Westministenders: The Return of Parliamentary Sleaze?

[RedToothBrush]

Brexit is quietly going round and round in ever decreasing circles.

The story is that the European parliament will not agree to a transition period beyond 1st January 2020.

The third minister responsible for getting the Repel Bill through the Lords has quit. There are now nearly 400 amendments. It is scheduled for 6 days parliamentary time in the Commons from this coming week. With another 2 possible the following week. Rather bravely AFTER the budget. Bored with May, CVs are being submitted for the position of Chancellor.

Interest Rates are looking likely to rise next week too with the message being 'this is as good as it gets'.

Another team of MPs has gone to the EU to see if they can check up on May and her team. This is unlikely to work as Nicola Sturgeon came across a brick wall.

And then there are the many many distractions from it all.

Catalonia has declared independence, which will consume EU time and energy.

There are rumours that the first prosecution in Trump Russia will be Monday (Guess who is currently in the US. Yep, the gurning one). And there are increasing muttering about Russia over here, with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg being called to respond to a Select Committee investigation into Fake News.

And then there's the sleaze. Jared O'Mara seems to be the first in the queue. There are rumours more will be outed in several parties. Suggestions include May's right hand man Damien Green who was previously named in 2008. And the Tory Whips have a 'sleaze list' which suggests they know whats going on, but have done nothing.

This morning we have Gove making ill advised jokes about Weinstein in this political climate. With Neil Kinnock laughing heartily in response.

Anything that happens will be political to discredit opponents not because there is a change of attitude towards the treatment of women. We know this, because of who is leading the charge on this. The skeletons are being dusted off out the cupboard rather than exposed for the first time in dramatic fashion.

Things, could take a very unexpected turn against this background.

Don't bet against it.

I was under the impression that they were nearly there until they decided we all had to pay for their infighting

Austerity had nothing to do with the deficit though.

An ex-head of the British Army has said Theresa May’s decision to make her loyal chief whip the new Defence Secretary is not the best choice "from a defence point of view

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/defence-secretary-theresa-may-gavin-williamson-lord-dannatt-politics-michael-fallon-ex-british-army-a8033856.html

Wonder if we'll ever find out what Fallon did. That DM article from 2014 was interesting

@faisalislam
Brexit Committee chair @hilarybennmp writes to @DavidDavisMP to hand over the impact assessments, and then decide on the publication

@campbellclaret

Govt must love the BBC. Savers see early benefits from base rate rise www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41846450 … Headline ought to be Brexit hitting economy

BBC and Channel 4 news even, are getting more and more peculiar in their coverage of trump and brexit.

Of that I have little doubt lh

BBC and Channel 4 news even, are getting more and more peculiar in their coverage of trump and brexit.

I notice the BBC is running a "poor Leavers" story:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/education-41837205/brexit-supporting-students-getting-abuse-on-campus

Despite the (public) confidence of Willie Walsh (BA chief)

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/uk-airlines-warn-passengers-they-may-not-be-able-to-fly-after-brexit-a3662741.html

UK airlines have warned passengers they may not be able to fly after Brexit and that flights could be cancelled without compensation

British airlines are drawing up contingency plans, amid Brexit talks,
which could see passengers lose consumer rights held under EU law, including their right to compensation if flights are grounded.

Airlines are preparing to notify passengers purchasing advance tickets after March 2019, the scheduled date for the UK to leave the EU,
that their bookings cannot be guaranteed.

Thomas Cook has already updated its guidelines to say that it will not compensate passengers for cancelled holidays after the Brexit date.
It said it urgently needed clarity from the Government.

Jim Pickard‏*@PickardJE*
Tory MP on Gavin Williamson: "When a man keeps a pet tarantula it's because he doesn't have a better story to tell."

stellacreasy‏*@stellacreasy*
Are Tory mps having a competition to see who can burn the new defence secretary the most today?! Cos this is gold medal stuff…

I don't even bother with the BBC anymore tbh

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/11/01/prime-minister-calls-car-chiefs-no-10-summit-brexitt**/*

Car industry executives hammered home the importance of the sector to the UK economy
and the threats posed to it by Brexit at a high-level No 10 meeting with Theresa May this afternoon.

Executives from the UK’s biggest car manufacturers including BMW, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover and Toyota
spelled out to the Prime Minister of the damage likely to be done to the industry if Britain leaves the EU without a trade deal.

< they've told her this before. She's primarily concerned about the damage to the Tory party if there is a trade deal on the available terms >

.... the sector, which directly employs 169,000 people in vehicle manufacturing and 814,000 across the wider industry.

< nothing major to worry about, then >

I notice the BBC is running a "poor Leavers" story:

I also note that they have changed the picture advertising the link. It's now a "fruity" girl, but it was a sad faced bloke this morning ...

A lot of the US scientists my DB works with used to watch the BBC for world news, as (in their words) they didn't trust US broadcasters.

As I say, "used to" .

Irony ? No, hypocrisy

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-announces-free-speech-funding

Bojo announces £1 million to support freedom of expression globally in countries where press freedom is curtailed

a) why is the Foreign Sec making announcements about paperclip-sized budgets ?

b) what about in countries where the press has been bought up by oligarchs / silenced by threats to licence fee ?

c) Years of hardline Tory govt has shown that to keep its independence and not be held hostage by a strident govt, the BBC needs adverts or subscription to replace the licence fee

Finally, BJ is taking up the Nazanin Ratcliffe case though, but looks like he's messing that up too:
www.independent.co.uk/voices/nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe-boris-johnson-iran-evin-prison-detained-not-enough-done-a8032991.html

Sam Coates Times‏*@SamCoatesTimes*

Tory MPs have received the following (ominous) message

May intended to shore up her position, but she may have hacked away at the branch she is perched on

May intended to shore up her position, but she may have hacked away at the branch she is perched on

Sounds familiar ....

(((Dan Hodges)))‏ @DPJHodges
Just been told Tory Whips have circulated message warning Gavin Williamson's phone has been hacked.

Defence Secretary's phone allegedly hacked hours after he appointed himself to the job.

House of Cards was shit compared to this.

Over the pond....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/02/us-charge-six-russian-officials-election-hack/

The US Justice Department has gathered enough evidence to charge six members of the Russian government in the hacking of Democratic National Committee computers before last year's presidential election,
the Wall Street Journal reported.

By identifying individual Russian military and intelligence hackers with charges the US could make it difficult for them to travel, but arresting and jailing them would be unlikely.

The hacking investigation, conducted by cybersecurity experts, predates the appointment in May of special counsel Robert Mueller to lead the probe of alleged Russian meddling in the election, and possible collusion with President Donald Trump's campaign.

Alex Spence‏*@alexGspence*

It's all running smoothly

Tories can't cope with two Gavins it seems....

Stable

Busy bugger, that Putin ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/01/russian-cyber-operatives-setting-shop-scotland-promote-independence/

Senator Angus King told a Washington hearing into Russian interference in last year's US presidential election that Scotland was also on the Kremlin's target list.

He told the Senate Intelligence Committee: "We know the Russians were involved in the French election.
We know that they were involved in the German elections.
We are now learning they were involved in the separation of Spain.

"And my understanding is they've set up shop in Scotland which is talking about an independence vote from Great Britain.
This is a sophisticated worldwide strategy.
It hasn't stopped and it won't stop."

www.ft.com/content/52872e68-bfa5-11e7-b8a3-38a6e068f464
Number of EU nurses coming to UK drops sharply
Just 1,107 joined profession in 12 months to September — an 89% fall on previous year

The incredible incompetence and panic over 2 Gavins illustrates why this govt hasn't a hope of negotiating a less harmful Brexit

Piss-up. Brewery. No hope.

Makes the thick of it look staid by comparison

I've already commented on that stupid article about Russian interference in Scotland. The Indy supporters don't need bots to foment dissatisfaction with Westminster by inventing fake news stories. There is no need for fake news: the Westminster Government is doing a great job of proving its unfitness to rule what is left of the UK on its own

Given that the Tories have a small pool of names, they're all Michael, David or Philip to me anyway how have they got confused by two Gavins?

They are 70s names. They are too modern.