Westminstenders: Tory Natural Selection

[RedToothBrush]

Here we go again...

Not really sure if that's the measure of the character of the person we are supposed to entrust the law and order of this country to

I bet many or even most MPs break or have broken speed limits - and a lot more innocent people are killed and injured as a direct consequence of speeding than are killed as a direct consequence of snorting the occasional line of coke.

If we want our representatives to be whiter than white we need to collectively agree on which laws people can break while still being eligible for election.

According to the Mail : an article written by Mr Gove in 1999 has emerged. It called for tighter laws on the use of cocaine.

On the other hand, I'm all in favour of MPs being held to account for hypocrisy.

prettybird I’d agree that there is quite a lot of pot and pills floating around Aberdeen - especially in the areas where there is money, and it does extend into the high schools. Not so much recreational drug use in the professional sphere that I noticed though - too much random drug testing in the oil companies maybe?

But I’d not come across completely open pot smoking until we moved south - it’s very noticeable down here just walking round town (or from the open windows of cars driving past).

Yes, well Fiona Onasanya is in prison now for speeding (and lying , to be fair!), lost her seat, lost her job, nearly lost Labour Peterborough...

Does anyone think Viv Rook (Years and Years) is based on Ester McVey?

Gove is on BBC1 now.

Yes, well Fiona Onasanya is in prison now for speeding (and lying , to be fair!), lost her seat, lost her job, nearly lost Labour Peterborough...

She's not in prison for speeding but for perverting the course of justice.

Also, my comment was about the idea that politicians should be ineligible for office for "crimes" they have never been prosecuted for and have not been convicted for.

However I'd love to see antisocial driving behaviour be taken as seriously as recreational drug taking.

Apparently, 1 in 5 MPs has a speeding conviction

inews.co.uk/essentials/lifestyle/cars/car-news/mps-uk-speeding-offenders-driving-convictions/

"Analysis of insurance data has revealed that more than one in five (22 per cent) MPs has a conviction for speedingg^, more than any other job."

I don't know about it being an interesting summer, more like a continual round of 'squirrel spotting' while the EU and the rest of the world look in from time to time and think 'what the f&&& are they up to'?

Quite enjoying Marr going for the jugular on Gove's past words on the Peace Process, which were not popular in many circles.

Wasn't Rory in Afghanistan, where I assume it was legal, and maybe more part of the culture?

Islam has an interesting take on drugs for a start (assuming we're talking about the Muslim culture of Afghanistan). From years of socialising, I've been told only alcohol is explicitly forbidden - that is in the Koran. After all, "hashish" is an Arabic word (like "al cohol" ironically). I'm not a scholar though.

All of that said, it's more the legal than the cultural dimension. Otherwise Gove-y boy gets a free pass for planning to, and executing that plan, to break the law in the UK.

Gove is also a poster boy for why the "War on Drugs" has been an expensive and immoral failure. Countless billions wasted over decades, and it clearly didn't deter the Govester one iota. Which is the other side of the coin. If the law is supposed to reduce the harm due to drugs, it's failed since day one. All it's done is made a lot of criminals very rich - so rich that you have to question the sources of funding to some anti-drugs organisations and politicians. It's blighted the lives of countless people, and cost the country so much it could probably be expressed as a significant fraction of our GDP over 50 years.

In all my time since about the age of 14, I don't know a single person that has not tried drugs "because they are illegal", or because they had no way to source them. The only people who haven't tried drugs are the people who didn't want to try drugs. Legality or otherwise doesn't deter people and only encourages criminals with very low quality control standards. In fact the only thing we can know for sure about GoveyBaby and his snort of choice is that it will have been the cleanest you can get, and not laced with the shit they use to cut it down for the plebs. So no danger of an OD or reaction for Forrest Gove then. And strike me down if I say mores the pity.

As one that has a Fortean bent, I am fascinated by ethnobotany - in particular the suggestion that psychedelics - LSD in particular - can not only "treat", but cure alcoholism and some forms of schizophrenia ... but as a wise man once wrote: "If insulin got you high, diabetics would die."

Apparently, 1 in 5 MPs has a speeding conviction

Yes, but that's OK. There are scores of threads on Mumsnet where posters decry the notion of speed limits. Woe betide the bastard that dares drive at the speed limit and "hold others up".

I have zero tolerance for speeding - and more importantly the contempt for others it belies. That and littering should be capital offences in my book.

PMK.

I’ve got nothing constructive to say at the moment.

I’ve got nothing constructive to say at the moment.

Which candidate are you ?

Well I’m creeping ever closer to being able to vote in the contest...

How many of us can, hand on heart, say we have never broken the law? How many of us have never ever speeded?

Coke is regarded as normal in a lot of social circles in London, the city and journalism in particular. It is part of an alpha male culture (far fewer women in those circles would take it) that also includes treating women as commodities / status symbols. If Gove has you can bet Boris has too....

Though in Gove’s case he was probably just trying to keep up with the “big boys” where as Boris is 100% of the entitled arrogant stereotype.... Unfortunately the 70 year old Mrs Smith from Beaconsfield who is going to chose our next Prime Minister would not recognise the elitist type and mistakes it for showing leadership qualities.....

How many of us can, hand on heart, say we have never broken the law? How many of us have never ever speeded?

Who gives a shit ?

How many of us have made the law for others to obey ? And then been happy to invest in a system which ensures that if you do not obey the law you have to suffer serious life-changing consequences ???

That is the question.

Now I can only speak for myself, but I have never - not once, not even come close - to making any laws about anything. Which is why I place the bar for those that do a little higher than I might for my local refuse collectors.

Why should an MP - and potential Prime Minister - be allowed to escape the consequences of their behaviour. Especially when they would never excuse it in others ?

I am sure many posters here would be looking for a new job if a questionable "drugs check" (questionable on so many levels) flagged up anything untoward. Which is almost a given since the people that operate the drug testing companies will be doing it down to a budget, not up to a standard.

If Gove is surprised, maybe scared of the backlash he seems to be getting then good. It will be a millionth of what real people who have "made mistakes" have to face.

All of which said, I do wonder if he is trying to throw the race ?

PMK

hear hear DGR

Ah, I can always tell when I'm using someone elses internet - I start being stalked . This popped up after the last few posts.

www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/illegal-cannabis-flowers-being-sold-16482211

Rogue vape shops are breaking drug laws by selling illegal cannabis flowers.

High street retailers are risking prosecution by stocking the banned plants alongside e-cigarette liquids.

The buds – which contain mind-altering tetrahydro-cannabinol (THC) – can be vaped, smoked or eaten by users to get a high.

But vendors face jail by offering customers the Class B substance, which has brand names such as Cherry Bomb and Gelato.

Cannabis flowers are illegal to sell under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

(contd)

Emily, I have noted that every time he speaks of it, he appends when I was a journalist by way of coded explanation. He probably should stop doing that since people in general ,and Tories in particular, trust journalist even less than/ almost as little as they trust politicians.

The problem if you start banning people with minor criminal convictions or admitted minor previous lapses from public office you will disproportionately bar working class people and those from ethic minorities, who are far more likely to be arrested and convicted for minor crimes.

I think it's very unhealthy to expect people in public office to be whiter than white tbh. People are allowed to make mistakes, they are allowed to change. People who have experience of getting things wrong and subsequently making changes to their lives may actually be better suited to public office than people who have lived an easier life.

I'd far rather an honest MP with a previous conviction to a hypocrite or freeloader.