Re: Prigozhin. I’m sure they will be looking for some civil servant fall guy.

It’s the kind of thing to get on the record @ PMQ’s

Posted 1 week ago

DrJ
Full Member

Anmd yet the Beeb continue to cast doubt on his work by introducing him as “Labour supporter”.

Which is an attack line they’ve been handed by the government, who’re going with “Labour activist”.

Which is ridiculous, because there’s nothing surprising about government misbehavious being discovered by people who don’t like that government. Tory activists don’t really spend their time looking for tory fraud. But it’s like saying a metal detector find doesn’t count because the operator is made of meat, not metal.

Posted 1 week ago

The other Johnson era scandal still trundling on..

💥NEW: Lord Evans, Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life tells @JPonpolitics Cabinet Secretary Simon Case should have made sure it's known Richard Sharp had a role in a private loan to the PM who gave him the job. @TimesRadio

— Sandra Glab (@glabsandra) January 24, 2023

Meanwhile, imagine the lols if Sunak has also has had to pay a fine, wonder if that’s why he’s so reluctant to sack zahawi 🤔

Asked if Rishi Sunak has ever, like Nadhim Zahawi, had to pay a tax settlement to HMRC, the PM’s spokesman said Sunak has always abided by the ministerial code, but he doesn’t have any more detail. Could easily be nothing but worth someone asking Sunak directly, you’d think.

— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) January 24, 2023

Posted 1 week ago

This might seem a strange suggestion, but it’s one small answer to the “why is this bubbling up now” question from Dazh… follow Carol Vorderman on Twitter. No, really… one of many people who helped amplify Dan Neidle as his story finally “bubbled up”.

Posted 1 week ago

Oh dear

Rishi Sunak's net 'well or badly' rating has fallen again with @YouGov and is now at -30:

Well: 26% (-3)
Badly: 56% (+6)
Don't know: 19% (-2)

Continues a pattern of declining about ~10 points a month since he became PM:

31 Oct: +1
28 Nov: -10
26 Dec: -21

23 Jan: -30 pic.twitter.com/Hh2SSuodTc

— Josh (@JMagosh) January 24, 2023

Posted 1 week ago

The other Johnson era scandal still trundling on

I’m going to go out on a limb here and bet that we haven’t heard the half of the dodgy dealings that the fly-tipped sofa got up to while in number 10.

There’s surely so much more to slowly leak out, like a rusting storage tank full of toxic waste

Back to Zahawi…

My column on Nadhim Zahawi’a tax affairs – don your hazmat suit and dive in https://t.co/vKTI9l3Zak

— Marina Hyde (@MarinaHyde) January 24, 2023

Posted 1 week ago

One imagines Zahawi was trying to avoid this list https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/publishing-details-of-deliberate-tax-defaulters-pddd/current-list-of-deliberate-tax-defaulters makes for interesting reading. Some BIG sums, but none as big as his (as reported).

Posted 1 week ago

I suspect it was only his position in the government, and more particularly his job title briefly last year which put him in a position to negotiate it down to a mere penalty.

The burden of proof required for HMRC to win at a Tribunal and have penalties assessed as “Deliberate” is much higher than that required for “Careless” – no one seems to be able to explain why, it’s a civil matter. I suspect that the conversation went “30% for careless, unless you want this to go to a public tribunal where we’ll try for deliberate”.

Posted 1 week ago

I expected Sunak to have a basic competence ( yes Ernie – based on not a lot) but he really hasn’t shown it at all.  I think part of it is down to his limited room for maneuver trying to balance all the demands from the various factions and a part of it is he is a poor politician.  But I did expect managerial competence which would mean things like sack Zahawi and any CEO would do to a CEO caught lying and fiddling the books!

Posted 1 week ago

I think that Rishi Sunak probably operates very competently and effectively in situations which he is familiar with, after all he did become party leader and his resignation as Chancellor was the body blow which resulted in Johnson’s resignation paving the way for Sunak’s eventual ascendancy.

However as I suggested earlier the arrogance and entitlement which will have been instrumental in both his upbringing and his pre-politics career imo seriously hampers his ability to make sound judgements as Prime Minister.

His world is simply too detached from the wider world so he doesn’t get it.

Posted 1 week ago

He’s probably wondering why everyone is making so much fuss over a trifling little £5 million?

Loose change in Rishi’s world

Posted 1 week ago

Will zahawi make it to PMQs?

or will sunak try & cling on because he doesnt want to set the precedent for firing people when he/his wife may be guilty of the same thing?

Posted 1 week ago

He should ask Zahawi if he can commission YouGov to carry out a poll to help decide his fate.

Posted 1 week ago

Starmer will be spoiled for choice on what three Zahawi scandals to ask a question about at lunchtime! 😆

Posted 1 week ago

There’s surely so much more to slowly leak out, like a rusting storage tank full of toxic waste

Which is why I think it’s unlikely that he’ll make a comeback. Sunak’s camp will ensure everything comes out in the mother of all smear campaigns. It’s going to be fun to watch the Sunak vs Johnson civil war over the next 6 months, and it will completely destroy the tories. I’m even beginning to think that we could see a new right wing party after the next election.

Posted 1 week ago

I’m even beginning to think that we could see a new right wing party after the next election.

We have that in Starmers labour party.  🙂

*lights blue touchpaper and runs away*

Posted 1 week ago

Yeah I would have thought that the UK is spoilt for choice when it comes to right-wing parties.

I can’t imagine anyone thinking that there isn’t a right-wing party which represents their views.

Posted 1 week ago

The burden of proof required for HMRC to win at a Tribunal and have penalties assessed as “Deliberate” is much higher than that required for “Careless” – no one seems to be able to explain why, it’s a civil matter. I suspect that the conversation went “30% for careless, unless you want this to go to a public tribunal where we’ll try for deliberate”.

I’m sure that describes the approach you’d expect them to take, but I’m not convinced that the negotiations are quite so weighted in their favour when they are dealing with a senior member of the government, let alone the chancellor of the exchequer. The implications of taking someone like that to tribunal or even the criminal courts would be fully understood by HMRC top brass.

Posted 1 week ago

Yeah I would have thought that the UK is spoilt for choice when it comes to right-wing parties.

If the tories are wiped out Canada style the nutters could well jump ship to a new ‘vote leave’ party (as Cummings calls it), leaving the tories as a rump centre-right party with a few dozen MPs a la the liberal democrats.

Posted 1 week ago

I don’t know why you think it would be the “nutters” who might jump ship. If they are discontented they don’t need to form a new party they have Reform UK.

Since Reform UK are unlikely to win one single seat at the next general election it is unlikely to attract many disgruntled right-wing Tories. And forming another duplicate party is unlikely to prove any more successful.

Those most likely to be disillusioned and reconsidering their Tory Party membership in the light of electoral meltdown imo are likely to be attracted to either the Labour Party or LibDems. Or leave politics altogether.

Forming a new party would in all likelihood have the same disastrous consequences as the creation of Change UK had – political oblivion.

Posted 1 week ago

Agreed.

Posted 1 week ago

The implications of taking someone like that to tribunal or even the criminal courts would be fully understood by HMRC top brass.

He has a lot more at risk than HMRC in those circumstances.

Posted 1 week ago

Asked repeatedly about Zahawi’s tax dodging at PMQ’s, his answer was…

Jeremy Corbyn

Posted 1 week ago

Starmer should insert a clause into his questions requiring Sunak to answer without using the terms ‘Corbyn’, ‘Union Paymasters’, or ‘he would still have us in lockdown’.

Posted 1 week ago

hmmmm

NEW: No10 refuses multiple times to say whether Rishi Sunak has ever had to pay a tax penalty.

His Press Secretary says: “The tax affairs of any individual, whoever they are, are confidential.”

— Ben Kentish (@BenKentish) January 25, 2023

Posted 1 week ago

hmmmm

Is that why he isnt sharing his tax returns as promised?

Posted 1 week ago

The Raaaaaab inquiry is looking promising as well

Dominic Raab is facing a much broader bullying investigation than originally anticipated with at least 24 civil servants involved in formal complaints against him, the Guardian understands.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/25/dominic-raab-much-broader-inquiry-civil-servants-complaints

Posted 1 week ago

So the Russian connection has made the news

BBC News – Yevgeny Prigozhin: UK reviews rules after Wagner head sued journalist
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64400057

Can’t see it on website, but was sure 5Live reported earlier that No10 had confirmed Sunak has not had to pay any penalties for HMRC

Posted 1 week ago

It’s third item on bbc website.
Will be interesting to see if it features on any of evening news, newsnight or peston.

Posted 1 week ago

Meanwhile: Just the 24 formal compliants against Patrick Bateman for bullying

Quite surprising as he comes across as such a nice bloke. Priti Patel needs to seriously up her game

Are there any government ministers who aren’t presently under investigation for something dodgy

Posted 1 week ago

Asked repeatedly about Zahawi’s tax dodging at PMQ’s, his answer was…

Jeremy Corbyn

Everytime that happens Starmer should mention Liz Truss.

Posted 1 week ago

Everytime that happens Starmer should mention Liz Truss.

He wasnt in her cabinet.
Johnson on the other hand.

Posted 1 week ago

Looks like the lies are unravelling fast

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/26/treasury-was-aware-investigation-nadhim-zahawi-finances-sources-claim

Posted 1 week ago

Who would have ever thought Sunak’s poll ratings would challenge Truss’s for the smallest number of tory seats following the next election? (yes I know the methodology is flawed and they’ll get more but it’s still fun to imagine!)

🚨 NEW: Poll suggests Tories would win just 10 seats (-355)

🔴 LAB 50% (+5)
🔵 CON 21% (-)
🟠 LD 8% (-1)
🟣 REF 7% (-1)
🟢 GRN 4% (-5)

Labour would win 549 seats (+347). Con (10) would be fourth behind SNP (50) and LDs (19).

Via @PeoplePolling, 24 Jan (+/- since 18 Jan) pic.twitter.com/RY0We8BLJd

— Stats for Lefties (@LeftieStats) January 25, 2023

Posted 1 week ago

That would be hilarious and also a real challenge for the SNP as it would mean they would be the official opposition but in theory at least disinterested in England only issues.  Pretty irrelevant tho with such a huge labour majority.

Instead like on manchester council in the 80s and Glasgow council up to the change in voting systems the only real debate would be between factions in the labour party

Once this sort of voting intention collapse actually happens under FPTP there is no real way back

Posted 1 week ago

Carol Vorderman laying it out on The Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2 right now!

Posted 1 week ago

TBH I’m not sure that sort of majority for labour is very healthy. I know Ernie has hopes/fantasies that the left would have much more power to influence policy with an unchallengable majority, but from what I’ve seen Labour have never come out well when they hold total power.

The Manchester example is a good one. Labour’s iron grip on power there has done very little for working people and hugely benefited rich property developers and other commercial interests. Scale that up to national level and I can only imagine the dodgy dealing that would go on.

Posted 1 week ago

Carol Vorderman laying it out on The Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2 right now!

Had to make sure I’d read that correctly. Ugh!

Posted 1 week ago

To add to TJ’s post….HMRC being helpful too 🙂

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/26/hmrc-boss-tells-mps-innocent-errors-dont-attract-penalties-after-nadhim-zahawi-tax-row

Posted 1 week ago

The PeoplePolling poll always puts Tory support at a ridiculously low levels – the last 3 PeoplePolling polls have put Tory support at exactly 21%.

Last month they put Tory support at 19%, no other pollster as far as I am aware has ever put the Tories on such a low level of support.

The PeoplePolling polls also tend to be quite generous in the claimed support for Reform UK.

PeoplePolling are commissioned by GB News of which Nigel Farage is a leading commentor, apparently – I’ve never watched it. Could that in any way be relevant?

Posted 1 week ago