Wonderful that Douglas Ross has spoken up about the "party affair" but if he is really good, he would make the Scottish Conservatives an independent party from the Westminster based one. For starters, the UK Conservatives do not represent Scottish interests. He could then ally his Scottish Conservatives with more acceptable centre-right parties like the CDP in Germany and the Macronists in France.
I`m not so sure - Ross aligns himself rigorously with central conservative policy, such as failing to declare earnings from other sources for example.
I don't go along with that Ian. If it was as you describe then that should have been the 'party line' maintaining the event by email invitation was permissable under the then current regulations. An office block with a number of separately functioning offices that join for drinks in a shared garden is, so far as I understand, way beyond the rules. All attendees should face the consequences. This goes on the list of offences Johnson and his cronies should be held accountable for.
He’s toast. When the Spectator turns on a sitting Tory PM, it’s the end of the road: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article..._vmfOhipkonCIBNYzCXm13hkFj9gV4Gs3a08s_KzTkSW4
Saw a snippet in the Echo, featuring the Tory MP for Romsey, and her concern seems to be that Johnson is damaging the Conservative Brand. Shows that self preservation of the party is always more important than preservation of life, to a Tory MP. Anyone of them could have spoken out about his dangerous, life endangering behaviour, throughout the pandemic, but nope. They only speak up when they realise that their own jobs might be at risk.
Lets hope so. To Ian's point: If this was informal after work quick drink in the open air for colleagues in the 'office block', then I think you may have a valid point. But this event took organization and invites went out to people not necessarily in the location at the time, and even some of the invitees questioned if it was morally correct. BJ does live there, and is entitled to visit the garden any time he wishes whilst he does so - but he has said in the commons he was unaware of any parties being held and now he admits he was there let alone having knowledge of it. I do believe the Tories will try to battle through this at least until the Autumn though
The knives are out from all directions and I can't see him surviving for long. I do though agree with the gist of Ian's post in as much as for all the things that could have been his downfall, he's getting done for an office party rather than corruption or incompetence. It's a case of using any means possible to finish him off, even if it's not the most serious. Even Al Capone was only caught for tax evasion.
According to the Mirror, 400 people a day are currently waiting for longer than 12 hours in A&E, before receiving treatment. NHS England plan to do something about this and have drafted a planning document that will abandon the 12 hour target. The draft document was published online on Christmas Eve, so it looks as if it was being sneaked out to avoid challenge. The politicians say that the NHS isn’t overwhelmed, yet more targets are being removed or changed. The draft document also plans to alter the policy on referral to treatment. Currently that target is 52 weeks, but the new target will be double that - 2 years. Latest data shows that more than 300,000 patients waited more than 52 weeks from referral to treatment. I accept that these are difficult times, and Covid has been a contributing factor, but FFS never forget the 12 years of deliberate underfunding of the NHS that have put us in such a poor starting position to deal with the pandemic, as well as the government’s failure to respond correctly to a report that gave fair warning that we would not cope with a pandemic. The proposed changes are supposed to be for 12 months only, but time will tell. The Tory party has normalised poor service in the NHS.
It’s all part of the grand plan to encourage desperate people to go private, which will lead to more private running of services, and so the vicious cycle continues. The Tories have never supported the NHS, and the current bunch are dead set on getting rid of it as soon as possible.
The Duke of York's military titles and royal patronages have been returned to the Queen, Buckingham Palace has announced. Prince Andrew will also stop using the style His Royal Highness in an official capacity, a royal source added. It comes as he faces a civil case in the US over claims he sexually assaulted a woman when she was 17, which he has consistently denied. A judge ruled on Wednesday that the case brought by Virginia Giuffre could continue, after he tried to have it dismissed. Buckingham Palace said in a statement: "With the Queen's approval and agreement, the Duke of York's military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to the Queen. "The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen."
