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Post by ceefer on Oct 31, 2021 11:52:09 GMT
Remember the halcyon days when the Tories were in the business of calming fears that Brexit would lead to, amongst many other downsides, a watering down or the abolition of environmental protections guaranteed by EU law? The days when Michael Gove told Radio 4’s farming today that ‘I absolutely don’t want to water down [environmental protection]’, seem but a distant memory. We now know what he meant when he went on to say that ‘We need to make sure that the policies that we have in place to enhance the environment are focused in the right way. It may well be that we change the operation of particular rules, but any change will be designed to ensure that we get better protection for the environment'. Increasingly, the evidence suggests that what he really meant was increasing the focus on allowing water utility companies to protect shareholder value. Estimates as to the cost of dragging this country's Victorian infrastructure into the 21st century vary wildly between £150-660 billion. Their failure to do so comes at a time when these companies privatised by the free market zealots of the Tory party have handed vast amounts of money in unearned income to their shareholders, a figure currently standing at £57 billion and rising. The effects of these failures are that The Environment Agency has been allowing more and more discharges of untreated sewage into rivers and the sea as a result of problems procuring the chemicals needed to treat it which even the New Statesman allows have been exacerbated in this country by Brexit. Far be it from me to suggest that two of the principal pillars of modern conservatism namely, the privatisation of businesses operating in an environment in which there is no competition and Brexit are demonstrable failures, but I’ve yet to find a Tory who can explain the benefits beyond the mindless mantra’s that by definition state that public ownership = bad, private ownership = good and the EUSSR is some form of extension of Stalinism. Outrageous that this sewerage discharge has not been outlawed. Fines are no good - it needs to stop.
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Post by woznorthyorksexile on Nov 22, 2021 20:27:26 GMT
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Post by hatter_in_macc on Nov 22, 2021 20:51:50 GMT
Jesus H. Christ... 😲
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Post by gazz on Nov 23, 2021 2:55:33 GMT
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Post by bringbacklenwhite on Nov 23, 2021 8:57:39 GMT
Think he made a pig's ear of that speech.
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Post by hatter_in_macc on Nov 23, 2021 9:39:15 GMT
"The GMB union described the speech as "hogwash"."
If that's true, it's a seriously good quote!
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Post by hatter_in_macc on Nov 23, 2021 15:52:00 GMT
And this is an uncharacteristically brilliant BBC piece on the whole shambolic business...
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Post by gazz on Nov 23, 2021 16:26:50 GMT
Bizarre is the word I'd use.
If only he could have done this speech at the door of a massive freezer!
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Post by woznorthyorksexile on Nov 25, 2021 11:16:03 GMT
Oh but where to put this? The delightful Nadine Dorries plumbed new depths this week when her tweeted attacks on James O'Brien were called "actionable" and "defamatory" by a House of Commons select committee. It speaks volumes about this individual when she manages to stand out as a particularly nasty and cretinous example amongst the Tory's apparently never ending parade of nasty cretins who rise to the top of the septic tank currently masquerading as their Party.
It speaks even more to the limited pool of "talent" at Johnson's disposal when you consider that she is Minister of State for, amongst other things Culture. The comments concerned are ones in which she described O'Brien as "....a Hate preacher, a liar, a misogynist, a UK hater & an apologist for Islamist atrocities”. By way of offering further proof of the degrees of stupidity required to be a Government Minister she went on to describe him as a “public school posh boy f*** wit” this, despite the fact that he was educated at the same school as her own children.
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Post by hatter_in_macc on Nov 25, 2021 13:49:28 GMT
she went on to describe him as a “public school posh boy f*** wit” this, despite the fact that he was educated at the same school as her own children. couldn't make it up!
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Post by gazz on Nov 25, 2021 16:15:43 GMT
By way of offering further proof of the degrees of stupidity required to be a Government Minister she went on to describe him as a “public school posh boy f*** wit” this, despite the fact that he was educated at the same school as her own children.
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Post by bringbacklenwhite on Nov 25, 2021 18:38:51 GMT
Caroline Lucas of the Green Party comment on Dorries' appointment as Culture Secretary.
"...... and they said irony was dead in this country"
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Post by woznorthyorksexile on Nov 26, 2021 20:43:58 GMT
Caroline Lucas of the Green Party comment on Dorries' appointment as Culture Secretary. "...... and they said irony was dead in this country" I prefer John Stuart Mill on the Tories, “Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives...I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly think any gentleman will deny it".
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Post by woznorthyorksexile on Nov 30, 2021 17:22:14 GMT
Just when you thought the Government had hit the bottom in terms of it's dishonesty and corruption it finds new depths to explore
"Government has hit us with a shock legal bill in our challenge with Runnymede over their appointment of Conservative Peer Dido Harding and her ex-colleague Mike Coupe to run the disastrous Test and Trace programme - without open competition.
Legal action is expensive, so we don’t take it lightly. That’s why, back in March, we asked for Government’s costs estimate for defending this case. We said plainly and clearly that we were asking so we knew whether to apply for a costs cap (a Court order that would have ‘capped’ how much we’d have to pay Government if we don’t win). Government replied with reassurance that their costs ‘would be in the region of £35,000 to £50,000’ and, in reliance on that, we did not seek a costs cap.
A couple of months later, they wrote to say their expected costs would actually be closer to £150,000. While this was an alarming three times more than their initial estimate, it felt just about manageable so we pressed on.
But now, out of nowhere and with only weeks until our High Court hearing, they have increased their estimated costs again - to a whopping £360,000 - with a barely credible explanation. By way of comparison, our lawyers’ bill is estimated at £70,000 if we lose, and £175,000 if we win.
Government’s approach feels very much like a ‘bait and switch’. It’s now too late for us to apply for a costs cap, and we’re facing an enormous potential bill if we do not win in Court - seven times higher than Government’s original estimate. This means we’re still more than £200,000 off the sum needed to cover our adverse costs risk in this case. But we aren’t prepared to down tools. Will you help us carry the load?
Donate
This Government’s approach to public appointments discriminates against those who aren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouths. The principle at stake - that Government must appoint the best candidate, not its best friend - is incredibly important. If we don’t defend this, we don’t see who else can.
The hearing is due to take place in the High Court on 14 and 15 December.
Thank you for your support.
Jo Maugham"
Unfortunately it comes in the form of an email so I can't copy the link for anyone who thinks defending democracy is worth a couple of quid but it seems safe to add duplicitous to the lengthening charge sheet which can be levelled at this crew.
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Post by gazz on Dec 1, 2021 2:14:30 GMT
What else is there left to say about this shower?
Never mind, the informed electorate will put them back in for another five years when the time comes.
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