[Tubby Isaacs]

Remember Ernie Marples and the motorway programme that robbed us of our rail network?

Marple’s conflict of interest was real but Labour accepted Beeching. Lots of it was very sensible.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Not with hindsight...

[Tubby Isaacs]

The problem was building on mothballed lines. That’s distinct from Beeching, I think. And another one chalked up by our planning system.

[mattomac]

A lot of it was very short sighted mind, they kept it is said the St Erth to St Ives branch line open only due where Castle holidayed, though generally she started the slowing down and eventual stop.

Thinking how jammed pack that gets in June and July let alone August and what the alternatives would be thankfully it was saved.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Gillian Keegan has reappeared.

I'm not the biggest fan of Just Stop Oil blocking roads (that's a dead man in an ambulance waiting to happen), but some of their other stuff has been imaginative peaceful protest. And you can engage with them without getting a "criminal record" if that's what she's worried about. I think too the odd person with a criminal record has got a degree too. And quite a nice trick to criminalist lots of protest then blame people for getting a criminal record.

You can almost hear Sunak telling her to knock out something about Just Stop Oil.

[satnav]

I wonder if Gillian Keegan has come out and criticised the protestors who have been vandalising the ULEZ cameras in London.

[Andy McDandy]

I'm reminded of an anti-fare dodging campaign from a few years back, which had posters saying "Get a Ticket, not a Criminal Record". Round our way, "Criminal" was invariably scratched out and replaced with shit pop act of your choice.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Remember Eric Morecambe's line that Des O'Connor had several criminal records?

[Tubby Isaacs]

I wonder if Gillian Keegan has come out and criticised the protestors who have been vandalising the ULEZ cameras in London.

I don't know if any Tory has. But here's one with a zero tolerance to crime, who is doubtless on the case.

[Rosvanian]

Has she ever seen a public service she didn't want to cut, a waiting list she didn't want to lengthen, a council she didn't want to screw over so 'her people' can make another fast buck somewhere? She's welcome to pop into my local in Gateshead to discuss these things.

[Rosvanian]

Oh, that was for the Liz Truss thread. Bollocks!

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Oh, that was for the Liz Truss thread. Bollocks!

Applies in any of the Tory threads...

[Tubby Isaacs]

If I were them I wouldn't bother about this £370m. Going to be hard enough for schools anyway.

[RandomElement]

I have just seen this in the Graun.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... t-activity

The government has been monitoring the social media accounts of “dozens” of ordinary teaching staff, including teaching assistants, and is keeping files on posts that criticise education policies, the Observer has learned.

Two weeks ago, this newspaper revealed how the Department for Education is monitoring the social media activity of some of the country’s leading education experts. Now evidence has emerged that the monitoring is much more widespread, covering even the lowest paid members of staff.

Fucking hell the quicker the Tories are out the better. How is this even legal?
Starmer needs to set a commission or review to go through all of this shit and charge those who have broken the law. I guess it not practical or the 'done thing' but as Boris and his merry bunch of wankers have totally ignored protocol and tradition then they should.

[Bones McCoy]

They'd normally describe this as Orwellian.

[Spoonman]

They'd normally describe this as Orwellian.

Yep. Most of usual ones that commonly speak about government or big business overeach, spying on ordinary working folk etc. will be suspiciously quiet about this and other things that they "actually don't mind as long as it doesn't happen to me..."

[Malcolm Armsteen]

I wonder if they've got a file on me...

[RandomElement]

According to the Graun story, some people are sending Data Protection 'Subject Access Requests' to find out what data they have on the requester.

[kreuzberger]

I wonder if they've got a file on me...

Y'all think I look after this pile o' shite for free...?

[satnav]

Joy of joy we have got an OFSTED inspection for the next two days. On the plus side the student I've been babysitting for the last 8 weeks has conveniently been excluded for the next two days so I should have it fairy easy during the inspection.

What is a real joke is that through out the day the school has been flooded with advisers and top brass from the Trust. When we had a meeting at the end of the day there must have been a good 20 people in school, most of whom I've not seen in the school since the Trust took over. Surely OFSTED don't fall for this kind of crap do they? I'd love to know what many of these advisers actually do when they are not in schools trying to pull the wool over OFSTED's eyes.