Olly Robbins has just nuked the premiership of Sir Keir Starmer

[ProudAmberTurtle]

What are the implications of Olly Robbins’s testimony for Starmer?

There was so much in his testimony that was damaging but surely the worst was that:

• He was instructed by No. 10 to find an ambassador's job for Starmer's then director of communications, Matthew Doyle
• He was told not to tell the foreign secretary about this
• Robbins considered leaving his role because this request was so unusual and inappropriate
• Doyle was then suspended from the Labour Party due to his links with a convicted paedophile (not Epstein).

And on Mandelson, he said there was "constant pressure" for him to fast-track the appointment, there was no interest in the vetting from the PM, concerns about the vetting were dismissed by No. 10 and Mandelson had already been given IT access that should only have been granted after the vetting process.

What can Starmer do now? Say Robbins was lying?

I brought up Tice because of his unpaid taxes

Remember Rayner? Why does Tice not get the same treatment?

@Smeuse - because he is not deputy leader of the actual government?

Yes, British babies who can go to school to learn to sing the national anthem in a classroom with a photo of the king on the wall and a Union Jack flying - such a bunch of clueless populists cosplaying at politics.

In terms of women ‘churning out babies’ Farage has already made murmurings on abortion, met with a US anti-abortion group and their ‘policy guru’ (who actually didn’t have any policies when on Question Time) James Orr has expressed support for a total abortion ban… Alarming and definitely something to watch out for.

Yeah, that will be the reason

The social media comments on his post when he (Yusuf) announced he was leaving Reform were a cesspit of Islamophobia and racism from Reform supporters.

And your point on Richard Tice: he’s as accountable and open to scrutiny as every other politician - it’s ludicrous to think that only those in government should be.

That is not true. Those currently in Government always take most of the heat. And the woe me Labour right wing media crap just does not fly. If you aren’t fit to take on the press in all its maliciousness in the UK, do not stand in the first place. It is part of the job.

“Yes, British babies who can go to school to learn to sing the national anthem in a classroom with a photo of the king on the wall and a Union Jack flying - such a bunch of clueless populists cosplaying at politics.”

There is nothing wrong with our country, we should be proud of it and have national values.
Me personally - would rather be celebrating the death and birth of Shakespeare on 23 April every year and the real modern birth of the English language (much like Pushkin for the Russians), but the principle of self worth I agree with.

If you aren’t fit to take on the press in all its maliciousness in the UK, do not stand in the first place. It is part of the job

And that, folks, sums up everything that is wrong with politics in the UK. The fact that people think it is OK is astounding.

Did you say the same when the last gov were in?

It has been going on for a long time. Not only since July 2024. Or since 2010. It goes way back.

And did it bother you for the Conservatives or did you join in on here in ramping up the media / SM criticism as many did?

I can safely say I did no "ramping up" of anything on any social media platform.

@Araminta1003 I agree, we can be proud of our country and there is lots to celebrate - let’s celebrate Shakespeare, for sure; it’s reductive to bring it back to flags and photos of the king, a shallow populist decoy showing a party totally lacking in either policy or understanding of what our education system needs.

As I’ve said already earlier on this thread, those in government, particularly a Labour government in a country where much of the press is right-wing owned, know and expect a lot of scrutiny from the media. It’s the hypocrisy and inconsistency that stinks. We need considered, fair, robust media reforms that are fit for purpose in 2026 - this isn’t a party politics issue.

Yes, someone to watch out for - James Orr. Surprisingly although he was widely thought to have done badly, on QT, he has now been promoted by Nigel Farage and is now Reform UK's Head of Policy.

Did you post about the last gov on here?

There’s no point in being upset that what applied to the last gov now applies to Labour. The party happily benefited from the media and SM to get in.

It’s typical for posters who mind now to have contributed earlier, perhaps you were not posting on here, but many did.

“As I’ve said already earlier on this thread, those in government, particularly a Labour government in a country where much of the press is right-wing owned, know and expect a lot of scrutiny from the media. It’s the hypocrisy and inconsistency that stinks. We need considered, fair, robust media reforms that are fit for purpose in 2026 - this isn’t a party politics issue.”

The thing is - Parliament and the current majority is free to amend libel laws. They have control of making that a priority? They can also run their own social media campaigns and have their own PR machine. If you actually want a polticially educated population, yes, it starts in schools, with British values and a full understanding of the system. Just like the ultimtate ownership of all sources of information whether social media or otherwise more public mainstream can be fully publicised.

I am not upset about anything.

Eta: actually I am upset about the rise of Reform. That truly upsets me.

Your post here is what I mean. ‘Everything wrong’ and ‘astounding’

A bit much if you were contributing to that at the time of the last gov, and if not many others were.

Yes, they should be making it a priority and yes to more education on politics in schools. Schools are already required to promote British values - democracy, rule of law, liberty, respect and tolerance.

Also, how exactly is anyone going to control mainstream media and to what avail when it is social media and algorithms operating by their own rules, unsupervised etc, hackers everywhere etc - all you can do is educate your own population to not be manipulated and have a discerning eye from the start as to sources of information and people’s motives more generally.

“Yes, they should be making it a priority and yes to more education on politics in schools. Schools are already required to promote British values - democracy, rule of law, liberty, respect and tolerance.”

It is all too theoretical and an after thought.
It is far more memorable to take a child from a deprived background to see the Houses of Parliament and the Old Bailey and watch a real life play at the Globe Theatre (or having a visiting drama company act out the Canterbury Tales). There is not enough time made for any of this, nor enough funding to make it real for school chidlren. Shakespeare the man and his plays are accessible to everyone, if made accessible.

My post was about the role of the media. I am not in the media. So no, I wasn't part of what I am talking about or contributing to it. I am not quite sure why you are making this personal.

I agree on educating on and teaching critical thinking skills - essential in the world of AI. It’s not about controlling the media or social media, but ensuring that the owners/producers have some responsibility. Not easy, especially given the money, status and power that comes with social/media ownership and there will be huge backlash. And the social media aspect is a global issue - there has to be unity with other countries on this. Take for example the recent example of governments stance against Musk’s Grok AI producing sexualised imagery.

It wasn’t personal really as I said you may not have been posting. The media feed off SM and reflect demand. Everyone who now thinks it’s too much for politicians should question whether they created that demand for the last gov.

If they did it’s not going to go away just because the party they want are in.

Generally applying this to mn and SM which was happy to do the same last time.

Unpaid tax is unpaid tax regardless of which side of the commons they sit.