Off Topic The Politics Thread

Even by the standards of these absolutely corrupt and inept ****s, for nobody to resign over the Downing St Xmas party is shocking given the restrictions people were under and £10k fines handed out to plebs for breaking the rules.

 

Really? Thats always handy to know!

 

Yep. Get away with something for a year and you’re gold.

 

The police don't look at things retrospectively.


I better book them in for a burglary I might have next week...just in case then

 

Even with advance notice they won't waste their time on a burglary

 

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IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIA
Parliament drug use claims to be raised with police this week
House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has promised to raise allegations of drug use in Parliament with the Metropolitan Police this week.

He described a report in the Sunday Times that traces of cocaine had been found in several lavatory areas as "deeply concerning".

Sir Lindsay told the BBC that those who "flout the law" should face punishment.

His decision comes as the government is expected on Monday to pledge £700m over three years to tackle problem drug use.

This will include putting more emphasis on recovery from addiction, and less on prosecuting people caught with illegal substances.

• UK drug strategy to focus on recovery not prison
• Drug and alcohol treatment sees rise in deaths

The Sunday Time reports all but one of 12 lavatory areas in Parliament that were tested showed traces of cocaine, adding the House of Commons Commission - responsible for the running of the Palace of Westminster - was considering allowing the use of sniffer dogs to detect users.

Sir Lindsay told the BBC: "The accounts of drug misuse in Parliament given to the Sunday Times are deeply concerning, and I will be raising them as a priority with the Metropolitan Police next week. I expect to see full and effective enforcement of the law.

"While Parliament provides extensive support services for any staff or Members who may need help with drug misuse - and I would encourage anyone struggling with such issues to take up such help - for those who choose to flout the law and bring the institution into disrepute the sanctions are serious."

The maximum penalty for possession of class A drugs, including cocaine, is up to seven years in prison or an unlimited fine, or both.

Suppliers face up to life imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.

The latest Office for National Statistics figures for England suggested one in 11 adults aged 16 to 59 years took a drug in the year to March 2020.

And 3.4% of this age group - approximately 1.1 million people - used a Class A drug in the same period, the ONS added.

 

Representing the 3.4%

 

Bit fascisty. It’s probably fine.

 

Just

 

I’m enjoying the description of ‘drinks, nibbles and party games’ for ‘several dozen people’ at Number 10 last Christmas as a ‘necessary work meeting’, therefore within all the regulations. I’m enjoying even more minister after minister being rolled out to defend the indefensible, none of whom were, apparently, invited to the ‘necessary work meeting’.

Still, it’s all ‘factored in’ innit?

 

Review needs to be done with great care, but if courts are taking ground from freedom of speech, I'd rather our elected representatives preside over it than a few blokes who read law at Oxford and practised at the Bar.

 

Our elected representatives are incompetent nonces though.

 

You get what you pay for. US representatives get double our MP's £80k salary. France and Germany pay considerably more than ours. Any self respecting top UK graduate is unlikely to be enticed by that salary with the risk of having his/office attacked or being stabbed. A lucrative career at Goldman Sachs or Facebook beckons.

 

I’m all for paying them more if it secures a stronger pool of people. If we’re getting big Dom Raab as Justice Secretary at the current salary then I’m not sure it’s really the salaries stopping someone better being in the role.

 

Not sure I follow the logic on Raab. If you pay more, you may get better than Raab. He seems to be a foot in mouth merchant at the least.

 

80k plus a massive amount they can steal in expenses plus other jobs they would never have got near had they not been an mp

 

The logic for me is that the holder of the role isn’t selected for his/her competence. He’s there for his loyalty to the cause. Being **** enough to make Johnson himself seem relatively normal is a bonus.

 

But if people of loyalty are chosen from a deeper intellectual pool, there's the benefit. Ministers under Thatcher and Blair were, mostly, of greater intellectual stature than what we have now on either benches

 

It would be a quid pro quo that with the salary increase comes with a much more restricted and accountable expenses system. And there must be greater restrictions of second jobs and what jobs ministers can take on leaving government/parliament