General Politics Thread

[Fullerene]

33 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

‘Mainstream’ Tories arguing the conference should be used to unite different wings of their party.

Don't hold your breath folks.  This will be like Nuremberg.

I presume this conference is sponsored by Superglue.

[sophia]

43 minutes ago, Fullerene said:

I presume this conference is sponsored by Superglue.

No adhesive required.

Tories will Tory.

There's only one way out and it'll take a significant amount of those who, for whatever well meaning purpose, in 2014 voted to persist with these charlatans to see a better way and join us.

[welshbairn]

1 hour ago, O'Kelly Isley III said:

The recent purge has removed a number of once-influentiql figures from the hall.  DespiteJohnson being as much a liability as was heavily predicted, the Tories will rally round him as they have become a death cult - I'm thinking a combo of Nuremberg and Waco.

The interesting thing will be the fringe meetings and how much media coverage they get. There's a small but significant chance the party could implode. 

[Enigma]

‘Mainstream’ Tories arguing the conference should be used to unite different wings of their party.
Don't hold your breath folks.  This will be like Nuremberg.
 

Will they all be sentenced to hanging?

[Granny Danger]

Johnson pushing the idea that Supreme Court Justices should be “vetted” by MPs like their US counterparts.

This is just to fire up Tory conference attendees IMO, he knows that given the lack of a written constitution in this country that legislation like that can have a serious downside in the future.

[DeeTillEhDeh]

The lack of MSM coverage of his links to hedge fund shorters is just ridiculous - fucking journalists are a joke these days.

[Granny Danger]

1 hour ago, DeeTillEhDeh said:

The lack of MSM coverage of his links to hedge fund shorters is just ridiculous - fucking journalists are a joke these days.

I’m going to be the optimist and say they are biding their time.

 

I know conspiracy theorists are (rightly) reviled on P&B but this is close to conspiracy.

Why was Patel given a huge promotion following her disgrace.  Contacts?

It stinks to high heaven.

[NotThePars]

James Ball going for “why are we only bothered about flagrant corruption when there’s shagging involved?” is a bold strategy I hope it pays off

[beefybake]

4 hours ago, DeeTillEhDeh said:

The lack of MSM coverage of his links to hedge fund shorters is just ridiculous - fucking journalists are a joke these days.

There's more on this in print 'Observer' today, can't find a link.....

But it's basically this..... 

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/09/29/607429/PM-backers-could-profit-from-nodeal-Brexit

where Hammond is sticking it to Johnson, and Johnson's sister is also.

[Detournement]

SNP councillor heroically attempts to claim £4,500 mobile bill as an expense.

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17934424.glasgow-snp-councillor-agrees-make-repayment-4-500-mobile-phone-bill/

 

[lichtgilphead]

15 minutes ago, Detournement said:

SNP councillor heroically attempts to claim £4,500 mobile bill as an expense.

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17934424.glasgow-snp-councillor-agrees-make-repayment-4-500-mobile-phone-bill/

 

This appears to be a complete non-story. Where does the article state that he attempted to "claim" this money?

My work issues me with a phone. They pay the bill. Every quarter, I have to "tag" my personal calls. If I exceed the internet roaming limits, I always tag that as personal use too. The money is then taken from my next salary. 

So, H_B, can you provide some justification for your use of the phrase "heroically attempts to claim", or are you just making up your usual SNPbaaaaddd crap?

[Detournement]

Just now, lichtgilphead said:

This appears to be a complete non-story. Where does the article state that he attempted to "claim" this money?

My work issues me with a phone. They pay the bill. Every quarter, I have to "tag" my personal calls. If I exceed the internet roaming limits, I always tag that as personal use too. The money is then taken from my next salary. 

So, H_B, can you provide some justification for your use of the phrase "heroically attempts to claim", or are you just making up your usual SNPbaaaaddd crap?

Going by the article it was an expense claim which was FoI'd and after that he quickly agreed to pay it back.

It wasn't a work phone.

[UsedToGoToCentralPark]

Whilst a crazy amount, roaming charges can add up and not everyone is aware of this so I can have some sympathy with that.

This however for someone with a parking space and free bus pass....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-49851718

[welshbairn]

12 minutes ago, lichtgilphead said:

This appears to be a complete non-story. Where does the article state that he attempted to "claim" this money?

My work issues me with a phone. They pay the bill. Every quarter, I have to "tag" my personal calls. If I exceed the internet roaming limits, I always tag that as personal use too. The money is then taken from my next salary. 

So, H_B, can you provide some justification for your use of the phrase "heroically attempts to claim", or are you just making up your usual SNPbaaaaddd crap?

Man forgets to switch roaming off when on a trip abroad and pays the bill from his own pocket shocker!

[Detournement]

1 minute ago, welshbairn said:

Man forgets to switch roaming off when on a trip abroad and pays the bill from his own pocket shocker!

He only paid it after the Herald queried it.

[Benjamin_Nevis]

I assume the Labour councillor who racked up £600 but was "unavailable for comment" would have paid her bill.

[Detournement]

2 minutes ago, Day of the Lords said:

I assume the Labour councillor who racked up £600 but was "unavailable for comment" would have paid her bill.

It doesn't sound like it.

Given that you can pay other subscriptions through your phone bill now they should be keeping a closer check on it. The guy in Gambia clearly had a very expensive chug.

[lichtgilphead]

21 minutes ago, Detournement said:

1) Going by the article it was an expense claim 2) which was FoI'd and after that he quickly agreed to pay it back.

3) It wasn't a work phone.

1) The article says that "As well as receiving a salary, councillors can claim for expenses including mileage, accommodation when attending events, subsistence and mobile phone costs."

The word "can" is doing an awful lot of work there. Nowhere in the article does it say that he did claim any of these expenses. 

2) The phrase "FOI" makes no appearance in the article. Either you have another source or (more likely), you just made it up

3) Proof please. There's no evidence suggesting this in the article.

As I previously suggested, I would expect the phone to have been issued to him for use for council business, with an option to use it for personal calls at his own expense. Before roaming chages were reduced by the EU, I ran up £250 in a week in Poland. It was taken from my salary a few months later after I "agreed" my personal use during the period.

[Detournement]

I don't think i'll be doing any of that

 

 

[LongTimeLurker]

On 25/09/2019 at 17:45, Detournement said:

If the public faces of Green policies are hypocrites then the policies will never gain any traction.

Green politics revolves around talking up highly alarming explanations of complex problems and offering overly simplistic solutions for them that are dumbed to a level people with an IQ of 90 can understand (e.g. talk up CO2 being a dangerous gas but don't bother mentioning we need it for photosynthesis, etc). Because almost all of the target audience do not understand the science involved it all becomes a matter of faith rather than reason and hence a form of secular new age religion emerges in which people who try to point out that the issue is a wee bit more complex and the solutions might not be sensible or realistic become evil heretics to be denounced and shunned. Being hypocrites on a breathtaking scale never did traditional organised religion any harm, so doubt the Greens need to worry too much about a few frequent flyer cards having too much long term harm.