Stop voting for fucking Tories

[fishfoodie]

Irrelevant Tory shit stain JRM on Peston, pushing for the BoE to push Interest Rates higher.

Why isn't Peston asking him if higher Interest Rates would benefit him, & his companies more than higher taxes ???

[Lobby]

She's got too much time on her hands.

Nadine Dorries, the former culture secretary and one of Boris Johnson’s most loyal supporters, is due to publish a book next year with the title “The Political Assassination of Boris Johnson”, David Bond reports in the Evening Standard. Dorries said:
Events lately have been stranger than fiction. And I will be drawing on that rich source material. It’s a political whodunnit.

Exclusive leak of content from the opening chapter

Spoiler

Show

I still dream of him tenderly eating the soft, quivering mound of my love pudding

Cover?

[yermum]

She's got too much time on her hands.

Exclusive leak of content from the opening chapter

Spoiler

Show

I still dream of him tenderly eating the soft, quivering mound of my love pudding

I clicked on that spoiler far too absent mindedly. Wasn't prepared for such grimness even, but should've been given the context.

Oh what a terrible day to have eyes...

[sturginho]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/1 ... nder-left/

Not sure if this is a parody or not

[Tichtheid]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/1 ... nder-left/

Not sure if this is a parody or not

That paper's readership is a good barometer of the wingnut faction of the Tory party. There are a good few comments in favour of voting for Reform at the next GE, and Heritage too.

There could be quite a split of their vote.

[petej]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/1 ... nder-left/

Not sure if this is a parody or not

That paper's readership is a good barometer of the wingnut faction of the Tory party. There are a good few comments in favour of voting for Reform at the next GE, and Heritage too.

There could be quite a split of their vote.

It fails to indicate a lot of the waste is due to reactive spending. Having to fix things after having them fall over is more expensive then not having them fall over in the first place. Also because so much of the tory vote is pensioners increasing taxes on working people is very acceptable and having the NHS in crisis is not acceptable.

[I like neeps]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/1 ... nder-left/

Not sure if this is a parody or not

That paper's readership is a good barometer of the wingnut faction of the Tory party. There are a good few comments in favour of voting for Reform at the next GE, and Heritage too.

There could be quite a split of their vote.

If Farage returns to head up Reform they'll do very well in terms of voting %.

Labour not mentioning brexit today despite it being a very large reason for the poor state of the economy. What cowards.

[dpedin]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/1 ... nder-left/

Not sure if this is a parody or not

That paper's readership is a good barometer of the wingnut faction of the Tory party. There are a good few comments in favour of voting for Reform at the next GE, and Heritage too.

There could be quite a split of their vote.

If Farage returns to head up Reform they'll do very well in terms of voting %.

Labour not mentioning brexit today despite it being a very large reason for the poor state of the economy. What cowards.

Oh - Farage leading Reform Party and potentially splitting the tory vote would in effect just negate the whole Brexit thing since Cameron decided that he needed to call their bluff and hold a referendum! In effect we would have gone through all this Brexit shit and the economic, social and cultural hits just to do it all again! Xenophobic and racism will always find a political home in England it appears?

[Hal Jordan]

He'll probably do what he did last time. Push the debate towards the right, then at the last moment cry off and leg it with the grift pot.

[fishfoodie]

That paper's readership is a good barometer of the wingnut faction of the Tory party. There are a good few comments in favour of voting for Reform at the next GE, and Heritage too.

There could be quite a split of their vote.

If Farage returns to head up Reform they'll do very well in terms of voting %.

Labour not mentioning brexit today despite it being a very large reason for the poor state of the economy. What cowards.

Oh - Farage leading Reform Party and potentially splitting the tory vote would in effect just negate the whole Brexit thing since Cameron decided that he needed to call their bluff and hold a referendum! In effect we would have gone through all this Brexit shit and the economic, social and cultural hits just to do it all again! Xenophobic and racism will always find a political home in England it appears?

That's always the problem with paying Dane Geld; the Dane always returns for more !

[dpedin]

If Farage returns to head up Reform they'll do very well in terms of voting %.

Labour not mentioning brexit today despite it being a very large reason for the poor state of the economy. What cowards.

Oh - Farage leading Reform Party and potentially splitting the tory vote would in effect just negate the whole Brexit thing since Cameron decided that he needed to call their bluff and hold a referendum! In effect we would have gone through all this Brexit shit and the economic, social and cultural hits just to do it all again! Xenophobic and racism will always find a political home in England it appears?

That's always the problem with paying Dane Geld; the Dane always returns for more !

Had to look your reference up - my ignorance - spot on!

[dpedin]

So much for the NHS being safe in the Tories hands ...

https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comm ... ast-decade

[Sandstorm]

So much for the NHS being safe in the Tories hands ...

https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comm ... ast-decade

"The UK has fewer practising physicians per person and fewer hospital beds per person than the EU14 average. The Netherlands has similar beds than the UK but combines this with more staff, using a model where more care is provided in community-based settings. The UK therefore stands as an outlier in having both fewer beds and fewer doctors than average."

This isn't going to improve either. Ever.

[SaintK]

No mention of this by Hunt earlier. Wonder how many other little surprises are hidden away?

[dpedin]

OBR forecast a 7% reduction in real terms living standards over the next two years, wiping out the previous 8 years growth. Every thing else is just window dressing. This is the real cost of Tory economics over the last 12 years and the feck up Kamikaze budget.

This drop in living standards reflects the impact of Brexit on our economy with lower trade, workforce numbers and growth. Sooner or later someone is going to have to bite the bullet, admit the Brexit price is just too high for us to pay and take us back into the SM and Customs Union. I am not sure Labour's strategy of waiting until they have won the election before calling Brexit out is going to last, two years is a long time given the shit we are in. Also the Tories have set up all the cuts to services to come into play in 2-3 years time which, assuming no significant changes, leaves the new Lab Gov with a shit sandwich to swallow. Failure to reverse some/all of Brexit will mean we are well and truly fecked economically - we have now seen the forecasts. Given the levels of deprivation we already have I will be surprised if we get through this winter, let alone 2023, without some serious form of social unrest on the streets. TBH if you can't eat or heat then what other feckin option will these folk have, what have they to lose?

[I like neeps]

You really have to laugh.

[Raggs]

It's stunning just how hard they're making it for people that won't vote for them.

[dpedin]

It's stunning just how hard they're making it for people that won't vote for them.

It is almost Russki in nature ... Putin would be proud of them ... are they aiming for A 97% result in their favour?

[fishfoodie]

It's stunning just how hard they're making it for people that won't vote for them.

It is almost Russki in nature ... Putin would be proud of them ... are they aiming for A 97% result in their favour?

Don't be silly !

.... even the Orcs couldn't propose anything as one-sided as FPTP, & a rigged system like the Lord's & expect anyone to take them seriously !!!

[fishfoodie]

The usual suspects have been banging on about this change, & unleashing the Brexit Benefits

Jeremy Hunt has overruled the Bank of England to push through key post-Brexit insurance reforms intended to unleash an investment “big bang”.

The Chancellor confirmed that the Government will overhaul the Solvency 2 rulebook, which requires insurers to hold vast sums of cash on their balance sheets and dicates where they can invest, in a move that will allow companies to plough billions of pounds into the UK economy.

....

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... g-bang-20/

<< Hit ESC key before it fully loads >>

To my jaundiced eye, when anyone in Finance talks about, "cutting red tape"; what the actually mean is, increasing risk. One of the Canaries in coalmine, that was completely missed by the Irish Central Bank, was when Quinn Insurance got ticked off by the regulator, because they were using Trumpish accounting, & valuation practices, & had too many illiquid assets on their balance sheet; exactly like the Tories are now proposing UK Insurance companies copy !!

Fast forward a few years, & Quinn enterprises took down the Irish banking system, & our Government had to call in the IMF; because the owner had the bright idea of investing in CFDs in Anglo Irish Bank.

Now maybe your regulators are better than ours, but how many of them are there, & how many balance sheets to check ?

The Tories have just signed the UK Taxpayers up to cover the cost of the inevitable company collapses.

[Hal Jordan]

Makes you wonder why insurance magnate Banks supported Brexit so fervently.

[I like neeps]

Makes you wonder why insurance magnate Banks supported Brexit so fervently.

The EU is also reforming Solvency 2 and actually they are doing it faster than the UK. Banks is just a moron.

[robmatic]

Yet another Tory soundbite that is not reality based. British institutions love bureaucracy, standards and regulations. It's why they exist. Any 'bonfire of red tape' will ultimately result in a roughly equivalent amount of slightly different red tape.

[Paddington Bear]

You really have to laugh.

How many people don't have a driving licence or passport? And the younger you are the more likely you are to carry your driving licence around with you

[Tichtheid]

You really have to laugh.

How many people don't have a driving licence or passport? And the younger you are the more likely you are to carry your driving licence around with you

Why not just allow all age group Oyster cards as ID?

Or none.

[Tichtheid]

Electoral fraud is very low level in the UK

https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/ ... fraud-data

[Paddington Bear]

You really have to laugh.

How many people don't have a driving licence or passport? And the younger you are the more likely you are to carry your driving licence around with you

Why not just allow all age group Oyster cards as ID?

Or none.

Haven't had an oyster card for years but my last one wasn't photographic. I'd certainly lean towards none being the call there

[I like neeps]

You really have to laugh.

How many people don't have a driving licence or passport? And the younger you are the more likely you are to carry your driving licence around with you

If you use gov.uk 74% have driving licences in the UK - more whites than other ethnicities. And if you don't have a driving licence you probably live in the type of area that driving is not important e.g. London and what would you have in London? An oyster card!

9.2m people in the UK don't have a passport according to the govt but no age breakdown.

This is an obvious plot to disenfranchise Labour voters rather than a solution to any problem as tichtheid points out no problem exists. Shameful politics.

[Paddington Bear]

You really have to laugh.

How many people don't have a driving licence or passport? And the younger you are the more likely you are to carry your driving licence around with you

If you use gov.uk 74% have driving licences in the UK - more whites than other ethnicities. And if you don't have a driving licence you probably live in the type of area that driving is not important e.g. London and what would you have in London? An oyster card!

9.2m people in the UK don't have a passport according to the govt but no age breakdown.

This is an obvious plot to disenfranchise Labour voters rather than a solution to any problem as tichtheid points out no problem exists. Shameful politics.

Thanks. Anecdote does not = data but the number of oyster cards you see has collapsed since contactless became a thing on TfL. Fwiw I see no reason why you shouldn't have to show ID to vote, but provision of a voter ID card when you register on the electoral roll would seem sensible.

[Sandstorm]

Fwiw I see no reason why you shouldn't have to show ID to vote, but provision of a voter ID card when you register on the electoral roll would seem sensible.

They cost money we don't have.

[petej]

Fwiw I see no reason why you shouldn't have to show ID to vote, but provision of a voter ID card when you register on the electoral roll would seem sensible.

They cost money we don't have.

This government wasting money again. Totally unnecessary. Hypocritical considering the Tories on voting process.

[I like neeps]

How many people don't have a driving licence or passport? And the younger you are the more likely you are to carry your driving licence around with you

If you use gov.uk 74% have driving licences in the UK - more whites than other ethnicities. And if you don't have a driving licence you probably live in the type of area that driving is not important e.g. London and what would you have in London? An oyster card!

9.2m people in the UK don't have a passport according to the govt but no age breakdown.

This is an obvious plot to disenfranchise Labour voters rather than a solution to any problem as tichtheid points out no problem exists. Shameful politics.

Thanks. Anecdote does not = data but the number of oyster cards you see has collapsed since contactless became a thing on TfL. Fwiw I see no reason why you shouldn't have to show ID to vote, but provision of a voter ID card when you register on the electoral roll would seem sensible.

True but unless we have an extremely ineffective regulator (which is possible as most of them seem to be) there's just not a problem with electoral fraud that demands any response. This is purely a stop opposition voters voting solution.

[dpedin]

If you use gov.uk 74% have driving licences in the UK - more whites than other ethnicities. And if you don't have a driving licence you probably live in the type of area that driving is not important e.g. London and what would you have in London? An oyster card!

9.2m people in the UK don't have a passport according to the govt but no age breakdown.

This is an obvious plot to disenfranchise Labour voters rather than a solution to any problem as tichtheid points out no problem exists. Shameful politics.

Thanks. Anecdote does not = data but the number of oyster cards you see has collapsed since contactless became a thing on TfL. Fwiw I see no reason why you shouldn't have to show ID to vote, but provision of a voter ID card when you register on the electoral roll would seem sensible.

True but unless we have an extremely ineffective regulator (which is possible as most of them seem to be) there's just not a problem with electoral fraud that demands any response. This is purely a stop opposition voters voting solution.

This! We have almost zero voter fraud and literally zero evidence that there has been any election that has been influenced by dodgy voters. This is purely an attempt to sway the election in the direction of the Tories and ironically we the taxpayer are paying for this complete and utter waste of time and money. I would be surprised if there isn't a legal action against this voter ID scheme prior to next election which in all likelihood might be successful.

[Lobby]

Thanks. Anecdote does not = data but the number of oyster cards you see has collapsed since contactless became a thing on TfL. Fwiw I see no reason why you shouldn't have to show ID to vote, but provision of a voter ID card when you register on the electoral roll would seem sensible.

True but unless we have an extremely ineffective regulator (which is possible as most of them seem to be) there's just not a problem with electoral fraud that demands any response. This is purely a stop opposition voters voting solution.

This! We have almost zero voter fraud and literally zero evidence that there has been any election that has been influenced by dodgy voters. This is purely an attempt to sway the election in the direction of the Tories and ironically we the taxpayer are paying for this complete and utter waste of time and money. I would be surprised if there isn't a legal action against this voter ID scheme prior to next election which in all likelihood might be successful.

While there have been very few cases of election fraud, there have been some.

The 2014 election of Lutfur Rahman as Mayor of Tower Hamlets was eventually declared void on the grounds of corrupt and illegal practices by him and his agents, and general corruption that was considered so extensive that it was reasonable to suppose that it had affected the election. The illegal activities carried out by Rahman included religious intimidation through local imams, vote-rigging and falsely branding his Labour rival a racist to gain power.

Rahman was found personally guilty by the court of making false statements about a candidate, bribery, and undue spiritual influence. The court also found Rahman guilty by his agents of personation, postal vote offences, provision of false information to a registration officer, voting when not entitled, making false statements about a candidate, payment of canvassers, bribery, and undue spiritual influence.

Rahman was banned from holding public office for 5 years and struck off as a solicitor. Sadly, he was re-elected as Mayor in 2020 as soon as the ban expired.

It might be worth noting that these charges were brought by 4 local residents as both the police and the electoral commission had declined to investigate the allegations made against Rahman.

Aside from Tower Hamlets however, you are right that there is very little evidence that electoral fraud is an issue in other parts of the country.

[I like neeps]

True but unless we have an extremely ineffective regulator (which is possible as most of them seem to be) there's just not a problem with electoral fraud that demands any response. This is purely a stop opposition voters voting solution.

This! We have almost zero voter fraud and literally zero evidence that there has been any election that has been influenced by dodgy voters. This is purely an attempt to sway the election in the direction of the Tories and ironically we the taxpayer are paying for this complete and utter waste of time and money. I would be surprised if there isn't a legal action against this voter ID scheme prior to next election which in all likelihood might be successful.

While there have been very few cases of election fraud, there have been some.

The 2014 election of Lutfur Rahman as Mayor of Tower Hamlets was eventually declared void on the grounds of corrupt and illegal practices by him and his agents, and general corruption that was considered so extensive that it was reasonable to suppose that it had affected the election. The illegal activities carried out by Rahman included religious intimidation through local imams, vote-rigging and falsely branding his Labour rival a racist to gain power.

Rahman was found personally guilty by the court of making false statements about a candidate, bribery, and undue spiritual influence. The court also found Rahman guilty by his agents of personation, postal vote offences, provision of false information to a registration officer, voting when not entitled, making false statements about a candidate, payment of canvassers, bribery, and undue spiritual influence.

Rahman was banned from holding public office for 5 years and struck off as a solicitor. Sadly, he was re-elected as Mayor in 2020 as soon as the ban expired.

It might be worth noting that these charges were brought by 4 local residents as both the police and the electoral commission had declined to investigate the allegations made against Rahman.

Aside from Tower Hamlets however, you are right that there is very little evidence that electoral fraud is an issue in other parts of the country.

Even in this case there's no evidence of voter fraud so whether the electoral ID laws would've prevented this past just making it more difficult to minorities to vote is entirely questionable at best.

[Lobby]

This! We have almost zero voter fraud and literally zero evidence that there has been any election that has been influenced by dodgy voters. This is purely an attempt to sway the election in the direction of the Tories and ironically we the taxpayer are paying for this complete and utter waste of time and money. I would be surprised if there isn't a legal action against this voter ID scheme prior to next election which in all likelihood might be successful.

While there have been very few cases of election fraud, there have been some.

The 2014 election of Lutfur Rahman as Mayor of Tower Hamlets was eventually declared void on the grounds of corrupt and illegal practices by him and his agents, and general corruption that was considered so extensive that it was reasonable to suppose that it had affected the election. The illegal activities carried out by Rahman included religious intimidation through local imams, vote-rigging and falsely branding his Labour rival a racist to gain power.

Rahman was found personally guilty by the court of making false statements about a candidate, bribery, and undue spiritual influence. The court also found Rahman guilty by his agents of personation, postal vote offences, provision of false information to a registration officer, voting when not entitled, making false statements about a candidate, payment of canvassers, bribery, and undue spiritual influence.

Rahman was banned from holding public office for 5 years and struck off as a solicitor. Sadly, he was re-elected as Mayor in 2020 as soon as the ban expired.

It might be worth noting that these charges were brought by 4 local residents as both the police and the electoral commission had declined to investigate the allegations made against Rahman.

Aside from Tower Hamlets however, you are right that there is very little evidence that electoral fraud is an issue in other parts of the country.

Even in this case there's no evidence of voter fraud so whether the electoral ID laws would've prevented this past just making it more difficult to minorities to vote is entirely questionable at best.

I'm not sure what you consider to be 'voter fraud', but I would have thought that voting with a false registration in the name of another person and using multiple registrations to vote more than once would normally both count as 'voter fraud', along with tampering with postal votes and ballot papers.

However, I do agree that this particular instance of fraud and corruption does not at all justify the introduction of voter ID across the country, and that the primary reason why the Tories are pushing this is to make it harder for minorities and younger people to vote. In this, they appear to be following the Republican's modus operandi of disenfranchising people who don't vote for them.

I suspect as well that there is an element of pandering to UKIP and other right-wing racists, who invariably cast aspersions on postal voting in areas with large asian communities.

[tabascoboy]

See so many posts on Twatter arguing that the Tories are now a left wing party and we need a real Conservative Party of the right

And yet support for the harder right Reform Party in recent polls has dropped with Labour and Lib Dem steady. So essentially I guess we either have an army of bots and trolls pumping out pro-lower taxes anti EU and immigration posts or there isn't a party that's far enough right for a noisy minority

[SaintK]

So disgraced, vervant anti-Europe former MP Owen Patterson is now launching a case against the nUK government at the European Court of Human Rights!!!

As the court explains in a summary of the case, Paterson “complains that his article 8 rights [to privacy] were infringed [by the inquiry process that led to his resignation], as the public finding that he had breached the code of conduct damaged his good reputation, and that the process by which the allegations against him were investigated and considered was not fair in many basic respects”.

[dpedin]

So disgraced, vervant anti-Europe former MP Owen Patterson is now launching a case against the nUK government at the European Court of Human Rights!!!

As the court explains in a summary of the case, Paterson “complains that his article 8 rights [to privacy] were infringed [by the inquiry process that led to his resignation], as the public finding that he had breached the code of conduct damaged his good reputation, and that the process by which the allegations against him were investigated and considered was not fair in many basic respects”.

This is an attempt to discredit the Commons processes before they sit and judge on the Blonde Bumblecunt case. They know the Pile of Turd will be found guilty and it would be pretty disastrous for any planned comeback as PM so they fund/send in the useful idiot and chum Owen Patterson to try and scupper the Commons processes. It is a bit of a double edged sword for the Tories to say the least as It might put the ECHR above the sovereignty of the HoC processes. They dont care though as they will do anything to protect the Blonde Lump of Lard and I have no doubt there will be some dodgy dark money funding this case by Patterson. I wonder if his mate who owns Randox and has the Jockey Club links with Dido Harding/Matt Hancock/John Penrose/etc are involved?

[fishfoodie]

I think Raab is fucked !

He probably thought he was being clever by instigating an inquiry into himself; but as soon as he did, there were a couple of formal complaints, & now it sounds like there could be a few more.

You can weather a single complaint, & possibly a second, if your lucky; but beyond that, it's obvious to one n all, that the problem is you, & not the people complaining !

Dominic Raab is facing multiple formal complaints from Ministry of Justice (MoJ) civil servants over allegations of bullying behaviour during his previous stint running the department, the Guardian has been told.

The justice secretary has vowed to “thoroughly rebut and refute” the two official complaints he is already facing, one from the MoJ and one from his time as foreign secretary, but further formal allegations will be a blow to his attempts to clear his name.

Downing Street is understood to have appointed an independent figure, expected to be announced on Wednesday, to conduct the inquiry into the deputy prime minister’s alleged behaviour. They will not be limited in the scope of what claims they investigate.

A human resources director within the MoJ has been appointed to collate any complaints made by officials before they are handed over to the Cabinet Office, where the investigator, believed to come from outside government and not be a serving civil servant, will be based.

MoJ sources claimed that “a handful” of formal complaints had now been made, beyond the initial one from a group of mid-ranking civil servants in the department, who said that Raab oversaw a “perverse culture of fear” that damaged civil servants’ mental and physical wellbeing, while other officials had asked for advice.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... l-servants