I’m in Croyde this week so got Spotlight news on. They’ve just said that there were cameras in Anne Widdacombe’s house which caught the attack.
If so, why the fuck did the police allow the idea that it was a burglary develop? What an utter disgrace.
I guess your average Devon plod is more like the detectives in Hot Fuzz than Poirot. Why does it matter to you so much that it took them 48 hours to nick the alleged killer?
An aggravated burglary is a reasonable first assumption in such a murder, in the absence of domestic violence.
Been binge watching Criminal Minds, but it should not take an FBI Behavioural Analyst to profile that a body hit with a hammer 21 times is overkill and more than just a burglary, especially combined with the victimology.
Given the nature of the murder, and the nature of the victim, terrorism should have been the first thought.
Even now I am not convinced the murder was terrorism, as there seems no attempt to terrorise others by the killing.
We do not yet know the motive (if there was a clear one) and it looks to me that the offence of murder during the course of an aggravated burglary fits the known facts quite well.
Come now, foxy. One doesn't travel hundreds of miles to steal a wallet. Other motives for taking a wallet after killing someone are available.
The coppers didn't know the bad guy had driven 300 miles at that point.
I don't know why a I am defending the rozzers. I can't stand 'em.
Foxy's comment begins "Even now I am not convinced...".
...the murder was terrorism"
The UK definition of Terrorism is an action or threat designed to influence the government or intimidate the public. Its purpose is to advance a political, religious or ideological cause.
We do not yet know if that was the motive for the killing.
Do at least accept that it was almost certainly an assassination? That’s what the scandal is. The police kept saying there was no evidence of it being a targeted attack.
It is clear now that it was a targetted killing, but that was far from immediately obvious.
The retrospectoscope is only useful looking backwards rather than forwards.
It was immediately obvious to me as soon as the police said they suspected foul play.
Probably not, since he's said he won't. But it perhaps defuses the political situation. And also demonstrates the government can't ignore public opinion.
Andy Burnham makes first Labour figure to call for Starmer to quit a minister
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, will be a minister in the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade after accepting a place in the Lords
Rewarding disloyalty and failure... good move Andy
You are so partisan.
Sarwar has been a poor leader for SLab.
Rewarding him with a peerage and a government job seems undeserved.
Are you new to politics?
Why are so concerned about my opinions? Seems unnecessarily personal...
It's tedious to read, a bit like Brixian's posts at times.
For example you seemed be to shocked that Burnham had appointed a non lawyer as Lord Chancellor, this is not unprecedented.
In the last decade or so the Tories appointed at least four non lawyers to the role.
Chris Grayling, Michael Gove, Liz Truss, and David Lidington.
Although TBF three of the names off the list you quote do not bode well.
One of the many tragedies of Brexit was it ended Michael Gove's tenure as Justice Secretary, he was going to be transformative, he realised the justice system focuses too much on punishment and not on rehabilitation and a lot of people come out of prison as worse people.
Having previously sacked the Defence Minister for having lost a power struggle with the Chief of the Army, Zelensky has now been forced to fire the chief of the army.
Andy Burnham makes first Labour figure to call for Starmer to quit a minister
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, will be a minister in the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade after accepting a place in the Lords
Rewarding disloyalty and failure... good move Andy
You are so partisan.
Sarwar has been a poor leader for SLab.
Rewarding him with a peerage and a government job seems undeserved.
Are you new to politics?
Why are so concerned about my opinions? Seems unnecessarily personal...
It's tedious to read, a bit like Brixian's posts at times.
For example you seemed be to shocked that Burnham had appointed a non lawyer as Lord Chancellor, this is not unprecedented.
In the last decade or so the Tories appointed at least four non lawyers to the role.
Chris Grayling, Michael Gove, Liz Truss, and David Lidington.
Although TBF three of the names off the list you quote do not bode well.
One of the many tragedies of Brexit was it ended Michael Gove's tenure as Justice Secretary, he was going to be transformative, he realised the justice system focuses too much on punishment and not on rehabilitation and a lot of people come out of prison as worse people.
Convicted fraudster Louise Haigh stripped of oversight of fraud office
Brief for tackling public sector scams handed to Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, instead
Louise Haigh, a convicted fraudster, is being stripped of responsibility for tackling public sector fraud in her new Cabinet role.
Ms Haigh, the new Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was appointed to Andy Burnham’s top team on Monday.
She admitted misleading police more than a decade ago after wrongly telling officers her work phone had been stolen when she was “mugged while on a night out” in 2013.
She claimed she initially believed the phone had been taken but later found the handset at home.
The following year, six months before she became an MP, Ms Haigh pleaded guilty to making a false report to police and was handed a conditional discharge by magistrates. It is understood that the conviction is now classified as “spent”.
The headline seems ridiculously over the top . I mean what did she have to gain from misleading police and I tend to think it was a genuine mistake . She should of course have informed the police immediately that she had found her phone .
I've seen the following sequence play out in the early company mobile phone era, circa 2000 (so a decade earlier):-
1. Person: I want a new phone 2. Person to HR: my phone's been nicked. Please get me a new one. 3. HR to Person: OK, here's a new phone. We'll claim it on insurance. 4. HR to Insurance: an employee's had their phone nicked, send money. 5. Insurance to HR: we need a crime number. 6. HR to Person: we need a crime number. 7. Person to Police: my phone's been nicked. I need a crime number.
Maybe adding the mugging claim prompted the police actually to investigate and it all unravelled from there.
But who knows? It's embarrassing but hardly crime of the century.
It does however show a disregard for honesty.
Maybe I'm unusual but I wouldn't get past my conscience on that one.
When it comes to a disregard for honesty, I recall several Prime Ministers back, we had a certain Boris Johnson.
Convicted fraudster Louise Haigh stripped of oversight of fraud office
Brief for tackling public sector scams handed to Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, instead
Louise Haigh, a convicted fraudster, is being stripped of responsibility for tackling public sector fraud in her new Cabinet role.
Ms Haigh, the new Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was appointed to Andy Burnham’s top team on Monday.
She admitted misleading police more than a decade ago after wrongly telling officers her work phone had been stolen when she was “mugged while on a night out” in 2013.
She claimed she initially believed the phone had been taken but later found the handset at home.
The following year, six months before she became an MP, Ms Haigh pleaded guilty to making a false report to police and was handed a conditional discharge by magistrates. It is understood that the conviction is now classified as “spent”.
The headline seems ridiculously over the top . I mean what did she have to gain from misleading police and I tend to think it was a genuine mistake . She should of course have informed the police immediately that she had found her phone .
It was not an innocent mistake. According to the Guardian the court papers showed she admitted she had intentionally lied in order to get a newer, better phone.
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
Haigh ended up with a conviction for fraud !!
Police caution (now spent) but then it was spent when Starmer sacked her. So what has changed?
It would still show up on an enhanced DBS check which means she couldn't work for me.
It would be filtered out from enhanced DBS checks after 12 years, surely? Fraud, conditional discharge...
Nah, because she'd be working in banking she'd be barred, for example lawyers and accountants have to declare certain spent convictions.
Yet she can be the Chief Operating Officer for an entire government.
I knew the spotlight would be on Lou. She is the Peter Mandelson of this government.
No, Mandeleson had a long track record of repeated bad behaviour with no real repentance.
Haigh has gone straight and was a very effective Transport minister.
She deserves a second chance. She knows she won't get a third.
“Haigh has gone straight”
LOL 🤣
She’s the same old Loo. Trouble will find her. Watch this space.
Convicted fraudster Louise Haigh stripped of oversight of fraud office
Brief for tackling public sector scams handed to Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, instead
Louise Haigh, a convicted fraudster, is being stripped of responsibility for tackling public sector fraud in her new Cabinet role.
Ms Haigh, the new Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was appointed to Andy Burnham’s top team on Monday.
She admitted misleading police more than a decade ago after wrongly telling officers her work phone had been stolen when she was “mugged while on a night out” in 2013.
She claimed she initially believed the phone had been taken but later found the handset at home.
The following year, six months before she became an MP, Ms Haigh pleaded guilty to making a false report to police and was handed a conditional discharge by magistrates. It is understood that the conviction is now classified as “spent”.
The headline seems ridiculously over the top . I mean what did she have to gain from misleading police and I tend to think it was a genuine mistake . She should of course have informed the police immediately that she had found her phone .
It was not an innocent mistake. According to the Guardian the court papers showed she admitted she had intentionally lied in order to get a newer, better phone.
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
Haigh ended up with a conviction for fraud !!
Police caution (now spent) but then it was spent when Starmer sacked her. So what has changed?
Drapatyi is a very popular pick. This is what one Ukrainian commentator has to say.
"Drapatyi first gained national recognition in 2014 during the liberation of Mariupol, where he personally led an armored breakthrough into the city. During the full-scale war, he played key roles in Ukraine's Kherson counteroffensive and later commanded the defense against Russia's cross-border offensive toward Kharkiv in 2024.
As commander of the Ground Forces, Drapatyi pushed for decentralized command, promoted younger combat-tested officers and openly challenged bureaucratic stagnation within the military. He also became known for emphasizing accountability, closer cooperation with frontline commanders and the rapid integration of new technologies, including expanded drone capabilities."
I think it's probably a good change, and it's another example of civil society forcing Zelensky to back down, for the benefit of the country - demonstrating yet again why a democracy is better than a dictatorship.
Wait, Sarwar's jacking it in already? After just standing at the Holyrood election? Are there enough of them left in SLab for a decent leadership punch up?
Have not been for years so they just keep scraping the barrel,
The only two Slab MSPs I can name are Jackie Bailie and Paul Sweeney.
Wikipedia informs me Joe Fagan is an MSP as of the 2026 election, so he should run on the slogan - Scottish Labour - That's Livin Alright.
Slab only have 17 MSPs - their lowest ever total. Of these 17, six were first elected in May 2026. Two of their MSPs, Sarwar and Baroness Clark of Kilwinning are either in or heading for the Lords.
Jackie Baillie could have the job if she wants it, but the next Holyrood election wont be fought until she is 67. There's not a wide selection in terms of candidates, one of the front runners - Monica Lennon - didnt get back in. Neither did Martin Whitfield in their most winnable seat (East Lothian), who was ranked too low in the list to get back in.
‘Defensive’ can mean a multitude of things. Just like defining whatever you want as a military target to justify blowing it up. As both sides have done
As it’s the same policy as SKS then ‘meet the new boss…” is most fitting.
Convicted fraudster Louise Haigh stripped of oversight of fraud office
Brief for tackling public sector scams handed to Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, instead
Louise Haigh, a convicted fraudster, is being stripped of responsibility for tackling public sector fraud in her new Cabinet role.
Ms Haigh, the new Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was appointed to Andy Burnham’s top team on Monday.
She admitted misleading police more than a decade ago after wrongly telling officers her work phone had been stolen when she was “mugged while on a night out” in 2013.
She claimed she initially believed the phone had been taken but later found the handset at home.
The following year, six months before she became an MP, Ms Haigh pleaded guilty to making a false report to police and was handed a conditional discharge by magistrates. It is understood that the conviction is now classified as “spent”.
The headline seems ridiculously over the top . I mean what did she have to gain from misleading police and I tend to think it was a genuine mistake . She should of course have informed the police immediately that she had found her phone .
I've seen the following sequence play out in the early company mobile phone era, circa 2000 (so a decade earlier):-
1. Person: I want a new phone 2. Person to HR: my phone's been nicked. Please get me a new one. 3. HR to Person: OK, here's a new phone. We'll claim it on insurance. 4. HR to Insurance: an employee's had their phone nicked, send money. 5. Insurance to HR: we need a crime number. 6. HR to Person: we need a crime number. 7. Person to Police: my phone's been nicked. I need a crime number.
Maybe adding the mugging claim prompted the police actually to investigate and it all unravelled from there.
But who knows? It's embarrassing but hardly crime of the century.
It does however show a disregard for honesty.
Maybe I'm unusual but I wouldn't get past my conscience on that one.
One of the greatest tragedies of TV prior to 78 is the lack of retention of material in the archives.
TOTP was especially savaged
I found Steve Wright/ Mark Radcliffe's TOTP2 useful. There is some great early seventies material available that isn't found anywhere else.
My particular favourite TOTP clip after Sweet's Fox on the Run, Virginia Plain, Maggie May and Starman is Andy Kim's Rock me Gently, spoiled I am afraid by that disgusting old white haired Yorkshire pedo pawing underage girls.
I met John Henshall at a convention who developed the Fish Eye lens and returned the Jean Genie to the BBC. Nice chap
Many performances from the early days exist as they were sold to overseas stations for pop programs so survived as inserts.
Some colour ones exist in private hands. Unlikely so see the light of day.
TOTP fandom is almost as bad as Dr Who fandom.
I have a real affinity for the early pans people pop videos they made, as well as the videos they made to accompany songs they couldn’t get artists over for,
I've not seen that before, although I love the Persuaders title sequence.
I watched the first dozen on the ITV YouTube channel. Quite fun.
It’s a great title sequence
I love that title sequence . John Barry was an absolute legend . I remember as a kid so excited towards Christmas when they’d show a Bond film .
He was an absolute genius.
His theme to Midnight Cowboy is amazing. Just a guy with a harmonica yet soooooo good.
I read John (Nigel) Taylor's autobiography. For you it is worth a read, he discusses the benefits of the Midland Red bus from Alcester via Hollywood into Birmingham, as opposed to a WMPTE bus from the Maypole. Gay Hill Golf Club gets an interesting name check too. He writes about difficulties John Barry had over the score for A View to a Kill with Nick Rhodes. I knew Nick Rhodes (as Nicholas Bates) very, very well at Woodrush. He was an over confident arse at school, so to learn he was telling John Barry how to do his job came as no surprise.
Thanks. I will have to look it up. See if it is on audible.
Didn’t realise there was such a Midlands connection.
That story reminds me of the time a newcomer actor playing a companion in Dr Who gave advice to Richard Todd on how to act !!
Nick's mum had the toyshop in the Maypole they lived in a big house ( by our1970s standards) off Hollywood Lane.
The Birmingham connections with the Rum Runner and Barbarella's are key to the story.
Andy Burnham makes first Labour figure to call for Starmer to quit a minister
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, will be a minister in the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade after accepting a place in the Lords
Rewarding disloyalty and failure... good move Andy
You are so partisan.
Sarwar has been a poor leader for SLab.
Rewarding him with a peerage and a government job seems undeserved.
Are you new to politics?
Why are so concerned about my opinions? Seems unnecessarily personal...
It's tedious to read, a bit like Brixian's posts at times.
For example you seemed be to shocked that Burnham had appointed a non lawyer as Lord Chancellor, this is not unprecedented.
In the last decade or so the Tories appointed at least four non lawyers to the role.
Chris Grayling, Michael Gove, Liz Truss, and David Lidington.
Although TBF three of the names off the list you quote do not bode well.
One of the many tragedies of Brexit was it ended Michael Gove's tenure as Justice Secretary, he was going to be transformative, he realised the justice system focuses too much on punishment and not on rehabilitation and a lot of people come out of prison as worse people.
Not good as given they went in they weren’t exactly paragons of virtue.
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
Haigh ended up with a conviction for fraud !!
Police caution (now spent) but then it was spent when Starmer sacked her. So what has changed?
Convicted fraudster Louise Haigh stripped of oversight of fraud office
Brief for tackling public sector scams handed to Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, instead
Louise Haigh, a convicted fraudster, is being stripped of responsibility for tackling public sector fraud in her new Cabinet role.
Ms Haigh, the new Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was appointed to Andy Burnham’s top team on Monday.
She admitted misleading police more than a decade ago after wrongly telling officers her work phone had been stolen when she was “mugged while on a night out” in 2013.
She claimed she initially believed the phone had been taken but later found the handset at home.
The following year, six months before she became an MP, Ms Haigh pleaded guilty to making a false report to police and was handed a conditional discharge by magistrates. It is understood that the conviction is now classified as “spent”.
The headline seems ridiculously over the top . I mean what did she have to gain from misleading police and I tend to think it was a genuine mistake . She should of course have informed the police immediately that she had found her phone .
I've seen the following sequence play out in the early company mobile phone era, circa 2000 (so a decade earlier):-
1. Person: I want a new phone 2. Person to HR: my phone's been nicked. Please get me a new one. 3. HR to Person: OK, here's a new phone. We'll claim it on insurance. 4. HR to Insurance: an employee's had their phone nicked, send money. 5. Insurance to HR: we need a crime number. 6. HR to Person: we need a crime number. 7. Person to Police: my phone's been nicked. I need a crime number.
Maybe adding the mugging claim prompted the police actually to investigate and it all unravelled from there.
But who knows? It's embarrassing but hardly crime of the century.
It does however show a disregard for honesty.
Maybe I'm unusual but I wouldn't get past my conscience on that one.
Upthread someone says that she didn't just do it once, but multiple times, and so her employer investigated her over it. That's pretty bad.
I couldn't do it. I went to elaborate lengths to pay for a cucumber I accidentally didn't pay for. I just know that if I didn't the feeling of dishonesty would stay with me for life. I still feel bad about cheating at a game of Risk once.
Between the Americans, Iranians, Russians and Ukrainians, there soon won't be any tankers left. (Sorry for the sing-song nature of that sentence but I can't be bothered to recast it.)
One of the greatest tragedies of TV prior to 78 is the lack of retention of material in the archives.
TOTP was especially savaged
I found Steve Wright/ Mark Radcliffe's TOTP2 useful. There is some great early seventies material available that isn't found anywhere else.
My particular favourite TOTP clip after Sweet's Fox on the Run, Virginia Plain, Maggie May and Starman is Andy Kim's Rock me Gently, spoiled I am afraid by that disgusting old white haired Yorkshire pedo pawing underage girls.
I met John Henshall at a convention who developed the Fish Eye lens and returned the Jean Genie to the BBC. Nice chap
Many performances from the early days exist as they were sold to overseas stations for pop programs so survived as inserts.
Some colour ones exist in private hands. Unlikely so see the light of day.
TOTP fandom is almost as bad as Dr Who fandom.
I have a real affinity for the early pans people pop videos they made, as well as the videos they made to accompany songs they couldn’t get artists over for,
I've not seen that before, although I love the Persuaders title sequence.
I watched the first dozen on the ITV YouTube channel. Quite fun.
It’s a great title sequence
I love that title sequence . John Barry was an absolute legend . I remember as a kid so excited towards Christmas when they’d show a Bond film .
He was an absolute genius.
His theme to Midnight Cowboy is amazing. Just a guy with a harmonica yet soooooo good.
I read John (Nigel) Taylor's autobiography. For you it is worth a read, he discusses the benefits of the Midland Red bus from Alcester via Hollywood into Birmingham, as opposed to a WMPTE bus from the Maypole. Gay Hill Golf Club gets an interesting name check too. He writes about difficulties John Barry had over the score for A View to a Kill with Nick Rhodes. I knew Nick Rhodes (as Nicholas Bates) very, very well at Woodrush. He was an over confident arse at school, so to learn he was telling John Barry how to do his job came as no surprise.
Thanks. I will have to look it up. See if it is on audible.
Didn’t realise there was such a Midlands connection.
That story reminds me of the time a newcomer actor playing a companion in Dr Who gave advice to Richard Todd on how to act !!
Nick's mum had the toyshop in the Maypole they lived in a big house ( by our1970s standards) off Hollywood Lane.
The Birmingham connections with the Rum Runner and Barbarella's are key to the story.
I meant with John Barry. But I misread your comment. I thought it was a book about John Barry !!
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
Haigh ended up with a conviction for fraud !!
Police caution (now spent) but then it was spent when Starmer sacked her. So what has changed?
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
Haigh ended up with a conviction for fraud !!
Police caution (now spent) but then it was spent when Starmer sacked her. So what has changed?
It's called rehabilitation ?
Not usually as a cabinet minister.
Peter Hain?
Don't forget Winston Churchill who was a wanted fugitive.
Between the Americans, Iranians, Russians and Ukrainians, there soon won't be any tankers left. (Sorry for the sing-song nature of that sentence but I can't be bothered to recast it.)
The Russians have also hit a couple of grain carriers off Odesa in recent days.
I’m in Croyde this week so got Spotlight news on. They’ve just said that there were cameras in Anne Widdacombe’s house which caught the attack.
If so, why the fuck did the police allow the idea that it was a burglary develop? What an utter disgrace.
I guess your average Devon plod is more like the detectives in Hot Fuzz than Poirot. Why does it matter to you so much that it took them 48 hours to nick the alleged killer?
An aggravated burglary is a reasonable first assumption in such a murder, in the absence of domestic violence.
Been binge watching Criminal Minds, but it should not take an FBI Behavioural Analyst to profile that a body hit with a hammer 21 times is overkill and more than just a burglary, especially combined with the victimology.
Given the nature of the murder, and the nature of the victim, terrorism should have been the first thought.
Even now I am not convinced the murder was terrorism, as there seems no attempt to terrorise others by the killing.
We do not yet know the motive (if there was a clear one) and it looks to me that the offence of murder during the course of an aggravated burglary fits the known facts quite well.
Interesting that they still haven’t levelled that charge, even under the twisted definition under the Terrorism Act. If wearing a t-shirt is terrorism then it’s difficult to see how this couldn’t be.
It does demonstrate how silly it’s all become. Not everything horrible needs to be terrorist attack - even a political assassination.
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
Haigh ended up with a conviction for fraud !!
Police caution (now spent) but then it was spent when Starmer sacked her. So what has changed?
It would still show up on an enhanced DBS check which means she couldn't work for me.
It would be filtered out from enhanced DBS checks after 12 years, surely? Fraud, conditional discharge...
Nah, because she'd be working in banking she'd be barred, for example lawyers and accountants have to declare certain spent convictions.
Yet she can be the Chief Operating Officer for an entire government.
I knew the spotlight would be on Lou. She is the Peter Mandelson of this government.
No, Mandeleson had a long track record of repeated bad behaviour with no real repentance.
Haigh has gone straight and was a very effective Transport minister.
She deserves a second chance. She knows she won't get a third.
“ very effective Transport minister”
While serving as Transport Secretary in October 2024, Louise Haigh was publicly reprimanded by Prime Minister after calling for a public boycott of P&O Ferries. On the eve of a major government investment summit, Haigh referred to P&O Ferries as a "rogue operator" and explicitly urged consumers to boycott the company, so threatening a major investment from P&O's Dubai-based parent company. Number 10 had to swiftly step in to state the Transport Secretaries remarks were not the government's position.
Earlier in September 2024, Haigh faced intense backlash after greenlighting a 15% pay rise for ASLEF train drivers. Government spokesman were forced to confirm to the press that "Lou went rogue" offering the massive, inflation-busting raise without broader cabinet authorization.
In May 2025, Haigh publicly went to war with Downing Street's internal operations during an interview. She specifically targeted officials for trying to sack working-class, northern, female MPs.
Amongst radical policy Haigh has recently set out in essays, she has called for: * A massive loosening of Labour’s strict fiscal debt rules, extending targets from 5 to 10 years. * re-examining the mandate of the independent Bank of England. * Implementing a land value tax to entirely replace the current stamp duty system on house purchases.
You could ask the MODs to delete your original post, if you are feeling embarrassed about it. 🙂
Small boat arrivals are down 47% compared to the same time last year .
This can’t be attributed to unfavourable weather conditions .
There’s been none in the last ten days . I look forward to the media reporting on this , cue tumbleweed …….
The current figure to 20 July (12,469) is not just 47% down on the 23,534 who had arrived this time last year. It is also substantially lower than it was at the same stage in any of the last 4 years. The next lowest of the preceding 4 years was 14,362 to 20 July 2023.
But as you say, this isn't going to be reported. It doesn't fit the narrative that the rate of immigration in general is rising not falling and is out of control.
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
Haigh ended up with a conviction for fraud !!
Police caution (now spent) but then it was spent when Starmer sacked her. So what has changed?
It would still show up on an enhanced DBS check which means she couldn't work for me.
It would be filtered out from enhanced DBS checks after 12 years, surely? Fraud, conditional discharge...
Nah, because she'd be working in banking she'd be barred, for example lawyers and accountants have to declare certain spent convictions.
Yet she can be the Chief Operating Officer for an entire government.
I knew the spotlight would be on Lou. She is the Peter Mandelson of this government.
No, Mandeleson had a long track record of repeated bad behaviour with no real repentance.
Haigh has gone straight and was a very effective Transport minister.
She deserves a second chance. She knows she won't get a third.
“ very effective Transport minister”
While serving as Transport Secretary in October 2024, Louise Haigh was publicly reprimanded by Prime Minister after calling for a public boycott of P&O Ferries. On the eve of a major government investment summit, Haigh referred to P&O Ferries as a "rogue operator" and explicitly urged consumers to boycott the company, so threatening a major investment from P&O's Dubai-based parent company. Number 10 had to swiftly step in to state the Transport Secretaries remarks were not the government's position.
Earlier in September 2024, Haigh faced intense backlash after greenlighting a 15% pay rise for ASLEF train drivers. Government spokesman were forced to confirm to the press that "Lou went rogue" offering the massive, inflation-busting raise without broader cabinet authorization.
In May 2025, Haigh publicly went to war with Downing Street's internal operations during an interview. She specifically targeted officials for trying to sack working-class, northern, female MPs.
Amongst radical policy Haigh has recently set out in essays, she has called for: * A massive loosening of Labour’s strict fiscal debt rules, extending targets from 5 to 10 years. * re-examining the mandate of the independent Bank of England. * Implementing a land value tax to entirely replace the current stamp duty system on house purchases.
You could ask the MODs to delete your original post, if you are feeling embarrassed about it. 🙂
The third of those "radical policies" is an excellent proposal, the merits of which have often been discussed here.
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
Haigh ended up with a conviction for fraud !!
Police caution (now spent) but then it was spent when Starmer sacked her. So what has changed?
It's called rehabilitation ?
Not usually as a cabinet minister.
Peter Hain?
Don't forget Winston Churchill who was a wanted fugitive.
As Home Sec. Churchill based his prisons policy on his own experience of being in the clink.
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
Haigh ended up with a conviction for fraud !!
Police caution (now spent) but then it was spent when Starmer sacked her. So what has changed?
It would still show up on an enhanced DBS check which means she couldn't work for me.
It would be filtered out from enhanced DBS checks after 12 years, surely? Fraud, conditional discharge...
Nah, because she'd be working in banking she'd be barred, for example lawyers and accountants have to declare certain spent convictions.
Yet she can be the Chief Operating Officer for an entire government.
I knew the spotlight would be on Lou. She is the Peter Mandelson of this government.
No, Mandeleson had a long track record of repeated bad behaviour with no real repentance.
Haigh has gone straight and was a very effective Transport minister.
She deserves a second chance. She knows she won't get a third.
“ very effective Transport minister”
While serving as Transport Secretary in October 2024, Louise Haigh was publicly reprimanded by Prime Minister after calling for a public boycott of P&O Ferries. On the eve of a major government investment summit, Haigh referred to P&O Ferries as a "rogue operator" and explicitly urged consumers to boycott the company, so threatening a major investment from P&O's Dubai-based parent company. Number 10 had to swiftly step in to state the Transport Secretaries remarks were not the government's position.
Earlier in September 2024, Haigh faced intense backlash after greenlighting a 15% pay rise for ASLEF train drivers. Government spokesman were forced to confirm to the press that "Lou went rogue" offering the massive, inflation-busting raise without broader cabinet authorization.
In May 2025, Haigh publicly went to war with Downing Street's internal operations during an interview. She specifically targeted officials for trying to sack working-class, northern, female MPs.
Amongst radical policy Haigh has recently set out in essays, she has called for: * A massive loosening of Labour’s strict fiscal debt rules, extending targets from 5 to 10 years. * re-examining the mandate of the independent Bank of England. * Implementing a land value tax to entirely replace the current stamp duty system on house purchases.
You could ask the MODs to delete your original post, if you are feeling embarrassed about it. 🙂
The third of those "radical policies" is an excellent proposal, the merits of which have often been discussed here.
The second of those was the situation under which the great Margaret Thatcher operated.
Small boat arrivals are down 47% compared to the same time last year .
This can’t be attributed to unfavourable weather conditions .
There’s been none in the last ten days . I look forward to the media reporting on this , cue tumbleweed …….
The current figure to 20 July (12,469) is not just 47% down on the 23,534 who had arrived this time last year. It is also substantially lower than it was at the same stage in any of the last 4 years. The next lowest of the preceding 4 years was 14,362 to 20 July 2023.
But as you say, this isn't going to be reported. It doesn't fit the narrative that the rate of immigration in general is rising not falling and is out of control.
I refer you to the anecdote of Norman Tebbit vs Brian Redhead on Radio 4 back in the late 80s.
Tebbit baited Redhead for a while over his failure to ask a question about unemployment figures. Which Redhead had always done while they were going up.
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
Haigh ended up with a conviction for fraud !!
Police caution (now spent) but then it was spent when Starmer sacked her. So what has changed?
It's called rehabilitation ?
Not usually as a cabinet minister.
Peter Hain?
Don't forget Winston Churchill who was a wanted fugitive.
As Home Sec. Churchill based his prisons policy on his own experience of being in the clink.
But radical to expect the Home Secretary to have been locked up, mind.
I’m in Croyde this week so got Spotlight news on. They’ve just said that there were cameras in Anne Widdacombe’s house which caught the attack.
If so, why the fuck did the police allow the idea that it was a burglary develop? What an utter disgrace.
I guess your average Devon plod is more like the detectives in Hot Fuzz than Poirot. Why does it matter to you so much that it took them 48 hours to nick the alleged killer?
An aggravated burglary is a reasonable first assumption in such a murder, in the absence of domestic violence.
Been binge watching Criminal Minds, but it should not take an FBI Behavioural Analyst to profile that a body hit with a hammer 21 times is overkill and more than just a burglary, especially combined with the victimology.
Given the nature of the murder, and the nature of the victim, terrorism should have been the first thought.
Even now I am not convinced the murder was terrorism, as there seems no attempt to terrorise others by the killing.
We do not yet know the motive (if there was a clear one) and it looks to me that the offence of murder during the course of an aggravated burglary fits the known facts quite well.
You could argue it terrorises anyone in Reform in a public role.
EXCLUSIVE: Andy Burnham has approved the use of British military bases by the US for what the UK calls defensive strikes against Iran, in a continuation of Keir Starmer’s policy even as Trump ramps up his war.
EXCLUSIVE: Andy Burnham has approved the use of British military bases by the US for what the UK calls defensive strikes against Iran, in a continuation of Keir Starmer’s policy even as Trump ramps up his war.
More interesting would be approving offensive strikes.
The sooner the regime is toppled, the better. No point pissing around with half measures like the Yanks are doing, leaving the Strait closed but not toppling the regime.
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
Haigh ended up with a conviction for fraud !!
Police caution (now spent) but then it was spent when Starmer sacked her. So what has changed?
It would still show up on an enhanced DBS check which means she couldn't work for me.
It would be filtered out from enhanced DBS checks after 12 years, surely? Fraud, conditional discharge...
Nah, because she'd be working in banking she'd be barred, for example lawyers and accountants have to declare certain spent convictions.
Yet she can be the Chief Operating Officer for an entire government.
I knew the spotlight would be on Lou. She is the Peter Mandelson of this government.
No, Mandeleson had a long track record of repeated bad behaviour with no real repentance.
Haigh has gone straight and was a very effective Transport minister.
She deserves a second chance. She knows she won't get a third.
“ very effective Transport minister”
While serving as Transport Secretary in October 2024, Louise Haigh was publicly reprimanded by Prime Minister after calling for a public boycott of P&O Ferries. On the eve of a major government investment summit, Haigh referred to P&O Ferries as a "rogue operator" and explicitly urged consumers to boycott the company, so threatening a major investment from P&O's Dubai-based parent company. Number 10 had to swiftly step in to state the Transport Secretaries remarks were not the government's position.
Earlier in September 2024, Haigh faced intense backlash after greenlighting a 15% pay rise for ASLEF train drivers. Government spokesman were forced to confirm to the press that "Lou went rogue" offering the massive, inflation-busting raise without broader cabinet authorization.
In May 2025, Haigh publicly went to war with Downing Street's internal operations during an interview. She specifically targeted officials for trying to sack working-class, northern, female MPs.
Amongst radical policy Haigh has recently set out in essays, she has called for: * A massive loosening of Labour’s strict fiscal debt rules, extending targets from 5 to 10 years. * re-examining the mandate of the independent Bank of England. * Implementing a land value tax to entirely replace the current stamp duty system on house purchases.
You could ask the MODs to delete your original post, if you are feeling embarrassed about it. 🙂
The third of those "radical policies" is an excellent proposal, the merits of which have often been discussed here.
And the fact that Starmer saw fit to publically reprimand Haigh and do nothing in response to P&O's disgraceful downgrading of pay and conditions for its ferry staff reflects badly on no-one apart from Starmer.
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
Haigh ended up with a conviction for fraud !!
Police caution (now spent) but then it was spent when Starmer sacked her. So what has changed?
It would still show up on an enhanced DBS check which means she couldn't work for me.
It would be filtered out from enhanced DBS checks after 12 years, surely? Fraud, conditional discharge...
Nah, because she'd be working in banking she'd be barred, for example lawyers and accountants have to declare certain spent convictions.
Yet she can be the Chief Operating Officer for an entire government.
I knew the spotlight would be on Lou. She is the Peter Mandelson of this government.
No, Mandeleson had a long track record of repeated bad behaviour with no real repentance.
Haigh has gone straight and was a very effective Transport minister.
She deserves a second chance. She knows she won't get a third.
“ very effective Transport minister”
While serving as Transport Secretary in October 2024, Louise Haigh was publicly reprimanded by Prime Minister after calling for a public boycott of P&O Ferries. On the eve of a major government investment summit, Haigh referred to P&O Ferries as a "rogue operator" and explicitly urged consumers to boycott the company, so threatening a major investment from P&O's Dubai-based parent company. Number 10 had to swiftly step in to state the Transport Secretaries remarks were not the government's position.
Earlier in September 2024, Haigh faced intense backlash after greenlighting a 15% pay rise for ASLEF train drivers. Government spokesman were forced to confirm to the press that "Lou went rogue" offering the massive, inflation-busting raise without broader cabinet authorization.
In May 2025, Haigh publicly went to war with Downing Street's internal operations during an interview. She specifically targeted officials for trying to sack working-class, northern, female MPs.
Amongst radical policy Haigh has recently set out in essays, she has called for: * A massive loosening of Labour’s strict fiscal debt rules, extending targets from 5 to 10 years. * re-examining the mandate of the independent Bank of England. * Implementing a land value tax to entirely replace the current stamp duty system on house purchases.
You could ask the MODs to delete your original post, if you are feeling embarrassed about it. 🙂
The third of those "radical policies" is an excellent proposal, the merits of which have often been discussed here.
Well there we are. The resident Uber Pirate likes a bit of Lou on a roll, demonstrating her radical “vision thing”.
That says a lot. More than I can say.
Did you find her orange hair rather persuasive as well? She has form for luring husbands away from their wives.
X Alistair Grant@alistairkgrant Asked if he would ever take up a seat in the House of Lords a whole two and a half months ago, Anas Sarwar said: "No. I'm focused on being First Minister of this great country." https://x.com/alistairkgrant/status/2079633976172355783
Alistair Grant@alistairkgrant Fair to say Labour's opponents will have some fun with this.
Anas Sarwar in 2022: “The House of Lords, in its current form, as an institution has no place in 21st century politics. It is unacceptable...to have unelected representatives wielding such power." https://x.com/alistairkgrant/status/2079639733123047813
Kevin Schofield@KevinASchofield Not a bad result for the man who led Scottish Labour to a disastrous result on May 7.
X Alistair Grant@alistairkgrant Asked if he would ever take up a seat in the House of Lords a whole two and a half months ago, Anas Sarwar said: "No. I'm focused on being First Minister of this great country." https://x.com/alistairkgrant/status/2079633976172355783
Alistair Grant@alistairkgrant Fair to say Labour's opponents will have some fun with this.
Anas Sarwar in 2022: “The House of Lords, in its current form, as an institution has no place in 21st century politics. It is unacceptable...to have unelected representatives wielding such power." https://x.com/alistairkgrant/status/2079639733123047813
Kevin Schofield@KevinASchofield Not a bad result for the man who led Scottish Labour to a disastrous result on May 7.
X Alistair Grant@alistairkgrant Asked if he would ever take up a seat in the House of Lords a whole two and a half months ago, Anas Sarwar said: "No. I'm focused on being First Minister of this great country." https://x.com/alistairkgrant/status/2079633976172355783
Alistair Grant@alistairkgrant Fair to say Labour's opponents will have some fun with this.
Anas Sarwar in 2022: “The House of Lords, in its current form, as an institution has no place in 21st century politics. It is unacceptable...to have unelected representatives wielding such power." https://x.com/alistairkgrant/status/2079639733123047813
Kevin Schofield@KevinASchofield Not a bad result for the man who led Scottish Labour to a disastrous result on May 7.
It is worth remembering that his father had his nomination to become a peer was rejected by the authorities on the recommendation of HMRC, so Anas may have had a rather negative view of the institution.
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
Haigh ended up with a conviction for fraud !!
Police caution (now spent) but then it was spent when Starmer sacked her. So what has changed?
It's called rehabilitation ?
True but others have pointed out there is an exception made under law for fraud when declaring previous convictions in a court case.
So I do think putting her in charge of dealing with fraud would have been a step.too far.
But I don"t think.it should prevent her holding other ministerial positions.
Zelenskyy’s full address tonight announcing the appointment of new Commander in Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi. He says the General Staff will also be reconfigured. Zelenskyy also offered former defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov a new position, but did not say whether he’d accepted. As first reported @FT, Fedorov turned down an offer to head up a defense tech czar role at the National Security and Defense Council, saying he’d only take back MoD. More changes coming tomorrow and throughout the week. https://x.com/ChristopherJM/status/2079666469781307826
This is a breath of fresh air and a new source of hope in the fight of free people for freedom and justice. It is the voice of change that could no longer be ignored.
Now, the high expectations of the Ukrainian people must be met with a clear vision for bringing the War of Independence to a successful conclusion, a strong team and decisive action focused on saving the lives of our service members, accelerating the robotization of the battlefield, delivering asymmetric strikes and exhausting Russia’s economy.
I also called General Oleksandr Syrskyi to thank him for the defense of the Kyiv region, the Kharkiv counteroffensive and other historic battles.
These achievements are already an important part of Ukraine’s history.
But now we must move even faster, write the next chapters of that history and correct the mistakes of the past.
X Alistair Grant@alistairkgrant Asked if he would ever take up a seat in the House of Lords a whole two and a half months ago, Anas Sarwar said: "No. I'm focused on being First Minister of this great country." https://x.com/alistairkgrant/status/2079633976172355783
Alistair Grant@alistairkgrant Fair to say Labour's opponents will have some fun with this.
Anas Sarwar in 2022: “The House of Lords, in its current form, as an institution has no place in 21st century politics. It is unacceptable...to have unelected representatives wielding such power." https://x.com/alistairkgrant/status/2079639733123047813
Kevin Schofield@KevinASchofield Not a bad result for the man who led Scottish Labour to a disastrous result on May 7.
It is worth remembering that his father had his nomination to become a peer was rejected by the authorities on the recommendation of HMRC, so Anas may have had a rather negative view of the institution.
To be fair to Anas, at least he has stuck with living in Scotland. Maybe it was the peerage rejection which convinced his father to leave.
Ridiculous state of affairs all round though. Some new backbench MSPs looking for leadership.
They are also left looking at the farce in Lothian region, where relative newcomer to Slab Irshad Ahmed topped the list above Martin Whitfield in dubious circumstances.
Heres a question brains trust: we can have a PM from the Lords, can we have a First Minister?
George Eaton @georgeeaton · 1h Not said enough in recent weeks that Bridget Phillipson was the cabinet minister who did the most to secure the abolition of the two-child benefit cap (cited by Starmer as his proudest moment).
Narrator: Starmer spent months blocking the change to the point, iirc, he threw MPs off the Labour whip for trying to get it passed as legislation initially.
Small boat arrivals are down 47% compared to the same time last year .
This can’t be attributed to unfavourable weather conditions .
There’s been none in the last ten days . I look forward to the media reporting on this , cue tumbleweed …….
The current figure to 20 July (12,469) is not just 47% down on the 23,534 who had arrived this time last year. It is also substantially lower than it was at the same stage in any of the last 4 years. The next lowest of the preceding 4 years was 14,362 to 20 July 2023.
But as you say, this isn't going to be reported. It doesn't fit the narrative that the rate of immigration in general is rising not falling and is out of control.
This is the equivalent of inflation falling, prices still going up.
Yes the rate at which people are entering the country illegally is falling, but the aggregate number of illegal migrants in the country continues to rise.
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
And Burnham as a trade sector journalist for all of 5 minutes before becoming a researcher for Tessa Jowell. Mahmood specialised in private indemnity law but didn't exactly work for a business or firm.
Even if majority Oxbridge, 55% of the Cabinet went to one of those elite universities it is also a very state educated Cabinet. 72% of Burnham's Cabinet went to a comprehensive, just 24% a private school. Indeed more were educated in the North of England, 41% than received a private education
Andy Burnham has appointed the most Oxbridge-educated Cabinet in modern times. 17 of the 28 Ministers appointed were educated at either Oxford or Cambridge, according to analysis by The i Paper
And yet bugger all of them (i think 3) have had a job in the private sector let alone run a business.
I started looking at the careers of the Cabinet, working down from the PM, and I only had to look at the first seven before I found four who have worked in the private sector (Burnham: journalist, Haigh:Aviva, Mahmood: barrister, Streeting: PWC). No doubt if I continued my efforts I would have found many more. Must try harder!
Haigh ended up with a conviction for fraud !!
Police caution (now spent) but then it was spent when Starmer sacked her. So what has changed?
It would still show up on an enhanced DBS check which means she couldn't work for me.
Andy Burnham makes first Labour figure to call for Starmer to quit a minister
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, will be a minister in the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade after accepting a place in the Lords
Rewarding disloyalty and failure... good move Andy
You are so partisan.
Sarwar has been a poor leader for SLab.
Rewarding him with a peerage and a government job seems undeserved.
Are you new to politics?
Why are so concerned about my opinions? Seems unnecessarily personal...
It's tedious to read, a bit like Brixian's posts at times.
For example you seemed be to shocked that Burnham had appointed a non lawyer as Lord Chancellor, this is not unprecedented.
In the last decade or so the Tories appointed at least four non lawyers to the role.
Chris Grayling, Michael Gove, Liz Truss, and David Lidington.
Although TBF three of the names off the list you quote do not bode well.
One of the many tragedies of Brexit was it ended Michael Gove's tenure as Justice Secretary, he was going to be transformative, he realised the justice system focuses too much on punishment and not on rehabilitation and a lot of people come out of prison as worse people.
Indeed. Another was the fact that our very own Roger was forced to queue for literally some of an hour with a group of Somalians, just to get back to the green green grass of home (France). Cruel cruel Brexit.
X Alistair Grant@alistairkgrant Asked if he would ever take up a seat in the House of Lords a whole two and a half months ago, Anas Sarwar said: "No. I'm focused on being First Minister of this great country." https://x.com/alistairkgrant/status/2079633976172355783
Alistair Grant@alistairkgrant Fair to say Labour's opponents will have some fun with this.
Anas Sarwar in 2022: “The House of Lords, in its current form, as an institution has no place in 21st century politics. It is unacceptable...to have unelected representatives wielding such power." https://x.com/alistairkgrant/status/2079639733123047813
Kevin Schofield@KevinASchofield Not a bad result for the man who led Scottish Labour to a disastrous result on May 7.
One of the greatest tragedies of TV prior to 78 is the lack of retention of material in the archives.
TOTP was especially savaged
I found Steve Wright/ Mark Radcliffe's TOTP2 useful. There is some great early seventies material available that isn't found anywhere else.
My particular favourite TOTP clip after Sweet's Fox on the Run, Virginia Plain, Maggie May and Starman is Andy Kim's Rock me Gently, spoiled I am afraid by that disgusting old white haired Yorkshire pedo pawing underage girls.
I met John Henshall at a convention who developed the Fish Eye lens and returned the Jean Genie to the BBC. Nice chap
Many performances from the early days exist as they were sold to overseas stations for pop programs so survived as inserts.
Some colour ones exist in private hands. Unlikely so see the light of day.
TOTP fandom is almost as bad as Dr Who fandom.
I have a real affinity for the early pans people pop videos they made, as well as the videos they made to accompany songs they couldn’t get artists over for,
I've not seen that before, although I love the Persuaders title sequence.
I watched the first dozen on the ITV YouTube channel. Quite fun.
It’s a great title sequence
I love that title sequence . John Barry was an absolute legend . I remember as a kid so excited towards Christmas when they’d show a Bond film .
He was an absolute genius.
His theme to Midnight Cowboy is amazing. Just a guy with a harmonica yet soooooo good.
I read John (Nigel) Taylor's autobiography. For you it is worth a read, he discusses the benefits of the Midland Red bus from Alcester via Hollywood into Birmingham, as opposed to a WMPTE bus from the Maypole. Gay Hill Golf Club gets an interesting name check too. He writes about difficulties John Barry had over the score for A View to a Kill with Nick Rhodes. I knew Nick Rhodes (as Nicholas Bates) very, very well at Woodrush. He was an over confident arse at school, so to learn he was telling John Barry how to do his job came as no surprise.
Thanks. I will have to look it up. See if it is on audible.
Didn’t realise there was such a Midlands connection.
That story reminds me of the time a newcomer actor playing a companion in Dr Who gave advice to Richard Todd on how to act !!
Nick's mum had the toyshop in the Maypole they lived in a big house ( by our1970s standards) off Hollywood Lane.
The Birmingham connections with the Rum Runner and Barbarella's are key to the story.
I meant with John Barry. But I misread your comment. I thought it was a book about John Barry !!
What a doofus !
No, John (Nigel) the Duran Duran bass player. I am sure there are very good biographies about John Barry but I don't believe three will be a paragraph discussing Gay Hill Golf club.
Andy Burnham makes first Labour figure to call for Starmer to quit a minister
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, will be a minister in the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade after accepting a place in the Lords
Rewarding disloyalty and failure... good move Andy
You are so partisan.
Sarwar has been a poor leader for SLab.
Rewarding him with a peerage and a government job seems undeserved.
Are you new to politics?
Why are so concerned about my opinions? Seems unnecessarily personal...
It's tedious to read, a bit like Brixian's posts at times.
For example you seemed be to shocked that Burnham had appointed a non lawyer as Lord Chancellor, this is not unprecedented.
In the last decade or so the Tories appointed at least four non lawyers to the role.
Chris Grayling, Michael Gove, Liz Truss, and David Lidington.
Although TBF three of the names off the list you quote do not bode well.
One of the many tragedies of Brexit was it ended Michael Gove's tenure as Justice Secretary, he was going to be transformative, he realised the justice system focuses too much on punishment and not on rehabilitation and a lot of people come out of prison as worse people.
Indeed. Another was the fact that our very own Roger was forced to queue for literally some of an hour with a group of Somalians, just to get back to the green green grass of home (France). Cruel cruel Brexit.
He would have had to do that pre- Brexit as Somalia pirates posing as refugees were immediately kicked back to France, Bishop Brennan style, the moment they arrived, under the terms of the Dublin Convention.
According to Nick Watt on Newsnight, there's already rancour on the part of Starmer supporters. He quotes one as saying, in response to Anas Sarwar's potential appointment:
"Yet another senior figure who betrayed Keir rewarded. If Andy thinks there won't be consequences, he is going to be disappointed."
According to Nick Watt on Newsnight, there's already rancour on the part of Starmer supporters. He quotes one as saying, in response to Anas Sarwar's potential appointment:
"Yet another senior figure who betrayed Keir rewarded. If Andy thinks there won't be consequences, he is going to be disappointed."
Toys out the pram time. Starmers pals will have to sober up from their booze party to be any good in a fight
Convicted fraudster Louise Haigh stripped of oversight of fraud office
Brief for tackling public sector scams handed to Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, instead
Louise Haigh, a convicted fraudster, is being stripped of responsibility for tackling public sector fraud in her new Cabinet role.
Ms Haigh, the new Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was appointed to Andy Burnham’s top team on Monday.
She admitted misleading police more than a decade ago after wrongly telling officers her work phone had been stolen when she was “mugged while on a night out” in 2013.
She claimed she initially believed the phone had been taken but later found the handset at home.
The following year, six months before she became an MP, Ms Haigh pleaded guilty to making a false report to police and was handed a conditional discharge by magistrates. It is understood that the conviction is now classified as “spent”.
The headline seems ridiculously over the top . I mean what did she have to gain from misleading police and I tend to think it was a genuine mistake . She should of course have informed the police immediately that she had found her phone .
It was not an innocent mistake. According to the Guardian the court papers showed she admitted she had intentionally lied in order to get a newer, better phone.
According to Nick Watt on Newsnight, there's already rancour on the part of Starmer supporters. He quotes one as saying, in response to Anas Sarwar's potential appointment:
"Yet another senior figure who betrayed Keir rewarded. If Andy thinks there won't be consequences, he is going to be disappointed."
Toys out the pram time. Starmers pals will have to sober up from their booze party to be any good in a fight
Yep. No matter how bad Andy B may be I doubt there'll be many Labour folk pining for the halcyon days of Sir Keir anytime soon. Or ever.
According to Nick Watt on Newsnight, there's already rancour on the part of Starmer supporters. He quotes one as saying, in response to Anas Sarwar's potential appointment:
"Yet another senior figure who betrayed Keir rewarded. If Andy thinks there won't be consequences, he is going to be disappointed."
The number of Keir supporters is so small, and Labour's majority so large, that I struggle to see this translating into a realistic threat.
According to Nick Watt on Newsnight, there's already rancour on the part of Starmer supporters. He quotes one as saying, in response to Anas Sarwar's potential appointment:
"Yet another senior figure who betrayed Keir rewarded. If Andy thinks there won't be consequences, he is going to be disappointed."
The Starmerites don’t like being trolled. Well whoopee what a shock.
So what are “the consequences” - managerialated to death somehow? Trick them into forming a "blue-ribbon task force" and host 50 town halls to draft a green paper about drafting a white paper? Trap them in an offsite weekend retreat to debate a mission statement about the reset governments use of the Union Jack, on basis it can’t possibly be the same as Starmer’s, can it? Hack the computer system to change the reporting lines of cabinet and ministerial departments every 48 hours, until no one knows who is in charge of what? Use Agent McFadden to introduce a strict Key Performance Indicator (KPI) framework with impossible contradictory metrics, something like increasing voter turnout while cutting all campaign engagement budgets. Useless Lucy would certainly fall it. Cancel all new swanky mobile phone upgrades for “red heads”, sit back and see what happens.
According to Nick Watt on Newsnight, there's already rancour on the part of Starmer supporters. He quotes one as saying, in response to Anas Sarwar's potential appointment:
"Yet another senior figure who betrayed Keir rewarded. If Andy thinks there won't be consequences, he is going to be disappointed."
The Starmerites don’t like being trolled. Well whoopee what a shock.
So what are “the consequences” - managerialated to death somehow? Trick them into forming a "blue-ribbon task force" and host 50 town halls to draft a green paper about drafting a white paper? Trap them in an offsite weekend retreat to debate a mission statement about the reset governments use of the Union Jack, on basis it can’t possibly be the same as Starmer’s, can it? Hack the computer system to change the reporting lines of cabinet and ministerial departments every 48 hours, until no one knows who is in charge of what? Use Agent McFadden to introduce a strict Key Performance Indicator (KPI) framework with impossible contradictory metrics, something like increasing voter turnout while cutting all campaign engagement budgets. Useless Lucy would certainly fall it. Cancel all new swanky mobile phone upgrades for “red heads”, sit back and see what happens.
There have been similar reports in other, admittedly right-leaning, media of shock and anger at the expulsion of Starmer supporters. It may well be that Burnham has gone too far in casting out all of the Starmerites. As argued on pb last week, he should have been aiming at a Cabinet balanced across all wings of the party. Whether any will be missed by the voter on the Clapham omnibus is another matter.
According to Nick Watt on Newsnight, there's already rancour on the part of Starmer supporters. He quotes one as saying, in response to Anas Sarwar's potential appointment:
"Yet another senior figure who betrayed Keir rewarded. If Andy thinks there won't be consequences, he is going to be disappointed."
The Starmerites don’t like being trolled. Well whoopee what a shock.
So what are “the consequences” - managerialated to death somehow? Trick them into forming a "blue-ribbon task force" and host 50 town halls to draft a green paper about drafting a white paper? Trap them in an offsite weekend retreat to debate a mission statement about the reset governments use of the Union Jack, on basis it can’t possibly be the same as Starmer’s, can it? Hack the computer system to change the reporting lines of cabinet and ministerial departments every 48 hours, until no one knows who is in charge of what? Use Agent McFadden to introduce a strict Key Performance Indicator (KPI) framework with impossible contradictory metrics, something like increasing voter turnout while cutting all campaign engagement budgets. Useless Lucy would certainly fall it. Cancel all new swanky mobile phone upgrades for “red heads”, sit back and see what happens.
There have been similar reports in other, admittedly right-leaning, media of shock and anger at the expulsion of Starmer supporters. It may well be that Burnham has gone too far in casting out all of the Starmerites. As argued on pb last week, he should have been aiming at a Cabinet balanced across all wings of the party. Whether any will be missed by the voter on the Clapham omnibus is another matter.
The MP for Peckham has a prominent position in cabinet.
According to Nick Watt on Newsnight, there's already rancour on the part of Starmer supporters. He quotes one as saying, in response to Anas Sarwar's potential appointment:
"Yet another senior figure who betrayed Keir rewarded. If Andy thinks there won't be consequences, he is going to be disappointed."
The Starmerites don’t like being trolled. Well whoopee what a shock.
So what are “the consequences” - managerialated to death somehow? Trick them into forming a "blue-ribbon task force" and host 50 town halls to draft a green paper about drafting a white paper? Trap them in an offsite weekend retreat to debate a mission statement about the reset governments use of the Union Jack, on basis it can’t possibly be the same as Starmer’s, can it? Hack the computer system to change the reporting lines of cabinet and ministerial departments every 48 hours, until no one knows who is in charge of what? Use Agent McFadden to introduce a strict Key Performance Indicator (KPI) framework with impossible contradictory metrics, something like increasing voter turnout while cutting all campaign engagement budgets. Useless Lucy would certainly fall it. Cancel all new swanky mobile phone upgrades for “red heads”, sit back and see what happens.
There have been similar reports in other, admittedly right-leaning, media of shock and anger at the expulsion of Starmer supporters. It may well be that Burnham has gone too far in casting out all of the Starmerites. As argued on pb last week, he should have been aiming at a Cabinet balanced across all wings of the party. Whether any will be missed by the voter on the Clapham omnibus is another matter.
The MP for Peckham has a prominent position in cabinet.
Miatta Fahnbulleh – MP for Peckham and the Clapham omnibus.
James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary to the Treasury
Catherine McKinnell - Justice Minister
Katie White - Energy Security and Net Zero Minister
Andrew Western - Work and Pensions Minister
Dame Diana Johnson - Health and Social Care Minister
Florence Eshalomi - Housing, Communities and Local Government Minister
Kate Dearden - Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Minister
Chris McDonald - Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Minister
Ian Murray - Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Minister
Emma Hardy - Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister
Emma Foody - Government Whip
Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General
Rachel Blake, Nicholas Dakin, Baroness Chapman of Darlington, Lord Livermore, Lord Stockwood, Lord Whitehead, Lord Vallance and Lord Timpson have left Government https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/2079684770607341970
According to Nick Watt on Newsnight, there's already rancour on the part of Starmer supporters. He quotes one as saying, in response to Anas Sarwar's potential appointment:
"Yet another senior figure who betrayed Keir rewarded. If Andy thinks there won't be consequences, he is going to be disappointed."
The Starmerites don’t like being trolled. Well whoopee what a shock.
So what are “the consequences” - managerialated to death somehow? Trick them into forming a "blue-ribbon task force" and host 50 town halls to draft a green paper about drafting a white paper? Trap them in an offsite weekend retreat to debate a mission statement about the reset governments use of the Union Jack, on basis it can’t possibly be the same as Starmer’s, can it? Hack the computer system to change the reporting lines of cabinet and ministerial departments every 48 hours, until no one knows who is in charge of what? Use Agent McFadden to introduce a strict Key Performance Indicator (KPI) framework with impossible contradictory metrics, something like increasing voter turnout while cutting all campaign engagement budgets. Useless Lucy would certainly fall it. Cancel all new swanky mobile phone upgrades for “red heads”, sit back and see what happens.
There have been similar reports in other, admittedly right-leaning, media of shock and anger at the expulsion of Starmer supporters. It may well be that Burnham has gone too far in casting out all of the Starmerites. As argued on pb last week, he should have been aiming at a Cabinet balanced across all wings of the party. Whether any will be missed by the voter on the Clapham omnibus is another matter.
The MP for Peckham has a prominent position in cabinet.
Right Wing clap trap.
Desperate in some cases.
Healy , McFadden, Cooper , Alexanders, Streeting, both Reynolds are hardly left or soft left, not part of the very close Starmer cabal but not anything but Labour right.
Rachel Reeves was offered a role, I think shes right to step down, her sister gets an effective promotion.
No one would argue Haigh and Rayner were never coming back,Starmer had been encouraged to bring both back.
Powell is the soft left equivalent of Kendall to the right. Neither are particularly capable but thts in reality a Starmer darling swop for a Burnham darling swap and Lucy is far more popular with the majority of MP's than Liz.
James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary to the Treasury
Catherine McKinnell - Justice Minister
Katie White - Energy Security and Net Zero Minister
Andrew Western - Work and Pensions Minister
Dame Diana Johnson - Health and Social Care Minister
Florence Eshalomi - Housing, Communities and Local Government Minister
Kate Dearden - Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Minister
Chris McDonald - Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Minister
Ian Murray - Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Minister
Emma Hardy - Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister
Emma Foody - Government Whip
Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General
Rachel Blake, Nicholas Dakin, Baroness Chapman of Darlington, Lord Livermore, Lord Stockwood, Lord Whitehead, Lord Vallance and Lord Timpson have left Government https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/2079684770607341970
"Emma Hardy - Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister
According to Nick Watt on Newsnight, there's already rancour on the part of Starmer supporters. He quotes one as saying, in response to Anas Sarwar's potential appointment:
"Yet another senior figure who betrayed Keir rewarded. If Andy thinks there won't be consequences, he is going to be disappointed."
The Starmerites don’t like being trolled. Well whoopee what a shock.
So what are “the consequences” - managerialated to death somehow? Trick them into forming a "blue-ribbon task force" and host 50 town halls to draft a green paper about drafting a white paper? Trap them in an offsite weekend retreat to debate a mission statement about the reset governments use of the Union Jack, on basis it can’t possibly be the same as Starmer’s, can it? Hack the computer system to change the reporting lines of cabinet and ministerial departments every 48 hours, until no one knows who is in charge of what? Use Agent McFadden to introduce a strict Key Performance Indicator (KPI) framework with impossible contradictory metrics, something like increasing voter turnout while cutting all campaign engagement budgets. Useless Lucy would certainly fall it. Cancel all new swanky mobile phone upgrades for “red heads”, sit back and see what happens.
There have been similar reports in other, admittedly right-leaning, media of shock and anger at the expulsion of Starmer supporters. It may well be that Burnham has gone too far in casting out all of the Starmerites. As argued on pb last week, he should have been aiming at a Cabinet balanced across all wings of the party. Whether any will be missed by the voter on the Clapham omnibus is another matter.
The Starmerites will be sat waiting for something to cross their desk - to start the fightback.
According to Nick Watt on Newsnight, there's already rancour on the part of Starmer supporters. He quotes one as saying, in response to Anas Sarwar's potential appointment:
"Yet another senior figure who betrayed Keir rewarded. If Andy thinks there won't be consequences, he is going to be disappointed."
The Starmerites don’t like being trolled. Well whoopee what a shock.
So what are “the consequences” - managerialated to death somehow? Trick them into forming a "blue-ribbon task force" and host 50 town halls to draft a green paper about drafting a white paper? Trap them in an offsite weekend retreat to debate a mission statement about the reset governments use of the Union Jack, on basis it can’t possibly be the same as Starmer’s, can it? Hack the computer system to change the reporting lines of cabinet and ministerial departments every 48 hours, until no one knows who is in charge of what? Use Agent McFadden to introduce a strict Key Performance Indicator (KPI) framework with impossible contradictory metrics, something like increasing voter turnout while cutting all campaign engagement budgets. Useless Lucy would certainly fall it. Cancel all new swanky mobile phone upgrades for “red heads”, sit back and see what happens.
There have been similar reports in other, admittedly right-leaning, media of shock and anger at the expulsion of Starmer supporters. It may well be that Burnham has gone too far in casting out all of the Starmerites. As argued on pb last week, he should have been aiming at a Cabinet balanced across all wings of the party. Whether any will be missed by the voter on the Clapham omnibus is another matter.
The MP for Peckham has a prominent position in cabinet.
Right Wing clap trap.
Desperate in some cases.
Healy , McFadden, Cooper , Alexanders, Streeting, both Reynolds are hardly left or soft left, not part of the very close Starmer cabal but not anything but Labour right.
Rachel Reeves was offered a role, I think shes right to step down, her sister gets an effective promotion.
No one would argue Haigh and Rayner were never coming back,Starmer had been encouraged to bring both back.
Powell is the soft left equivalent of Kendall to the right. Neither are particularly capable but thts in reality a Starmer darling swop for a Burnham darling swap and Lucy is far more popular with the majority of MP's than Liz.
Powell is also Deputy Leader, so has her own mandate.
Convicted fraudster Louise Haigh stripped of oversight of fraud office
Brief for tackling public sector scams handed to Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, instead
Louise Haigh, a convicted fraudster, is being stripped of responsibility for tackling public sector fraud in her new Cabinet role.
Ms Haigh, the new Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was appointed to Andy Burnham’s top team on Monday.
She admitted misleading police more than a decade ago after wrongly telling officers her work phone had been stolen when she was “mugged while on a night out” in 2013.
She claimed she initially believed the phone had been taken but later found the handset at home.
The following year, six months before she became an MP, Ms Haigh pleaded guilty to making a false report to police and was handed a conditional discharge by magistrates. It is understood that the conviction is now classified as “spent”.
Convicted fraudster Louise Haigh stripped of oversight of fraud office
Brief for tackling public sector scams handed to Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, instead
Louise Haigh, a convicted fraudster, is being stripped of responsibility for tackling public sector fraud in her new Cabinet role.
Ms Haigh, the new Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was appointed to Andy Burnham’s top team on Monday.
She admitted misleading police more than a decade ago after wrongly telling officers her work phone had been stolen when she was “mugged while on a night out” in 2013.
She claimed she initially believed the phone had been taken but later found the handset at home.
The following year, six months before she became an MP, Ms Haigh pleaded guilty to making a false report to police and was handed a conditional discharge by magistrates. It is understood that the conviction is now classified as “spent”.
Will she be the first one to be sacked after all the media attacks on her honesty. It may be 'spent' but not in people's minds.
And Sanwar to the HoL. What a reward for a backstabber (and failure in Scotland)
Burnham is a far smarter politician than Starmer.
Expect some long over due kick backs!
Farage is already in the gutter
The web hacking and Uni/College USA Offer lying leader of the Opposition has gotten away very very lightly with those serious mis-steps so far. Expect that to change and the Tories have many skeletons in a lot of closets on the mainly Sunak era front bench!
Convicted fraudster Louise Haigh stripped of oversight of fraud office
Brief for tackling public sector scams handed to Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, instead
Louise Haigh, a convicted fraudster, is being stripped of responsibility for tackling public sector fraud in her new Cabinet role.
Ms Haigh, the new Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was appointed to Andy Burnham’s top team on Monday.
She admitted misleading police more than a decade ago after wrongly telling officers her work phone had been stolen when she was “mugged while on a night out” in 2013.
She claimed she initially believed the phone had been taken but later found the handset at home.
The following year, six months before she became an MP, Ms Haigh pleaded guilty to making a false report to police and was handed a conditional discharge by magistrates. It is understood that the conviction is now classified as “spent”.
The headline seems ridiculously over the top . I mean what did she have to gain from misleading police and I tend to think it was a genuine mistake . She should of course have informed the police immediately that she had found her phone .
I've seen the following sequence play out in the early company mobile phone era, circa 2000 (so a decade earlier):-
1. Person: I want a new phone 2. Person to HR: my phone's been nicked. Please get me a new one. 3. HR to Person: OK, here's a new phone. We'll claim it on insurance. 4. HR to Insurance: an employee's had their phone nicked, send money. 5. Insurance to HR: we need a crime number. 6. HR to Person: we need a crime number. 7. Person to Police: my phone's been nicked. I need a crime number.
Maybe adding the mugging claim prompted the police actually to investigate and it all unravelled from there.
But who knows? It's embarrassing but hardly crime of the century.
Andy Burnham makes first Labour figure to call for Starmer to quit a minister
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, will be a minister in the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade after accepting a place in the Lords
Rewarding disloyalty and failure... good move Andy
You are so partisan.
Sarwar has been a poor leader for SLab.
Rewarding him with a peerage and a government job seems undeserved.
Are you new to politics?
Why are so concerned about my opinions? Seems unnecessarily personal...
It's tedious to read, a bit like Brixian's posts at times.
For example you seemed be to shocked that Burnham had appointed a non lawyer as Lord Chancellor, this is not unprecedented.
In the last decade or so the Tories appointed at least four non lawyers to the role.
Chris Grayling, Michael Gove, Liz Truss, and David Lidington.
Although TBF three of the names off the list you quote do not bode well.
One of the many tragedies of Brexit was it ended Michael Gove's tenure as Justice Secretary, he was going to be transformative, he realised the justice system focuses too much on punishment and not on rehabilitation and a lot of people come out of prison as worse people.
He was totally useless, pity he had not been rumbled years before
Small boat arrivals are down 47% compared to the same time last year .
This can’t be attributed to unfavourable weather conditions .
There’s been none in the last ten days . I look forward to the media reporting on this , cue tumbleweed …….
The current figure to 20 July (12,469) is not just 47% down on the 23,534 who had arrived this time last year. It is also substantially lower than it was at the same stage in any of the last 4 years. The next lowest of the preceding 4 years was 14,362 to 20 July 2023.
But as you say, this isn't going to be reported. It doesn't fit the narrative that the rate of immigration in general is rising not falling and is out of control.
This is the equivalent of inflation falling, prices still going up.
Yes the rate at which people are entering the country illegally is falling, but the aggregate number of illegal migrants in the country continues to rise.
It doesn’t. Deportations are up. The asylum backlog is down.
Andy Burnham makes first Labour figure to call for Starmer to quit a minister
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, will be a minister in the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade after accepting a place in the Lords
Rewarding disloyalty and failure... good move Andy
You are so partisan.
Sarwar has been a poor leader for SLab.
Rewarding him with a peerage and a government job seems undeserved.
Are you new to politics?
Why are so concerned about my opinions? Seems unnecessarily personal...
It's tedious to read, a bit like Brixian's posts at times.
For example you seemed be to shocked that Burnham had appointed a non lawyer as Lord Chancellor, this is not unprecedented.
In the last decade or so the Tories appointed at least four non lawyers to the role.
Chris Grayling, Michael Gove, Liz Truss, and David Lidington.
Although TBF three of the names off the list you quote do not bode well.
One of the many tragedies of Brexit was it ended Michael Gove's tenure as Justice Secretary, he was going to be transformative, he realised the justice system focuses too much on punishment and not on rehabilitation and a lot of people come out of prison as worse people.
He was totally useless, pity he had not been rumbled years before
Comments
But it perhaps defuses the political situation. And also demonstrates the government can't ignore public opinion.
Zelensky sacks Ukraine's top army commander after days of protests
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyvl35z3917o
That’s not really a great outcome all around, but the key person damaged is undoubtedly Zelensky. We might see a new Ukrainian president this year.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jan/10/louise-haigh-pleaded-guilty-to-lying-that-phone-was-stolen-paper-shows
LOL 🤣
She’s the same old Loo. Trouble will find her. Watch this space.
Bloomberg say it is the same policy as Starmer.
Defensive operations only.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-21/burnham-approves-use-of-uk-bases-for-some-us-strikes-on-iran
Hegseth says Iran war has cost $37.5bn so far
That's a lot of money to spend on losing a war.
"Drapatyi first gained national recognition in 2014 during the liberation of Mariupol, where he personally led an armored breakthrough into the city. During the full-scale war, he played key roles in Ukraine's Kherson counteroffensive and later commanded the defense against Russia's cross-border offensive toward Kharkiv in 2024.
As commander of the Ground Forces, Drapatyi pushed for decentralized command, promoted younger combat-tested officers and openly challenged bureaucratic stagnation within the military. He also became known for emphasizing accountability, closer cooperation with frontline commanders and the rapid integration of new technologies, including expanded drone capabilities."
I think it's probably a good change, and it's another example of civil society forcing Zelensky to back down, for the benefit of the country - demonstrating yet again why a democracy is better than a dictatorship.
Now we'll see what happens with Fedorov.
Jackie Baillie could have the job if she wants it, but the next Holyrood election wont be fought until she is 67. There's not a wide selection in terms of candidates, one of the front runners - Monica Lennon - didnt get back in. Neither did Martin Whitfield in their most winnable seat (East Lothian), who was ranked too low in the list to get back in.
As it’s the same policy as SKS then ‘meet the new boss…” is most fitting.
Current situation suits them fine. They can just carry on annexing South Lebanon while making a total mug of Trump.
The Birmingham connections with the Rum Runner and Barbarella's are key to the story.
I couldn't do it. I went to elaborate lengths to pay for a cucumber I accidentally didn't pay for. I just know that if I didn't the feeling of dishonesty would stay with me for life. I still feel bad about cheating at a game of Risk once.
https://x.com/latsot/status/2079545538907652141?s=61
What a doofus !
'@ZackPolanski
This is an appalling lack of judgement and the surest sign yet that Britain will continue to be Trump's lackey.
The war in Iran has cost countless lives, and breached international law - yet we continue to support it.
Very, very concerning. Very, very continuity Starmer.'
https://x.com/ZackPolanski/status/2079646513223872982?s=20
It does demonstrate how silly it’s all become. Not everything horrible needs to be terrorist attack - even a political assassination.
While serving as Transport Secretary in October 2024, Louise Haigh was publicly reprimanded by Prime Minister after calling for a public boycott of P&O Ferries. On the eve of a major government investment summit, Haigh referred to P&O Ferries as a "rogue operator" and explicitly urged consumers to boycott the company, so threatening a major investment from P&O's Dubai-based parent company. Number 10 had to swiftly step in to state the Transport Secretaries remarks were not the government's position.
Earlier in September 2024, Haigh faced intense backlash after greenlighting a 15% pay rise for ASLEF train drivers. Government spokesman were forced to confirm to the press that "Lou went rogue" offering the massive, inflation-busting raise without broader cabinet authorization.
In May 2025, Haigh publicly went to war with Downing Street's internal operations during an interview. She specifically targeted officials for trying to sack working-class, northern, female MPs.
Amongst radical policy Haigh has recently set out in essays, she has called for:
* A massive loosening of Labour’s strict fiscal debt rules, extending targets from 5 to 10 years.
* re-examining the mandate of the independent Bank of England.
* Implementing a land value tax to entirely replace the current stamp duty system on house purchases.
You could ask the MODs to delete your original post, if you are feeling embarrassed about it. 🙂
But as you say, this isn't going to be reported. It doesn't fit the narrative that the rate of immigration in general is rising not falling and is out of control.
Give me strength.
Ministry of Justice
@MoJGovUK
Welcoming @AlexJJNorris as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. Let's get started...
https://x.com/MoJGovUK/status/2079586039312650371
Tebbit baited Redhead for a while over his failure to ask a question about unemployment figures. Which Redhead had always done while they were going up.
https://news.sky.com/video/50-doesnt-even-buy-a-meal-what-people-think-of-burnhams-electricity-vat-cut-13565758
@alexwickham
EXCLUSIVE: Andy Burnham has approved the use of British military bases by the US for what the UK calls defensive strikes against Iran, in a continuation of Keir Starmer’s policy even as Trump ramps up his war.
https://x.com/alexwickham/status/2079643036154249417
The sooner the regime is toppled, the better. No point pissing around with half measures like the Yanks are doing, leaving the Strait closed but not toppling the regime.
https://x.com/i/status/2079628888599138555
That says a lot. More than I can say.
Did you find her orange hair rather persuasive as well? She has form for luring husbands away from their wives.
Alistair Grant@alistairkgrant
Asked if he would ever take up a seat in the House of Lords a whole two and a half months ago, Anas Sarwar said: "No. I'm focused on being First Minister of this great country."
https://x.com/alistairkgrant/status/2079633976172355783
Alistair Grant@alistairkgrant
Fair to say Labour's opponents will have some fun with this.
Anas Sarwar in 2022: “The House of Lords, in its current form, as an institution has no place in 21st century politics. It is unacceptable...to have unelected representatives wielding such power."
https://x.com/alistairkgrant/status/2079639733123047813
Kevin Schofield@KevinASchofield
Not a bad result for the man who led Scottish Labour to a disastrous result on May 7.
And what message does it send out to Scottish Labour MPs left on the backbenches?
https://x.com/KevinASchofield/status/2079651065134194774
Funnily enough, Monica Lennon, who had lost her seat, is next in line to replace him in the Glasgow list, if he stands down.
No pressure, Anas
So I do think putting her in charge of dealing with fraud would have been a step.too far.
But I don"t think.it should prevent her holding other ministerial positions.
@FT, Fedorov turned down an offer to head up a defense tech czar role at the National Security and Defense Council, saying he’d only take back MoD. More changes coming tomorrow and throughout the week.
https://x.com/ChristopherJM/status/2079666469781307826
Viewing her taking notes as Burnham speaks to his first Cabinet on BBC News she seems to write very quickly.
https://x.com/FedorovMykhailo/status/2079664838473613443
Congratulations to Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi on his appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This is a breath of fresh air and a new source of hope in the fight of free people for freedom and justice. It is the voice of change that could no longer be ignored.
Now, the high expectations of the Ukrainian people must be met with a clear vision for bringing the War of Independence to a successful conclusion, a strong team and decisive action focused on saving the lives of our service members, accelerating the robotization of the battlefield, delivering asymmetric strikes and exhausting Russia’s economy.
I also called General Oleksandr Syrskyi to thank him for the defense of the Kyiv region, the Kharkiv counteroffensive and other historic battles.
These achievements are already an important part of Ukraine’s history.
But now we must move even faster, write the next chapters of that history and correct the mistakes of the past.
Thank you to everyone who made this possible.
Ridiculous state of affairs all round though. Some new backbench MSPs looking for leadership.
They are also left looking at the farce in Lothian region, where relative newcomer to Slab Irshad Ahmed topped the list above Martin Whitfield in dubious circumstances.
Heres a question brains trust: we can have a PM from the Lords, can we have a First Minister?
@georgeeaton
·
1h
Not said enough in recent weeks that Bridget Phillipson was the cabinet minister who did the most to secure the abolition of the two-child benefit cap (cited by Starmer as his proudest moment).
https://x.com/georgeeaton/status/2079646924060123327
Narrator: Starmer spent months blocking the change to the point, iirc, he threw MPs off the Labour whip for trying to get it passed as legislation initially.
Yes the rate at which people are entering the country illegally is falling, but the aggregate number of illegal migrants in the country continues to rise.
"Yet another senior figure who betrayed Keir rewarded. If Andy thinks there won't be consequences, he is going to be disappointed."
No matter how bad Andy B may be I doubt there'll be many Labour folk pining for the halcyon days of Sir Keir anytime soon.
Or ever.
So what are “the consequences” - managerialated to death somehow? Trick them into forming a "blue-ribbon task force" and host 50 town halls to draft a green paper about drafting a white paper? Trap them in an offsite weekend retreat to debate a mission statement about the reset governments use of the Union Jack, on basis it can’t possibly be the same as Starmer’s, can it? Hack the computer system to change the reporting lines of cabinet and ministerial departments every 48 hours, until no one knows who is in charge of what? Use Agent McFadden to introduce a strict Key Performance Indicator (KPI) framework with impossible contradictory metrics, something like increasing voter turnout while cutting all campaign engagement budgets. Useless Lucy would certainly fall it. Cancel all new swanky mobile phone upgrades for “red heads”, sit back and see what happens.
James Murray: CST until May, SofS for three months, and now sent to a more junior HMT position as FST.
You don’t have to take that sort of humiliation, James.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Murray_(British_politician,_born_1983)
https://x.com/i/status/2079683366903791762
Dan Jarvis dropping back down to his previous job
Dan Jarvis - Security Minister
Anna Turley - Home Office Minister
Kirsty McNeill - Foreign Office Minister
James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary to the Treasury
Catherine McKinnell - Justice Minister
Katie White - Energy Security and Net Zero Minister
Andrew Western - Work and Pensions Minister
Dame Diana Johnson - Health and Social Care Minister
Florence Eshalomi - Housing, Communities and Local Government Minister
Kate Dearden - Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Minister
Chris McDonald - Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Minister
Ian Murray - Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Minister
Emma Hardy - Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister
Emma Foody - Government Whip
Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General
Rachel Blake, Nicholas Dakin, Baroness Chapman of Darlington, Lord Livermore, Lord Stockwood, Lord Whitehead, Lord Vallance and Lord Timpson have left Government
https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/2079684770607341970
Stephen Doughty - Foreign Office Minister
Sarah Jones - Home Office Minister
Lord Hanson of Flint - Home Office Minister
Sarah Sackman - Justice Minister
Luke Pollard - Defence Minister
Lord Coaker - Defence Minister
Michael Shanks - Energy Security and Net Zero Minister
Georgia Gould - Education Minister
Sir Stephen Timms - Work and Pensions Minister
Baroness Smith of Malvern - Work and Pensions and Education Minister
Baroness Sherlock - Work and Pensions Minister
Karin Smyth - Health and Social Care Minister
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Transport Minister
Lord Kennedy of Southwark - Lords Chief Whip
Sir Mark Tami - Deputy Chief Whip
Gen Kitchen - Government Whip
Baroness Smith of Cluny KC - HM Advocate General for Scotland
https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/2079685261752148123
Desperate in some cases.
Healy , McFadden, Cooper , Alexanders, Streeting, both Reynolds are hardly left or soft left, not part of the very close Starmer cabal but not anything but Labour right.
Rachel Reeves was offered a role, I think shes right to step down, her sister gets an effective promotion.
No one would argue Haigh and Rayner were never coming back,Starmer had been encouraged to bring both back.
Powell is the soft left equivalent of Kendall to the right. Neither are particularly capable but thts in reality a Starmer darling swop for a Burnham darling swap and Lucy is far more popular with the majority of MP's than Liz.
Emma Foody - Government Whip"
Surely they should swap?
https://x.com/bohuslavskakate/status/2079746804506079691
Edit: it gets better, there’s two lots of wild berries to smell today.
https://x.com/bohuslavskakate/status/2079752608948863265
Nothing will ever come...
And Sanwar to the HoL. What a reward for a backstabber (and failure in Scotland)
NEW THREAD
Expect some long over due kick backs!
Farage is already in the gutter
The web hacking and Uni/College USA Offer lying leader of the Opposition has gotten away very very lightly with those serious mis-steps so far. Expect that to change and the Tories have many skeletons in a lot of closets on the mainly Sunak era front bench!