Thread 19 From Trussterfuck to Sunakered

[DuncinToffee]

And so it continues

Previous thread
www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4661264-thread-18-big-dog-halloween-edition

And that's the crux of it.

They've not only chosen to do something that benefits the Tory voters at a critical time for them needing those votes but also to co incide with the fact so many are disenfranchised with politics due to their actions - they won't even bother to get a card and vote.

Yesterday in Parliament "it is important that both sides respect that independent body..."
Except, of course in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2021. What a bloody hypocrite @willquince is

twitter.com/gbrchris_a/status/1602567751322816514?s=46&t=JDdX4tH9vnm5-Tv2eYietA

Of course Independent Pay Review Bodies were assessing based on inflation predictions from the start of the year - not where we are now.

So predictable

Niall Paterson - Since 2010 MPs salaries have increased by 28% & nurses pay has reduced, in real terms, by between 10 & 20%... is that fair?

Mark Harper - We don't set MPs pay.. it's set by an independent pay body..

Link to the interview
twitter.com/Haggis_UK/status/1602568425557065728?t=Sr3NYnwrQxMvclIzRz3NGQ&s=19

Mick Lynch on R4 this morning upping the ante - accusing Michelle Hussain of asking propaganda questions parroted by the Sun and the Daily Mail.
How is this going to end? MH made the point that the share of the Union membership in favour of striking is getting smaller. The transport secretary then took up that point by stressing how a significant minority of union members voted in favour of the offer.

Is Mick Lynch rattled by the proposed bill to limit the rail workers' right to strike ? DH has a solution - any worker classed as an essential worker should get an automatic inflation linked annual pay rise. This doesn't solve the problem of terms and conditions but a good point.

I half heard the transport minister (I think) waffling on about 4% being very generous and doing some creative maths regarding union members voting. It was on bbc2 radio news at 8.

Probably Steve Barclay. On radio 4 he went on about it being necessary to reform the railways, passenger numbers are down and taxpayers subsidise the railways to huge amount.
Quite why he was unable to answer any of the questions he was asked I don't know. Clearly the thought has never crossed his mind that if taxpayers are subsidising private companies to run the railways, then taxpayers are paying the profits of those companies and the gross salaries of all those bosses.

It wasn't Barclay, could have been Harper. Not that it matters, they all repeat the same party lines.

I may have mis remembered the name. We've had so many ministers its hard to remember who they are.
Whoever they were they were clearly far from being on top of their brief.

Mark Harper seems the most likely

Here he is on Sky
Transport secretary Mark Harper still trying to squirm out of telling @skynewsniall whether he asked rail co's to insert, on the eleventh hour, what he knew would be a wrecking negotiation demand. It would be very easy to deny, so the refusal to answer is itself an answer. ~AA
twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1602604037496446976?t=l1H2CZtiiJI5NhpxF6of8w&s=19

The railway line near me has completely shut down because the company that 'manages' the tracks and the level crossings has gone into receivership. This is the same line they are planning, possibly, to use for part of the East West rail link.

Privatisation is great, hey?

I am sure that we were told that there would be wage rises as the result of Brexit and the consequent shortage of cheap labour. Does anyone know where those rises have gone?

It’s beyond me that we have a government that’s refusing to engage with the unions. What do these ministers think they’re for? What’s the point of them?

Those Ministers exist to ensure that those who already have far more money than anyone could need in a lifetime continuing to get richer at a rapid pace.

British railways didn't pay dividends from.the 1870s to nationalisation. Quite why anyone thought they would be more profitable once there were more and faster alternatives than the horse and canal boats is beyond me.

It has changed from increasing wages to changing to a better paid job. Who needs front line staff if we can all be CEO's.

Information on voting ID sent to election staff. Can't see many volunteering for this

This is an email sent to election staff by my local authority. Unbelievable
twitter.com/meolscop1978/status/1602624794138116096?t=Li642BxaCaGoR9PtWCopyA&s=19

Tory MP hasn't paid his taxes

NEW - A bankruptcy order has been made against Tory MP Adam Afriyie after a specialist court heard how he owed around 1.7 million. It's unclear if there will be a by-election - there isn't for every bankruptcy.

twitter.com/jessicaelgot/status/1602633307908358144?t=fw3kKXamc4C4LxP22dEMpw&s=19

A by-election is necessary when there is a "bankruptcy restrictions order" against an MP.

But questions whether it is tenable for an MP to sit if they have racked up £1.7m of debts with HMRC

Into the pockets of the very important people at the top who already strive hard enough for nice things. They deserve it, not like the proles who do all the actual work. They don't strive hard enough so can fuck off.

How dare some of them have the temerity to make everyone notice this by going strike. The plebs should know their place.

Just mentioning to DH about the voter id thing citing the Oyster card "discrepancy". He says that apparently that it's more complicated than that, and the 60+ and not 18+ being accepted is more to do with young people being more likely to have digital id. Anyone got any links clarifying this?

@tobee there's no logic to what your DH is saying though. Just because younger people may be more likely to have digital ID that doesn't make an 18+ physical Oyster card any less valid as ID than a 60+ physical Oyster card. It's a totally inconsistent approach. And whether or not it is intentional (and I think it is), the optics look really, really bad.

Although looking more at the Paul Waugh can understand that older people more likely to have physical id and younger to have digital but that doesn't explain "refusing" the 18+ physical oyster. Sounds overly complicated but i'd like to know the facts.

X post @pointythings !

Since I posted this, the VoterID issue has really caught fire.
And it looks like the Govt is being forced to listen. Minister Baroness Scott just announced in Lords an independent review into impact of #voteID on 2023 local elections turn-out.

twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1602704343706345472?s=46&t=mPDtFJQ1eQkbQdxl3rWehg

Feels like the shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted but better then nothing. Wonder how long a review will take.

Jim Pickard tweeted similar

- it’s not a huge concession but under pressure from Labour Lords the government has just agreed to establish properly independent review into impact of #voteID on 2023 local elections turn-out

- Gov was facing likely voting defeat in Lords tonight over this particular issue