UK Politics Thread

[rory_20_uk]

Find out what he's been doing. Make it prosecutable if he lies so he has incentive to tell the truth for once in his life. I'd rather not trust that he's not been up to no good, given that all that he's done is exactly what one would do if one were up to no good and wanted to cover one's tracks.

I can easily recreate the whole thing for you...


"I can't quite recall"

And any other synonyms you care for.

The CPS would laugh in your face. There's no case just a rumour. MI5 might well have a file and in 60 years it might be released.

Move on!

[Pannonian]

I can easily recreate the whole thing for you...


"I can't quite recall"

And any other synonyms you care for.

The CPS would laugh in your face. There's no case just a rumour. MI5 might well have a file and in 60 years it might be released.

Move on!

Commons committee? Royal Commission?

Also, Furunculus calls what I want "mudslinging", despite several findings pointing towards what I would call extreme iffiness. Now what the Tory MP did in Durham, was proper "mudslinging". What the Durham police said was "nothing to answer for". What a former head of Durham police said was "politically motivated attempt at smearing, and a waste of police time". In Johnson's case, the professionals deemed what he calls "mudslinging" to be worthy of further investigation, while in Starmer's case, the professionals deemed what was reported to them by a Tory MP to be a waste of time.

[rory_20_uk]

Rather than end the chapter, you're advocating jumping into the gutter and wrestling?

Worst case you make him look like a victim. Again, you'll get nothing except a show trial. A pathetic waste of time leaving Boris to cheerfully tear into everyone else with carefully phrased answers just this side of slander. Investigate every allegation? Probably unable to do so leaving Boris to cry "cover up!"

And he'll make millions more from books / talk shows / talks and newspaper articles.

[Pannonian]

Rather than end the chapter, you're advocating jumping into the gutter and wrestling?

Worst case you make him look like a victim. Again, you'll get nothing except a show trial. A pathetic waste of time leaving Boris to cheerfully tear into everyone else with carefully phrased answers just this side of slander. Investigate every allegation? Probably unable to do so leaving Boris to cry "cover up!"

And he'll make millions more from books / talk shows / talks and newspaper articles.

At the very least, what was he doing, as foreign secretary, in a party with an ex-KGB agent without any accompanying officials? The head of MI6 deemed a private meeting with Evgeniy Lebedev to be unacceptably compromising for someone in his position, because Evgeniy was the son of Alexander. What was Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, doing in a meeting with Alexander Lebedev himself, on Alexander Lebedev's territory? What were they discussing, away from government officials who should have been monitoring their minister's official business?

There are other allegations, not least the latest one from The Times. But I want to know why the above is not worthy of investigation, given that politicians past and present have done less and been deemed unacceptably compromised.

[Furunculus]

Also, Furunculus calls what I want "mudslinging"

To be clear, i say this specifically because:

a) you keep insinuating that he is colluding with a foriegn power, while;
b) being utterly disinterested in the fact that there is no sign of what this collusion has brought to russia's benefit.

No more, no less.

[Pannonian]

To be clear, i say this specifically because:

a) you keep insinuating that he is colluding with a foriegn power, while;
b) being utterly disinterested in the fact that there is no sign of what this collusion has brought to russia's benefit.

No more, no less.

There is no sign, because there were no other officials present. Boris Johnson was the only official present. Do you not think he should be explaining what he was doing there? The head of MI6 refused a private meeting with Alexander's son because he was Alexander's son, and a private meeting with Evgeniy would have compromised the head of MI6. Why is a private meeting between the foreign secretary and Alexander himself deemed ok?

[Pannonian]

Woah, the government is refusing to allow a VONC now. Does this even count as a democracy any more?

[Pannonian]

Major said the whole country knew the government had “broken the law” and that they: “Unlawfully tried to prorogue parliament, ignored the nationwide lockdown by breaking its own laws in Downing Street and tried to change parliamentary rules to protect one of their own.”

He said the damage was “widespread” and added: “In the four countries of the United Kingdom, we take democracy for granted.

“We shouldn’t. If you look around the world, you’ll find it’s in retreat in many countries and has been for 10 to 15 years or more. And it looks like that’s going to continue.

“The point is this - democracy is not inevitable. It can be undone step by step, action by action, falsehood by falsehood.

“It needs to be protected at all times. It seems to me that if our law and our accepted conventions are ignored, then we’re on a very slippery slope that ends with pulling our constitution into shreds.

“What has been done in the last three years has damaged our country at home and overseas and I think it has damaged the reputation of parliament as well.

“The blame for these lapses must lie principally - principally but not only - with the prime minister, but many in his cabinet are culpable too.

“And so are those outside the cabinet who cheered him on.

“They were silent when they should have spoken out and then spoke out only when their silence became self-damaging.”

The committee is looking at the role of the prime minister in ensuring ethical standards in public life.

Major, who set up the committee on standards in public life, added: “Now all of this can be corrected. And the task for parliament, government, this committee will be to restore constitutional standards and protect from any further slippage against them.

“Bad habits if they become ingrained become precedent, precedent can carry bad habits on for a very long time. And it shouldn’t be permitted to do so.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ent...d=flipboard-HP

And he said all this before the Tory government denied the opposition leader's request for a VONC, contrary to the custom that a VONC requested by the leader of the opposition is the most urgent item on the agenda.

[Furunculus]

Woah, the government is refusing to allow a VONC now. Does this even count as a democracy any more?

This is a manufactured problem.

There is a correct form to follow here and starmer could have followed it.
Instead they did not, knowing (and hoping?) that it would be rejected so people would scream about; "the end of democracy!"

That sounds like exactly the kind of bending of constitutional norms that Boris is often accused of.

https://twitter.com/explorepolitic1/...99834385108992

The following wording within the attached document maybe the reson for blocking yesterday: "that it does indeed intend to test the Houses's confidence in the government, rather than simply to censure a policy or member of the government."

Update - Gov't to no-confidence itself:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...tion-in-itself

“Labour were given the option to table a straightforward vote of no confidence in the government in keeping with convention. However, they chose not to,” a government spokesperson said. “To remedy this we are tabling a motion which gives the house the opportunity to decide if it has confidence in the government."

[Pannonian]

Britain's current chancellor aka finance minister is having his personal finances investigated by HMRC (tax office) following a tip off from the National Crime Agency (source: The Times, Financial times).

And of course, Sajid Javid dropped out of the leadership race shortly after offering to open up his tax returns whilst refusing to answer questions about offshore tax havens and his businesses (interview on national TV).

This current bunch are making the Major regime look incorruptible.