[Andy McDandy]

I see that episode was filmed in Fleetwood.

The last time Fleetwood and pissed were so entwined was during the recording of Rumours.

Coat, door, I know.

[Bones McCoy]

I see that episode was filmed in Fleetwood.

The last time Fleetwood and pissed were so entwined was during the recording of Rumours.

Coat, door, I know.

Sure that coat isn't a Mac'?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Meanwhile, even the Conservative Home regulars are tired of the never-ending culture war.

(See comments for examples)

Sarah Ingham: Our Armed Forces are too bogged down in the culture wars to focus on a real one

https://conservativehome.com/2023/07/07 ... -real-one/

A good example here

Call me a flag-addled patriot, but I think the armed forces are capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time if it wills it.
This piece is based around a fallacy of false dilemma that is obvious as soon as your reverse the argumentation; the armed forces are so focused on warfare that they don't give a toss about equality, fairness, legitimacy of force in a democratic citizen army or the well-being of their people.
Would that be something to be proud of, desirable, would it even work?
I say no.
If you read the letters of Montgomery, Slim, even "The Auk" in the IWM you will see they personally capable of all the above, often in the same paragraph, never mind the institution being capable of thinking about two things at once.


What this piece really says is that you want your politics enforced on the army (which you pretend are somehow neutral, universal or non-existent, your book was confused on this) and in any case you now think legitimacy isn't important so we might as well hire PMC Wagner (if you genuinely believe nothing else matters) and save some cash.

Conservative Home has some surprisingly sensible people BTL. That's great the way he turns that silly argument round there.

Trashing the military would be an odd priority for the government. It's imported from the US and I don't know if it particularly works there beyond people who are voting Republican anyway. I suppose it gives them something extra to talk about though.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Interesting. Education Secretary's people briefing this? Makes more sense than Sunak's people doing it.

Someone pointed out today that Sunak as PM Is behaving too much like a Chancellor of the Exchequer, or perhaps a particularly tight-arsed Chief Secretary to the Treasury, as he has through all the disputes. Prime Ministers need stuff to be working.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Forensic "state of the nation" (or rather London) from Nick Timothy, with stuff that's never happened before- ie someone pushes in a queue and tells other people to fuck off when challenged. He was "emboldened" apparently, rather than just being someone who's always been an arsehole.

[Youngian]

When will these uppity foreigners pay due respect to the Tories that they feel they’re entitled to?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Sunak's had to clear up after him.

Zelenskiy has expressed gratitude for UK support, says Sunak
The Sun asks if Sunak would have said the comments made by Ben Wallace about Ukraine needing to show the west “gratitude”.

Sunak says: “President Zelenskiy has repeatedly expressed his gratitude to me and to the British people and indeed other allies as well. He did it very movingly in parliament when he was in the UK earlier this year.

“He continues to be grateful for our support and our leadership, and the welcome that we’ve extended to many Ukrainian families. I think everyone can see that that’s how he feels.”

[Youngian]

Forensic "state of the nation" (or rather London) from Nick Timothy, with stuff that's never happened before- ie someone pushes in a queue and tells other people to fuck off when challenged. He was "emboldened" apparently, rather than just being someone who's always been an arsehole.

Now he’s attacking Boris Johnson’s core supporters.

[Bones McCoy]

Forensic "state of the nation" (or rather London) from Nick Timothy, with stuff that's never happened before- ie someone pushes in a queue and tells other people to fuck off when challenged. He was "emboldened" apparently, rather than just being someone who's always been an arsehole.

Perhaps the first time when Timothy wasn't the arsehole.

Or

It's always a crisis when it impinges on their sheltered lives.

[Andy McDandy]

Remind me which Tory home secretary and later PM (who Timothy was chief adviser to) slashed the police numbers?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Susan Hall, their likely mayoral candidate, will run on this stuff.

[Bones McCoy]

Meanwhile Nick's ConservativeHome have dug through the bottom of the barrel.

CCHQ must find Starmer’s Willie Horton

https://conservativehome.com/2023/07/12 ... ie-horton/


Scary Black Men ... Starmer Bad ... Ameritrash.

[Crabcakes]

Why could people be timid, I wonder?

*massively corrupt Met police force
*court system overwhelmed and chronically underfunded meaning many crimes go years before conviction
*deliberately run-down NHS meaning if you got hurt in an altercation you’d be waiting hours for urgent care
*government ministers who bully with impunity and are let off by their boss
*other ministers who offer people out to have fights if they disagree with them
*the party in charge for the last 13 years simply don’t care and would rather arrest people trying to stop the Earth burning to a cinder instead

Probably just coincidence, I’m sure…

[Tubby Isaacs]

Another avenue could be in the decision of Starmer to join a 2020 campaign to prevent foreign criminals from being deported. He signed an open letter with other Labour MPs to demand a flight to Jamaica to deport 50 people be grounded. The Sun has revealed that at least seven of those 50 have since gone on to commit more violent or drug-related crimes.

If this is the best they've got, then they're fucked.

There's no problem with deporting criminals to Jamaica. As it happens, in 1999, I was working in the Prison Service and my job was to arrange that Immigration would meet them at the prison gates and deport them. The idea that do goody MPs could "ground" the flight was bollocks.

A "campaign" doesn't stop people being deported. The court does that, and IIRC it did here.

[Andy McDandy]

Meanwhile Nick's ConservativeHome have dug through the bottom of the barrel.

CCHQ must find Starmer’s Willie Horton

https://conservativehome.com/2023/07/12 ... ie-horton/


Scary Black Men ... Starmer Bad ... Ameritrash.

Well, that was a pretty cynical, soulless and amoral piece of shit.

[Boiler]

Horton was namechecked by The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy in Television, The Drug Of The Nation no less.

[Youngian]

Meanwhile Nick's ConservativeHome have dug through the bottom of the barrel.

CCHQ must find Starmer’s Willie Horton

https://conservativehome.com/2023/07/12 ... ie-horton/


Scary Black Men ... Starmer Bad ... Ameritrash.

Well, that was a pretty cynical, soulless and amoral piece of shit.

And predictable as sundown. Starmer’s already introduced himself to voters which helps and very unlikely he doesn’t have a counter strategy.

[Yug]

Well well well, Tories under suspicion of misusing public money. Who'd a thunk it?

A powerful group of northern Tory MPs are being scrutinised by the parliamentary expenses watchdog after a Sky News investigation into the way they use public money.

The investigation found nearly two dozen MPs received political donations from a private donor to help them with campaigning - weeks after they joined the Northern Research Group (NRG) and authorised thousands of pounds of taxpayer-funded expenses to be spent on its work.

This raises questions about whether MPs authorised public funding to be spent on the NRG because they knew they would be rewarded with a campaign donation.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), the expenses watchdog, is examining whether the group "contravened the rules surrounding direct payment of subscriptions from MP business cost budgets".

One Tory MP who received the money told Sky News they signed up to the NRG, putting public money towards it, because they knew they would get a donation.

"There was a deadline. That's why so many did at the same time. You knew there'd be money at the end of it," they said...

https://news.sky.com/story/amp/westmins ... n-12919851

The Tories have always had a whiff of corruption about them. Now the stench is overpowering.

[davidjay]

This is what happens when you have a government that believes rules don't apply to them and a cowed and/or subservient media letting it go unannounced.

[Youngian]

Well well well, Tories under suspicion of misusing public money. Who'd a thunk it?

A powerful group of northern Tory MPs are being scrutinised by the parliamentary expenses watchdog after a Sky News investigation into the way they use public money.

The investigation found nearly two dozen MPs received political donations from a private donor to help them with campaigning - weeks after they joined the Northern Research Group (NRG) and authorised thousands of pounds of taxpayer-funded expenses to be spent on its work.

This raises questions about whether MPs authorised public funding to be spent on the NRG because they knew they would be rewarded with a campaign donation.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), the expenses watchdog, is examining whether the group "contravened the rules surrounding direct payment of subscriptions from MP business cost budgets".

One Tory MP who received the money told Sky News they signed up to the NRG, putting public money towards it, because they knew they would get a donation.

"There was a deadline. That's why so many did at the same time. You knew there'd be money at the end of it," they said...

https://news.sky.com/story/amp/westmins ... n-12919851

The Tories have always had a whiff of corruption about them. Now the stench is overpowering.

In a different age these mediocre chancers would have got themselves a gig as Labour councillors or trade union officials to bag some easy money. Rotten borough client state politics isn’t the preserve of any party. Which probably explains why Boris Johnson struck a chord in a corrupt shit town that is traditionally Labour.