And Michael Fabricant saying teachers and nurses watch porn in the staff room after a long day, and there's nothing wrong with that
Rishi (multi-millionaire) Sunak thinks helping poor folk to pay their gas bills and put food on the table right now is a "silly" idea. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61244541 He obviously has a total grasp of the gravity of the situation for millions of vulnerable people, and the unrelenting anxiety the cost of living crisis is causing them. The man is all heart.
The people (millionaires) that sit in the House of Commons are totally detached from the real world, that’s why the system is flawed - fuke’em all
Supermarkets! The Pandemic? Profits soar Cost of living crisis? Profits soar War in Ukraine? Profits soar https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61254152 What's wrong with this f**king picture And while I'm ranting about this... pay UK dairy farmers a fair price for their milk you b*****ds!!
Germany's shame. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61257846 Russian demands for gas to be paid for in roubles is a clear breach of all existing contracts. Poland and Bulgaria are having none of it. Bravo to them Germany talked tough, but now when it comes to the crunch it seems they will capitulate rather than suffer. Sadly, I also understand that although the UK only imports 5% of our gas from Russia, we cannot commit to ending that by the end of this year. It's only Russian oil that we are supposed to be phasing out by then. I sincerely hope that no UK company will surrender to Russian demands over payment in roubles only. That would be utterly shameful.
Putin's latest attempt to win friends is to target the leader of the U.N. in Kiev. You would hope that would make some of Putin's supporters withdraw their support. If Russia didn't have oil and gas they probably would....
It beggars belief that a permanent member of the UN Security Council could fire rockets at a city where they know the Secretary General is visiting. And for that member to brazenly threaten to expand the War in Ukraine into a Global conflict is unforgivable. It is not NATO expansion that Putin fears. It is the expansion of freedom. Freedom for Nations to follow their own destiny, voted for fairly by their own people without intimidation or rigged elections. The British Empire was just as reluctant to grant that freedom. And it was just as wrong to do so. At least we woke up and recognised that, after the horrors of the last World War.
Getting on with the job... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61276319 I expect it was his birthday and he only watched it for nine minutes
Boris Becker being described as "Britain's Favourite German". Shurely shome mishtake? That honour belongs to Bauer (94th)
Spanish newspaper report this morning that Sinn Fein could be about to make history and take over the reins in Northern Ireland. personally, if that happens. you can tie it directly with the DUP proping up the Tories and propelling the hardest Brexit possible without seemingly understanding that their own border with the Republic was going to cause a big hit. They also (and this is funny as fuÇk) decided to believe Boris Johnson, who stated there would be no border in the Irish sea and then put a border in the Irish sea. The oven ready deal seems to be something the Tories want to renegotiate because of the Irish situation, but the circle they want to square is the same one they said they had solved - the EU have hard borders between themselves and non EU states, and the Good Friday agreement says there can be none between the Republic and the North. A few Irish posters on CL seem to think this has brought the question of Irish unity an awful lot nearer - who'd have imagined a sensible party like the evolution-denyers of the DUP could have engineered something so radically against their own political agenda? And while I'm dancing on Brexit, I enjoyed seeing Rees-Mogg claiming a week ago that the UK cannot implement border controls between itself and the EU (something that the EU did the moment Brexit was implemented) as this would be an act of self harm. Well, yes, now you mention it! How's that thing in the Sun going asking for readers to suggest EU laws the UK should get rid of? Myaybe getting Old Etonians barred from power would be a better approach.
Boris likes to claim that we lead the world in this that and the other. It seems we're going to be leading the world in obesity, or Europe at least, since Americans have been the world's fattest for many years. Fly the Fat Flag!
The way things are going I don't think obesity is going to be a big problem for much longer in the UK. As during wars throughout history, malnutrition could become an issue though. I find it remarkable that food banks have been so quietly accepted as just a fact of life here now. As if the need for them isn't anybody's fault, it's simply one of those things. Absolute poverty (unlike the more general cost-of-living worries) just doesn't seem to be on the agenda.
The trouble is that poverty causes people to eat food which is high in carbs and calories and low in nutritional value. And for the rest of the population Deliveroo is a contributor to unhealthy eating. We nearly always cook from scratch, and I find now that restaurant food is so rich I am usually sick after eating ahrt.
A lukewarm performance by Keir Starmer and Labour in the local elections. He is a much more centre-ground friendly leader than Corbyn. But Starmer lacks any spark of charisma. Partygate did hurt the Tories, and if they want to gloss over that and not learn the lessons of it that's fine with me. They'll get punished again for it in the 2024 GE, possibly to the extent of losing their majority. But in my view Starmer has been pretty ineffectual in his handling of Partygate. He is a lightweight who has repeatedly failed to land any damaging blows on Boris Johnson. If Partygate does help to bring the Conservatives down in two years, the credit for that will go much more to the free press and Sue Gray than to Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.
Sir Keir's main attribute was that he was Not Jeremy Corbyn, now he's Not Boris Johnson. Not enough. He is not pro-active enough, and doesn't present a positive narrative. Johnson does, although it's usually a pack of lies, which is what I expect the electorate to choose in a G.E.
Rumours are that the Sue Gray report in full is absolutely damning. if Boris gets a couple more fines, those plus all the gory details of the report might sink him. If not, we'll just have to wait until the next scandal. MP's reputations as a whole are right back in the gutter, and Johnson's lack of personal honour is only making it worse.
Durham Police have launched an investigation into whether Sir Keir Starmer broke lockdown rules. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61352174 Sir Kier now has the perfect opportunity to demonstrate he is a better man than Prime Minister Boris Johnson. To show that he (Starmer) is a man of integrity who truly believes in the importance of standards in public office. The Leader of the Opposition should now resign.
I think Keir Starmer should go now. Boris should have resigned at the same stage (before he was actually fined) but of course he did not and will not - because he has no integrity. If Sir Keir goes now his action will shame the Prime Minister more deeply than any of his verbal attacks on him. On the other hand, even if Durham Police conclude for a second time that no rules were broken, I don't think Starmer will have any credibility left on the subject of Partygate. Even if the degree of what the PM and his No.10 staff did was much more severe and born of a corrupt culture (rather than just a single careless incident) the lack of integrity in the response will be looked at by many people as just the same. The Labour leader will be seen (fairly or unfairly) as just as lacking in moral fibre as the PM.