http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/grenfell-fire-kensington-council-meeting-postponed-journalists-reporters-allowed-high-court-victims-a7815561.html?cmpid=facebook-post Kensington council cancels meeting after High Court lets journalists attend If ever anyone should need a series of object lessons in how NOT to handle a given set of circumstances and events, they need look no further than the examples set by the leader of the Council, the Council members and officers of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Since the morning of 15th June, the morning after the Grenfell Tower fire, this collection of elected and unelected council officials have demonstrated ineptitude, bad judgement and a complete lack of organisational skills and have managed to produce a series of public relations catastrophies while at the same time leaving the people most effected by the disaster very much to their own devices. Yesterdays aborted Council meeting is just the la...
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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-mp-voices-fury-parliament-10710286 Conservative MP voices fury in Parliament at her party's 'distasteful' DUP deal Heidi Allen proving yet again how cheap words actually are. This time, she berates the agreement her party has cobbled together with the DUP for the sole purpose of keeping Theresa May in office for a few more weeks,and then walks into the lobby side by side with the despised politicians from Ulster. Her almost weekly outbursts of indignation with her governmemt and its actions, closely followed with her voting to support what ever the whips instruct, is indicative of someone seeking attention in controversy but acting in a completely different fashion. Some might even argue that saying one thing and doing another, verges on hypocrisy and in Heidi Allen's case, not for the first time.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jun/28/public-sector-pay-cap-could-be-lifted-downing-street-hints Confusion, discord and ineptitude. The vote on last nights amendment to the Queen's Speech calling for the end to the Public sector pay cap, was defeated by by 323 votes to 309, a government majority of 14. A collection of disgruntled conservative MP's, who during the course of the last few days had publicly stated that the pay freeze on public sector pay, which had been in place for seven years, had reached the end of its shelf life and should be dropped, suddenly at around 7:00pm, lost their objections to the policy and joined forces with the 10 Democratic Unionist Party Mountebank's and shuffled through the "No" lobby to defeat the amendment and consequently, keep Theresa May clinging to her office for a few more days. The result may have come as a surprise to some, as during the course of the day contradictory and confusing messages had com...
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/27/philip-hammond-at-odds-with-david-davis-over-brexit-transition The Conservative party at war. This rag bag collection of inept egoists, misfits and shameless conspirators make a laughing stock of themselves and of the "government". Theresa May should show the strength and character expected of a British Prime Minister and consign these miscreant ministers to the back benches this afternoon, but her position is too weak to react and in any case, her character is too feeble to hold the office. She lacks the backbone and the authority necessary to lead the country at this historic period of our history in our relationship with Europe and through the continuing domestic crises in healthcare, housing, welfare, employment and education. She should stand down and give the people the opportunity choose a leader to take us through these difficult times. Hammond, Davis and Johnson have demonstrated on numerous occasions...
Lying comes as second nature to this former conservative minister and party leader It never ceases to amaze me how government ministers or MP's can appear before the public and lie and spin without any sign of shame or sincerity. This time it is Iain Duncan Smith who on BBC Nesa 24 has just told Naga Munchetty, that the £1.5 billion bribe to buy the DUP votes in this House of Commons is not a bribe nor is it the result of shaking the "magic money tree", because it is not "new money" and has always been in the accounts ready for use. More over as it is not new money, but funds allocated for specific uses elsewhere, the "Barnet Formula" does not apply for any adjustments for Scotland or Wales. I always knew that Iain Duncan Smith was a nasty duplicitous piece of work, but this mornings performance exceeds anything that this former minister, former party leader, former student who lied about his qualifications has done before. ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40403434 Conservatives agree pact with DUP to support May government. Theresa May and her discredited minority government, have finally cobbled together, their sordid back room "deal" with the 10 DUP Members of Parliament. The "price" of keeping May in 10 Downing Street for what little time she has left is only just beginning to emerge. However, what we do know already is that the British government will pay to Northern Ireland a sum of £1.5 billion over the next two years, for "expenditure on the health service and on education in Northern Ireland". This expenditure will be prioritised and managed by the appropriate Northern Ireland authorities. In exchange for this massive transfer of funding, the conservatives have agreed to shelve the manifesto pledge to end the "triple lock" on State Pension payments and the pledge to "means test" the Winter Fuel payments benefit. Two manifesto co...
https://paper.li/f-1346065353#/ Good morning everyone The fallout from the disaster at Grenfell Tower continues to fill the news. The death toll officially stands at 70 but is expected to rise. Unofficial reports put the figure at more than 200 which is probably nearer the truth. However many the final figure is, a figure which may not be finally established, if ever, until sometime in the new year, this disaster was man made. The police have already stated that they will consider manslaughter charges where the evidence indicates such charges to be appropriate and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has said that Grenfell Tower victims were murdered by political decisions. The full facts surrounding this tragedy can be revealed only through an inquest. An inquiry must be held of course, but an inquest is the only way to answer the questions and establish what happened on the 14th June and why. Attention is already focusing on the cladding and the insulation material. Who speci...
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/andrea-leadsom-sparks-backlash-after-calling-for-broadcasters-to-be-patriotic-over-brexit-a3572321.html Andrea Leadsom sparks backlash I am no fan of this government or of Andrea Leadsom. By the same token, I am no fan of the media and television "news" reporters and presenters either, as they are on the whole, biased and partisan in their coverage.However, this is the second occasion within the last 2 weeks, that Emily Maitlis has managed to draw senior politicians into the open and expose either dangerous ineptitude and incompetence, as in the interview with Theresa May on the 16th June, following the disasterous fire at Grenfell Tower, or the dangerous and sinister insinuation from Leadsom, that the press and media should somehow report only that which the government finds "acceptable". In this respect, the media have over the past few years needed little encouragement to follow the government lead and have f...
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/23/camden-to-evacuate-taplow-tower-over-fire-safety-fears-after-grenfell-disaster Five London tower blocks evacuated over cladding safety fears Anger, frustration, confusion and fear amongst the residents of 5 London Tower blocks, evacuated almost without any notice or warning yesterday (Friday) afternoon and evening. Many of the evacuated people complained that the first that they had heard of the necessity to leave their homes, was when they saw the news reports on their televisions. The residents from the five high-rise blocks on the Chalcots estate in Swiss Cottage in Camden, were sent to leisure centres where blow up beds had been provided (but without the necessary numbers and withoit the necessary room to inflate them), while others were sent to emergeny hotel accommodation in other areas. The "evacuation" became even more chaotic as council staff tried to assist the displaced resididents, but without cle...