POLITICS CORNER

[plaques]

I suppose you never really get up to speed when everything you read is just so much gaslighting propaganda.

The Dad's Army of Conservative sheep are on training manoeuvres.
The Baa Baa rubber boats squad kept catching crabs and finished up behind where they had started.
The wages Baa Baa Incomes rocket exploded on take off after finding that Star Ship Private Enterprise Inflation was already in orbit.
The Private Baa Baa nhs will get 900 new beds in place by Jan 2024 (5 months wait) as part of the 5000 already promised. Meanwhile.....???

Keep you eyes open for the next episode of the Baa Baa Brigade ... and with one mighty leap our hero was free.

[Tripps]

Would it be too cycnical to suggest that the last few days' Russian stories are a bit suspect?

Fighter aircraft from Lossiemouth scramble to intercept Russian bombers - refuelled in mid air for greater endurance. That has been happening to my certain knowledge for fifty years, and the Russians were in international air space at all times.

Three Bulgarian alleged 'spies' in court charged with espionage. The ring was smashed by the Metropolitan Police. Really? They have been in custody since February! Why does it make the headlines now?

[Stanley]

Nice to see you post Ken.... It's a good sign!
I think you're right David. Anything to divert scrutiny from what were terrible inflation figures for anyone on fixed incomes or benefits.... The football must have been seen as manna from heaven!
Rishi Sunak has said it is difficult for people to understand the scale of government support with energy bills, as he defended his record on tackling the cost of living. The prime minister said halving inflation was a top priority and his plan to ease rising prices was working. It comes as the latest figures showed inflation slowed last month due to lower energy costs. But food, restaurants and hotel costs are still rising. The inflation rate, which measures price changes over time, fell to 6.8% in the year to July, down from 7.9% in June. This means prices are rising less quickly.
Inflation is much lower than it was at its peak of 11.1% in October, but it still remains high compared to historical rates and much higher than the Bank of England's 2% target.
No mention of core inflation or food inflation which both remain stubbornly high. or the fact that anyone on benefits or other low fixed income sees their living standards eroded even further. The BofE is almost certain to raise base interest rates again bringing further misery to anyone coming off a low fixed mortgage. (House prices have also fallen so it won't be long before we are hearing about negative equity.)
The truth, as most honest economics commentators agree, is that we are in for at least two more years of stagnation. Some are even more pessimistic. Sunak's job as he sees it is to jolly us all along and convince ourselves that things are getting better every day.....
If only.....

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report that proves to us that Money Talks!
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been invited to visit the UK, the Saudi Arabian embassy has told the BBC. No 10 said it would confirm the prime minister's engagements in the usual way, with nothing in the diary yet. A spokesperson said the prime minister looked forward to meeting the crown prince "at the earliest opportunity". It would be the prince's first UK visit since the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
Despite being known to be a despot who believes women are second class citizens and runs a feudal society he also controls trillions of dollars of investment funds gained from selling oil. He has just opened an office in London and as we are well aware, the one thing guaranteed to get the attention of our government is vast amounts of money floating free. The fact that he murders opponents and dismembers them will not bar him from a warm welcome and I suppose a handshake from Charles.
Meanwhile, see THIS report about something which ought to be head of the agenda....
The UK government has been accused by a human rights watchdog of making "slow progress" in improving the lives of disabled people. The Equality and Human Rights Commission said some recommendations made by a United Nations inquiry in 2016 had not been delivered. The UN called for changes after investigating the rights of disabled people in the UK. The government said it was already making reforms and taking action. In a new report submitted to the UN, the EHRC warns that many disabled people continue to face discrimination in the UK, and the situation continues to worsen, particularly in light of current cost-of-living pressures.
Yet another field of policy where the government is acting inhumanely. Their response is the usual "we are spending £Xmillions on this. End of."
A government spokesperson said it was reforming the health and disability benefits system and was investing £2bn to support sick and disabled people back into work.
We are getting inured to behaviour like this, it is the norm where this government is concerned. Every time need and funding collide the money wins and in effect not enough is done. No wonder they feel comfortable inviting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for tea.

[Stanley]

THIS item of business news was possibly the most important political fact that emerged yesterday.
Retail sales volumes fell by 1.2% in July after the wet weather hit summer clothing sales and the cost of living weighed on food shoppers. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said it was a particularly bad month for supermarkets. "The summer washout combined with the increased cost of living meant sluggish sales for both clothing and food," it said. Department stores also reported falling demand for household goods. Illustrating how much prices have risen, the ONS said that compared to February 2020 - the last full month before Covid struck - total retail sales were 16.4% higher by value but 1.8% lower in the volume of goods people bought.
That last sentence is the killer, in any 'good' news story about rising takings or wages we have to allow for the effects of inflation. This is not done in many cases and is the basis for the smoke and mirrors pronouncements we get from Sunak and Hunt about the state of the economy.
Sunak will of course be hoping for an England win in this mornings final in Australia. It will be a useful distraction for him. In the absence of that Nurse Letby will have to suffice.

[PanBiker]

I still think there is something definitely dodgy going on in the Letby case. The consultants and management have an awful lot to answer for I reckon. The fact that she has been convicted is no guarantee that she is actually guilty. Apparently all the evidence is circumstantial. We have another example of how insecure some convictions can be. The bloke that served 17 years should have been released 4 years in as definitive evidence was available then but was ignored.

Letby may well be guilty but not proved inconclusively in my book. She is now demonised anyway as the tone of the media has changed with the verdict. How this will reflect on her sentencing remains to be seen. Did anyone else notice how neat the rosta was presented showing her shifts?

[Tripps]

Letby may well be guilty but not proved inconclusively in my book. She is now demonised anyway as the tone of the media has changed with the verdict. How this will reflect on her sentencing remains to be seen. Did anyone else notice how neat the rosta was presented showing her shifts?

I guess you mean 'conclusively' . She is demonised bcause she probably is one - or severely, and not obviously, mentally ill. The jury was convinced and they heard the full details over ten months of the trial, and 110 hours discussing it. I would not have fancied the job.

I haven't seen the paperwork, but I have just recieved the result of a 'Subject Access Request' from the NHS. It contained over 1,100 pages of A4 paper records, going back about 15 years. Think about it, and visualise it. The NHS do records quite well.

None of the above removes the need for a full enquiry - and I learn that one has been announced.

.

[PanBiker]

I guess you mean 'conclusively' .

Indeed Ken.

[Stanley]

And the hospital mustn't be allowed to mark its own card. I note that is what is happening in the enquiry into the Andrew Malkinson case. The CRC are running their own enquiry.
There is no politics news this morning beyond the fact that Sunak has revealed he is going on holiday to California where he met his wife and much time will be spent in Disneyland.
From one fantasy world to another.....

[Stanley]

Seen in Private Eye.

[Stanley]

Once again there is no politics, the only news is the defeat of the Women in Sydney. I expected to see commiserations from Sunak but if he has voiced any they have not been reported. How much different it would have been if they had won.....

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on what is possibly the biggest administrative governmental failure since WW2
A black hole in local authority budgets continues to grow, a BBC investigation reveals, prompting fears some will not be able to provide basic services. The average council now faces a £33m ($42m) predicted deficit by 2025-26 - a rise of 60% from £20m two years ago. Unison said the situation meant some councils would not be able to offer the "legal minimum of care" next year. The government said decisions on the funding beyond the next financial year had not yet been made. The BBC's Shared Data Unit surveyed 190 upper-tier authorities in the UK to find out the extent of the financial difficulties facing town halls, which provide services from adult social care to bin collections and pothole repairs. It revealed council chiefs expect to be £5.2bn short of balancing the books by April 2026 even after making £2.5bn of planned cuts. At least £467m will be stripped from adult care services, which include elderly care homes, respite centres and support services for people with disabilities. This year, councils are closing leisure centres, reducing care packages and raising fees for services like waste collection and parking in order to break even. Unison's head of local government Mike Short said town halls were in the "direst of states". "This is not a sustainable situation," he said. "Local authorities simply don't have the funds to provide even statutory services." Councillor Shaun Davies, who chairs the Local Government Association (LGA), said inflation, the introduction of the National Living Wage, energy costs and increasing demand for services were adding "billions of extra costs just to keep services standing still".
What compounds the problems caused by inadequate funding is the cunning wheeze that has been used by all governments for the last 40 years at least, to devolve what were government responsibilities to local councils under the guise of 'devolution of power from the Centre'. It started with the maintenance and decisions on historic listings for old buildings. It now includes most social, health and justice services and they are all suffering because of decreased funding. As set out in the article, this shortfall is now estimated at £5billion. Question is, can this shortfall ever be rectified. This is exactly the same problem as the imbalance in public service wage levels which is causing so many problems and forcing workers to fight for a living wage.
All this from the Party who tell us they are 'good with money'. That one should be buried forever now but knowing how reactionary rabid Tory voters are and how short the public memory, it will come back to haunt us again later.....

[Tripps]

WE learn today the Eton College - yes that Eton College will be opening a branch in Oldham. It will be a selective sixth form college.(Also in Dudley and Middlesborough) Eton goes to Oldham

I'd say theres a lot to this than meets the eye. Perhaps The Eye will get stuck into it.

Star Academies’ chief executive, Sir Hamid Patel, said:
“We are confident that the Eton Star sixth forms will produce extraordinary, transformative outcomes, not only for their students but for the wider communities too.


Check out that chap and this well established company - based in Blackburn rather than Slough with Jack Straw on the board.

Interesting that deprived postcodes will be favoured - should give a boost to property prices in Glodwick.

[Stanley]

I read the article in Abqout David. I saw no mention of fees and so assume these are free places. That sounds strange to me coming from this lot. Someone somewhere is paying and it makes me wonder whether existing educational budgets are supplying the money. If so, who is losing out?
I would remind everyone that there is no such thing as a free lunch........
Elsewhere in Politics I found THIS BBC article on more problems with ULEZ.
The government considered using legal powers to block the expansion of London's Ultra Low Emission (Ulez) scheme, the BBC has been told. Ministers dropped the plan after receiving legal advice it would probably fail if challenged in court, the Daily Telegraph reports. The Ulez scheme will be expanded to all London boroughs on Tuesday. The Department of Transport said it was for the mayor to justify its expansion as people deal with the cost of living.
I heard comments about ULEZ on R4 yesterday and some of these were examples where European class IV vehicles were allowed but class V were barred.(I haven't the faintest idea what this means except that the vehicles which are allowed emit more pollutants than the ones that are barred which sounds strange to me.)
I also heard one Tory Council leader in the affected area saying that his council refused to erect the signs warning that you were about to enter the ULEZ zone which sounds a bit daft to me, that surely is an essential service to drivers? I'm glad I am not affected as I am not a driver but I assume that eventually these rules will be extended nationally. One other strange thing about it is that I understand there is a shortage of scientists willing to come forward and aid the Mayor by giving the statistics that prove that ULEZ zones reduce pollution.
It seems to me that the only way to be sure that vehicular pollution is reduced or eliminated is to reduce or eliminate the vehicles themselves. Before anyone takes me to task and mentions electric vehicles, can they assure me that producing the electricity needed for charging doesn't involve any emissions?
I note that the Summer Recess ends on the 4th of September. Can we expect full government to return then?

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on reparations for the UK role in slavery.....
A UN judge says the UK is likely to owe more than £18tn in reparations for its historic role in transatlantic slavery. A report co-authored by the judge, Patrick Robinson, says the UK should pay $24tn (£18.8tn) for its slavery involvement in 14 countries. But Mr Robinson said the sum was an "underestimation" of the damage caused by the slave trade. He said he was amazed some countries responsible for slavery think they can "bury their heads in the sand". "Once a state has committed a wrongful act, it's obliged to pay reparations," said Mr Robinson, who presided over the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president. Mr Robinson spoke to the BBC ahead of his keynote speech at an event to mark Unesco's Day for Remembering the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Abolition at London's City Hall on Wednesday. He's been a member of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) since 2015 and has been researching reparations as part of his honorary presidency of the American Society of International Law. He brought together a group of economists, lawyers and historians to produce the Brattle Group Report on Reparations for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery.
These are mind-boggling sums and I doubt if the Treasury will find them down the back of the sofa. At the same time I see that Sunak continues to refuse to accede to MP's demands that the UK should acknowledge the wrongs and apologise. To be honest, I don't see how he can do anything else given his role as First Lord of the Treasury, how can he expose us to over £20trillion of reparations?
See THIS fo another mind boggling sum of money.
The former boss of NatWest is set to receive a £2.4m pay package this year, despite having quit in disgrace over her handling of the closure of Nigel Farage's bank account. Dame Alison Rose stepped down from the bank last month after admitting to being the source of an inaccurate news story about Mr Farage's finances. She is currently working out her 12-month notice period at the group. Mr Farage called the pay package a "sick joke". But NatWest said her pay will remain under review as it investigates the scandal. A spokesman said: "Like other employees where an investigation outcome is pending, Alison is currently receiving her fixed pay. "This in line with her contractual notice period and remains under continual review, as the independent investigation continues. As previously confirmed, no decision on her remuneration will be taken until the relevant investigations are complete."
This is an Alice in Wonderland world where the Lords of the Universe operate under completely different rules than we ordinary mortals. Will she live longer or be more happy than I am?
(This is not an example of 'The politics of envy', it is a comment on the difference between their world and reality.)

[Stanley]

See THIS for a bleeding obvious statement from Sunak.
Rishi Sunak has warned the UK's asylum system is facing unsustainable pressure after the cost almost doubled in a year to nearly £4bn. The prime minister, who has made stopping small boats one of his top five priorities, said the cost was "unacceptable". Home Office asylum spending rose by £1.85bn in the year 2022/23. Labour said the record high asylum backlog pointed to "disastrous" handling by Mr Sunak. Home Office figures show Channel crossings rose to 19,000 this year despite Mr Sunak's promise to voters. According to government statistics, the total cost of the asylum system to the taxpayer in 2022/23 was £3.97bn - up from £2.12bn in 2021/22. Only a decade ago that figure was £500.2m.
This is a problem entirely of the government's own making. I refer not to the number of asylum seekers, that was always going to increase as stresses on the world's capacity to support life were known to be increasing but on the way the migrants are dealt with when they eventually enter into the country. There are not enough resources to deal with the admin and we don't allow them to work and support themselves. The 'boat problem' is entirely due to the government cutting down on legal routes into the country. It would probably be cheaper to process the migrants initially in France and then give them a free crossing on the ferry over to the UK. The people smuggler's business model would be immediately destroyed and lives saved.
Instead Braverman and Sunak treat the migrants as criminals, not as victims of humanitarian disasters. The irony is that they are both descended from migrants!
There is no quick fix and they are beginning to recognise this. Things like flights to Rwanda, sips to Ascension Island and accommodation barges in every UK port are diversions that can never deal with the problem. (Apart from being illegal)
This is a disastrous administration that gets us deeper in the mire the longer it retains power. We simply have to discard them!

[Stanley]

See THIS for a BBC report of urgent attention being paid by MPs to a piece of parliamentary business.
Severance pay for MPs leaving Parliament at the next general election is to be doubled, to more than £19,000. Former MPs will be paid for four months instead of the current two, while they close their office and manage the departure of their staff. IPSA, the independent body that sets the rules for MPs' expenses, said the current period was not long enough. It follows a review of the rules following a public consultation that ended in June. Previously, only those who lost their seat at a general election, or who stood down at a "snap" election, could qualify for the extra pay. But following the end of five-year fixed term parliaments, all MPs who are standing down at an election will now qualify. As before, those MPs who stand down before an election period will not receive the payment.
Then have a look at THIS
An annual energy bill for a household using a typical amount of gas and electricity will fall to £1,923 in October under regulator Ofgem's new price cap. Bills will be £151 lower than current rates and £577 down on last winter. But many people will see little difference in what they pay despite the fall because some government support has been withdrawn. Charities said the government must protect the most vulnerable households. Average annual gas and electricity bills remain high by historical standards. In winter 2021, an energy bill for a typical household was £1,277. Analysts also suggest that prices could rise again at the start of next year. Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley said: "We know people are struggling with the wider cost of living challenges and I can't offer any certainty that things will ease this winter." Volatility in the market gave little long-term certainty to customers, he said.
In announcing this much was made about it being good news for beleaguered customers but no mention was made about the cost still being much more than we are used to and many thousands of us go into the winter already in debt. (See Citizens Advice report)
Two other factors put costs up, the possibility of a colder winter which will mean higher costs than last year and the rise in standing charges, said to be due to inflation. Sorry Mr Sunak, not a lot of cheer for ordinary folk!

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of the resignation of Nadine Dorries.
Nadine Dorries has resigned from the Commons, more than two months after pledging to go "with immediate effect". She launched a blistering attack on Rishi Sunak in her resignation statement, telling the prime minister "history will not judge you kindly". The Mid Bedfordshire MP first announced her intention to quit on 9 June. She accused Mr Sunak of abandoning "the fundamental principles of Conservatism" and said the country was now run by a "zombie Parliament". Ms Dorries, whose salary as an MP is £86,584, had come under increasing pressure to act on her promise to resign as she had not spoken in the Commons since June 2022. The former nurse said she had submitted her resignation letter to the prime minister and published the eviscerating text on Mail Online.
This is the action of a woman scorned, she pandered to Johnson possibly spurred on by intimations there could be a peerage in it for her in the Resignation Honours but this never happened. She then delayed resigning because that way she could be a thorn in the side of Sunak who she saw as the traitor who had stabbed her man in the back and in order to carry on drawing her £86,000 plus expenses. She has resigned now because she sees resentment of her building up in the Party and the signs were that formal proceedings were going to be started that would expel her from the House in disgrace. I don't think anyone will mourn her departure, least of all the constituents who have dubbed her 'Dosser Dorries' because of the way she has neglected them.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report that seems to illustrate Labour's sideways shuffle towards the middle ground. They are sounding like a mini Tory Party!
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has ruled out any version of a wealth tax on the richest in society should Labour win the next general election. She told the Sunday Telegraph extra money for public services would have to come from economic growth. Ms Reeves confirmed Labour would not target expensive houses, increase capital gains tax or put up the top rate of income tax. "I don't see the way to prosperity as being through taxation," she said. The shadow chancellor told the newspaper Labour would instead do "whatever it takes" to attract business investment into the UK.
I realise that Labour can't afford to frighten the horses and has to make the right noises if it wants to do well in the General Election but they are in danger of not being different enough from the Tories to look like a Party of Change. If Starmer is going to succeed in his aim to regain power he must have some sort of a unique selling point to hang his offer on. At the moment he is resiling from all his pledges of leftward moving action and is presenting a watered down version of Conservative thinking. This will not do and cannot excite the cracking majority he needs to enable progress to be made out of the political morass we are in. It's not enough to get in because the Tories are so bad, Labour must get in because they deserve the chance to improve things.
Meanwhile.... in another part of the forest Moscow has announced that genetic testing has established the identity of all on board the plane that crashed and Prigozhin was definitely on board.

[Stanley]

See THIS for an egregious example of a political brass neck....
Police must investigate every theft and follow all reasonable leads to catch offenders, the home secretary has said. Suella Braverman said it was "completely unacceptable" that criminals are often "effectively free to break certain laws". She wants officers to use evidence from smart doorbells and dashcams to solve more lower-level crimes.
She also inevitably mentioned the fact that having seen the error of its ways the government has financed over 20,000 recruits and so inferred that police numbers was not a problem but this leaves aside the general increase in population since 2010 when the Coalition started cutting numbers, the increase in crime and above all the fact that so many experienced officers left the force.
What does she think the reaction of officers will be? Grateful thanks for having the error of their ways pointed out to them so publicly? This statement was intended for just one purpose, to give the impression that the Home Office knows and cares about detection rates when in fact image is all.
See THIS as well for another example of Ms Braverman's brass neck.
Government plans to accommodate asylum seekers on a barge on England's south coast face a possible legal challenge over fire safety. Lawyers for the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) have written to Home Secretary Suella Braverman raising issues including overcrowding and fire exit access on board the Bibby Stockholm. The government has been given until Thursday to respond. Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: "I am confident the barge is safe."
If the barge is safe, why does she think the fire brigade have said otherwise? Does she know better than them or is she implying that they are not serious and are just looking for reasons to oppose use of the barge?
She did the same about the discovery of Legionella. Her immediate reaction was to say that the barge was free from infection even though the experts had told her otherwise.
This is par for the course these days with the Home Office. Everyone is seen as opposing them and thwarting her totally reasonable plans. This includes the Justice system and the European Court of Justice.
Would a reassessment be in order?
Later.... Michael Gove and Therese Coffey are to reveal relaxations of the regulations governing house-building in areas where rivers are being polluted because of pressure on the water companies. The house-builders have welcomed the news saying that the rules were holding building up.
Does this mean that our rivers weren't as badly polluted as was thought? Or is it just more evidence of this government's total disregard for the environment?

[Stanley]

See THIS for a stream of bleeding obvious comment designed to try to persuade us that Cleverly and Sunak are being statesmanlike but failing miserably.
THIS was what caught my attention...
Campaigners fear thousands more people face benefit deductions because of tax credit debts they didn't know about. In excess of 800,000 households on universal credit received less money last year because they were previously awarded too much in tax credits, the BBC has found. More people will go on to the scheme from September. To repay the debt, monthly benefits can be reduced by up to 25% by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The DWP says safeguards are in place. Data obtained by the BBC through a Freedom of Information request shows that the DWP has to claw back more than £1.5bn in overpaid tax credits - a form of benefits which will be replaced by universal credit by the end of 2024.
This is skinflint behaviour! If the DWP makes a mistake it should accept it and stand the expense not claw it back form some of the poorest people in the UK like a rapacious back-street loan shark.
It's amazing how time and effort can be put into this while non-doms and off shore funds can run rings round enforcement. It is one more example of a government without shame.
As if to reinforce that point, see THIS BBC report...
The UK government declined to attend a UN review of its treatment of disabled people after an inquiry warned of "grave" violations of their rights. A 2016 report by a UN committee found welfare reforms had "adversely" affected disabled people in the UK. The UK government was scheduled to attend a hearing at the UN in Geneva on Monday to assess progress. But it pulled out, saying it would meet UN officials in March 2024 instead, sparking anger from campaigners. A government spokesperson said it had followed all of the committee's required procedures and was committed to the "advancement of rights for disabled people in this country".
How can they be committed to 'advancing rights' when we have report after report of harsh interpretation of the rules by private sector assessors who are judged on how much money they save the department.
This government evidently thinks it is above and rules based system imposed by the United Nations.
What sort of a country are we living in?

[Stanley]

See THIS for another example of Sunak trying to give the impression he is doing something.
The tightening of laws preventing the use of the so-called zombie knives will make a "big difference" to police, the prime minister has said. Rishi Sunak believes giving officers more powers to seize and destroy such weapons with no practical use will make their jobs easier. Zombie knives were first added to the government's list of prohibited offensive weapons in 2016. Labour said a loophole allowing the sale of the knives online still exists. Asked about violence, including eight stabbings, and arrests at the Notting Hill Carnival on Monday, Mr Sunak said it was a "good illustration" of the need to take action.
Politicians as a whole have this touching belief that they are in control and can influence events by imposing rules and regulations.... What would actually make a difference to knife crime is more and better trained officers with experience on the streets talking to people.
This same belief can be see in THIS report that.......
Judges are to be given more powers to make criminals attend sentencing hearings in England and Wales under new laws. It follows several high-profile offenders who refused to appear, including Lucy Letby and the killer of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel. Families of victims say they have previously been denied the right to see justice done. Powers already exist to compel people to attend but they are not often used. Now the Ministry of Justice says judges will be able to order an offender to attend a sentencing hearing and make it "clear in law" that reasonable force can be used by custody officers to make sure this happens. If a criminal refuses to attend despite this order, they could face an extra two years in prison. This will apply in cases where the maximum sentence is life imprisonment, including serious sexual or violent crimes like murder, rape, and grievous bodily harm with intent. Judges will still have the discretion over whether to compel criminals to hear their sentences in order to avoid distressing victims or families if offenders are likely to be disruptive. An additional two-year sentence would make no difference in terms of time served to someone like Lucy Letby, who has been given a whole life order, meaning she will never be released. But a killer on a life sentence is given a minimum term, and an additional sentence could be added, prolonging their time behind bars. The threat of further prosecution and the use of force to bring a criminal to the dock may encourage all but the most determined criminals to give up their attempts to stay out of the public gaze.
Experts in the field have pointed out that the decision to use force would be down to the prison officers and they are unlikely to enforce the regulations any more than they use the powers they already have now.

[Stanley]

If there is one word to describe reaction to the announcement that Grant Shapps is the new defence secretary it's incredulity..
See THIS BBC report....
Rishi Sunak has promoted cabinet veteran Grant Shapps to the role of defence secretary in a mini reshuffle of his top team. Mr Shapps, who has held five ministerial jobs in the past year, replaces Ben Wallace, who is leaving politics at the next election. His appointment was not widely expected but he is seen as safe pair of hands and an effective communicator. Sunak ally Claire Coutinho replaces him as energy secretary. It is a major promotion for Ms Coutinho, who has only been an MP since 2019 and, at 38, will be the youngest minister to sit around the cabinet table. She is seen by colleagues as bright and competent - but she faces a tough task in holding the differing wings of her party together over the government's commitment to net zero..... Former head of the British army Lord Dannatt said: "The big question is whether Grant Shapps is going to be a political appointee to support the prime minister in cabinet or is he going to understand the needs of defence. "He will have to work really hard to understand his portfolio at a Whitehall level and how the armed forces work."
In another report Chris Mason says.... "One minister texted me aghast, on hearing of Mr Shapps' latest role. "So we've gone for media over capabilities. The minister for the Today Programme is the minister for defence." It has also been suggested to me that "the military are very nervous" about the appointment."
See TGHIS disturbing BBC report about the suspension of an entire Labour Constituency Branch....
The Labour Party has suspended its entire Leicester East branch. The national executive (NEC) is investigating the troubled constituency Labour Party (CLP) over concerns around its operation, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). Branch and constituency meetings will be stopped "until further notice" and all officers have been "relieved of their positions and duties", according to an email seen by the LDRS. The CLP has been contacted for comment. It has not been confirmed specifically what prompted the suspension.
The branch has a turbulent history......
t comes after what has already been a turbulent year for Labour in Leicester following mass deselections ahead of the 2023 Local Elections in May. The national committee purged 19 of its councillors ahead of the elections - a decision slammed as "undemocratic" at the time. A majority of those deselected belonged to ethnic minorities, which also led to criticism. Labour sources stressed that the newly-selected candidates were representative of all communities. But the party lost a significant number of seats in Leicester East wards following the shake-up, managing only 31 seats in the 2023 Local Elections compared to 53 in 2019. Rushey Mead, Belgrave, North Evington and Evington were previously Labour strongholds within the constituency. The areas had all-Labour councillors after the 2019 elections but lost all seats to Conservative candidates this year. At Parliamentary level, current Leicester East MP Claudia Webbe was elected under Labour but was expelled from the party in 2021 after her conviction for harassing Michelle Merritt, a friend of her boyfriend Lester Thomas, for more than 18 months. Previous Labour MP for the constituency Keith Vaz, who served as an MP for 32 years, retired from Parliament after being caught with male prostitutes and offering to get drugs for them.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the latest position on post-Brexit food checks.....
Yet again it seems that now is not the time to add to the burden of food importers, with more post-Brexit red tape and charges. Ministers this week further delayed the imposition of post-Brexit checks and charges on food imported from the European Union. It was the fifth delay to planned changes to the import arrangements for farm and food imports, and comes amid concern about food price inflation. The government acknowledged for the first time that, when implemented, the extra red tape and charges would add to overall inflation, albeit by a modest 0.2%. The checks are now set to be introduced at the end of April 2024.
We are told repeatedly that Brexit is done but then get evidence like this that it is far from a done deal. Note that even though the changes have been delayed, the negative effect on inflation will still be felt. Add to this the ongoing problems with the governance of Northern Ireland which don't seem to have been solved by the latest sticking plaster....
See THIS for the latest we are being told about the concrete failures in schools.
Parents have described their shock at being told their children's schools need to close due to the risk of dangerous concrete collapses. More than 100 schools have been told to shut areas affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) without safety measures in place. It follows the collapse last week of a beam previously thought to be safe. It is unclear how many schools have had to fully close, but it could be as many as 24.
The government says parents at 156 schools in England confirmed to have RAAC should have been contacted. Parents who have heard nothing are unaffected, pending further building checks. Of the total, 52 were deemed a critical risk, and safety measures have already been put in place. Asked whether buildings at those 52 schools "could have potentially collapsed", schools minister Nick Gibb told the BBC: "Yes, and that's why we took action." The rest were deemed to be "non-critical", and were told to develop contingency plans. But on Thursday, those schools were told to close buildings and rooms with RAAC unless they had safety measures in place. Meanwhile, the number of schools identified with RAAC could rise as more surveys are carried out.
In all of this nobody is mentioning the elephant in the room. If proper maintenance schedules had been fully funded by government there would be no problem as the suspect concrete would have all been replaced, it has been known about for almost thirty years. It has been kicked down the road time and time again by different administrations and now that the shit has hit the fan we have no spare funds to deal with it. This is the story of modern Britain in a nutshell.

[Stanley]

Nothing new has surfaced in politics, it's the same old..... We are told that head teachers are 'scrambling over the weekend to ensure there are safe premises to teach in tomorrow morning'.
Laura Kuenssberg is speculating whether Sunak can be anything other than a good loser and MP's are watching conference season coming down the track and a general election looming beyond that.
Will Labour get a majority? Some seem to think they are a shoo-in but I am not one of those. I have seen what the Tory Party can do even on as sticky a wicket as this. My main problem is that I don't thing Starmer has the charisma of a gnat and nothing is certain...... We could see a surprise swing to the Liberals, something they have been waiting for since Lloyd George!
Will someone please do something, we are getting impatient out here.