Tag Archives: news

“If you let politicians break the law in an emergency, they will create an emergency in order to break the law.”

Under national emergency Boris Johnson, the UK is lurching from one disaster to another.

Are they deliberately engineering these problems, just so they can change the law in increasingly corrupt ways? You decide…

Distribution of this year’s flu vaccine is delayed due to failure of deliveries nationally

Just been notified that flu vaccine rescheduled due to delay in national deliveries. Disruption to what we have previously been able to take for granted continues apace. We are beginning to witness many of the symptoms normally associated with a failing state.

— Professor Christopher Painter (@PrfChrisPainter) September 10, 2021

It seems the Tories aren’t happy with Covid-19 killing off tens of thousands of older people; they want flu to finish the job and terminate the rest. It will also paralyse the National Health Service.

The problem is caused by a shortage of drivers, which should remind us that a Brexit-caused HGV driver shortage is ongoing… unless you’re a Tory minister, in which case it was caused by Covid-19. Or whatever excuse Transport Secretary Grant Shapps can dream up today.

Alison Thewliss(SNP MP) – Brexit & the ending of FoM are the lead causes of the current driver shortages in the UK…

Grant Shapps – It's completely untrue to say that the shortages are a brexit issue… it's about coronavirus… 🤔 pic.twitter.com/I88FCJtLKY

— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) September 10, 2021

The Tory refusal to acknowledge the cause of the problem means it may be with us for a while…

The only way to fix the HGV shortage problem is to admit that it's caused by Brexit. But the government can't do that, so instead we're forced to live in a make-believe world in which Brexit is perfect and the supply system is degrading around us.https://t.co/jNJtguGvlO

— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) September 10, 2021

… but we can still derive some (rather bitter) humour from it:

Johnson hoped people wouldn’t notice that his populist bus was a double decker, with an elite on top and those they exploit downstairs. But now the bus is going nowhere as the driver’s no longer allowed on board that’s becoming very apparent. Are the wheels finally falling off?

— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) September 9, 2021

Priti Patel’s attack on channel-hopping migrants: intended to distract from the Tories’ National Insurance daylight robbery?

Is the Patel “turn-them-back-we-don’t-care-if-they-drown” idea released in order to distract from the “get-the-poor-to-pay-to-protect-rich-people’s-inheritance” law?

— Tom London (@TomLondon6) September 9, 2021

If so, it seems to be working:

Racist's baiting the RNLI again today calling them immigrant taxis.

I sincerely hope everyone offended by this donates to this wonderful service once again. Anyone who'd rather see people drown at sea can start with themselves.

— Damien Willey (@Cornish_Damo) September 9, 2021

But some of us can see what’s at the heart of it:

Yet again the Tories are attacking refugees to distract from their own failures.

We must reject divide-and-rule and stand up to racism. #RefugeesWelcomeHere

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) September 9, 2021

So let’s remind ourselves of the Tories’ achievements, courtesy of Steve Howard, below:

While all the time hidden taxes are rising like tolls, fuel taxes rising, cost of living rising, economy tanking !!!

— Steve Howard (@stevesurrey1) September 10, 2021

History repeats itself: UK had Covid-19 ‘freedom day’ in the summer – now Johnson is threatening ‘Locktober’ in the autumn

This was all too predictable. Another lockdown was a likelihood when Johnson relaxed everything too quickly at the start of summer. pic.twitter.com/nvRIZLwwtw

— Devutopia (@D_Raval) September 6, 2021

Apparently the government is lining up the NHS to take the blame.

Nadhim Zahawi's veiled fingerpointing shows the Tories are set to blame the NHS for the inevitable COVID spike that'll be driven by our schools, not the vaccine booster rollout. #DamoRants

October Lockdown: Blame the Tories not the NHS! https://t.co/rMfPyDmq6o via @Cornish_Damo pic.twitter.com/oQqoW8TkFF

— Damien Willey (@Cornish_Damo) September 7, 2021

And why not? By then, doctors and nurses will be too busy dealing with elderly flu victims to defend themselves.

Also in the news:

Here’s the real reason younger people can’t afford to buy houses

Since the 1970s, house prices have risen at more than twice the rate that wages have increased – mostly due to the last four decades of neoliberal pay-squashing nonsense:

Why cant millennials afford homes?

Av House prices:

1970: £4057
2021: £ 250, 772 (62x increase)

Av Annual pay:

1970: £1204
2021: £29,600 (24.6x increase)

1970: House is 3.37 x salary
2021: House is 8.47 x salary

Now tell us we are lazy.

— Dr Ben Janaway (@drjanaway) September 8, 2021

DWP to be humiliated by museum of its greatest hit-jobs on people with disabilities

Ground-breaking production will create a high-tech museum of DWP’s victims https://t.co/bJrX3rFTd5 via @johnpringdns

— Ekklesia (@Ekklesia_co_uk) September 10, 2021

After demanding that schools re-open too early, Labour demands return of face masks to make sure they can stay open

Meanwhile Covid infections spread via schools are skyrocketing.

EXCLUSIVE: Bring back masks for secondary schools to prevent Covid disruption, says Labourhttps://t.co/9HnOWsJZth pic.twitter.com/dyjF38lwBa

— Mirror Politics (@MirrorPolitics) September 10, 2021

Tories may be delaying compensation payments to Windrush scandal victims in the hope that they’ll die first

I think that the government is relying on the fact that this is an elderly cohort to dawdle in resolving claims @JacquiMckenzie6 https://t.co/1KWk5G2IDV

— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) September 10, 2021

And finally: after Boris ‘Rivers of Sh*t’ Johnson allowed polluters to dump nearly-raw sewage in rivers, will it hasten the date when England runs out of its water supply?

This is what he did:

Tory HQ… https://t.co/zULeeNPW8z pic.twitter.com/GWgbqt6Ary

— Breakthrough Party 🟠🌤️ (@BThroughParty) September 10, 2021

But is he hoping we’ve forgotten this?

There is a serious risk that some parts of the England will run out of water within the next 20 years. From a 2020 report.

Now they are dumping untreated waste into their rivers.

Think about that.

— JackElphinstone. (@ElphinstoneJack) September 10, 2021

It’s too late anyway: the rivers are already filling up with Johnson’s… product:

Stinks of sewage. At brook st bridge and riverdale. #ilkley @YWHelp pic.twitter.com/RCeM3BJYVj

— IlkleyCleanRiver (@CleanIlkley) September 9, 2021

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Also in the news: Corrupt Tories vote on National Insurance – and make a killing on PPE

1 Reply

Contempt: Boris Johnson knows he can force the poor to pay for benefits taken by the rich – and give huge amounts of public money in corrupt contracts with Tory donors – and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Here’s today’s roundup of stories This Site hasn’t been able to cover otherwise:

Tory drones vote through National Insurance rise so the poor and pensioners pay to keep rich kids in their houses

They knew it was wrong but they did it anyway because they like using your money when they should be paying themselves. If you can’t see that, you’re as much a part of the problem as they are.

Tory donor who lobbied for government PPE contract via corrupt ‘VIP fast lane’ makes 9,000 PER CENT profit

David Meller is laughing all the way to the bank. He’s given nearly £60,000 to the Tories since 2009 and has made £13 million profit after having a quiet word with health minister Lord Bethell.

Levelling down – up North: social care spending in the North of England is nearly £3,000 lower per person than the national average

It’s because the Tories have starved local authorities of the cash they need – and don’t think for a moment that Johnson’s NI increase is going to change it.

Unite union will use block vote to remove right-wing David Evans as Labour Party general secretary

Unions hold half the votes at Labour conferences, and it is likely that others will follow Unite’s example – especially the Bakers’ union BFAWU, after Evans threatened to expel president Ian Hodson. It is unlikely that Evans’s – and Keir Starmer’s – attempts to gerrymander the delegate count to exclude left-wingers will increase sympathy for the dictatorial and divisive Evans.

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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Also in the news: stories you need to read

News media accept supermarket food shortages are due to Brexit – contrary to Johnson’s propaganda

Lorries without drivers: news outlets are finally admitting the shortage is due to Brexit. Boris Johnson won’t like that!

This is an important admission from The Independent, although it lags a considerable time behind some of us in the social media.

The newspaper’s article Brexit food shortages could ‘cancel Christmas’ and last into 2022 acknowledges – in its headline – that Brexit is responsible for the emptying of your local supermarket’s shelves – not Covid-19.

It states:

Britain’s post-Brexit supply chain crisis could “cancel Christmas” and continue to cause food shortages well into 2022, industry leaders have warned.

Boris Johnson’s government has been urged to ease immigration rules so some EU citizens who left the UK during Brexit can return and help fill major gaps in the workforce.

McDonald’s had run out of milkshakes, [and] chicken shortages caused Nando’s to temporarily shut 50 stores last week because of supply problems linked to Brexit.

The RHA [Road Haulage Association] estimates that up to 20,000 heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers from the EU left during Brexit.

Tom Southall, policy officer at the Cold Chain Federation, said Brexit was partly to blame for recruitment problems across the food sector – predicting that it would be 2022 before the nation begins to get to grips with the backlog of vacancies for drivers, pickers and processors.

Norfolk food firm Alfred G Pearce, which grows and processes vegetables, is also struggling with labour shortages, having seen its workforce reduced 20 per cent to 30 per cent down after EU employees returned home during the Brexit process.

Bryan Roberts, retail analyst at Shopfloor Insights, said it would take time to train new workers, even with a major recruitment drive. “Sadly I think things are only going to get worse in the run-up to Christmas and we’ve got a whole load more regulations coming in from Brexit in October,” he said.

Other news media have caught on and are starting to say the same:

ITV News at Ten very clear about cause of empty supermarket shelves. No walking on egg shells in by the reporter. Shortages caused by brexit.

— Simon Lewis🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇪🇺🔶#FBPA#FBPPR#FBPE (@simonapcliff) August 27, 2021

It seems people in the UK are finally turning the corner and realising that the way to conquer our differences with the EU was to remain a member state and argue for change (in a rational way, not a David Cameron do-as-I-say-or-I’ll-have-a-strop ultimatum) and not to walk out and end all the trade agreements and border deals we had in our favour.

Neighbour last night apologised for voting for brexit.

The tide is slowly turning.

— Adam Jezard (@jezardscribe1) August 27, 2021

Brexit REALLY is as bad as billed – the emperor is wearing no clothes… time for the #Brexit perpetrators to admit it pic.twitter.com/SZQqGAMWvO

— Helen Bracken #FBPE 🇪🇺 #RejoinEU🕯#FBPA #FBPPR (@HelenTBracken) August 24, 2021

Of course, the shortage of lorry drivers would be over if Boris Johnson and his Tories would only make two decisions: first, they could swallow their misplaced pride and bring in drivers from the EU to cover the current shortfall; second, they should raise pay rates above subsistence level – otherwise there would be no reason for anybody to help out at all.

Looks like lorry drivers are yet another set of low-paid, "unskilled" workers that the country can't actually function without. It's almost like we should stop undervaluing workers and start paying people in accordance with their true contribution to society.

— RD Hale (@RD_HaIe) August 27, 2021

Some employers have seen the light and raised wages unilaterally…

• Two major UK supermarkets have increased the wages of their lorry drivers.

• This is the correct way to fix the driver shortage. There is no shortage of labour, there is a shortage of wages.

— Jon Trickett MP (@jon_trickett) August 28, 2021

… but Johnson and his gang won’t impose these changes nationally because they themselves are not suffering. They don’t care about you and they never did.

So you see now that Brexit was created to engineer the very shortages you are experiencing today, deliberately, by Johnson and his Brexiteer Tories.

Source: Brexit food shortages could ‘cancel Christmas’ and last into 2022, says industry | The Independent

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Next week’s news: NHS victory – and politicians make fools of themselves

Here’s a start-the-week roundup of what’s likely to be in the news in – at least – the early part of the coming week.

1, NHS data dump to private firms is cancelled

Well done everybody! More than a million people opted out, after they finally found out about it, so the plan is now on indefinite hold while NHS Digital tries to find another way to hoodwink us into letting our private information go public.

NHS data grab on hold as millions opt out https://t.co/fG5UYRJhRW

— Samuel Miller (@Hephaestus7) August 22, 2021

2. Dominic Raab continues to be lazy and stupid

I know this isn’t news but the fact that he still has a Cabinet job continues to be amazing.

Dominic Raab ‘persuaded PM he could stay on holiday’ in Afghanistan crisis https://t.co/nzHXtcqSmQ

— Clare Hepworth OBE (@Hepworthclare) August 22, 2021

This makes it impossible for @DominicRaab to stay in office. What we thought was a grave error of judgement is now seen as obstinacy and pig headedness when faced with demands to return to work. He must be sacked by @BorisJohnson this evening. This is unforgivable. https://t.co/ZBVP4tFz6o

— Ian Blackford (@Ianblackford_MP) August 21, 2021

Letters: Dominic Raab should do the decent thing and resign https://t.co/UgJ8JxtvBC

— The Independent (@Independent) August 21, 2021

Then there’s this. Wasn’t he on holiday at a Russian-owned hotel, too?

Dominic Raab's ex-Russian banker donor runs charity with boss of 'Kremlin front group' – Mirror Online https://t.co/2vfxndrsg8

— Samuel Miller (@Hephaestus7) August 22, 2021

3. Keir Starmer’s new slogan shows he’s out-of-touch to the point of illiteracy

Starmer’s new slogan is literally ‘WTF’. Seriously – SKWAWKBOX https://t.co/VTIqfucqhJ

— Samuel Miller (@Hephaestus7) August 22, 2021

4. Grant Shapps is axing the Eastern leg of HS2 because it costs too much. So much for ‘levelling up’!

HS2's east leg set to be axed to save £40billion in mockery of Johnson’s 'level up' pledge – Mirror Online https://t.co/qo1eUlgTRz

— Samuel Miller (@Hephaestus7) August 22, 2021

5. Brexiteers are still unhappy that they’ve got the hard Brexit they wanted

Nothing has been forced on the UK, this is the hard #Brexit they wanted. Important to challenge this nonsense. pic.twitter.com/SSSMsDuwGB

— Neale Richmond (@nealerichmond) August 22, 2021

6. Michael Gove accused of lying to Parliament about another PPE deal

Or it may be one of the deals we’ve already heard about. Who can keep track with these shifty Tories?

Michael Gove previously told parliament “every single procurement decision went through an eight-stage process”. But now, a Minister has admitted the £22.6m contract for PPE to Bunzl – subject to our judicial review – did not🤨https://t.co/YcgUYVTiQo

— Good Law Project (@GoodLawProject) August 20, 2021

And finally: Keir Starmer is irrelevant

I wouldn’t be surprised if, rather than being Labour voters, the people in the photograph turn out to be his in-laws.

The story of the last year continues: Starmer moving away from a substantive political agenda to nothing more than spin.

It’s increasingly obvious even he doesn’t know what he wants. If nothing else respect the bullshit of his leadership campaign. https://t.co/zLOZkN5WYU

— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) August 21, 2021

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Also in the news: stories we may have missed

Who can read them all? But some of the stories in the news every week are genuinely worth reading – or at least knowing about.

In fact these are stories that Yr Obdt Srvt missed over the last week because I was writing about something else.

I haven’t had a chance to write about a few things – partly through overwork and partly because I appear to have a stomach bug today. What follows are only some of them.

1. Craig Murray jailed.

It has been described as a travesty of justice:

📢 THREAD: National and international coverage of Craig Murray's imprisonment

Pertinent and thoughtful piece by John Boothman in the Times 👇 @thetimes https://t.co/jjD5Gdqgc5

— Craig Murray Justice campaign (@cmurrayjustice) August 1, 2021

It is not in prosperity but when you are down and out that you learn who your true friends are.

To my amazement I find I have millions.

— Craig Murray – 7th day in prison (@CraigMurrayOrg) July 31, 2021

2. Commons Speaker Lyndsay Hoyle came under criticism for trying to sidestep having to take action over Boris Johnson’s incessant dishonesty.

@LindsayHoyle_MP
While lying can not be called out on the floor of the #HOC, what is taking place is a tool of mental abuse, which has been called #Gaslighting. This much maligned and misquoted tool of reality manipulation was used in 1930s Germany and has to stop.
It kills us

— [email protected] ANTI(G)A(S)LIGHTING, 💙 Assange. (@Maxastra) February 25, 2021

I won’t accept it’s not the Speakers job to call this out. He can’t have it both ways. He can’t on the one hand boldly announce no member would mislead or lie to the House whilst sitting there silently, week after week as the Prime Minister misleads & lies to the House https://t.co/hJfXtFiqfB

— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) August 1, 2021

If the Speaker is now going to say he won’t be dragged into arguments about whether a member of the House is lying he shouldn’t go about making bold statements that no member would lie. He can’t have it both ways https://t.co/hJfXtFiqfB

— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) August 1, 2021

The Prime Minister would never lie or break the Ministerial Code says No10 spokesman

In unrelated news millions watch the Prime Minister lying & breaking the Ministerial Code on Breakfast TV pic.twitter.com/4KicfqB7Mo

— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) August 1, 2021

3. NIESR said the end of the government’s furlough scheme would make 150,000 more people unemployed.

The ending of the government’s furlough scheme will lengthen dole queues by 150,000 despite a boost to activity from the ending of lockdown that will make the UK the fastest-growing G7 nation this year, a leading thinktank has said.

In its quarterly update on the UK, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said it had revised up its 2021 growth forecast from 5.7% to 6.8%.

But the thinktank said that even though the UK would move from the bottom to the top of the G7 league table for growth, there would still be a hit to jobs from the ending of wage subsidies at the end of September.

Niesr said the jobless rate would increase from 4.8% currently to 5.4% once the furlough scheme had been phased out

4. We discovered David Cameron shielded offshore trusts from an EU crackdown on tax havens.

David Cameron intervened personally to prevent offshore trusts from being dragged into an EU-wide crackdown on tax avoidance, it has emerged.

In a 2013 letter to the then president of the European council, Herman Van Rompuy, the prime minister said that trusts should not automatically be subject to the same transparency requirements as companies.

The EU planned to shine a light on the dealings of offshore bodies by publishing a central register of their ultimate owners but, in a letter unearthed by the Financial Times that remains publicly available on the government’s website, Cameron said: “It is clearly important we recognise the important differences between companies and trusts … This means that the solution for addressing the potential misuse of companies – such as central public registries – may well not be appropriate generally.”

Now, why on Earth would Cameron want to protect the identities of people avoiding taxes by being in offshore trusts?

I dare say more stories have happened – possibly while I’ve been writing this. Personally I can’t wait to see what they are.

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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Vox Political reviewed! Favourably! Watch this and then read the articles from other sites too

This is fun.

Bywire News has reviewed a Vox Political article, along with others, in this online show:

#OnTheBywire EXCLUSIVE Interview with @Pal_Action with @think_become https://t.co/aQm0hGKHdM

— Bywire News™ (@bywirenews) June 29, 2021

I’m not saying I’m aligning with Bywire or any of the opinions expressed there, but I do think that simply drawing attention to the independent media is a good step forward.

Watch it for yourself, and maybe give some attention to the other sites mentioned.

Let’s break out of our ghetto!

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.

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/mike-sivier-libel-fight/

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Police agree payouts for Hillsborough ‘cover-up’. What about the Tories – and Murdoch?

The disgrace – no, the word ‘disgrace’ isn’t strong enough: this is the Sun story that mentally scarred survivors of the Hillsborough disaster and the families of those who died. It wasn’t ‘The Truth’ at all; it was a pack of lies.

More than five years after a jury ruled that 96 people were killed unlawfully in the Hillsborough disaster – and that their behaviour did not contribute to the situation – police forces have agreed to pay compensation to more than 600 people for mental distress caused by the attempted cover-up.

I have two questions.

Firstly: why did it take so long for South Yorkshire and West Midlands police to agree to pay up?

Secondly: Why aren’t the Conservative Party and Rupert Murdoch’s News International paying compensation, too?

Let’s go into the circumstances:

We all know that the Hillsborough Disaster was a fatal human crush at an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, hosted at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium on April 15, 1989.

It happened due to gross negligence by match commander David Duckenfield of South Yorkshire Police.

The police service then attempted to hide the fact that its failures caused 96 deaths and 766 injuries – the worst disaster in UK sporting history – by trying to blame it on the fans who were injured and died, saying those people caused the tragedy by being drunk and misbehaving.

West Midlands was the force appointed to investigate the disaster, but has since been accused of malpractices and failures that have been subject to a long-running investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Not only that, though: the prime minister of the day, the Conservative Margaret Thatcher, refused to release information that made the police look bad.

And The Sun, a newspaper published by Rupert Murdoch’s News International, published a story headlined The Truth that was nothing but a pack of lies, supporting the fantasy created by the police.

This Writer believes a strong argument could be made that the newspaper story – which led to The Sun being boycotted in Liverpool ever since – caused more distress, more anguish, to survivors, and to relatives and friends of the deceased, than the police cover-up on which it was based (although I know it could not have been written if the police and the Tory prime minister had not lied in the first place).

Civil claims for compensation due to malfeasance in public office by the two police forces were submitted in 2015, during inquests into the reasons the 96 died.

The claimants said the lies had caused them to suffer trauma and psychiatric damage, and the compensation is to cover not only those injuries but also the cost of treatment and counselling.

Those claims were made nearly six years ago and the payments haven’t been made yet (at the time of writing). So I repeat: why not?

And how much are these people getting, to make one of the claimants describe the payout as “insulting” in The Guardian‘s news article about it?

The behaviour of the police was shocking, and undermines public faith in the reliability of our law enforcement officers across the UK – not just in the forces concerned.

But – as mentioned above – they weren’t the only organisations caught lying; they weren’t the only people who deliberately caused further distress over Hillsborough.

Margaret Thatcher withheld information – which was as bad as lying because it presented a false impression that the police were blameless.

She was able to do so because she was prime minister at the time – and she was prime minister because she was leader of the Conservative Party that had formed the then-current government.

She died in 2013 but it seems perfectly reasonable to hold the Tories responsible for putting her in a position where she could distort the facts. Why has the Conservative Party avoided compensating these people?

And that Sun headline has gone down in the history of journalistic infamy. The disgust of the city of Liverpool – in perpetuity – is not enough. Why has News International not offered compensation as well?

All three of these organisations should have offered payouts voluntarily, considering the enormity of the harm they have done, but they didn’t.

The police are only paying up because they were forced to.

Perhaps that aspect of this tragedy is the most damning of all.

Source: South Yorkshire and West Midlands police agree payouts for Hillsborough ‘cover-up’ | Hillsborough disaster | The Guardian

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.

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/mike-sivier-libel-fight/

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