Topic: Never mind 'Stop the Boats' - STOP THE TORIES

[rob1966]

Last year,

Inflation 5% my pay rise? 0%

This year,

Inflation 11% my pay rise 5%

Next year

Inflation forecast at 7% my pay rise likely 2%

That’s a fucking whacking great pay cut that…

I got 0% in 2021

This Year 3% plus £750 hardship payments that I paid tax and NI on

[TepidT2O]

I got 0% in 2021

This Year 3% plus £750 hardship payments that I paid tax and NI on

Yep… bloody ridiculous ..

Basically we take a 15% pay cut…. Why? Putin and Truss.

We’ve been fucked every which way

[Red Beret]

Last year,

Inflation 5% my pay rise? 0%

This year,

Inflation 11% my pay rise 5%

Next year

Inflation forecast at 7% my pay rise likely 2%

That’s a fucking whacking great pay cut that…

People are being financially strangled and the safe word is being ignored. Literally priced out of living.

We need a Luthen Rael type to shake things up.

[Robinred]

Richard Sharp, the BBC Chair, think’s Maitlis’s comments about Cummings in the Barnard Castle affair exceeded the bounds of a BBC reporter:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/dec/03/bbc-chairman-criticises-emily-maitlis-newsnight-comments-on-dominic-cummings?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Strictly speaking he’s right - what Maitlis said was tantamount to passing opinion. (But she was also stating the bleeding obvious). She has subsequently claimed the Tories have a ‘Trojan horse’ in the BBC hierarchy in former no. 10 Director of Communications Robbie Gibb. Sharp denied this, and continues to insist the BBC news output needs to be focused on news not opinion.

Tim Davie, the DG, is a Tory. Sharp spent a combined 31 years at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, and whilst at the former, was Sunak’s boss. He’s donated over £400,000 to the Tory Party and was advisor to Johnson when Johnson was London mayor.

There are some experienced and well read posters on here who’s reverence for the institution we all grew up with remains strong. I’m one of an increasing group who are very concerned about what I perceive as the politicisation of the Beeb. I think it’s undeniable that when Johnson was P.M, the Tories got an easy ride.

[west_london_red]

Yep… bloody ridiculous ..

Basically we take a 15% pay cut…. Why? Putin and Truss.

We’ve been fucked every which way

Have teachers not balloted yet?

[TepidT2O]

Have teachers not balloted yet?

Scotland are already at it.  England strikes are planned for the new year.

I suspect mine will be work to rule rather than strike, but ballots are happening now.

[Circa1892]

Richard Sharp, the BBC Chair, think’s Maitlis’s comments about Cummings in the Barnard Castle affair exceeded the bounds of a BBC reporter:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/dec/03/bbc-chairman-criticises-emily-maitlis-newsnight-comments-on-dominic-cummings?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Strictly speaking he’s right - what Maitlis said was tantamount to passing opinion. (But she was also stating the bleeding obvious). She has subsequently claimed the Tories have a ‘Trojan horse’ in the BBC hierarchy in former no. 10 Director of Communications Robbie Gibb. Sharp denied this, and continues to insist the BBC news output needs to be focused on news not opinion.

Tim Davie, the DG, is a Tory. Sharp spent a combined 31 years at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, and whilst at the former, was Sunak’s boss. He’s donated over £400,000 to the Tory Party and was advisor to Johnson when Johnson was London mayor.

There are some experienced and well read posters on here who’s reverence for the institution we all grew up with remains strong. I’m one of an increasing group who are very concerned about what I perceive as the politicisation of the Beeb. I think it’s undeniable that when Johnson was P.M, the Tories got an easy ride.

BBC News has been a national disgrace for quite some time. The BBCs output in other areas (documentaries, panorama, the often sensational drama, comedy etc) still makes it well worth the licence fee. But the news is a sham.

[Red-Soldier]

Have teachers not balloted yet?

Too well paid 

[So… Howard Philips]

Too well paid 

And all those holidays!

[thaddeus]

BBC News has been a national disgrace for quite some time. The BBCs output in other areas (documentaries, panorama, the often sensational drama, comedy etc) still makes it well worth the licence fee. But the news is a sham.

I feel much the same.  In my view there's editorial pressure to soften stories critical of the Tories.  It's evident in many BBC News website articles where the headline seems detached from the article it apparently represents.  They stop short of the unapologetic bias of the newspapers but that somehow makes it more insidious as most people take the BBC at face value due to the reputation they've (hard) earned.

Most of the BBC output is fantastic.

[spen71]

So Mone is taking a leave of absence from the Lords.   Not that she ever attends.    What is the bloody point

[[new username under construction]]

So Mone is taking a leave of absence from the Lords.   Not that she ever attends.    What is the bloody point

Wait until it blows over and carry on like nothing happened?

[Red Beret]

Wait until it blows over and carry on like nothing happened?

Take it out of the news so it's not about the Mone Mone Mone?

[Dr. Beaker]

Probably so she doesn't have to declare her income any more so the lies are less apparent.

[Nobby Reserve]

Probably so she doesn't have to declare her income any more so the lies are less apparent.

Take the millions in profit from the company she says she has nothing to do with, then end her 'break'?

[Red-Soldier]

Revealed: Second firm pushed by Michelle Mone was secret entity of husband’s office

Revelation that LFI Diagnostics was entity of office that manages wealth of Douglas Barrowman deepens controversy over Tory peer

A second company that the Tory peer Michelle Mone lobbied ministers over in an attempt to secure government Covid contracts was a secret entity of her husband’s family office, the Guardian can reveal.

Lady Mone’s lobbying on behalf of the company, LFI Diagnostics, which she tried to help secure government contracts for Covid lateral flow tests, prompted a formal rebuke from a health minister who reminded her of “the need for propriety”.

A departmental source told the Guardian that Mone was “in a class of her own in terms of the sheer aggression of her advocacy” on behalf of LFI Diagnostics.

However, it is the revelation that the company was a secret entity of the office that manages the wealth of her husband, Douglas Barrowman, that will deepen the controversy over the Tory peer and her access to ministers.

On Tuesday, Mone’s spokesperson said that she was taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords with immediate effect, adding she was doing so “in order to clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her”.

Mone’s apparent lobbying during the pandemic of at least four Tory ministers – Matt Hancock, Fuckwitted Pob lookalike Michael Gove, Lord Agnew and Lord Bethell – is threatening to become a major scandal for the government.

In the House of Commons on Tuesday evening, MPs were on the cusp of forcing the government to release documents relating to £200m contracts that were given to PPE Medpro in June 2020, weeks after Mone referred it to Gove and Agnew, using their personal email addresses.

A crucial document seen by the Guardian suggests that both PPE Medpro and LFI Diagnostics were set up for the ultimate benefit of Barrowman and his family.

The document was prepared by Anthony Page, who runs Barrowman’s family office in the Isle of Man. It lists both PPE Medpro and LFI Diagnostics as “entities” of his family office, also known as the Knox family office.

A source familiar with the Barrowman family office said its “entities” are owned, either directly or indirectly, for the ultimate benefit of Barrowman or his family. While Page runs the family office, it is ultimately controlled by Barrowman, the source added.

Both Mone and Barrowman have repeatedly sought to distance themselves from PPE Medpro. Through their lawyers, both have denied any “involvement” in PPE Medpro, or any “role” in the process through which the company was awarded its government contracts. Mone’s lawyers also denied she benefited financially from the company.

However, the Guardian revealed last month that bank documents stated that Barrowman was paid at least £65m in profits from PPE Medpro in September 2020, and then distributed the funds through a series of offshore accounts, trusts and companies.

One of the recipients, bank records indicate, was a trust of which Mone and her adult children were the beneficiaries. It received £29m in funds originating from PPE Medpro profits in October 2020, the documents state.

The revelation has sparked a major backlash in parliament, amid calls for an urgent inquiry into PPE Medpro and Mone’s lobbying of ministers.

Those demands are now likely to include requests for further disclosures about Mone’s attempts to win government purchases of Covid lateral flow tests – first on behalf of PPE Medpro, and then LFI Diagnostics.
‘Extraordinarily aggressive’ and ‘threatening’ email

Mone’s lawyers have long claimed that her initial referral of PPE Medpro to ministers – in relation to its offer of PPE in May 2020 – was a “simple, solitary and brief step”, after which she “did not do anything further in respect of PPE Medpro”.

However, the Guardian has previously reported that for months after PPE Medpro’s success winning contracts for masks and gowns, Mone continued to help the company try to sell the government Covid lateral flow tests.

She appears to have lobbied Lord Bethell, a junior minister in the health department who was involved in government procurement, in relation to PPE Medpro’s lateral flow tests as far back as October 2020.

By February 2021, Mone was still contacting civil servants on behalf of PPE Medpro, as it became apparent its efforts to secure lateral flow contracts was failing.

Jacqui Rock, the chief commercial officer for NHS test and trace, told colleagues in February 2021 that Mone was “incandescent with rage” at the treatment of PPE Medpro over lateral flow testing contracts, saying the firm had been “fobbed off”, and was planning to speak to Fuckwitted Pob lookalike Michael Gove and Matt Hancock about her concerns.

That same month, LFI Diagnostics Ltd was incorporated, according to Companies House documents. It too began trying to sell the government lateral flow tests with Mone’s help. It is not known whether the lateral flow tests LFI Diagnostics pitched to the government were the same as those PPE Medpro had tried to sell.

However, what is known – courtesy of Matt Hancock’s recently published diaries – is the action the former health secretary said Mone took in June 2021, when it appeared that LFI Diagnostics’ bid for government business was stalling.

The former health secretary wrote that Mone then sent him an “extraordinarily aggressive” and “threatening” email about a lateral flow company that “has had a dreadful time” cutting through government red tape.

Hancock did not name the firm as LFI Diagnostics in his diaries, but stated that Mone had been “representing” its commercial interests. A well-placed source confirmed to the Guardian the company referred to by Hancock was LFI Diagnostics.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/06/revealed-second-firm-pushed-by-michelle-mone-was-secret-entity-of-husbands-office

[McSquared]

This mone is a right piece of work. Of course fuck all will come of the scandal

[BarryCrocker]

This mone is a right piece of work. Of course fuck all will come of the scandal

Probably, but it will have some political blowback on the Tories and maybe even the House of Lords in or after the next election cycle. Hopefully.

[Red-Soldier]

Probably, but it will have some political blowback on the Tories and maybe even the House of Lords in or after the next election cycle. Hopefully.

Yep.  The timing is perfect.

[Huyrob]

This mone is a right piece of work. Of course fuck all will come of the scandal

Not so sure of that, mega millions of potential fraud, the status of the HOC. The inept way contracts were scrutinised.
I think jail time beckons, unless like in the “ Guinness “ frauds they both pretend they cannot stand trial.

[Kenny's Jacket]

Not so sure of that, mega millions of potential fraud, the status of the HOC. The inept way contracts were scrutinised.
I think jail time beckons, unless like in the “ Guinness “ frauds they both pretend they cannot stand trial.

No way does she go to jail, lifes never that just

[Red Beret]

Wish the Guardian would go after Abu Dhabi FC with the same zeal it goes after corrupt Tories.

[Dr. Beaker]

No way does she go to jail, lifes never that just

Lord Archer and Lord Taylor both did a bit of porridge, from memory.

[PaulF]

Lord Archer and Lord Taylor both did a bit of porridge, from memory.

Archer deffo did jail time.

--edit-- I don't know Taylor.
--edit edit -- I don't "know" Archer either.  But I know he was sent down.

[Dr. Beaker]

Archer deffo did jail time.

--edit-- I don't know Taylor.
--edit edit -- I don't "know" Archer either.  But I know he was sent down.

Expenses job.

Edit: This prick

[PaulF]

Expenses job.

Wow. Wouldn't that be ALL of them.....

--edit-- pretty sure Archer wrote a book while he was inside. No doubt made a pretty penny off that.
As an aside, have you read any of his books ? The premise for not a penny more, not a penny less always intrigued me, but never got around to reading it.

[Huyrob]

Take the millions in profit from the company she says she has nothing to do with, then end her 'break'?

I’m a lawyer and no accountant, but how on earth does a £200 million contract produce £63 million profit. It was a newly incorporated company, what infrastructure did it have, had it acquired another company in weeks after it was incorporated that had the necessary background , Bon fides etc.  If this is a scandal then it ain’t going to need Columbo to sort it. My belief is that we have a greedy t**t that has got away with all sorts previously and thought this was a bit of fun to show his business acumen . I think they will both go down, may take a while but this apart from the money was at the height of a disaster killing thousands and they chose that moment to make a financial killing.

[Huyrob]

No way does she go to jail, lifes never that just

I accept what you say but the circumstances of this fraud are unique, the sentence if/ when passed May/ should reflect that. There can be no mitigating circumstances as she was the controller, already a multi millionairess  so what can she plead in mitigation?

[Huyrob]

Lord Archer and Lord Taylor both did a bit of porridge, from memory.

Don’t forget Aitken for perjury and his quote…

Jonathan Aitken said he was going to fight "the cancer of bent and twisted journalism" with "the simple sword of truth".

May take a while but some of these bent sheisters will cop it. And in the interim their lives must be “ uncomfortable “

[Red Beret]

Wow. Wouldn't that be ALL of them.....

--edit-- pretty sure Archer wrote a book while he was inside. No doubt made a pretty penny off that.
As an aside, have you read any of his books ? The premise for not a penny more, not a penny less always intrigued me, but never got around to reading it.

Archer has written several books. As a writer, he's not half bad tbf, although I only saw the TV version of Kane and Able.

EDIT: like his Wiki intro:

Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament, but did not seek re-election after a financial scandal that left him almost bankrupt.

[Elmo!]

It's OT but worth noting on here, but my MP Stephen Flynn elected as new WM leader for the SNP replacing Ian Blackford. Honestly in my experience he's a bit bland and a bit of a non-entity. I called for Blackford to go long ago after the Patrick Grady affair so glad he has gone now, if a bit late.

More interesting is the fact that Mhairi Black is his deputy leader, though it isn't a role that gathers much extra attention.

[TSC]

No way does she go to jail, lifes never that just

Labour can play the long game on this.  In 2 years time this will remain relatively fresh in the memory.  Take this, Patterson and add numerous other billions wasted and it’s fraudulent activity against the taxpayer above and beyond what’s ever gone before.

[TSC]

‘There’s no drugs’

https://news.sky.com/story/strep-a-pharmacies-warn-of-penicillin-shortage-as-parents-warned-not-to-self-diagnose-strep-a-in-children-12763138

[spen71]

Had BBC news on this morning. Yes I know I shouldn’t was awake early.    Christ the presenters are so Tory.   The Ambulance union leader ripped him the interviewer to pieces.

[kavah]

What’s up with the UK? No PPE, no antibiotics, no HRT medicine. I know the Tories wanted to smash the unions and manufacturing but you’d think  they wouldn’t want to rely on China and South East Asia for strategically important things like all medicines? At least before Brexit we could source the EU countries without friction. 
The Tories are just power mad, penny wise pound foolish, know the cost of everything and the value of nothing dickheads. and I’m still convinced they’ll win the next election because Keir Starmer once didn’t bow enough to Prince William or his poppy wasn’t  big enough.

[spen71]

What’s up with the UK? No PPE, no antibiotics, no HRT medicine. I know the Tories wanted to smash the unions and manufacturing but you’d think  they wouldn’t want to rely on China and South East Asia for strategically important things like all medicines? At least before Brexit we could source the EU countries without friction. 
The Tories are just power mad, penny wise pound foolish, know the cost of everything and the value of nothing dickheads. and I’m still convinced they’ll win the next election because Keir Starmer once didn’t bow enough to Prince William or his poppy wasn’t  big enough.

The country is fast becoming a shit hole

[reddebs]

The country is fast becoming a shit hole

Becoming? 

It already is in lots of places but unfortunately from what I get told, it's because we're overcrowded and we're still letting too many in.

Nothing to do with the wasted billions, or the corrupt bastards sat in Westminster, or the small percentage of vastly wealthy people who contribut fuck all.

No none of that, it's Labours fault!!

[rob1966]

Becoming? 

It already is in lots of places but unfortunately from what I get told, it's because we're overcrowded and we're still letting too many in.

Nothing to do with the wasted billions, or the corrupt bastards sat in Westminster, or the small percentage of vastly wealthy people who contribut fuck all.

No none of that, it's Labours fault!!

I can understand that mentality a tiny bit if you are an inward looking idiot and you live in an area where loads came in for work in the RDCs etc, but the reality is nothing of the kind.

It's all Blairs fault you see because migration was encouraged under Labour, never mind that millions of brits went the other way to move permanently to places like Spain, while coming back to use the NHS, buy holiday homes, get summer jobs, etc

[Red-Soldier]

It's OT but worth noting on here, but my MP Stephen Flynn elected as new WM leader for the SNP replacing Ian Blackford. Honestly in my experience he's a bit bland and a bit of a non-entity. I called for Blackford to go long ago after the Patrick Grady affair so glad he has gone now, if a bit late.

More interesting is the fact that Mhairi Black is his deputy leader, though it isn't a role that gathers much extra attention.

You should start a Scottish politics thread 

[spen71]

Barclay is another Tory prick