Mr. F, it's not a wonderful state of affairs when someone of your political mindset questions allegations in this way, or when someone of mine (not enormously different) wonders whether police are just lying over the taxi running people over in Covent Garden.
Speaking of which, what happened to the museum taxi-driver that ran over people? He's guilty of either dangerous driving or of a terrorist act (the latter being ruled out, apparently) but I've not heard anything at all about it. Surely he should've been charged?
The EEA includes the EU Member States plus three countries which are not in the EU: Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The EEA essentially extends the EU single market to those three non-EU countries. Membership of the EEA has been suggested as a possible option for the UK after Brexit. The Government has ruled this out, however.
Those in favour of the EEA option argue that continued membership of the single market would bring economic benefits as a result of favourable access to the EU market. However, EEA membership also involves a range of obligations including free movement of people, financial contributions to the EU and accepting EU rules with no direct say over them.
yeah good point. I remember clearly on the referendum ballot paper all those issues listed which we definitively voted against.
Yes, I distinctly recall all those sub question on the 1975 Referendum asking if we wanted freedom of movement, or a social policy, or a common defense policy.
Thanks for an excellent and informative article SO. Not for the first time, I am left wishing that some of our mainstream broadcast and newspaper journalists weŕe as well informed and artìculate as some of the contributors to PB.
The EEA includes the EU Member States plus three countries which are not in the EU: Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The EEA essentially extends the EU single market to those three non-EU countries. Membership of the EEA has been suggested as a possible option for the UK after Brexit. The Government has ruled this out, however.
Those in favour of the EEA option argue that continued membership of the single market would bring economic benefits as a result of favourable access to the EU market. However, EEA membership also involves a range of obligations including free movement of people, financial contributions to the EU and accepting EU rules with no direct say over them.
yeah good point. I remember clearly on the referendum ballot paper all those issues listed which we definitively voted against.
Yes, I distinctly recall all those sub question on the 1975 Referendum asking if we wanted freedom of movement, or a social policy, or a common defense policy.
Exactly! You make my point for me. Not on the ballot paper so perfectly acceptable for the government to pursue it. Freedom of movement? Other stuff you don't like? NOTBP!! So perfectly acceptable for the government to pursue it.
Very good piece Joff, thanks for your informed writing on what’s probably the biggest story in Europe right now.
The biggest story in Europe a revolution in Spain? Didn't you hear that pornography might have been found on Damien Green's computer ten years ago?
On a computer from his office.......
Just being theoritcal here, if say you got hold of the e-mail list for all Labour* MPs and sent them an e-mail with an attachment of some "extreme" (but legal) porn - it would then be accurate to say that (despite them all being innocent parties) "extreme" porn was found on all Labour MPs computers.
I don't quite see how that scenario would allow me to board the outrage bus and call for all Labour MPs to resign.
We have no context at all to the claims in the Sunday Times.
*other parties are available
On a technical point, opening attachments from unknown recipients is stupid. But lots of people do, I agree.
The main thing is that Green has as I understand it gone to the wire to say there was definitely no porn on the computers and the accuser is a liar. I think that's unwise - I'm a former computer professional and I would never knowingly download porn or anything else I didn't feel confident about, but can I swear there isn't any in some file that I thought was innocent? Not really. And if I was asked about a computer 9 years ago, I wouldn't have a clue. I think he'd have been wiser to say that as far as he knew there wasn't and he'd certainly not downloaded any. But the whole case is a bit puzzling and my comments may be ill-informed.
I think while opponents might make hay with how definitive his language was, if it turns out it was a random file, or accidental download situation, most people would forgive the slight liberty. Particularly when reminded the main accuser provably has an axe to grind and is a self confessed liar.
The EEA includes the EU Member States plus three countries which are not in the EU: Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The EEA essentially extends the EU single market to those three non-EU countries. Membership of the EEA has been suggested as a possible option for the UK after Brexit. The Government has ruled this out, however.
Those in favour of the EEA option argue that continued membership of the single market would bring economic benefits as a result of favourable access to the EU market. However, EEA membership also involves a range of obligations including free movement of people, financial contributions to the EU and accepting EU rules with no direct say over them.
yeah good point. I remember clearly on the referendum ballot paper all those issues listed which we definitively voted against.
Yes, I distinctly recall all those sub question on the 1975 Referendum asking if we wanted freedom of movement, or a social policy, or a common defense policy.
Exactly! You make my point for me. Not on the ballot paper so perfectly acceptable for the government to pursue it. Freedom of movement? Other stuff you don't like? NOTBP!! So perfectly acceptable for the government to pursue it.
and also nothing to stop them from deciding not to pursue it if they so desire, as currently appears to be the case.
Thanks for an excellent and informative article SO. Not for the first time, I am left wishing that some of our mainstream broadcast and newspaper journalists weŕe as well informed and artìculate as some of the contributors to PB.
Interesting article, thanks Joff. In the interests of balance, I'd also be interested in hearing from a Catalan nationalist on the subject, not that we have many of those on the site.
I don't quite know what their leaders are playing at in declaring UDI and then escaping to Belgium. It seems to me to be the political equivalent of kids knocking on doors and running away.
Could it be that he didn't really want to declare UDI (he did dither) but politically felt he had to do it, even if somewhat reluctantly and as a token gesture, and then wanted to escape arrest rather than stand his ground and be a martyr to the cause?
Thanks for an excellent and informative article SO. Not for the first time, I am left wishing that some of our mainstream broadcast and newspaper journalists weŕe as well informed and artìculate as some of the contributors to PB.
Perhaps some of them may suddenly become better informed tomorrow......
The solution regarding the Dec 21st election is simple. All candidates should be required to swear an allegiance to the indivisible united Kingdom of Spain to be allowed to stand. The imprisoned rebels shouldn't be allowed to be candidates. Alternatively, use the criterion employed at Westminster for swearing in elected representatives, which self-excludes SF.
Rajoy is dealing with the situation in a measured way, in accordance with the law. The Spanish government hasn't gone as far as it could. Puidgemont should remember the fate of his predecessor Companys in 1940. Hopefully, there won't be a need to resort to methods used by the Generalissimo, but they were effective.
So you are basically saying that any desire for independence is not to be allowed a democratic voice. Can you not see how counter-productive that would be?
The EEA includes the EU Member States plus three countries which are not in the EU: Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The EEA essentially extends the EU single market to those three non-EU countries. Membership of the EEA has been suggested as a possible option for the UK after Brexit. The Government has ruled this out, however.
Those in favour of the EEA option argue that continued membership of the single market would bring economic benefits as a result of favourable access to the EU market. However, EEA membership also involves a range of obligations including free movement of people, financial contributions to the EU and accepting EU rules with no direct say over them.
yeah good point. I remember clearly on the referendum ballot paper all those issues listed which we definitively voted against.
Yes, I distinctly recall all those sub question on the 1975 Referendum asking if we wanted freedom of movement, or a social policy, or a common defense policy.
Exactly! You make my point for me. Not on the ballot paper so perfectly acceptable for the government to pursue it. Freedom of movement? Other stuff you don't like? NOTBP!! So perfectly acceptable for the government to pursue it.
and also nothing to stop them from deciding not to pursue it if they so desire, as currently appears to be the case.
The EEA includes the EU Member States plus three countries which are not in the EU: Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The EEA essentially extends the EU single market to those three non-EU countries. Membership of the EEA has been suggested as a possible option for the UK after Brexit. The Government has ruled this out, however.
Those in favour of the EEA option argue that continued membership of the single market would bring economic benefits as a result of favourable access to the EU market. However, EEA membership also involves a range of obligations including free movement of people, financial contributions to the EU and accepting EU rules with no direct say over them.
yeah good point. I remember clearly on the referendum ballot paper all those issues listed which we definitively voted against.
Yes, I distinctly recall all those sub question on the 1975 Referendum asking if we wanted freedom of movement, or a social policy, or a common defense policy.
Exactly! You make my point for me. Not on the ballot paper so perfectly acceptable for the government to pursue it. Freedom of movement? Other stuff you don't like? NOTBP!! So perfectly acceptable for the government to pursue it.
and also nothing to stop them from deciding not to pursue it if they so desire, as currently appears to be the case.
No indeed. You're picking it up quite quickly.
I am not quite sure what your point is. We agree that the government has no mandate to include or exclude certain items from the negotiation. They have however made their decision based on their political judgement and are following it. In the absence of any instructions to the contrary we can not say that its the wrong course. It might not work for you, or others but the government clearly feels it works for enough for them to get it through parliament and get re-elected, and those are the acid tests in our system.. they may of course be wrong, but neither you nor I know that. The whole point of the system is the government makes a choice, runs with it, and if they f*ck it up, we kick them out in 2022.
Very good piece Joff, thanks for your informed writing on what’s probably the biggest story in Europe right now.
The biggest story in Europe a revolution in Spain? Didn't you hear that pornography might have been found on Damien Green's computer ten years ago?
On a computer from his office.......
Just being theoritcal here, if say you got hold of the e-mail list for all Labour* MPs and sent them an e-mail with an attachment of some "extreme" (but legal) porn - it would then be accurate to say that (despite them all being innocent parties) "extreme" porn was found on all Labour MPs computers.
I don't quite see how that scenario would allow me to board the outrage bus and call for all Labour MPs to resign.
We have no context at all to the claims in the Sunday Times.
*other parties are available
On a technical point, opening attachments from unknown recipients is stupid. But lots of people do, I agree.
The main thing is that Green has as I understand it gone to the wire to say there was definitely no porn on the computers and the accuser is a liar. I think that's unwise - I'm a former computer professional and I would never knowingly download porn or anything else I didn't feel confident about, but can I swear there isn't any in some file that I thought was innocent? Not really. And if I was asked about a computer 9 years ago, I wouldn't have a clue. I think he'd have been wiser to say that as far as he knew there wasn't and he'd certainly not downloaded any. But the whole case is a bit puzzling and my comments may be ill-informed.
I think while opponents might make hay with how definitive his language was, if it turns out it was a random file, or accidental download situation, most people would forgive the slight liberty. Particularly when reminded the main accuser provably has an axe to grind and is a self confessed liar.
Who is a self confessed liar ?
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
F1: bad news. It's looking like Sunday will be dry. Time to change, of course, but a wet race would've had some appetising Verstappen/Hulkenberg possibilities.
Reiteration, for those who missed it: I've made some early title bets with typically small stakes. All Ladbrokes, each way, with boost [oddly working for each way bets when it normally doesn't]. Each way equates to a fifth the odds for top 3.
Backed Bottas at 16. If it's a Mercedes-Ferrari year again, it's hard for me to see Raikkonen beat Bottas when the Mercedes is more reliable and Bottas is a faster driver. Plus, Mercedes are more even-handed with their drivers.
Backed Alonso at 12. If the Renault is up to snuff, this is better value than Red Bull, as the deficit in speed is down to the engine and the McLaren, even this year, is amongst the best cars. Vandoorne being shoved aside last race and McLaren being super-hungry for success after so much woe makes me think they'll line up behind the Spaniard.
Backed Vandoorne at 81. More of a trading bet, particularly with a view to Australia, which is a circuit at which McLaren has typically over-achieved. However, if McLaren is good enough and Alonso has a shot at the title, Vandoorne should be short than 17 for top 3.
Pretty confident about the first two bets, little iffier on the third (but, then, the odds are long).
The solution regarding the Dec 21st election is simple. All candidates should be required to swear an allegiance to the indivisible united Kingdom of Spain to be allowed to stand. The imprisoned rebels shouldn't be allowed to be candidates. Alternatively, use the criterion employed at Westminster for swearing in elected representatives, which self-excludes SF.
Rajoy is dealing with the situation in a measured way, in accordance with the law. The Spanish government hasn't gone as far as it could. Puidgemont should remember the fate of his predecessor Companys in 1940. Hopefully, there won't be a need to resort to methods used by the Generalissimo, but they were effective.
So you are basically saying that any desire for independence is not to be allowed a democratic voice. Can you not see how counter-productive that would be?
Indeed. Seeking independence is not a crime, even if acting on it in the manner they have is deemed to be, for obvious reasons . But they need to see a path, even a difficult one, to achieve theor desires or it will be a big problem.
Interesting article, thanks Joff. In the interests of balance, I'd also be interested in hearing from a Catalan nationalist on the subject, not that we have many of those on the site.
I don't quite know what their leaders are playing at in declaring UDI and then escaping to Belgium. It seems to me to be the political equivalent of kids knocking on doors and running away.
Could it be that he didn't really want to declare UDI (he did dither) but politically felt he had to do it, even if somewhat reluctantly and as a token gesture, and then wanted to escape arrest rather than stand his ground and be a martyr to the cause?
I was thinking similarly on the UDI as they were almost boxed in. Spain had raised the stakes with the beatings on the day of the vote and had stuck firm in the weeks after rather than coming to to table, and the coalition was probably fractious. It's the path they set out on, but I wonder if it went beyond what they expected.
Interesting article, thanks Joff. In the interests of balance, I'd also be interested in hearing from a Catalan nationalist on the subject, not that we have many of those on the site.
I don't quite know what their leaders are playing at in declaring UDI and then escaping to Belgium. It seems to me to be the political equivalent of kids knocking on doors and running away.
Could it be that he didn't really want to declare UDI (he did dither) but politically felt he had to do it, even if somewhat reluctantly and as a token gesture, and then wanted to escape arrest rather than stand his ground and be a martyr to the cause?
I was thinking similarly on the UDI as they were almost boxed in. Spain had raised the stakes with the beatings on the day of the vote and had stuck firm in the weeks after rather than coming to to table, and the coalition was probably fractious. It's the path they set out on, but I wonder if it went beyond what they expected.
If it drives the separatist vote over 50% next month they will probably consider it a good job done.
The EEA includes the EU Membeovernment has ruled this out, however.
Those in favour of the EEA option argue that continued membership of the single market would bring economic benefits as a result of favourable access to the EU market. However, EEA membership also involves a range of obligations including free movement of people, financial contributions to the EU and accepting EU rules with no direct say over them.
yeah good point. I remember clearly on the referendum ballot paper all those issues listed which we definitively voted against.
Yes, I distinctly recall all those sub question on the 1975 Referendum asking if we wanted freedom of movement, or a social policy, or a common defense policy.
Exactly! You make my point for me. Not on the ballot paper so perfectly acceptable for the government to pursue it. Freedom of movement? Other stuff you don't like? NOTBP!! So perfectly acceptable for the government to pursue it.
and also nothing to stop them from deciding not to pursue it if they so desire, as currently appears to be the case.
No indeed. You're picking it up quite quickly.
I am not quite sure what your point is. We agree that the government has no mandate to include or exclude certain items from the negotiation. They have however made their decision based on their political judgement and are following it. In the absence of any instructions to the contrary we can not say that its the wrong course. It might not work for you, or others but the government clearly feels it works for enough for them to get it through parliament and get re-elected, and those are the acid tests in our system.. they may of course be wrong, but neither you nor I know that. The whole point of the system is the government makes a choice, runs with it, and if they f*ck it up, we kick them out in 2022.
Meanwhile in the East, the sun rises every day.
My point was that the excellent HoC research briefing didn't bring any clarity to anything. As you say, it notes that the government seems to have ruled out EEA (which entails the things listed), but so what? Doesn't mean we can't opt for EEA. The paper, and perhaps even @Carlotta implies that it is a categorical fact that the UK doesn't want free movement. It is no such thing.
As you say, the govt has decided that it doesn't want it, but that is not to say it is the defined wish of the people.
Very good piece Joff, thanks for your informed writing on what’s probably the biggest story in Europe right now.
The biggest story in Europe a revolution in Spain? Didn't you hear that pornography might have been found on Damien Green's computer ten years ago?
On a computer from his office.......
Just being theoritcal here, if say you got hold of the e-mail list for all Labour* MPs and sent them an e-mail with an attachment of some "extreme" (but legal) porn - it would then be accurate to say that (despite them all being innocent parties) "extreme" porn was found on all Labour MPs computers.
I don't quite see how that scenario would allow me to board the outrage bus and call for all Labour MPs to resign.
We have no context at all to the claims in the Sunday Times.
*other parties are available
On a technical point, opening attachments from unknown recipients is stupid. But lots of people do, I agree.
The main thing is that Green has as I understand it gone to the wire to say there was definitely no porn on the computers and the accuser is a liar. I think that's unwise - I'm a former computer professional and I would never knowingly download porn or anything else I didn't feel confident about, but can I swear there isn't any in some file that I thought was innocent? Not really. And if I was asked about a computer 9 years ago, I wouldn't have a clue. I think he'd have been wiser to say that as far as he knew there wasn't and he'd certainly not downloaded any. But the whole case is a bit puzzling and my comments may be ill-informed.
I think while opponents might make hay with how definitive his language was, if it turns out it was a random file, or accidental download situation, most people would forgive the slight liberty. Particularly when reminded the main accuser provably has an axe to grind and is a self confessed liar.
I think it all depends on what evidence exists. If there are data dumps from a HoC office PC at that time that unarguably show Green downloaded porn, I think he has to go.
On balance I suspect that's unlikely to emerge, so I suspect he's safe.
Just being theoritcal here, if say you got hold of the e-mail list for all Labour* MPs and sent them an e-mail with an attachment of some "extreme" (but legal) porn - it would then be accurate to say that (despite them all being innocent parties) "extreme" porn was found on all Labour MPs computers.
I don't quite see how that scenario would allow me to board the outrage bus and call for all Labour MPs to resign.
We have no context at all to the claims in the Sunday Times.
*other parties are available
On a technical point, opening attachments from unknown recipients is stupid. But lots of people do, I agree.
The main thing is that Green has as I understand it gone to the wire to say there was definitely no porn on the computers and the accuser is a liar. I think that's unwise - I'm a former computer professional and I would never knowingly download porn or anything else I didn't feel confident about, but can I swear there isn't any in some file that I thought was innocent? Not really. And if I was asked about a computer 9 years ago, I wouldn't have a clue. I think he'd have been wiser to say that as far as he knew there wasn't and he'd certainly not downloaded any. But the whole case is a bit puzzling and my comments may be ill-informed.
I think while opponents might make hay with how definitive his language was, if it turns out it was a random file, or accidental download situation, most people would forgive the slight liberty. Particularly when reminded the main accuser provably has an axe to grind and is a self confessed liar.
Who is a self confessed liar ?
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
If 9 year old innuendo about something that doesn't sound earth shattering if true and in all probability isn't true is all they can come up with on Damien Green, I have to conclude he has lived an exceptionally blameless life. The more interesting question is who is after him, and what does that say about how well our democracy is functioning.
I think it is easy to overstate the wealth of Catalonia, whilst I would agree it has more wealth than most Spanish regions, it is does not enjoy per capita incomes much higher than the EU average. Its cities and towns have serious levels of youth unemployment, homelessness and poverty, this idea it will reinvent itself as the Singapore of the Med just does not stand, and there is little strategy as to how it will succeed in the immediate term.
Spain's democracy is being tested, but is stronger than commentators in Northern Europe give it credit for...the challenge for the unionist parties are to spell the benefits of Spain to a young, idealistic and passionate base of support for separatism.
Surely the most relevant comparator is the rest of Spain and in that respect it is well above average.
The important point, however, is that it achieves that average as a deeply integrated part of the Spanish economy. It is not like Scotland arguably was at peak north sea oil where it had a large scale international commodity to sell. It is more like Scotland is now where the vast bulk of our exports go to rUK and it is totally dependent on uninhibited access to that market.
Could Catalonia be an independent country? Probably, but it would need excellent relationships with its largest customers in rSpain and some access to the EU. It is likely that country would be poorer than Catalonia is now for a significant period of time.
PBers may enjoy this interactive tool for looking at the relative economic performance of Catalonia vs other European regions:
Catalonia is a little above the European average, similar to the SE England (ex London) region. I suspect that these figures are distorted by where corporate HQs are located. Madrid is the wealthiest Spanish region, and as a general rule the capital is the wealthiest place in most of European countries. Corporate HQs in Barcelona may have the same effect.
Really interesting. Beyond Spain.... UK and France level pegging Germany and the Scandinavian countries well out in front
Though Switzerland and Luxembourg are the richest of all.
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
Green:
It is well known that Quick, who was forced to apologise for alleging that the Conservative Party was trying to undermine him, harbours deep resentment about his press treatment during the time of my investigation. More importantly, the police have never suggested to me that improper material was found on my parliamentary computer, nor did I have a 'private' computer, as has been claimed.
He added: "The allegations about the material and computer, now nine years old, are false, disreputable political smears from a discredited police officer acting in flagrant breach of his duty to keep the details of police investigations confidential, and amount to little more than an unscrupulous character assassination."
Ultimately more autonomy for Catalonia is the answer, just as it was for Quebec and just as it is for Scotland.
However having blocked an official independence referendum, if pro independence parties win most seats in the Catalan regional elections in December then the Spanish government will have problems.
The aspect of this I don't quite understand is how "different" autonomy operates in the Basque region compared to Catalonia. Are we equating the Catalonia situation more to the Welsh Senedd as against the powers enjoyed by the Scottish Parliament ?
As I don't know what further powers the Basque Regional Government enjoys over and above that which has been granted to Catalonia, I can't quite see why Madrid feels unable to offer Catalonia a Basque-type deal which would presumably split and weaken the separatists in Catalonia.
One can condemn Rajoy if one wishes but he's only playing the political game - it's probably not done him too much harm elsewhere in Spain (and certainly seems to have helped the King who, let's face it, if you had put a piece of wood in front of the camera and said the words you wouldn't have noticed the difference).
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
Green:
It is well known that Quick, who was forced to apologise for alleging that the Conservative Party was trying to undermine him, harbours deep resentment about his press treatment during the time of my investigation. More importantly, the police have never suggested to me that improper material was found on my parliamentary computer, nor did I have a 'private' computer, as has been claimed.
He added: "The allegations about the material and computer, now nine years old, are false, disreputable political smears from a discredited police officer acting in flagrant breach of his duty to keep the details of police investigations confidential, and amount to little more than an unscrupulous character assassination."
A powerful statement; my only concern is that he (Green) is attributing motive to Quick ("harbours deep resentment") which, even if true, is not something that I think will go down well either in Court, or in the court of public opinion. To say nothing of how easy it would be to prove, and whether Green's case relies on it being proved.
Ultimately more autonomy for Catalonia is the answer, just as it was for Quebec and just as it is for Scotland.
However having blocked an official independence referendum, if pro independence parties win most seats in the Catalan regional elections in December then the Spanish government will have problems.
The aspect of this I don't quite understand is how "different" autonomy operates in the Basque region compared to Catalonia. Are we equating the Catalonia situation more to the Welsh Senedd as against the powers enjoyed by the Scottish Parliament ?
As I don't know what further powers the Basque Regional Government enjoys over and above that which has been granted to Catalonia, I can't quite see why Madrid feels unable to offer Catalonia a Basque-type deal which would presumably split and weaken the separatists in Catalonia.
One can condemn Rajoy if one wishes but he's only playing the political game - it's probably not done him too much harm elsewhere in Spain (and certainly seems to have helped the King who, let's face it, if you had put a piece of wood in front of the camera and said the words you wouldn't have noticed the difference).
Rajoy still remains popular in the rest of Spain once you get beyond Catalonia certainly but really it is a Spanish version of 'devomax' Catalonia needs.
F1: bad news. It's looking like Sunday will be dry. Time to change, of course, but a wet race would've had some appetising Verstappen/Hulkenberg possibilities.
Reiteration, for those who missed it: I've made some early title bets with typically small stakes. All Ladbrokes, each way, with boost [oddly working for each way bets when it normally doesn't]. Each way equates to a fifth the odds for top 3.
Backed Bottas at 16. If it's a Mercedes-Ferrari year again, it's hard for me to see Raikkonen beat Bottas when the Mercedes is more reliable and Bottas is a faster driver. Plus, Mercedes are more even-handed with their drivers.
Backed Alonso at 12. If the Renault is up to snuff, this is better value than Red Bull, as the deficit in speed is down to the engine and the McLaren, even this year, is amongst the best cars. Vandoorne being shoved aside last race and McLaren being super-hungry for success after so much woe makes me think they'll line up behind the Spaniard.
Backed Vandoorne at 81. More of a trading bet, particularly with a view to Australia, which is a circuit at which McLaren has typically over-achieved. However, if McLaren is good enough and Alonso has a shot at the title, Vandoorne should be short than 17 for top 3.
Pretty confident about the first two bets, little iffier on the third (but, then, the odds are long).
As you say, the govt has decided that it doesn't want it, but that is not to say it is the defined wish of the people.
The defined wish of the people was to elect the current government and entrust them with making decisions on their behalf for the next five years, and then kick them out if they make a hash of it. Any actions by a government that are not in their manifesto fall under the same heading, its not the defined wish of the people, but its the policy of the people they elected, who will be judged by the people in due course.
If PM Corbyn decided to nationalise the Royal Mail and it didn't appear in his manifesto, we could all bitch and complain and shout that he wasnt elected to do it and had no mandate, but ultimately we would have to lump it, and then kick him out later if its turned out to be a bad decision.
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
Green:
It is well known that Quick, who was forced to apologise for alleging that the Conservative Party was trying to undermine him, harbours deep resentment about his press treatment during the time of my investigation. More importantly, the police have never suggested to me that improper material was found on my parliamentary computer, nor did I have a 'private' computer, as has been claimed.
He added: "The allegations about the material and computer, now nine years old, are false, disreputable political smears from a discredited police officer acting in flagrant breach of his duty to keep the details of police investigations confidential, and amount to little more than an unscrupulous character assassination."
A powerful statement; my only concern is that he (Green) is attributing motive to Quick ("harbours deep resentment") which, even if true, is not something that I think will go down well either in Court, or in the court of public opinion. To say nothing of how easy it would be to prove, and whether Green's case relies on it being proved.
Edit: I (obvs) ANAL
What struck me yesterday was while the Mail & Times led with 'the Quick story', most of the others (including not exactly Tory friendly Mirror & Indie) led with 'the Green rebuttal' - which may, or may not, be an indication of their view on the relative reliability.....
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
Green:
It is well known that Quick, who was forced to apologise for alleging that the Conservative Party was trying to undermine him, harbours deep resentment about his press treatment during the time of my investigation. More importantly, the police have never suggested to me that improper material was found on my parliamentary computer, nor did I have a 'private' computer, as has been claimed.
He added: "The allegations about the material and computer, now nine years old, are false, disreputable political smears from a discredited police officer acting in flagrant breach of his duty to keep the details of police investigations confidential, and amount to little more than an unscrupulous character assassination."
A powerful statement; my only concern is that he (Green) is attributing motive to Quick ("harbours deep resentment") which, even if true, is not something that I think will go down well either in Court, or in the court of public opinion. To say nothing of how easy it would be to prove, and whether Green's case relies on it being proved.
Edit: I (obvs) ANAL
What struck me yesterday was while the Mail & Times led with 'the Quick story', most of the others (including not exactly Tory friendly Mirror & Indie) led with 'the Green rebuttal' - which may, or may not, be an indication of their view on the relative reliability.....
Whatever the truth of the matter, the behaviour of Mr Quick has been nothing short of disgraceful.
The SNP last night closed ranks around shamed MSP Mark McDonald after he quit as Childcare minister amid mysterious sexual harassment allegations. The party refused to clarify the “inappropriate” actions that the married father-of-two admitted might have made others feel “uncomfortable”.
But critics said it was wrong a government minister could resign under a cloud without the public knowing the details. They also questioned why his behaviour was deemed unacceptable for a junior government minister but not significant enough to require him to stand down as an MSP.
Mr. B2, those bets I've made are title bets, if Alonso's 1000/1 that's almost certainly for the race in Brazil (if it's for the title next year, jump on it!).
As you say, the govt has decided that it doesn't want it, but that is not to say it is the defined wish of the people.
The defined wish of the people was to elect the current government and entrust them with making decisions on their behalf for the next five years, ...
This is overstating it. 43% of those who voted preferred the Tories to the others. We tolerate the fact that our democratic system allows that minority to govern on our behalf. (The current govt is aware of the limited support it has, and has ditched much of its manifesto accordingly.) And we make our voices heard if it oversteps the mark - U-turns are not uncommon.
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
I am not aware of the details.I think I heard yesterday that he had denied he was the source for the latest story.Could get difficult to get to the truth.
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
Green:
It is well known that Quick, who was forced to apologise for alleging that the Conservative Party was trying to undermine him, harbours deep resentment about his press treatment during the time of my investigation. More importantly, the police have never suggested to me that improper material was found on my parliamentary computer, nor did I have a 'private' computer, as has been claimed.
He added: "The allegations about the material and computer, now nine years old, are false, disreputable political smears from a discredited police officer acting in flagrant breach of his duty to keep the details of police investigations confidential, and amount to little more than an unscrupulous character assassination."
A powerful statement; my only concern is that he (Green) is attributing motive to Quick ("harbours deep resentment") which, even if true, is not something that I think will go down well either in Court, or in the court of public opinion. To say nothing of how easy it would be to prove, and whether Green's case relies on it being proved.
Edit: I (obvs) ANAL
What struck me yesterday was while the Mail & Times led with 'the Quick story', most of the others (including not exactly Tory friendly Mirror & Indie) led with 'the Green rebuttal' - which may, or may not, be an indication of their view on the relative reliability.....
Whatever the truth of the matter, the behaviour of Mr Quick has been nothing short of disgraceful.
Has any complaint been made against him and if so what was the outcome ?As I said earlier I think he told the media, he was not the source of the allegations in the papers this weekend.
SO's header has had a deservedly full and well considered response.
For me there is a slightly baffling juxtaposition of claims that on the one hand the supporters of independence tend to be the rich and wealthy, and on the other that support is driven by resentment of transfers to the poorer areas of Spain. If this is so, then perhaps it explains the resentment that some in Spain feel towards the secessionists.
Whatever the truth of the matter, the behaviour of Mr Quick has been nothing short of disgraceful.
Has any complaint been made against him and if so what was the outcome ?
I have no idea. I was commenting on a former police officer making available to the press information purportedly obtained during a police investigation for entirely collateral purposes.
It’s very rare, isn’t that a reporter hounding someone who doesn’t want to be either interviewed or indeed make a statement gets anywhere. Just looks rather ridiculous.
Whatever the truth of the matter, the behaviour of Mr Quick has been nothing short of disgraceful.
Has any complaint been made against him and if so what was the outcome ?
I have no idea. I was commenting on a former police officer making available to the press information purportedly obtained during a police investigation for entirely collateral purposes.
On topic, the rest of Spain need to decide whether they want a colony, a good neighbour, a resentful neighbour or a much looser relationship (if indeed that is still attainable). At the moment, they seem to want a colony. That is not sustainable in the long term.
Mr. Eye, to be fair, Bilton is an idiot so epic I've remembered several of his utterances over years. His latest wheeze may be "people obey tax laws" but in the past we've had:
"Is it dangerous?" asking a Greek fireman about a forest fire. No, Bilton, it's a safe forest fire. Go on, take a closer look.
"It's affected you that much?" asking a grieving mother whose young son was accidentally shot by a gang member and who said they were going to move home.
"It's just a huge expanse of water." Bilton explains the Mediterranean.
Ultimately more autonomy for Catalonia is the answer, just as it was for Quebec and just as it is for Scotland.
However having blocked an official independence referendum, if pro independence parties win most seats in the Catalan regional elections in December then the Spanish government will have problems.
The aspect of this I don't quite understand is how "different" autonomy operates in the Basque region compared to Catalonia. Are we equating the Catalonia situation more to the Welsh Senedd as against the powers enjoyed by the Scottish Parliament ?
As I don't know what further powers the Basque Regional Government enjoys over and above that which has been granted to Catalonia, I can't quite see why Madrid feels unable to offer Catalonia a Basque-type deal which would presumably split and weaken the separatists in Catalonia.
One can condemn Rajoy if one wishes but he's only playing the political game - it's probably not done him too much harm elsewhere in Spain (and certainly seems to have helped the King who, let's face it, if you had put a piece of wood in front of the camera and said the words you wouldn't have noticed the difference).
Put simply, the Basques keep the tax money they raise and send defined contributions to Madrid for defined purposes; the Catalans send most of their tax money to Madrid and get an amount decided centrally back. That is a very crude summation, but is basically the issue.
King Cole, indeed. If Ashcroft did nothing wrong, he shouldn't be hounded. If he did something wrong, he should let his legal team handle it.
Under no circumstances is a conversation with Bilton a worthwhile endeavour.
F1: gossip from the BBC/Daily Mail, but a suggestion 17 year old Lando Norris may be named as McLaren's reserve driver next year, replacing Button.
I wonder when his birthday is. I think a rule was passed introducing an 18 year old minimum to prevent anyone coming in as young as Verstappen (bit like after the epic 2011 Canadian Grand Prix a time limit was introduced to stop it ever happening again...).
Ultimately more autonomy for Catalonia is the answer, just as it was for Quebec and just as it is for Scotland.
However having blocked an official independence referendum, if pro independence parties win most seats in the Catalan regional elections in December then the Spanish government will have problems.
The aspect of this I don't quite understand is how "different" autonomy operates in the Basque region compared to Catalonia. Are we equating the Catalonia situation more to the Welsh Senedd as against the powers enjoyed by the Scottish Parliament ?
As I don't know what further powers the Basque Regional Government enjoys over and above that which has been granted to Catalonia, I can't quite see why Madrid feels unable to offer Catalonia a Basque-type deal which would presumably split and weaken the separatists in Catalonia.
One can condemn Rajoy if one wishes but he's only playing the political game - it's probably not done him too much harm elsewhere in Spain (and certainly seems to have helped the King who, let's face it, if you had put a piece of wood in front of the camera and said the words you wouldn't have noticed the difference).
I believe the principal difference is that the Basque regional government collects almost all taxes themselves and then pays a subvention to Madrid for "national" services. This is based on a historic principle that the Basque provinces levied their own taxes which other parts of Spain never had.
Catalonia, like all the other regions, can only collect a few local taxes itself and relies on Madrid to pay over a (hefty) proportion of the tax the central government collects in the region to pay for regional government services.
Spain's devolution is asymmetric: for instance, most regions don't get to maintain their own regional police like Catalonia and the Basque Country do.
A well written article but clearly by someone who opposes Catalonian independence so much so that his solution is that any future referendum should not be about that very issue.
On topic, the rest of Spain need to decide whether they want a colony, a good neighbour, a resentful neighbour or a much looser relationship (if indeed that is still attainable). At the moment, they seem to want a colony. That is not sustainable in the long term.
That also applies within Catalonia where opinion is split down the middle. In your pejorative terms about half are indeed content to be a "colony".
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
If Bob Quick is lying, then clearly it is an atrocious malicious libel. If he is telling the truth, it is an outrageous breach of professional confidence; we give police officers draconian powers to seize private information, and in return we should be able to expect a complete guarantee what they won't leak any information they find which is not relevant to any court case which may ensue, whether or not that information is embarrassing.
His behaviour is, therefore, unambiguously disgraceful, but then that is hardly a surprise, given his history.
I recently switched our gas (from British Gas) and electricity (from Avro Energy) to Tonik Energy. The process for doing the switch is incredibly simple. The new provider sets up the direct debit and it works very smoothly.
The difficult bit is reclaiming money owed by the previous suppliers. My switch date was 29 October. As of 15 October I was £126.72 in credit with Avro Energy. They tell you not to cancel your direct debit as they would sort it all out. But this morning, my £53 direct debit went out to them for November. I'm now waiting on the phone to sort this all out. And then I have to get to do the same with British Gas.
Interestingly, the people I've switched too say they will pay 3% apr on any balance in credit. This seems like a sensible idea and one that I think the regulator should mandate.
I'm not in a position where an unexpected direct debit payment would hurt me. But I know for some people, this would not be good. This is what really needs to be sorted out.
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
If Bob Quick is lying, then clearly it is an atrocious malicious libel. If he is telling the truth, it is an outrageous breach of professional confidence; we give police officers draconian powers to seize private information, and in return we should be able to expect a complete guarantee what they won't leak any information they find which is not relevant to any court case which may ensue, whether or not that information is embarrassing.
His behaviour is, therefore, unambiguously disgraceful, but then that is hardly a surprise, given his history.
Richard they are strong accusations , what history are you referring to ?
Mr. Pointer, surely such would've emerged at the time? It's not like Quick would hold back on the truth in order to protect Green.
I agree Mr. D, that's why I think any hard evidence is unlikely to emerge.
(Excuse the rather tacky double-entendre!)
Even if they are office computers , you would think they would have individual log in requirements.Many offices hot desk .
Possibly you are confusing Windows (as commonly installed on work laptops) with a secure operating system It may well be the case that the images in question were found in any one of a number of shared work areas, browser caches, temp directories, or more likely dropped on some public top level folder with a cryptic name, like c:\p0rn
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
If Bob Quick is lying, then clearly it is an atrocious malicious libel. If he is telling the truth, it is an outrageous breach of professional confidence; we give police officers draconian powers to seize private information, and in return we should be able to expect a complete guarantee what they won't leak any information they find which is not relevant to any court case which may ensue, whether or not that information is embarrassing.
His behaviour is, therefore, unambiguously disgraceful, but then that is hardly a surprise, given his history.
Richard they are strong accusations , what history are you referring to ?
On topic, the rest of Spain need to decide whether they want a colony, a good neighbour, a resentful neighbour or a much looser relationship (if indeed that is still attainable). At the moment, they seem to want a colony. That is not sustainable in the long term.
That also applies within Catalonia where opinion is split down the middle. In your pejorative terms about half are indeed content to be a "colony".
I have an entirely different set of thoughts for Catalonians.
Both sides need to recognise that the current state of affairs is not working. There is a range of stable states of affairs and that range narrows according to the actions of each side. If Catalonians don't feel much affinity with people in other parts of Spain that they're subsidising, they either need to be persuaded that they do have some affinity or their concerns need to be addressed effectively. Or be allowed to go independent.
Right now, the Spanish government is doing none of these things and seeking to impose control by brute force. Colony seems an apt word for that.
A well written article but clearly by someone who opposes Catalonian independence so much so that his solution is that any future referendum should not be about that very issue.
For better or worse, Spain will not agree to such a referendum in the forseeable future. A solution will involve compromise on both sides. For Spain it will be about cash, for separatists it will be about full independence. That’s the reality.
I guess now is the time for me to mention once more that there is no Spanish word for compromise!!
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
Green:
It is well known that Quick, who was forced to apologise for alleging that the Conservative Party was trying to undermine him, harbours deep resentment about his press treatment during the time of my investigation. More importantly, the police have never suggested to me that improper material was found on my parliamentary computer, nor did I have a 'private' computer, as has been claimed.
He added: "The allegations about the material and computer, now nine years old, are false, disreputable political smears from a discredited police officer acting in flagrant breach of his duty to keep the details of police investigations confidential, and amount to little more than an unscrupulous character assassination."
A powerful statement; my only concern is that he (Green) is attributing motive to Quick ("harbours deep resentment") which, even if true, is not something that I think will go down well either in Court, or in the court of public opinion. To say nothing of how easy it would be to prove, and whether Green's case relies on it being proved.
Edit: I (obvs) ANAL
Green's blank denial that there was anything untoward on the computer in question is also a bit risky. Is he saying that the allegation was invented by Quick (or someone else)? It seems that others involved at the time also believed that porn had been found.
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
If Bob Quick is lying, then clearly it is an atrocious malicious libel. If he is telling the truth, it is an outrageous breach of professional confidence; we give police officers draconian powers to seize private information, and in return we should be able to expect a complete guarantee what they won't leak any information they find which is not relevant to any court case which may ensue, whether or not that information is embarrassing.
His behaviour is, therefore, unambiguously disgraceful, but then that is hardly a surprise, given his history.
Richard they are strong accusations , what history are you referring to ?
A well written article but clearly by someone who opposes Catalonian independence so much so that his solution is that any future referendum should not be about that very issue.
For better or worse, Spain will not agree to such a referendum in the forseeable future. A solution will involve compromise on both sides. For Spain it will be about cash, for separatists it will be about full independence. That’s the reality.
I guess now is the time for me to mention once more that there is no Spanish word for compromise!!
How interesting as "compromise" comes from the Latin word "compromissum".
Thanks I have just read both the Guardian and the Wikipedia bit more nuanced than kle4 accusation of self confessed liar.
Nonetheless, someone who has demonstrated a quite extraordinary decade-long grudge against the Conservative Party in general and (for some reason) Damian Green in particular.
Very good piece Joff, thanks for your informed writing on what’s probably the biggest story in Europe right now.
The biggest story in Europe a revolution in Spain? Didn't you hear that pornography might have been found on Damien Green's computer ten years ago?
On a computer from his office.......
Just being theoritcal here, if say you got hold of the e-mail list for all Labour* MPs and sent them an e-mail with an attachment of some "extreme" (but legal) porn - it would then be accurate to say that (despite them all being innocent parties) "extreme" porn was found on all Labour MPs computers.
I don't quite see how that scenario would allow me to board the outrage bus and call for all Labour MPs to resign.
We have no context at all to the claims in the Sunday Times.
*other parties are available
Talking about the Outrage bus, Mark, I seem to remember you coming over all politically self righteous about the Bex Bailey case the other day. Meanwhile...
Yes, it shows the folly of trying to make this a partisan issue. Unlike Bex Bailey this one was reported immediately to the police, then later to the party, so stands a much better chance of successful prosecution.
Why didn't these girls go to the police? I can understand going to an employer if you're unhappy with the way your being treated by someone, but rape? Surely you go straight to the police?
I imagine it is because there are no witnesses and no evidence, making a successful prosecution unlikely. Even if the matter were to come to court victims might fear that their reputations might get trashed by the defence. Depsite that you are right - rape must be reported otherwise there will be little hope of progress.
But isn't that usually the case with rape anyway? It probably says more about the political environment that these girls didn't want to rock the boat by reporting it to the police than the fact that they might have been victims of rape.
It’s always been very difficult to prosecute a ‘date rape’, unless a clearly drugged and/or beaten victim presents themself to the police station the following morning. The standard of proof is (rightly) much higher than can usually be obtained in a he said/she said scenario, given there’s normally no witnesses and the accused will say that whatever happened was consensual. It’s often the case that the side with a witness (housemate, taxi driver, barman etc) wins the case.
On topic, the rest of Spain need to decide whether they want a colony, a good neighbour, a resentful neighbour or a much looser relationship (if indeed that is still attainable). At the moment, they seem to want a colony. That is not sustainable in the long term.
That also applies within Catalonia where opinion is split down the middle. In your pejorative terms about half are indeed content to be a "colony".
I have an entirely different set of thoughts for Catalonians.
Both sides need to recognise that the current state of affairs is not working. There is a range of stable states of affairs and that range narrows according to the actions of each side. If Catalonians don't feel much affinity with people in other parts of Spain that they're subsidising, they either need to be persuaded that they do have some affinity or their concerns need to be addressed effectively. Or be allowed to go independent.
Right now, the Spanish government is doing none of these things and seeking to impose control by brute force. Colony seems an apt word for that.
Your thoughts do not acknowledge the split within Catalonia. What is happening on the ground may concentrate minds within the region, in particular the exodus of companies, or rather their hq's, which is a harbinger of things to come. Since the resentment of "true" Catalonians seems to be largely economic rather than cultural, the realisation that their standard of living is in some jeopardy with this secessionist push may bring some of them to their senses.
Thanks I have just read both the Guardian and the Wikipedia bit more nuanced than kle4 accusation of self confessed liar.
Nonetheless, someone who has demonstrated a quite extraordinary decade-long grudge against the Conservative Party in general and (for some reason) Damian Green in particular.
Seems like the leak enquiry left a lot of bad feeling between both parties.
On topic, the rest of Spain need to decide whether they want a colony, a good neighbour, a resentful neighbour or a much looser relationship (if indeed that is still attainable). At the moment, they seem to want a colony. That is not sustainable in the long term.
That also applies within Catalonia where opinion is split down the middle. In your pejorative terms about half are indeed content to be a "colony".
I have an entirely different set of thoughts for Catalonians.
Both sides need to recognise that the current state of affairs is not working. There is a range of stable states of affairs and that range narrows according to the actions of each side. If Catalonians don't feel much affinity with people in other parts of Spain that they're subsidising, they either need to be persuaded that they do have some affinity or their concerns need to be addressed effectively. Or be allowed to go independent.
Right now, the Spanish government is doing none of these things and seeking to impose control by brute force. Colony seems an apt word for that.
Your thoughts do not acknowledge the split within Catalonia. What is happening on the ground may concentrate minds within the region, in particular the exodus of companies, or rather their hq's, which is a harbinger of things to come. Since the resentment of "true" Catalonians seems to be largely economic rather than cultural, the realisation that their standard of living is in some jeopardy with this secessionist push may bring some of them to their senses.
I'm well aware that there is a split within Catalonia. You seem to think that brute force is going to drive the Catalans into the arms of the Spanish following a rough wooing. There seems precious little sign of that so far.
Seems like the leak enquiry left a lot of bad feeling between both parties.
Justified on one side only. It was an absolutely disgraceful incident, a real stain on the Blair/Brown government and the politicisation of the police under their rule.
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
Green:
It is well known that Quick, who was forced to apologise for alleging that the Conservative Party was trying to undermine him, harbours deep resentment about his press treatment during the time of my investigation. More importantly, the police have never suggested to me that improper material was found on my parliamentary computer, nor did I have a 'private' computer, as has been claimed.
He added: "The allegations about the material and computer, now nine years old, are false, disreputable political smears from a discredited police officer acting in flagrant breach of his duty to keep the details of police investigations confidential, and amount to little more than an unscrupulous character assassination."
A powerful statement; my only concern is that he (Green) is attributing motive to Quick ("harbours deep resentment") which, even if true, is not something that I think will go down well either in Court, or in the court of public opinion. To say nothing of how easy it would be to prove, and whether Green's case relies on it being proved.
Edit: I (obvs) ANAL
What struck me yesterday was while the Mail & Times led with 'the Quick story', most of the others (including not exactly Tory friendly Mirror & Indie) led with 'the Green rebuttal' - which may, or may not, be an indication of their view on the relative reliability.....
Whatever the truth of the matter, the behaviour of Mr Quick has been nothing short of disgraceful.
How did he ever make Assistant Commissioner? Then again, how did Cressida “Brazilian Electrician” Dick make it even further up the ladder. Something rotten at the Met.
Tribalism led to Mankind's dominance of the planet, but I fear it will be our ultimate nemesis.
Try reading Steven Pinker's "The Better Angels Of Our Nature" and you'll find the opposite is true.
I will. A bit of optimism always makes my day, but don't forget to include the planet in the equation. If we can't combine science and global coherence then what?
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
If Bob Quick is lying, then clearly it is an atrocious malicious libel. If he is telling the truth, it is an outrageous breach of professional confidence; we give police officers draconian powers to seize private information, and in return we should be able to expect a complete guarantee what they won't leak any information they find which is not relevant to any court case which may ensue, whether or not that information is embarrassing.
His behaviour is, therefore, unambiguously disgraceful, but then that is hardly a surprise, given his history.
Richard they are strong accusations , what history are you referring to ?
) Thanks I have just read both the Guardian and the Wikipedia bit more nuanced than kle4 accusation of self confessed liar.
The Tory machinery and their press friends are mobilised against this investigation in a wholly corrupt way, and I feel very disappointed in the country I am living in ... I think it is a very spiteful act, possibly to intimidate me away from investigating Mr Green......
Quick said later: "I regret and wish to retract my comment regarding corruption.
Tribalism led to Mankind's dominance of the planet, but I fear it will be our ultimate nemesis.
Try reading Steven Pinker's "The Better Angels Of Our Nature" and you'll find the opposite is true.
I will. A bit of optimism always makes my day, but don't forget to include the planet in the equation. If we can't combine science and global coherence then what?
Tribalism led to Mankind's dominance of the planet, but I fear it will be our ultimate nemesis.
Try reading Steven Pinker's "The Better Angels Of Our Nature" and you'll find the opposite is true.
I will. A bit of optimism always makes my day, but don't forget to include the planet in the equation. If we can't combine science and global coherence then what?
Sorry if that post sounded a bit abrupt.
No worries. Talking about "violence", were those knowingly responsible for the recent diesel engine cheat committing violence?
F1: gossip from the BBC/Daily Mail, but a suggestion 17 year old Lando Norris may be named as McLaren's reserve driver next year, replacing Button.
I wonder when his birthday is. I think a rule was passed introducing an 18 year old minimum to prevent anyone coming in as young as Verstappen (bit like after the epic 2011 Canadian Grand Prix a time limit was introduced to stop it ever happening again...).
Norris will be 18 next week (born 13th Nov 1999) which is the minimum age for a Super Licence. He won the European F3 title this year, will probably compete in GP2 next year.
Mr. Pointer, surely such would've emerged at the time? It's not like Quick would hold back on the truth in order to protect Green.
I agree Mr. D, that's why I think any hard evidence is unlikely to emerge.
(Excuse the rather tacky double-entendre!)
Even if they are office computers , you would think they would have individual log in requirements.Many offices hot desk .
If they were Parliamentary computers, one would assume they were joined to a Domain and had individual user profiles. @NickPalmer might be able to confirm this one way or the other.
That’s not to mean that user credentials didn’t get shared out, as any IT guy who’s ever tried to police this in practice will tell you.
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
If Bob Quick is lying, then clearly it is an atrocious malicious libel. If he is telling the truth, it is an outrageous breach of professional confidence; we give police officers draconian powers to seize private information, and in return we should be able to expect a complete guarantee what they won't leak any information they find which is not relevant to any court case which may ensue, whether or not that information is embarrassing.
His behaviour is, therefore, unambiguously disgraceful, but then that is hardly a surprise, given his history.
Richard they are strong accusations , what history are you referring to ?
) Thanks I have just read both the Guardian and the Wikipedia bit more nuanced than kle4 accusation of self confessed liar.
The Tory machinery and their press friends are mobilised against this investigation in a wholly corrupt way, and I feel very disappointed in the country I am living in ... I think it is a very spiteful act, possibly to intimidate me away from investigating Mr Green......
Quick said later: "I regret and wish to retract my comment regarding corruption.
Later in 2012, Quick testified under oath at the Leveson Public Inquiry into 'the culture, practices and ethics of the press, including contacts between the press and police' that a series of misleading articles about the case appeared in the press during the investigation quoting 'senior police sources' and that he had come under pressure at the outset to drop the investigation before the evidence has been examined. He stated that he had resisted this on the basis he had duty in law to fully investigate the Cabinet Office allegations that the leaks constituted criminal offences on the basis of CPS advice.[20]
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
ion, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
If Bob Quick is lying, then clearly it is an atrocious malicious libel. If he is telling the truth, it is an outrageous breach of professional confidence; we give police officers draconian powers to seize private information, and in return we should be able to expect a complete guarantee what they won't leak any information they find which is not relevant to any court case which may ensue, whether or not that information is embarrassing.
His behaviour is, therefore, unambiguously disgraceful, but then that is hardly a surprise, given his history.
Richard they are strong accusations , what history are you referring to ?
) Thanks I have just read both the Guardian and the Wikipedia bit more nuanced than kle4 accusation of self confessed liar.
The Tory machinery and their press friends are mobilised against this investigation in a wholly corrupt way, and I feel very disappointed in the country I am living in ... I think it is a very spiteful act, possibly to intimidate me away from investigating Mr Green......
Quick said later: "I regret and wish to retract my comment regarding corruption.
Later in 2012, Quick testified under oath at the Leveson Public Inquiry into 'the culture, practices and ethics of the press, including contacts between the press and police' that a series of misleading articles about the case appeared in the press during the investigation quoting 'senior police sources' and that he had come under pressure at the outset to drop the investigation before the evidence has been examined. He stated that he had resisted this on the basis he had duty in law to fully investigate the Cabinet Office allegations that the leaks constituted criminal offences on the basis of CPS advice.[20]
We know who wrote the Guardian article.
Who wrote the Wikipedia piece?
Edit - and 'legal porn' had nothing to do with the leaks.....this is gratuitous, unprofessional grudge settling....
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
If Bob Quick is lying, then clearly it is an atrocious malicious libel. If he is telling the truth, it is an outrageous breach of professional confidence; we give police officers draconian powers to seize private information, and in return we should be able to expect a complete guarantee what they won't leak any information they find which is not relevant to any court case which may ensue, whether or not that information is embarrassing.
His behaviour is, therefore, unambiguously disgraceful, but then that is hardly a surprise, given his history.
Richard they are strong accusations , what history are you referring to ?
) Thanks I have just read both the Guardian and the Wikipedia bit more nuanced than kle4 accusation of self confessed liar.
I don't see how. He said something, then withdrew it as untrue. And it was no accudent. The language is strong, but is admitting to lying. Using more nuanced language, my own strongly preferred approach, doesn't alter that, and indeed permitting a more mealy mouthed description obfuscates what he attempted. Trying to justify it lAter with other similar concerns does not change that he made an accusation, then withdrew it because it was false. Even if other concerns were real, that doesn't erase that he withdrew an allegation because it was false, that he was admitting to being a liar.
If I withdraw this post as everything I say is untrue, I would still be a confessed liar if I later said oh but this other thing was sort of true.
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
ion, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
If Bob Quick is lying, then clearly it is an atrocious malicious libel. If he is telling the truth, it is an outrageous breach of professional confidence; we give police officers draconian powers to seize private information, and in return we should be able to expect a complete guarantee what they won't leak any information they find which is not relevant to any court case which may ensue, whether or not that information is embarrassing.
His behaviour is, therefore, unambiguously disgraceful, but then that is hardly a surprise, given his history.
Richard they are strong accusations , what history are you referring to ?
) Thanks I have just read both the Guardian and the Wikipedia bit more nuanced than kle4 accusation of self confessed liar.
The Tory machinery and their press friends are mobilised against this investigation in a wholly corrupt way, and I feel very disappointed in the country I am living in ... I think it is a very spiteful act, possibly to intimidate me away from investigating Mr Green......
Quick said later: "I regret and wish to retract my comment regarding corruption.
Later in 2012, Quick testified under oath at the Leveson Public Inquiry into 'the culture, practices and ethics of the press, including contacts between the press and police' that a series of misleading articles about the case appeared in the press during the investigation quoting 'senior police sources' and that he had come under pressure at the outset to drop the investigation before the evidence has been examined. He stated that he had resisted this on the basis he had duty in law to fully investigate the Cabinet Office allegations that the leaks constituted criminal offences on the basis of CPS advice.[20]
We know who wrote the Guardian article.
Who wrote the Wikipedia piece?
Edit - and 'legal porn' had nothing to do with the leaks.....this is gratuitous, unprofessional grudge settling....
@Fhamiltontimes: Major unease in senior cop ranks over Damian Green saga - release of confidential, non-criminal material, decade after controversial inquiry
Mr. Pointer, surely such would've emerged at the time? It's not like Quick would hold back on the truth in order to protect Green.
I agree Mr. D, that's why I think any hard evidence is unlikely to emerge.
(Excuse the rather tacky double-entendre!)
Even if they are office computers , you would think they would have individual log in requirements.Many offices hot desk .
If they were Parliamentary computers, one would assume they were joined to a Domain and had individual user profiles. @NickPalmer might be able to confirm this one way or the other.
That’s not to mean that user credentials didn’t get shared out, as any IT guy who’s ever tried to police this in practice will tell you.
If the password requires numbers, capital letters, funny symbols, etc, just keep checking desks until you find a post-it note with username and password written down. Takes about 30 seconds in my experience...
Mr. Pointer, surely such would've emerged at the time? It's not like Quick would hold back on the truth in order to protect Green.
I agree Mr. D, that's why I think any hard evidence is unlikely to emerge.
(Excuse the rather tacky double-entendre!)
Even if they are office computers , you would think they would have individual log in requirements.Many offices hot desk .
If they were Parliamentary computers, one would assume they were joined to a Domain and had individual user profiles. @NickPalmer might be able to confirm this one way or the other.
That’s not to mean that user credentials didn’t get shared out, as any IT guy who’s ever tried to police this in practice will tell you.
Yes when I worked for the Police , we were always told never to leave our computers logged in unattended but as you say many were due to numerous reasons.
A well written article but clearly by someone who opposes Catalonian independence so much so that his solution is that any future referendum should not be about that very issue.
For better or worse, Spain will not agree to such a referendum in the forseeable future. A solution will involve compromise on both sides. For Spain it will be about cash, for separatists it will be about full independence. That’s the reality.
I guess now is the time for me to mention once more that there is no Spanish word for compromise!!
El arreglo is the closest. But you are right that the closest translation of this is "arrangement", which is close but not precise.
Mr. Pointer, surely such would've emerged at the time? It's not like Quick would hold back on the truth in order to protect Green.
I agree Mr. D, that's why I think any hard evidence is unlikely to emerge.
(Excuse the rather tacky double-entendre!)
Even if they are office computers , you would think they would have individual log in requirements.Many offices hot desk .
If they were Parliamentary computers, one would assume they were joined to a Domain and had individual user profiles. @NickPalmer might be able to confirm this one way or the other.
That’s not to mean that user credentials didn’t get shared out, as any IT guy who’s ever tried to police this in practice will tell you.
If the password requires numbers, capital letters, funny symbols, etc, just keep checking desks until you find a post-it note with username and password written down. Takes about 30 seconds in my experience...
Very much so. Education is a big part of it, I usually look at my watch and exclaim “November6th!” - that usually meets the password requirements, rather then people trying to remember long and complicated passwords.
Clearly there’s bad blood between Quick and Green and one would think it dates back to before 2008. Green’s wife is, or at least was, a barrister; is there something between her and Quick. I also note that his Wikipedia entry suggests that when he was sacked as Police Minister in 2014, that sacking ‘met with some surprise at Westminster’! Quick was, apparently, highly regarded in counter-terrorism circles until he walked along Downing Streetr with a photographable document!.
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
ion, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
ivate information, and in return we should be able to expect a complete guarantee what they won't leak any information they find which is not relevant to any court case which may ensue, whether or not that information is embarrassing.
His behaviour is, therefore, unambiguously disgraceful, but then that is hardly a surprise, given his history.
Richard they are strong accusations , what history are you referring to ?
) Thanks I have just read both the Guardian and the Wikipedia bit more nuanced than kle4 accusation of self confessed liar.
The Tory machinery and their press friends are mobilised against this investigation in a wholly corrupt way, and I feel very disappointed in the country I am living in ... I think it is a very spiteful act, possibly to intimidate me away from investigating Mr Green......
Quick said later: "I regret and wish to retract my comment regarding corruption.
Later in 2012, Quick testified under oath at the Leveson Public Inquiry into 'the culture, practices and ethics of the press, including contacts between the press and police' that a series of misleading articles about the case appeared in the press during the investigation quoting 'senior police sources' and that he had come under pressure at the outset to drop the investigation before the evidence has been examined. He stated that he had resisted this on the basis he had duty in law to fully investigate the Cabinet Office allegations that the leaks constituted criminal offences on the basis of CPS advice.[20]
We know who wrote the Guardian article.
Who wrote the Wikipedia piece?
Edit - and 'legal porn' had nothing to do with the leaks.....this is gratuitous, unprofessional grudge settling....
But who spoke to the press regarding the porn ?
Good question. But Quick was quick to confirm it......
Mr. Pointer, surely such would've emerged at the time? It's not like Quick would hold back on the truth in order to protect Green.
I agree Mr. D, that's why I think any hard evidence is unlikely to emerge.
(Excuse the rather tacky double-entendre!)
Even if they are office computers , you would think they would have individual log in requirements.Many offices hot desk .
If they were Parliamentary computers, one would assume they were joined to a Domain and had individual user profiles. @NickPalmer might be able to confirm this one way or the other.
That’s not to mean that user credentials didn’t get shared out, as any IT guy who’s ever tried to police this in practice will tell you.
Yes when I worked for the Police , we were always told never to leave our computers logged in unattended but as you say many were due to numerous reasons.
In corporate IT, my lecture on this is that if you leave your computer logged in, and someone walks up to it and sends an email to the CEO telling him that he’s a c***, the burden of responsibility is now on you to prove you didn’t send it.
It also requires processes in the business and IT department that authorise users for the accesses they need quickly and efficiently, which of course isn’t always the case.
Mr. Pointer, surely such would've emerged at the time? It's not like Quick would hold back on the truth in order to protect Green.
I agree Mr. D, that's why I think any hard evidence is unlikely to emerge.
(Excuse the rather tacky double-entendre!)
Even if they are office computers , you would think they would have individual log in requirements.Many offices hot desk .
If they were Parliamentary computers, one would assume they were joined to a Domain and had individual user profiles. @NickPalmer might be able to confirm this one way or the other.
That’s not to mean that user credentials didn’t get shared out, as any IT guy who’s ever tried to police this in practice will tell you.
If the password requires numbers, capital letters, funny symbols, etc, just keep checking desks until you find a post-it note with username and password written down. Takes about 30 seconds in my experience...
Very much so. Education is a big part of it, I usually look at my watch and exclaim “November6th!” - that usually meets the password requirements, rather then people trying to remember long and complicated passwords.
I find the Correct Horse Battery Staple method to be the best, but unfortunately is usually thwarted by most systems needing AnY n0 of !!^£ and so on.
Particularly infuriating are the ones that require you to change your password monthly, which I am sure is just a ruse by the post-it note people to sell more stock.
Mr. Pointer, surely such would've emerged at the time? It's not like Quick would hold back on the truth in order to protect Green.
I agree Mr. D, that's why I think any hard evidence is unlikely to emerge.
(Excuse the rather tacky double-entendre!)
Even if they are office computers , you would think they would have individual log in requirements.Many offices hot desk .
If they were Parliamentary computers, one would assume they were joined to a Domain and had individual user profiles. @NickPalmer might be able to confirm this one way or the other.
That’s not to mean that user credentials didn’t get shared out, as any IT guy who’s ever tried to police this in practice will tell you.
If the password requires numbers, capital letters, funny symbols, etc, just keep checking desks until you find a post-it note with username and password written down. Takes about 30 seconds in my experience...
Very much so. Education is a big part of it, I usually look at my watch and exclaim “November6th!” - that usually meets the password requirements, rather then people trying to remember long and complicated passwords.
I find the Correct Horse Battery Staple method to be the best, but unfortunately is usually thwarted by most systems needing AnY n0 of !!^£ and so on.
Particularly infuriating are the ones that require you to change your password monthly, which I am sure is just a ruse by the post-it note people to sell more stock.
Finally, the industry has realised that these sort of rules - enforced composition, frequent change - are self-defeating. Length and non-obviousness are key.
Mr. Pointer, surely such would've emerged at the time? It's not like Quick would hold back on the truth in order to protect Green.
I agree Mr. D, that's why I think any hard evidence is unlikely to emerge.
(Excuse the rather tacky double-entendre!)
Even if they are office computers , you would think they would have individual log in requirements.Many offices hot desk .
If they were Parliamentary computers, one would assume they were joined to a Domain and had individual user profiles. @NickPalmer might be able to confirm this one way or the other.
That’s not to mean that user credentials didn’t get shared out, as any IT guy who’s ever tried to police this in practice will tell you.
Yes when I worked for the Police , we were always told never to leave our computers logged in unattended but as you say many were due to numerous reasons.
In corporate IT, my lecture on this is that if you leave your computer logged in, and someone walks up to it and sends an email to the CEO telling him that he’s a c***, the burden of responsibility is now on you to prove you didn’t send it.
It also requires processes in the business and IT department that authorise users for the accesses they need quickly and efficiently, which of course isn’t always the case.
Very true .The computer misuse act 1990 was used on a few occasions I was aware of in my workplace.
Mr. Pointer, surely such would've emerged at the time? It's not like Quick would hold back on the truth in order to protect Green.
I agree Mr. D, that's why I think any hard evidence is unlikely to emerge.
(Excuse the rather tacky double-entendre!)
Even if they are office computers , you would think they would have individual log in requirements.Many offices hot desk .
If they were Parliamentary computers, one would assume they were joined to a Domain and had individual user profiles. @NickPalmer might be able to confirm this one way or the other.
That’s not to mean that user credentials didn’t get shared out, as any IT guy who’s ever tried to police this in practice will tell you.
If the password requires numbers, capital letters, funny symbols, etc, just keep checking desks until you find a post-it note with username and password written down. Takes about 30 seconds in my experience...
Very much so. Education is a big part of it, I usually look at my watch and exclaim “November6th!” - that usually meets the password requirements, rather then people trying to remember long and complicated passwords.
I find the Correct Horse Battery Staple method to be the best, but unfortunately is usually thwarted by most systems needing AnY n0 of !!^£ and so on.
Particularly infuriating are the ones that require you to change your password monthly, which I am sure is just a ruse by the post-it note people to sell more stock.
There’s an XKCD for everything!
No need to change monthly unless it’s a matter of national security or you find your helpdesk team grossly underworked! 90 days is fine for most organisations and people.
Is it just me or was the panorama last night pretty much all fart and no follow through in terms of uk players....13 million documents and they spend 15 mins on the queen having £3k in bright house and quite clear no tax dodging. Other than that, lord ashcroft is highly tax efficient is not new news (although how he achieved it between 2010-2015 was interesting) and a couple of uk based Russians have been bending the rules on how to own football clubs.
Would one not have expected wall to wall high profile people being accused of tax dodging?
Comments
Speaking of which, what happened to the museum taxi-driver that ran over people? He's guilty of either dangerous driving or of a terrorist act (the latter being ruled out, apparently) but I've not heard anything at all about it. Surely he should've been charged?
I don't quite know what their leaders are playing at in declaring UDI and then escaping to Belgium. It seems to me to be the political equivalent of kids knocking on doors and running away.
Could it be that he didn't really want to declare UDI (he did dither) but politically felt he had to do it, even if somewhat reluctantly and as a token gesture, and then wanted to escape arrest rather than stand his ground and be a martyr to the cause?
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
Reiteration, for those who missed it: I've made some early title bets with typically small stakes. All Ladbrokes, each way, with boost [oddly working for each way bets when it normally doesn't]. Each way equates to a fifth the odds for top 3.
Backed Bottas at 16. If it's a Mercedes-Ferrari year again, it's hard for me to see Raikkonen beat Bottas when the Mercedes is more reliable and Bottas is a faster driver. Plus, Mercedes are more even-handed with their drivers.
Backed Alonso at 12. If the Renault is up to snuff, this is better value than Red Bull, as the deficit in speed is down to the engine and the McLaren, even this year, is amongst the best cars. Vandoorne being shoved aside last race and McLaren being super-hungry for success after so much woe makes me think they'll line up behind the Spaniard.
Backed Vandoorne at 81. More of a trading bet, particularly with a view to Australia, which is a circuit at which McLaren has typically over-achieved. However, if McLaren is good enough and Alonso has a shot at the title, Vandoorne should be short than 17 for top 3.
Pretty confident about the first two bets, little iffier on the third (but, then, the odds are long).
My point was that the excellent HoC research briefing didn't bring any clarity to anything. As you say, it notes that the government seems to have ruled out EEA (which entails the things listed), but so what? Doesn't mean we can't opt for EEA. The paper, and perhaps even @Carlotta implies that it is a categorical fact that the UK doesn't want free movement. It is no such thing.
As you say, the govt has decided that it doesn't want it, but that is not to say it is the defined wish of the people.
On balance I suspect that's unlikely to emerge, so I suspect he's safe.
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
If 9 year old innuendo about something that doesn't sound earth shattering if true and in all probability isn't true is all they can come up with on Damien Green, I have to conclude he has lived an exceptionally blameless life. The more interesting question is who is after him, and what does that say about how well our democracy is functioning.
It is well known that Quick, who was forced to apologise for alleging that the Conservative Party was trying to undermine him, harbours deep resentment about his press treatment during the time of my investigation. More importantly, the police have never suggested to me that improper material was found on my parliamentary computer, nor did I have a 'private' computer, as has been claimed.
He added: "The allegations about the material and computer, now nine years old, are false, disreputable political smears from a discredited police officer acting in flagrant breach of his duty to keep the details of police investigations confidential, and amount to little more than an unscrupulous character assassination."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/damian-green-latest-former-metropolitan-police-assistant-commissionser-bob-quick-extreme-porn-office-a8038136.html
As I don't know what further powers the Basque Regional Government enjoys over and above that which has been granted to Catalonia, I can't quite see why Madrid feels unable to offer Catalonia a Basque-type deal which would presumably split and weaken the separatists in Catalonia.
One can condemn Rajoy if one wishes but he's only playing the political game - it's probably not done him too much harm elsewhere in Spain (and certainly seems to have helped the King who, let's face it, if you had put a piece of wood in front of the camera and said the words you wouldn't have noticed the difference).
Edit: I (obvs) ANAL
If PM Corbyn decided to nationalise the Royal Mail and it didn't appear in his manifesto, we could all bitch and complain and shout that he wasnt elected to do it and had no mandate, but ultimately we would have to lump it, and then kick him out later if its turned out to be a bad decision.
https://order-order.com/2016/04/12/mcdonnells-14000-a-year-pension-managed-in-guernsey/
https://www.facebook.com/bbcpanorama/videos/1027437657396727/
The SNP last night closed ranks around shamed MSP Mark McDonald after he quit as Childcare minister amid mysterious sexual harassment allegations. The party refused to clarify the “inappropriate” actions that the married father-of-two admitted might have made others feel “uncomfortable”.
But critics said it was wrong a government minister could resign under a cloud without the public knowing the details. They also questioned why his behaviour was deemed unacceptable for a junior government minister but not significant enough to require him to stand down as an MSP.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/snp-close-ranks-around-shamed-11473846#ICID=sharebar_twitter
Who is a self confessed liar ?
The main ex police officer who was quoted - TSE linked a story ftom years back where he had to apologise and retract accusations the tories leaked a story to the press to damage him. Self confessed liar.
Doesn't mean he or others are wrong on this point, but he lied in order to damage others and had to withdraw it (with an apology whuch was still a lie as he said he hadn't meant to make an allegation, which he cleay did he just regretted doing so). Green may end up being guilty, we shall see, but the guy, whose name escapes me right now, is a liar.
I am not aware of the details.I think I heard yesterday that he had denied he was the source for the latest story.Could get difficult to get to the truth.
For me there is a slightly baffling juxtaposition of claims that on the one hand the supporters of independence tend to be the rich and wealthy, and on the other that support is driven by resentment of transfers to the poorer areas of Spain. If this is so, then perhaps it explains the resentment that some in Spain feel towards the secessionists.
"Is it dangerous?" asking a Greek fireman about a forest fire. No, Bilton, it's a safe forest fire. Go on, take a closer look.
"It's affected you that much?" asking a grieving mother whose young son was accidentally shot by a gang member and who said they were going to move home.
"It's just a huge expanse of water." Bilton explains the Mediterranean.
Under no circumstances is a conversation with Bilton a worthwhile endeavour.
F1: gossip from the BBC/Daily Mail, but a suggestion 17 year old Lando Norris may be named as McLaren's reserve driver next year, replacing Button.
I wonder when his birthday is. I think a rule was passed introducing an 18 year old minimum to prevent anyone coming in as young as Verstappen (bit like after the epic 2011 Canadian Grand Prix a time limit was introduced to stop it ever happening again...).
https://www.elespanol.com/espana/politica/20171106/259974055_0.html
Catalonia, like all the other regions, can only collect a few local taxes itself and relies on Madrid to pay over a (hefty) proportion of the tax the central government collects in the region to pay for regional government services.
Spain's devolution is asymmetric: for instance, most regions don't get to maintain their own regional police like Catalonia and the Basque Country do.
(Excuse the rather tacky double-entendre!)
His behaviour is, therefore, unambiguously disgraceful, but then that is hardly a surprise, given his history.
I recently switched our gas (from British Gas) and electricity (from Avro Energy) to Tonik Energy. The process for doing the switch is incredibly simple. The new provider sets up the direct debit and it works very smoothly.
The difficult bit is reclaiming money owed by the previous suppliers. My switch date was 29 October. As of 15 October I was £126.72 in credit with Avro Energy. They tell you not to cancel your direct debit as they would sort it all out. But this morning, my £53 direct debit went out to them for November. I'm now waiting on the phone to sort this all out. And then I have to get to do the same with British Gas.
Interestingly, the people I've switched too say they will pay 3% apr on any balance in credit. This seems like a sensible idea and one that I think the regulator should mandate.
I'm not in a position where an unexpected direct debit payment would hurt me. But I know for some people, this would not be good. This is what really needs to be sorted out.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/dec/22/bob-quick-david-cameron-row
Both sides need to recognise that the current state of affairs is not working. There is a range of stable states of affairs and that range narrows according to the actions of each side. If Catalonians don't feel much affinity with people in other parts of Spain that they're subsidising, they either need to be persuaded that they do have some affinity or their concerns need to be addressed effectively. Or be allowed to go independent.
Right now, the Spanish government is doing none of these things and seeking to impose control by brute force. Colony seems an apt word for that.
I guess now is the time for me to mention once more that there is no Spanish word for compromise!!
Quick said later: "I regret and wish to retract my comment regarding corruption.
Talking about "violence", were those knowingly responsible for the recent diesel engine cheat committing violence?
That’s not to mean that user credentials didn’t get shared out, as any IT guy who’s ever tried to police this in practice will tell you.
Later in 2012, Quick testified under oath at the Leveson Public Inquiry into 'the culture, practices and ethics of the press, including contacts between the press and police' that a series of misleading articles about the case appeared in the press during the investigation quoting 'senior police sources' and that he had come under pressure at the outset to drop the investigation before the evidence has been examined. He stated that he had resisted this on the basis he had duty in law to fully investigate the Cabinet Office allegations that the leaks constituted criminal offences on the basis of CPS advice.[20]
Who wrote the Wikipedia piece?
Edit - and 'legal porn' had nothing to do with the leaks.....this is gratuitous, unprofessional grudge settling....
If I withdraw this post as everything I say is untrue, I would still be a confessed liar if I later said oh but this other thing was sort of true.
He must be hoping McLaren don't alter his deal.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/05/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-wahhabism-salafism-mohammed-bin-salman.html
It looks like the new Crown Prince is dragging the place into the 21st Century. And not before time.
I also note that his Wikipedia entry suggests that when he was sacked as Police Minister in 2014, that sacking ‘met with some surprise at Westminster’!
Quick was, apparently, highly regarded in counter-terrorism circles until he walked along Downing Streetr with a photographable document!.
It also requires processes in the business and IT department that authorise users for the accesses they need quickly and efficiently, which of course isn’t always the case.
https://xkcd.com/936/
Particularly infuriating are the ones that require you to change your password monthly, which I am sure is just a ruse by the post-it note people to sell more stock.
https://www.welivesecurity.com/2017/05/03/no-pointless-password-requirements/
No need to change monthly unless it’s a matter of national security or you find your helpdesk team grossly underworked! 90 days is fine for most organisations and people.
Would one not have expected wall to wall high profile people being accused of tax dodging?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/11/03/on_call/