POLITICS CORNER

[PanBiker]

I heard a report today that apparently only 60,000 people who have no photo ID have applied for the free voter ID certificate from their local council. There are a lot more who will need it.

The cunning plan here of course is that it is a new law based on a totally false premise. It therefore qualifies in spades as nothing more than a cunning plan to disenfranchise large sections of the electorate. How can it be right to issue students with perfectly acceptable ID that will get them into educational establishments and transport and the like but the same Photo ID will not be valid to claim a ballot?

Sally has just looked at her nearly 10 year old passport photo where you are not allowed to smile and must take the most dire pose known to man. She wears glasses all the time but is not allowed to wear them on said passport photo. Consequently the photo looks nothing like her. Electoral staff are entitled to turn folk away that don't look like their photo. She doesn't have a Photo driving licence, still on her paper one, her only other qualifying ID is her bus pass. Might be a good test to present the passport first and keep the bus pass in reserve. Anyone without either is a bit stuffed.

The simple answer of course is to apply for a postal vote. Which is the area where historically most of the voter fraud took place.

Cunning plan indeed.

[plaques]

The simple answer of course is to apply for a postal vote. Which is the area where historically most of the voter fraud took place.

Cunning plan indeed.

I have heard that a number of local Conservative Party head quarters are sending out forms offering to arrange postal voting processing, A free prepaid envelop to their address also being supplied. After you have filled in all the details including a sample signature they will pass it on to the local council voting authority.
A very charitable gesture but raises the question 'Why' and what could go wrong.

[PanBiker]

Third parties are now not allowed to collect postal votes from electors. There are only a very few exceptions to the new rules regarding this. In the past that stage was where the most fraudulent activity took place. The new rules have basically got rid of this type of fraud.

Just for the record and regarding the need for Photo ID. There has only been a ridiculously low occurrence of attempted fraud at the polling stations, 9 convictions over the last 5 years. Hardly an epidemic and certainly does not warrant the production of Photo ID which as it stands at the moment is a bit of a hit and miss situation.

The Electoral Commission - Electoral Fraud Data

I have nothing against photo ID if we all had a National Identity Card, that would not run the risk, (or any plan) for disenfranchising anyone entitled to vote. I would welcome a photo ID card and also compulsory voting which would create a more level playing field.

[Stanley]

Work out who is most likely to not have voter ID under these rules and it doesn't look like your average Tory voter. QED. The scheme is to weed out non Tory voters and as such is despicable.
Later.... if anyone had told me that the leaders of the two main political parties would allow themselves to be embroiled in an argument as to whether or not one in a thousand women was born with a penis I'd have said they were pulling my plonker.....
Ken, I thought the project to hive off the NHS to the private sector was going rather well......
It is beyond belief what is happening to this country and there is no sign of relief.

[plaques]

Third parties are now not allowed to collect postal votes from electors.

Ian I was not commenting on the collection of postal votes but the offer to organise the process of applying for a postal vote. Postal Votes. It is perfectly legal for third parties to organise this process as long as they follow the guide lines.

For postal voting, the code explains what information a party should include if it decides to send postal vote application forms to voters.

For example, it must be clear where the voter should send the completed application form. The address for the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) at the local council should be clearly provided as the preferred address, and parties are allowed to provide additional addresses as well.

The additional address could be on an envelope, which could be pre-paid. As long as the address of the ERO is included somewhere in the information as the preferred address, envelopes like this are allowed.

The point being that they have your data and could copy this onto a local data base. What happens next is open to conjecture.

[PanBiker]

I have heard that a number of local Conservative Party head quarters are sending out forms offering to arrange postal voting processing,

It was this bit that tweaked me Ken.

The point being that they have your data and could copy this onto a local data base. What happens next is open to conjecture.

As to this, there is a much easier way, you can ask your local authority for a list of electors who have applied for a postal vote. This has always been available as it allows you to update who not to knock up on the day if that is part of your campaign.

Similar to the marked up register which you can get after the event. This allows you to target only the people who regularly vote in subsequent elections. No point talking to folk who register but don't vote.

[PanBiker]

Now that nominations have closed for the borough elections. I have just received the latest Polling Station list. They have added an extra 6 for this election and also redistributed some of the polling boxes. I receive this as I am admin for our parties database system. I will have to check through all 58 that are now on the list and update the boxes used at each place. Quite a lot remain the same but the renumbering will need checking and updating.

The next general election will be interesting as they are bolting on quite a big chunk of Ribble Valley. I will have to do it all again for that!

[Stanley]

See THIS for a good exam-ple of someone whistling to keep his spirits up!
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says Britain's economy is "back", and that his strategy for growth has been welcomed at the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington. His predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng, left the previous IMF meeting in October early, amid a barrage of criticism. Mr Hunt said the international lending body saw he was "putting the British economy back on the right track". However, the latest figures show the UK economy failed to grow in February. On Wednesday, the IMF said it expected the UK economy to shrink by 0.3% in 2023, which would make it one of the worst performing of the world's major economies.
I think Hunt is saying everything will be all right because he is better than Quasi Kwarteng. Great! So that's all right then.....

[plaques]

The next general election will be interesting as they are bolting on quite a big chunk of Ribble Valley. I will have to do it all again for that!

From what I understand from the proposed boundary changes Pendle will become 'Pendle and Clitheroe' absorbing Downham, Clitheroe, Barrow, Read and Sabden. Brierfield moves to Burnley. This is to make sure the new boundaries have between 69,724 and 77,062 votes. The current electorate is 65,292.

Brierfield has an Electorate: 12615. what seems to have happened is that Brierfield , a Labour holding, has been exchanged for a slightly larger number of Conservative voters. Basically the area will extend from Nelson to Clitheroe with the population being concentrated at to two far ends. How this constitutes good governance is beyond me.

[Stanley]

You're not the only one that is baffled Ken. Am I being over simplistic or is it good old fashioned gerrymandering?
early 19th century: from the name of Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts + salamander, from the supposed similarity between a salamander and the shape of a new voting district on a map drawn when he was in office (1812), the creation of which was felt to favour his party; the map (with claws, wings, and fangs added) was published in the Boston Weekly Messenger, with the title The Gerry-Mander .
I've told the story before but I think it's worth repeating for any younger readers. The Tories of Clitheroe got a shock in 1902 when they woke up one morning and found they had a Labour MP, this when the Labour Party was a new force on the scene. What had happened was that they had not noticed that the Village o9f Marsden had grown exponentially due to the explosion of cotton weaving and mill building. They had Labour MPs until 1922 and again in 1945 and shortly afterwards the constituency was revised. Nelson got its own seat and Clitheroe became Ribble Valley.
Perhaps the Tories are just getting their own back....

[Stanley]

See THIS and weep at the injustice that has been done to these people.
Windrush scandal victims are still facing long waits and inadequate offers of compensation, according to a new report by a global human rights group. Human Rights Watch said the Home Office-run compensation scheme should be handed to an independent body.
Human Rights Watch said people should be entitled to legal aid for their compensation application, because the process was "complex, subject to arbitrary decision makers and just not accessible". It said the burden of proof placed on victims was "unreasonable", requiring people to track down employers and landlords who turned them down a number of years ago. The organisation's report also said claimants "do not feel that they would get a fair hearing" at the Home Office, "as it is the agency responsible for the injustices".
This is the evidence that Theresa May's 'hostile environment' for immigrants is alive and well under the care of Suella Braverman. It is a disgrace and the cruel treatment of these people should be counted as a crime and the perpetrators held responsible.
I see that Starmer has made another speech in which he states the bleeding obvious.... That Labour need to win seats in Scotland to succeed. What he didn't mention was the fact that most Scots see Labour as being in favour of Brexit because they never came out firmly as Remainers in the debate. How does he get round that one?

[plaques]

Wes Streeting MP defending the attack adverts on Rishi Sunak. It followed the standard convoluted hypothetical arguments

"Do you think that Sunak thinks convicted child sex offenders should have a prison sentence" ?

"I'd like to believe the answer is no. but the Prime Minister should be challenged on that"

"But do you believe that Mr Sunak doesn't think that child sex abusers should be in prison"?

"Well I have to assume that he thinks that. otherwise its incompetence."


A totally pointless interview built on sympathy to the victims but directed against an individual when it should have been pointing at government failings.

I think Starmer should take a different tack on these subjects but in reality the media is against him being able to shut him out on any subject he raises.

[Stanley]

I really do think that I was on to something the other day when I suggested that the main reason why politics seems to be all trivia and hypotheticals is that not enough actual governing is being done by the House and the devil finds work for idle hands. I see the main political news this morning is that Sunak is accused of a breach of Parliamentary standards (shock horror) when in fact it is a technical matter and no worse than other politicians errors.
I can remember a time when politicians made speeches that contained substantive matters and actual policies. Now we are fed aspirations, rehashes of previous statements and repeats of funding announcements
See THIS piece by Chris Mason which I think sets the panic level at about the right level.
I would like to see Sunak attacked for the Tory's neglect of the NHS over the last 13 years which has brought us to the position where a 45% wage increase is technically correct in accountant's terms. Apply the same logic to all the other public service wage claims. This is bad governance and the real reason why we are in such a dire state. This without citing the monstrosity which is Brexit.....
Question for J Hunt. "Does the fact that technically we are going to avoid a recession mean that ordinary people will feel an improvement in their personal financial position?"

[plaques]

Question for J Hunt. "Does the fact that technically we are going to avoid a recession mean that ordinary people will feel an improvement in their personal financial position?"

The economy is back on track, which track is not quite clear. Inflation looks like it could drop below the 10% barrier. Interest rates have stabilized and don't need to go any higher but what we have got will remain until the end of the year. The price of petrol is down but diesel is 20p a ltr more expensive although the wholesale price is the same. Most supply chains use diesel in their vehicles. Energy prices are falling but just to make sure that domestic customers don't see any difference the £67 grant has been removed. Strikes are apparently the reason behind the drop in productivity and zero GDP growth. So to make sure that nothing changes the government appears to be encouraging Doctors and Nurses to go on strike. The Confidence Index in industry is rising. But unemployment levels are going up because industry hasn't the confidence to set more people on, Strange??
Farmers are growing fewer crops because they are short of labour and being undercut by foreign imports. Unfortunately the importers have spotted this supply and demand difference and are pushing their prices up.

We are living in an Alice in Wonderland of aspirational jam tomorrow where in reality everyone can see that things are going worse.

[Stanley]

"Farmers are growing fewer crops because they are short of labour and being undercut by foreign imports. Unfortunately the importers have spotted this supply and demand difference and are pushing their prices up. "
That's quite possibly the most serious item in your excellent commentary with which I totally agree. I am convinced that we are going to see shortages of basic foods before the year is out. When it happens everyone will be most surprised and they will have a problem because it can't be blamed on 'lefty lawyers'!
See THIS if you are trying to understand what is happening to the SNP.
The SNP "will be in trouble" unless the leadership takes "decisive action" on its internal affairs, former leadership candidate Kate Forbes has warned. Speaking to the BBC, Ms Forbes said people were watching the SNP "with astonishment" and party finance claims were "mind-blowing".
I have news for Ms. Forbes.... the SNP is in dire trouble now. What will happen if they do not get a grip is extinction. Both the Scots Tory Party and Labour have seen their opportunity and will be making hay while the sun shines.
The events of the last few days are astonishing and unprecedented. It's difficult to see a way out of this mess even in the best circumstances.

[Stanley]

The main political news this morning is from Scotland. See THIS for the latest in the ongoing SNP saga which is tearing the part apart.
Here in Westminster, apart from financial scandal allegations focussed on the PM all we have is speculation about the outcome of the Raab enquiry and Starmer making speeches about the bleeding obvious, this time focussing on the Justice System. As far as I can see this is all election politics and the Labour Focus is on the man, Sunak and not on policies. That's too hard!

[plaques]

And the Dogs didn't bark.

Yesterday we received a rather bland double sided A4 leaflet (in an envelope) nicely printed with coloured portraits of what after in some in depth reading turned out to be a list of local councilor candidates. No banner headline saying this was on behalf of the Conservative party just a gradual drift into the fact that they were happy with what the local Conservatives had been doing. The whole tone was one of aspirations and that the nine candidates, along with coloured thumb nail portraits, could have belonged to any improvement group including Trans Sexual Awareness. The final give away was that the leaflet had been printed on behalf of the Conservative Party, Cross St, along with a sketchy tree not in blue as one would imagine but in black. Was this some kind future foreboding on the demise of the Conservative Party or trying to tone down the fact that all is not well.

Of course it could be argued that this bland subliminal advertising got my interest and got me to read the whole leaflet. Sorry to say that all it did was to raise questions as to why they wish to remain incognito.

PS, No ethnic minorities included in their candidates.

[Stanley]

Very similar in Barnoldswick Ken, nothing like the full colour extravaganzas we have been used to getting from the Tories. Definitely no admission of funding by Lord A! Which makes me wonder if the reports I have heard that he has fallen out with the Tories might be true.
In the current leaflet we are urged to vote for Jennifer Purcell. We have heard nothing of her since the last time she was up for election, if the leaflet is to be believed this is because she has been so busy fighting for funding to address the town's potholes!
See THIS BBC report of the changes proposed to the migration legislation, which was set out by Ms Braverman last month.
The home secretary is expected to be given the ability to ignore attempts by European judges to halt migrant deportations from the UK. The change will be made to the Illegal Migration Bill, after the government made concessions to Conservative MPs. The move should avoid a rebellion from some MPs, who have been demanding tougher action against the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The change will be made in amendments when the bill returns to the Commons. As part of the amendment, Home Secretary Suella Braverman is expected to gain the power, in certain circumstances, to ignore interim injunctions from the court, known as Rule 39 orders, that halt deportation flights. The Strasbourg-based court, unpopular with the Tory right, used an injunction of this type to block the removal of migrants to Rwanda last year. Rebel Tory MPs say they have also agreed with ministers that British judges will only be able to halt deportations where there is a risk of serious and irreversible harm.
Note that the proposed changes are a result of pressure from extremist MPs, the tail wagging the dog.
Take notice also of this.... Former Lord Chief Justice and crossbench peer Lord Thomas said ignoring interim injunctions from the ECHR would be an "immensely serious step" and warned it "sets an extraordinarily bad example". "Many people would say having the power to ignore a court order is something - unless the circumstances were quite extraordinary - this is a step a government should never take because it is symbolic of a breach of the rule of law," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He is right. This is the sort of power that fascist dictators take to themselves justifying such extreme measures as being necessary to protect the country. As many of us have said before, we are on a very slippy slope and it just got steeper and more slippy!

[Stanley]

The main political news this morning was and is the attention being focussed on that nice Mr Raab. See THIS BBC report on the current situation.
They aren't saying as much but it seems pretty clear the case against him is proved, otherwise there would have been an instant statement.
Sir Alex Allan - who conducted an inquiry into bullying allegations against former Home Secretary Priti Patel - said the delay suggested the findings of the report could not be "completely clear cut". "Otherwise he [the prime minister] would have come out with a decision one way or the other," he added. The former ethics adviser also said having the prime minister decide if Mr Raab had breached rules, rather than the author of the report or the No 10 ethics adviser, was not "very satisfactory".
I would say that's an understatement. Sunak is going to judge Raab's loyalty to him during the leadership election trumps everything else and is looking for a way to protect him rather than considering the rights of those who have been affected by Raab's actions. The rule in Downing Street is 'innocent even if proven guilty' (If you are one of us...)
We saw it with Johnson and Sunak shows the same character flaws. The sooner we get this lot out of office the better!
(What effect will this have on the May elections?)
Read THIS report about the difficulties of seeing your GP and then ask yourself; "Have we been brainwashed into accepting that this situation is acceptable?"
This makes no mention of the fact that for many of us a GP appointment is impossible as we simply cannot make one. In the bad old days, even going as far back as the 1940s, before the birth of the NHS, if you needed to see your GP you just turned up at the surgery and waited. (Most of us didn't have telephones in those days so that wasn't a common way of making an appointment.) Today, a face to face interview with your GP means that either you are terminally ill or actually need a physical examination, my last one was for a good old fashioned ginger up the bum assessment of my Prostate. (I suspect that particular test is due to be quietly forgotten very shortly....)
I realise that things change but we are being deprived of that most essential and rewarding thing, a personal relationship with your doctor. I don't think that is seen as very important these days.....

[PanBiker]

Raab has just resigned, good riddance.

[plaques]

Raab has just resigned, good riddance.

This saga has all the appearance of 'get Raab', 'save Sunak'. If the investigation was clear that Raab had been bullying people Sunak should have sacked him. The pressure would then have been on Sunak to explain himself. By Raab resigning this has allowed Sunak to melt into the background under the 'not me gov' banner as though Raab was always squeaky clean during his tenure of Deputy Prime Minster.

Having got Raab out of the way Sunak can now concentrate on the National Emergency of The invasion of rubber boats.

[Tripps]

Raab's resignation sacking letter can be seen here in full on the Telegraph website.
Strangely the usual paywall has been de-activated . It's almost as if they want everyone to read it.
Dominic Raab resigns

He seems to think he has been rather harshly treated.

[Stanley]

HERE'S the BBC report of what many of us thought was the inevitable. Ken had it about right, the really striking thing about the affair was how successfully Sunak negotiated the tricky problem of getting rid of a sycophant without any self-inflicted injury. (Or so he thinks, I am not too sure.)
Mr Raab got his resignation in before he could be sacked and presents himself as an honourable hard working politician who has been sabotaged by Lefty snowflakes in the Civil Service. (I remember him being on a sunbed when Afghanistan was abandoned and the horlicks he made of the Justice Department.)
Former Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has accused "activist civil servants" of trying to block the work of government, after his dramatic resignation over bullying claims. An inquiry found he was "intimidating" and "aggressive" towards officials. Mr Raab told the BBC he was sorry if he upset anyone but "that's not bullying". He said there was a risk "a very small minority" of officials "with a passive aggressive culture" were trying to block reforms they did not like.
Hannah White, director of the Institute for Government think tank, said "no civil servant would feel encouraged to speak out in future" after the responses of Mr Sunak and Mr Raab to the Tolley report. She said Mr Sunak had missed an opportunity to reinforce standards and "the mutual suspicion which has been growing between ministers and civil servants remains and nothing has been done to reduce the risk of future problems." Former cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said Mr Raab should not have resigned and believes the PM should have refused to accept his deputy's departure. "I think it is very dangerous that we are setting the bar so low for this," Mr Rees-Mogg told Channel 4.
See THIS for what Sunak did next. Two more sycophants slipped in to the Cabinet to reinforce his tenuous hold on the party and wider government.
"These appointments say something about the prime minister's confidence too. When he became prime minster last October, he made a point of keeping several former Liz Truss supporters in the cabinet - such as Therese Coffey, Sella Braverman and Alister Jack. Six months on and with the Tory party in parliament in a state of comparative calm, he has used this moment to reward the ranks of Team Sunak and to buttress his premiership with loyalists.
The thing that strikes me is that all the political energy and activity is being soaked up dealing with internal Tory Party matters and not governing the country. This is typical of the self-centred approach to governance we have seen from the Tories for the last 13 years. Every major policy (such as Brexit.) and indeed, Prime Minister, has been chosen by an internal party process and not in a cross party democratic manner. There is no sign that the next two years will be any different.
On a separate matter. Look out now for the Tories legislating to leave road blocks in place should they lose an election. I am thinking about huge policy decisions like John Major's hurried and botched privatisation of the railways just before they lost office.

[Stanley]

Raab is all over the political headlines. See THIS for one reaction and opinion.
A Tory peer who is leading a government review of how the civil service operates has called for a more "robust culture" in Whitehall. It comes after the resignation of the former Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab over bullying claims. Mr Raab stood down on Friday after an inquiry found he was "intimidating" and "aggressive" towards officials. Mr Raab said the findings had set "a very dangerous precedent". Writing in the Observer, Lord Francis Maude, a former Cabinet Office minister, raised the prospect of civil servants being able to have more open political affiliations. Lord Maude said Mr Raab's resignation had raised important issues. He said ministers have limited authority to put in place officials of their choice despite relying on them and being accountable for what they do. He suggested that ministers could be given more say about appointments while preserving impartiality. "The UK is now an outlier, and a better balance needs to be struck," he said. He said that other governments with similar systems, such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada, "manage it better than us".
I note that there is no mention of raising standards of governance and discipline in the house. Clear ethics and principles would deal with all of these matters if applied and in days gone by, this is the rote that would be followed. But not now. The first thing that is looked at is adjustment of regulations and procedures.
This misses the point, there has been a general erosion of standards in the House, the impression is given that Members are more concerned about their own personal interests, expenses and pension funds, than they are about the welfare of their constituents.
There are of course good Members who maintain personal standards but there are too many who don't and this is the place to start if improvements are sought, not more rules and regulations.

[plaques]

He said ministers have limited authority to put in place officials of their choice despite relying on them and being accountable for what they do. He suggested that ministers could be given more say about appointments while preserving impartiality. "

This looks like another power grab. Tom Scholar was sacked by Liz truss so that she could get her economic policy through which we all know turned out to be a disaster. The Prime Minister is now in a position to act as judge and jury on 'independent' investigations. This is a dangerous precedent we are setting..

The inflation bubble is now looking like the Yellowstone eruption.
Although another catastrophic eruption at Yellowstone is possible, scientists are not convinced that one will ever happen.

Its now six months since since we had the prediction that the rate of inflation would halve by the end of 2023. Bearing in mind the 'rate' is the amount of increase on the top of of the current 10%. Food inflation is standing at near 19%. Like the Yellowstone park if left alone the bubble may never bust but since ours is a manmade problem the BofE will increase the bank rate until nobody only the super rich will have any money to spend and the bubble will automatically bust. Meanwhile the SS Great Britain will have sunk under the waves never to be seen again. As time goes on the solution appears to be make everyone poor, sink the economy, prevent inward investment, close down small business, and sell what remains of any national assets off to foreigners.