Do the ‘list’ MSPs have more time on their hands without a constituency to represent? Any difference in status between the two types of MSP?
You then probably get **** knows how many nutters representing whatever Farage’s latest Party is called. Arguably it wouldn’t make a huge difference from the righter wing of the Tories anyway but **** knows what sort of policies they’d have to promise to stop people switching to them.
It would also give better representation to Green voters and those who might want to vote for a more radical left-wing offering than the current Labour party represents.
No difference as far as I'm aware, and pretty sure that if they are from the same party they share the office in the regional/constituency area (they do in Inverclyde anyway). As to their workload, I have no idea.
someone should tell them please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Looking at some of the ridiculous amounts of money MPs are receiving from consultancy and the like, if it came down to having to sack one job off then it would be that of an MP surely.
Susie Dent please log in to view this image @susie_dent · Nov 9 Word of the day (again) is ‘catchfart’ (17th century): a follower of the political wind; one whose actions are guided entirely by the whims and desires of their boss.
how is it in siberia Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us This article is more than 17 years old · Secret report warns of rioting and nuclear war · Britain will be ‘Siberian’ in less than 20 years · Threat to the world is greater than terrorism please log in to view this image Pentagon outside Washington, DC (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Mark Townsend and Paul Harris in New York Sun 22 Feb 2004 01.33 GMT Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters.. A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a ‘Siberian’ climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world. The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents. ‘Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,’ concludes the Pentagon analysis. ‘Once again, warfare would define human life.’ The findings will prove humiliating to the Bush administration, which has repeatedly denied that climate change even exists. Experts said that they will also make unsettling reading for a President who has insisted national defence is a priority. The report was commissioned by influential Pentagon defence adviser Andrew Marshall, who has held considerable sway on US military thinking over the past three decades. He was the man behind a sweeping recent review aimed at transforming the American military under Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Climate change ‘should be elevated beyond a scientific debate to a US national security concern’, say the authors, Peter Schwartz, CIA consultant and former head of planning at Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and Doug Randall of the California-based Global Business Network. An imminent scenario of catastrophic climate change is ‘plausible and would challenge United States national security in ways that should be considered immediately’, they conclude. As early as next year widespread flooding by a rise in sea levels will create major upheaval for millions. Advertisement Last week the Bush administration came under heavy fire from a large body of respected scientists who claimed that it cherry-picked science to suit its policy agenda and suppressed studies that it did not like. Jeremy Symons, a former whistleblower at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said that suppression of the report for four months was a further example of the White House trying to bury the threat of climate change. Senior climatologists, however, believe that their verdicts could prove the catalyst in forcing Bush to accept climate change as a real and happening phenomenon. They also hope it will convince the United States to sign up to global treaties to reduce the rate of climatic change. A group of eminent UK scientists recently visited the White House to voice their fears over global warming, part of an intensifying drive to get the US to treat the issue seriously. Sources have told The Observer that American officials appeared extremely sensitive about the issue when faced with complaints that America’s public stance appeared increasingly out of touch. One even alleged that the White House had written to complain about some of the comments attributed to Professor Sir David King, Tony Blair’s chief scientific adviser, after he branded the President’s position on the issue as indefensible. Among those scientists present at the White House talks were Professor John Schellnhuber, former chief environmental adviser to the German government and head of the UK’s leading group of climate scientists at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. He said that the Pentagon’s internal fears should prove the ‘tipping point’ in persuading Bush to accept climatic change. Sir John Houghton, former chief executive of the Meteorological Office - and the first senior figure to liken the threat of climate change to that of terrorism - said: ‘If the Pentagon is sending out that sort of message, then this is an important document indeed.’ Bob Watson, chief scientist for the World Bank and former chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, added that the Pentagon’s dire warnings could no longer be ignored. ‘Can Bush ignore the Pentagon? It’s going be hard to blow off this sort of document. Its hugely embarrassing. After all, Bush’s single highest priority is national defence. The Pentagon is no wacko, liberal group, generally speaking it is conservative. If climate change is a threat to national security and the economy, then he has to act. There are two groups the Bush Administration tend to listen to, the oil lobby and the Pentagon,’ added Watson. ‘You’ve got a President who says global warming is a hoax, and across the Potomac river you’ve got a Pentagon preparing for climate wars. It’s pretty scary when Bush starts to ignore his own government on this issue,’ said Rob Gueterbock of Greenpeace. Already, according to Randall and Schwartz, the planet is carrying a higher population than it can sustain. By 2020 ‘catastrophic’ shortages of water and energy supply will become increasingly harder to overcome, plunging the planet into war. They warn that 8,200 years ago climatic conditions brought widespread crop failure, famine, disease and mass migration of populations that could soon be repeated. Randall told The Observer that the potential ramifications of rapid climate change would create global chaos. ‘This is depressing stuff,’ he said. ‘It is a national security threat that is unique because there is no enemy to point your guns at and we have no control over the threat.’ Randall added that it was already possibly too late to prevent a disaster happening. ‘We don’t know exactly where we are in the process. It could start tomorrow and we would not know for another five years,’ he said. ‘The consequences for some nations of the climate change are unbelievable. It seems obvious that cutting the use of fossil fuels would be worthwhile.’ So dramatic are the report’s scenarios, Watson said, that they may prove vital in the US elections. Democratic frontrunner John Kerry is known to accept climate change as a real problem. Scientists disillusioned with Bush’s stance are threatening to make sure Kerry uses the Pentagon report in his campaign. The fact that Marshall is behind its scathing findings will aid Kerry’s cause. Marshall, 82, is a Pentagon legend who heads a secretive think-tank dedicated to weighing risks to national security called the Office of Net Assessment. Dubbed ‘Yoda’ by Pentagon insiders who respect his vast experience, he is credited with being behind the Department of Defence’s push on ballistic-missile defence. Symons, who left the EPA in protest at political interference, said that the suppression of the report was a further instance of the White House trying to bury evidence of climate change. ‘It is yet another example of why this government should stop burying its head in the sand on this issue.’ Symons said the Bush administration’s close links to high-powered energy and oil companies was vital in understanding why climate change was received sceptically in the Oval Office. ‘This administration is ignoring the evidence in order to placate a handful of large energy and oil companies,’ he added.
please log in to view this image Amy Curtis @RantyAmyCurtis · Nov 8 Damn white people and their… *shuffles deck, draws card* …child carrying. please log in to view this image
Just two years until Claudia Webbe can threaten people with acid again. Pretty stiff penalty, but if her appeal is successful she can start straight away.
Labour calls on Boris Johnson to investigate Geoffrey Cox's second job Published 3 hours ago Share please log in to view this image IMAGE SOURCE,EPA Image caption, Geoffrey Cox represents the seat of Torridge and West Devon as an MP Labour has called on the PM to launch an investigation into one of his Tory MPs, who earned almost £900,000 through jobs outside Parliament. Sir Geoffrey Cox racked up the wage bill as a lawyer, including travelling to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) to advise on a corruption inquiry. Labour chair Anneliese Dodds said he "took advantage" of Covid restrictions to work remotely from the Caribbean. No 10 said MPs who don't serve their constituents are "not doing the job". A spokesman for Boris Johnson said all MPs should be "visible in their constituencies and available to help constituents with their constituency matters", adding: "If they're not doing that, they're not doing their job and will rightly be judged on that by their constituents." Politicians are allowed to have second jobs outside Westminster, but the work they do has come under the spotlight since ex-Tory MP Owen Paterson broke lobbying rules when working as a consultant. Which MPs have second jobs? Paterson row shows PM can't act with total impunity Minister expresses regret over Paterson vote Now Sir Geoffrey is facing questions after declaring on the Register of Members Interests - where MPs publish details of any additional work - he has made nearly £900,000 over the course of the year working as a lawyer. ADVERTISEMENT The Daily Mail revealed one of his contracts saw him travel to the British Virgin Islands in April to work on a corruption investigation into the government of the Overseas Territory, which was launched by the UK Foreign Office in January. The former Attorney General, who represents Torridge and West Devon in Parliament, was there for a number of weeks, meaning he was carrying out his work as an MP - including voting - from the Caribbean. There's no suggestion he has broken any rules. But Labour's shadow Northern Ireland secretary, Louise Haigh, told BBC News it was "absolutely staggering" the Tory MP was carrying out all this extra work at a time when "the vast majority of MPs were working harder than we've ever worked - helping serve our constituents through the toughest times of their lives". 'Sense of duty' In a letter to the PM, Ms Dodds wrote: "It seems Sir Geoffrey took advantage of Covid-related parliamentary rules and flew out to the BVI to vote by proxy from the other side of the Atlantic. "The irony is not lost on me that he arrived in the Caribbean on the day that those MPs who actually feel a sense of duty to their constituents were debating global anti-corruption standards. "The people of Torridge and West Devon must be wondering if Geoffrey Cox is a Caribbean-based barrister or a Conservative MP." Sir Geoffrey has not commented on the reports, but broadcasters at his constituency home have been told he is abroad. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Downing Street has faced torrid headlines for days now. What started as a story over one MP - Owen Paterson - morphed into one about the government's approach to standards. Now, the balance of MPs' work in and out of Parliament is being questioned. There is no suggestion that Geoffrey Cox has broken any rules. Indeed, many MPs have second jobs. But the extent to which he has focused on his legal work - and the fact he appears to have spent a number of weeks in the Caribbean - leaves question marks over whether he has got the balance right. Number 10 haven't explicitly criticised him - but the inference in the comments of a spokesman for PM were clear: MPs should prioritise their work in Parliament and make that work visible to their constituents. please log in to view this image From the start of 2021 until 7 September, all of Sir Geoffrey's votes in Parliament were carried out by a proxy - although many MPs were voting by proxy during this period because of the pandemic. He spoke in a debate in the House on 13 September, but since then he has missed over 30 divisions - where MPs vote - and only voted in one. When it comes to remuneration, according to the Register of Members' Interests - where MPs have to declare other earnings outside Parliament - Sir Geoffrey was paid £156,916.08 before VAT for 140 hours work over the period he is understood to have been in the British Virgin Islands for Withers LLP. He also earned over £280,000 with the same firm for almost 300 hours of work between January and July this year. Sir Geoffrey also declared on the register that from 1 November he will receive £400,000 plus VAT annually from Withers LLP for up to 41 hours of work a month. Media caption, Anneliese Dodds says the "corruption scandal" in the Tory Party is "getting deeper". In a statement, the law firm confirmed the MP had worked for them as a consultant global counsel since September 2020, adding: "As a leading QC, we very much value Sir Geoffrey's huge depth of expertise and experience in domestic and international legal disputes." Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab defended his fellow Tory, telling Times Radio, it was "legitimate" for the British Virgin Islands to hire Sir Geoffrey, "as long as it's properly declared". But he also said it was up to voters to judge if MPs had the "right priorities" alongside any additional work they did. However, the Liberal Democrats said the public would be "gobsmacked" by the reports into Sir Geoffrey. And one of its MPs, Wendy Chamberlain, calling it "frankly astonishing" that Mr Raab could defend his Tory colleague. The deputy chair of Sir Geoffrey's local Conservative Association, Debbie Flint, told the BBC the group "fully supports our MP". please log in to view this image 'Cox is excellent with constituents' Dominic Raab says it is up voters to decide if they want to stick with an MP working a second job. And Geoffrey Cox's local party seem confident that decision would fall in his favour. A county councillor in his Devon constituency, Debo Sellis, said the work he did locally was "phenomenal" and he was "passionate about the community". Ward councillor Peter Crozier also had no doubt he would win any upcoming vote, saying the MP was "excellent with his constituents". Mr Crozier added: "He is visible for those in need of help and is probably one of the best MPs with his constituents, and that's probably why he increases his majority every time." But a local councillor outside of the Tory Party, independent Steve Hipsey, had his own issues with Sir Geoffrey over the amount of time he spent in Westminster, rather than locally. "If I have any beef with him at all it is about the time he spends in Parliament representing his constituents," he told PA. "As a local councillor I am very concerned that we seem to be getting so little value for money out of him in Whitehall." please log in to view this image The prime minister has come under fire from all sides after trying to overhaul standards rules and block the suspension of his Mr Paterson, only to perform a U-turn less than 24 hours later. Mr Johnson then faced further criticism for refusing to apologise for the scandal and failing to turn up to an emergency debate on the issue in the Commons on Monday. The leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, accused the PM of "running scared". The three-hour emergency debate on standards saw Cabinet Office Minister Stephen Barclay expressing his "regret" over the "mistake" the government made with the vote on Mr Paterson's conduct. The government will now bring forward a motion next week, to unpick the proposal which would have set up a committee to review standards procedures. Downing Street said it would also allow for the Commons to approve the standards report into Mr Paterson's conduct, while also recognising he is no longer an MP.
I see the sewage vote went through again last night undercover of the other sewage getting spilled in parliment. How utterley disgusting we are becoming
