General British politics discussion thread

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121524143#Comment_121524143

The fact that the UK Min of Defence defied an order to retain all rifles following Bloody Sunday's shooting of 13 unarmed civilians is a prime face example of Gov led interference with the evidence designed to prevent proper investigation of the event. There are plenty of examples that could be given, but this one is clearly coming from very high in the UK Gov.

Soldier 'F' was set to stand trial for murder committed during Bloody Sunday but died before his trial could start - 50 years after the incident. Now 'Justice delayed is Justice denied'. The UK Gov never intended to allow that trial to go ahead.

It is clear that the UK carried out acts that were termed a 'dirty war' - that is they committed judicial killings and murders - that were then covered up.

EDIT: Did not see the Mod instruction before posting.

downcow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121524687#Comment_121524687

Absolute nonsense. And I hope even the Republicans will come on here to tell you that you are talking absolute nonsense. These OTR letters were a secret deal between Tony Blair and the IRA in the form of Gerry Adams, etc. The Irish government did not even know they had been issued and they were only issued to Republicans. So to have any integrity, those that are calling for the universal stopping off investigations to be blocked, would need to start by asking for the OTRs to be rescinded

Leroy42

That is what the Unionists told people to get them off the hook. Think about it. They all agree on a deal, and then out of nowhere the UK government, in a side deal with the IRA, gives immunity to IRA terrorists and the Unionists just shrugged their shoulders and accepted it?

You might have fallen for that line but it makes zero sense. It was part of the deal, maybe an unwritten part, but it was part of it. There is no way the IRA left that massively important aspect of any deal to the whims of Tony Blair. This was done and agreed and the political cover was given to the Unionists by Blair to help them accept it.

Nobody wanted to publicise it as it was grubby and was always going to be distasteful, but it was part of the price to be paid for peace.

But even if you want to continue to believe in your version, it still shows that UK did not do it unilaterally. It was part of a negotiation with Adams. This bill, is simply the UK government looking to protect itself. It is not looking at anything wider, not looking at what it best for NI. The UK government wants to protect its soldiers, and therefore itself, from future prosecutions.

Quin_Dub

##Mod Note##

This isn't the Northern Ireland thread.

This is also not a way for those banned from the Northern Ireland to discuss the same issues elsewhere.

Back on Topic

Thank you

downcow

Apologies. I came into this thread late and thought it was about the recent challenge. I see now it’s not 👍

nachouser

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/dec/22/revised-salary-threshold-uk-visas-families

Sunak under pressure after another performative cruelty policy isn't just cruel enough for some in the Conservative party. It's hard to fathom why he's still bothered to stick around.

Nody

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121527707#Comment_121527707

Well he did have the audacity to lower the requirement from £38700 to about £29000 salary which clearly means he's weak on immigration. The fact people are already travelling to NI to marry their foreign brides is not relevant because you know reality and Tory party never mixed well in the first place.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121527707#Comment_121527707

He will never resign because he is too egotistical to ever think he is doya bad job.

The truth is he is useless talentless and vacant but easily led sections of society believe is a "wise head economically" thanks to profiling.

Hotblack Desiato

I am imagining a headline "Sunak enacts policy which requires deportation of his parents and himself from the UK"

PommieBast

Some foot in mouth from the home secretary:

reportedly told female guests at the Number 10 reception that the secret to a long marriage was making sure that your spouse was always "mildly sedated" so she would not notice that there were "better men out there"

Wonder whether Cleverly (bit of an ironic name) was asking for trouble..

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121533833#Comment_121533833

His 'joke' was in seriously bad taste. A man shouldn't be joking about sensitive subjects like date rape and certainly not in the company of women he hardly even knows.

Seth Brundle

According to The Irish Times, he also said...

Mr Cleverly told guests at a Downing Street reception that “a little bit of Rohypnol in her drink every night” was “not really illegal if it’s only a little bit”, the Sunday Mirror reported.

This comes at a time when the Home Office is attempting to tackle the issue of drink spiking and date rape. Predictably and rightly it has gone down like a lead balloon especially when you consider the likes of other issues such as that within the Met Police so the stupid remarks by Cleverly show his inability to oversee a change to this mysoginistic culture

Anna Birley, from the group Reclaim These Streets, which campaigns for better safety for women, said that Mr Cleverly should do more than apologise.

“Women cannot trust this government to keep them safe while there is a home secretary who thinks sexual assault is funny,” she said. “Women’s safety is no joke, and a government serious about tackling violence against women and girls would have a zero-tolerance approach to misogyny from its frontbench.”

https://www.irishtimes.com/world/uk/2023/12/24/british-home-secretary-james-cleverly-facing-calls-to-resign-after-joke-about-date-rape-drug/

blackwhite

https://twitter.com/rishisunak/status/1739333181101179108?s=46&t=nCQ2zYUI_IYJ_l6bQ4J4vQ

Cringeworthy stuff - but probably one of the only positive acts he’s carried out as PM?

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536282#Comment_121536282

In fairness, it's actually quite funny and does show a more human side to Sunak. I'm not entirely sure what the message of the video is though or what it is meant to convey.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536349#Comment_121536349

The message of the video is Sunak "has a more human side and is funny"

I think it has failed miserably on both counts. It comes across as terribly forced and soulless.

L1011

The issue for Sunak is that if/when Cleverly resigns for this; the Tories have long since run out of adults in the room to replace him with.

It'll either be one of the bonkers crew (Badenoch will want a go for instance) or a backbencher, most of whom are looking at losing their seats and would be wildly unpredictable.

One of the only vaguely sensible MPs left - May - was appalling in the role and wouldn't want to prop up Sunak either; even if the idea of ex PMs returning as Ministers has since been dealt with.

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536839#Comment_121536839

Maybe he would give Truss a go - perhaps not.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536282#Comment_121536282

It speaks to a deep well of desperation that in seeing just how hated he is, and transparently phony his schtick is regarded, their PR campaign comes up with this. Yeah it's Christmas, good will to all men n all that, but I think many people just want sober competency, not stupid bits. And of course the posho mucks about playing cricket lol.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536772#Comment_121536772

Interestingly, Daily Mail readers agree with you - calling him a spoofer and a phoney etc.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537208#Comment_121537208

He should never be allowed forget that he was caught filling up a "poor people car" for a photo op to try make him look normal.

Tom Mann Centuria

https://twitter.com/UKLabour/status/1739593608569762271?t=fYPseHV8RZeC2zx4F-YkGg&s=19

Finally, some important politics with all the crisis in the Health Service, Wars abroad and homelessness. Labour getting tough on Sweet Shops and the causes of Sweet Shops.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537275#Comment_121537275

I hadn't a clue what that was about, and reading the article neither will 90% of the country either given it seems to be a London specific problem 🙄

Though 20(!) on Oxford St alone sounds quite abominable all right, to be fair. Says a lot about the state of high streets these days.

Tom Mann Centuria

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537332#Comment_121537332

No idea who it's appealing to even in London though, how many actual Londoners do their weekly shop in Oxford Street I wonder? My guess would be not many, Oxford Street foot traffic is majority Tourists.

Is it just a case of just saying something, anything, on their social media to appear active? Because personally I think they'd be have been better off saying nothing.

breezy1985

Are they seen as a tax scam ?

Or just too ugly for a high street ?

It sounds like a non issue but you see how sour people get when a vape shop opens up. And we are talking about a country that jumped itself off a cliff for bendy bananas and blue passports.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537357#Comment_121537357

Oxford foot traffic wouldn't be majority tourist but I doubt the workers using the street notice much other than the pubs and lunch options on the street.

Tom Mann Centuria

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537389#Comment_121537389

It's something that should be printed on a local Labour Party leaflet before local elections, along with pot holes and street lights.

Nody

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537357#Comment_121537357

It's a tax and money laundering scam; it's not intended to sell anything (the candy is priced about 10x what would be "normal" price) and the companies behind it keep going bankrupt only to be replaced by another entity without paying the relevant taxes etc.

Tom Mann Centuria

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537646#Comment_121537646

The story is about a local council trying to get back unpaid business rates?

Where is money laundering mentioned?

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537332#Comment_121537332

I'd reckon half of the shops on Oxford Street are probably US owned, so why pick on these ones?

nachouser

Ah look, he held the phone to his ear and didn't try talk into it by holding it a few inches away from his face. Man of the people, that.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537697#Comment_121537697

Is the American Candy Shop actually American owned ?

As was said above this is just retweeting for the sake of it. It's also a Mirror article so probably a bit sensationalist.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537690#Comment_121537690

Private Eye have been covering this for ages. There's active criminal investigations that councils won't want to mess up; but there is mass money laundering going on

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537856#Comment_121537856

Indeed its happening in Cities throughout Europe including Dublin.

Tom Mann Centuria

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537856#Comment_121537856

Perhaps they should have retweeted a Private Eye article that mentions money laundering then, or been brave enough to mention it themselves, rather than an article about Westminster Council persuing unpaid business rates and gaudy signage. "Labour never looking outside of Westminster" etc. etc. not a difficult reply from the government to spin (shīt but easy).

Local councils now at the forefront of cracking down on money laundering and tax avoidance, if only there were other branches of government that could look into these things.

Anyway, personally I don't see this topic being of interest to most people, certainly not the article they've chosen to retweet (and quote tweet) and makes them look a bit trivial. Imo as I say.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537939#Comment_121537939

Private Eye are print only so rather hard to retweet!

Tom Mann Centuria

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537941#Comment_121537941

Such a shame there's no way to scan articles or use some kind of digital photography to transfer these articles. No wonder I've never seen an article from Private Eye scanned or photographed in this way and then tweeted/Facebooked/instagramed.

Oh well maybe someone will invent the technology some day 🙂

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537960#Comment_121537960

That would take forethought and effort.

This was obviously just an article that a staffer saw at 10am on Stephen's Day and clicked a quick retweet.

It's a lot less pathetic than Sunak pretending to be human with his stupid posts.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537646#Comment_121537646

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537856#Comment_121537856

Jaysus, it hadn't occurred. I guess they choose sweets cos they have a pretty long shelf life, cheap to buy in bulk, are something of an impulse purchase and it can be all boxed up quick enough. Pretty small overhead for a laundering operation.

Still is a weird flex by Labour but at least the context adds some sense to it all.

But at this stage, it will all count for nothing til we see the actual election campaign Labour takes. That's when the rubber hits the road.

Tony EH

Money laundering by who?

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540191#Comment_121540191

If this is the Private Eye article that has been mentioned, it seems to be an Afghani company or companies behind it all.

https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/cnkcaz/private_eye_on_west_end_souvenir_shops/

kirk.

They've dropped imperial anyhow😁

Who thought that was a good idea

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121537389#Comment_121537389

I heard someone on about these exact shops a few years back and they were wondering the same thing. They're in some of the highest rent streets in London and they're selling a product (American chocolate) that not many people really want (there typically weren't many customers in them) at large markups. Also they seemed to have popped up all of a sudden out of nowhere.

Bizarre for the Labour account to be tweeting about them all the same.

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118260949#Comment_118260949

Is it?

Do you have any form of reference to say that the camps in Calais are a problem for the UK, or maybe a link to the demo's in England protesting about drownings in or near Calais?

The UK's problem is that they have an inept government who seek to boost their popularity by hate. Currently they are dishing out visas like never before and I wonder how many will return to their home countries after the visa expires :-).

Brexit had nothing going for it and to get people to vote to be worse off you need to instil a version of patriotism that is more easily driven by hate. Intelligence or logic would not be much use that's for certain.

When the most publicised success today in Britain is the ability to sell wine in pint bottles due to Brexit, it sums up the desperation of their government to find a good news story.

Like the blue passports, I suspect they could have their wine in pints anyway if there was a call for it. I am forced to buy stuff here in imperial and have to order in metric fittings and pipe for projects originally started with standard British of the shelf builders merchant supplies.

Maybe that's why Farage wasn't a hit here with his Irexit, the opportunity to buy wood in feet and inches wasn't looked on with quite the same country wrecking enthusiasm as the pint of wine mob experienced in the UK?

Anyway, that is the real downfall of the asylum seekers. It isn't their condition or means of entry, it's simply the need for the UK government to emulate such "greats" as Trump with his useless wall, which was designed purely and simply to appeal to the MAGA crowd and supply maximum political gain for minimum effort, just like the Brit's Tories and Rwanda.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540375#Comment_121540375

The account is just retweeting a positive article about Labour in a national newspaper.

Nothing at all bizarre about it. It takes seconds to retweet and it's not like they wrote the article.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540352#Comment_121540352

And the rollback of this Brexit mania seems to have been smothered by the "news" that alcohol would be sold in pints now; after it turned out 99% of consulted people hated the idea of returning to Imperial.

It will include the return of the pint of champagne, which is said to have been Winston Churchill’s favourite measure.

But the Government has stopped short of a post-Brexit overhaul of the measurements system in general, after nearly 99 per cent of those responding to a consultation said they wanted to stick with the metric system.

At least there has been one small sliver of sanity, albeit via public pushback. And after, presumably, a social campaign from GB News, Daily Mail et al.

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/johnsons-imperial-measurements-scrapped-pints-champagne-return-2824940

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540636#Comment_121540636

Were the Brexit mob displaying a degree of common sense about the futility of returning to the "oh so British" averdepois system they are obviously completely ignorant of, or are they all just plastered and out of it for the festivities?

Maybe they have finally tumbled to the fact that their reasons for Brexit have turned their nation into a world laughing stock.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121540788#Comment_121540788

The mob will not be happy with this; they'll blame "leftie civil servants" for not ignoring the 99% opposition.

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121541400#Comment_121541400

Scoundrels!

It's typical of the UK civil service to interpret the wishes of the 99% as a change of heart on a democratic decision.

Sam Russell

The irony of Brexit and imperial measures in plumbing imperial measures exist here in Ireland, while the UK are completely in metric.

That is why plumbers will not install fittings purchased in B&Q.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121543914#Comment_121543914

B&Q, Homebase, Screwfix etc have all eventually learnt this and have both diameters of fittings available. Presumably after having every single fitting returned by angry, wet customers.

Tom Mann Centuria

Johnny Mercer, the veterans minister, in the news again, criticising his constituency Labour opponent as only serving 5 minutes in Uniform, (his opponent did 7 years in the Marines and reached the same rank as Mercer did). Gatekeeping who he classes as worthy of being called a veteran hasn't gone down well.

They're really the dregs of politicians that are in the cabinet now (and last few years) and it's no wonder a complete obliteration is expected next election.

Mercer's built up a very nice majority, so it'll be interesting to see how he does next election.