement. We see in the USA very clearly what is happening when this is dissolved in corruption.
No-one from you local shop lifter up to the very top wishes to be found out and made liable in any way for what they do wrong. I don't. If I park for 10 minutes without paying I like to get away with it.
The only bodies on earth that can enforce the genuine separation of powers in respect of calling the most powerful to account are the law enforcement agencies, police and others, CPS, lawyers and the courts. If they don't do it, no-one can. If they don't do it, we like the USA don't have a genuine separation of powers.
There is, human nature being what it is, no chance that the executive and legislature will act to put this right as against itself. The use of powers already existing is the only way to render those 'untouchable and above the law' properly accountable.
What about doing things that are not illegal, but purely incompetent? "Untouchable" is more than just apparent legal immunity.
How do we stop people failing upwards?
Prosecute some for Misconduct in a Public Office. Give them a real jail term - a decade.
This will cause a storm of anger at the "vindictiveness" - among those of that ilk.
"pour encourager les autres"
Which reminds me - must find the paper that analysed RN records and found a performance uptick in the decades following Admiral Byng's interview without chair.
Always felt a bit sorry for Byng. It shouldn't happen to someone of that Rank! But I think it did partly lead to the offensive character of the RN, something that Nelson took to the max. Being an officer at those times was not for the faint-hearted. Dressed to be visible and not allowed to duck or take cover in battle.
Taking cover was allowed - see the use of hammocks as shot/splinter traps. Ducking *after* a shot has passed was frowned upon.
Nelson was being a bit ridiculous, even by those standards. And several of his subordinates tried to change his behaviour.
I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
If I had the answer I'd be trying to do something about it. I have done my bit trying to change the culture within the places I've worked. Though the chances of anyone in politics listening to an old woman about anything approximate to zero, as I have been saying for years.
Why do you think it has taken this long to listen to what women have been saying about this? Or why women are not listened to on any other topic affecting them? This forum has not been innocent in that regard either.
Reform is part of the same rotten cabal not a fresh broom. The Greens are batshit insane, have little regard for the law and view women as second class citizens not entitled to their rights. Their leader - who has never taken drink or drugs - decided, while stone cold sober, that he could use hypnosis to enlarge their breasts. This is nota serious person. The Tories are boneless.
The chances of change being for the better are not high. I am not optimistic. Labour could have started the process but with a leader steeped in disingenuousness, dishonesty and a joyless illiberal authoritarianism and lacking judgment or, seemingly, any feel for the country he governs, it has missed its chance - and may have made matters worse.
It comes down to applying the same standards of ethics, morality, rewards and penalties at the top of organisations as we demand of the bottom.
We have, finally, moved to a world where senior NHS managers, who do things like conduct illegal campaigns of harassment against whistleblower, will be struck of the register and can't just *get another job as an NHS manager*. That's good. A start.
The case in point, today - Mandy - if a more junior person was being recruited, multiple resignations for ethics violations would make getting a job next to impossible.
For roles far below the level that Mandy was recruited for, the security services would build a life history detailing everything. I've had friends go for such jobs - got the calls from nice people asking about stuff 20 or 30 years back. Was this done? Who read the result, if it was?
It ought not to have taken a huge amount of digging.
It was fairly open knowledge that Mandelson maintained a relationship with Epstein post conviction. The Epstein plea bargain makes it very clear (on its first page) that he was guilty of rape and trafficking of children; the ridiculously lenient sentence doesn't obscure that.
Those two facts alone should have been put to the PM within a day, surely ? If they weren't, then Mandelson wasn't vetted at all.
Mandelson's insider trading as Business Secretary over land assets, leaking of Government emails, advising JP Morgan to threaten Darling, and the payments are far more important than the salacious material.
This is pretty close to treason. Certainly misconduct in public office. Working with Epstein and JP Morgan to threaten Darling (against Government policy) who is the C of E is astonishing.
"Can severe penalties ”encourage the others”? Using the famous case of the British Ad- miral John Byng, executed for his failure to recapture French-held Menorca in 1757, we examine the incentive effects of judicial punishments. Men related to Byng per- formed markedly better after his unexpected death. We generalize this result using information from 963 court martials. Battle performance of captains related to a court- martialed and convicted officers improved sharply thereafter. The loss of influential connections was key for incentive effects – officers with other important connections improved little after Byng’s execution or other severe sentences."
Exclusive: A U.S. official has alleged wrongdoing by U.S. spy chief Tulsi Gabbard in a complaint that is so highly classified it has sparked months of wrangling over how to share it with Congress, according to people familiar with the matter.
How many of the senior people in charge at the Post Office when the wrongful prosecutions were happening -
•Adam Crozier, Royal Mail CEO 2003 – 2010 •Moya Greene, Royal Mail CEO 2010 – 2018 •David Mills, Post Office MD 2002 – 2005 •Alan Cook, Post Office MD 2006–2010 Or its Chair •Allan Leighton 2002 – 2009
... When did Sterling lose it 'reserve currency' crown to the US? And how long did the switch take?
I think it was the first half of the 20th century, but where within that I don't know.
[EDIT: If you want a single year, Perplexity.ai says Bretton Woods in 1944, but the loss of reserve currency status was a process not an event and stretched from 1930s devaluations, 1944 Bretton Woods, 1971 Nixon Shock, through to 1972–1973 shift to floating exchange rates]
Two word answer: Bretton Woods.
Edit: your edit hit first.
Or three - World War Two.
To win WW2, the British Empire liquidated its entire gold reserves, those who understand know what that means, it essentially means you are mortgaging your entire nation and empire.
This, in the long term lost Britain its empire, bankrupted its people and led to the only recourse being a post-war loan from the USA to just continue existence which was only paid off in 2006. ...
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
Counterfactuals are a waste of time, but...
If Halifax had had his way, a compromised peace with Hitler agreed, could the Nazis have beaten the USSR? Arguably the failings of Barbarossa would have occurred in any campaign into the East - the extreme distances, the ability of the USSR to move its production beyond the Urals, the sheer size of the USSR man-power pool, its industrial capacity, the lack of roads, the weather etc. Its hard to argue that the UK had much impact on the outcome in 1941 (a few pin prick air raids, the distraction in Africa, the delay in Greece notwithstanding).
Without Britain, as you say, the Nazis would have slugged it out across Europe and one way or another, would have been left under totalitarian dictatorships. There would have been no unsinkable aircraft carrier from which America could liberate Europe. Probably no convoys of British and American military aid to Stalin. No inspiration, arming and coordination of resistance movements across Europe.
So the key battle of ww2 was not Midway or Moscow or Stalingrad or El Alamein. The battle from which all else flowed was the Battle of Britain.
Despite Polanski and Greens being as unsuitable for government as Farage I would vote Green just to hope Reform do not win
That is an appallingly irresponsible attitude. Reform are roughly a political match for the Tories in 1997. The Greens want to see an end to property rental, an end to the nuclear deterrent, the decriminalisation of all hard drugs, and potentially the abolition of the police force.
I would hope that if you were ever given a real choice between the two, a more sober judgement would prevail over petty political point-scoring.
Reform are not a rough political match for the Tories in 1997. As one example, here’s what the 1997 manifesto said on global warming:
“We will also continue to provide leadership in Europe and internationally on environmental issues, building on the Rio Conference to encourage sustainable development – meeting our commitment to reduce Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions by 10% on 1990 levels by 2010 to prevent climate change. The Prime Minister has committed himself to attending the next UN Environmental Conference in June.”
Or there’s this:
“The government has a positive vision for the European Union as a partnership of nations. We want to be in Europe but not run by Europe. We have much to gain from our membership of the European Union –in trade, in co-operation between governments, and in preserving European peace. We benefit from the huge trade opportunities that have opened up since Britain led the way in developing Europe’s single market. We want to see the rest of Europe follow the same deregulated, enterprise policies that have transformed our economic prospects in Britain.”
Or:
“We will ensure that, while genuine asylum seekers are treated sympathetically, people do not abuse these provisions to avoid normal immigration controls.”
Or:
“Everybody, regardless of colour or creed, has the right to go about his or her life free from the threat of intimidation. We are taking tough action to tackle harassment. Under proposals in the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, it will be a crime to behave in a way which causes someone else to be harassed. The maximum penalty will be 6 months in prison.“
The picture of Andrew leaning over the woman on the floor was taken in Epstein’s NYC house
It just gets darker and darker
Prince Andrew, as he then was, visited my place of work several years ago. I never got to encounter him, but we were all told that there were to be strictly no photos. It's odd that he didn't adhere to this principle in other circumstances when it might have been much better for him if he had.
I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
If I had the answer I'd be trying to do something about it. I have done my bit trying to change the culture within the places I've worked. Though the chances of anyone in politics listening to an old woman about anything approximate to zero, as I have been saying for years.
Why do you think it has taken this long to listen to what women have been saying about this? Or why women are not listened to on any other topic affecting them? This forum has not been innocent in that regard either.
Reform is part of the same rotten cabal not a fresh broom. The Greens are batshit insane, have little regard for the law and view women as second class citizens not entitled to their rights. Their leader - who has never taken drink or drugs - decided, while stone cold sober, that he could use hypnosis to enlarge their breasts. This is nota serious person. The Tories are boneless.
The chances of change being for the better are not high. I am not optimistic. Labour could have started the process but with a leader steeped in disingenuousness, dishonesty and a joyless illiberal authoritarianism and lacking judgment or, seemingly, any feel for the country he governs, it has missed its chance - and may have made matters worse.
It comes down to applying the same standards of ethics, morality, rewards and penalties at the top of organisations as we demand of the bottom.
We have, finally, moved to a world where senior NHS managers, who do things like conduct illegal campaigns of harassment against whistleblower, will be struck of the register and can't just *get another job as an NHS manager*. That's good. A start.
The case in point, today - Mandy - if a more junior person was being recruited, multiple resignations for ethics violations would make getting a job next to impossible.
For roles far below the level that Mandy was recruited for, the security services would build a life history detailing everything. I've had friends go for such jobs - got the calls from nice people asking about stuff 20 or 30 years back. Was this done? Who read the result, if it was?
It ought not to have taken a huge amount of digging.
It was fairly open knowledge that Mandelson maintained a relationship with Epstein post conviction. The Epstein plea bargain makes it very clear (on its first page) that he was guilty of rape and trafficking of children; the ridiculously lenient sentence doesn't obscure that.
Those two facts alone should have been put to the PM within a day, surely ? If they weren't, then Mandelson wasn't vetted at all.
Mandelson's insider trading as Business Secretary over land assets, leaking of Government email, advising JP Morgan to threaten Darling, and the payments are far more important than the salacious material.
This is pretty close to treason. Working with Epstein and JP Morgan to threaten Darling who is the C of E is astonishing.
I've heard stuff about Mandelson that would mean he should be nowhere near foreign office/ambassadorial matters. If I've heard them, how can Starmer not... Maybe its all bollocks, but my sources were pretty convincing.
“The prime minister has asked for this to be urgently looked at and the prime minister believes that Peter Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords," a spokesman said.
“However the prime minister does not have the power to remove [his peerage].“
Just bring a one line bill to the House next week (or threaten to), surely! Why is Starmer so bad at politics?
How many of the senior people in charge at the Post Office when the wrongful prosecutions were happening -
•Adam Crozier, Royal Mail CEO 2003 – 2010 •Moya Greene, Royal Mail CEO 2010 – 2018 •David Mills, Post Office MD 2002 – 2005 •Alan Cook, Post Office MD 2006–2010 Or its Chair •Allan Leighton 2002 – 2009
have suffered any adverse consequences at all?
A big fat zero.
He hasn't resigned from the Lords yet, only from Labour.
The above are no longer in executive posts at Royal Mail
Anyone with the ambition, drive and personability to make it to the top in competitive fields probably also needs to be willing to... cut corners to get to the top. It's better to renounce dark arts, but then you are tying a hand behind your back.
As usual, those who make it to the top negatively correlate with those we need at the top.
I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
'Untouchable and above the law'. We live in a country which recognises the separation of powers as between executive, legislature and judiciary/law enforcement. We see in the USA very clearly what is happening when this is dissolved in corruption.
No-one from you local shop lifter up to the very top wishes to be found out and made liable in any way for what they do wrong. I don't. If I park for 10 minutes without paying I like to get away with it.
The only bodies on earth that can enforce the genuine separation of powers in respect of calling the most powerful to account are the law enforcement agencies, police and others, CPS, lawyers and the courts. If they don't do it, no-one can. If they don't do it, we like the USA don't have a genuine separation of powers.
There is, human nature being what it is, no chance that the executive and legislature will act to put this right as against itself. The use of powers already existing is the only way to render those 'untouchable and above the law' properly accountable.
What about doing things that are not illegal, but purely incompetent? "Untouchable" is more than just apparent legal immunity.
How do we stop people failing upwards?
Prosecute some for Misconduct in a Public Office. Give them a real jail term - a decade.
This will cause a storm of anger at the "vindictiveness" - among those of that ilk.
"pour encourager les autres"
Which reminds me - must find the paper that analysed RN records and found a performance uptick in the decades following Admiral Byng's interview without chair.
There were 67 prosecutions for Misconduct in a Public Office for the year ending June ‘24.
The picture of Andrew leaning over the woman on the floor was taken in Epstein’s NYC house
It just gets darker and darker
You don't say! Shocked I tell you
I expect Andrew will be sending Mandy a crate of vintage champagne this week though for taking most of the flack from these latest Epstein record releases from him
...my daughter was telling me that all her friends (who mostly voted LD) are all now planning to vote Conservative in Brentwood and Ongar to keep Reform out...
You mean they...looked back in Ongar?
And found an Oasis of conservatism.
Ongar will definitely go Reform regardless, Reform won 77% of the vote in an Ongar Town Council election last year. The same likely goes for North Weald and much of the rural part of the seat. However Brentwood itself has mostly LD and a few Labour councillors with Tory councillors in suburban Hutton so that is where the Tories will pick up tactical votes (albeit Reform won 45% in a Hutton district council by election last year too with the Tories second)
Why? It's a very white, well-off, property-owning (73%), centrist sort of place. What do Reform offer them?
Reform are now the leading party of the right in polls, indeed the first placed party in most polls.
If Reform slipped back Hutton would go Tory again but for now swing voters and most rightwingers are going Reform
But what do Reform offer them?
The prospect that they might not goven from the soft left, like the Tories mostly did*?
*Yes, I know about Brexit, but that only happened because the Tory leadership messed up, and actually let the public say what they thought in a way where they couldn't then get out of doing it. Also the EU had a bad case of cutting off its nose to spite it's face during the negotiations, which resulted in a harder Brexit than either the EU or the Tory leadership wanted.
NEW: No 10 says Keir Starmer wants Peter Mandelson out of the House of Lords ‘by hook or by crook’. But is not currently planning primary legislation to remove him…
I suspect the Find out Now poll is not far from the truth. The Greens are overhyped for Gorton and Denton which is not inner city Manchester, voted 50% Leave and is majority working class.
A Labour v Reform battle is likely and Labour have sensibly picked a local councillor and got Burnham back campaigning for them and will see tactical votes to beat Goodwin. Reform meanwhile will have Advance taking some of their votes, though Goodwin has been endorsed by Tommy Robinson
It is quite obvious what you want to happen. At least have the class to admit it.
What i want to happen is for a shock Tory gain in Gorton and Denton, however I also wanted to win the £5 million Hampstead town house Omaze price last week with about the same likelihood!
How many of the senior people in charge at the Post Office when the wrongful prosecutions were happening -
•Adam Crozier, Royal Mail CEO 2003 – 2010 •Moya Greene, Royal Mail CEO 2010 – 2018 •David Mills, Post Office MD 2002 – 2005 •Alan Cook, Post Office MD 2006–2010 Or its Chair •Allan Leighton 2002 – 2009
have suffered any adverse consequences at all?
A big fat zero.
Mandelson remains a Peer.
The treachery against the Government he was part of and the nation in general is mind numbing.
I can't continue to chase Reform MP's pro-Russian adjacency if I don't call this for what it is. Mandelson by undermining Government policy is equally as despicable.
I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
If I had the answer I'd be trying to do something about it. I have done my bit trying to change the culture within the places I've worked. Though the chances of anyone in politics listening to an old woman about anything approximate to zero, as I have been saying for years.
Why do you think it has taken this long to listen to what women have been saying about this? Or why women are not listened to on any other topic affecting them? This forum has not been innocent in that regard either.
Reform is part of the same rotten cabal not a fresh broom. The Greens are batshit insane, have little regard for the law and view women as second class citizens not entitled to their rights. Their leader - who has never taken drink or drugs - decided, while stone cold sober, that he could use hypnosis to enlarge their breasts. This is nota serious person. The Tories are boneless.
The chances of change being for the better are not high. I am not optimistic. Labour could have started the process but with a leader steeped in disingenuousness, dishonesty and a joyless illiberal authoritarianism and lacking judgment or, seemingly, any feel for the country he governs, it has missed its chance - and may have made matters worse.
To be fair, some at least of this country's problems are down to a woman....... Margaret Thatcher.
Started by Thatcher and continued & expanded by Blair. And now Starmer & Reeves want to repeat the mistake re the City because in the intervening 30 years no-one has come up with any new thinking.
Yes, I recall that, and agree entirely. I've been banging on about the toxic parts of Thatcher's legacy in other areas for even longer.
... When did Sterling lose it 'reserve currency' crown to the US? And how long did the switch take?
I think it was the first half of the 20th century, but where within that I don't know.
[EDIT: If you want a single year, Perplexity.ai says Bretton Woods in 1944, but the loss of reserve currency status was a process not an event and stretched from 1930s devaluations, 1944 Bretton Woods, 1971 Nixon Shock, through to 1972–1973 shift to floating exchange rates]
Two word answer: Bretton Woods.
Edit: your edit hit first.
Or three - World War Two.
To win WW2, the British Empire liquidated its entire gold reserves, those who understand know what that means, it essentially means you are mortgaging your entire nation and empire.
This, in the long term lost Britain its empire, bankrupted its people and led to the only recourse being a post-war loan from the USA to just continue existence which was only paid off in 2006. ...
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
Counterfactuals are a waste of time, but...
If Halifax had had his way, a compromised peace with Hitler agreed, could the Nazis have beaten the USSR? Arguably the failings of Barbarossa would have occurred in any campaign into the East - the extreme distances, the ability of the USSR to move its production beyond the Urals, the sheer size of the USSR man-power pool, its industrial capacity, the lack of roads, the weather etc. Its hard to argue that the UK had much impact on the outcome in 1941 (a few pin prick air raids, the distraction in Africa, the delay in Greece notwithstanding).
Without Britain, as you say, the Nazis would have slugged it out across Europe and one way or another, would have been left under totalitarian dictatorships. There would have been no unsinkable aircraft carrier from which America could liberate Europe. Probably no convoys of British and American military aid to Stalin. No inspiration, arming and coordination of resistance movements across Europe.
So the key battle of ww2 was not Midway or Moscow or Stalingrad or El Alamein. The battle from which all else flowed was the Battle of Britain.
There is certainly a strong argument for that. I would counter thought that the Nazis would have struggled to land and support enough troops and material in face of the Royal Navy. You only need to look at how hard D-Day was and the scale that it needed, and compare with the hare-brained German plan of Rhine-barges heavily laden across the notoriously tricky channel. Now imagine trying to do that with the Home fleet in attendance?
A lot of the mythology of the second world war is wrong. I don't think Churchill believed Hitler would be able to invade. Certainly after the battle of Britain there was very little threat of an actual German invasion anymore, and arguably it was never a genuine threat.
“The prime minister has asked for this to be urgently looked at and the prime minister believes that Peter Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords," a spokesman said.
“However the prime minister does not have the power to remove [his peerage].“
Just bring a one line bill to the House next week (or threaten to), surely! Why is Starmer so bad at politics?
Primary legislation to remove a legislator is not a path democracies should be rushing to go down (not that sensible democracies have appointed-for-life second chambers).
I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
'Untouchable and above the law'. We live in a country which recognises the separation of powers as between executive, legislature and judiciary/law enforcement. We see in the USA very clearly what is happening when this is dissolved in corruption.
No-one from you local shop lifter up to the very top wishes to be found out and made liable in any way for what they do wrong. I don't. If I park for 10 minutes without paying I like to get away with it.
The only bodies on earth that can enforce the genuine separation of powers in respect of calling the most powerful to account are the law enforcement agencies, police and others, CPS, lawyers and the courts. If they don't do it, no-one can. If they don't do it, we like the USA don't have a genuine separation of powers.
There is, human nature being what it is, no chance that the executive and legislature will act to put this right as against itself. The use of powers already existing is the only way to render those 'untouchable and above the law' properly accountable.
What about doing things that are not illegal, but purely incompetent? "Untouchable" is more than just apparent legal immunity.
How do we stop people failing upwards?
Prosecute some for Misconduct in a Public Office. Give them a real jail term - a decade.
This will cause a storm of anger at the "vindictiveness" - among those of that ilk.
"pour encourager les autres"
Which reminds me - must find the paper that analysed RN records and found a performance uptick in the decades following Admiral Byng's interview without chair.
Norman Roger is of the firm view that shooting Byng was justified, in view of the improvements that it delivered.
... When did Sterling lose it 'reserve currency' crown to the US? And how long did the switch take?
I think it was the first half of the 20th century, but where within that I don't know.
[EDIT: If you want a single year, Perplexity.ai says Bretton Woods in 1944, but the loss of reserve currency status was a process not an event and stretched from 1930s devaluations, 1944 Bretton Woods, 1971 Nixon Shock, through to 1972–1973 shift to floating exchange rates]
Two word answer: Bretton Woods.
Edit: your edit hit first.
Or three - World War Two.
To win WW2, the British Empire liquidated its entire gold reserves, those who understand know what that means, it essentially means you are mortgaging your entire nation and empire.
This, in the long term lost Britain its empire, bankrupted its people and led to the only recourse being a post-war loan from the USA to just continue existence which was only paid off in 2006. ...
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
Counterfactuals are a waste of time, but...
If Halifax had had his way, a compromised peace with Hitler agreed, could the Nazis have beaten the USSR? Arguably the failings of Barbarossa would have occurred in any campaign into the East - the extreme distances, the ability of the USSR to move its production beyond the Urals, the sheer size of the USSR man-power pool, its industrial capacity, the lack of roads, the weather etc. Its hard to argue that the UK had much impact on the outcome in 1941 (a few pin prick air raids, the distraction in Africa, the delay in Greece notwithstanding).
Without Britain, as you say, the Nazis would have slugged it out across Europe and one way or another, would have been left under totalitarian dictatorships. There would have been no unsinkable aircraft carrier from which America could liberate Europe. Probably no convoys of British and American military aid to Stalin. No inspiration, arming and coordination of resistance movements across Europe.
So the key battle of ww2 was not Midway or Moscow or Stalingrad or El Alamein. The battle from which all else flowed was the Battle of Britain.
American military thinking was shown with the B-29 - the original specification (thinly disguised) was to bomb Germany from Newfoundland with 2000lb of bombs. The B-36 was ordered as a bomber to bomb Berlin from the contiental US with a massive bomb load.
Both supposed that Britain would be knocked out of the war. And that war with Germany was militarily inevitable by 1940.
NEW: No 10 says Keir Starmer wants Peter Mandelson out of the House of Lords ‘by hook or by crook’. But is not currently planning primary legislation to remove him…
Can you get slung out by virtue of being locked up for long enough? I would have thought there's a reasonable possibility that PM is about to copy his pal Epstein and see out the rest of his days in a jail cell, in his case for breaches of the official secrets act.
I suspect the Find out Now poll is not far from the truth. The Greens are overhyped for Gorton and Denton which is not inner city Manchester, voted 50% Leave and is majority working class.
A Labour v Reform battle is likely and Labour have sensibly picked a local councillor and got Burnham back campaigning for them and will see tactical votes to beat Goodwin. Reform meanwhile will have Advance taking some of their votes, though Goodwin has been endorsed by Tommy Robinson
It is quite obvious what you want to happen. At least have the class to admit it.
What i want to happen is for a shock Tory gain in Gorton and Denton, however I also wanted to win the £5 million Hampstead town house Omaze price last week with about the same likelihood!
That would’ve been nice, the Hampstead town house. I could’ve visited you for tea.
NEW: No 10 says Keir Starmer wants Peter Mandelson out of the House of Lords ‘by hook or by crook’. But is not currently planning primary legislation to remove him…
Can you get slung out by virtue of being locked up for long enough? I would have thought there's a reasonable possibility that PM is about to copy his pal Epstein and see out the rest of his days in a jail cell, in his case for breaches of the official secrets act.
If over a year in jail yes under the 2015 House of Lords Act
How many of the senior people in charge at the Post Office when the wrongful prosecutions were happening -
•Adam Crozier, Royal Mail CEO 2003 – 2010 •Moya Greene, Royal Mail CEO 2010 – 2018 •David Mills, Post Office MD 2002 – 2005 •Alan Cook, Post Office MD 2006–2010 Or its Chair •Allan Leighton 2002 – 2009
have suffered any adverse consequences at all?
A big fat zero.
I'm convinced that one of the issues was that Horizon was meant to trap those on the fiddle, who the NU10K believed to be legion, and lo! it did. So I think they mostly just assumed that they were finally getting the thieving little scrotes.
And no-one reads Private Eye any more, especially after Wakefield. So who cares if the odd postmaster claims the software is faulty? Get an expert to say it isn't.
... When did Sterling lose it 'reserve currency' crown to the US? And how long did the switch take?
I think it was the first half of the 20th century, but where within that I don't know.
[EDIT: If you want a single year, Perplexity.ai says Bretton Woods in 1944, but the loss of reserve currency status was a process not an event and stretched from 1930s devaluations, 1944 Bretton Woods, 1971 Nixon Shock, through to 1972–1973 shift to floating exchange rates]
Two word answer: Bretton Woods.
Edit: your edit hit first.
Or three - World War Two.
To win WW2, the British Empire liquidated its entire gold reserves, those who understand know what that means, it essentially means you are mortgaging your entire nation and empire.
This, in the long term lost Britain its empire, bankrupted its people and led to the only recourse being a post-war loan from the USA to just continue existence which was only paid off in 2006. ...
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
... When did Sterling lose it 'reserve currency' crown to the US? And how long did the switch take?
I think it was the first half of the 20th century, but where within that I don't know.
[EDIT: If you want a single year, Perplexity.ai says Bretton Woods in 1944, but the loss of reserve currency status was a process not an event and stretched from 1930s devaluations, 1944 Bretton Woods, 1971 Nixon Shock, through to 1972–1973 shift to floating exchange rates]
Two word answer: Bretton Woods.
Edit: your edit hit first.
Or three - World War Two.
To win WW2, the British Empire liquidated its entire gold reserves, those who understand know what that means, it essentially means you are mortgaging your entire nation and empire.
This, in the long term lost Britain its empire, bankrupted its people and led to the only recourse being a post-war loan from the USA to just continue existence which was only paid off in 2006. ...
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
Counterfactuals are a waste of time, but...
If Halifax had had his way, a compromised peace with Hitler agreed, could the Nazis have beaten the USSR? Arguably the failings of Barbarossa would have occurred in any campaign into the East - the extreme distances, the ability of the USSR to move its production beyond the Urals, the sheer size of the USSR man-power pool, its industrial capacity, the lack of roads, the weather etc. Its hard to argue that the UK had much impact on the outcome in 1941 (a few pin prick air raids, the distraction in Africa, the delay in Greece notwithstanding).
The Royal Navy’s blockade was grinding down Germany’s economy, above all, oil and petroleum imports.
NEW: No 10 says Keir Starmer wants Peter Mandelson out of the House of Lords ‘by hook or by crook’. But is not currently planning primary legislation to remove him…
I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
If I had the answer I'd be trying to do something about it. I have done my bit trying to change the culture within the places I've worked. Though the chances of anyone in politics listening to an old woman about anything approximate to zero, as I have been saying for years.
Why do you think it has taken this long to listen to what women have been saying about this? Or why women are not listened to on any other topic affecting them? This forum has not been innocent in that regard either.
Reform is part of the same rotten cabal not a fresh broom. The Greens are batshit insane, have little regard for the law and view women as second class citizens not entitled to their rights. Their leader - who has never taken drink or drugs - decided, while stone cold sober, that he could use hypnosis to enlarge their breasts. This is nota serious person. The Tories are boneless.
The chances of change being for the better are not high. I am not optimistic. Labour could have started the process but with a leader steeped in disingenuousness, dishonesty and a joyless illiberal authoritarianism and lacking judgment or, seemingly, any feel for the country he governs, it has missed its chance - and may have made matters worse.
It comes down to applying the same standards of ethics, morality, rewards and penalties at the top of organisations as we demand of the bottom.
We have, finally, moved to a world where senior NHS managers, who do things like conduct illegal campaigns of harassment against whistleblower, will be struck of the register and can't just *get another job as an NHS manager*. That's good. A start.
The case in point, today - Mandy - if a more junior person was being recruited, multiple resignations for ethics violations would make getting a job next to impossible.
For roles far below the level that Mandy was recruited for, the security services would build a life history detailing everything. I've had friends go for such jobs - got the calls from nice people asking about stuff 20 or 30 years back. Was this done? Who read the result, if it was?
It ought not to have taken a huge amount of digging.
It was fairly open knowledge that Mandelson maintained a relationship with Epstein post conviction. The Epstein plea bargain makes it very clear (on its first page) that he was guilty of rape and trafficking of children; the ridiculously lenient sentence doesn't obscure that.
Those two facts alone should have been put to the PM within a day, surely ? If they weren't, then Mandelson wasn't vetted at all.
Mandelson's insider trading as Business Secretary over land assets, leaking of Government emails, advising JP Morgan to threaten Darling, and the payments are far more important than the salacious material.
This is pretty close to treason. Certainly misconduct in public office. Working with Epstein and JP Morgan to threaten Darling (against Government policy) who is the C of E is astonishing.
This first paragraph absolutely gets to the point.
This stuff is far more serious than any of the gossipy stuff.
Sadly, given how the media operates on clicks and engagement I expect the gossipy stuff to be first and foremost.
Rees Mogg by election return? He is also the one Tory I could still see Reform not running a candidate against
Lib dem gain if Mogg is standing
No chance of that, Mogg would unite the rightwing vote and win easily, the LDs only got 7% in North East Somerset and Hainham in 2024, barely half their national voteshare and were a poor 4th
Despite Polanski and Greens being as unsuitable for government as Farage I would vote Green just to hope Reform do not win
That is an appallingly irresponsible attitude. Reform are roughly a political match for the Tories in 1997. The Greens want to see an end to property rental, an end to the nuclear deterrent, the decriminalisation of all hard drugs, and potentially the abolition of the police force.
I would hope that if you were ever given a real choice between the two, a more sober judgement would prevail over petty political point-scoring.
I utterly reject the Goodwiln - Robinson - Farage Trump tribute act and would vote for anyone best to beat them
They are nothing like the 1997 conservatives nor the party I have supported for over 60 years
... When did Sterling lose it 'reserve currency' crown to the US? And how long did the switch take?
I think it was the first half of the 20th century, but where within that I don't know.
[EDIT: If you want a single year, Perplexity.ai says Bretton Woods in 1944, but the loss of reserve currency status was a process not an event and stretched from 1930s devaluations, 1944 Bretton Woods, 1971 Nixon Shock, through to 1972–1973 shift to floating exchange rates]
Two word answer: Bretton Woods.
Edit: your edit hit first.
Or three - World War Two.
To win WW2, the British Empire liquidated its entire gold reserves, those who understand know what that means, it essentially means you are mortgaging your entire nation and empire.
This, in the long term lost Britain its empire, bankrupted its people and led to the only recourse being a post-war loan from the USA to just continue existence which was only paid off in 2006. ...
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
Counterfactuals are a waste of time, but...
If Halifax had had his way, a compromised peace with Hitler agreed, could the Nazis have beaten the USSR? Arguably the failings of Barbarossa would have occurred in any campaign into the East - the extreme distances, the ability of the USSR to move its production beyond the Urals, the sheer size of the USSR man-power pool, its industrial capacity, the lack of roads, the weather etc. Its hard to argue that the UK had much impact on the outcome in 1941 (a few pin prick air raids, the distraction in Africa, the delay in Greece notwithstanding).
Without Britain, as you say, the Nazis would have slugged it out across Europe and one way or another, would have been left under totalitarian dictatorships. There would have been no unsinkable aircraft carrier from which America could liberate Europe. Probably no convoys of British and American military aid to Stalin. No inspiration, arming and coordination of resistance movements across Europe.
So the key battle of ww2 was not Midway or Moscow or Stalingrad or El Alamein. The battle from which all else flowed was the Battle of Britain.
American military thinking was shown with the B-29 - the original specification (thinly disguised) was to bomb Germany from Newfoundland with 2000lb of bombs. The B-36 was ordered as a bomber to bomb Berlin from the contiental US with a massive bomb load.
Both supposed that Britain would be knocked out of the war. And that war with Germany was militarily inevitable by 1940.
People often forget that Roosevelt knew America would have to fight Nazi Germany. The American story of WW2 is amazing - going from tiny army and airforce to what both became in such a short time, plus becoming the armoury of the free world. Just astonishing.
“The prime minister has asked for this to be urgently looked at and the prime minister believes that Peter Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords," a spokesman said.
“However the prime minister does not have the power to remove [his peerage].“
Just bring a one line bill to the House next week (or threaten to), surely! Why is Starmer so bad at politics?
Primary legislation to remove a legislator is not a path democracies should be rushing to go down (not that sensible democracies have appointed-for-life second chambers).
Removal of a life appointment doesn’t feel particularly controversial? If this was an elected MP, I understand, but this is someone appointed by a government that at time had the confidence of the House, so by the same token I see nothing particularly contentious about that appointment being revoked. I concede it might be a tad more sensitive if it was an opposition member, and at that point I would hope that that party would be appropriately consulted and consenting.
Despite Polanski and Greens being as unsuitable for government as Farage I would vote Green just to hope Reform do not win
That is an appallingly irresponsible attitude. Reform are roughly a political match for the Tories in 1997. The Greens want to see an end to property rental, an end to the nuclear deterrent, the decriminalisation of all hard drugs, and potentially the abolition of the police force.
I would hope that if you were ever given a real choice between the two, a more sober judgement would prevail over petty political point-scoring.
Yep, I'd vote Reform to stop the Greens.
Same here, although unlikely here given the electoral demographics.
The Greens are Corbynism on Steroids. If they were the fluffy environmentalists that’s one thing but they aren’t and Polanski hasn’t really been subjected to much scrutiny.
NEW: No 10 says Keir Starmer wants Peter Mandelson out of the House of Lords ‘by hook or by crook’. But is not currently planning primary legislation to remove him…
Can you get slung out by virtue of being locked up for long enough? I would have thought there's a reasonable possibility that PM is about to copy his pal Epstein and see out the rest of his days in a jail cell, in his case for breaches of the official secrets act.
Yes, the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 section 3 means you are expelled if sentenced for more than a year.
“The prime minister has asked for this to be urgently looked at and the prime minister believes that Peter Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords," a spokesman said.
“However the prime minister does not have the power to remove [his peerage].“
Just bring a one line bill to the House next week (or threaten to), surely! Why is Starmer so bad at politics?
Ian Hislop made the same point about Prince Andrew and all the constitutional difficulties in removing his titles, then someone shouted at the King outside a church and it could be done in an afternoon. Ah, here we are:- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8NHef83TGJE
Just so we’re clear: significantly worse than Boris Johnson eating cake during lockdown. This is a guy acting like a lobbyist, while at the heart of government.
What I want to know is this: when did US intelligence become aware of the Mandelson revelations, did they inform their British counterparts and if so when?
How many of the senior people in charge at the Post Office when the wrongful prosecutions were happening -
•Adam Crozier, Royal Mail CEO 2003 – 2010 •Moya Greene, Royal Mail CEO 2010 – 2018 •David Mills, Post Office MD 2002 – 2005 •Alan Cook, Post Office MD 2006–2010 Or its Chair •Allan Leighton 2002 – 2009
have suffered any adverse consequences at all?
A big fat zero.
I'm convinced that one of the issues was that Horizon was meant to trap those on the fiddle, who the NU10K believed to be legion, and lo! it did. So I think they mostly just assumed that they were finally getting the thieving little scrotes.
And no-one reads Private Eye any more, especially after Wakefield. So who cares if the odd postmaster claims the software is faulty? Get an expert to say it isn't.
IIRC Computer Weekly broke the story before the Eye
“The prime minister has asked for this to be urgently looked at and the prime minister believes that Peter Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords," a spokesman said.
“However the prime minister does not have the power to remove [his peerage].“
Just bring a one line bill to the House next week (or threaten to), surely! Why is Starmer so bad at politics?
Primary legislation to remove a legislator is not a path democracies should be rushing to go down (not that sensible democracies have appointed-for-life second chambers).
Removal of a life appointment doesn’t feel particularly controversial? If this was an elected MP, I understand, but this is someone appointed by a government that at time had the confidence of the House, so by the same token I see nothing particularly contentious about that appointment being revoked. I concede it might be a tad more sensitive if it was an opposition member, and at that point I would hope that that party would be appropriately consulted and consenting.
“The prime minister has asked for this to be urgently looked at and the prime minister believes that Peter Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords," a spokesman said.
“However the prime minister does not have the power to remove [his peerage].“
Just bring a one line bill to the House next week (or threaten to), surely! Why is Starmer so bad at politics?
Primary legislation to remove a legislator is not a path democracies should be rushing to go down (not that sensible democracies have appointed-for-life second chambers).
Removal of a life appointment doesn’t feel particularly controversial? If this was an elected MP, I understand, but this is someone appointed by a government that at time had the confidence of the House, so by the same token I see nothing particularly contentious about that appointment being revoked. I concede it might be a tad more sensitive if it was an opposition member, and at that point I would hope that that party would be appropriately consulted and consenting.
I think it better for the Lords to do it themselves as per the House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015.
Despite Polanski and Greens being as unsuitable for government as Farage I would vote Green just to hope Reform do not win
That is an appallingly irresponsible attitude. Reform are roughly a political match for the Tories in 1997. The Greens want to see an end to property rental, an end to the nuclear deterrent, the decriminalisation of all hard drugs, and potentially the abolition of the police force.
I would hope that if you were ever given a real choice between the two, a more sober judgement would prevail over petty political point-scoring.
Yep, I'd vote Reform to stop the Greens.
Same here, although unlikely here given the electoral demographics.
The Greens are Corbynism on Steroids. If they were the fluffy environmentalists that’s one thing but they aren’t and Polanski hasn’t really been subjected to much scrutiny.
With their position on legalising drugs, the Greens are getting onto a Libertarian platform.
Just so we’re clear: significantly worse than Boris Johnson eating cake during lockdown. This is a guy acting like a lobbyist, while at the heart of government.
Boris didn't just eat cake, he left his security detail behind to meet KGB agents for one. Then gave the dad of the KGB agent a peerage.
How many of the senior people in charge at the Post Office when the wrongful prosecutions were happening -
•Adam Crozier, Royal Mail CEO 2003 – 2010 •Moya Greene, Royal Mail CEO 2010 – 2018 •David Mills, Post Office MD 2002 – 2005 •Alan Cook, Post Office MD 2006–2010 Or its Chair •Allan Leighton 2002 – 2009
have suffered any adverse consequences at all?
A big fat zero.
I'm convinced that one of the issues was that Horizon was meant to trap those on the fiddle, who the NU10K believed to be legion, and lo! it did. So I think they mostly just assumed that they were finally getting the thieving little scrotes.
And no-one reads Private Eye any more, especially after Wakefield. So who cares if the odd postmaster claims the software is faulty? Get an expert to say it isn't.
IIRC Computer Weekly broke the story before the Eye
The fun bit, which people are tiptoeing around, is that the Horizon system allowed the people with the right access* to modify transactions *without audit*
Given that the very dodgy investigators were being incentivised to find fraud....
What I want to know is this: when did US intelligence become aware of the Mandelson revelations, did they inform their British counterparts and if so when?
That depends whether Epstein was working for the CIA (or KGB or Mossad).
Lord Peter Mandelson leaked a sensitive UK government document to Jeffrey Epstein while he was business secretary that proposed £20bn of asset sales and revealed Labour’s tax policy plans
You know, you go through life thinking you're a cynic who understands how the world works and then you come across things like this and you are genuinely shocked. How on earth was this man positively vetted for the Ambassador job?
It's mad that essentially everybody who knows anything about politics in the UK said something along the lines of "he's a sleazy creep and you can't trust him" and yet Starmer still appointed him to be the Trump-whisperer.
1. Mandelson was not much good at dealing with Trump. 2. Mandelson is politically toxic for the Labour Party. 3. Vetting procedures are apparently a joke.
So Starmer's got three big problems due to his stupid decision. Starmer's judgment isn't really any better than the likes of Boris, and he only looks relatively okay as a PM thanks to Truss.
Despite Polanski and Greens being as unsuitable for government as Farage I would vote Green just to hope Reform do not win
That is an appallingly irresponsible attitude. Reform are roughly a political match for the Tories in 1997. The Greens want to see an end to property rental, an end to the nuclear deterrent, the decriminalisation of all hard drugs, and potentially the abolition of the police force.
I would hope that if you were ever given a real choice between the two, a more sober judgement would prevail over petty political point-scoring.
Reform are not a rough political match for the Tories in 1997. As one example, here’s what the 1997 manifesto said on global warming:
“We will also continue to provide leadership in Europe and internationally on environmental issues, building on the Rio Conference to encourage sustainable development – meeting our commitment to reduce Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions by 10% on 1990 levels by 2010 to prevent climate change. The Prime Minister has committed himself to attending the next UN Environmental Conference in June.”
Or there’s this:
“The government has a positive vision for the European Union as a partnership of nations. We want to be in Europe but not run by Europe. We have much to gain from our membership of the European Union –in trade, in co-operation between governments, and in preserving European peace. We benefit from the huge trade opportunities that have opened up since Britain led the way in developing Europe’s single market. We want to see the rest of Europe follow the same deregulated, enterprise policies that have transformed our economic prospects in Britain.”
Or:
“We will ensure that, while genuine asylum seekers are treated sympathetically, people do not abuse these provisions to avoid normal immigration controls.”
Or:
“Everybody, regardless of colour or creed, has the right to go about his or her life free from the threat of intimidation. We are taking tough action to tackle harassment. Under proposals in the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, it will be a crime to behave in a way which causes someone else to be harassed. The maximum penalty will be 6 months in prison.“
Slightly to the left of Labour's current position then
How many of the senior people in charge at the Post Office when the wrongful prosecutions were happening -
•Adam Crozier, Royal Mail CEO 2003 – 2010 •Moya Greene, Royal Mail CEO 2010 – 2018 •David Mills, Post Office MD 2002 – 2005 •Alan Cook, Post Office MD 2006–2010 Or its Chair •Allan Leighton 2002 – 2009
have suffered any adverse consequences at all?
A big fat zero.
I'm convinced that one of the issues was that Horizon was meant to trap those on the fiddle, who the NU10K believed to be legion, and lo! it did. So I think they mostly just assumed that they were finally getting the thieving little scrotes.
And no-one reads Private Eye any more, especially after Wakefield. So who cares if the odd postmaster claims the software is faulty? Get an expert to say it isn't.
Not sure about that
"Private Eye remains the best-selling news magazine in the UK with an average of 231,315 sales per fortnight, but this figure was down 6% year on year"
What I want to know is this: when did US intelligence become aware of the Mandelson revelations, did they inform their British counterparts and if so when?
That depends whether Epstein was working for the CIA (or KGB or Mossad).
I'm glad that someone has mentioned the leaks of confidential information to Epstein. Misconduct at an absolute minimum. But it could potentially also be the passing on of unpublished price sensitive information - a criminal offence - and if Epstein or others traded on the basis of such information that would be insider dealing. It is potentially incredibly serious.
I was doing quite a few leak inquiries around this time and if government was involved it was pretty obvious that many of the leaks came from it - and to a few favoured journalists. There are a few names I'd be very interested to see if they appear in these files.
Mandelson should be expelled from the Lords. Starmer is weak in not having announced this already and in allowing him to resign rather than expelling him.
I think Mandleson probably has far too much dirt on everyone in the echelons of power in this country to be deposed in such a manner. His friendship with Epstein who looks as though he was working as a triple agent for the CIA, Mosad and the Russians probably came with the benefits of having all of these little facts about the people he could use against them.
Sweep the whole rotten cabal away. It's not as if they've been any good at their day jobs.
I don't disagree with you and have been saying as much for the better part of 10 years. We have a class of politicians, civil servants and executives who exist in a separate world in which they are untouchable and above the law. If you can figure out a way to sweep them away without setting the country down the path to fascism I'm all ears. I think a Tory/Reform coalition might be the only realistic way to get change which sounds ridiculous but the time of centrist dads just knuckling under has allowed the rot to fester and take over. There are so many scandals for which these same self satisfied centrist dads tell the rest of us to keep quiet while protecting the powerful people who perpetrate and cover up serious crimes.
The system is broken and the smug centrists are all around us telling us that it isn't. Attempting to convince everyone that the sky is green because admitting that they've been wrong about everything for the past 20 years is too much to handle.
If I had the answer I'd be trying to do something about it. I have done my bit trying to change the culture within the places I've worked. Though the chances of anyone in politics listening to an old woman about anything approximate to zero, as I have been saying for years.
Why do you think it has taken this long to listen to what women have been saying about this? Or why women are not listened to on any other topic affecting them? This forum has not been innocent in that regard either.
Reform is part of the same rotten cabal not a fresh broom. The Greens are batshit insane, have little regard for the law and view women as second class citizens not entitled to their rights. Their leader - who has never taken drink or drugs - decided, while stone cold sober, that he could use hypnosis to enlarge their breasts. This is nota serious person. The Tories are boneless.
The chances of change being for the better are not high. I am not optimistic. Labour could have started the process but with a leader steeped in disingenuousness, dishonesty and a joyless illiberal authoritarianism and lacking judgment or, seemingly, any feel for the country he governs, it has missed its chance - and may have made matters worse.
It comes down to applying the same standards of ethics, morality, rewards and penalties at the top of organisations as we demand of the bottom.
We have, finally, moved to a world where senior NHS managers, who do things like conduct illegal campaigns of harassment against whistleblower, will be struck of the register and can't just *get another job as an NHS manager*. That's good. A start.
The case in point, today - Mandy - if a more junior person was being recruited, multiple resignations for ethics violations would make getting a job next to impossible.
For roles far below the level that Mandy was recruited for, the security services would build a life history detailing everything. I've had friends go for such jobs - got the calls from nice people asking about stuff 20 or 30 years back. Was this done? Who read the result, if it was?
It ought not to have taken a huge amount of digging.
It was fairly open knowledge that Mandelson maintained a relationship with Epstein post conviction. The Epstein plea bargain makes it very clear (on its first page) that he was guilty of rape and trafficking of children; the ridiculously lenient sentence doesn't obscure that.
Those two facts alone should have been put to the PM within a day, surely ? If they weren't, then Mandelson wasn't vetted at all.
Mandelson's insider trading as Business Secretary over land assets, leaking of Government emails, advising JP Morgan to threaten Darling, and the payments are far more important than the salacious material.
This is pretty close to treason. Certainly misconduct in public office. Working with Epstein and JP Morgan to threaten Darling (against Government policy) who is the C of E is astonishing.
I don't disagree. But the relationship with Epstein was public knowledge; the leak revelation wasn't.
The "salacious stuff' ought to have meant there was no excuse for more extensively vetting him.
So, Matt Goodwin says he’s the first person in his direct family to go to university, but his dad has an MBA and a PhD. His dad did the MBA as a mature student when little Matt was 3, before his parents divorced. Is this a lie then?
We’ve talked about this before, but I’m surprised one of the other parties or a friendly journalist hasn’t made more of this!
... When did Sterling lose it 'reserve currency' crown to the US? And how long did the switch take?
I think it was the first half of the 20th century, but where within that I don't know.
[EDIT: If you want a single year, Perplexity.ai says Bretton Woods in 1944, but the loss of reserve currency status was a process not an event and stretched from 1930s devaluations, 1944 Bretton Woods, 1971 Nixon Shock, through to 1972–1973 shift to floating exchange rates]
Two word answer: Bretton Woods.
Edit: your edit hit first.
Or three - World War Two.
To win WW2, the British Empire liquidated its entire gold reserves, those who understand know what that means, it essentially means you are mortgaging your entire nation and empire.
This, in the long term lost Britain its empire, bankrupted its people and led to the only recourse being a post-war loan from the USA to just continue existence which was only paid off in 2006. ...
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
Counterfactuals are a waste of time, but...
If Halifax had had his way, a compromised peace with Hitler agreed, could the Nazis have beaten the USSR? Arguably the failings of Barbarossa would have occurred in any campaign into the East - the extreme distances, the ability of the USSR to move its production beyond the Urals, the sheer size of the USSR man-power pool, its industrial capacity, the lack of roads, the weather etc. Its hard to argue that the UK had much impact on the outcome in 1941 (a few pin prick air raids, the distraction in Africa, the delay in Greece notwithstanding).
Without Britain, as you say, the Nazis would have slugged it out across Europe and one way or another, would have been left under totalitarian dictatorships. There would have been no unsinkable aircraft carrier from which America could liberate Europe. Probably no convoys of British and American military aid to Stalin. No inspiration, arming and coordination of resistance movements across Europe.
So the key battle of ww2 was not Midway or Moscow or Stalingrad or El Alamein. The battle from which all else flowed was the Battle of Britain.
There is certainly a strong argument for that. I would counter thought that the Nazis would have struggled to land and support enough troops and material in face of the Royal Navy. You only need to look at how hard D-Day was and the scale that it needed, and compare with the hare-brained German plan of Rhine-barges heavily laden across the notoriously tricky channel. Now imagine trying to do that with the Home fleet in attendance?
A lot of the mythology of the second world war is wrong. I don't think Churchill believed Hitler would be able to invade. Certainly after the battle of Britain there was very little threat of an actual German invasion anymore, and arguably it was never a genuine threat.
OTOH, had the Germans landed and lost the western Allies may have been more pessimistic about their own seaborne invasions and we could have held back on D-Day until '45 or '46.
Comments
How do we stop people failing upwards?
What other Bad Shit is happening without anyone noticing?
If the current forecasts are anywhere near correct and Reform win but end up short of a majority, Parliament 2029-2034 is going to be a clusterfuck with no progress given the lack of consensus on the way forward. You'd have thought that two parliaments (Boris/Starmer) with the major party having significant leads would allow policies to be implemented.
We'll be looking back to the golden years of 2010-2024 as saner times.
And if you have even glanced at some of my articles I have pointed out Bad Shit happening right now.
None so deaf..... Those who have the power to act either don't want to or lack the courage to do so. Hence problem -> crisis -> scandal -> outrage -> public inquiry ......
Crazy days. Dip buyers 🤷♂️
It just is all so depressing.
I would hope that if you were ever given a real choice between the two, a more sober judgement would prevail over petty political point-scoring.
Classy.
This will cause a storm of anger at the "vindictiveness" - among those of that ilk.
"pour encourager les autres"
Which reminds me - must find the paper that analysed RN records and found a performance uptick in the decades following Admiral Byng's interview without chair.
It was fairly open knowledge that Mandelson maintained a relationship with Epstein post conviction. The Epstein plea bargain makes it very clear (on its first page) that he was guilty of rape and trafficking of children; the ridiculously lenient sentence doesn't obscure that.
Those two facts alone should have been put to the PM within a day, surely ?
If they weren't, then Mandelson wasn't vetted at all.
If Halifax had had his way, a compromised peace with Hitler agreed, could the Nazis have beaten the USSR? Arguably the failings of Barbarossa would have occurred in any campaign into the East - the extreme distances, the ability of the USSR to move its production beyond the Urals, the sheer size of the USSR man-power pool, its industrial capacity, the lack of roads, the weather etc. Its hard to argue that the UK had much impact on the outcome in 1941 (a few pin prick air raids, the distraction in Africa, the delay in Greece notwithstanding).
But I suspect following today’s revolutions that SKS will be gone this year.
Remember it’s very hard to remove a Labour PM, I suspect this makes things a lot easier
The old ways are best
They are nothing like the 1997 conservatives nor the party I have supported for over 60 years
The Greens are Corbynism on Steroids. If they were the fluffy environmentalists that’s one thing but they aren’t and Polanski hasn’t really been subjected to much scrutiny.
Politically, the system held. But it very nearly fell.
While the German plan and insane and logistically ridiculous, they got to the commuter belt of Moscow. Given how centralised infrastructure in Russia was at the time, if Moscow was captured, the whole front would collapse back a long way.
It's Groundhog Day
Again
Nelson was being a bit ridiculous, even by those standards. And several of his subordinates tried to change his behaviour.
This is pretty close to treason. Certainly misconduct in public office. Working with Epstein and JP Morgan to threaten Darling (against Government policy) who is the C of E is astonishing.
It just gets darker and darker
"Can severe penalties ”encourage the others”? Using the famous case of the British Ad-
miral John Byng, executed for his failure to recapture French-held Menorca in 1757,
we examine the incentive effects of judicial punishments. Men related to Byng per-
formed markedly better after his unexpected death. We generalize this result using
information from 963 court martials. Battle performance of captains related to a court-
martialed and convicted officers improved sharply thereafter. The loss of influential
connections was key for incentive effects – officers with other important connections
improved little after Byng’s execution or other severe sentences."
Exclusive: A U.S. official has alleged wrongdoing by U.S. spy chief Tulsi Gabbard in a complaint that is so highly classified it has sparked months of wrangling over how to share it with Congress, according to people familiar with the matter.
https://bsky.app/profile/wsj.com/post/3mdupx5lik32k
In other scandals, not only did people not resign. They were promoted and rewarded instead. See this from a year ago - https://www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2025/01/05/not-another-one/.
How many of the senior people in charge at the Post Office when the wrongful prosecutions were happening -
•Adam Crozier, Royal Mail CEO 2003 – 2010
•Moya Greene, Royal Mail CEO 2010 – 2018
•David Mills, Post Office MD 2002 – 2005
•Alan Cook, Post Office MD 2006–2010
Or its Chair
•Allan Leighton 2002 – 2009
have suffered any adverse consequences at all?
A big fat zero.
So the key battle of ww2 was not Midway or Moscow or Stalingrad or El Alamein. The battle from which all else flowed was the Battle of Britain.
“We will also continue to provide leadership in Europe and internationally on environmental issues, building on the Rio Conference to encourage sustainable development – meeting our commitment to reduce Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions by 10% on 1990 levels by 2010 to prevent climate change. The Prime Minister has committed himself to attending the next UN Environmental Conference in June.”
Or there’s this:
“The government has a positive vision for the European Union as a partnership of nations. We want to be in Europe but not run by Europe. We have much to gain from our membership of the European Union –in trade, in co-operation between governments, and in preserving European peace. We benefit from the huge trade opportunities that have opened up since Britain led the way in developing Europe’s single market. We want to see the rest of Europe follow the same deregulated, enterprise policies that have transformed our economic prospects in Britain.”
Or:
“We will ensure that, while genuine asylum seekers are treated sympathetically, people do not abuse these provisions to avoid normal immigration controls.”
Or:
“Everybody, regardless of colour or creed, has the right to go about his or her life free from the threat of intimidation. We are taking tough action to tackle harassment. Under proposals in the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, it will be a crime to behave in a way which causes someone else to be harassed. The maximum penalty will be 6 months in prison.“
“However the prime minister does not have the power to remove [his peerage].“
Just bring a one line bill to the House next week (or threaten to), surely! Why is Starmer so bad at politics?
The above are no longer in executive posts at Royal Mail
Anyone with the ambition, drive and personability to make it to the top in competitive fields probably also needs to be willing to... cut corners to get to the top. It's better to renounce dark arts, but then you are tying a hand behind your back.
As usual, those who make it to the top negatively correlate with those we need at the top.
I expect Andrew will be sending Mandy a crate of vintage champagne this week though for taking most of the flack from these latest Epstein record releases from him
I do not understand it
*Yes, I know about Brexit, but that only happened because the Tory leadership messed up, and actually let the public say what they thought in a way where they couldn't then get out of doing it. Also the EU had a bad case of cutting off its nose to spite it's face during the negotiations, which resulted in a harder Brexit than either the EU or the Tory leadership wanted.
NEW: No 10 says Keir Starmer wants Peter Mandelson out of the House of Lords ‘by hook or by crook’. But is not currently planning primary legislation to remove him…
The treachery against the Government he was part of and the nation in general is mind numbing.
I can't continue to chase Reform MP's pro-Russian adjacency if I don't call this for what it is. Mandelson by undermining Government policy is equally as despicable.
I've been banging on about the toxic parts of Thatcher's legacy in other areas for even longer.
A lot of the mythology of the second world war is wrong. I don't think Churchill believed Hitler would be able to invade. Certainly after the battle of Britain there was very little threat of an actual German invasion anymore, and arguably it was never a genuine threat.
Both supposed that Britain would be knocked out of the war. And that war with Germany was militarily inevitable by 1940.
And no-one reads Private Eye any more, especially after Wakefield. So who cares if the odd postmaster claims the software is faulty? Get an expert to say it isn't.
It was one of the factors that drove Barbarossa.
This stuff is far more serious than any of the gossipy stuff.
Sadly, given how the media operates on clicks and engagement I expect the gossipy stuff to be first and foremost.
Was there auto-forward on a personal email account so stuff could be quickly passed on from an official account?
It's Labour's Black Wednesday and will colour perceptions of their whole period of government since 1997.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8NHef83TGJE
This is completely insane.
Just so we’re clear: significantly worse than Boris Johnson eating cake during lockdown. This is a guy acting like a lobbyist, while at the heart of government.
I have no idea how they could possibly govern.
No-one really cared once the story moved on.
Given that the very dodgy investigators were being incentivised to find fraud....
*No, the SPMs didn't have this kind of access.
“I think I’m the real victim, here.”
1. Mandelson was not much good at dealing with Trump.
2. Mandelson is politically toxic for the Labour Party.
3. Vetting procedures are apparently a joke.
So Starmer's got three big problems due to his stupid decision. Starmer's judgment isn't really any better than the likes of Boris, and he only looks relatively okay as a PM thanks to Truss.
"Private Eye remains the best-selling news magazine in the UK with an average of 231,315 sales per fortnight, but this figure was down 6% year on year"
https://pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/media_metrics/magazine-abcs-2024-private-eye-sales-dip-as-current-affairs-mags-flag/
But the relationship with Epstein was public knowledge; the leak revelation wasn't.
The "salacious stuff' ought to have meant there was no excuse for more extensively vetting him.
We’ve talked about this before, but I’m surprised one of the other parties or a friendly journalist hasn’t made more of this!