On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
But what are the facts ?
How many other people in how many other schemes are there ?
And however many people and however much money it totals up to be, its still not going to be trusted as government has been shown to be covering things up.
Yes quite. The government has lost any claim on our trust (as have the Tories). No one believes a word they say - I certainly don’t. They lie and lie again
Hence, a Reform victory
You keep saying "the government" but it wasn't a single government. It was at least two administrations, possibly three (I can't be arsed to work out whether Boris was just about in charge when this first hit).
Each new PM is asked by the King to form a new government.
Edit: maybe it is FOUR? I had forgotten the Lettuce.
This isn't going to stop claims of there being a "Blob", is it?
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
But what are the facts ?
How many other people in how many other schemes are there ?
And however many people and however much money it totals up to be, its still not going to be trusted as government has been shown to be covering things up.
Yes quite. The government has lost any claim on our trust (as have the Tories). No one believes a word they say - I certainly don’t. They lie and lie again
Hence, a Reform victory
You keep saying "the government" but it wasn't a single government. It was at least two administrations, possibly three (I can't be arsed to work out whether Boris was just about in charge when this first hit).
Each new PM is asked by the King to form a new government.
Edit: maybe it is FOUR? I had forgotten the Lettuce.
I think there's a distinction between 'the government' ie whichever politicians are in charge at a certain point and 'government' ie the Sir Humphreys who are continuously there.
Whether 'the government' is more or less incompetent than 'government' is debateable.
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
But what are the facts ?
How many other people in how many other schemes are there ?
And however many people and however much money it totals up to be, its still not going to be trusted as government has been shown to be covering things up.
Yes quite. The government has lost any claim on our trust (as have the Tories). No one believes a word they say - I certainly don’t. They lie and lie again
Hence, a Reform victory
You keep saying "the government" but it wasn't a single government. It was at least two administrations, possibly three (I can't be arsed to work out whether Boris was just about in charge when this first hit).
Each new PM is asked by the King to form a new government.
Edit: maybe it is FOUR? I had forgotten the Lettuce.
The whole damn system is broken and it needs to be torn to the ground.
Very interesting, not least in the fact that the only group the Tories lead with now is established Liberals, where they are 1% ahead of Labour and 15% of the LDs and 25% ahead of Reform.
Reform meanwhile are on a massive 58% with dissenting disruptors and Reform lead the Tories by 16% with rooted patriots and by 2% with traditional Conservatives. Reform lead Labour by 8% with sceptical scrollers too.
Labour lead the LDs meanwhile by 14% with the incrementalist Left and Labour lead the Greens by 3% with Progressive activists
I'm a dissenting disruptor. Which is weird because I'm more left-wing than Labour 😀, at least these days. Although let's be fair, Heseltine was more left-wing than 2025 Labour... ☹️
The essence of you is Left but with strands of Right. You're a poster whose opinions on things are quite hard to predict.
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
Something can be both a good campaigning tactic and corrosive to democracy. The Brexit bus was a good campaigning tactic. It was also a lie.
I'm not saying that we should note that the cost of this scheme was under £1 billion rather than £7 billion as a political strategy. I'm saying we should note that because it's true.
Truth matters. Look at the US to see what happens when a significant proportion of the politicians, media and public give up on truth.
Was it a lie, though? If I say my salary is x I expect the reader to understand that’s the figure before tax. It was certainly a great way to get people talking about how much money was leaving the country each week.
Now arguably it was worth it for the things that occurred as a result of membership, but it should be acknowledged that we were spending millions each week on membership.
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this
Is he right? Did we knowingly invite Afghan sex offenders?! And is it true they excluded all these numbers - thousands - from the immigration data???
It gets worse. Worse and worse
The sex offenders comment is such dynamite that one hopes he’s sure of his facts, given the outrage it’s going to cause in certain places
Reform in Leics County council have voted to move £2million from what they call "Net Stupid Zero" to...
...flooding defences.
You could not make this shit up.
That does not seem obviously outrageous.
It is the opposite of outrageous. Outrageous would be a council not having adequate flood defences yet spending £2million of council tax payers' money on tokenistic activity that even if the entire UK eliminated carbon emmissions, let alone just Leicester, wouldn't make a blind bit of difference.
Given you are a climate change denier and believe net zero is a literal conspiracy, maybe your views about the value of net zero measures are distorted.
One's views on climate change are irrelevant. You could be the world's biggest believer in it and see that Rottenborough's assertion is nonsense.
Worth remembering that the leak happened in February 2022 and was not - apparently - known about until a year later. The super-injunction was obtained in September 2023.
Now what else was happening in February 2022? Russia's invasion of Ukraine. I expect the MoD was more bothered about the Ukraine invasion than a leak of date about Afghanistan though it would be interesting to know when and how they became aware.
When did the justification for the injunction change from being "we need to protect lives" to "we need to create a narrative"? And who took that decision?
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
But what are the facts ?
How many other people in how many other schemes are there ?
And however many people and however much money it totals up to be, its still not going to be trusted as government has been shown to be covering things up.
Yes quite. The government has lost any claim on our trust (as have the Tories). No one believes a word they say - I certainly don’t. They lie and lie again
Hence, a Reform victory
You keep saying "the government" but it wasn't a single government. It was at least two administrations, possibly three (I can't be arsed to work out whether Boris was just about in charge when this first hit).
Each new PM is asked by the King to form a new government.
Edit: maybe it is FOUR? I had forgotten the Lettuce.
The whole damn system is broken and it needs to be torn to the ground.
I get the sense Wallace is a well-meaning idiot and doesn’t understand the consequences of what he did. Others, brighter, are entirely aware
There’s a particular type of Tory who sees this kind of thing as being like Joanna Lumley with the Gurkhas.
Don't be an arse. Some of the people seeking shelter in the West were women judges and other female professionals who were in particular danger from the Taliban. We don't know whether any women were on this list and how many have come here. But if some have I would hope that we would be pleased to save them from a disgusting regime.
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
But what are the facts ?
How many other people in how many other schemes are there ?
And however many people and however much money it totals up to be, its still not going to be trusted as government has been shown to be covering things up.
Yes quite. The government has lost any claim on our trust (as have the Tories). No one believes a word they say - I certainly don’t. They lie and lie again
Hence, a Reform victory
You keep saying "the government" but it wasn't a single government. It was at least two administrations, possibly three (I can't be arsed to work out whether Boris was just about in charge when this first hit).
Each new PM is asked by the King to form a new government.
Edit: maybe it is FOUR? I had forgotten the Lettuce.
The whole damn system is broken and it needs to be torn to the ground.
Where's our Che though? Not Nigel Farage surely.
I have no reason to disbelieve musk’s assessment of farage that he is “not up to it”. But I’ll still give him his turn to disappoint and see where we are. After him, 2035 is an epoch away, I’ll just be pleased if human civilisation is still going by then frankly.
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this
Is he right? Did we knowingly invite Afghan sex offenders?! And is it true they excluded all these numbers - thousands - from the immigration data???
It gets worse. Worse and worse
The sex offenders comment is such dynamite that one hopes he’s sure of his facts, given the outrage it’s going to cause in certain places
"That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this"
My view is he starts off very well but towards the end gets all a bit bitchy - making a side swipe at someone called Phipps who no one who is not a paid lobby journalist has ever heard of for no apparent reason.
Plus he better be bloody sure about the sex offenders comment. Maybe he is relying a simple stats. If you let in a group of ten thousand then maybe one or two are possible sex offenders. That would apply to any group of humans.
I get the sense Wallace is a well-meaning idiot and doesn’t understand the consequences of what he did. Others, brighter, are entirely aware
There’s a particular type of Tory who sees this kind of thing as being like Joanna Lumley with the Gurkhas.
Don't be an arse. Some of the people seeking shelter in the West were women judges and other female professionals who were in particular danger from the Taliban. We don't know whether any women were on this list and how many have come here. But if some have I would hope that we would be pleased to save them from a disgusting regime.
If we didn't want to have to clear up this kind of shit we perhaps shouldn't have been there in the first place.
The first rule of military history: don't invade Afghanistan.
But we did. And so we must clean up the mess in the most humane way we can.
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this
Is he right? Did we knowingly invite Afghan sex offenders?! And is it true they excluded all these numbers - thousands - from the immigration data???
It gets worse. Worse and worse
The sex offenders comment is such dynamite that one hopes he’s sure of his facts, given the outrage it’s going to cause in certain places
It appears to be true - also in Telegraph
Consider this as a thought experiment. At some point one of these Afghan incomers will commit a horrible rape. It’s unpleasant to think about but statistically certain - Afghans have roughly the worst record for sexual offences in the west (amongst immigrant nationalities)
That rape, that victim, will be the direct result of a secret government plan to smuggle in tens of thousands of Afghans into the UK, while hiding this from the voters, making it illegal to even talk about, and making us pay, nonetheless
That’s… beyond explosive. What happens when the public finds out?
If the military are storing this classified and super sensitive info in excel, what else have they got on normal spreadsheets?
I would love to get a peek inside the hacking operations of China, Russia and North Korea, I bet they absolutely wet themselves at the level of idiocy.
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this
Is he right? Did we knowingly invite Afghan sex offenders?! And is it true they excluded all these numbers - thousands - from the immigration data???
It gets worse. Worse and worse
The sex offenders comment is such dynamite that one hopes he’s sure of his facts, given the outrage it’s going to cause in certain places
"That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this"
My view is he starts off very well but towards the end gets all a bit bitchy - making a side swipe at someone called Phipps who no one who is not a paid lobby journalist has ever heard of for no apparent reason.
Plus he better be bloody sure about the sex offenders comment. Maybe he is relying a simple stats. If you let in a group of ten thousand then maybe one or two are possible sex offenders. That would apply to any group of humans.
It's almost certain that immigrants will be more likely to be sex offenders than your average Brit, because most sex offenders are men between the ages of 20 and 40, and that's also the most likely age for immigrants.
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this
Is he right? Did we knowingly invite Afghan sex offenders?! And is it true they excluded all these numbers - thousands - from the immigration data???
It gets worse. Worse and worse
The sex offenders comment is such dynamite that one hopes he’s sure of his facts, given the outrage it’s going to cause in certain places
I have not read it in detail. Skimming through I do not see where the reference to sex offenders comes from. It also shows that the judge wanted to lift the super-injunction a year ago but was overruled by the Court of Appeal.
If the military are storing this classified and super sensitive info in excel, what else have they got on normal spreadsheets?
I would love to get a peek inside the hacking operations of China, Russia and North Korea, I bet they absolutely wet themselves at the level of idiocy.
Indeed. Excel must be the most misused software on the planet.
However, idiocy is universal. I bet they do the same.
Certainly not counter-signalling, but certainly flagging that questions of UK state legitimacy are increasingly completely normal on the centre-right : Britain's next RW government has to be ready for, essentially, a state-building effort. That state is not the current UK.
Will not tipsily expand on this now, but the current UK is the foil against which a reformist Britain will be constructed. As a political shift, it’s closer to the transition from Communism than the Thatcher analogies commentators are happier toying with.
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this
Is he right? Did we knowingly invite Afghan sex offenders?! And is it true they excluded all these numbers - thousands - from the immigration data???
It gets worse. Worse and worse
The sex offenders comment is such dynamite that one hopes he’s sure of his facts, given the outrage it’s going to cause in certain places
I have not read it in detail. Skimming through I do not see where the reference to sex offenders comes from. It also shows that the judge wanted to lift the super-injunction a year ago but was overruled by the Court of Appeal.
The Mail has gone on record
“The data blunder also exposed British officials whose details were on the database. And the Mail can exclusively reveal that several Afghans on list had previously been rejected for violent or sexual assaults”
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this
Is he right? Did we knowingly invite Afghan sex offenders?! And is it true they excluded all these numbers - thousands - from the immigration data???
It gets worse. Worse and worse
The sex offenders comment is such dynamite that one hopes he’s sure of his facts, given the outrage it’s going to cause in certain places
I have not read it in detail. Skimming through I do not see where the reference to sex offenders comes from. It also shows that the judge wanted to lift the super-injunction a year ago but was overruled by the Court of Appeal.
The Mail has gone on record
“The data blunder also exposed British officials whose details were on the database. And the Mail can exclusively reveal that several Afghans on list had previously been rejected for violent or sexual assaults”
Also worth noting the Mail hints at even darker revelations which are STILL injuncted
Thanks - but that doesn't quite answer my question. It says that there were names on the list of 100,000 people who had criminal records and previously been refused entry. It does not say in terms that those criminals and sex offenders were among those who had been flown to Britain.
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this
Is he right? Did we knowingly invite Afghan sex offenders?! And is it true they excluded all these numbers - thousands - from the immigration data???
It gets worse. Worse and worse
The sex offenders comment is such dynamite that one hopes he’s sure of his facts, given the outrage it’s going to cause in certain places
It appears to be true - also in Telegraph
Consider this as a thought experiment. At some point one of these Afghan incomers will commit a horrible rape. It’s unpleasant to think about but statistically certain - Afghans have roughly the worst record for sexual offences in the west (amongst immigrant nationalities)
That rape, that victim, will be the direct result of a secret government plan to smuggle in tens of thousands of Afghans into the UK, while hiding this from the voters, making it illegal to even talk about, and making us pay, nonetheless
That’s… beyond explosive. What happens when the public finds out?
What if one of them goes into medical research and finds a cure for dementia?
If that comes out I fear an irrational public outcry for open borders.
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this
Is he right? Did we knowingly invite Afghan sex offenders?! And is it true they excluded all these numbers - thousands - from the immigration data???
It gets worse. Worse and worse
The sex offenders comment is such dynamite that one hopes he’s sure of his facts, given the outrage it’s going to cause in certain places
It appears to be true - also in Telegraph
Consider this as a thought experiment. At some point one of these Afghan incomers will commit a horrible rape. It’s unpleasant to think about but statistically certain - Afghans have roughly the worst record for sexual offences in the west (amongst immigrant nationalities)
That rape, that victim, will be the direct result of a secret government plan to smuggle in tens of thousands of Afghans into the UK, while hiding this from the voters, making it illegal to even talk about, and making us pay, nonetheless
That’s… beyond explosive. What happens when the public finds out?
What if one of them goes into medical research and finds a cure for dementia?
If that comes out I fear an irrational public outcry for open borders.
You realise that technological progress is allowed to happen in other places too?
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this
Is he right? Did we knowingly invite Afghan sex offenders?! And is it true they excluded all these numbers - thousands - from the immigration data???
It gets worse. Worse and worse
The sex offenders comment is such dynamite that one hopes he’s sure of his facts, given the outrage it’s going to cause in certain places
I have not read it in detail. Skimming through I do not see where the reference to sex offenders comes from. It also shows that the judge wanted to lift the super-injunction a year ago but was overruled by the Court of Appeal.
The Mail has gone on record
“The data blunder also exposed British officials whose details were on the database. And the Mail can exclusively reveal that several Afghans on list had previously been rejected for violent or sexual assaults”
Also worth noting the Mail hints at even darker revelations which are STILL injuncted
Thanks - but that doesn't quite answer my question. It says that there were names on the list of 100,000 people who had criminal records and previously been refused entry. It does not say in terms that those criminals and sex offenders were among those who had been flown to Britain.
Indeed. It’s opaque. But that’s because our government is lying to us and making us pay for those lies
Reading between the lines, I wonder if the Mail KNOWS this is true, but can’t name names yet, because of the remaining injunctions
Whatever the case, today is the day the UK government lost all remaining legitimacy, for me. Chagos was close but this seals it. They are traitors and liars and I regard all of them as such
Certainly not counter-signalling, but certainly flagging that questions of UK state legitimacy are increasingly completely normal on the centre-right : Britain's next RW government has to be ready for, essentially, a state-building effort. That state is not the current UK.
Will not tipsily expand on this now, but the current UK is the foil against which a reformist Britain will be constructed. As a political shift, it’s closer to the transition from Communism than the Thatcher analogies commentators are happier toying with.
"Will not tipsily expand on this now".
We've all been there. "I'll write this up properly in the morning when I'm sober. Ish."
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this
Is he right? Did we knowingly invite Afghan sex offenders?! And is it true they excluded all these numbers - thousands - from the immigration data???
It gets worse. Worse and worse
The sex offenders comment is such dynamite that one hopes he’s sure of his facts, given the outrage it’s going to cause in certain places
I have not read it in detail. Skimming through I do not see where the reference to sex offenders comes from. It also shows that the judge wanted to lift the super-injunction a year ago but was overruled by the Court of Appeal.
The Mail has gone on record
“The data blunder also exposed British officials whose details were on the database. And the Mail can exclusively reveal that several Afghans on list had previously been rejected for violent or sexual assaults”
Also worth noting the Mail hints at even darker revelations which are STILL injuncted
Thanks - but that doesn't quite answer my question. It says that there were names on the list of 100,000 people who had criminal records and previously been refused entry. It does not say in terms that those criminals and sex offenders were among those who had been flown to Britain.
Indeed. It’s opaque. But that’s because our government is lying to us and making us pay for those lies
Reading between the lines, I wonder if the Mail KNOWS this is true, but can’t name names yet, because of the remaining injunctions
Whatever the case, today is the day the UK government lost all remaining legitimacy, for me. Chagos was close but this seals it. They are traitors and liars and I regard all of them as such
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this
Is he right? Did we knowingly invite Afghan sex offenders?! And is it true they excluded all these numbers - thousands - from the immigration data???
It gets worse. Worse and worse
The sex offenders comment is such dynamite that one hopes he’s sure of his facts, given the outrage it’s going to cause in certain places
I have not read it in detail. Skimming through I do not see where the reference to sex offenders comes from. It also shows that the judge wanted to lift the super-injunction a year ago but was overruled by the Court of Appeal.
The Mail has gone on record
“The data blunder also exposed British officials whose details were on the database. And the Mail can exclusively reveal that several Afghans on list had previously been rejected for violent or sexual assaults”
Also worth noting the Mail hints at even darker revelations which are STILL injuncted
Thanks - but that doesn't quite answer my question. It says that there were names on the list of 100,000 people who had criminal records and previously been refused entry. It does not say in terms that those criminals and sex offenders were among those who had been flown to Britain.
Indeed. It’s opaque. But that’s because our government is lying to us and making us pay for those lies
Reading between the lines, I wonder if the Mail KNOWS this is true, but can’t name names yet, because of the remaining injunctions
Whatever the case, today is the day the UK government lost all remaining legitimacy, for me. Chagos was close but this seals it. They are traitors and liars and I regard all of them as such
Nobody got fired...Healey was drowning to simple questions from Lewis Goodall. Apparently it is a "witch hunt" to go after those that failed. Healey must be employing the same PR specialists as Greg Wallace.
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this
Is he right? Did we knowingly invite Afghan sex offenders?! And is it true they excluded all these numbers - thousands - from the immigration data???
It gets worse. Worse and worse
The sex offenders comment is such dynamite that one hopes he’s sure of his facts, given the outrage it’s going to cause in certain places
It appears to be true - also in Telegraph
Consider this as a thought experiment. At some point one of these Afghan incomers will commit a horrible rape. It’s unpleasant to think about but statistically certain - Afghans have roughly the worst record for sexual offences in the west (amongst immigrant nationalities)
That rape, that victim, will be the direct result of a secret government plan to smuggle in tens of thousands of Afghans into the UK, while hiding this from the voters, making it illegal to even talk about, and making us pay, nonetheless
That’s… beyond explosive. What happens when the public finds out?
In June this year an Afghan asylum seeker in Falkirk was jailed for 9 years for the rape of a 15 year old girl. His defence was "cultural differences". I don't suppose he's the first asylum seeker to be convicted of such a crime nor will he be the last. Sadly.
The fact of these crimes should be explosive enough but we know that they are not. Sexual crimes against women are girls are simply not taken as seriously as they should be. Adding yet another layer of deceit on top adds to the sense that nothing in government can be trusted.
That breakdown of trust is the critical failing in our country right now.
I have been saying this for ages in respect of all sorts of scandals where the vulnerable have been harmed and those in power and/or responsible have lied, have covered up, have used the courts to do so and have spent our money to stop the truth coming out. And you, dear boy, have called my focus on this and some of the examples I have written about "chaff".
But it turns out that I am right. As I wrote in April last year -
"When you strip away the reports, the millions of documents, the interviews, the evidence, the court cases and judgments, the lawyers, the documentaries, the dramas, remember this. At the heart of all these scandals – whether in the police, the post office, the NHS, childrens’ homes or elsewhere – are people (often vulnerable people) whose lives have been ruined, people who have been harmed, people who have suffered and whose suffering could and should have been stopped if only those who had the power and the responsibility to do so had paid attention to the clues waved under their noses and acted. This failure to do so and the accompanying lies – by so many bodies from government down – has degraded trust in our public and private institutions. There is still far too much resistance and denial by those responsible for the problems. It will be quite the effort to rebuild that trust. There is little sign that the scale of the task or its overriding necessity are fully understood."
Nobody got fired...Healey was drowning to simple questions from Lewis Goodall. Apparently it is a "witch hunt" to go after those that failed. Healey must be employing the same PR specialists as Greg Wallace.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
Nobody got fired...Healey was drowning to simple questions from Lewis Goodall. Apparently it is a "witch hunt" to go after those that failed. Healey must be employing the same PR specialists as Greg Wallace.
It wasn't his cock up, it should have been easy to answer the questions.
Something does not quite ring true to me about the leak happening because of one soldier sending out an excel database as part of an attempt to verify data. Not sure what it is but it feels to me as if there is probably more to what happened and why and how it was discovered than we have been told.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
Most still in will not discuss this openly, let alone in the press or on X due to fear of consequences. It should be known that this has reduced our national security in the following ways: 1) reduced retention through destroying the “offer” 2) reassigned personnel to bring them meals and literally clear up their shit, instead of conducting training or other duties. 3) imported thousands upon thousands of barely - or unvetted - or vetted and denied but still allowed - personnel into this country.
Nobody got fired...Healey was drowning to simple questions from Lewis Goodall. Apparently it is a "witch hunt" to go after those that failed. Healey must be employing the same PR specialists as Greg Wallace.
It wasn't his cock up, it should have been easy to answer the questions.
Something does not quite ring true to me about the leak happening because of one soldier sending out an excel database as part of an attempt to verify data. Not sure what it is but it feels to me as if there is probably more to what happened and why and how it was discovered than we have been told.
Perhaps. Although I am reminded of the case when a tax official asked another one to confirm some details of some taxpayers, so said employee of HMRC decided to download millions of people's tax details, burn it on a CD (remember those things) and whack in the normal post.
If it is found to be an even bigger cover up though, its going to be super mega shit hitting fan stuff.
On a separate note. I always thought it strange that Ben Wallace was so reluctant to throw his hat into the ring for PM post boris, it would I suspect have been approaching a coronation. Perhaps today we finally learned the real reason why.
Yes
On X there is speculation this also explains Sunak’s odd choice of election date. The Tories expected the next hearing to lift the injunction…
It’s odd that the new government persisted with this for a year. Where tf is their political antenna? They should have stood up and talked about a £7bn black hole and then pulled the rip chord and let everyone see where it came from.
But it's not £7 billion. That was an estimate of a possible maximum. The actual cost has been far lower: the BBC article on this says, "The secret scheme - officially called the Afghan Relocation Route - has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m". So, less than £1 billion.
Not that that isn't a significant amount of money, but any arguments over this would be more convincing if they got their facts right.
The judge who lifted the order explicitly said “£7bn?” and this was confirmed by the governments lawyer. The transcript of the hearing is in the Telegraph and I’ve pasted it above
To be candid, so much of this was deadly secret and so much of it is STILL secret (parts of the injunction remain) it is almost impossible to pin down the precise truth, right now. There are conflicting reports everywhere
What we can say for certain is that it is a shitshow for Tories AND Labour which is no doubt why they were so keen to keep it under wraps
As for bondegezou, the political strategy espoused reminds me of the brexit bus. “We didn’t lie to you about spending £7bn to import some known sex offenders, it was only £1bn!”.
That’s devastating from Farage. He’s so good at this
Is he right? Did we knowingly invite Afghan sex offenders?! And is it true they excluded all these numbers - thousands - from the immigration data???
It gets worse. Worse and worse
The sex offenders comment is such dynamite that one hopes he’s sure of his facts, given the outrage it’s going to cause in certain places
I have not read it in detail. Skimming through I do not see where the reference to sex offenders comes from. It also shows that the judge wanted to lift the super-injunction a year ago but was overruled by the Court of Appeal.
The Mail has gone on record
“The data blunder also exposed British officials whose details were on the database. And the Mail can exclusively reveal that several Afghans on list had previously been rejected for violent or sexual assaults”
Also worth noting the Mail hints at even darker revelations which are STILL injuncted
Thanks - but that doesn't quite answer my question. It says that there were names on the list of 100,000 people who had criminal records and previously been refused entry. It does not say in terms that those criminals and sex offenders were among those who had been flown to Britain.
Indeed. It’s opaque. But that’s because our government is lying to us and making us pay for those lies
Reading between the lines, I wonder if the Mail KNOWS this is true, but can’t name names yet, because of the remaining injunctions
Whatever the case, today is the day the UK government lost all remaining legitimacy, for me. Chagos was close but this seals it. They are traitors and liars and I regard all of them as such
You do realise that most of this happened under a Tory government - the leak, the discovery of the leak, the super-injunction and the plan to relocate ...... This is not just a Labour issue.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
Most still in will not discuss this openly, let alone in the press or on X due to fear of consequences. It should be known that this has reduced our national security in the following ways: 1) reduced retention through destroying the “offer” 2) reassigned personnel to bring them meals and literally clear up their shit, instead of conducting training or other duties. 3) imported thousands upon thousands of barely - or unvetted - or vetted and denied but still allowed - personnel into this country.
But we're told that we have a 'debt of honour' to them.
That whole of August and most of December off isn't an issue, but....
French PM looks to scrap two public holidays in bold bid to cut national debt
the proposal to cut the two May public holidays was the most eye-catching suggestion. Bayrou said Easter Monday had "no religious significance", and the whole nation had to work and produce more.
Nobody got fired...Healey was drowning to simple questions from Lewis Goodall. Apparently it is a "witch hunt" to go after those that failed. Healey must be employing the same PR specialists as Greg Wallace.
It wasn't his cock up, it should have been easy to answer the questions.
Something does not quite ring true to me about the leak happening because of one soldier sending out an excel database as part of an attempt to verify data. Not sure what it is but it feels to me as if there is probably more to what happened and why and how it was discovered than we have been told.
Perhaps. Although I am reminded of the case when a tax official asked another one to confirm some details of some taxpayers, so said employee of HMRC decided to download millions of people's tax details, burn it on a CD and whack in the normal post.
If it is found to be an even bigger cover up though, its going to be super mega shit hitting fan stuff.
I remember that one - the lost child benefit CD. I always wondered whether that was true. It seemed to be just as plausible that some official was asked for the information, forgot to send it, went on his hols and when asked where the info was told some fib like "But I posted the CD to you. Didn't you get it?"
It could well be stupidity in both cases. Usually the simplest explanation. But still think we have not had all the details of what happened and why.
Nobody got fired...Healey was drowning to simple questions from Lewis Goodall. Apparently it is a "witch hunt" to go after those that failed. Healey must be employing the same PR specialists as Greg Wallace.
It wasn't his cock up, it should have been easy to answer the questions.
Something does not quite ring true to me about the leak happening because of one soldier sending out an excel database as part of an attempt to verify data. Not sure what it is but it feels to me as if there is probably more to what happened and why and how it was discovered than we have been told.
Perhaps. Although I am reminded of the case when a tax official asked another one to confirm some details of some taxpayers, so said employee of HMRC decided to download millions of people's tax details, burn it on a CD and whack in the normal post.
If it is found to be an even bigger cover up though, its going to be super mega shit hitting fan stuff.
I remember that one - the lost child benefit CD. I always wondered whether that was true. It seemed to be just as plausible that some official was asked for the information, forgot to send it, went on his hols and when asked where the info was told some fib like "But I posted the CD to you. Didn't you get it?"
It could well be stupidity in both cases. Usually the simplest explanation. But still think we have not had all the details of what happened and why.
Didn't Darling get the sack for that one? I always thought that was very harsh.
The thing about storing all these details in a massive excel spreadsheet I can well believe. COVID showed us just disastrous approaches to handling and recording sensitive data across government.
Nobody got fired...Healey was drowning to simple questions from Lewis Goodall. Apparently it is a "witch hunt" to go after those that failed. Healey must be employing the same PR specialists as Greg Wallace.
It wasn't his cock up, it should have been easy to answer the questions.
Something does not quite ring true to me about the leak happening because of one soldier sending out an excel database as part of an attempt to verify data. Not sure what it is but it feels to me as if there is probably more to what happened and why and how it was discovered than we have been told.
Perhaps. Although I am reminded of the case when a tax official asked another one to confirm some details of some taxpayers, so said employee of HMRC decided to download millions of people's tax details, burn it on a CD and whack in the normal post.
If it is found to be an even bigger cover up though, its going to be super mega shit hitting fan stuff.
I remember that one - the lost child benefit CD. I always wondered whether that was true. It seemed to be just as plausible that some official was asked for the information, forgot to send it, went on his hols and when asked where the info was told some fib like "But I posted the CD to you. Didn't you get it?"
It could well be stupidity in both cases. Usually the simplest explanation. But still think we have not had all the details of what happened and why.
Didn't Darling get the sack for that one? I always thought that was very harsh.
Nobody got fired...Healey was drowning to simple questions from Lewis Goodall. Apparently it is a "witch hunt" to go after those that failed. Healey must be employing the same PR specialists as Greg Wallace.
It wasn't his cock up, it should have been easy to answer the questions.
Something does not quite ring true to me about the leak happening because of one soldier sending out an excel database as part of an attempt to verify data. Not sure what it is but it feels to me as if there is probably more to what happened and why and how it was discovered than we have been told.
Perhaps. Although I am reminded of the case when a tax official asked another one to confirm some details of some taxpayers, so said employee of HMRC decided to download millions of people's tax details, burn it on a CD and whack in the normal post.
If it is found to be an even bigger cover up though, its going to be super mega shit hitting fan stuff.
I remember that one - the lost child benefit CD. I always wondered whether that was true. It seemed to be just as plausible that some official was asked for the information, forgot to send it, went on his hols and when asked where the info was told some fib like "But I posted the CD to you. Didn't you get it?"
It could well be stupidity in both cases. Usually the simplest explanation. But still think we have not had all the details of what happened and why.
Didn't Darling get the sack for that one? I always thought that was very harsh.
No. But the head of HMRC resigned.
My memory failed me. With this army case, nobody has got the chop and Healey claiming a witch-hunt makes it clear nobody is going to be doing any resigning.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
Nobody got fired...Healey was drowning to simple questions from Lewis Goodall. Apparently it is a "witch hunt" to go after those that failed. Healey must be employing the same PR specialists as Greg Wallace.
It wasn't his cock up, it should have been easy to answer the questions.
Something does not quite ring true to me about the leak happening because of one soldier sending out an excel database as part of an attempt to verify data. Not sure what it is but it feels to me as if there is probably more to what happened and why and how it was discovered than we have been told.
Perhaps. Although I am reminded of the case when a tax official asked another one to confirm some details of some taxpayers, so said employee of HMRC decided to download millions of people's tax details, burn it on a CD and whack in the normal post.
If it is found to be an even bigger cover up though, its going to be super mega shit hitting fan stuff.
I remember that one - the lost child benefit CD. I always wondered whether that was true. It seemed to be just as plausible that some official was asked for the information, forgot to send it, went on his hols and when asked where the info was told some fib like "But I posted the CD to you. Didn't you get it?"
It could well be stupidity in both cases. Usually the simplest explanation. But still think we have not had all the details of what happened and why.
Didn't Darling get the sack for that one? I always thought that was very harsh.
The thing about storing all these details in a massive excel spreadsheet I can well believe. COVID showed us just disastrous approaches to handling and recording sensitive data across government.
Not long ago I asked our central services for "Can you give me a list of folk in User Group XYZ? Ta!".
Email came back a few days later. With all the members of that group.
And their home addresses. And personal phone/email addresses. And 'next of kin' addresses and contact information. And the persons passport details. And their recent medical details.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
He's remarkably eloquent on his substack for a regular tommy.
"The West in its urge to repudiate wholesale its own heritage in pursuit of tolerance has embraced the politics of postmodernity. Objective morality is scorned, and objective history cannot exist and must be rewritten through the lenses of materialism, racial theory, and gendered critique. Internet snark and 24-hour news cycles thrive on “gotcha” moments, where complications and contradictions become cancellations and banishment to the dustbin of history."
He doesn't mention BA pilots in that post, but possibly - if he ever posts a second time - it will feature.
I do feel sorry for John Healey - just imagine getting that hospital pass. I'd have hidden in a cupboard and refused to come out. Every option is just dreadful - and then you had the riots.
I understand why the government covered it up initially, lest you had interpreters getting tortured to death on YouTube, but the ongoing cover up and lack of explanation is weak. Sunak or Johnson should do the right thing and fess up - at least Wallace is giving it a go.
Also funny how that report about the risk of civil strife was also leaked this week. Something weird going on. I suspect someone is just trying to rip the plaster off everything in one go.
One of the leading Republicans on Capitol Hill broke with the Trump administration’s decision not to release the files of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as the controversy deepened over the handling of an issue that has caused unprecedented division among the GOP base.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson that he supported the release of the Epstein files, days after President Donald Trump’s Justice Department said the matter was effectively closed. Johnson is a close Trump ally and has never broken so publicly with the president on an issue.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
He's remarkably eloquent on his substack for a regular tommy.
"The West in its urge to repudiate wholesale its own heritage in pursuit of tolerance has embraced the politics of postmodernity. Objective morality is scorned, and objective history cannot exist and must be rewritten through the lenses of materialism, racial theory, and gendered critique. Internet snark and 24-hour news cycles thrive on “gotcha” moments, where complications and contradictions become cancellations and banishment to the dustbin of history."
He doesn't mention BA pilots in that post, but possibly - if he ever posts a second time - it will feature.
He’s articulate so he must be a liar? That’s your take?
I do feel sorry for John Healey - just imagine getting that hospital pass. I'd have hidden in a cupboard and refused to come out. Every option is just dreadful - and then you had the riots.
I understand why the government covered it up initially, lest you had interpreters getting tortured to death on YouTube, but the ongoing cover up and lack of explanation is weak. Sunak or Johnson should do the right thing and fess up - at least Wallace is giving it a go.
Also funny how that report about the risk of civil strife was also leaked this week. Something weird going on. I suspect someone is just trying to rip the plaster off everything in one go.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
He's remarkably eloquent on his substack for a regular tommy.
"The West in its urge to repudiate wholesale its own heritage in pursuit of tolerance has embraced the politics of postmodernity. Objective morality is scorned, and objective history cannot exist and must be rewritten through the lenses of materialism, racial theory, and gendered critique. Internet snark and 24-hour news cycles thrive on “gotcha” moments, where complications and contradictions become cancellations and banishment to the dustbin of history."
He doesn't mention BA pilots in that post, but possibly - if he ever posts a second time - it will feature.
There are certainly going to be plenty of ChatGPT powered bots of the Saturday Morning persuasion appearing, although there's no evidence either way that this is one.
The government has made it easy for the bad actors, though.
That whole of August and most of December off isn't an issue, but....
French PM looks to scrap two public holidays in bold bid to cut national debt
the proposal to cut the two May public holidays was the most eye-catching suggestion. Bayrou said Easter Monday had "no religious significance", and the whole nation had to work and produce more.
Nobody got fired...Healey was drowning to simple questions from Lewis Goodall. Apparently it is a "witch hunt" to go after those that failed. Healey must be employing the same PR specialists as Greg Wallace.
It wasn't his cock up, it should have been easy to answer the questions.
Something does not quite ring true to me about the leak happening because of one soldier sending out an excel database as part of an attempt to verify data. Not sure what it is but it feels to me as if there is probably more to what happened and why and how it was discovered than we have been told.
Perhaps. Although I am reminded of the case when a tax official asked another one to confirm some details of some taxpayers, so said employee of HMRC decided to download millions of people's tax details, burn it on a CD and whack in the normal post.
If it is found to be an even bigger cover up though, its going to be super mega shit hitting fan stuff.
I remember that one - the lost child benefit CD. I always wondered whether that was true. It seemed to be just as plausible that some official was asked for the information, forgot to send it, went on his hols and when asked where the info was told some fib like "But I posted the CD to you. Didn't you get it?"
It could well be stupidity in both cases. Usually the simplest explanation. But still think we have not had all the details of what happened and why.
Didn't Darling get the sack for that one? I always thought that was very harsh.
The thing about storing all these details in a massive excel spreadsheet I can well believe. COVID showed us just disastrous approaches to handling and recording sensitive data across government.
Not long ago I asked our central services for "Can you give me a list of folk in User Group XYZ? Ta!".
Email came back a few days later. With all the members of that group.
And their home addresses. And personal phone/email addresses. And 'next of kin' addresses and contact information. And the persons passport details. And their recent medical details.
And yet we are expected to upload our personal (and financial) details in order to establish we can have a bet (or look at porn). No risk of fraud or even blackmail when those databases are leaked.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
This scandal is so momentous it should bring down the government
I’d add that it should destroy the Tories forever but that’s already happening
Why? The super injunction was put in place to protect the identities of those Afghans at risk from the Taliban.
If Reform try and play party politics with this it just shows they aren't a serious prospective party of government
Yes, I suspect there'll be a some public sympathy for the Afghani locals who helped our boys in a rugged, distant and hostile land. Rishi might even come away with his reputation enhanced - he did his bit but refused to take any credit.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
He's remarkably eloquent on his substack for a regular tommy.
"The West in its urge to repudiate wholesale its own heritage in pursuit of tolerance has embraced the politics of postmodernity. Objective morality is scorned, and objective history cannot exist and must be rewritten through the lenses of materialism, racial theory, and gendered critique. Internet snark and 24-hour news cycles thrive on “gotcha” moments, where complications and contradictions become cancellations and banishment to the dustbin of history."
He doesn't mention BA pilots in that post, but possibly - if he ever posts a second time - it will feature.
He’s articulate so he must be a liar? That’s your take?
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
This scandal is so momentous it should bring down the government
I’d add that it should destroy the Tories forever but that’s already happening
Why? The super injunction was put in place to protect the identities of those Afghans at risk from the Taliban.
If Reform try and play party politics with this it just shows they aren't a serious prospective party of government
Let's see if it's still trending in the morning. The last example of something like this, the details of which I cannot remember*, didn't make it into the top 10 BBC News Most Read despite dominating PB for a week.
It's very difficult to predict. 4,500 people over two years is small change compared to small boats - but then small boats is tiny compared with overall immigration of nearly 1 million, yet it dominates the discourse.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
Wednesday's Racing Post includes its 16-page Open golf supplement (about half of it bookies' adverts, I expect). This is recommended to everyone watching the golf for its form summaries of each golfer.
Its verdict on the aforementioned Scottie Scheffler: Playing in only his fifth Open. Still learning links golf. Portrush debut. Putted poorly last week.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy dominate the betting for the Open Championship and both deserve great respect. Scheffler has won three tournaments this year, including the US PGA in May, and eighth place in the Scottish Open last week was a tidy warm-up spin.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
This scandal is so momentous it should bring down the government
I’d add that it should destroy the Tories forever but that’s already happening
Why? The super injunction was put in place to protect the identities of those Afghans at risk from the Taliban.
If Reform try and play party politics with this it just shows they aren't a serious prospective party of government
Let's see if it's still trending in the morning. The last example of something like this, the details of which I cannot remember*, didn't make it into the top 10 BBC News Most Read despite dominating PB for a week.
It's very difficult to predict. 4,500 people over two years is small change compared to small boats - but then small boats is tiny compared with overall immigration of nearly 1 million, yet it dominates the discourse.
*Mebbe trans? A minor expenses thing?
It’s the top five stories on the Telegraph, top four on the Guardian, top five on The Times. As of now
I predict this will be big, not least coz some of the worst aspects are still slowly emerging. Out of the fog of legal war
Also it’s a tremendously juicy story for any ambitious journalist. An almost Watergate-style conspiracy mixed in with migration and culture wars, and it condemns both main parties so you can feel motivated whatever your politics
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
This scandal is so momentous it should bring down the government
I’d add that it should destroy the Tories forever but that’s already happening
Why? The super injunction was put in place to protect the identities of those Afghans at risk from the Taliban.
If Reform try and play party politics with this it just shows they aren't a serious prospective party of government
Let's see if it's still trending in the morning. The last example of something like this, the details of which I cannot remember*, didn't make it into the top 10 BBC News Most Read despite dominating PB for a week.
It's very difficult to predict. 4,500 people over two years is small change compared to small boats - but then small boats is tiny compared with overall immigration of nearly 1 million, yet it dominates the discourse.
*Mebbe trans? A minor expenses thing?
It’s the top five stories on the Telegraph, top four on the Guardian, top five on The Times. As of now
I predict this will be big, not least coz some of the worst aspects are still slowly emerging. Out of the fog of legal war
Also it’s a tremendously juicy story for any ambitious journalist. An almost Watergate-style conspiracy mixed in with migration and culture wars, and it condemns both main parties so you can feel motivated whatever your politics
Big. It will be big
The fact journalists have been gagged for so long, and the media of course never like to talk about themselves...checks how many shows Lewis Goodall has been on today....checks how many sodding stories about MasterChef...
Have I got this right? The BBC has fired @JohnTorode1 because he allegedly made a racially insensitive comment in a bar EIGHT YEARS ago, that he immediately apologised for, and now doesn’t remember ever saying? Salem wants its witch trials back.
The guy will now be ever more be "that racist bloke". We don't even know what racist thing he said. There is racist and there is racist.
If that is all he did, the BBC should be ashamed
I have a very simple test with these kind of situations. First of all what exactly was said and to whom. Was it a one off or was it a pattern of consistent behaviour. If it was a one off, people can apologise and we can all move on.
In this case they are saying a one off ages ago and even the people reporting downplayed it severity. Which suggest he wasn't exactly ranting about f##king n###ers in the pub for hours or anything like that.
They seem to have taken action far quicker against Torode for this long past one-off than against Wallace for his persistent behaviour.
Yes and no. Sacking Torode follows an incident discovered in the report into Wallace.
It could be argued that Torode's was a single isolated incident but then it also seems there was only one incident upheld against Wallace from 2018 to now; all the rest seem to come from previous years before the BBC demanded in 2017 that he knock it off.
But the whole thing follows a series of scandals and the BBC has to act:-
The BBC today was signalling it is getting a grip on bad behaviour in the workplace. It's something Samir Shah, chairman of the BBC, promised after the Huw Edwards scandal.
Now Gregg Wallace is gone, John Torode is gone. Three staff members have been asked to "step back" from their roles after Glastonbury. And we've now learnt that several people have been sacked in light of the BBC's culture review.
Have I got this right? The BBC has fired @JohnTorode1 because he allegedly made a racially insensitive comment in a bar EIGHT YEARS ago, that he immediately apologised for, and now doesn’t remember ever saying? Salem wants its witch trials back.
The guy will now be ever more be "that racist bloke". We don't even know what racist thing he said. There is racist and there is racist.
If that is all he did, the BBC should be ashamed
I have a very simple test with these kind of situations. First of all what exactly was said and to whom. Was it a one off or was it a pattern of consistent behaviour. If it was a one off, people can apologise and we can all move on.
In this case they are saying a one off ages ago and even the people reporting downplayed it severity. Which suggest he wasn't exactly ranting about f##king n###ers in the pub for hours or anything like that.
They seem to have taken action far quicker against Torode for this long past one-off than against Wallace for his persistent behaviour.
Yes and no. Sacking Torode follows an incident discovered in the report into Wallace.
It could be argued that Torode's was a single isolated incident but then it also seems there was only one incident upheld against Wallace from 2018 to now; all the rest seem to come from previous years before the BBC demanded in 2017 that he knock it off.
But the whole thing follows a series of scandals and the BBC has to act:-
The BBC today was signalling it is getting a grip on bad behaviour in the workplace. It's something Samir Shah, chairman of the BBC, promised after the Huw Edwards scandal.
Now Gregg Wallace is gone, John Torode is gone. Three staff members have been asked to "step back" from their roles after Glastonbury. And we've now learnt that several people have been sacked in light of the BBC's culture review.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
This scandal is so momentous it should bring down the government
I’d add that it should destroy the Tories forever but that’s already happening
Why? The super injunction was put in place to protect the identities of those Afghans at risk from the Taliban.
If Reform try and play party politics with this it just shows they aren't a serious prospective party of government
Let's see if it's still trending in the morning. The last example of something like this, the details of which I cannot remember*, didn't make it into the top 10 BBC News Most Read despite dominating PB for a week.
It's very difficult to predict. 4,500 people over two years is small change compared to small boats - but then small boats is tiny compared with overall immigration of nearly 1 million, yet it dominates the discourse.
*Mebbe trans? A minor expenses thing?
It’s the top five stories on the Telegraph, top four on the Guardian, top five on The Times. As of now
I predict this will be big, not least coz some of the worst aspects are still slowly emerging. Out of the fog of legal war
Also it’s a tremendously juicy story for any ambitious journalist. An almost Watergate-style conspiracy mixed in with migration and culture wars, and it condemns both main parties so you can feel motivated whatever your politics
Big. It will be big
Quite amazing that the man who threatened to share the file is now living in Britain. Hard to imagine having so much contempt for the place you live.
I thought Pam Bondi already had. Wasn't it her next to President Trump when he attacked the reporter for asking about “that creep” but then the Attorney General answered anyway?
Metadata from the “raw” Epstein prison video shows approximately 2 minutes and 53 seconds were removed from one of two stitched-together clips. The cut starts right at the “missing minute.”
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
This scandal is so momentous it should bring down the government
I’d add that it should destroy the Tories forever but that’s already happening
Why? The super injunction was put in place to protect the identities of those Afghans at risk from the Taliban.
If Reform try and play party politics with this it just shows they aren't a serious prospective party of government
Let's see if it's still trending in the morning. The last example of something like this, the details of which I cannot remember*, didn't make it into the top 10 BBC News Most Read despite dominating PB for a week.
It's very difficult to predict. 4,500 people over two years is small change compared to small boats - but then small boats is tiny compared with overall immigration of nearly 1 million, yet it dominates the discourse.
*Mebbe trans? A minor expenses thing?
It’s the top five stories on the Telegraph, top four on the Guardian, top five on The Times. As of now
I predict this will be big, not least coz some of the worst aspects are still slowly emerging. Out of the fog of legal war
Also it’s a tremendously juicy story for any ambitious journalist. An almost Watergate-style conspiracy mixed in with migration and culture wars, and it condemns both main parties so you can feel motivated whatever your politics
Big. It will be big
Quite amazing that the man who threatened to share the file is now living in Britain. Hard to imagine having so much contempt for the place you live.
Well a former top Hamas bloke got a council house which he then bought with right to buy....
That whole of August and most of December off isn't an issue, but....
French PM looks to scrap two public holidays in bold bid to cut national debt
the proposal to cut the two May public holidays was the most eye-catching suggestion. Bayrou said Easter Monday had "no religious significance", and the whole nation had to work and produce more.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
This scandal is so momentous it should bring down the government
I’d add that it should destroy the Tories forever but that’s already happening
Why? The super injunction was put in place to protect the identities of those Afghans at risk from the Taliban.
If Reform try and play party politics with this it just shows they aren't a serious prospective party of government
Let's see if it's still trending in the morning. The last example of something like this, the details of which I cannot remember*, didn't make it into the top 10 BBC News Most Read despite dominating PB for a week.
It's very difficult to predict. 4,500 people over two years is small change compared to small boats - but then small boats is tiny compared with overall immigration of nearly 1 million, yet it dominates the discourse.
*Mebbe trans? A minor expenses thing?
It’s the top five stories on the Telegraph, top four on the Guardian, top five on The Times. As of now
I predict this will be big, not least coz some of the worst aspects are still slowly emerging. Out of the fog of legal war
Also it’s a tremendously juicy story for any ambitious journalist. An almost Watergate-style conspiracy mixed in with migration and culture wars, and it condemns both main parties so you can feel motivated whatever your politics
Big. It will be big
Quite amazing that the man who threatened to share the file is now living in Britain. Hard to imagine having so much contempt for the place you live.
Well a former top Hamas bloke got a council house which he then bought with right to buy....
The biggest house in my parents road is owned by a (British) former denizen of Guantanamo Bay. Used his compensation payment.
Wednesday's Racing Post includes its 16-page Open golf supplement (about half of it bookies' adverts, I expect). This is recommended to everyone watching the golf for its form summaries of each golfer.
Its verdict on the aforementioned Scottie Scheffler: Playing in only his fifth Open. Still learning links golf. Portrush debut. Putted poorly last week.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy dominate the betting for the Open Championship and both deserve great respect. Scheffler has won three tournaments this year, including the US PGA in May, and eighth place in the Scottish Open last week was a tidy warm-up spin.
Wednesday's Racing Post includes its 16-page Open golf supplement (about half of it bookies' adverts, I expect). This is recommended to everyone watching the golf for its form summaries of each golfer.
Its verdict on the aforementioned Scottie Scheffler: Playing in only his fifth Open. Still learning links golf. Portrush debut. Putted poorly last week.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy dominate the betting for the Open Championship and both deserve great respect. Scheffler has won three tournaments this year, including the US PGA in May, and eighth place in the Scottish Open last week was a tidy warm-up spin.
Afghanistan might be bad news for Ukraine if it riles up the isolationist wing of MAGA.
As if MAGA needed any further justification to be brain-dead thugs... the only thing that is consistent about Trump's little helpers is the unerring way they choose the policies that are the stupidest, most dangerous and most damaging to long term US interests.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
This scandal is so momentous it should bring down the government
I’d add that it should destroy the Tories forever but that’s already happening
Why? The super injunction was put in place to protect the identities of those Afghans at risk from the Taliban.
If Reform try and play party politics with this it just shows they aren't a serious prospective party of government
Let's see if it's still trending in the morning. The last example of something like this, the details of which I cannot remember*, didn't make it into the top 10 BBC News Most Read despite dominating PB for a week.
It's very difficult to predict. 4,500 people over two years is small change compared to small boats - but then small boats is tiny compared with overall immigration of nearly 1 million, yet it dominates the discourse.
*Mebbe trans? A minor expenses thing?
It’s the top five stories on the Telegraph, top four on the Guardian, top five on The Times. As of now
I predict this will be big, not least coz some of the worst aspects are still slowly emerging. Out of the fog of legal war
Also it’s a tremendously juicy story for any ambitious journalist. An almost Watergate-style conspiracy mixed in with migration and culture wars, and it condemns both main parties so you can feel motivated whatever your politics
Big. It will be big
Quite amazing that the man who threatened to share the file is now living in Britain. Hard to imagine having so much contempt for the place you live.
Well a former top Hamas bloke got a council house which he then bought with right to buy....
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
This scandal is so momentous it should bring down the government
I’d add that it should destroy the Tories forever but that’s already happening
Why? The super injunction was put in place to protect the identities of those Afghans at risk from the Taliban.
If Reform try and play party politics with this it just shows they aren't a serious prospective party of government
Let's see if it's still trending in the morning. The last example of something like this, the details of which I cannot remember*, didn't make it into the top 10 BBC News Most Read despite dominating PB for a week.
It's very difficult to predict. 4,500 people over two years is small change compared to small boats - but then small boats is tiny compared with overall immigration of nearly 1 million, yet it dominates the discourse.
*Mebbe trans? A minor expenses thing?
It’s the top five stories on the Telegraph, top four on the Guardian, top five on The Times. As of now
I predict this will be big, not least coz some of the worst aspects are still slowly emerging. Out of the fog of legal war
Also it’s a tremendously juicy story for any ambitious journalist. An almost Watergate-style conspiracy mixed in with migration and culture wars, and it condemns both main parties so you can feel motivated whatever your politics
Big. It will be big
Quite amazing that the man who threatened to share the file is now living in Britain. Hard to imagine having so much contempt for the place you live.
Well a former top Hamas bloke got a council house which he then bought with right to buy....
I do feel sorry for John Healey - just imagine getting that hospital pass. I'd have hidden in a cupboard and refused to come out. Every option is just dreadful - and then you had the riots.
I understand why the government covered it up initially, lest you had interpreters getting tortured to death on YouTube, but the ongoing cover up and lack of explanation is weak. Sunak or Johnson should do the right thing and fess up - at least Wallace is giving it a go.
Also funny how that report about the risk of civil strife was also leaked this week. Something weird going on. I suspect someone is just trying to rip the plaster off everything in one go.
I don’t see how we avoid civil strife now
Your wish for such strife is not a claim upon reality. Maybe if you avoided being at the metal polish for a bit... that might help.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
I thought Pam Bondi already had. Wasn't it her next to President Trump when he attacked the reporter for asking about “that creep” but then the Attorney General answered anyway?
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
Crazy Bear? Seems suspiciously literate for a basic squaddie.
He appears to be a substack blogger who used to serve in the army. Evidently you feel the army should toughen its recruitment to ensure only knuckle-dragging cannon fodder makes the grade in future.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
Crazy Bear? Seems suspiciously literate for a basic squaddie.
He appears to be a substack blogger who used to serve in the army. Evidently you feel the army should toughen its recruitment to ensure only knuckle-dragging cannon fodder makes the grade in future.
Even in Wellington’s army, some private soldiers were highly literate.
I see Johnny Mercer blames the British State for the problem, but fails to mention who was in charge of the State at that time.
Mind you I was reminded of that pic of people falling off the US transport planes as they fled the advance of the Taliban. Who would take such a risk if the incoming future government were seen to be reasonable.
Comments
Whether 'the government' is more or less incompetent than 'government' is debateable.
Now arguably it was worth it for the things that occurred as a result of membership, but it should be acknowledged that we were spending millions each week on membership.
Now what else was happening in February 2022? Russia's invasion of Ukraine. I expect the MoD was more bothered about the Ukraine invasion than a leak of date about Afghanistan though it would be interesting to know when and how they became aware.
When did the justification for the injunction change from being "we need to protect lives" to "we need to create a narrative"? And who took that decision?
Obviously I am talking about how Wallace and Torode got away with it all these years rather than how we ended up spending £7billion on an email.
My view is he starts off very well but towards the end gets all a bit bitchy - making a side swipe at someone called Phipps who no one who is not a paid lobby journalist has ever heard of for no apparent reason.
Plus he better be bloody sure about the sex offenders comment. Maybe he is relying a simple stats. If you let in a group of ten thousand then maybe one or two are possible sex offenders. That would apply to any group of humans.
The first rule of military history: don't invade Afghanistan.
But we did. And so we must clean up the mess in the most humane way we can.
Consider this as a thought experiment. At some point one of these Afghan incomers will commit a horrible rape. It’s unpleasant to think about but statistically certain - Afghans have roughly the worst record for sexual offences in the west (amongst immigrant nationalities)
That rape, that victim, will be the direct result of a secret government plan to smuggle in tens of thousands of Afghans into the UK, while hiding this from the voters, making it illegal to even talk about, and making us pay, nonetheless
That’s… beyond explosive. What happens when the public finds out?
I would love to get a peek inside the hacking operations of China, Russia and North Korea, I bet they absolutely wet themselves at the level of idiocy.
I have not read it in detail. Skimming through I do not see where the reference to sex offenders comes from. It also shows that the judge wanted to lift the super-injunction a year ago but was overruled by the Court of Appeal.
However, idiocy is universal. I bet they do the same.
Certainly not counter-signalling, but certainly flagging that questions of UK state legitimacy are increasingly completely normal on the centre-right : Britain's next RW government has to be ready for, essentially, a state-building effort. That state is not the current UK.
https://x.com/arisroussinos/status/1945234472393195922
Will not tipsily expand on this now, but the current UK is the foil against which a reformist Britain will be constructed. As a political shift, it’s closer to the transition from Communism than the Thatcher analogies commentators are happier toying with.
“The data blunder also exposed British officials whose details were on the database. And the Mail can exclusively reveal that several Afghans on list had previously been rejected for violent or sexual assaults”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14901607/Afghan-secret-migrant-airlift-ministers-gagged-Daily-Mail-superinjunction.html
Also worth noting the Mail hints at even darker revelations which are STILL injuncted
If that comes out I fear an irrational public outcry for open borders.
Reading between the lines, I wonder if the Mail
KNOWS this is true, but can’t name names yet, because of the remaining injunctions
Whatever the case, today is the day the UK government lost all remaining legitimacy, for me. Chagos was close but this seals it. They are traitors and liars and I regard all of them as such
We've all been there. "I'll write this up properly in the morning when I'm sober. Ish."
...
"OMG what did I post last night?!?!"
https://x.com/TheNewsAgents/status/1945177325659701301
It wasn't his cock up, it should have been easy to answer the questions.
https://x.com/echetus/status/1945197675835503041?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw
“Two things that aren’t getting picked up on:
1) The risk to the people in the dataset was exaggerated, and it is unlikely they would’ve faced reprisals. The whole thing was unnecessary.
2) Our Brave Allies are identified by the review as a future threat to public safety”
Worse and worse and worse
The fact of these crimes should be explosive enough but we know that they are not. Sexual crimes against women are girls are simply not taken as seriously as they should be. Adding yet another layer of deceit on top adds to the sense that nothing in government can be trusted.
That breakdown of trust is the critical failing in our country right now.
I have been saying this for ages in respect of all sorts of scandals where the vulnerable have been harmed and those in power and/or responsible have lied, have covered up, have used the courts to do so and have spent our money to stop the truth coming out. And you, dear boy, have called my focus on this and some of the examples I have written about "chaff".
But it turns out that I am right. As I wrote in April last year -
"When you strip away the reports, the millions of documents, the interviews, the evidence, the court cases and judgments, the lawyers, the documentaries, the dramas, remember this. At the heart of all these scandals – whether in the police, the post office, the NHS, childrens’ homes or elsewhere – are people (often vulnerable people) whose lives have been ruined, people who have been harmed, people who have suffered and whose suffering could and should have been stopped if only those who had the power and the responsibility to do so had paid attention to the clues waved under their noses and acted. This failure to do so and the accompanying lies – by so many bodies from government down – has degraded trust in our public and private institutions. There is still far too much resistance and denial by those responsible for the problems. It will be quite the effort to rebuild that trust. There is little sign that the scale of the task or its overriding necessity are fully understood."
This is yet another example. It is wearying.
“I was still in the army whilst the Afghans arrived. Settled in soldiers accommodation, driving unregistered vehicles around, dozens of men hanging around at all hours of the night. No women to be seen as kept inside. Military families felt unsafe - service wives afraid to leave their houses.
This has directly had an impact on military retention, and ruined marriages. Untold harm. Imagine being a private on £1600 a month when the man with 3 wives and 7 kids gets £5k+ as he leers at your wife.
This is a national disgrace.”
https://x.com/dislocatedtime/status/1945176715728138478?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw
Most still in will not discuss this openly, let alone in the press or on X due to fear of consequences. It should be known that this has reduced our national security in the following ways:
1) reduced retention through destroying the “offer”
2) reassigned personnel to bring them meals and literally clear up their shit, instead of conducting training or other duties.
3) imported thousands upon thousands of barely - or unvetted - or vetted and denied but still allowed - personnel into this country.
If it is found to be an even bigger cover up though, its going to be super mega shit hitting fan stuff.
French PM looks to scrap two public holidays in bold bid to cut national debt
the proposal to cut the two May public holidays was the most eye-catching suggestion. Bayrou said Easter Monday had "no religious significance", and the whole nation had to work and produce more.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2d02dz6gedo
It could well be stupidity in both cases. Usually the simplest explanation. But still think we have not had all the details of what happened and why.
The thing about storing all these details in a massive excel spreadsheet I can well believe. COVID showed us just disastrous approaches to handling and recording sensitive data across government.
I’d add that it should destroy the Tories forever but that’s already happening
Email came back a few days later. With all the members of that group.
And their home addresses. And personal phone/email addresses. And 'next of kin' addresses and contact information. And the persons passport details. And their recent medical details.
"The West in its urge to repudiate wholesale its own heritage in pursuit of tolerance has embraced the politics of postmodernity. Objective morality is scorned, and objective history cannot exist and must be rewritten through the lenses of materialism, racial theory, and gendered critique. Internet snark and 24-hour news cycles thrive on “gotcha” moments, where complications and contradictions become cancellations and banishment to the dustbin of history."
He doesn't mention BA pilots in that post, but possibly - if he ever posts a second time - it will feature.
I understand why the government covered it up initially, lest you had interpreters getting tortured to death on YouTube, but the ongoing cover up and lack of explanation is weak. Sunak or Johnson should do the right thing and fess up - at least Wallace is giving it a go.
Also funny how that report about the risk of civil strife was also leaked this week. Something weird going on. I suspect someone is just trying to rip the plaster off everything in one go.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c89e2lpx5eeo
I'll get my coat....
If Reform try and play party politics with this it just shows they aren't a serious prospective party of government
https://x.com/implausibleblog/status/1945238709340692787
https://x.com/TheNewsAgents/status/1945113621136334891
The government has made it easy for the bad actors, though.
https://x.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1945241234504548532
It's very difficult to predict. 4,500 people over two years is small change compared to small boats - but then small boats is tiny compared with overall immigration of nearly 1 million, yet it dominates the discourse.
*Mebbe trans? A minor expenses thing?
Its verdict on the aforementioned Scottie Scheffler: Playing in only his fifth Open. Still learning links golf. Portrush debut. Putted poorly last week.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy dominate the betting for the Open Championship and both deserve great respect. Scheffler has won three tournaments this year, including the US PGA in May, and eighth place in the Scottish Open last week was a tidy warm-up spin.
The world number one has steady Open form figures of 8-21-23-7, but still appears to be learning links golf and is making his Royal Portrush debut. He seems likely to get into contention, but offers no value at such short odds [best price 6/1].
https://www.racingpost.com/sport/golf-tips/the-open/steve-palmer-has-five-tips-for-the-open-championship-our-golf-expert-is-bidding-to-follow-last-weeks-33-1-winner-a26ik9M2YeeN/ (£££)
I predict this will be big, not least coz some of the worst aspects are still slowly emerging. Out of the fog of legal war
Also it’s a tremendously juicy story for any ambitious journalist. An almost Watergate-style conspiracy mixed in with migration and culture wars, and it condemns both main parties so you can feel motivated whatever your politics
Big. It will be big
It could be argued that Torode's was a single isolated incident but then it also seems there was only one incident upheld against Wallace from 2018 to now; all the rest seem to come from previous years before the BBC demanded in 2017 that he knock it off.
But the whole thing follows a series of scandals and the BBC has to act:-
The BBC today was signalling it is getting a grip on bad behaviour in the workplace. It's something Samir Shah, chairman of the BBC, promised after the Huw Edwards scandal.
Now Gregg Wallace is gone, John Torode is gone. Three staff members have been asked to "step back" from their roles after Glastonbury. And we've now learnt that several people have been sacked in light of the BBC's culture review.
The clear messaging: Teflon Tim and his team are getting tough.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20pyjggzzro
Deputy heads must roll.
https://x.com/G0ADM/status/1945144286149853484
The Thick Of It - Massive irretrievable data loss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_FrQnQv0Vw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6Hf_BKEfnY
https://metro.co.uk/2023/10/22/hamas-chief-revealed-as-living-in-london-council-house-whilst-masterminding-plots-19702590/
The report states that Sawalha was given a £112,300 discount on the £320,700 home by Barnet Council.
https://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/23873906.hamas-chief-muhammad-sawalha-lives-colindale-house/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgl4dl334go
Mind you I was reminded of that pic of people falling off the US transport planes as they fled the advance of the Taliban. Who would take such a risk if the incoming future government were seen to be reasonable.