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.

The bit that made me (and ) was when the NY Times article talked about "the Brexit elite" . Nice reversal of the Brexiteers' complaints about "citizens of nowhere" and "metropolitan elite" Remain voters

As well as distracting from dark money, the scandals have also distracted from this major concession by May in the Brexit negotiations

(paywall) Theresa May kickstarts trade talks by accepting £53bn bill

https://behindthepaywallblog.wordpress.com/2017/11/05/theresa-may-kickstarts-trade-talks-by-accepting-53bn-bill/

European Union negotiators have started drawing up the outlines of a future trade deal with Britain
after receiving signals from the government that it would agree to pay more than €60bn (£53bn) for the “Brexit bill”.

Negotiators in Brussels say Theresa May will be able to claim a victory before Christmas as trade talks get going — but made clear the prime minister has used officials to signal financial concessions.

May’s Brexit adviser, Oliver Robbins, was told last week that EU officials need to see only a “single sentence” in writing__
to indicate Britain’s acceptance of budget commitments known as reste à liquider (RAL) and the UK’s share of the cost of MEP pensions and aid budgets.
< so someone in sufficient authority to satisfy Barnier has approved this sentence >

I note the in writing comment.

I too wouldn't believe a word this government "commits to" until it is down in back and white and signed in blood

(paywall) Daniel Poulter, Tory former minister, accused of putting hand up MPs’ skirts

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/daniel-poulter-tory-former-minister-accused-of-putting-hand-up-mps-skirts-tgdlx67d3

... A Downing Street spokesman said:
“Following a conversation with him, the chief whip has referred Daniel Poulter to the party’s new disciplinary committee for further investigation.”

The move came in response to today’s revelation in The Sunday Times that Poulter had been the subject of a formal complaint by his fellow Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen.

Poulter, 39, a former health minister, has been accused of breaching the new code of conduct published last week.
He is believed to be one of the first MPs to be reported under the new procedure.

....Bridgen claims that he first complained to the whips’ office about Poulter’s alleged behaviour seven years ago.

The complaint came after three female MPs had told him they were reluctant to get in a lift with Poulter after he allegedly put his hand up their skirts.

Bridgen claims the allegation fell on deaf ears — a suggestion that is likely to reignite the row over whether whips have been complicit in a cover-up.
“My complaint was not acted upon by the whips and was met with no interest,”
....
The Sunday Times put the allegations to Poulter, but he chose not to comment on the record.
It is understood he denies the allegations.

"the Brexit elite"

But that's what it is. A wunch of guys who will never suffer anything bad as a result of Brexit whilst agitating for it.

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/theresa-may-drafts-michael-gove-into-brexit-war-cabinet-p6g0rdzz0
Theresa May drafts Michael Gove into Brexit war cabinet
The environment secretary gives leavers a big majority on the team planning the talks

I like the what I presume is a typo of wunch

Definition: a bunch of wankers

May putting Gove into the War Cabinet just further illustrates how weak she is and much of a prisoner she is to the Brexiteer wing of the Tory Party (and I use the word "Tory" deliberately).

(paywall) Kate Maltby: all women know the difference between a hand and a tablecloth

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/police-we-found-porn-on-deputy-pm-damian-greens-computers-s7lkjpgcb

Moments of great social change are painful.
As a natural conservative I have always known this.
....
When The Times put my allegations to him, I was expecting an apology.
Instead, I got a denial.

The response was a public attack on my credibility.

Sources close to him appear to have contributed to a series of allegations about me in the media, seeming to imply that I had maliciously fabricated the story for personal gain
or to jump on a “bandwagon” after the sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein.

Shortly afterwards, however, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC came forward to confirm that I had confided in her a year ago about Green and was unlikely to have fabricated the story.

At least two other women have said the same in public — and there are others who have offered to give similar evidence in private to a forthcoming Cabinet Office inquiry.

So my accusers changed tack.

Seeming to accept that I genuinely believe my own claims,
“friends of Damian Green” now suggest I may not have been able to tell the difference between the touch of a human hand and the flicker of tablecloth.

This is the only story in a very difficult week that has given me reason to crack a hollow smile.
Women know the difference between a hand and a tablecloth.
....
I have no ideological reason to undermine him;
he is from the same wing of the Tory party as I am and, like me, he voted to remain in the EU.

However, my parents and I have been deeply distressed by the character assassination that appears to have been launched against me.
A number of claims made in last week’s Daily Mail are categorically untrue.

....
Whether in theatre, politics or any other industry, all we are asking for is the freedom to be treated professionally.
If that is a major culture shift, it is long overdue.

iirc, May was very scathing to Gove when she dismissed him from the cabinet, a few days after becoming PM
How he has risen and how she has fallen since

Theresa May drafts Michael Gove into Brexit war cabinet

Can anyone else see what it is yet ?

Brexit will fail. And it will fail with all the big Brexiteers at the helm, as it sinks. (Picturing Gove and BoJo recreating "Titanic" poster).

And they know it.

It's the equivalent of Allied strategy in WW2. Unconditional surrender. And in a nice touch (God I really hope there is a human intelligence behind this), in "Brexit:The bunker years", the Red Army is being played by Jeremy Corbyn. The race is on. Who will the Brexiteers surrender to ?

Germain Greer's oft-repeated insight:
"women have no idea how much men hate them."

Illustrated yet again, by the vicious fury, both against those women who have come forward and all the other women who support them

"Brexit:The bunker years"

Looking forward to the "Downfall" version ...

LH Surrender will be to that nice M. Barnier ?

Ned Simons‏*@nedsimons*

On Sky, Amber Rudd says it is time to 'look at' whether MPs can be sacked from parliament for sexual harassment.

I like the what I presume is a typo of wunch

You might think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

On Sky, Amber Rudd says it is time to 'look at' whether MPs can be sacked from parliament for sexual harassment.

On Sky, AMber Rudd suggested new ways to stack the House of Commons to ensure the continued survival of the Tory party.

Is what my translation reads. Anyone else ?

The only people who should be able to "sack" an MP are their constituents - the people who put them there. Anything else is a direct attack on parliamentary democracy - not even a veiled one.

On Sky, Amber Rudd says it is time to 'look at' whether MPs can be sacked from parliament for sexual harassment.

Oh, and why weren't we able to sack them from parliament for duck houses, moats, and second houses 9 years ago ???

Presumably Rudd knows employment and sexual offences law?

Germain Greer's oft-repeated insight:
Yep BigChoc with bells on. Love GG.

At the local remain stall in generally prosperous south eastern town (60/40 Remain but with Brexit tory MP) yesterday, a few observations:

1 Friendly and interested local people, including leavers. Gave out quite a lot of leaflets, and lots of signatures to petition for release of impact statements.

2 Saving the NHS and the loss of so many EU nationals to health service was good talking point.

3 Even committed brexiteers, and gentleman who told me the "government had spent billions on housing and health service for refugees" were perfectly nice and affable.

4 The local chair of tory conservative association is joining the local Remain in Europe and bringing several conservatives with him.

5 The brexit supporting market stall owners with whom we were sharing a market stall, lent us scissors to help take down balloons, and was laughing and joking with us at the end of the day .

The consensus amongst leavers was government in disarray and,
"It's not going to happen" .

I agree, only constituents can sack an MP - and that's at the next GE
except of course MPs being removed because of criminal convictions leading to imprisonment

Good to hear that most ordinary people get on together in a cooperative manner, woman
Hopefully the btl comments of the Fail and Torygraph are the same tiny bunch of fanatics posting everywhere

Interesting - from several sources - that more think now that Brexit "will never happen"
It probably takes this sort of scandal for most folk to realise what a blundering dysfunctional shower we have in govt
I expect we'll need our recipes at the ready for flying visitors culinary Raid

I agree, only constituents can sack an MP - and that's at the next GE

During the expenses scandal there was talk that constituents have the chance to do that between elections, which seemed logical, fair and proportionate. Which is probably why the media are now going to have collective amnesia about it.

The idea that someone else can remove a sitting MP is chilling, and possibly why it's been floated. It's the old "hard choice or no choice" trick.

That's a little bit depressing, because the likelihood is that it will happen, and who are those people going to blame when it does? IMO there is very little indication that it won't happen.

IMO there is very little indication that it won't happen.

Brexit ?

Quite the reverse. Just one simple question ... what has been done ? With less than 12 months to sort everything out, what has been done ?

Now stack that against what needs doing ...

Come back tomorrow, and next week, and repeat.

You'll see which way things aren't going.

Hopefully the btl comments of the Fail and Torygraph are the same tiny bunch of fanatics posting everywhere
If they are real people at all, bigchoc

Tone I got from leavers was resigned cynicism.
And nice shruggy english 'what can you do' anyway.

Yes LH what's been done, and is there anyone left to do it anyway?
Looking forward to Gove's 'what me?' face as he is reluctantly dragged back to front line politics.

But LH, Brexit happens automatically regardless of whether any of the essential work has been done.

Unless someone does a huge U turn. And the EU agrees we can revoke article 50.

Who do you think will cancel Brexit? I can’t see TM making that call. If there is a change of government then there’s a better chance, but even then it is far from certain that it will be stopped.

I’d love to believe you’re correct, but I’m afraid I agree with Annandale upthread.