POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

I saw THIS surprising BBC report.....
Zia Yusuf, who resigned as Reform UK chairman on Thursday, is to return to work for the party in a new role. Yusuf will lead what the party calls its "Doge team" – which is modelled on the Department of Government Efficiency set up by US President Donald Trump. Earlier this week, Yusuf quit the party, saying working to get it elected was no longer "a good use of my time", without expanding further. On Saturday, Reform leader Nigel Farage told the BBC he was "delighted" Yusuf was had returned to the party and that he will now take on a more public role for the party in a new role, appearing more frequently in the media. He said: "Zia regrets what he said and did the other day. It was a combination of 11 months hard work and exhaustion."
The words 'booze-up' and 'brewery' spring to mind.....

[Stanley]

See THIS report on the state of play at Reform UK.
Reform UK's deputy leader Richard Tice has insisted the party knows "exactly what it is doing" following a 48 hours in which its chairman Zia Yusuf resigned, before returning in a different role. On Thursday, Yusuf dramatically quit, saying in a social media post that trying to get the party elected was not "a good use of my time". However, two days later he said he would be coming back to lead the party's unit tasked with identifying spending cuts at councils, which is inspired by the US Department of Government Efficiency. Tice told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that chairing the party was "a tough, brutal job" and Yusuf was "essentially exhausted" after 11 months in the role. "It's a massive job, and as we were growing incredibly fast - essentially that job was too much for one person, so we're reorganising. "I'm delighted that Zia is staying with the party and he's going to be focusing on our Doge unit."
So that's all right then.....
Just a thought, we are paying these idiots to run the country..... To quote Tripps, what could possibly go wrong?

[Stanley]

See THIS summary by Chris Mason of the story so far with the Labour attempt to continue austerity.....
The final act in this slow motion U-turn has played out. The arc of this row runs to almost a year. It was late July last year when I was among a bunch of reporters called into the Treasury to question the then new chancellor about her out-of-the-blue policy to take the Winter Fuel Payment from millions of pensioners. Rachel Reeves limited the payment to only those pensioners in receipt of pension credit or other means-tested benefits – around 1.5 million – saving up to £1.5bn a year. Ever since Labour MPs have grumbled they've been taking heat for it. The issue sat like a giant toad on the political news agenda all summer, hundreds of those newly elected Labour MPs deluged with complaints. And it never really went away.
It is looking as though Labour have realised what an awful mistake it was. There must be many old Labour supporters like me who have been thoroughly disillusioned by Starmer and Co. doing their Tory look alike act for the last year. The question now is will the U turn work? I doubt it actually, you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube and the question hanging in my mind (and I suspect many others) is who is going to win the battle for pole position in Parliament, The Liberals or Reform.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the new chairman for Reform.....
TalkTV host David Bull has been named as Reform UK's new chairman, replacing Zia Yusuf who quit last week after clashing with colleagues over calls for a burka ban. A long-time ally of party leader Nigel Farage, 56-year-old Bull has held several roles in Reform and its predecessor the Brexit Party, but is best known for his work as a broadcaster. The appointment of a polished media performer contrasts with multi-millionaire businessman Yusuf, a 38-year-old political newcomer who largely worked behind the scenes as chairman to professionalise the party. Speaking at an event in London, Farage said Bull's job was "not to get involved in the admin" but to "give leadership" to activists.
I have little doubt that there is more to this changing of the guard than meets the eye..... I hold no brief for Farage but in political terms he runs rings round the other three leaders....

[Tripps]

Never heard of Dr David Bull until today. I learn he is a TV presenter who used to do a TV programme about ghosts etc. Says he believes in it all and has been visited by one. That alone should disqualify him from political power.

I have not paid any attention whatever to the financial statement from Rachel from Accounts. Not a "budget" you understand. I put no trust in any of the numbers she speaks of. It will be forgotten about within hours. The main talking point on social media, was to ask if Sir Keir Rodney Starmer was under the influence of a "substance" during her speech. Seems he moved his jaw in a strange manner. Good grief. . . just imagine.

People are treating Reform as a serious political party and behaving as if the next general election is later this year. They have never governed anything - and I doubt they will survive. Note the bizarre behaviour of their Chairman last week. Good luck to the test bed previously known as LCC.

The SNP had a referendum, which they lost, where N. Sea oil played a major part in the outcome. They had to answer some demanding questions at the time. Someone should remind them that things have changed, and we're going for Net Zero. I think criminal charges are still hanging over the former leadership, and what happened to the camper van? Time for some serious questions.

Is that enough to be going on with?

[Stanley]

I'd never heard of Bull either David.
I have to agree with everything else you said. Founded from the remains of Brexit movement Reform has morphed into an anti-Conservative Party which is not a broad enough base to found a political party on. As I said yesterday, the only asset they have is Farage because of his capacity for self-promotion.
Labour won the last election not because of their excellence but because the Tories were so dire. Reform is superficially doing well for the same reason, all the other offerings are rubbish.
Again, you are quite right when you say the Reeves report will be forgotten in hours. It is the only thing being reported on in UK politics. I get the feeling that somehow, governance of this country is sliding down hill at an increasing pace. God alone knows where we are going to end up.

[Tripps]

When you mention Dominic Cummings - the average punter will think of him running away to his dad's in County Durham during Covid, and a test drive to check his eyesight to Barnard Castle. I've seen bits of his interviews but didn't really 'get' him.
Perhaps he has lowered his sights to broaden his audience. I suspect he is "on manoeuvres" and he seems to be close to Mr Farage and his party.

Dominic Cummings

I was seduced by Youtube, into watching this interview with him tonight - and to my surprise watched every minute of the 30 that it takes. It's the most impressive political discourse I've possibly ever heard. He has put into impressive words, and added to much of what I have been thinking over the last few years. He speaks of over promoted low quality civil servants, deliberate encouragement of immigration, driven by The Treasury, the destruction of medical education, in order to encourage the need more foreign doctors to be recruited, downgrading the words 'highly skilled ' to include kebab chefs, the pandering to minorities for fear of rioting, and a whole lot more.

His recommended restorative medicine will not of course be taken - and we will blunder on to the impending, and probably imminent, catastrophe. Turkeys will of course never vote for Christmas.

I doubt a single member on this site will watch the whole thing, and there is no reason why they should, but I'd recommend it.

I'm off to get hold of Thucidydes Book three now sounds a good read . . . . .

[Stanley]

I tried to listen to the interview David but his staccato delivery means I can't understand what he is saying. Sorry but I did try. Sometimes age defeats you!
I looked at current political news and found THIS which seems to me to be more important.
Israel has carried out strikes on Iran's nuclear programme, the IDF has said, with blasts heard in Tehran. The strikes were part of Operation Rising Lion, Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu said, adding Iran was a threat to "Israel's very survival". Israel has declared a state of emergency, saying the country expected retaliation. In Jerusalem, residents were woken by sirens followed by a phone alert. The strikes targeted "Iran's nuclear programme and other military targets", an Israeli official has said
I can't speculate on this, I can only look at what we are being told and think that it is utter madness on all sides.....

[Tripps]

his staccato delivery means I can't understand what he is saying

That's a shame - my banker to listen to it has fallen at the first fence. I've taken to using headphones when I need to listen properly.

I know that aids are available, but really can't be bothered. The reduction in my hearing is only a minor annoyance, and I don't need any more small fiddly battery powered gadgets.

[Stanley]

That's my argument against doing anything David but I have to admit that my problem has gone beyond a 'minor annoyance', it's a depressing fact of life. I have no problem with clear, well annunciated voices. It's sloppy speakers like Cummings that defeat me. Think of Julie Andrews in that song..... "The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains". That's the standard of clarity I need now.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest..... THIS caught my eye....
9 hours ago
MPs Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell will face no further action after being interviewed by police following a pro-Palestinian rally. McDonnell said the pair had been questioned by officers after taking part in the demonstration in central London in January. He told MPs: "It was alleged that we failed to follow police restrictions on the protest. This is untrue, and at all times we followed police instructions". Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the Metropolitan Police of "picking on us two as members of Parliament". A rally involving several thousand people took place in Whitehall in January after police blocked plans to hold a march from Portland Place, near the headquarters of the BBC. Police had imposed a condition on the organisers of the rally under the Public Order Act that prevented them gathering outside the corporation's headquarters because of its close proximity to a synagogue and a risk there could be "serious disruption" as congregants attended services. A further condition required the rally to be confined to Whitehall. Speaking in the Commons on Friday, McDonnell said: "We can now report that the police have dropped the case against us, and there will be no charges". He added that in correspondence with their solicitor, the Met had "informed us that our case was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service because as MPs we were to be held to have, and I quote, a 'greater culpability'". "This is an unacceptable practice that flies in the face of the principle that we are all equal before the law," he added. "I wish to place on record my concern about this behaviour by the Metropolitan Police".
No mention of their actions as being seen as Anti-Semitic.... Has the climate of opinion changed?