Tag Archives: Clarke

TUC general secretary owns Tory cabinet office minister in row on strike action

Frances O’Grady, TUC general secretary, debated strike action with Cabinet Office minister Brendan Clarke-Smith – and delivered a sound thrashing.

Watch:

I was live-tweeting while this was going on:

Reading between the lines of the discussion, it seems the Tory government isn’t planning to outlaw strike action – but simply aims to make it irrelevant by bringing in scab workers (probably people who are struggling to make ends meet because of depressed wages and benefits).

This would be extremely provocative and I can see working people being forced to take increasingly stronger action against any government that does this.

It seems Liz Truss is intending, deliberately and with malice aforethought, to provoke civil unrest in the United Kingdom.

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An INCOMPETENT government released the London Bridge terrorist to kill again: a TORY government

How tasteless of the Tories to try to blame Labour for a tragedy that they caused.

People have died and both Home Secretary Priti Patel and prime minister Boris Johnson have tried to turn the atrocity into a political football.

For clarity: convicted terrorist Usman Khan murdered two people on London Bridge last Friday (November 29).

Both Mr Johnson (see the link below) and Ms Patel have tried to blame the fact that he was free and able to commit these murders on an early release policy which they say was imposed by a Labour government.

Both Mr Johnson and Ms Patel were telling an untruth.

Khan had been jailed under Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) – a policy imposed by Labour, but abolished by a Conservative Justice Secretary, Ken Clarke, in 2012.

It is because the Conservatives abolished IPP that Khan was able to appeal against his sentence – successfully. It was reduced to 16 years, meaning he was released on licence in December 2018.

Labour had nothing to do with it.

If you read the article (link below), you’ll see that Mr Johnson changed tack – to claim that his government could not be responsible because he has only been prime minister for 120 days. What drivel.

The UK has been under continuous Conservative rule since 2010. The same Conservative government that repealed IPP is now being run by Mr Johnson. The only differences – of cabinet members and prime minister – are cosmetic.

So don’t let Boris Johnson and his Tory cronies make a fool of you.

His government was responsible for Usman Khan’s release and as leader, he should take responsibility for it.

The fact that he is desperately trying to slither out of it is more proof of his unsuitability to govern.

Make sure he doesn’t get the chance to cause any more harm. Vote Labour on December 12.

Source: Boris Johnson blames Labour for release of London Bridge killer | UK news | The Guardian

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Has Swinson been caught LYING about her preferred ‘unity government’ leader, Ken Clarke?

Jo Swinson: She’s not talking to Kenneth Clarke here, obviously.

Remember when Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson proposed Kenneth Clarke as a possible leader of a “unity” government in what we now see as a desperate bid to avoid supporting a Jeremy Corbyn-led short-term government?

She said she had spoken to both Mr Clarke and Harriet Harman about the possibility. “I have been in touch with them because obviously you don’t just mention people’s names without checking that they’re OK with that,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

But Mr Clarke seems to be telling a different story.

According to The Guardian, he “told the BBC on Friday that he had been on holiday and had not followed the news closely about a potential unity government, said he was nevertheless willing to be considered as a potential leader of a unity government”.

So it seems to me that Ms Swinson was lying when she claimed to have spoken with Mr Clarke. She can’t be trusted to even say the right thing, let alone do it.

And people have noticed:

https://twitter.com/ToryFibs/status/1162708745123708928

Some have tried to say that Ms Swinson called Mr Clarke while he was on holiday but this doesn’t match the evidence.

Besides – if she had spoken to him before putting his name forward, she would have known that he supports the “soft” Brexit that Jeremy Corbyn spent months trying to get Theresa May to accept, and wouldn’t help facilitate a second referendum at all:

It really screws up Ms Swinson’s whole narrative.

As the singer Billy Bragg tweeted: “While the #FBPE [mob] continue to dismiss Corbyn’s offer because “he’s a Brexiteer”, have they bothered to check out the position of their preferred PM Ken Clarke? Turns out he’s a Brexiteer!”

This is what happens when children try to do grown-up politics. I’ve taken to describing Lib Dem attitudes as “toddler politics” and it seems the sentiment is catching on.

“Will kiddy playing politics @joswinson be making a remix of Clegg’s Sorry?” asked Gracie Samuels on Twitter. “Like when she was in coalition with the Tories last time and she helped them push through the health and social care bill (now Act) that is now destroying the NHS and social care?”

In case anybody has forgotten that song, plenty of people have been tweeting the link to remind us. Here it is:

And people across the UK are clear about exactly who will be responsible for breaking the bid to stop Boris Johnson if BoJob gets away with his “no deal” Brexit plan:

There’s this from @xpressanny, direct to the Lib Dems: “Oh for goodness sake GROW UP! This is future of Great Britain you are deliberately messing around with. Either get involved with Tories, Green & SNP or be seen as Tory AND No Deal Brexit Enablers. Time to join the adults. Your choice.”

And ‘Monsignor it’s all Corbyn’s fault, proud crank” stated: “‘I won’t vote for him because they won’t vote for him because I won’t vote for him’ just isn’t a credible or honourable justification for not backing the only guaranteed way to stop no deal Brexit and convinces no one, least of all those who voted Lib Dem as an anti-Brexit party.”

The message is clear:

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The Boring Osborne Drinking GamE (BODGE)

Get it down you: George Osborne's trying to be 'one of the boys' in this photo, but you'll need a stiff drink when you hear what he has in store for the country (even if it is only likely to last one month)!

Get it down you: George Osborne’s trying to be ‘one of the boys’ in this photo, but you’ll need a stiff drink when you hear what he has in store for the country (even if it is only likely to last one month)!

Today, for one day only, Vox Political will be extolling the virtues of alcohol. Yes, Gideon will be announcing the much-fought-over results of his spending review negotiations with other government departments and, here at Vox Towers, we think you’ll need an anaesthetic to get through them.

What you need to do is get hold of the ‘anaethetic’ of your choice. Bear in mind that Chancellors of the Exchequer are known for drinking their way through their own budget statements, with the anaesthetic of their choice (Ken Clarke liked whisky) so this is entirely permissible.

Pour some into a glass, and listen to the speech, starting at 12.30pm or thereabouts.

Any mention of Coalition achievements is worth ONE FINGER. Osborne is probably going to trot out the usual list – more than a million new jobs (not true), spending on the NHS protected (not true) and so on. You’ll know them when you hear them. The correct procedure is to use one hand to drink while raising the middle finger of the other hand in the direction of the equipment you’re using to listen to the speech, in symbolic gesture to the part-time Chancellor himself.

Mention of Coalition investment may also be worth ONE FINGER, depending on whether you think it will actually do the country any good or be just another bung for his rich buddies in private companies. That’s a judgement call depending (most probably) on how drunk you want to be at lunchtime.

At some point, Osborne will mention the size and shape of the cuts he wishes to impose on us all. Each one is worth TWO FINGERS. Raise the index and middle fingers of your spare hand in the direction of the equipment you’re using to hear the speech, as you drink the appropriate amount.

By the time he stops talking, you should be about as drunk as the other ministers had to be to let him impose these dangerous and unfounded measures on their departments.