Liz Truss was sat next to Patel, is it to much to hope for…….
I think their faces would still have maintained a 1 metre gap.
I believe Gray has said that she will not name names of junior people involved, but will name more senior civil servants (?and politicians). The Met are not the ones preparing a report, she is, and she appears to have pretty much all the evidence as she gathered it and passed it on to the Met. All she needs from the Met is them to finish the process.
All those calling for Boris to go may regret it. There are some nasty pasties much further to the right than BJ that could take over and take us even further down the "little britain xenophobia" journey we seem to be on. BJ may be a self interested berk but he does like to spend more than most tories do.
(?and politicians).
Cite? I'll put money on the PM not being mentioned directly in any cut down "update" or "report" to come from Gray or anyone else.
BJ may be a self interested berk but he does like to spend more than most tories do.
Spend it on what? This whole idea that Johnson is pro-investment, or anti-austerity is bogus. He loves talking up a big project or two (and then cancelling them). Or promising money to seats (and then cutting it). Or announcing new plans using existing money (it's schools today... pay more to retain teachers in struggling areas, and created new Free School sixth forms... but no new money to pay teachers or for Further Education provision after huge cuts to A-level and BTEC education funding in recent years).
BJ may be a self interested berk but he does like to spend more than most tories do.
Shame that most of it is on wallpapering, supporting mistresses, donations to mates and feasibility studies into wildly impractical infrastructure schemes like garden bridges, tunnels to Ireland...
Reported by the Good Law Project:
The Government has wasted more than £9.9 billion on PPE, which is more than it would cost to give every nurse in the NHS a 100 per cent bonus on their salary.
The figure comes from the Department of Health’s Annual Report, which reveals it spent:
<li aria-level="1">£673 million on PPE “not suitable for any use”
<li aria-level="1">£2,581 million on PPE “not suitable for use in the NHS”
<li aria-level="1">£4.7 billion paying inflated pandemic prices for PPE we didn’t need to buy
<li aria-level="1">£750 million buying PPE which will pass its expiry date before we can use it.
It has also “written down” the value of £1.231 billion in PPE, which is still yet to be delivered.
The Department also reports that some of the PPE will need to be recycled and it’s now contracting “waste providers”. Some of it is too complex to be recycled and so will need to be burned.
Thanks to an FOI response, Good Law Project can also reveal that, between April 2020 and August 2021, the Government spent £677.6 million storing excess PPE. It continues to spend £500,000 a day on this.
Civil servants complained at the time that the need to service VIPs, the majority of which were introduced by Government Ministers, was interfering with good procurement. It is unlikely we will ever know the true cost of this taxpayer-funded feeding frenzy for the friends and associates of Ministers.
...he does like to spend...
His position on investigating historic sex offence cases seems somewhat confused as well given her said:
“You know, £60m I saw was being spaffed up a wall on some investigation into historic child abuse and all this kind of thing. What on earth is that going to do to protect the public now?”
The audit report that highlights that DHSC misspending has also been qualified because of possible fraud.
The Government has wasted more than £9.9 billion on PPE, which is more than it would cost to give every nurse in the NHS a 100 per cent bonus on their salary.
But it wouldn’t have help party donors and chums, it wouldn’t help buy support at the next election so a waste of money in Tory party logic
Boris has come out today and said he stands by his Jimmy Saville remark about Starmer and won't apologise, and in answer to that the Speaker, the completely useless Lyndsey Hoyle, has said this
https://twitter.com/SamCoatesSky/status/1488492460754051077?s=20&t=nCvHAcSDjwkLlDfKS59qiQ
So Ian Blackford is kicked out of the House for stating a truism: that Boris is a liar, but Boris comes out with a bare-faced untrue slur to Starmer at the despatch box and the speaker just says he's 'not happy' with that.
When dealing with Johnsons endless lies, it seems Hoyle is like the refs we like to refer to as a 'homer', who are so spineless they always give decisions to the home team
Absolutely pathetic. Bring back Bercow. He wouldn't have stood for this
Hmmm, well, apart from the fact that Bercow's best man Julian Lewis (current chair of the intelligence and security commitee) was the man key to the cover up of organized abuse in North Wales children's homes...
Or that Sir Roger Gale, the man who stood in for Hoyle when Brexit was passed:
https://twitter.com/BBCParliament/status/1208048294120828928
was in charge of BBC Children's programming when this was was filmed:
Course, Boris was Mayor of London when the shady dealings around Elm Guest House and Dolphin Square were deftly swept aside with the help of top brass in the Met...
For some reason, I get the feeling that we won't be hearing a peep from (leader of Her Majesty's most loyal opposition) Sir Keir Starmer about that though
Oooo... "Number 10" says that Johnson will tell us if he is fined.
Two things...
- what if the Met decide he broke the law but a fine isn't issued, we need to know if that happens
- what's the point of relying on Johnson telling us what's happened, he's a liar
And... all this bumping it up to a legal issue is utterly irrelevant anyway... he told us not to socialise, not to meet up with loved ones unless we lived with them, not to see our dying relatives, not to travel to their funerals if they weren't local... and he and his team socialised, and he lied to cover it up. He is liar. He couldn't live up to even the easiest bit of the rules he asked us all to. He should go. What the Met has to say about it is irrelevant. He's taken us all for mugs.
And... there's still no mention of why he and his family were moving between two homes, when we weren't allowed to. Or what went on in that second home (Chequers), or who they mixed with there.
I get the feeling that we won’t be hearing a peep
Good. Nail Johnson on his character, his lies, his wrong doing. Don't get distracted by all this Savile nonsense and start issuing counter claims. I can't see Starmer being that easily led, or deviating from his focus on Johnson, his cabinet, and the Tory MPs shoring them up. If you think Starmer is the one getting it this wrong this week, rather than focussing on our PM soiling himself, his government, his party, our parliament, our country... and taking us all for mugs... you're one of very few people seeing it that way.
Say Keir Starmer nailed Johnson and became Prime Minister... how much do you reckon would change?
Not only in terms of quality of life for us commoners here in the UK, but in terms of foreign policy and such...
https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/872075827575492609
You would've thought someone would bring these things up so Her Madge could have a word in their weekly meetings!
If you watched yesterday in Parliament, and came away thinking, "Yeah Starmer and Johnson, two peas in the same pod"... then I'm surprised. If this is about to become a thread about "establishment" cover ups of sex offenders and middle east politics... I'm out. There's enough of the internet dedicated to that stuff.
It's also what Johnson wants... it's why he threw the Savile comment out there... let's not oblige him.
And in so doing, let's perpetuate the status quo that allows these travesties to continue unabated, whilst we cower in our homes at the behest of the media.
The Saville comment is a blatant dead cat. Ignore it, don’t get drawn in.
whilst we cower in our homes at the behest of the media
I’m sure that all makes sense to you.
I blame the internet. Everyone’s just four YouTube clicks away for Qanon and plandemics.
Johnson has thrown this Savile quip out there to feed conspiracy theory addicts, put shade on his opposition, and distract from a mess of his own making. Don’t run with it, just ignore him.
whilst we cower in our homes at the behest of the media.
No-one was doing that. We were staying home quite relaxed, at the request of scientists who know how diseases work. Really big difference. Don't talk bollocks, seriously.
I'm sure it all makes sense to you too, but it hurts too bad to admit it, so you fall back on cheap insults and try to trivialize huge issues that effect us all and will continue to do so, regardless of who anyone votes for.
It's a shame, because like it or not, unless things change, the future of the entire planet is dire.
<rolls eyes at the usual suspect>
We were staying home quite relaxed, at the request of scientists who know how diseases work.
That being the case and considering Johnson himself apparently spent time in a fairly serious condition in hospital it brings into question not only how those that make the rules could be so stupid as to have mass gatherings, but furthermore, how they can be trusted to ensure the safety of any of us, in any scenario...
Unless of course, they knew something we didnt?
Oh great. The resident troll has appeared. JHJ - please resist the urge to trash the thread.
Interesting discussion on 5Live about the Saville comment - apparently it was a smear used against Starmer in the past that was quickly refuted but has recently resurfaced on QAnon link channels.
Incompetent leader with bad hair quoting QAnon bollocks....seems familiar....
Always love the welcome I get when I chose to make an appearance here!
And my ex-kipper Tory MP Jenkinson is gleefully re-tweeting the Saville comments. It'll probably shore up the core tory support though.
Bloody socialist nonce lovers.
please resist the urge to trash the thread.
Gladly, please follow the urge to ask questions of not only your elected representatives, but also the entire apparatus of Her Majesty’s Government
Incompetent leader with bad hair quoting QAnon bollocks….seems familiar….
All too true... QAnon have done a wealth of bad in muddying the waters on getting some very serious matters investigated
Much like the repeating of flawed accusations, could that be by design?
"Say Keir Starmer nailed Johnson and became Prime Minister… how much do you reckon would change?"
This forum would be a happier place for starters.
Glad Starmer isn't taking the bait saville wise. That speech was eviscrating, for those wanting a more animated leader of the opposition I'd argue that sticking to the script is working, especially when dealing with someone who isn't very good at sticking to the script.
Starmer is playing the Tory backbenchers like he's conducting an orchestra. and just look at the faces of those sat opposite on the front bench!
The Labour strategy seems to be leave Starmer to do the talking, other prominent Labour MP's aren't sticking the boot in as much as could be expected, they're leaving it to the other opposition MP's to go in with the sliding tackles and risk the red cards.
“Say Keir Starmer nailed Johnson and became Prime Minister… how much do you reckon would change?”
Well things would actually get done as they'd get to work rather than ****ing about preening themselves all the time.
When someone posted earlier about how were spending half a million a week on simply storing excess PPE, my first thought was 'I wonder who is collecting the rent on those storage facilities? Do they donate to the conservative party and/or have contacts with ministers? How were the contracts for storage procured?
The answers to those questions could point to wether the government can be bothered or not with getting to grips with the problem because the right palms are continuing to be greased.
That speech was eviscerating
Totally.
Normally there's jeers and catcalls from the tory back benches, but this time the entire lot sat stony faced and never uttered a sound.
My first thought was ‘I wonder who is collecting the rent on those storage facilities? Do they donate to the conservative party and/or have contacts with ministers?.
Thats exactly it, and no doubt via a company set up in some offshore tax haven and all arranged through an intermediary who used to be in the party
insurers- I think your question about PPE storage was answered domewhete on the PPE/dodgy contracts thread.
Alternatively, search the Good Law Project website.
How were the contracts for storage procured?
If you look back to 2020 the story of Movianto is rather telling.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/22/revealed-private-firm-running-uk-ppe-stockpile-was-sold-in-middle-of-pandemic
Reminds me of the irony of the Nightingale Hospital using the Excel centre (whose Abu Dhabi owners only stopped charging £millions in monthly rent after public outcry), which also hosts one of the worlds largest arms fairs... probably fair to say throughout it's history the venue has taken more lives than it has saved
Considering what their cargo holds are usually used for, could the same be said of the planes used for PPE?
https://twitter.com/IanCobain/status/1253083879969357824
Agree to an extent with jhj. Foreign policy (as in having wars or "interventions") would be the same. Same with Rep and Dems in the US.
Foreign policy in general I hope to god will be different when SKS gets elected
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-60222943
Hope there is more to follow
who's in the chair for PMQ's today. With Boris off doing his diplomacy act (war by the end of the week, then) and myriad isolations, who's being rolled out for the day.
I reckon Gove and his levelling up plan, which will be the answer to everything asked. But I wonder if SKS having a few clear opportunities to address the members opposite 'directly' might be quite fun?
Reading the news about leveling up, I get the feeling that much of what they are announcing for Scotland is mere politics or / and hasn't had much involvement of Scottish Government.
SG are 'invited' to work with Westminster.
Apparently an Islands Commission wil connect islands direct to Westminster.
Etc.
Soft power/Tory bribery politics?
One for the independence thread.
And I for one look forward to Raab, Gove or Patel at PMQ's. 'mon the Starmer.
And my ex-kipper Tory MP Jenkinson is gleefully re-tweeting the Saville comments. It’ll probably shore up the core tory support though
As Johnson has stated he ‘stands by’ his statement, Tory MP’s are defending it and repeating it and the spineless Speaker has refused to do anything about it, it’s probably safe to assume we’ll be seeing a lot more of these ‘alternative facts’ offered over the despatch box while exploiting parliamentary privilege
The Tory Party has now gone ‘Full Trump’ with chucking around conspiracy theories from far right websites as ‘facts’.
Because that Nationalist Populism ended really well in America, didn’t it?
Those around Johnson really do have a total contempt for democracy and will now do everything and anything to keep the **** clinging to power.
And those on his backbenches who still support him are as complicit in this dangerous approach as those mealy-mouthed Republicans on Capitol Hill who still refuse to condemn Trump, despite everything that went on
The party has now adopted Johnson’s ‘values’ (or more accurately his complete absence of them). You’d like to think they couldn’t sink much lower, but I suspect as they get more desperate, this will be a one way trajectory into even worse sleaze, straight out of the Trump playbook
It's obvious that Johnson's essential travel is simply a way of avoiding more clinical cross examination from Kier the Smarter
who’s in the chair for PMQ’s today. With Boris off doing his diplomacy ac
I thought it was just a day trip for him?
