POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

Yes David, I share your opinions about the Liberals nationally and remember those examples also.... David Whipp is a bit of a treasure.....



I rest my case!

See THIS BBC report about another fine for the NHS.
3 hours ago
The parents of a baby girl who died 23 minutes after being born under the care of an NHS trust have slammed the organisation for "empty promises" after watching it be prosecuted for the second time. Wynter Andrews died in September 2019 under the care of Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust, leading to the organisation being fined £800,000 in 2023. On Wednesday, the trust was handed a record £1.6m fine - the largest ever for an NHS trust for maternity care - following another prosecution brought by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) over the deaths of babies Adele O'Sullivan, Kahlani Rawson and Quinn Parker in 2021. After the sentencing, Wynter's parents Sarah and Gary said the case confirmed what they had said "all along - Wynter's death was not an isolated incident". The trust remains at the centre of the largest maternity inquiry in the history of the NHS. The review began in 2022 and is looking into more than 2,000 cases dating back to 2012.
I am puzzled. I understand the need for investigation and sanctions against culprits but fail to understand how taking vast sums of money off an already cash-strapped NHS is going to do for patient care.

[Tizer]

Here's a reminder of what politics used to be like back in 1960. It's Barbara Castle making the case for a new improved version of the school that I attended in my teens. My old school was behind the police station in the centre of Blackburn - no playing fields, not a blade of grass or a tree in sight. Nearest playing fields a bus ride away. No gym, although it did have a swimming pool. It's long but worth a quick read! Hansard

[Stanley]

And worth noting that it is an adjournment debate started at almost 11PM! We had politicians working for us in those days..... Not wannabee media stars..

Have a look at THIS and note the contrast!
Questions have been raised about the accuracy of the chancellor's online CV, and the use of expenses while working at a bank, in the wake of a BBC News investigation. Rachel Reeves and two colleagues were the subject of an expenses probe while she was a senior manager at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) in the late 2000s. It was also revealed that the chancellor's online CV exaggerated the length of time she worked at the Bank of England. Sir Keir Starmer said Reeves has "dealt with any issues that arise" when asked about her CV by a reporter. The initial stage of the investigation found that a whistleblower's complaint was substantiated at HBOS, and the three employees appeared to have broken the rules, according to a senior source with direct knowledge of the probe. We have not been able to establish what the final outcome of the investigation was. Indeed, it may not have concluded. A spokesman for Reeves said the chancellor had no knowledge of the investigation, always complied with expenses rules and left the bank on good terms.

[Whyperion]

BBC vs Reeves update. Almost should go in the "Beware Banks are out to get you" section.
I am cutting and pasting a confusing article , hope I get it right , and comment afterwards

Since BBC News reported on Thursday that Rachel Reeves had exaggerated her online CV and had been investigated over her use of expenses while working at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), Labour colleagues have mounted a robust defence of the chancellor.

Here we examine the key Labour responses and look at the evidence that supports our journalism.

The BBC News investigation revealed that concerns were raised about Reeves's expenses while working at HBOS between 2006 and 2009.
A detailed six-page whistleblowing complaint was submitted, with dozens of pages of supporting documents including emails, receipts and memos.
It accused Reeves and two other managers, one of whom was her boss, of using the bank's money to "fund a lifestyle", with spending on events, taxis and gifts, including for each other.

We have seen these documents and spoken to more than 20 people, many of whom were former colleagues.
The complaint led to an internal investigation by the bank's risk department. This was passed to internal audit, which reviewed the allegations and concluded that they were substantiated and there appeared to be evidence of wrongdoing by Reeves and her two colleagues, according to a senior source with direct knowledge of the investigation.

What we have not been able to establish is what happened next and if the bank ever reached a formal conclusion.
Reeves has said she was not aware of an investigation or issue with her expenses and said she left the bank on good terms.
She said her expenses had always been signed off in the proper way. The person who signed off her expenses, her boss, was also subject to the internal investigation.

On Friday, Science Secretary Peter Kyle told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the reporting was "inaccurate".
Both he and Siobhain McDonagh, a Labour MP who appeared on BBC's Politics Live on Thursday, raised comments by a former HR manager, Jane Wayper - which, they said, disproved the BBC News's story.

What did the HR manager say?
Wayper spoke to the BBC after being given permission to do so by Reeves's team.
She provided an on-the-record statement which said she "would have been made aware of any investigation which concluded there was a case to answer" on the basis that she "would have been required to organise and oversee a disciplinary process".

However, the BBC has not reported that the case reached a formal conclusion, or that there was disciplinary action.
Kyle incorrectly claimed that the quote had not been included in our report - but it had been in the article since it was first published on Thursday morning. He also incorrectly referred to Wayper as the head of HR at the bank.
In reality she was an HR business partner working in the department where Reeves worked.

Reeves left the bank in May 2009, as did her boss. The other senior manager was on sick leave in May and never returned to work at the bank.

There is no suggestion any of the departures were linked to the investigation or spending issues and a spokesman for Reeves said the chancellor left the bank on good terms.

What has BBC News established about her LinkedIn CV?
Reeves has accepted the findings of another part of our investigation, this time over her CV.
We established that the chancellor had exaggerated the length of time she worked at the Bank of England.
Reeves has often said she spent the "best part of a decade" working at the bank when setting out her credentials to run the economy to voters.
However, her LinkedIn profile said she only worked there for six years - from September 2000 to December 2006. A year of that time was spent studying at the London School of Economics (LSE).
The BBC has now established that Reeves left the Bank of England in March 2006, meaning the time she spent working there amounts to five and a half years.
A spokesman for Reeves confirmed that dates on her LinkedIn were inaccurate and said it was due to an administrative error by the team. Her profile on the social media site has since been updated.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Comment HBOS generally was restructuring and reducing staff in 2009, we probably mention it somewhere on this site, So it is not clear if the 3 who left were pushed, asked to jump, were in a department closing, or volunteered for general redundancy. However it does appear that the expenses situation may have been a contributory factor as to action and timing. I suspect that such expenses were not unique to the 3 concerned us having noted the tendency for noses in the trough to be something endemic in the banking industry if you can get away with it.

Bank of England Time. The nice phrase of thick end of a decade is a bit of a tricky one to number define, under some rounding measures 6 years or even 5 and a half, rounds nicely to 10 especially if you were there as an economic anaiyst. Maybe less than the 5.5 working if that includes substantial study leave. I am not sure of her dates but at the time were not the bank of england criticized for the lack of accuracy in economic forecasting and reasons for not meeting inflation targets ? Again I will be fair as forecasting is difficult , if you have your current base correct though , and a set of reasonable previous reasons for change at lease one can make a forecast IF you define the parameters under which the forecast is made, external risks can unexpectedly change , and at times despite independence I would imagine the writing of a forecast is intended to placate political masters and sometimes to try to shape commercial and consumer activity to achieve , or better , the forecast.

Personal Conclusion , sometimes even with some experience it doesnt make you a good chancellor, if you learn the wrong things and apply them you wont get the right outcome and I think that has happened with many chancellors budgets especially with "fixing public finances" and the growth on is way too dangerous.

[Stanley]

THIS caught my attention....
Parliament should crack down on booing and jeering in the House of Commons to make debates more accessible, a committee of MPs has suggested. "Antiquated" jargon and gendered job titles like "chairman" should also be scrapped to make politics more inclusive to new MPs, the women and equalities committees told a parliamentary inquiry. The suggestions were made to a cross-party committee looking into ways to modernise working practices in the Commons. The panel, which has also been tasked with reviewing MPs' second job rules and codes of conduct, will meet next week ahead of setting out its priorities.
Perhaps if there were more quality contributions like Barbara Castle's or the subject of Bob's Bits this morning this might be possible but until then, forget it! Immature boing, jeering and heckling is the level they think they should operate at, after all, it's traditional......

[PanBiker]

They could modernise it completely by abandoning the Victorian pile and building a new Parliament in the round. Ditch the adversarial two sword, (and essentially two party) model and adopt PR to get a better representation for the electorate. Move it out of London to a more central location. Give all the MP's somewhere to operate from, (with a small house with office facilities) built on the same site,charge a nominal rent for it, deducted automatically from their remuneration.

I will keep promoting this model until the cows come home

[Stanley]

And I will keep agreeing with you Ian. Having security dealt with by men in tights sums it all up.....

[Whyperion]

They could modernise it completely by abandoning the Victorian pile and building a new Parliament in the round. Ditch the adversarial two sword, (and essentially two party) model and adopt PR to get a better representation for the electorate. Move it out of London to a more central location. Give all the MP's somewhere to operate from, (with a small house with office facilities) built on the same site,charge a nominal rent for it, deducted automatically from their remuneration.

I will keep promoting this model until the cows come home

Would Milton Keynes work for this, now we are getting East-West Rail ? I was trying to think of somewhere in London The Stratford Olympic Park could have been used. I would probably put it at the South Bank studios of London Weekend TV - ITV tower but that has been redeveloped too wrongly.

[Whyperion]

I am begining to think Trump , Musk and Vance are acting like German Nazis of the 1930s

Will Starmer's push for Ukraine to get into NATO work ?

I note Reeve's time is up has been called over the last four weeks, are collegues briefing against her and when will she go ?

[Stanley]

I think I approve of THIS stance on Ukraine.
Sir Keir Starmer has reaffirmed the UK will continue to back Ukraine's "irreversible path" to joining Nato despite leading figures in President Donald Trump's administration appearing to rule out membership. The prime minister told Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky he stood by a pledge - made alongside ex-US president Joe Biden at last year's Nato summit in Washington - to support Ukraine's bid for membership. Sir Keir and Zelensky spoke on the phone ahead of a global leaders' meeting at the Munich Security Conference. Sir Keir's comments are in stark contrast to those of the Trump administration, which has said this week that NATO membership for Ukraine is not a "realistic prospect".
Trump's leniency towards Putin betrays his total ignorance. Anyone who thinks Putin will be satisfied by a small bite out of Ukraine is living in cloud cuckoo land!

[Tizer]

None of the news outlets seem to have noticed this critical point: At the Munich conference Trump's representatives have in effect been telling European leaders that they will no longer come to our aid in confronting Putin. That undermines the whole point of us having signed the original Nato pact and will have given a big boost to Putin and his generals.

[Whyperion]

None of the news outlets seem to have noticed this critical point: At the Munich conference Trump's representatives have in effect been telling European leaders that they will no longer come to our aid in confronting Putin. That undermines the whole point of us having signed the original Nato pact and will have given a big boost to Putin and his generals.

France Worked out (eventually) that the US would always be late to the Party and the main thing they were getting out of Nato was free six month vacations in Germany playing wargames. France went its own way and built up independence in energy and military capability. The UK just went shopping for a US protection umberella. In fairness ? NATO was established with respect to USSR / Eastern Bloc but didnt roar when Czechs got invaded etc. We all thought Russia wanted to join a free democratic world and took a peace dividend.
Trump grew up with the Mafia and negiotiates like one , seeing that money flattery can get you what you want and anyone not on board is disposable. Putin thinks much the same way. Wonder when the British Royals will work out their gravy train might stop if it all goes wrong.

[Whyperion]

Back to listening to BBC Radio Four after many years ( something one does when doesnt want to pay a TV licence )
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00282l8
Covers interview with John Major.

I still feel Major should have been a Labour leader as his progressive liberalism actually seemed better than Blair's version.
Major was picked apart by those that have still fractured the tories on relationships with the EEC/EU and a not brilliant chancellor in Lawson. Time then too when George HW Bush and thought he was not that good but I think I would take back still.

[Stanley]

"That undermines the whole point of us having signed the original NATO pact"
Exactly Peter but that's why Trump et al are so dangerous, they have not read and have no concept of history NATO was born in an era when we all had the lessons of WW2 clearly in mind. That was 75 years ago and has been forgotten......
THIS report says it all. Trump will give Putin everything he wants and a brown paper bag to carry it away in.....

[Whyperion]

Here's a thought
Will the US leave NATO ?
Will the US join BRICS ?
Will the UN fall apart ending up being funded only but Europe Japan and Australia ?

[Stanley]

THIS dominates the world news.....
Sir Keir Starmer has said any Ukraine peace deal would require a "US backstop" to deter Russia from attacking its neighbour again. Speaking after a hastily convened meeting with European leaders in Paris, the prime minister repeated that he would consider deploying UK troops to Ukraine in the event of a lasting peace agreement. But he said "a US security guarantee was the only way to effectively deter Russia", and vowed to discuss the "key elements" of a peace deal with US President Donald Trump when the pair meet in Washington next week. Sir Keir said Europe would "have to do more" to defend the continent in the face of the "generational" security challenge Russia poses.
There are times when politicians have to state the obvious and that is what the PM is doing here. Trump is correct, in this respect he is the most powerful person in the world.
Which raises the question, "Is one of the fundamental flaws of political systems the fact it can give one man this power/"

[PanBiker]

Which raises the question, "Is one of the fundamental flaws of political systems the fact it can give one man this power

Especially a convicted felon and someone who is almost certainly mentally unstable judging by his actions. Loose cannon comes to mind, scary!

[Tizer]

I read an article by the main Times Radio journalist and he wrote about when he had interviewed Trump back in the past before he got into politics seriously. He said probably the most important thing to keep in mind when interacting with him or assessing his actions, promises and claims is that he is totally `in the moment'. He always says whatever comes into his mind. There is absolutely no analysis. Seconds after saying something he'll deny he said it.

[Tripps]

Closer to home. . .

Councillor David Whipp observes

Pendle Liberal Democrat leader, Councillor David Whipp has called for the immediate resignation of Pendle Councillor Tom Ormerod following revelations that the Colne Conservative member is thousands of pounds in arrears with Council Tax.
"This is a scandal. At the end of March last year, Councillor Ormerod owed £3,835 in Council Tax arrears," said Councillor Whipp. "Councillor Ormerod has received over £6,000 in council allowances since he was elected, despite only attending two meetings in the past 14 months (the bare minimum to avoid disqualification for non-attendance).
"He's only been to one full council meeting and he's missed 27 meetings that he should have been at.

"It's hardly a surprise that Colne is a neglected corner of Pendle when it has a non-paying, non-attending councillor. "Councillor Ormerod should resign immediately. "The Conservatives need to take a long hard look at themselves in putting forward a candidate who was £1,700 in arrears at the time of his election. They should have acted before now to make him stand down. They must act now.

[Whyperion]

Does Europe now fund (how ? see Modern Economic Theory - tax the rich a bit more cut back on some consumption of nice to haves and full steam ahead on munitions ?) Ukraine to carry on fighting for its land back, or should Ukraine surrender to the US/Russia likely deal of Russia gets most of Eastern Ukraine / Southern Ukraine and Crimea? It the (Fox News) US Media against Europe ? (specifically led by Germany) . Does the US media and present political rulers speak more out of ignorance than experience and fact ? Was the world a safer place with the Soviet Union at least you knew who to be wary of. If land is controlled and acquired by Military Action then rinse and repeat re Israel/Middle East and Africa (DR Congo/Rwanda) . Just how did america end up with poor aged Democrat Party (did Clinton go too far left?) and Who in the Republicans represents the middle third of middle class US ? The interesting times now mean we have no clue what will happen in the next hour. If Boris Johnson's Plans were rewritten by Covid , Will Keir Starmer find himself the War Leader foisted upon himself ?

That all felt a bit negative.
I didnt realise Starmer intends to go to Washington DC in the US next week some time. I think that gives some hope. Macron too seems to have stepped up to lead Europe in the independently French way. The Cold War implied with NATO that the US would bring the Nuclear Deterrant. The split of the Soviet Union was supposed to give Ukraine its guaranteed Soverign Nation status, it was never foreseen that both Russia and the US would not hold to that , no wonder it is a mess.

Looks like Musk Space X Staff might replace FAA hires in the US Federal space and air administration

[Stanley]

Thanks David, I wasn't aware of that. David Whipp is quite right, how can Colne have proper representation with a Councillor who is permanently absent.... Quite apart from not paying his Council Tax! Astounding....

Meanwhile on the global stage.... THIS report by Jeremy Bowen got my attention.... I trust him.
7 hours ago
The Russians and Americans are talking again, as European leaders and diplomats contemplate the hard choices forced on them by US President Donald Trump. Without question, Trump's diplomatic ultimatum to Ukraine and America's Western European allies has cracked the transatlantic alliance, perhaps beyond repair. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks rattled by the abrupt change of attitude coming from the White House, though some of his many critics at home say he should have seen it coming. Well before he won re-election, Donald Trump made it clear that he was not going to continue Joe Biden's policies. As he arrived in Turkey on his latest trip, Zelensky deplored the fact that negotiations to end the war were happening "behind the back of key parties affected by the consequences of Russian aggression". But it feels like a long way from the air-conditioned room in Saudi Arabia where the Russian and American delegations faced each other across a broad and highly polished mahogany table, to the bitter cold of north-eastern Ukraine. In dug-outs and military bases here in the snow-bound villages and forests on the border with Russia, Ukrainian soldiers are getting on with business as usual – fighting the war. In an underground bunker at a base in the forest somewhere near Sumy, a Ukrainian officer told me he didn't have much time to follow the news. As far as he was concerned, Donald Trump's decision to talk to Russia's president Vladimir Putin was "just noise". The commander, who asked to be referred to only by his call sign "White" has more pressing matters to consider.
There is more and it is well worth reading.

[PanBiker]

Trump has now stated that since the original meeting he is now convinced that he can stop the war. He also stated that it was Ukraine's fault as they started it? Funny I don't remember Ukraine invading the Russian Republic and it was only three years ago. They have been in since the hostilities started but that is the nature of the shifting tides of war!

I am afraid that unless the American people take action to remove Trump the world will be completely different within the next four years. Probaly a lot sooner. I saw a report today that said that Adolph Hitler took three years in the 1930's to con the population and take full control of the whole country. It has taken Trump something like 50 days to disassemble control of the USA from Congress and the Judiciary to sole Executive Control. No different, history repeating itself and at the moment no one is doing anything about it.

[Whyperion]

Not sure who can
Seen In The News - (Russian)
"For so long Europe had gone around all puffed up, thinking of itself as the civilised world and as a Garden of Eden. It failed to notice it had lost its trousers… now its old comrade across the Atlantic has pointed that out…"

A few days ago the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets tried to imagine what the two leaders had said to each other during last week's phone call.

They came up with this rendition:
"Trump called Putin.
'Vladimir! You've got a cool country and I've got a cool country. Shall we go and divide up the world?'
'What have I been saying all along? Let's do it!…."

[Tizer]

Now we're into serious territory - as if we were not there already! Trump is calling Zelensky "a dictator" and says he has done a "terrible job".

And just now reported on the BBC: Bernie Sanders, the independent US senator, is reacting to Donald Trump's involvement with Russia now. "Trump and his American oligarchs are now openly aligning themselves with Putin and his Russian oligarchs," Sanders writes in a post on X. "This Putin-Trump alliance means abandoning our allies, supporting authoritarianism and undermining our democratic traditions."

`Reagan-era Republicans aghast as Trump turns Russia policy on its head: Officials who served in 1980s say Trump is opposing friends and supporting enemies: ‘It makes me sick what’s going on’ Guardian, 12.47 GMT
Ken Adelman, a former US ambassador to the United Nations: ...For years hardline anti-communism was the Republican brand, culminating in the collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the cold war. The US continues to have tens of thousands of troops stationed across mostly western Europe, long seen as a guarantee of democratic stability. But ever since he ran for president in 2015, Trump has embraced nationalist-populism and been strikingly reluctant to condemn the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Much of the rest of the party has fallen in line while Reaganite hawks such as Mike Pence, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger have been purged. Adelman commented: “I’m amazed that the Republican party has abandoned the principles of the party for all those years and just gone over to an America First position that was discredited by 1942. “It’s not over on Ukraine yet. There’s still some hope that reason will prevail. There’s still some hope that Republicans will stand up and say, ‘what do we stand for?’”...

[Whyperion]

Tiz. Problem is about 47percent of Americans do have this America First thinking (so about the same as UK for Brexit) ( maybe for both 52percent who express a preference) which is enough to have influence.

America's Isolationism re Europe - "There is a big beautiful ocean between us" (which sort of implies Europe and Russia should be one). Orwell's 1984 noted this would happen as it indeed had in the past with the Frence/German/Russian (add UK and maybe Holland/Spain) alliances and fighting since the 1100s ( OK before too but the kingdoms were smaller )
Problem was NASA took this image , which rather shows how the US sees one angle of the flat disc of the earth

Trump appears to have taken the comment "Living In A Disinformational Space" as a criticism and reacted against that , rather than taking it as a comment about the people he is talking to feeding him their point of view only.
There was a few audio YT and BBC comments about Trump MK1 last time out with his strange use of language to speak with and his inability to understand nuanced English is now to the fore. It is so difficult to reason with such mental processing and I really dont know if Trump is Clever (if only at manipulation) or stupid

The Conservatives had tended to tie themselves with the Republican Party in the US. I wonder if this whole situation might be tying themselves in knots, no one seemed to be wanted to be quoted by the BBC, but Boris Johnson was actually quite thoughtful on his analysis, even disagreeing with Trump.
King Charles is trying not to rock the boat with less full on support for Ukraine (that might be as well as US dont take well to English Monarchs having opinions) . Kellogg does seem more aware of situation and if Trump is wanting to change position without losing face he only has to next week say .... on the advice of my envoy ..
Someone has to go to Odessa , the next bomb target of Russia