POLITICS CORNER

[plaques]

And meanwhile until the sleaze dies down. The Brexit trade position takes a turn for the worse. Of course our right-wing media are trying to put the best gloss on it as they can. Headline GDP has risen 0.4% all clap your hands. but GDP is a useless measurement eg. if people returned to work on half wages then GDP would rise. also it doesn't discriminate between Covid shut down and Brexit trade.

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EU Trade.jpg

Comparing EU figures, Exports, our exports are down 14.4% against EU Imports down 12.5 %, Not too bad you may think but the 12.5% is spread over 26 countries while ours is one country.
On the world stage we are down 21.3% on exports but Imports are up 18.3 %. Even without putting a £ Stirling value on these figures they don't look very encouraging.

The best thing to do is hide them away and keep quiet.

[Tizer]

The effect of the Bill Crothers scandal will throw a can of petrol on the Cameron-Greensill fire...
`Top civil servant 'joined firm before quitting'' LINK

On a different issue, I read that the average house price has gone up by 40% in ten years and is still rising. That must be depressing news for those who haven't yet been able to get on the `housing ladder'.

[Stanley]

Tell me, am I wrong but wasn't it Cameron in opposition that said that Lobbying and party funding was the next big problem?

[Stanley]

[Tizer]

The BBC's image of this morning's Guardian front page shows this but I can't find any more information on Google yet...

[Stanley]

See THIS. His name is Andrew Cumpsty and he is totally unrepentant about playing both as a gamekeeper and a poacher.

[Tizer]

Thanks for finding him - which stone did you have to turn over?

[Stanley]

Several and we might find later today that he isn't the only one.
I still haven't found a clearer opinion than Gordon Brown that ministers should not profit from office.



Who would have thought that a bunch of jerks like this could garner so much power and make so much money.. (Everyone seems to have forgotten that George Osborne made a packet out of the Black Rock hedge fund after leaving office as Chancellor and is now full time at another fund.)
From the Wiki article on the club....
"The Bullingdon was originally a sporting club, dedicated to cricket and horse-racing, although club dinners gradually became its principal activity. Membership is expensive, with tailor-made uniforms, regular gourmet hospitality, and a tradition of on-the-spot payment for damage. The club has attracted controversy, as some members have gone on to become leading figures within Britain's political establishment. These include former Prime Minister David Cameron, former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, and current Prime Minister Boris Johnson."
One more thought that has been nagging me. Remember when Priti Patel was found to have broken the ministerial code but Johnson did nothing? The chairman of the committee that scrutinises ministerial behaviour resigned and has not been replaced. So that post isn't seen as important....

[Stanley]

Later... I have always been curious about this image and found this 2007 article in the Independent.

"They look to all the world like a toffs' brat pack: 10 of Oxford University's poshest undergraduates preparing to embark on a long night of alcohol-fuelled debauchery.
This was the Bullingdon Club's class of 1987, members of an exclusive dining society whose raison d'être has for more than 150 years been to afford tailcoat-clad aristocrats a termly opportunity to behave very badly indeed.
Today, this picture is at the centre of an extraordinary political storm. For standing proudly at the back is none other than David Cameron. Its publication, in a new biography by The Independent on Sunday journalists Francis Elliott and James Hanning, has coincided with renewed controversy over the Conservative leader's youthful hell-raising. At the weekend, it emerged Cameron was disciplined for smoking cannabis at Eton. He was cautioned by the headmaster, Eric Anderson, but continued taking the drug while studying PPE at Brasenose College.
Mr Cameron has refused to comment, saying merely: "Like many people, I did things when I was young that I should not have done, and that I regret." But the revelations have been seized upon by his enemies - in his own party as well as Labour - as evidence that he is not suitable to be the next prime minister.
So far, so normal in the scandal-a-day hothouse of Westminster. Yet the sight of this photograph plastered across news pages is guaranteed to cause significant embarrassment to the other smartly dressed men in it. Some, such as the flaxen-haired MP and political hand-grenade Boris Johnson, may not mind having a youthful indiscretion so publicly aired.
But what about Ewen Fergusson? He's a partner at the City law firm, Herbert Smith. Or Sebastian Grigg, a partner and managing director at Goldman Sachs? Or Sebastian James, a well-known entrepreneur and son of Lord Northbourne. Yesterday, most of the picture's subjects refused to return calls. But one, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, offered The Independent a fascinating insight into the undergraduates who joined Oxford's most famous drinking club in 1987.
The Buller, as it is known to members, was founded in the 19th century as a hunting and cricket club, but is now devoted to drink and dining. Membership is by invitation only and normally limited to alumni of leading public schools. New recruits are secretly elected before being informed of their good fortune by having their college bedroom invaded by way of a window and methodically "trashed".
The club's notorious dinners typically involve members booking a private dining room (under an assumed name) and drinking themselves silly before destroying it elaborately. They wear royal blue tailcoats with ivory lapels, and - having made merry - pride themselves in politely paying the restaurant's owners compensation in high-denomination banknotes. One former Bullingdon member, the journalist Harry Mount, has recalled "being rolled down a hill by a Hungarian count". Boris Johnson once admitted to "dark deeds involving plastic cones and letterboxes".
Yet the "high jinks" that took place on the night the photo was taken (at Canterbury Quad, Christchurch) are up there with the best of them. At some point after the dinner, the group walked through Oxford when one (thought to be Fergusson, though exact recollections differ) threw a plant pot through the window of a restaurant.The burglar alarm was activated and police descended with sniffer dogs. Six of the group were collared and spent the night at Cowley police station before being released without charge.
"David Cameron was one of the four people who escaped," a witness says. "If it wasn't for his foresight, he'd have spent a night in the clink. Generally, though, the Bullingdon has been totally misrepresented. We weren't tearaways who did no work. I mean, David Cameron still got his first. Buller was a drinking club. It wasn't about taking drugs. At least not in 1987." And the picture? "A lot of people feel it's frightfully embarrassing. But the more I look at it, the more I start to think it's charming and quaint. We look like schoolchildren. It's like a sort of page out of a high-school yearbook."

Who's who: Cameron and Co.

Sebastian Grigg
The eldest son of Anthony Ulick David Dundas Grigg, the third Baron Altrincham. He was educated at Eton and Oriel College, Oxford, and is a partner at Goldman Sachs. He married Rachel Kelly, a former Times journalist, in 1993, lives in Notting Hill Gate and remains close to Cameron. He tried, and failed, to become Tory MP at the 1997 election.

David Cameron
Attended Eton, before gaining a first class degree in politics, philosophy and economics from Brasenose. Went on to work in the Conservative Research Department, Treasury and Home Office before spending seven years as Head of Corporate Communications at Carlton TV. Elected MP for Witney in 2001, and became Tory leader in 2005.

Ralph Perry-Robinson
Former child actor, who had a walk-on role in the 1984 film Another Country, the film about homosexuality at Eton during the 1930s. Now an antiquarian bookseller, he lives in a village near Salisbury.

Sebastian James
James is the son of Lord Northbourne, an aristocrat and big landowner from Kent. He's an entrepreneur whose former ventures include a DVD rental business, Silverscreen, and a "dotcom", ClassicForum, that was supposed to be a sort of eBay for rare books.

Jonathan Ford
Ford was elected president of the Bullingdon, in 1987, because "he had a mad genius about him". That's why he occupies the centre of the front row. He was educated at Westminster, studied modern history at Oxford, before working as a banker at Morgan Grenfell. Subsequently went into journalism and is now deputy editor of a financial internet site.

Ewen Fergusson
Son of Sir Ewen Fergusson, a former Scottish rugby international who served as ambassador to Paris during Thatcher years and then head of Coutt's, the Queen's bank. Ewen Junior was educated at Rugby then Oriel College, Oxford, and is now a partner in the banking and finance section of the City law firm Herbert Smith. Despite being the "quiet one" of the group, he is thought to have been responsible for the "plant pot" incident.

Matthew Benson
Benson, from a wealthy family of merchant bankers, is a director of Rettie and Co, an Edinburgh-based property company. He graduated in 1988 and spent three years working for Morgan Stanley, before setting-up his own property consultancy. Moved to Edinburgh in the late 1990s, after marrying Lady Lulu Douglas-Hamilton, ex-wife of Lord Patrick Douglas-Hamilton, one of Scotland's top toffs. Their wedding, in Peeblesshire in October 1997, involved a ruined castle being temporarily rebuilt over three floors.

Harry Eastwood
Old Etonian TV producer, who is commercial director for a company called Monkey. After leaving Oxford, he worked in corporate finance at Storehouse, the retail group. Later, Eastwood co-founded Filmbox, a company that aimed to operate vending machines for people to rent videos from. He raised £450,000 to launch the firm, but alas it was soon dissolved.

Boris Johnson
The Old Etonian was a well-known figure of fun at Oxford, becoming president of the Union. Johnson, a student at Balliol College, would have liked to have been president of Buller, but Ford pipped him. Always tipped for stardom (contemporaries still think it will end in tears), he became editor of The Spectator, MP for Henley, and is one of Westminster's most notorious swordsmen."

[plaques]

The Cameron sleaze widens. Mat Hancock has now been drawn into the debate.

Health secretary Matt Hancock was given a 20 per cent share in a company owned by his sister shortly before it won a lucrative NHS contract, it has emerged.

Keir Starmer asked Boris in PM's question time. Did he know of others who are involved. Not surprisingly he didn't get any answer not even the usual 'Not as I am aware'. So even if Boris knew and didn't answer he didn't tell any lies.

[Stanley]

Ken, what intrigues me is the insistence that his sister owns the majority of the shares, so does that mean she is independent and makes her own decisions or talks it over with brother and fellow director holding 15%?
Answers on a post card please.....

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of George Eustise's opinion about lobbying.
"Mr Eustice said that the government would look at the findings of a review to see if the rules could be "tweaked or improved" but that "it was changed about 10 years ago"."
So nothing to see here, move on. Really? Has 'Useless' missed what is happening round him?

[plaques]

Guardian quote...
Six opposition parties in the Commons are urging the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, to allow a vote on an inquiry into Boris Johnson’s “consistent failure to be honest” in statements to MPs.

Are they suggesting that Johnson is telling porkies or just being economical with the truth? Johnson has already promised that investigation will be led by an ex-employee of Greensill who will ask searching questions, no doubt over a cup of coffee, and report back. A report that will in turn be adjusted by No10 to give the right impression that it was all above board.
A parliamentary investigation would be more wide ranging and not as flexible for 'adjustment'. One explanation for refusing this type of inquiry is that if it was a case of throwing the odd Christian to the lions then there would be no problem in going down this road. But when the Christian is the ex-leader and all the right-wing Tory Christians have had their snouts in the trough this is the last thing they want to happen. Smoke filled rooms, nod nod, wink wink will continue as normal but there may be some minor tweaks to keep the natives happy.

[Tizer]

`Jean-Claude Juncker: ‘I should not have listened to David Cameron on Brexit’: ExclusiveThe former EU president still retains a fondness for Britain, but believes ‘brainwashing’ led to the dark cloud of Brexit' The `i'
`Jean-Claude Juncker...blames his former nemesis David Cameron for the “mistake” of Brexit, himself for listening to Cameron, and the ‘misinformation’ that he claims ‘brainwashed’ the UK’s electorate. “I should not have listened to David Cameron,” he says leaning back in his chair in his office in the commission’s Brussels HQ. “He told me not to interfere in the debate in the UK, not to come to London, not to do interviews with the British press. I made a mistake because I did not defend the EU’s point of view in the UK. They asked me to shut up, so I shut up. That is something I criticise myself for. I should have spoken out rather than stay silent.”..'

[Stanley]

Pity he didn't have this revelation earlier....
Ken has it about right I think. Move on, nothing to see here.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report that after spending £2.6 million (!) on the new presidential style facilities for press conferences at Downing Street they are not to be used as such but only for matters like Covid announcements or the COP 26 conference later this year.
Perhaps the Cabinet and Parliament will be used more now. They have been in danger of being by-passed. Sofa government is so much easier and always get the desired result....
See THIS BBC report which appears to show Johnson fixing tax arrangements for Dyson employees in personal tax measures.

[PanBiker]

Aye, and the £2.6 million refurb doesn't look a lot different apart from being a little more Presidential. How can an internet connection to a large smart TV a camera and a dais cost that much anyway? If they had asked me I would have done it at half the price.

[Stanley]

And lots of comment about the use of Russian and Chinese technology.
Johnson says that his dealings with Dyson were an emergency. OK, perhaps it was but why does that preclude a senior civil servant monitoring the conversation and taking notes? It's sloppy procedure and seems to be the norm as government moves away from Parliament and the Cabinet. Note the fact that policy announcements are often made via the press rather than Parliament.

[plaques]

As I understand it the Dyson ventilators where not on the emergency list since there were already high tech certified ventilators on the market already being mass produced. Although he had promised to supply them at cost they were still under development and then would require certification. I all events they were not required so I've no idea on the follow up actions. As a general comment it looks like having the NHS logo as part of your advertisement blurb opens a few doors. Perhaps its time to start charging for this privilege.

Meanwhile the inflation index is creeping upwards. Bank of England forecast to be 1.9% by the end of the year. while others think it could be 2% in a couple of months time. With the full effect of Brexit yet to hit us I would think the second 2% is more likely.

[Stanley]

Two things are clear Ken. The full benefits/penalties of Brexit have not become clear yet. The £350million a week might be out there but which way will it swing? And any bad financial figures will be blamed on Covid. Question is will that cunning wheeze work?
See THIS report from the Mirror reporting that Johnson is accusing his erstwhile mate Dominic Cummings of being the 'Chatty Rat' who is leaking his text messages. Surely not!
Later. Suggestions are made that Johnson accusing Cummings is an attempt to divert attention from himself. Take your pick. Nobody can trust anything in politics at the moment.

[PanBiker]

See THIS report from the Mirror reporting that Johnson is accusing his erstwhile mate Dominic Cummings of being the 'Chatty Rat' who is leaking his text messages. Surely not!
Later. Suggestions are made that Johnson accusing Cummings is an attempt to divert attention from himself. Take your pick. Nobody can trust anything in politics at the moment.

Blame shifting exercise which they are experts at of course because they are masters of the universe. With our trustworthy PM's statement from yesterday to reduce carbon emissions by over 50% in the next 8.5 years. I just want to know when Boris is going to buy me a shiny new electric hatchback and replace my combi boiler with a heat exchanger and my gas cooker with an electric or hydrogen powered equivalent (and pay the bill), triple glazing, wall insulation and the rest. Best keep the dust sheets handy.

[plaques]

With our trustworthy PM's statement from yesterday to reduce carbon emissions by over 50% in the next 8.5 years.

Easy. put prices up, keep wages down. Soon you won't be able to afford anything. Third world countries have very low carbon emissions.

This weeks tip. buy shares in Primark.Sales of woolly jumpers will go through the roof.

[Tizer]

If Panbiker's boiler gets replaced with a heat exchanger and nothing else he'll need one of those Primark woolly jumpers!

[Stanley]

Not if it's a heat pump Peter.
That's a good idea Ken, I wonder if Rishi has picked up on that one yet? These targets are just another way of kicking the can down the road....
See THIS for the Cummings response to the alleged Downing Street accusations that he is Chatty Rat. He knows where the bodies are buried and his offer to tell all on May 26th at a Parliamentary hearing looks suspiciously like a threat. Really nice people.....

[plaques]

Strange world we live in. Someone does a dastardly deal of doubtful moral standing and suddenly with the help of the right-wing media the real villain is the person who exposed this nest of vipers. We were promised that whistle blowers would be protected but its all boils down to who blew it on who?