POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

See THIS for the latest position on the immigration Bill.
The government's showdown with the House of Lords over its Rwanda deportation bill continues. Peers have voted to demand changes to the bill, including an amendment which would ban sending people who have assisted the UK military to Rwanda. Earlier, MPs overturned a series of changes to the legislation which were made by the Lords on Monday. The proposed law is set to deliver the much-delayed plan to send some asylum seekers to the east African nation. The two Houses of Parliament have been in a protracted stand-off over the final wording of the bill. The legislation had been expected to clear its final stages on Wednesday, but another vote is expected on Monday.

THIS report from BBC verify sheds a little light on a confused subject.....
At Prime Minister's Questions, Rishi Sunak told MPs: "We have just cut taxes by £900 for a typical worker", having earlier told broadcasters: "We've been able to cut people's taxes significantly". But others have been saying that taxes are actually rising. We have looked at claims from the Conservatives and from Labour, and the truth depends on which tax changes you are looking at and over what period.

Later.....
See THIS Guardian article for news of another Tory MP allegedly caught with his hand in the till.
Tory MP loses whip after claims he used party funds to pay ‘bad people’ Mark Menzies allegedly spent £14,000 of campaign funds on medical costs and demanded £6,500 from aide to escape captors

[Tripps]

I posted this only a week ago. . .

" but I now assume that most politicians are probably crooks, at best a bit odd, and most male Tories are gay - declared or otherwise".

Good of the Tories to confirm my thoughts so soon.

[Stanley]

HERE'S some more evidence to support your theory David.....
A Conservative council leader has resigned amid claims that he kicked, punched, spat at and throttled women. A BBC investigation heard accounts from five women about Jonathan Nunn, who had led West Northamptonshire Council since 2021. The accusations, which the 59-year-old "strenuously denies", included threatening or controlling behaviour. In a statement, he said it "was incredibly difficult to take this decision".

[Stanley]

I listened to Sunak's proposal to take the power to give sick notes away from doctors on the grounds that they were handing out far too many. His 'qualified health professionals' who would decide whether a sick note was in order would be outsourced and judged on how they performed exactly the same as the ones currently deciding on access to disability payments. We have seen how flawed their Judgement is.
In other words this is yet another scheme to cut down on the cost of providing a benefit and the people modt in need would suffer just as the disability claimants are now.

[Tripps]

I can't find it now but I saw an advert a while ago for nurses to do these assessment roles.

Formal language, but the gist of it was "are you tired of real nursing which is hard work, has unsocial hours, and you will get your hands dirty?

Come and work for us where it's Monday to Friday only - all you will need to do is talk and write reports, and you can work from home occasionally if you choose. The ultimate irony was that as part of the salary package private health insurance was included.

[Stanley]

And you can't blame those who take up the offer David. Like my Granddaughter who is a senior therapist in the NHS but leaves next month for a minimum of a two year contract in Perth, Western Australia on far better wages and conditions. Will she ever come back?

See THIS latest report on a very murky story.
Lancashire Police have said they are reviewing information about allegations against suspended Tory MP Mark Menzies. Labour wrote to police on Friday morning calling for an investigation. The MP has been accused of misusing Tory funds and abusing his position after allegedly asking an activist for money to pay off "bad people". He has had the Tory whip withdrawn, while the party carries out an investigation into the allegations, which he has said he "disputes". The BBC has made several attempts to contact Mr Menzies, who is the MP for Fylde, in Lancashire, but he has not so far responded.Labour Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds wrote to Lancashire Police earlier urging an investigation. The force said it had "received a letter detailing concerns around this matter, and we are in the process of reviewing the available information in more detail".
The more we learn about this matter the more murky it gets!

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest..... See THIS very welcome piece of news from the US.
The House of Representatives has finally approved billions of dollars in new US military aid for Ukraine as it struggles to resist Russia's invasion. The much-delayed measure had vocal opponents in Congress and it took a fragile bipartisan deal to get the $61bn (£49bn) package through. Now the focus shifts from "whether" to "when" lethal aid arrives, with reports suggesting it could begin within days. President Joe Biden spoke of a "clear message" about US leadership abroad. Expressing gratitude, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: "Democracy and freedom will always have global significance and will never fail as long as America helps to protect it."
I hope the Ukraine people will forgive the West for the lives the delay has cost.

[Stanley]

We've already covered the announcement that Mark Menzies will not be standing again in the General Election.
Apart from that there is no other matter claiming our attention in domestic politics. Mar Sunak attempts to give the impression he is in power and controls the administration. I suspect that he has very little room to do any manoeuvring at all!

[Stanley]

Re. Menzies..... I have seen some stuff on LBC and boy was I right about it getting murkier. I logged out of it all, too sleazy and depressing.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC reportabout late night sittings.....
Rishi Sunak's flagship Rwanda bill is set to become law after five months of Westminster wrangling. It designates Rwanda a safe country and is a key part of the government's plans to send some asylum seekers there. The bill has been fiercely criticised by opposition parties but after several debates the Lords dropped their objections to it late on Monday. Mr Sunak has said flights to Rwanda will take off within 10 to 12 weeks, missing his original spring target. But departures could still be held up in the courts or delays in securing the planes asylum seekers would travel on.
I heard Sunak speaking enthusiastically about the flights starting in August. Somehow I think he may be being a bit optimistic. We shall see, so many people are opposed to this cunning wheeze.

HERE'S a bit of a change!
A UK parliamentary researcher and another man have been charged with spying for China after allegedly providing information which could be "useful to an enemy". Christopher Cash, 29, the researcher, and Christopher Berry, 32, were charged under the Official Secrets Act. They are accused of giving "articles, notes, documents or information" to a foreign state, the Met Police said. China has called the allegations "malicious slander". Counter-terrorism police have described the allegations as "very serious".
It makes a bit of a change from the daily reports of sleaze and wrong-doing. Quite possibly more dangerous and expensive than anything else we are aware of.

[PanBiker]

Rishi Sunak's flagship Rwanda bill is set to become law after five months of Westminster wrangling. It designates Rwanda a safe country and is a key part of the government's plans to send some asylum seekers there. The bill has been fiercely criticised by opposition parties but after several debates the Lords dropped their objections to it late on Monday. Mr Sunak has said flights to Rwanda will take off within 10 to 12 weeks, missing his original spring target. But departures could still be held up in the courts or delays in securing the planes asylum seekers would travel on.

If this ever becomes active in law it just confirms how this government has plunged the country into moral bankruptcy!

The amount of money that has been spent on this is obscene and would have had more effect giving it to the French to pursue the illegal boat suppliers who are making profit from human misery. That in itself would have been a lot easier if we were still in the club.

[Stanley]

And it is immoral because it gives the responsibility of deciding the migrant's case to the Rwandans.....

HERE'S another example of lack of principle on the part of the government.
One of the prime minister's dementia champions has quit in protest over the treatment of disabled people. Johnny Timpson, who was the UK's inaugural disability ambassador, said clawing back benefits overpayments was "devastating" for families. He was shocked by the case of a 92-year-old with dementia, who was reportedly told to repay £7,000 by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

See THIS BBC report on the plan to ban no-fault evictions.
The housing secretary cannot guarantee "no-fault" evictions will be banned in England by the next general election.
The Conservatives first promised to end landlords' ability to evict tenants without needing a reason in 2019. In February, Michael Gove told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the practice would be "outlawed" by the next election. But on the eve of the bill that could abolish such evictions returning to the Commons, he did not repeat the pledge. Instead, Mr Gove said he "hopes" it becomes law but it was up to the House of Lords "to decide the rate of progress that we can make". MPs will debate the Renters (Reform) Bill on Wednesday, after the government was forced to water down some of the planned protections for renters, including original promises to abolish no-fault - or Section 21 - evictions in England. Some Conservative MPs had raised concerns they would be too burdensome on landlords.
So yet again, commercial considerations and no doubt lobbying have trumped justice for hard pressed families.

[Tripps]

I read last week that Angela Rayner would be doing (Deputy) PMQ's. Then heard nothing more - thought I must have imagined it - they wouldn't dare. but it's true.

She's doing well. They haven't landed a blow yet, and the MP for Failsworth has just described Rishi as a "pint sized loser".

[Stanley]

"pint sized loser".
I like that, goes well with the typo "Rishi Sunk".

See THIS defence by Hunt....
Jeremy Hunt has defended plans to slash civil service jobs to increase defence spending and Ukraine aid, during a surprise trip to Kyiv. The chancellor said cutting public services will cost "a great deal less" compared to allowing Russia to succeed. The government has pledged to increase UK military spending to 2.5% of national income by 2030. Mr Hunt confirmed the increase will cost an extra £20bn, which unions claim will be funded by cutting 70,000 jobs.
Are there no areas where the government is spending money without getting any visible return that could be cut?

[Stanley]

See THIS for a curious little item of news.....
Minister of State Chris Philp was asked a question by an audience member from the Democratic Republic of Congo during BBC One's Question Time. Mr Philp asked in response: "DR Congo is a different country to Rwanda, isn't it?" - raising eyebrows from panel members and the audience. The government's Rwanda bill says any asylum seeker entering the UK "illegally" after 1 January 2022, from a safe country such as France, could be sent to Rwanda. An ally of Mr Philp suggested the minister had been posing a rhetorical question, rather than a real one, as he tried to clarify what he had been asked.
(Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.)

[PanBiker]

Yes and the questioner said that there were acts of genocide happening across the border from Rwanda into the Congo. The very reason that he is now living in the UK.

[Stanley]

But Ian, how can that be right when that nice Mr Sunak says that Rwanda is perfectly safe?

See THIS BBC report for more on this subject.....
Opposition parties have criticised Home Office minister Chris Philp for appearing to confuse two African countries on BBC Question Time. An audience member from the Democratic Republic of the Congo asked about the government's new law on deporting some asylum seekers to Rwanda. Responding, policing minister Mr Philp appeared to ask if Rwanda and Congo were different countries. An ally later suggested he had been posing a rhetorical question.

[Stanley]

THIS piece of political news trumps all others this morning.
Former minister and Conservative MP Dan Poulter has defected to Labour. In an exclusive TV interview, the MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that he could no longer look his NHS colleagues and patients in the eye and stay on as a Conservative. Dr Poulter, who works part time as a doctor, said that Conservatives were no longer focused on public services.
All I have to say is that the man is being honest, he tells the truth.

[Stanley]

See THIS for an example of defending the indefensible....
A minister has defended the government's record on the NHS, after a former Conservative MP defected to Labour. In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Dr Dan Poulter said he could not look his NHS colleagues and patients in the eye and stay on as a Conservative MP. Home Office Minister Chris Philp denied the Tories were deprioritising the NHS. He added that more was being spent on the health service than at any point in history. On the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Dr Poulter, who works part time as a consultant psychiatrist, said the health service was now "unrecognisable" from how it was before he became an MP in 2010 and "patients deserve better". The MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich added that Labour had a "track record" of improving the NHS and could be "trusted" with the health service.
The argument "We are spending more money than ever" doesn't wash in a period of increased demand and high inflation yet they expect us to believe and be satisfied.....

[Tripps]

The Scottish First Minister and leader of the SNP Humza Yusaf has resigned.

Now might be a good time to anticipate the future and do your "due diligence" on the man who will probably take on the role after the General Elelection, when Labour almost inevitably become the largest party. What happens in the interim is largely irrelevant.

Check out the Paisley dentist, Anas Sawar, and while you're at it - best have a look at his father Mohammed Sawar who was previously the MP for a Glasgow constituency before he renounced his Scottish citizenship and went on to become Governer of Punjab (twice).

[Stanley]

I have enough on my plate monitoring our Parliament David without taking care of the Scots as well!

See THIS Report about asylum seekers trying to get into Ireland from the North.
The UK will not take back asylum seekers who have crossed into Ireland as the Rwanda deportation scheme gets going, Rishi Sunak has said. The Irish deputy PM has said people are crossing from Northern Ireland because they fear being sent to east Africa. Irish ministers are preparing emergency laws to override a recent Irish court ruling that banned returns to the UK. But the prime minister said the UK was "not interested" in accepting people back from Ireland. "We're not going to accept returns from the EU via Ireland when the EU doesn't accept returns back to France where illegal migrants are coming from," he told ITV. "Of course we're not going to do that."
It's just a bizarre game of pass the parcel. These are human beings.
I would remind everyone of this....
Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! Emma Lazarus Nov 2 1883.

[PanBiker]

My politics at the moment are involved with the local elections. I spent a good part of yesterday updating our electoral database with all of the new Polling Place information for the Pendle half of the constituency. The bits that have been shoved over into Burnley for the new Parliamentary Constituencies are still on the radar for Local Borough Elections. 50 ballot boxes to allocate to the 41 Polling Places across the borough, validate the polling districts (PD's) and number of electors for each PD and box and then enable mapping for the location of the Polling Place. For my bit, on the day I will be in Colne on Thursday doing polling day Committee Room stuff. All good fun.

[Tripps]

Is anyone as concerned as I am at the visit to Kyev Ukraine yesterday by 'Sophie Wessex' ?
I think this is prima facie involvement of the Royal Family in external politics.

It's impossible to imagine the King himself going there at this time - leaving aside his current health problems -but she is obviousy a proxy, and as near to him as 'they' think they can get away with. She is married to the King's brother. Why not send him - or the pair of them? It caught the media by surprise as she was at first referred to as Sophie Wessex, which was soon changed to Duchess of Edinburgh when they remembered where she now was positioned in the pecking order.

These things are carefully calibrated. Someone somewhere is anxious that we get more deeply involved in a war.

[Stanley]

Sunak wrapping himself in the flag for the elections?

See THIS for more detail on the damage Brexit is causing to business.
New checks brought in under the UK's Brexit trade agreement will cost one business up to £225,000 a year, its co-owner has said. Meat and dairy products, plants and seeds are among the goods now subject to physical checks when imported to Britain from the European Union from Tuesday. Businesses have warned the trade checks, which will see import costs increase immediately, are expected to hit smaller companies hardest and lead to price rises being passed on to customers for certain products. John Davidson, co-owner of flower company Tom Brown Wholesale, said he expected the checks to cost his business between £200,000 and £225,000 per year.

[PanBiker]

First migrant has gone to Rwanda! In my book not really deported as he went voluntarily after receiving a bribe of £3000 in cash. He also went via a scheduled flight. I would also assume that as he went voluntarily he will be under no rules to stay, Effectively he is a tourist with money.

[Stanley]

I heard a Tory MP chortling and saying that the single passenger 'proved' that Rwanda was safe and a tourist destination. I can't quite see how paying one person to go there on what was almost certainly a free flight proves any such thing.

See THIS for a reminder, if you needed one, that today is the day we can exercise our democratic right and cast a vote against the Tories. We shall see tomorrow whether the voters as a whole have got the message.
Millions of voters in England and Wales are eligible to cast ballots when polling stations open at 07:00. There are elections in 107 local authorities across England, as well as 11 mayoral races. A by-election will elect a new Blackpool South MP, following the resignation of former Conservative Scott Benton. And voters across England and Wales will elect 37 police and crime commissioners (PCCs).