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.

Loathsome-handwarmer

Probably just me and my gutter mind, but that image will ruin my weekend, so cheers

There was a plane lying over Manchester today towing a banner worded Labour Is Death UK.

WTF?

Fallon allegedly said he had "somewhere better" to warm her cold hands
So, a gutter mind would be following Fallon's thought processes.

My mind is elsewhere as usual
I see the loathsome handwarmer as something akin to the phantom raspberry blower.

The unredacted spreadsheet with MP's names on:

https://tompride.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/the-unredacted-spreadsheet-of-40-tory-mps-accused-of-inappropriate-sexual-behaviour/

If Damien Green is forced to resign, then May will be without genuine allies in her own cabinet
However, until the Tories can agree on a new leader by acclamation, ZombieMay can continue, as long as she can bear to do so.

@TheNewEuropean
The Daily Mail’s war on universities is in tatters after The New European readers flooded the special email inbox: www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/brex-factor-mail-gove-1-5262199 …

The daily mail war on universities , had something pop up on facebook today allegedly from the daily mail , about EU students not having to repay 'taxpayer' funded loans because it was voluntary for them to do so . Very

Michael Savage @ Michaela age
The Brexit department currently has no one in charge of #Brexit modelling, strategic analysis and planning but don't worry it'll be fine...

May will be without genuine allies May's quite close to Mrs Green isn't she? Mrs Fallon and Mrs Green can have a helluva party once they've offloaded their dirty old men.

The Brexit department currently has no one in charge of #Brexit modelling, strategic analysis and planning
EU27 have done their brexit impact homework on time and nicely. I bet the impact docs are so badly written and researched, even DEXEU is embarrassed to put them out.

news.sky.com/story/amp/theresa-mays-missed-opportunity-sparks-fresh-questions-over-her-future-11111955
Theresa May’s 'missed opportunity' sparks fresh questions over her future

But what is clear is that party management just got a lot harder. The backbenchers could well mete out their punishment on Mrs May - and their disdain for the meteoric rise of the former chief whip - in the House of Commons.

One staunch Remainer (and loyalist) told me yesterday that they were now minded to throw in their lot with the dozen or so Tory rebels on the Brexit bill when it returns to Parliament in mid-November. And what of the budget or Universal Credit?

The majority of MPs were prepared to prop her up until the Brexit deal was concluded but her unforced errors of judgement and failure to grasp the nettle is unnerving some of those who were once loyal.

@Keir_Starmer
Spot on @alexsmith1982 - govt refuses to vote on Wednesdays for fear of losing; and talks out debate on Friday for fear of losing. Weak.

@bbclaurak
Tories to remove whip from Charlie Elphicke after serious allegation, statement coming now

Gosh. That must be serious to actually - shock horror - do something.

Laura Kuenssberg @ bbclaurak
Julian Smith-‘I have suspended the Conservative Party Whip from Charlie Elphicke MP following serious allegations.. referred to the police."

Do you think the previous chief whip knew about this before?

The Charlie Elphick stuff has been referred to the police, so clearly more than fornication and impregnation

Mr Elphicke likes 'Fathers for justice' and hates Oxfam's campaign on austerity and food banks.

He also published 'The Withdrawal of the UK from the EU - Analysis of Potential Financial Liabilities' with the assistance of Martin Howe QC on behalf of the European Research Group.The paper claimed that there was no legal or moral case for the UK to pay a divorce bill to the EU, instead, the EU could owe the UK €10bn for its share of the European Investment Bank

In August 2016, Elphicke called for light naval forces including the Royal Marines to prevent cross channel people trafficking. Elphicke compared the requirements with those of the World War I Dover Patrol which used older ships to detect and deter enemy submarines from using the Channel.

wiki^

woman, did you notice his position on tax though. I found that rather more interesting...

I'm a bit surprised the Government has survived the last 5 months. Is there any chance they'll last till the London borough elections, six months from today? (And surely it would be electoral wipeout then.)

Elphicke investigated tax avoidance by American multinational companies and showed (October 2012) that some multinational companies, making billions of pounds of profit in the UK were paying an effective UK tax rate of only 3 per cent. He followed this by calling on George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer to force the companies which included Google, Coca-Cola and Apple Inc to have to state the effective rate of tax they paid on their UK revenues and suggested that Government contracts could be withheld from multinationals who do not pay their fair share of UK Tax.

During the second reading of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill in the House of Commons on 5 November, Elphicke reiterated the rates of tax paid to HMRC by some US multinationals. Many of the leading companies (including Starbucks, Google and Amazon.com) have been called to give evidence over this issue, most recently raised by Elphicke, in front of the Public Accounts Select Committee in November 2012. At the same time as Elphicke pushed this issue up the domestic UK news agenda, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne raised it at the G20 meeting in Mexico City. In concert with his German opposite number, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble Osborne called for action to combat tax avoidance and to force corporations to pay their fair share of tax or face serious consequences.

In a debate on Corporate Tax Avoidance on 7 January 2013, MPs highlighted companies who accepted UK Government contracts but paid little or no tax. Elphicke singled out technology companies Oracle, Xerox, Dell, CSC and Symantec who – with a combined turnover of £7billion – earned almost £0.5billion from Government contracts and yet paid no corporation tax whatsoever. Overall he said 10 technology companies receiving over £1.8billion from the taxpayer paid £78million in taxes on UK earnings of just over £17.5billion of turnover. This was "unacceptable, unethical and irresponsible."

On 24 May 2013 Elphicke wrote an article for The Daily Telegraph concluding: “Amazon, Google and Starbucks are just the very small tip of a very, very large iceberg. The tax avoidance culture is deeply ingrained. There needs to be radical action to restore tax fairness and a level competitive playing field for British business. Axing tax breaks, simplification, a 10p business tax rate and international tax reform can and would make our tax system fairer and more competitive.”

www.thesun.co.uk/news/4838813/sir-michael-fallon-faces-third-allegation-sex-pest-scandal/
Sir Michael Fallon faces third serious sex pest allegation after another woman comes forward
The unnamed woman reported to No10 that the ex-Defence Secretary had groped her

So when is the whip being removed from Fallon?

Press Association‏*@PA*

#Breaking Mr Elphicke has denied any wrongdoing, tweeting: "The party tipped off the press before telling me of my suspension."

I did wonder why he was going after those companies, with his brexit tendencies.

Tories who've had the whip removed may feel they don't have to vote with their party. Thereby reducing the slim majority further.

Elphicke was originally a remainer.

But doing so in Dover might be a tough gig.