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Off Topic News & Current affairs (merged)

Discussion in 'Charlton' started by ForestHillBilly, Feb 6, 2020.

  1. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    It's very mysterious, isn't it? I think the truth will emerge eventually, but atm I can only think of two possible explanations. Either there has been political pressure on the Met to protect Big Dog, or there is something more serious in the report, like misconduct in public office, which may prejudice a trial if released now. All will be revealed in the fullness of time I hope, but until then there is no point in pursuing Big Dog, you know what he'll say.
     
    #2041
  2. Ken Shabby

    Ken Shabby Well-Known Member

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    please log in to view this image
     
    #2042
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  3. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    <laugh> spot on <applause>
     
    #2043
  4. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    In the recent Daniel Morgan enquiry the Met was declared to be "institutionally corrupt" was it not?
     
    #2044
  5. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    Partygate 01.png

    Is the Met trying to impose the equivalent of a D-Notice on Sue Gray's report?
    A threat to National Security?
     
    #2045
  6. Butterfield

    Butterfield Well-Known Member

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    Joe Lycett

    CE1DE5EB-D814-4037-A3A0-44B8066ACDDE.png
     
    #2046
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  7. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    Listening to the LBC phone-ins today it appears that an increasing number of people are realising that Boris is a moral degenerate. The dilemma for Tory MP's is that Party members still support him but voters do not.
     
    #2047
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  8. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    Unusually, I was working in a part of our factory today where LBC was on in the background. The prevailing view was that No.10 has lost all the respect it should have as the place people look to for responsible and trustworthy leadership.
    The impression that staff there were casually and routinely bending and disregarding lockdown rules is now firmly established. And that mocking video clip also has many people believing that No.10 found the sacrifices being made by common folk to follow the rules a subject for amusement. Something to smirk and giggle about.

    Exactly which rules (if any) were broken, and when, and by who, are nearly beside the point now.
    The Culture of No.10, including the conduct of Dominic Cummings, has been exposed as falling so far short of the basic levels of respect and decency the British people should be able to expect, that the bond of trust required for leadership by consent has been terribly damaged.

    Quite possibly there will be multiple sackings of No.10 staff, including civil servants.
    If that leads to a longer term change of culture in Downing Street then it will be worthwhile, even if harsh on some individuals who may have done nothing more wrong than not stood up against a prevailing pattern of drinking and smug arrogance.
    But unless No.10 also gets a new Prime Minister to go with a new staff, there will be a real danger the new faces will just end up adopting bad old habits.

    For the longer term good of the whole Country, a real new start would be best in my view.
    Not just a big staff re-shuffle.

    And I'm not saying that as somebody who has always had it in for Boris.
    I supported him from the time he became Conservative Party leader, to more or less the start of the Pandemic. I've posted many times in the past of my sneaking admiration for his clumsy, cheeky but engaging manner.
    Basically, I was happy to side with him while he was carrying out the verdict of the Referendum after his thumping GE victory.
    But the behaviour of No.10 during the Pandemic under his watch is unforgivable in my view.
    They have betrayed the trust of the public.
    And which other Prime Minister in history has lost control of his own party just a couple of years after winning an 80 seat majority?

    The Country is in an awful state, with terrible challenges to overcome.
    We need common sense, temperance, honesty and moderation from our leaders. And maybe even a little humility.
     
    #2048
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2022
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  9. Ken Shabby

    Ken Shabby Well-Known Member

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    I've been trying to work out why the Met investigating means that the Sue Gray report gets delayed, as it makes no sense to me. Seems I'm not the only one!

    From the Evening Standard:

    Barrister Rupert Myers said: “The Met has absolutely no power or authority to prevent the publication of the Sue Gray report in full. If they’re worried about their investigation, they should get on with their investigation.”

    Human rights barrister Adam Wagner added: “How would a factual civil service report about events the police is investigating ‘prejudice’ their investigation?

    “Arguably all of this would have been avoided if police had done the sensible thing and begun investigating in December when the allegations emerged. Now we are in public accountability limbo and there is a messy dynamic between the internal Gray report and police investigation.”

    However Barrister Andrew Keogh suggested the force could be probing more serious issues, including withholding or deleting evidence. “Everyone is assuming that the Met is only investigating ‘Cake Gate’, he tweeted.

    “What recent history tells us is that mobile phone loss and data deletion across the Westminster estate appears to be a lot higher than the national average....Perhaps there is a more serious issue.”
     
    #2049
  10. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    I would agree that destroying evidence would likely be more serious than what the evidence itself points to, assuming the offences in question are breaking lockdown rules - which should lead to nothing worse than on-the-spot fines, and ultimately a Magistrates' Court appearance if those fines are not paid.

    In the scramble to cover No.10 arses from punishment for relatively minor (if intensely embarrassing) offences be leading some people to dig themselves into a much deeper hole?

    Trying to evade a stain on your reputation like a lockdown rule-breach fine is an understandable motivation for deleting some files or losing a laptop or two.
    And I would guess that kind of thing has been going on ever since Sue Gray began her inquiry.
    The police do take a very dim view of it though under normal circumstances.

    What a sorry mess.
     
    #2050

  11. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    Anybody wondering whether the Labour Party are any closer to being trusted with governing the country, have a look at this;

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-60188577

    Sir Keir Starmer - sort out the nasty wing of your party.
    Nobody's going to believe you represent a 'broad church' with this kind of stuff going on.
    You need the middle ground -and this ain't it.
     
    #2051
  12. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    News that Boris has hinted the redacted parts of Sue Gray's report may never be published.

    What??
    A report into possible offences where the maximum punishment is a fixed penalty fine?
     
    #2052
  13. Ken Shabby

    Ken Shabby Well-Known Member

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    Just saw that. For the moment, the report has been redacted due to a police investigation. The person leading the investigation is Helen Ball, the Met Police Assistant Commisioner for Professionalism. She was appointed to the post by Cressida Dick, who, surprise surprise, is her partner. Doesn't seem too professional to be promoting your partner into a post for overseeing the professionalsim of the Met, and frankly, the whole thing still reeks of ongoing cover up. And the current incumbent of Number 10 is refusing to confirm whether an investigation into parties at number 10 will be fully released. Fully transparent as a brick wall then.

    I see Labour, while calling for Boris to resign, have pointed out that for the Labour party, it would be better if he stayed. When you are facing a PM resembling a Stegosaurus who has wandered into a tar pit, you can see the logic of that. And he's off to Eastern Europe to try and, well, talk to someone about Ukraine. Putin is going to be pretty dumbfounded when the PM of the UK starts wittering on about Peppa Pig World.
     
    #2053
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  14. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    <laugh>
     
    #2054
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  15. Ken Shabby

    Ken Shabby Well-Known Member

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    You Scots are a bit uppity! Fancy Ian Blackford accusing the Prime Minister of being a liar! Should earn him a few votes north of the border
     
    #2055
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  16. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    I was waiting for him to mention Peppa Pig World this afternoon in the Commons <laugh>

    Seriously though,
    It's pointless anybody waiting for Boris Johnson to behave with any integrity, honesty or decency, because he lacks all those qualities.
    He will never resign, even if the Met whack him personally with several fixed penalty fines (which they won't).
    And if his back benchers won't vote him out, we'll just have to wait until the 2024 General Election.

    Nothing Bojo does now will surprise me, or even be worthy of serious comment, between now and 2024.
    He is, in essence (though not in pure racist nastiness) the British Donald Trump.
    Trump supporters don't care how vile he is, they just want him to win so they'll get what they want.
    Similarly, I think remaining Boris supporters don't care how much of a liar and a bungler he is, as long as he gets things done the way they want.
    That was my reason for supporting him in 2019. He got done what I (and other leave voters) wanted.
    But his behaviour during the Pandemic is too much for me to stomach.


    If the USA re-elects Trump as President in 2024 they deserve him. And they can all go to Hell with him.
    If the UK re-elects Boris Johnson in 2024 then we will deserve him, and everything that happens to us thereafter.
    Should that happen, I'll never say a bad word about him again.
     
    #2056
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2022
  17. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    The 'update' on the Sue Gray report was a farce.
    Redacted fragments of the full report. Shorn of all details - even of events Cressida Dick's partner is not investigating.

    Public trust in No.10 and the Met police has been gravely damaged.
    With every twist and turn of his sleazy saga a stitch-up becomes more and more likely the only plausible explanation.
    Sue Gray must be beginning to twig that she's been done up like a kipper.
     
    #2057
  18. lardiman

    lardiman The truth is out there
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    OK, enough of boozy parties for now.
    The police will take months finishing their enquiries.

    Back to things that are affecting people's everyday lives right now...
    • Food prices up around 50% on average (not 5%)
    • Fuel prices going up and up at the pumps regardless of the oil price
    • A gambling addiction epidemic
    • Gas & electric bills about to double
    • Record levels of evictions
    • An epidemic of mental illness
    • 6 million on NHS waiting lists
    • Big tax rise about to kick in
    Do you get all that Boris? And can you fix it?
     
    #2058
  19. The Penguin

    The Penguin Well-Known Member

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    As Harold McMillan said when asked what he feared most in politics,
    "Events, dear boy, events".
     
    #2059
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  20. Ken Shabby

    Ken Shabby Well-Known Member

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    I read elsewhere there are also big queue's to get in and out of the port of Dover.

    Brexit eh! Who'd have thunk it?
     
    #2060

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