POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

See THIS for the leading report on politics on the BBC this morning.
A senior Tory has told the Times he gave the personal numbers of fellow MPs to someone he met on a dating app. William Wragg told the paper he shared the contacts, adding he was "scared" the individual had "compromising things on me". He apologised and said he had "hurt people by being weak". It comes amid reports that at least 12 men in Westminster have received unsolicited texts and naked pictures. One ex-MP has told the BBC he was targeted as part of the suspected honeytrap attempt. A Leicestershire Police spokesperson said they were investigating one of the cases, which was reported last month. The BBC has attempted to contact Mr Wragg for comment.
There is much more on this sorry affair if you care to read it.....
Also, take note of THIS which may or may not be a sign of shifting alliances on the Right of politics....
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss was among the guests at Nigel Farage's 60th birthday party in London on Wednesday. Fellow Conservative MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns also attended the event for Reform UK's honorary president. Meanwhile, there was a video message from former US President Donald Trump, who described Mr Farage as a "prophetic leader". The ex-UKIP leader helped to found Reform from the ashes of the Brexit Party. The right-wing party has pledged to stand candidates in every seat across England, Scotland and Wales at the next general election, in a challenge to the Tories. It is currently polling at around 12%. Mr Farage has so far refused to confirm whether he will play a role in the upcoming election, which is expected later this year. He is not expected to make another bid to become an MP after failing to get elected to the UK Parliament seven times, but could be given a campaigning role.
"Tory members would choose me as leader", says Farage
Do you ever get the feeling that Westminster is a snake-pit focussed on personal careers and aspirations rather than a forum where the needs of society are addressed and acted on?
Later..... I learn that William Wragg is MP for Hazel Grove which is known to me as the tram terminal at the southern end of Stockport.

[Tripps]

I suppose this is loosely politics, and is in essence, a summary of the history of the last century. I've been watching a lot of Lee Kuan Yew's videos lately. The more I watch, the more respect I have for him. Huge intellect, totally incorruptible, and with a clear strategic vision for his nation. It means more to me than most, as I was there during some of the events he describes. I recall clearly that in 1965 when Singapore became independent from Malaysia I was having my haircut at the time, and heard the news on the shop radio. I was part of the 'Konfrontasi' which he describes, and got a (quite undeserved) Pingat Jasa medal for my participation. I also recall the murderous communal rioting, when we needed an armed escort to travel to the remote radar site where I worked.

It's a long video - a relaxed measured pace, and there are many more such on Youtube. I would recommend a watch of part or all of it. He makes all of our current crop of politicians appear as pygmies beside him.

At ths stage I usually end by calling for an immediate election. Actually I fear one will make no difference at all.

A history lesson from Lee Kuan Yew

[Stanley]

That's exactly how I feel David when I compare the apologies for politicians and statesmen we have today with the ones I can remember and my beloved histories. I was listening to a senior Palestinian politician yesterday on World At One (He may indeed have been HAMAS.) giving his opinion about Israel's position as it tries to defend itself after the killing of the seven aid workers and he was clear and reasonable. My mind went back to Johnson not even being capable of finishing a sentence and wondered why we can't put speakers like that up.
Do you remember Lady Hale giving the Supreme Court judgement on Johnson's attempt to prorogue Parliament? It was a pleasure to listen to her reading the judgement not least because of its clarity and obvious sense.
I remember my father taking me to the opening lunch of Lancashire Cricket Club at Old Trafford and the guest speaker was Lord Chief Justice Goddard. I can't remember his theme but I was spellbound by his clarity of thought and diction and I was about 13 or 14. Once you have heard speakers like that you can never be satisfied with the pygmies.

See THIS BBC report on what could be a potential bombshell.
Veterans' Minister Johnny Mercer has been given until 8 May to argue why he should not have to name people who told him about alleged war crimes in Afghanistan by British special forces. The MP was previously told to provide names to the Afghanistan Inquiry by 5 April or he could face a jail sentence. The deadline has now been extended while the inquiry considers Mr Mercer's challenge to the order.The veterans' minister now has until 4pm on 8 May to make any further submissions or evidence, inquiry chairman Sir Charles Haddon-Cave has ordered. During Mr Mercer's evidence in March, the MP was accused of refusing to answer "legitimate questions". In heated exchanges, Mr Mercer repeatedly refused to reveal the names of the "multiple officers" who he said had approached him during his time as a backbench MP, and privately warned him there might be truth to the allegations of extrajudicial killings by special forces.
There have been rumours swirling round for a while that the reason why so many Afghans who had served for us were being refused entry was because of representations by our special forces who were afraid they would testify that the killings had taken place.
If this turns out to be true it is a scandal at least as large as Israel's killing of the aid workers. We need clarity and Mr Mercer's stance seems to be an obstacle to this at the moment.

[Stanley]

I have a feeling that THIS might be another scandal brewing up quietly on the back burner.
The government has temporarily banned permits for new incinerator plants in England, including one the Environment Secretary Steve Barclay is fighting to stop being built in his constituency. The environment department will now consider how many plants are needed. It comes after a top government lawyer warned a plan being explored to pause permits was "unlawful". This month Mr Barclay said the proposed incinerator in his Cambridgeshire seat was a "massive blot on the landscape". The large energy-to-waste plant is being proposed in Wisbech, in the North East Cambridgeshire constituency.
The decision to instruct the Environment Agency to temporarily stop granting licences was made by junior Environment Minister Sir Mark Spencer, after Mr Barclay was recused from the process.
On a pedantic note, shouldn't it be 'Waste to energy' plant?

[Tizer]

On a pedantic note, shouldn't it be 'Waste to energy' plant?

Yes, and rarely `energy from waste' plant. A similar, common, mangling of the language is `substitute oil with gas' when they mean `replace oil with gas' or `substitute gas for oil.' I think the garbled version is due to the way football commentators use the word.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report recording Doug Hoyle's death.
Then move to THIS, the opposite end of the political spectrum.
The deputy prime minister has told the BBC he believes it is still legal for the UK to continue to sell arms to Israel. There have been calls for the UK to stop arming Israel after seven aid workers were killed in Gaza this week. Oliver Dowden suggested the UK would stop supplying weapons to Israel if it was found to be in breach of international law. But Mr Dowden insisted Israel was conducting a "legitimate" war.
My question is "Is it moral?" Does it matter whether it is legitimate or not when women and children are being killed by the weapons?
But of course the arms industry must be allowed to trade and make profit. The natural corollary to legitimising the sales.....

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of the latest Labour statements in the run up to the election.
Labour is pledging to fund policies on the NHS and school breakfast clubs by boosting efforts to tackle tax dodgers. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves says her plans to give officials up to £555m to improve tax collection would help raise £5.1bn a year. Speaking at a hospital in Manchester, she will accuse the Conservatives of having "failed to tackle the issue".
I have only one comment. How many times have we heard this pledge before and been disappointed?

[Tripps]

I read that Lord David Cameron has flown to the USA to speak to some chap called Donald Trump and urge him to support the supply of more weapons to the Ukrainian Government. I understand this Trump fellow may be a candidate in the next presidential election, and Dave is presently British Foreign Secretary.

Show me as 'puzzled'.

[Tizer]

Apparently it's routine before every US Presidential Election for our Foreign Sec to visit the two leading candidates `for discussions'.

[Stanley]

I heard the same explanation yesterday Peter.
See THIS to see how Mr Wragg's fall from grace is proceeding.
William Wragg, the MP who admitted sharing MPs' personal phone numbers with someone on a dating app, has "voluntarily" given up the Conservative whip. He will now sit as an independent MP in the House of Commons. Mr Wragg has also given up his roles on the 1922 backbench committee and the Public Administration Committee. Last week, he told The Times he had been targeted by a suspected Westminster honeytrap plot. The Hazel Grove MP said he had been chatting with someone on an app who subsequently asked him for the numbers of others. "They had compromising things on me. They wouldn't leave me alone.... I gave them some numbers, not all of them."
I believe the app was Grindr, the world's largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people. Did he not realise the danger of entrapment? The mind boggles, this was a senior politician with responsible jobs. All I can say is that it's probably a good thing he has fallen.

[Tripps]

The mind boggles, this was a senior politician with responsible jobs.

The mind might have boggled once upon a time, but I now assume that most politicians are probably crooks, at best a bit odd, and most male Tories are gay - declared or otherwise.

I heard on LBC news this morning that a new bill will make it an offence to assault a retail worker.
Silly me - I hadn't realised that it wasn't one already.

[Stanley]

Morning David.... I must admit that I am coming round to the same point of view about politicians. Trouble is I was reared on Churchill, Eden, Atlee and Bevan. I doubt if any of them were anything but straight males.
It struck ,e yesterday that if a politician was one of the names given away by Wragg but hadn't come out of the closet, he wouldn't complain as that would blow his cover.
Like you, I was surprised by the new offence as it was surely illegal before.

I see that THIS is at the head of political news this morning.
Home Secretary James Cleverly is coming under increasing pressure to rethink plans to clamp down on "nuisance" rough sleeping in England and Wales. The government is expected to make concessions in the coming weeks to try to stave off a backbench rebellion. Dozens of Conservative MPs are thought to oppose the plans. Now more than 30 charities have written to Mr Cleverly to warn the plans could see vulnerable women being fined for seeking shelter. Measures in the Criminal Justice Bill would allow police to move on "nuisance" rough sleepers and, if they do not comply, issue a fine or arrest them.The Home Office argues the measures will tackle rough sleeping and begging "where it causes damage, disruption, harassment or distress to the public, while avoiding criminalising the genuinely vulnerable". They are set to replace the 1824 Vagrancy Act, which makes begging and rough sleeping a criminal offence. However, Tory backbencher Bob Blackman, who has tabled several amendments to the bill, believes the new plans are worse than the 19th-century legislation. "These people are not there by choice, they are there because they've got nowhere else to go," he told the BBC. "They should be assisted, not arrested," he added.
The number of people rough sleeping on a single night in England in the autumn of 2023 rose by 27% on a typical night from the year before. Rough sleeping increased in every region, with London seeing the biggest rise of nearly a third. What could possibly be the cause of this rise?

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the Starmer plan for defence.....
A Labour government would aim to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP "as soon as resources allow", Sir Keir Starmer has said. The Labour leader also told the i newspaper he would conduct a strategic review of defence and security "to be clear what the priorities are". Sir Keir's aim matches that of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who has also said he wants defence spending to rise to 2.5%. It currently stands at 2.1% of GDP. Earlier this year, two ministers - Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Tom Tugendhat - publicly urged the government to invest in defence at a "much greater pace". In his spring Budget, Mr Hunt said the UK's armed forces were the "best funded in Europe" and that spending would rise to 2.5% "as soon as economic conditions allow" He has also said that Trident is safe in his hands.
In other words he is doing nothing to rock the boat in the run up to the General Election.
I can see why he has to do this to make Labour electable but I have never understood why we need a nuclear weapon that could never be used. Remember M.A.D? Mutually assured destruction?
I remain convinced that the real reason is to ensure that the UK retains its 'seat at the top table'. 'Punches above our weight' and remains a member of the UN top tables. This is what wants rethinking.....

[Stanley]

I note that Rayner says that if found guilty she will resign...... I suppose that's meant to reassure us, she wouldn't say that if she was guilty.
What intrigues me is the fact that there is very little mention of the fact that the accusation stems in large part from the Noble Lord Ashcroft's political assassination unit. (I know, but I cant remember what he calls it.) As such it is suspect immediately. Remember Cameron, the pig story and Ashcroft?
See THIS for another resignation mid term by a Tory Minister.
Energy minister Graham Stuart has stood down from the government. The Beverley and Holderness MP said he wanted to focus on local issues after serving in various ministerial posts over eight years. In his resignation letter, Mr Stuart said "we have achieved a lot in driving the energy transition",and the prime minister had his full support. He has been replaced by Justin Tomlinson, a former minister and deputy Tory chairman. In other changes, Minister of State for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell has been given the additional title of deputy foreign secretary. With Foreign Secretary David Cameron in the House of Lords, Mr Mitchell has routinely answered questions on his behalf in the Commons. Minister for Disabled People Mims Davies has been promoted to be a minister of state in the Department for Work and Pensions.
It would appear that Mr Sunak has been keeping busy by re-arranging the deck chairs........

[PanBiker]

I note that Rayner says that if found guilty she will resign...... I suppose that's meant to reassure us, she wouldn't say that if she was guilty.

Another thing that I have only heard mentioned once regarding this and something I am aware of. Breaches of electoral rules have to be prosecuted or dealt with within 12 months of the alleged infringement, not 10 years later. She has no case to answer under the law, but what does that matter?

[Stanley]

Yes, I heard that statement this morning and it just makes my feeling that this is all about Tories muddying the electoral waters instead of getting on with bog standard electioneering more strong.....

[Tripps]

A good starting point in this episode would be the article in the New Statesman by tax lawyer and mega brained Dan Neidle Just expert facts. and with no Tory desperation, spin, lies, public school snobbery and just plain hatred. Worth a look. He explains which matters are 'out of time' and which are not. It's all a bit complicated for me. . . .

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2 ... at-i-found

I think of the Biblical quote about motes and beams.

I think Labour are remiss in not launching an immediate counter attack. There must be loads of examples from the 'MP's expenses scandals' of a few years ago. Problem there is - who else is 'at it' and do they want the ashes to be raked over? Maria Miller would be a good starting point. Problem is that she is not slated to be Deputy PM in the next few months.
******************

PS I'm surprised that Miller is still an MP and is now Dame Maria.

In December 2012, The Daily Telegraph reported that, between 2005 and 2009, Miller had claimed over £90,000 in parliamentary expenses for the mortgage and upkeep of a house in south London where she lived with her parents.[16] She was subsequently reported to Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards John Lyon by MP John Mann,[17] and an inquiry was launched into the claims.[18][19]

Miller explained that her parents lived with her as "dependents" under Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority rules.[20]

Shortly after the Telegraph broke the story on Miller's expenses, it emerged that both Cameron's spokesman, Craig Oliver, and Miller's special advisor, Joanna Hindley, had phoned the newspaper prior to publication in an attempt to warn it off. According to the paper, the pair issued a veiled threat by reminding it of Miller's role in enacting proposals in the Leveson report on press regulation.[21] Downing Street denied that any threats were made.[22] The newspaper later released the recording they had made of Hindley's call.[23]

This link which I've posted before says a lot, and John Mann MP is now Lord Mann.
A plague on the lot of them. . . . Maria Miller MP

Maria Miller.jpg

[Stanley]

Thanks for reminding me of that woman. I had forgotten her and shouldn't have!
See THIS Kuenssberg article on Angela Rayner.
"Everyone says they want to have a woman around who drinks and smokes and makes jokes. "Then they get a woman who drinks and smokes and makes jokes, then they say, 'oh, we didn't mean quite like that'". As a source who knows Angela Rayner well suggests, the great and good of Westminster don't always know what to do with Labour's second-in-command. She has made her own way, going from care worker, to union official, to being on track to be the deputy prime minister by the end of the year. One of her colleagues says "she is one of the cleverest people I have ever met". She makes no secret of enjoying a night out, boasting once of going out from 4pm until 6am, rather than courting vanilla public virtue with choreographed campaigning snaps. She is behind Labour's radical plans to give workers many more rights from day one in their jobs. And she brands herself "John Prescott in a skirt," in reference to Tony Blair's outspoken deputy who held high office for years but was famous for sometimes mixing his words up, and for punching a protestor.
All I know about the woman is that I would be a lot happier if she was Leader of the Party and not Starmer. I have no confidence whatsoever in him.

[Tripps]

All I know about the woman is that I would be a lot happier if she was Leader of the Party and not Starmer.

Really?

She's off the front page today due to other global events. I thought she would be toast by now, as the might of the Murdoch empire (Times and Sun) put the boot in, but she may yet survive. She gained some sympathy from me there - on the basis that if Murdoch doesn't want her, then she must be worth keeping. (My enemy's enemy etc. . )

That said - watch Andrew Neil demolish her here, and ask yourself if this is the best we can come up with as 'Deputy Prime Minister'. Badly briefed or just a bit dim - I can't decide. Certainly no lack of self esteem on show. and it probably explains why she couldn't cope with the issue of CGT when she sold her property.

[Stanley]

Have a look at THIS perfectly reasonable point of view from President Zelenskyy. Basically he is asking for the same treatment we gave Israel when they were attacked by Iranian missiles.

[Tripps]

It's hard for me (and others) to get away from the thought that the Iranian attack yesterday was to some extent orchestrated. When they give 9 hours notice of the attack and the fact that from well over three hundred missiles of several different types not a single person was killed - then I begin to wonder. The joint coordinated response from UK, France, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan was not organised in just a few hours either. Don't ask me for any more detail - mainly just a gut feeling. Nothing at all in the news reports can be relied on at all.

Posted against my better judgment. . . .

[Stanley]

I agree with your gut David. It was all a bit too 'pat'. I reiterate my point from yesterday, President Zelenskyy has a point. Why isn't the same coordination and resolve being displayed over the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
(It couldn't be anything to do with the price of oil could it?)
See THIS for an equally puzzling matter, closer to home.
Liz Truss has endorsed Donald Trump to win this year's US presidential election, saying the "world was safer" when he was in the White House. The UK's shortest-serving prime minster said the world was "on the cusp of very, very strong conflict" and needed "a strong America more than ever". Her comments came as the first of Mr Trump's four criminal trials began in New York. Mr Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for November's election.
Ms Truss, who recently spoke at a pro-Trump conference in the US, said the West's "opponents feared the Trump presidency more" than the Democrats under Joe Biden.
This woman's grasp of world affairs (and perhaps morality) is perhaps as tenuous as her economics! Why is she given air time and seems to be buzzing round the world like a demented wasp. Who is financing her? What business has a British politician got in 'endorsing Trump anyway? My favourite word in describing global politics at the moment seems to be 'madness'. This is another evidence of it.
Can someone please explain to me why THIS ranks as a major piece of political news?
The prime minister did not attend an Eid party at Downing Street that several invitees shunned over the government's support of Israel. Rishi Sunak had been due to host the annual event and said he was "looking forward" to hosting Muslim figures. However, his office said he had parliamentary business to attend to - he was making a statement on Iran in the House of Commons. About half of the usual number attended the reception. Earlier, foreign secretary David Cameron had publicly urged people to go to the event. Of those who did turn up, many wore small badges with the Palestinian flag on and others wore wrist or hair bands made from keffiyeh - traditional Palestinian scarves. None of the "big name" guests were at the reception, including Baroness Warsi, the Conservative peer. She was Britain's first female Muslim cabinet minister, and has been outspoken in her criticism over the plight of people in Gaza.

[Whyperion]

Is Angela Rayner the thinking mans Liz Truss ?

Meanwhile I see the right-leaning people are saying Muslims have taken over parliament, and left-leaning ones say the government is being run to the order of the state of Israel.

defence spending to rise to 2.5% (of GDP). might be easier to achieve if it was spent on things like improving UK base accomodation and more on rehab (including funding for home and work after service) to persons leaving the military.

[Whyperion]

I read that Lord David Cameron has flown to the USA to speak to some chap called Donald Trump and urge him to support the supply of more weapons to the Ukrainian Government. I understand this Trump fellow may be a candidate in the next presidential election, and Dave is presently British Foreign Secretary.

Show me as 'puzzled'.

he had to meet trump. the speaker of the house blanked cameron (when was the last time a US leader of the house refused to meet a UK for sec ? - about the time we blew up the white house first time round ?)

[Stanley]

See THIS for that rare beast, a Tory led political measure that can be popular with all sides, including me!
MPs have backed a plan to ban anyone born after 2009 from buying cigarettes, effectively ensuring it will become law. The measures, championed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, survived despite opposition from several leading Tory figures - including two ex-PMs. Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told MPs "there is no liberty in addiction" as she defended the plans. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill passed by 383 votes to 67. If they become law, the UK's smoking laws will be among the strictest in the world.
Ms Atkins was correct. The dinosaurs arguing against the measure on the grounds it damages freedom are the ones out of step here. Sometimes we need protecting from ourselves and the role of government is to step in.
THIS item caught my attention.
The UK jobs market is showing signs of stalling as the number of people out of work rose, according to new figures. The unemployment rate increased to 4.2% between December and February, which is the highest level for six months. Meanwhile, the rate of people with a job dipped and the economically inactive - those not in work or looking for employment - ticked higher.
This is not a good sign particularly at the end of winter when the seasonal job market could be expected to start kicking in. This is another trend that is going to hamper the Tories in the election.