POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

That reply nattered me until this morning when I realised what was wrong and went for a furtle. It was George Claude Lockhart who was the ringmaster David. Don't know how Bruce crept in!

See THIS report for the latest swing of weathervane Trump.
The US has backed the UK's deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and lease back a key military base, Downing Street has told the BBC. On Thursday, Donald Trump signalled his approval for the move, describing Sir Keir Starmer's agreement as the "best he could make". It comes just a few weeks after the US president prompted fears in Whitehall that he would withdraw his support, after he branded the deal an "act of great stupidity". Trump's comments led to additional talks between officials to confirm continued American support for the agreement, which will impact the future of a joint UK-US airbase.

[Tripps]

This my 10,000th post - (almost unbelievable) - nice that it's a bit "spooky"

An hour after your post above, before seeing it, and during a night time 'comfort break' for no apparent reason it came to mind that it was George Lockhart who was the ring master not Bruce. Glad you agree.

Maybe I had this chap in what masquerades for a memory these days in mind.

Google tells me there was another in the 1920's who was a sort of '39 steps' character, and probably a spy.

[Stanley]

David... Bruce Lockhart hovers at the brink of my memory as well but I can't pin him down.

In an attempt to get this topic back on piste I searched for some political news that wasn't connected to Mandelson. I failed. At one point I thought I might have some3thing with an item about Wegg-Prosser, a name that had always got my attention but then found out it was yet more Epstein related copy....
In the course of my furtling I came across this Gordon Brown quotation.... "Former Prime Minister Brown said he "greatly regrets" appointing Mandelson in his government. "As I digest the details of what has emerged, I also find it hard to find words to express my revulsion at what has been uncovered about Epstein and his impact on our politics," he wrote in the Guardian on Friday."
My mind goes back a long way to Dome of Discovery days and the surprise in my mind is that anyone could ever trust Mandelson in any context.
He always presented himself as the Third Man in the conception of New Labour but many question this self-assessment. It may be that one of the casualties of the Epstein Effect could be the concept of New Labour and this triggers thoughts about the stain spreading further to Starmer and even Tony Blair. Nothing can be ruled out. I heard Ian Hislop saying that this is bigger than the Profumo affair.... He also pointed out that Private Eye had been on Mandelson's case in the very early days.
We live in interesting times!

[Stanley]

I listened to the long interview with Gordon Brown on Today. I don't think Gordon is capable of lying and the picture he painted of the betrayal by Mandelson in 2008 is damning. Gordon is calling for an immediate move to impose standards on public life that will address the mistakes we are seeing here.
I was struck by his amazement that the checks and balances already built into the system hadn't worked.....
I don't think they have poked into all the corners yet. I wait to see whether there are 'untouchables' still or whether they will all be called to account......

[Stanley]

I'm sorry but THIS still dominates the headlines.....
A pay-off given to Lord Mandelson after he was sacked as ambassador to the US is being reviewed, UK Foreign Office sources have told the BBC. The review was instigated after fresh details emerged about the peer's contact with Jeffrey Epstein and a separate police investigation was initiated in the UK, they said. The Labour peer is thought to have been given a pay-off of up to £40,000 after he was sacked as the UK's ambassador to the US in September over his links with the late convicted sex offender. On Friday police searched two homes linked to Lord Mandelson after the latest release of files in the US indicated email exchanges with Epstein about fiscal policy. Lord Mandelson has not been arrested. Government sources confirmed that the Foreign Office reached a financial settlement with Lord Mandelson, but have not said how much this was for. However, he is believed to have been given an exit payment equivalent to three months' salary according to the Times. A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "Peter Mandelson's civil service employment was terminated in accordance with legal advice and the terms and conditions of his employment. "Normal civil services HR processes were followed. Further information will be provided to Parliament as part of the government response to the motion passed last week which is being co-ordinated by the cabinet office." While Lord Mandelson's salary as US ambassador has not been disclosed, the post typically has a salary of £155,000-£159,999. This would put a three months' pay-out at around £40,000.

[Tripps]

Morgan Mc Sweeney has been thrown under the proverbial bus to protect (they hope) Sir Keir Rodney Starmer.

His statement began “After careful reflection, I have decided to resign from the government"

Delusional.

I hope someone reminds him on his way out the he is not actually "in the Government". He is an advisor - a hired hand, to correct the PM's spelling, make coffee, and such stuff. He's a County Cork man and his grandfather served in the IRA. Was he vetted by the same team as vetted Mandelson?

Won't work I'd say. This is a splash of blood in the water, and the sharks / press will speak of little else for a long time.

[Stanley]

I had to look up THIS BBC report in order to understand David's post....
Morgan McSweeney has dramatically quit as Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff, after mounting scrutiny over his role in Lord Mandelson's appointment as the UK's ambassador to the US. The PM's adviser had been coming under pressure after pushing for the former minister to be given the job, despite the peer's relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein being publicly known about at the time. McSweeney said he did not oversee the vetting but wanted to take "full responsibility" for advising the prime minister to appoint him. It leaves Sir Keir battling to shore up his premiership as he continues to face anger from Labour MPs over his decision to hire the peer for the Washington role.
At first glance this looks like an attempt to divert attention from Starmer....

Then I read THIS supplementary report....
Morgan McSweeney has never spoken publicly about the immensely consequential role he has played in British politics over the last decade. It is almost impossible to find a clip of his voice. He completely avoids the TV cameras and photographers who lurk around Whitehall at times of political crisis. Yet the elusive Irishman's sudden departure as Sir Keir Starmer's top aide - a result of his fateful advice in autumn 2024 that Lord Mandelson should be the UK's ambassador to Washington - leaves the prime minister exposed in a way that might not be immediately clear. One question many in Westminster are now pondering is: what sort of politician will Sir Keir be without the man many say was his political brain? Because unlike almost all relationships between prime minister and adviser, Sir Keir did not choose McSweeney - it was arguably the other way around. In the Corbyn years when control of Labour had been lost to the left, McSweeney polled party members and decided that the lawyer and shadow Brexit secretary was his best chance for wrestling back control of his party. In what some claim was an elaborate and perfectly-executed deception, McSweeney managed to persuade pro-Corbyn party members that Sir Keir was one of them. And after winning the leadership, Sir Keir purged many Corbynites - including the former leader himself - and pivoted to a more centrist general election pitch. McSweeney's work at Labour HQ during the 2001 election and later in local government shaped his campaigning instincts. In an echo of Boris Johnson's adviser Dominic Cummings, McSweeney is credited with masterminding a general election landslide yet blamed for turbulence and U-turns once in government. He is also accused of presiding over a "boys' club" atmosphere at No 10, with some MPs now suggesting a full cultural reset is needed rather than just one change of personnel. Starmer's decision to appoint McSweeney's deputies - Jill Cuthbertson and Vidhya Alakeson - to be his joint successors on an acting basis may start this process. Some allies of the deposed chief of staff are angry, pointing out that there are other prominent advisers who also recommended Lord Mandelson yet remain in their jobs.
I have no way of telling whether this report is accurate and therefore a good explanation of what is happening. What I am clear about however is that attention has been diverted from legitimate questions about the Leadership of the Labour Party and focussed on gossip about the workings of the snake-pit that is Downing Street. Meanwhile, to an outsider, it seems that the country is going to hell in a basket and nobody is listening to the voices like Gordon Brown who yesterday called for immediate attention to addressing what he says are the flaws in the way Members of Parliament are regulated and subsequent failures of governance.

[Stanley]

See THIS Chris Mason opinion piece...
36 minutes ago
The prime minister has had a political near-death experience – and survived, for now at least. At various points, he looked like he might be done for and imminently. If Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar's desire to dislodge Sir Keir Starmer had had public accomplices, that could have been it. There was a crucial pivot point on Monday afternoon when things could have gone in one of two ways. If others had said Sir Keir should go, he might not have got to the end of the day without announcing his departure. But instead, there was a rallying of support from the cabinet and from various wings of the Labour Party. Let's be clear: missives of loyalty from cabinet ministers towards the prime minister shouldn't be newsworthy and they only become so when the opposite seems feasible. The sheer volume of social media posts only served to underline just how perilous Sir Keir's position had been: he needed political scaffolding to prop him up from wherever it could be found. But that support did come and he has seen off, for now, the moment of maximum danger for him. It is, though, also true that this has been a deeply wounding week for Sir Keir and he is weaker for it. And jeopardy peppers the diary ahead for him. There is the Gorton and Denton by-election in Greater Manchester in just over a fortnight. Then there are the Scottish and Welsh devolved elections, and English local elections, in May. If either or both of those dates are doomladen for Labour, who gets the blame?
We live in interesting times.
One is allowed to be wise before the event and some of us knew instinctively that Starmer was the wrong man for Labour Leader when he was selected before the election. It is difficult to see how he can survive for long. His best service to the Party would be to volunteer his departure setting in place an orderly way to find a successor. As it is it is going to be decided by raw political manoeuvring.

[Stanley]

See THIS report for another indirect link to tainting by contact with sex offenders...
Lord Doyle, Sir Keir Starmer's former director of communications, has been suspended from Labour's parliamentary party over his links with a convicted sex offender. The peer said he would not take the Labour whip and apologised for his past association with Sean Morton, a former Labour councillor in Moray who admitted indecent child image offences in 2017. It comes after the Sunday Times reported that Lord Doyle campaigned for Morton after he was charged with possessing and distributing indecent images of children in December 2016. "At the point of my campaigning support, Morton repeatedly asserted to all those who knew him his innocence, including initially in court," Lord Doyle said. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch wrote to Sir Keir last week to call on him to "explain why you appointed another friend of a child sex offender to a prestigious post".

[Stanley]

THIS heads the political news this morning....
Sir Keir Starmer has defended awarding a peerage to his former communications chief after claiming Lord Doyle "did not give a full account" over his links with a convicted sex offender. Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir reiterated he had removed Lord Doyle from Labour's parliamentary party. But Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch raised questions on what Sir Keir knew about Lord Doyle during the appointment process before accusing the PM of "stuffing government with hypocrites and paedophile apologists". Lord Doyle has apologised for his past association with Sean Morton, a former Labour councillor who admitted indecent child image offences in 2017. It was announced on 10 December last year that Sir Keir's former director of communications would be awarded a peerage.

[Tizer]

It's good to see this rebuke to Trump...
`US House backs bid to block Canada tariffs in rebuke of Trump: Republicans join Democrats in objecting to national emergency US president declared to impose tariffs' Guardian

[Stanley]

I agree Peter, it's a hopeful sign..... I note that Trump says that tariffs have brought the US national security..... I wonder what evidence there is for that statement?

See THIS report heading the politics section of the BBC news this morning.....
Sir Chris Wormald has been forced out as the head of the Civil Service and cabinet secretary. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who only appointed Sir Chris to the role in December 2024, said he was grateful "for the support he has given me over the past year". The Cabinet Office said the move was "by mutual agreement" but it follows months of negative media reports suggesting Downing Street was unhappy with his performance. His responsibilities will be shared by Catherine Little, permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, Dame Antonia Romeo, permanent secretary at the Home Office and James Bowler, permanent secretary at the Treasury, until a replacement is appointed "shortly". It makes Sir Chris the shortest-serving cabinet secretary in the history of the post. At the time of his appointment, the PM said Sir Chris would be tasked with "the complete re-wiring of the British state to deliver bold and ambitious long-term reform". However, as a career civil servant some questioned whether he was the best person to reform the Civil Service. Sir Chris also had ultimate responsibility for the due diligence checks carried out before Lord Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador, although he took up the role only a few days before the appointment was formally announced. He is the third senior official to leave the government operation in a matter of days, following Sir Keir's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and his director of communications Tim Allan, as the PM seeks to reset his team after the Mandelson scandal.
The impression I get is that Number Ten is a snake pit and is in internal melt-down largely due to Starmer's incompetence.

[Stanley]

If we discard yet more references to Mandelson and the Epstein Affair we are left with THIS update on Number Ten.....
Sir Keir Starmer and the rest of his cabinet may still be in their jobs at the end of a tumultuous week - but the same can not be said of key figures in behind-the-scenes roles. The head of the Civil Service Sir Chris Wormald has been pushed out, along with the PM's trusted political aide Morgan McSweeney. His highly experienced communications director Tim Allan has also departed. In the past 18 months no less than four communications directors have headed for the Downing Street exit. Such is the rate of summary dismissals at Downing Street, it's probably just as well that not all of the measures in the government's employment rights legislation have been implemented. But is transplanting staff at the heart of government part of a bigger strategy? Or is it simply a short-term tactical move, a sticking plaster to get the PM through the next news cycle? There is precedent for prime ministers firing senior civil servants who are not seen as being on board with their programme. When Liz Truss briefly took over at Number 10 she got rid of Tom Scholar, the top civil servant at the Treasury. But Truss had inherited Scholar from Boris Johnson and she had, for better or worse, a clear policy agenda. In Sir Keir's case, he is sacking or squeezing out people he initially approved. As an insider said about one of Sir Keir's previous dismissals, the PM is getting good - at clearing up his own mess.
I see nothing to make me revise my opinion that Number Ten is a disorganised snake pit that is in chaos.....

[Stanley]

At last we have significant political news! See THIS BBC report.

[Stanley]

See THIS report about the succession of the new senior civil servant.....
1 hour ago
The frontrunner to become the country's most senior civil servant was spoken to about her management and leadership style after an inquiry into a complaint against her. Dame Antonia Romeo, understood to be the government's favoured candidate for cabinet secretary, was investigated over three allegations when she worked in New York in 2017. The outcome of that investigation was "there is no case to answer", Dame Antonia was told in a letter seen by BBC News. But a source said she faced "tough conversations" about her leadership style. A Cabinet Office spokesperson emphasised that it was a single complaint that was dismissed, and said Dame Antonia has a long "record of excellent public service". A source said that "there were some issues of personal style that grated with people."

[Tripps]

A sorry tale -

If you ask us nicely we will cancel the May election in Pendle.

Sorry - even though Pendle Council have voted to cancel we will not in fact cancel. All the other Lancashire Boroughs will still be cancelled

In fact we will now cancel the election in May. Better have you the same as all the other Lancashire Boroughs.

We now find that cancellation is illegal - so the election will now take place.

[Stanley]

Sounds like total incompetence David.... I look forward to exercising my democratic rights..... (Unless there is another reverse ferret!)

HERE'S the latest report.....
The government has abandoned plans to delay 30 council elections in England, following advice this could be unlawful. Local Government Secretary Steve Reed had approved delays for the ballots until 2027, arguing some councils were worried about the cost of running elections for authorities which are due to be abolished in a major reorganisation of local government. Reform UK had launched a legal challenge against the plans to delay May's elections, which was due to be heard in the High Court on Thursday. The move was welcomed by opposition parties, who had branded the delays undemocratic. Reform leader Nigel Farage, writing on X, external, said: "We took this Labour government to court and won. "In collusion with the Tories, Keir Starmer tried to stop 4.6 million people voting on May 7th. Only Reform UK fights for democracy." Asked by BBC London if Reed should resign, Farage said "if a government minister does something illegal, they really ought to resign". His remarks came after he claimed the decision to approve the election delays was "clearly unlawful". The government has agreed to pay Reform's legal costs relating to the proceedings, which a party source said would be at least £100,000. In a letter to council leaders, Reed said the government had written to the High Court to confirm he had decided to withdraw the original decision. The statement said: "The secretary (of) state invited the housing minister, who was not involved in the initial decision-making, to reconsider the position afresh on a very urgent basis recognising the pressing timescales involved. "The housing minister has decided that the elections should proceed in May 2026." Reed said he recognised that many of the councils undergoing reorganisation "voiced genuine concerns about the pressure they are under" as part of the reforms. He added that the government would provide an extra £63m to the 21 areas affected.
Much as I hate it, I have to agree with Farage. There should be consequences for those responsible for such a mess.....

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the government's current difficulties.....
9 hours ago
Keir Starmer and his team knew last week that a U-turn on delaying council elections was inevitable, and they knew it would be painful. From my conversations with some of those involved, they sound frustrated, downbeat and a little annoyed. The PM's advisers correctly predicted that Nigel Farage would paint their reversal as a victory for him - after all, ministers were forced to cave ahead of an imminent legal challenge from Reform UK. The alternative may, however, have been even more embarrassing for the government. Imagine their legal arguments being picked apart in court, perhaps a judge criticising their actions, and even Nigel Farage celebrating a major win in front of TV cameras on the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice.
And on paper this administration has an overwhelming majority..... Is this bad luck or bad management?

[Stanley]

See THIS for news of changes in SEND policies....
Updated 1 hour ago
Leaked details suggest special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support is facing its biggest shake-up in a generation, potentially provoking a political backlash. The reforms will be a complete system redesign, with children with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) to be reassessed as they move from primary up to secondary school from 2029. The BBC understands this will sit alongside an extension of legal rights to include all children with SEND through school-led Individual Support Plans (ISP). Paul Whiteman, the General Secretary of the National Association of Headteachers, told the BBC "the current system fails children and fails schools". The radical plans could be unveiled in full as early as Monday, when MPs return to parliament, and there is likely to be dismay at a leak during recess and half term.

[Tizer]

From Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America correspondent...
`Tariffs ruling is major blow to Trump's second-term agenda' BBC
Donald Trump had been warning for months that a Supreme Court decision like this would be catastrophic. If the court curtailed his ability to impose these tariffs, he had said, it would be an "economic and national security disaster". A six-justice majority of the Supreme Court, in ruling against the president on Friday, didn't care much about his concerns. Congress, not the president, has the power to impose tariffs, the justices ruled. And nothing in the law that the president based his tariffs on, the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, delegated such sweeping powers to Trump. The court's decision represents a rare check on this president's broad use of executive authority....

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on current protests in Iran.....
Students at several universities in Iran have staged anti-government protests - the first such rallies on this scale since last month's deadly crackdown by the authorities. The BBC has verified footage of demonstrators marching on the campus of the Sharif University of Technology in the capital Tehran on Saturday. Scuffles were later seen breaking out between them and government supporters. A sit-in was held at another Tehran university, and a rally reported in the north-east. Students were honouring thousands of those killed in mass protests in January. The US has been building up its military presence near Iran, and President Donald Trump has said he is considering a limited military strike.
This is a serious challenge to the Ayatollah and so far there has been no retaliation.......

[Stanley]

See THIS report of a serious issue...
"This is a story of lost lives," says Alan Milburn, as he stands outside the front door of the house where he grew up, in Benwell, Newcastle. The former New Labour minister is returning to his home town as part of his review for the government into how to stem the rising number of young people not in education, employment or training, also known as Neets. Almost a million 16 to 24-year-olds are in this group - the highest level for more than 10 years. More than half are deemed to be economically inactive, meaning they are not looking for work. Milburn says the north-east of England, which is one of the hardest places for a young person to find work, is at "the sharp end" of the problem. It is, he says, "a social catastrophe, an economic catastrophe and a political catastrophe". But for him it is also very personal. "I grew up in this area and I know what life is like here. It might be a long time ago but you never forget. "It was 50 years ago and you never forget just how hard it is for people to get the opportunities and chances that I had in my life." He says his family were "pretty poor" and his school was "terrible". If it weren't for luck and chance, he says, his "life could have taken a very different turn". Around the corner from his old home is Patchwork, a local youth project Milburn supports. Karl Maughan Gilbert, a senior youth worker, says the term Neet is a "horrible" one with "really negative connotations". "It implies there is a choice whereas there is not really a choice," he says. "It is so easy to just blame people rather than looking at the whole thing and think - 'actually what are we doing'."
This is possibly the most serious problem facing government and is made worse by the erosion of jobs being caused by AI and the rise of Quantum Computing.....

[Stanley]

See THIS report
6 hours ago
It was quite a moment when a minister of the crown called the King's brother "rude, arrogant and entitled" at the despatch box of the House of Commons. Granted, Sir Chris Bryant was almost as disobliging about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor 15 years ago, as an opposition MP, when there were calls then for him to be sacked as the government's trade envoy. So Sir Chris's views about the former prince are not new but still, when speaking on behalf of the government, it tells you something about how the collapse in respect for Mountbatten-Windsor has been near total. But the debate in the Commons, triggered by a Liberal Democrat demand for documents relating to the former prince's appointment as a trade envoy to be published, was not a case study in and of itself in a collapse of parliamentary deference around the Royal Family. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has effectively been fired out of a cannon — disowned by the Royal Family and the political classes, and stripped of his titles. So the conventions set out in the parliamentary bible Erskine May, external, which have long clipped the wings of debate about the monarch and their family, didn't apply to Mountbatten-Windsor. Hence it was something of open season on him. But remarks were much more muted, restrained or simply absent about remaining senior royals. There were, though, some concerns expressed about those conventions — and a sense from some that for too long custom had been the midwife of deference and that must change.
Change is certainly needed.....

[Tripps]

I listened to a lot of the State of the Union speech last night. I think he hinted at getting another term.

He definitely said he had reduced the murder rate in Washington DC by "21 hundred percent". Can someone explain to him that once a quantity is reduced by one hundred percent it becomes zero. It then cannot be reduced any further. Good job he's not responsible for large sums of money.

[PanBiker]

Trump also claimed that he was solely responsible for the US Ice Hockey teams success at the Winter Olympics? I firmly believe that the man is either deranged or in the advanced stages of dementia.

One thing that really makes me cringe is when he, (as a draft dodger) salutes military personnel. I know he is the Commander in Chief but in my book this is an insult owing to his history of shirking the draft. I am also aware that a salute is to the rank not the person, even so I so don't think he has the right.