Monthly Archives: May 2022

Johnson is dodging demand to explain why being fined doesn’t break ‘uphold law’ rule

Lord Geidt: he has said the only reason he didn’t offer advice to Boris Johnson on how to conduct himself within the Ministerial Code is he would have had to resign if Johnson didn’t take it. This implies that he expected Johnson not to, doesn’t it?

Boris Johnson’s desperation to hold on to power while exercising it in only silly and pointless ways is becoming increasingly blatant with every passing day.

The latest development is a demand by Johnson’s standards advisor, Lord Geidt, for the prime minister to explain why his fine for breaching Covid-19 laws by attending a party does not break the Ministerial Code duty to comply with the law.

Johnson’s only response is the legally illiterate claim that “paying a fixed penalty notice is not a criminal conviction”. Maybe not – but it is a criminal sanction. People don’t get fined if they haven’t broken a law – and the Code’s conventions demand that ministers breaking the law must resign.

In his annual report on ministers’ interests, Geidt said the Partygate fine meant “a legitimate question has arisen as to whether those facts alone might have constituted a breach of the overarching duty within the ministerial code of complying with the law”.

Even if Johnson thought there was no breach, Geidt stated that he “should respond accordingly, setting out his case in public.”

Do you think he will?

This is just the latest evidence that, as a recent Guardian editorial claimed, the UK is “not being governed seriously in very serious times”.

Anxiety that the UK is rudderless while Johnson desperately tries to bail himself out of trouble that he caused won’t be dispelled by current government policy, the writer claims – because it has been formulated purely to distract us from the prime minister’s illegal antics:

There can be no other purpose for the proposal to restore trade in imperial units. The tiny number of people who will be thrilled by the restoration of a right to exclude metric measurements from displays of goods will be hugely outnumbered by the people, including many Conservatives, who can smell the decay in such gimmickry.

Reports of a plan to lift the prohibition on expanding grammar schools belongs in a similar category, although it sounds weightier. This is a zombie policy that staggers on in the Tory imagination as a solution to problems of social mobility, despite ample evidence that selective education has the opposite effect. If Mr Johnson thinks his levelling up agenda will be enlivened by reviving discredited schools policy, he will be disappointed.

The same unoriginal impulse is being brought to ignite a proposed bonfire of EU regulation – the function of the “Brexit freedoms bill” announced in the Queen’s speech. Sunset clauses will be retroactively scattered across the body of retained European law, so that they expire regardless of whether a suitable replacement has been conceived. It is a wildly irresponsible idea, conceived in the delusional realm of Europhobic imaginations where every British economic problem has its origin in Brussels directives. In reality, it means legislating for deliberate uncertainty, as if the goal is deterring investment.

The writer goes on to make this bold statement: “the harder the prime minister scrapes the bottom of the policy barrel, the more desperate he looks.

“But the task of political survival is now consuming all of the energy that should be applied to running the country… Conservative MPs.. can have Mr Johnson as their leader, or they can have a functional government; not both.”

Sadly, even this is not true.

There is no evidence to suggest that a Tory government will function any more adequately without Boris Johnson than with him; considering the alternatives, they all have to go.

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Labour takes another poll lead based on Tory woes, not Starmer’s lying leadership

Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer: there are only liars in this image.

Who are these any-way-the-wind-blows mouthpieces the poll companies magically find every time they want to show a change in public opinion?

Apparently the Labour Party has surged to an 11-point lead over the Conservatives (42 to Labour, 31 to the Tories).

Metro‘s report of the Savanta ComRes poll makes it clear that the result comes as increasing numbers of Conservative MPs are submitting letters of “no confidence” in Boris Johnson – or voicing dissent against him.

One thing it absolutely doesn’t reflect is any faith in the policies – or even the honesty of Labour leader Keir Starmer.

He – and his deputy Angela Rayner – has just been served with a questionnaire from Durham Police regarding their participation in allegedly lockdown-busting drinks at the constituency office of City of Durham MP Mary Foy on April 30 last year.

They both deny breaking any Covid-19-related rules that were in place at the time and have said they will tender their resignations from their party positions if they are fined.

And, given the light treatment of Boris Johnson by the Metropolitan Police and Sue Gray, it would seem highly incongruous if that happens.

But that doesn’t mean Starmer will be found to be entirely truthful in the court of public opinion. His personal history suggests the exact opposite – as Owen Jones points out in a recent Guardian article, here:

Last week, it was reported that Starmer is likely to abandon the party’s commitment to raise income tax on those earning more than £80,000 a year: that is, the top 5% of earners. Yet, during the leadership campaign, Starmer issued a document known as the 10 Pledges. The first of those pledges – still live on Starmer’s website – under the heading “Economic justice”, is “Increase income tax for the top 5% of earners”, driving it home with a final flourish: “No stepping back from our core principles.” Such was the Starmer campaign’s emphasis on this pledge that one of his key aides personally rang me up to underline its cast-iron nature.

Coupled with Starmer’s campaign promises that the 2017 Labour manifesto was the party’s “foundational document” and the warning, “don’t trash the last four years”, anyone who claims there is no dishonesty if the pledge is indeed dropped is being deceitful themselves.

Also here:

While Starmer has since claimed that pledge number five, which calls for “common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water” did not mean nationalisation when it came to energy, this does not explain why he stuck up his hand to support “nationalising water and electricity” in the televised hustings on BBC Two’s Newsnight during the campaign.

And here:

Maybe some believe his sixth pledge – “Defend free movement as we leave the EU”. It shouldn’t haven’t been made but it was, and it has been brazenly abandoned.

Finally, here:

As for “unite our party” and “promote pluralism”, Starmer personally reassured me at the end of 2020 that “I am not out to crush the left”, before 10 months later seeking to change the party’s leadership rules in a move clearly intended to prevent the left standing a candidate ever again. That Starmer simultaneously declared in the contest that “the attacks on Jeremy Corbyn were terrible, they vilified him” before removing the whip – while his aides briefed the Murdoch press they intend to expel leftwing MPs – points towards a duplicity beyond parody.

In fact – unless my recollection fails me – Starmer has rowed back on every single one of his 10 pledges.

And with what sparkling new policies has he replaced them?

The answer, it seems, is none. Here‘s Skwawkbox:

Labour’s head of policy Anneliese Dodds was asked to name the biggest policy Labour is putting forward in response to the string of massive crises facing the UK at the moment – and was humiliatingly unable to name any policy, let alone the ‘big one’.

So we are left with a serious question:

If we’re all so dissatisfied with Boris Johnson’s dishonesty, shouldn’t we reject dishonest Keir Starmer as well?

Source: Labour takes 11-point lead in the polls putting more pressure on Boris

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Who’s coming out against Boris Johnson today? Here’s Andrea Leadsom

Happier times: Boris Johnson endorsed Andrea Leadsom’s bid to become Tory leader in 2016 and in 2019, after her bid failed, she came out for him. But in the wake of Partygate she has turned against the current Conservative leader and prime minister – and she’s just one among many.

Senior Tory Andrea Leadsom has become the 40th to attack Boris Johnson over the so-called Partygate scandal, it has been claimed.

Johnson has refused to resign after an investigation by senior civil servant Sue Gray found that significant failures of leadership, both political and official, had made possible a party culture in 10 Downing Street at a time when the rest of the UK was in lockdown.

This follows a previous refusal to resign after Johnson himself was fined for having taken part in this party culture, attending a birthday event for himself in 2020.

The Gray report also mentions many other occasions in which Johnson attended parties, but the Metropolitan Police, who investigated crimes, have unaccountably failed to take action against him over these other events.

In a letter to constituents, Leadsom stated,

“It is painfully clear to me that given the extent and severity of rule-breaking taking place over a 20-month period, it is extremely unlikely that senior leaders were unaware of what was going on.

“The conclusion I have drawn from the Sue Gray report is that there have been unacceptable failings of leadership that cannot be tolerated and are the responsibility of the prime minister.”

She added that she and all Conservative MPs “must now decide on what is the right course of action that will restore confidence in our government”.

But she stopped short of saying that she has submitted a letter of “no confidence” to Sir Graham Brady, chair of the Tory backbench 1922 committee. 54 such letters will trigger a vote that could remove Johnson from power.

One of the 2019 intake of new Tory MPs, Elliot Colburn, showed no such reticence on Monday when he became the 27th Conservative Parliamentarian we know to have done so.

Two others also came out in criticism of Johnson.

This means 27 MPs have now publicly called for the prime minister to go – but the total number of letters submitted (known only to Brady) is likely to be much higher.

Before previous Tory leader and prime minister Theresa May faced her “no confidence” vote, only 24 letters were known to have been submitted but in fact 48 had been handed in.

And some MPs have said they would not reveal their own opinions on the matter until after Parliament returns from recess next week, which suggests that they may be gauging public reaction in their own constituencies ahead of submitting “no confidence” calls.

Downing Street is said to be likely to be preparing for a possible leadership vote, with Tory grandee Lord Hague suggesting it could be as early as next week or as late as the end of June.

The developments are coming thick and fast. Is it just a matter of time before the Conservative Czar of Corruption faces a revolution that he has brought on himself?

Source: Ex-cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom is 40th Tory MP to come out against PM over partygate

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Labour is consulting members on policy so here are a few ideas

The excuses man: no doubt Keir Starmer is already looking for excuses to get out of adopting the common-sense policies his party members want.

Blairgruppenfuhrer Starmer is launching a national review of Labour Party policy and is seeking input from his (remaining) party members.

This is actually a good idea – although This Writer has a few doubts about whether he will adopt the policies that have the most support or will simply cherry-pick whatever suits his own extremely right-wing opinions.

If you are (still) a Labour Party member and have been asked to take part in this consultation – but are struggling to put your ideas into words – feel free to dip into the following. It’s not an exhaustive list but I think it’s a good start:

General policy

Renationalisation of the NHS.

Nationalisation of the electricity, water and railway companies.

End to the sanctions system and a proper welfare benefit to be given to the sick, disabled and unemployed so they can afford to eat, heat their homes and live with dignity.

Restoration of union strength so they can fight real exploitation by big business.

End of precarity and zero hours contracts.

Proper help for small and medium-sized businesses, as these employ more people, serve their local communities better and add needed competition and commercial variety to communities.

End the ban on council housing and start building them and proper affordable homes.

Proper support for rural communities, including better bus services, affordable homes for locals, and the restoration of village shops to keep them living communities.

Set up a workers’ chamber in parliament to counteract the domination of millionaires. This to be composed of working people elected by working people.

Tax

End corporate tax havens.

Tighten the non-dom tax laws so that the people claiming it really do live abroad.

Education

Take academy schools back under state control because they are failing.

Racism

Re-admit and make formal apology to the vast number of decent Labour party members falsely accused and smeared as anti-Semites. Many of these were Jewish, which indicates a strain of anti-Semitism in their accusers.

Labour also needs to reconnect with its traditional Black and Asian supporters. It thus needs to show that it takes tackling racism seriously. This can be done simply by pursuing traditional Labour anti-racist policies without taking on the excesses of Critical Race Theory.

Foreign Policy

No more wars in the Middle East. These have failed, and were never more anything than an excuse to spread western geopolitical power by invading and looting these countries. We have destroyed nations like Libya and Iraq and left sectarian violence, destruction and chaos. These wars contributed massively to the refugee crisis and created the conditions for the emergence of ISIS. They are also the real reasons the peoples of the Middle East despise us. It has nothing to do with any innate quality of Islam.

End arms sales to foreign despots and butchers. This should include Israel, until they withdraw from Palestine and make a just, democratic peace with them.

I know; it’s less a list than a mini-manifesto. But these are great ideas.

What would you propose to give the UK a better future than it’s currently facing?

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Killing of Shireen Abu Aqleh referred to international criminal court

Shireen Abu Aqleh: it’s hard to see the justification for killing someone with the word “PRESS” emblazoned across their jacket.

The death of Shireen Abu Aqleh has been referred to the International Criminal Court as part of an investigation into whether Israeli security forces have been targeting Palestinian journalists in violation of humanitarian law:

The case originally submitted in April by Bindmans had focused on four Palestinian journalists wearing press helmets and vests, two of whom were maimed and two shot dead. It also covers alleged attacks on Gaza media infrastructure in May 2021.

Lawyers from Bindmans and Doughty Street Chambers announced the addition of the death on 11 May of Abu Aqleh to the existing claim at a press conference in London.

They said the case was vital owing to the repeated failure of the Israeli security forces to investigate such incidents and the inability of Palestinian reporters to secure reparations in Israeli domestic courts.

There will also be issues of jurisdiction… Israel itself is not a party to the ICC, raising issues of enforcement of any eventual ruling.

Why isn’t it? Why does Israel get away with this kind of unaccountability?

This comment from one of the solicitors involved is extremely telling:

Tayab Ali, the Bindmans solicitor in the case, said “evidence was not lacking, but the political will”, adding “Israel in the past has been gifted immunity”.

He said: “Israel has enjoyed a devastating impunity against accountability for the actions of its armed forces, and has repeatedly demonstrated that it is a bad faith investigator. It has not managed to hold anyone to account for the tens of Palestinian journalists that have been killed or maimed so far”.

The Palestinian Authority announced the results of an investigation into Abu Aqleh’s death, saying that it revealed Israeli forces deliberately shot and killed the reporter.

Israel’s defence minister, Benny Gantz, said, “Any claim that the IDF intentionally harmed journalists or noncombatants is a blatant lie.”

Source: Shireen Abu Aqleh: killing of reporter referred to international criminal court

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Only crooks change the rules to save their own skin – as Boris Johnson has done

RIP democracy: how true, when Boris Johnson is re-writing the government code of conduct to allow him to act dishonestly and corruptly without any fear of punishment.

Angela Rayner is right – this really is the action of a “tinpot despot”.

Terrified that he’ll be forced out of office for breaking his own Covid-19 lockdown rules – and, more to the point, lying about it to Parliament – Boris Johnson has changed the Ministerial Code to eliminate forced resignation or expulsion as a penalty.

This wretched rat’s rewrite means that, from now on, ministers will not always be expected to resign for breaching the code of conduct. Under new sanctions, they could apologise or temporarily lose their pay instead.

The Guardian states that,

Johnson also blocked his independent ethics chief, Christopher Geidt, from gaining the power to launch his own investigations, and rewrote the foreword to the ministerial code, removing all references to honesty, integrity, transparency and accountability.

… because he has none of those qualities and does not understand what they mean, one presumes.

His spokespeople at 10 Downing Street have tried to justify the changes by saying it is “disproportionate to expect that any breach, however minor, should lead automatically to resignation or dismissal”.

Why?

UK government ministers should be expected to maintain the highest standards of conduct in the world. Any breach of those standards should be met with the sternest penalty.

If MPs like Johnson cannot accept that responsibility, then they should not have even tried to become members of a government, let alone leaders of it.

So let me suggest a response to Downing Street’s self-serving statement, as follows:

It is inappropriate for a serving prime minister to alter the rules by which his conduct will be judged, when his conduct is about to be judged.

Johnson has certainly lived up to Keir Starmer’s appraisal of the standard he sets for himself: “lower than a snake’s belly”.

We can all see that.

And I don’t think the general public will find it in the slightest way amusing.

If the Conservative Party keeps him as its leader, then it is heading for a landslide loss at the next general election – which, remember, is likely to take place after another two-and-a-half years of his corruption.

Some leading Tories have read the writing on the wall and are already calling for his removal.

Will the rest of them please develop backbones over the weekend so we can restore a shred of integrity to our legislature?

Source: Boris Johnson accused of changing ministerial code to ‘save his skin’ | Boris Johnson | The Guardian

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Partygate: Met Police Acting Commissioner pathetically tries to whitewash Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson: the prime minister is pictured participating in a party to mark the departure of Lee Cain from his Downing Street communications job – but according to Acting Met Police Commissioner Sir Stephen House, there is “no clear evidence” that he took part in the rampant Covid-19 rule-breaking there.

A police officer who witnessed “a large number of people” at a “crowded and noisy” party, where “some members of staff drank excessively” did not immediately take action over Covid-19 rule breaches because he was there for security and not to “police what goes on inside the building”, according to Met Police Acting Commissioner Sir Stephen House.

Have you ever read such nonsense? Police officers are sworn to uphold the law at all times, no matter what their stated duties are said to be. Would he have turned a blind eye to burglary, or rape, because he was assigned to “security”?

Apparently the same officer did not feel that a large number of drunken people in a crowded and noisy room breached Covid-19 regulations that strictly prohibited such social gatherings.

It’s no wonder this “acting” Commissioner’s other comments are also shockingly inadequate in the light of this.

House told the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee there was “no clear evidence” that Johnson had breached Covid-19 rules many times in Downing Street, despite the very clear photographic evidence of him participating in a party to mark the departure of Lee Cain from Downing Street on November 13, 2020.

This was not a “works gathering”. Far too many people were present and they were socialising and drinking alcohol – as was the prime minister, who gave a speech. The amount of time he spent there was immaterial because the rules in place at the time prohibited all such social events from taking place at all.

At least one attendee was fined for being at this event but there was “no clear evidence” that Boris Johnson was there or took part, according to House.

House also suggested that it was difficult for his officers to work out which gatherings were work-related and which were not. How daft! If alcoholic drinks were visible in the room, then they weren’t work-related. And in any case, if the room was packed with people, meaning they were not at least 2m away from each other in accordance with social distancing rules, they were breaking the law.

House said he was personally involved in the decision-making and was confident in the outcome of the police investigation. That should be enough for us to demand that he surrender his badge.

Is he selling us down the river so he can gain the favour of the top Tories?

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Sue Gray report in depth: how many times was Boris Johnson drunk in charge of a nation?

Boozy Johnson: it seems he spent most of the Covid-19 crisis drunk, along with many of the staff at Downing Street – and the Met Police, together with Sue Gray, have been trying to cover-up his wrongdoing.

Isn’t it a shame that Sue Gray’s report into the drunken party culture that prevailed at Downing Street from early 2020 until late 2021 (at least) is so uneven.

Parts of it are thoroughly researched, but other parts – especially, it seems, where Boris Johnson is concerned, are amateurish.

Consider the report’s entry about a gathering in the Downing Street flat on the evening of November 13, 2020.

Ms Gray states that after the announcement that Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain were leaving, a meeting was held in the Number 10 flat to discuss the handling of their departure.

It started at 6pm, involving five special advisors, and Johnson himself turned up at 8pm. Food and alcohol were available and the “discussion” continued into the evening with people leaving at various points.

This was not a works gathering – it was a party.

If it had been a works gathering, then it would have taken place in an office – not the flat. Alcohol would certainly not have been available – have you ever been to a work meeting where booze was being served up to all and sundry? I haven’t! People attend work events to work – not to drink. And everybody would have stayed until the meeting was closed by its chair, if it were a works gathering.

Johnson was getting drunk with his mates in his flat and they simply pretended it was a works gathering to diddle the rules, or so it seems to me. Doesn’t it look that way to you?

Ms Gray’s report states she had to halt her investigation because the police inquiry began, and did not re-start it when the Met had finished their dog’s dinner of a probe because she did not think it was “appropriate or proportionate” to do so.

Is this because she feared that she would expose her boss’s lawbreaking further than it already has been?

I’ve looked in detail at just three events so far. All were parties, and Boris Johnson participated fully in all of them. At those times, he was drunk in charge of the nation – and these were times when the nation needed a sober hand at the helm.

It was a flagrant abuse of power that both the Met Police and Ms Gray seem to have been doing their utmost to cover up. Shame on them – and shame on all of us if we allow them to get away with it.

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

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Rishi Sunak’s cost-of-living complacency evaporates as public opinion turns on the Tories

The bribery brothers: Rishi Sunak has u-turned on his opposition to a windfall tax for fossil fuel companies because he will use the cash to bribe you into supporting the Tory government again, after Sue Gray’s revelations about Boris Johnson’s wild Downing Street parties brought it into disgrace.

The Chancellor whose government spent thousands of pounds teaching civil servants how to juggle balls, while millions of households facing the cost-of-living crisis tried to juggle their bills, is now scrambling to help us in a meaningful way.

It’s a huge u-turn from the Chancellor who couldn’t care less a week ago.

At a time when the government has been enjoying record tax receipts – having raised taxes 15 times since Boris Johnson became prime minister and due to inflation that increases the tax attached to certain commercial items (like fuel) – Sunak had rejected proposals to reduce the tax burden on ordinary people.

Only days ago, Tory MPs rejected calls for a 40 per cent cut in fuel duty and VAT after a petition received more than 102,000 signatures, thereby forcing a discussion in the Commons.

The Government used a false argument that drivers are already saving £1,900 on their annual fuel bills compared with what they might have been paying had a pre-2010 fuel duty escalator remained in place. The pre-2010 rates were altered because times had changed; times have changed again.

And Sunak himself has been dodging the issue, claiming he could not affect the global circumstances driving the crisis. But that isn’t what he has been asked to do.

He had been asked to respond to the crisis in a way that saves ordinary people from impoverishment and prevents a recession and, until today, he had shown no interest in either goal.

George Dibb, in The Guardian, claimed solutions were staring Sunak in the face. He said:

Sunak’s first step should be investing in social security via increases in universal credit and legacy benefits to prevent families falling into destitution.

Second, we need a serious industrial strategy to boost confidence, give long-term business certainty and restore investment in the UK’s productive capacity. Sunak promised to increase private investment with a “super-deduction” incentive, but in fact it fell in the last quarter. To make this long-term vision work, Sunak should break up the Treasury and form a new Ministry for Economic Strategy with the target to drive investment-led, green growth.

Third, rather than continuing to slip on our green ambitions, every home should be insulated and more wind turbines erected across the UK in an investment needed before 2050 anyway. Green power is now the cheapest way of generating energy.

Next, the government must make clear to businesses that just as they were supported in the pandemic, now companies must themselves act responsibly by reducing their profits to keep prices down. Profits have gone up, particularly in uncompetitive, concentrated sectors – so for example petrol stations haven’t passed on the fuel duty cut to customers, benefiting their bottom line at the public’s expense. Evidence from the US suggests that recent rising prices have been disproportionately driven by rising profits, not wages.

Finally, as fossil fuel companies pile up huge, unexpected profits from the crisis that is pushing millions into absolute poverty, it is fair for the government to redistribute these into welfare and income support via a windfall tax.

Well, as I was typing this, Sunak u-turned on his opposition to a windfall tax and will impose a 25 per cent levy on oil and gas firms’ soaring profits, for precisely this purpose.

This isn’t a display of leadership; he has merely caved in to a reasonable proposal that he has previously – unreasonably – rejected.

Sunak is saying that his one-off charge will “tax extraordinary profits fairly and incentivise investments” – so it seems likely he will offer firms a chance to avoid paying the full amount by diverting the money into investment in green – unpolluting – fuel development.

This is another admission of failure, of course. Boris Johnson and others have spent weeks – months? – telling us they didn’t want a windfall tax because they wanted these companies to make the investments on their own initiative. Clearly they have not and, having ignored the carrot, must now endure the stick.

Sunak is using the money to scrap his hugely unpopular and controversial plan to provide £200 to everyone in England, Scotland and Wales in October – and then force us all to pay it back over the following five years.

Instead, he is doubling the amount to £400, which will be non-repayable; we get to keep it.

The poorest households will also get a payment of £650 to help with the cost of living. Eight million households on means-tested benefits will get the money paid directly into their bank accounts in two lump sums – one in July, the other this autumn.

There will also be separate one-off payments of £300 to pensioner households and £150 to individuals receiving disability benefits – groups who are “most vulnerable to rising prices”.

The whole package of payouts will be worth £15 billion – to be partly paid by the windfall tax. We know that inflation is set to increase UK tax receipts by £12.5 billion per year. And of course the National Insurance increase will bring £13 billion into the Treasury.

So the Tory government will still be quids-in and the offer to the people is, to quote Boris Johnson, “chickenfeed”.

But it looks good – and that is all Sunak hopes to achieve.

Remember: prime minister Boris Johnson took a huge hit to his credibility when Sue Gray published her report on the party culture he promoted at Downing Street while the rest of us were enduring Covid-19 lockdowns.

Johnson attended and fully participated in these parties and then lied about them to Parliament and to the public. His claim that he was assured they were permissible because they were “works events” is nonsense because such gatherings were not exempted from lockdown rules when he himself announced them – and he must have known that (otherwise he would be admitting he is too stupid to run the UK).

So Johnson currently stands exposed as unprincipled, untrustworthy and corrupt – a despot who habitually ignores his own laws and treats those he forces to conform to them with contempt. That’s you, by the way.

He desperately needs to bribe the public with an incentive to support him again.

So today, here’s Sunak with a handout for us all. How utterly cynical.

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

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Home Office staff take government to court with concerns ‘culture of fear’ is illegal

Minister for inhumanity: Priti Patel’s “Hostile Environment” policies have involved Home Office staff in illegal activities in the past. Now she is being challenged in court to prove her plan to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda is not also against the law.

10 years after the launch of the ‘Hostile Environment’ policy, representatives of Home Office staff are challenging the government in court over things they are being asked to do.

The Public and Commercial Services Union and the Immigration Services Union are challenging Priti Patel’s policies to “pushback” small boats in the English Channel and to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda.

They have strong justification: the “pushback” policy is likely to break international law on asylum while the idea of deportations to Rwanda copies a previous policy by Israel – that didn’t work and was abandoned.

And the Conservative government has a record of “Hostile Environment” criminality.

We all know – don’t we? – about the Windrush Scandal that illegally targeted for deportation a generation of people who had the right to live in the UK but whose documentation had been destroyed.

The Home Office has also wrongly accused 34,000 international students of cheating in English language tests and failed to ensure that innocent people were not wrongly deported.

An Institute for Public Policy Research report in 2020 concluded the hostile environment policy had fostered racism, pushed people into destitution, wrongly targeted people who were living in the UK legally, and had “severely harmed the reputation of the Home Office”.

In the wake of the Windrush scandal the Home Office committed to introduce a total transformation of the department, including a review of the hostile environment policies – and failed to complete it.

So it should be no surprise that civil service representatives are trying to protect workers from having to take part in Priti Patel’s potential crimes.

One glance at comments on the “Hostile Environment” policy by Nazek Ramdan, the director of the charity Migrant Voice, should make the reason crystal clear:

“Perhaps no other policy in living memory has left such a malign mark, a stain like an oil slick. It is racist, xenophobic, immoral, illegal, unfair, punishing, divisive, mean-spirited, discriminatory and counterproductive.”

Source: Home Office staff worry they may be asked to act illegally in ‘culture of fear’

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

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