POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

See THIS Ken for confirmation that you are correct about the Braverman stance....
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is politicised and sometimes at odds with British values, Suella Braverman has said. The home secretary was speaking to the BBC one day after acknowledging her plan to stop small boat crossings could be challenged in the Strasbourg court. Asked if she could ignore the court, she said a balance should be "struck". Ms Braverman's Illegal Migration Bill - which aims to stop small boat Channel crossings - was published on Wednesday. The proposed law would put a duty on the government to detain and remove people arriving in the UK illegally, either to Rwanda or another "safe" third country. Migrants would not be granted bail or able to seek judicial review for the first 28 days of detention.
In other words 'They're all out of step bar us!'.
This is just another example of a fatally flawed government policy that will fail, end up costing us money for no return and will be blamed on someone else. If it isn't militant Left Wing lawyers it's the court in Strasbourg.
I see that in another report Braverman is accusing Gary Lineker of 'demeaning the Holocaust' by criticising her.
If anyone is 'demeaning the Holocaust' it is her! Who mentioned it first?
On another matter, have a look at THIS BBC report on the latest announcement about HS2. Surprise, surprise. As many in the North predicted the line north will be further delayed to save money.
The Birmingham to Crewe leg of high speed railway HS2 will be delayed by two years to cut costs. The government suggested Euston station's opening could also be delayed as an "affordable" design is worked on. Transport secretary Mark Harper blamed soaring prices and said it was "committed" to the line linking London, the Midlands and North of England. HS2 has been beset by delays and cost rises. In 2010, it was expected to cost £33bn but is now expected to be £71bn. Mr Harper said "significant inflationary pressure" and increased project costs meant the government was to "rephase construction by two years". He said the decision had been "difficult" but that it was part of "controlling inflation and reducing government debt".
Wrap it up as you like, the bottom line is that once more the government and the project has broken a promise and what is implicit in this decision is that the total project cost will go up again.
What makes it even worse is that the original economic case for building the line was said by many experts to be extremely shaky. The same assessment done today with today's prices and levels of activity couldn't possibly justify such a grandiose scheme.
Is anyone taking bets that it will progress further then Crewe?

[plaques]

I see that in another report Braverman is accusing Gary Lineker of 'demeaning the Holocaust' by criticising her.
If anyone is 'demeaning the Holocaust' it is her! Who mentioned it first?

Gary Lineker's tweet talked about speeches in Germany in the 1930s no mention of the Holocaust. He was implying that her bill and surrounding rhetoric were similar to that of Hitler's Germany when every Trade union, religious group, Socialist Party were part of a 'Left wing' group that should be banished from Germany. More recently I remember when the Spice Girls' threatened to leave the UK if Labour became the government. No adverse comments by the right-wing media and guess what they are still here.

[Stanley]

Well remembered Ken.... I'd forgotten that.

[Tripps]

I heard an interview with the current Foreign Secretary whilst dozing this morning. I could not for the life of me work out who they were from the voice. There's been quite some turnover in politicians this year. Does everyone else immediately know their name?
Plural pronouns used only to conceal the sex. They were my mystery object for today.

► Show Spoiler

James Cleverley

************************
We learn that Prince Edward is to become Duke of Edinburgh. ("not another one" - Brenda from Bristol).
Three cheers for the new Duke - Hip hip Hurrah . . . .

That lead me to look at the succession to the Monarchy. I was surprised to find that Princess Lilibet of Sussex is at No. 7, and Siena Mapeli Mozzi (no me neither) stands at No. 10 - whilst languishing at No 17 is Princess Anne.

I always think of this, when her name is mentioned, The intros and the outros fast fwd to 50 secs for "Princess Anne on Sousaphone".

[Tizer]

I think it must have been Mr Cleverley talking (like you, I don't know who owns the voices these days) when I heard him say `The people made the decision that we should leave the EU'. That caused me to choke on my corn flakes. Referendums are advisory. Only part of the population voted in the EU Referendum and of those the Leave vote won by a tiny fraction over the Remain vote. It was then up to Parliament to decide and a majority voted to leave even though most of them knew it would be the wrong decision. So Cleverley should blame our Brexit woes on Parliament, not the people.

[Tripps]

I don't see anyone saying "advisory" here.

[bbvideo] [/bbvideo]

[Stanley]

Neither did anyone else David. Politicians have such selective memories!
See THIS for the ultimate in optimistic interpretation of the GDP figures yesterday. The prime minister has said "confidence is returning" after official figures showed the economy grew by more than expected in January. Rishi Sunak said the data confirmed the government's plan is "the right one and we need to stick to it". The economy expanded by 0.3% in January, rebounding from a sharp fall in December. .
03% is within the bounds of error and can by no means be called a 'rebound'. The economists also said that the economy was basically flat-lining but Sunak made no mention of that of course.
I note that we are sending another £500million annually to France to help pay the expenses of a detention centre and other measures against the boat people.
On other matters I see the BBC is getting heavy flak over their sanction of Gary Lineker, many commentators praising him for speaking up for those who had no voice. (I agree with them.)
I reflect how much the sheer idiocy of Brexit cost us in terms of international respect and predict that this draconian new Bill will wreak even more damage.

[plaques]

On other matters I see the BBC is getting heavy flak over their sanction of Gary Lineker, many commentators praising him for speaking up for those who had no voice.

I can understand it if Gary Lineker had made the comments during a BBC broadcast but he made his comments on Twitter an open platform where anyone can express a legitimate legal view. Even OG subscribers can have their say in much the same way their views can be made on OG itself. Perhaps George Orwell's 'Thought Police' is becoming a reality. Have we moved so far to the Fascist right that room 101 looms for anyone with a different view.

“I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” Evelyn Beatrice Hall of what she thought Voltaire was thinking.

[PanBiker]

I can understand it if Gary Lineker had made the comments during a BBC broadcast but he made his comments on Twitter an open platform where anyone can express a legitimate legal view. Even OG subscribers can have their say in much the same way their views can be made on OG itself. Perhaps George Orwell's 'Thought Police' is becoming a reality. Have we moved so far to the Fascist right that room 101 looms for anyone with a different view.

Exactly my thoughts Ken, I mentioned the very same to Sally this morning regarding 1984.

Lineker is an independent sports reporter and does not present the National News or Question Time etc. The beeb may want to look at the likes of Fiona Bruce when speaking of impartiality on mainstream political comment shows.

[Stanley]

Let's not forget that the real problem isn't Lineker or the BBC. It's the draconian Bill that Sunak and Braverman are pushing through Parliament which has horrified every decent person who has seen it.
I see this morning that Sunak got into trouble with the Lords as well for trying to quietly slip the delay to HS2 through while nobody was watching on Friday night.

[Tizer]

Will the BBC be sacking Paul Merton and Ian Hislop and deleting old HIGNFY programmes?

[Sue]

I feel this issue is not about what he said but the fact that they are trying to block free speech. This is censorship . So much is being discussed about the actual words he wrote rather than the issue of wether he had the right to write them. Of course he had the right , he was away from work and speaking as an individual wishing to express his own opinion, irrespective of what that opinion was. The general public can then decide if they agree or disagree. I think if he took the BBC to court he would win if the words of his contract do not forbid him to write on social media . From what I have read it is all rather ambiguous . The BBC could see the collapse of their football and possibly other sports programs. I don’t think Gary will or should back down, he will just walk to another station as will his broadcasting supporters .

[Stanley]

You should post on here more often Sue. That was a blast of fresh air (common sense) that goes straight to the heart of the matter.
One can't help suspecting that Lineker is being used as a human shield for Braverman and Sunak. Once more, not a word about them in the news today but renewed calls for the resignation of Richard Sharp from the BBC. See THIS latest report. All about Sharp, switching the focus back onto him. Lineker was criticised for speaking the truth in his private life by rabid right wing Tories including Braverman defending the Boat Bill , even in her case citing the Holocaust, 'Left Wing Lawyers' and a 'left wing blob' in the Civil Service. It's quite obvious that when, as is widely predicted, the initiative fails on practical grounds let alone humanitarian considerations, they can blame Uncle Tom Cobley and All. "Not me guv".
The focus will shift again this week to Hunt and his Budget on Wednesday. Another quiet week as far as the Boat Bill is concerned. This is political management at its Tory best!

[Sue]

This is interesting

Gary Lineker revolt sees BBC in bigger crisis than tweet row https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64929269

[plaques]

What we are seeing besides 'wall to wall' Lineker is the fact that he upset the governments propaganda programme. Any 'good' ,news in the eyes of No10, is released on a Monday to give its pals the right-wing press a five day run in their papers. Lineker has stopped them in their tracks. Instead of supporting their programme he has had the audacity to question it making people think twice about what's going on. Notice that the delay to HS2 was sneaked out late on Friday night.

Also questionable is why Horizon, HS2, the Lower Thames Crossing and other big ticket items have been pushed back into the long grass. Is it because the government is genuinely short of money or do they wish to give the appearance of being short so that they deny extra payment to nurses, doctors, teachers etc.

[Stanley]

They can't be short of money Ken, Sunak has just announced £5bn extra defence spending over the next two years.....
Something I can't get out of my head is the news item that slipped out last week (and then was immediately deep-sixed) that MPs were so restive because there wasn't enough business moving through Parliament to keep them occupied doing the day job.
That's borne out by the fact that all we hear on the domestic front (Apart from fire fights over commentary on policies.) is a series of announcements of aspirations and hopes for the future. Sunak still sees his main task as to save the Tory Party from total auto destruction. It remains to be seen if he is succeeding.
(My problem is that I can't see any signs of a viable campaign against the government coming out of any of the opposition, let alone Labour.)

[plaques]

Sunak has just announced £5bn extra defence spending over the next two years.....

A recent stock take has shown the government is running out of sofas ever since the fire sale when the top 1% bought them all.

The BBC now appears to be the next 'for sale' target. Handing all the news control to private media will be the ultimate in brain washing. Already we see 'on-line' papers with three different head lines each one contradicting the other. Which one do you believe? Generally the one most similar to your own views but not necessarily correct. The BBC is supposed to be independent by taking a consensus from what's in the papers but if all the papers are supporting one political party then the BBC will reinforce these views by reporting the 'average'.

The Lineker row rumbles on. Jeremy Hunt thinks Lineker is wrong, 'Well he would wouldn't he'. Other big Tory hitters like Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries, God help us, are quick to to inflate the comment of speeches used by Germans in the 1930s to Nazi' and the Holocaust, which is not what he said.
Nazi = Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei , abbreviated to Nazi. (English: National Socialist German Workers' Party)

[PanBiker]

The Lineker row rumbles on. Jeremy Hunt thinks Lineker is wrong, 'Well he would wouldn't he'.

Latest news is that the BBC has apologised to Lineker and has promised to engage an independent panel to recommend a social media policy for the Corporation, something they don't have at the moment.

[Stanley]

I heard that Ian and wondered how the BBC having a social media policy could affect an occurrence such as this. It wasn't the BBC's utterances on social media that triggered the row that emanated from the extreme right wing in the Tory Party, it was a private individual, Gary Lineker. Any BBC policy can only affect BBC spokespersons. Are they saying that if you work for the BBC you can't have private opinions?
See THIS BBC report of the meeting in San Diego of the leaders of AUKUS.
"The leaders of the US, UK and Australia have unveiled new details of their plan to create a fleet of next generation nuclear-powered submarines. Under the Aukus agreement, Australia will first receive at least three nuclear-powered submarines from the US. The allies will also work together to create a new fleet using cutting-edge technology, including reactors made by Rolls-Royce in the UK. The pact is aimed at countering China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Speaking with the other leaders in San Diego, California, US President Joe Biden stressed that the boats would not have nuclear weapons and would not jeopardise Australia's commitment to being a nuclear-free country.
Nothing was said of course about the shortfall in maintenance for the existing UK nuclear fleet. Ben Wallace, Minister of Defence, has only been given half of what he said the MOD needs to fulfil it's tasks to maintain the existing force.

[PanBiker]

Are they saying that if you work for the BBC you can't have private opinions?

Yes!

[Stanley]

The dire state of politics in the UK is perhaps best illustrated by THIS BBC report.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife were spoken to by a police officer after they allowed their dog off the lead in Hyde Park in central London. The officer involved was one of the prime minister's close protection team, the BBC has been told. He reminded the couple of the law that requires dogs to be kept on a lead when on the edge of the Serpentine Lake. A video posted on TikTok shows Mr Sunak and his family walking the dog Nova by the lake. Nova, a Red Fox Labrador, is seen darting around freely, before the prime minister then grabs the dog by the collar and his wife attaches a lead. The video begins with a sign nearby clearly stating "dogs must be kept on leads" and "it is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to disturb wildlife."
This on Budget day. Although by the time Hunt gets to his feet most of the changes in the statement will have been leaked. Gone are the days when the Chancellor was incommunicado before the budget and went into purdah....

[plaques]

I can't get my head round the 'Illegal Immigrant Bill' its second reading went through the Commons yesterday. confusing from the start. Is the bill itself 'Illegal' or are asylum seekers 'Illegal'. Suella Braverman has already stated that people arriving by small boats are illegal. This is clearly wrong if they claim asylum they are legal until their claim is rejected then they become illegal. This proposed bill now making illegal small boat arrivals into criminals to be gaoled until deported. That includes women and children trying to escape persecution. What was more than depressing was to hear Tory after Tory MP supporting the bill stretching every inflammatory bit of rhetoric, generally imaginary, to its maximum. All this blamed on Labour for voting against previous illegal bills that their 80 seat majority passed with ease only to bite the dust as pointed out by Labour.
Its obvious from the ongoing rhetoric that 'Stop the Boats' is going to be the main plank of their election strategy for the next two years. Forget the cost of living, the NHS closing down, GDP going through the floor, people on strike because they can't manage on impossibly low wages, No, the real problem is small boats. You couldn't make it up.

[Tripps]

I've stolen a couple of comments from elsewhere and after sanitising them for a family site -

My hate for these Tories is 99.7% this year, will rise to 99.8% next year, rising to 99.9% in 2025 and hitting its peak at 100% thereafter

He says he is going to freeze fuel duty which will save motorists money. No it won't save us money it is money we weren't spending anyway .
it is just more money they were going to steal from us, but have put it off because so many are now saying "stick Net Zero where the sun don't shine.

[Stanley]

Ken, I saw this in this week's Private Eye.....



David, I think we are going to see a lot more comments like those. You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time but you can't fool all the people all of the time.
See THIS BBC report on the budget.
Jeremy Hunt insists his Budget will get young parents and over-50s back into work - and it will not just benefit the rich who are saving for retirement. The chancellor told the BBC he wanted to fill a million vacancies across the UK so firms can "grow faster". He plans to expand free childcare in England and scrap the £1m cap for tax-free pension savings. Labour says the pensions move will only help the richest 1% - and Mr Hunt is "dressing up stagnation as stability".
See also THIS. Hunt says there will not be a recession this year (when others say we are already in it) but at the same time.....
People face their biggest fall in spending power for 70 years as the surging cost of living eats into wages. The government's independent forecaster said that household incomes - once rising prices were taken into account - would drop by 6% this year and next. Living standards won't recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2027, it warned. It came as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the economy would shrink this year but avoid recession. Energy and food bills have shot up due to the war in Ukraine and pandemic, and are squeezing household budgets. Inflation - the rate at which prices are rising - is currently in double digits.
I have news for Mr Hunt, the ordinary voter will not be getting enthusiastic about firms being able to 'grow faster' but will be focussing on the pound in their pocket. Talking about firms growing faster gives the impression they are growing now but slowly. This is not true, they are shrinking.
For once Starmer is right, see THIS report of what he said about the budget.
Sir Keir Starmer has accused the chancellor of "dressing up stagnation as stability" in his Budget. The Labour leader also criticised plans to abolish the pensions allowance limit as "a huge giveaway" for the wealthy. But Jeremy Hunt said the UK would avoid entering a recession and the economy was "proving the doubters wrong". The government's independent forecaster said the economy was still likely to shrink this year, but by less than it previously thought. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is also warning of a big drop in living standards, which it says will not recover to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2027.
Hunt has been very clever and pressed all of the right buttons in this budget intended as much to repair the damaged Tory Party as to help the national economy. But 'clever' isn't what is needed. We need sensible investment policies and an end to austerity. Time to stop scratching the backs of the city and the party donors. In short, time for a change.

[plaques]

"As a result of Global changes and the measures I have taken we shall avoid a technical recession". A reminder of the measures taken was to drop the previous Autumn budget as though it never happened.

I will reduce the RATE of inflation. This is just a smokescreen to say that compared with the same time period last year the SPEED of price increases will be down. Total prices will be what has already gone on plus those forecast for the future,
The OBR forecast is shown below.

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Budget 1.jpg

On GDP the pre Covid GDP won't be achieved until 2025 (if we are lucky)

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Budget 2.jpg

Employment is still in the doldrums. Still flat until the end of 2024. (so how does GDP go up?) Roughly 3/4 of a million behind the curve. No wonder Hunt wants to make it tough for those who think they can 'make do'.

.

Budget 3.jpg