The banker loving, baby-eating Tory party thread (regenerated)

[Xann]

Levelling up bankers' bonuses.

 

[StefanAVFC]

The 'ultimate betrayal'

Outstanding wetwipe behaviour 

[Stevo985]

5 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

The 'ultimate betrayal'

Outstanding wetwipe behaviour 

I don't even understand what he's pretending to be angry about?

Isn't she taking the piss out of herself?

[Genie]

11 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

The 'ultimate betrayal'

Outstanding wetwipe behaviour 

First comment nails it

 

[StefanAVFC]

50 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I don't even understand what he's pretending to be angry about?

Isn't she taking the piss out of herself?

Exactly. She's making fun of her own ignorance.

The right wing in the UK is batshit mental honestly.

[mjmooney]

3 hours ago, StefanAVFC said:

Exactly. She's making fun of her own ignorance. 

But she shouldn't. She's right, the 'rules' are wrong - anachronistic, offensive and stupid. 

I never had the opportunity to be introduced to a royal, which I rather regret. I'm sure you get told to "bow, and refer to him/her as 'your royal highness" (or some such). I would have simply said "hello", and absolutely NOT have bowed. They deserve no more 'respect' than anybody else. 

[Rds1983]

2 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

But she shouldn't. She's right, the 'rules' are wrong - anachronistic, offensive and stupid. 

I never had the opportunity to be introduced to a royal, which I rather regret. I'm sure you get told to "bow, and refer to him/her as 'your royal highness" (or some such). I would have simply said "hello", and absolutely NOT have bowed. They deserve no more 'respect' than anybody else. 

I had the chance to meet Princess Anne when she toured where I worked about 10 years ago and turned it down. I instead was given the job to walk her bodyguards around ahead of her and to make sure everyone was looking smart and ready for her to come around the corner. Was dissapointed to see so many normally rationale people suddenly start fawning all over her and start bobbing up and down. Can only imagine how they would have had it been a major royal. 

[Wainy316]

Gutted with the England loss. But find solace with the fact that millions of Tory voters will also be sad.

[Mark Albrighton]

Fun little sideshow.

 

[bickster]

3 hours ago, Mark Albrighton said:

Fun little sideshow.

 

Funny that none of them seemed to complain loudly when Teresa May was elected unopposed so it didn't go to the membership, the very first time these new rules were in effect All that changed was the threshold for nominations

What is this nonsense about the grassroots taking back control of the party. The grassroots of the Tory Party has never had control, they've always been the playthings of the parliamentary party

I especially liked the bit about taking the party back to the centre-right but its the brainchild of Brexiteer Bannerman and has the support of goosestepping Patel

All power to the though, they just cause yet another division but this time between the people with power and those that put posters in their windows

[ml1dch]

10 minutes ago, bickster said:

All power to the though, they just cause yet another division but this time between the people with power and those that put posters in their windows

I've always said that what the Tories need to fix their problems is a really powerful, Momentum-style pressure group to steer the party even further in a direction that nobody wants to vote for.

[HKP90]

6 minutes ago, ml1dch said:

I've always said that what the Tories need to fix their problems is a really powerful, Momentum-style pressure group to steer the party even further in a direction that nobody wants to vote for.

Voting doesn't seem to matter any more. We've had two Prime Ministers since the last time I was asked to vote.

[cyrusr]

19 hours ago, Mark Albrighton said:

Fun little sideshow.

 

This is my favourite extract 

Quote

Left of centre position Rishi Sunak’s tax-raising government has adopted.

 

Utterly farcical and I hope it has enough support to destabilise the Tories.

[Rolta]

9 minutes ago, cyrusr said:

This is my favourite extract 

 

Utterly farcical and I hope it has enough support to destabilise the Tories.

They're doing it on purpose I think. They're trying to shift definitions rightwards, shifting 'the overton window' (maybe this definition isn't quite right—I saw it yesterday used by the hard/far right in the USA), flipping traditional, accepted definitions on their heads. And for the utter mugs that buy into their drivel it's probably working. This twisting of perspectives is constant and abundant across the right now. We have our own mental, well connected version of MAGAs.

Edited December 12, 2022 by Rolta

[cyrusr]

9 minutes ago, Rolta said:

They're doing it on purpose I think. They're trying to shift definitions rightwards, shifting 'the overton window' (maybe this definition isn't quite right—I saw it yesterday used by the hard/far right in the USA), flipping traditional, accepted definitions on their heads. And for the utter mugs that buy into their drivel it's probably working. This twisting of perspectives is constant and abundant across the right now. We have our own mental, well connected version of MAGAs.

Kind of like Musk putting that stupid picture to suggest that the left has kept moving but he's kept still? Sadly I think you are right but what should be done to turn that back to some form of normality? 

[Genie]

I was reading something over the weekend (can’t remember where) about how Rishi Sunak recognises that they need to strengthen ties with Europe but is hampered by the fact it upsets some backbench MP’s.
It really pissed me off, how about doing what is right for the country? How about looking into the REAL WORLD rather than a few pricks who are protected from the damage they cause.

[Xann]

Quote

Hospitals in England pay £5,200 for one agency doctor's shift

Hospitals in England have paid out as much as £5,200 for a shift by a doctor through an agency, according to figures obtained by Labour through Freedom of Information requests.

That is the latest in an intensifying debate over workforce shortages in the NHS in England.

Labour blamed the high agency fees on Conservatives, arguing they had failed to train enough doctors and nurses.

A Conservative spokesperson said "record numbers" had been recruited.

The information on payments for agency workers comes from Freedom of Information requests to NHS trusts in England made by Labour covering the financial year 2021/22.

The most expensive reported shift was £5,234 - paid by a trust in northern England. This covers the agency fee and other employer costs as well as the money going to the doctor.

There was a response rate of about 40% of major hospital trusts in England. Labour says one in three of those who responded paid an agency more than £3,000 for a single doctor's shift last year, while three quarters paid more than £2,000.

BBC

Set up to rinse the taxpayer. Lots of lovely money for the fat fingered chums and Tory donors.

[Rolta]

21 minutes ago, cyrusr said:

Kind of like Musk putting that stupid picture to suggest that the left has kept moving but he's kept still? Sadly I think you are right but what should be done to turn that back to some form of normality? 

I just had to google that image. What bullshit, but not surprising. The strengthening of the far/hard right all over the world, and he thinks the right has stayed in one place and the left has got extreme. He's lost it/a dick.

[Harkanon]

21 hours ago, Mark Albrighton said:

Fun little sideshow.

 

Lord Crud Ass??  You couldn't make it up

[mjmooney]

Quote

VOTER ID 

‘It’s Far Worse than Any US State’ 

Josiah Mortimer
7 November 2022

The Government has been accused of “gerrymandering” and “legalised voter suppression” by pushing ahead with mandatory voter ID for next year’s May local elections, amid renewed concerns that young people will be locked out of voting. 

At the 2023 elections in England, voters will have to show ID or be turned away for the first time, following the passing of the Elections Act this April.

Election officials say they have not had enough time to prepare and are worried that thousands will be turned away at the polling station – triggering potential ballot box conflicts and allegations of unfairness. 

Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who worked on the legislation at committee stage, told Byline Times that young people would be discriminated against by the policy.

As well as passports and driving licences, the Government will accept:

An Older Person’s Bus Pass
A Disabled Person’s Bus Pass
An Oyster 60+ card
a Freedom Pass (66+)
Passes funded by the Scottish Government
The National Entitlement Card (over 60s or 16 to 22)
Passes funded by the Welsh Government
A 60 and Over Welsh Concessionary Travel Card
A Disabled Person’s Welsh Concessionary Travel Card
Passes issued under the Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme
A Senior SmartPass
a Registered Blind SmartPass or Blind Person’s SmartPass
a War Disablement SmartPass or War Disabled SmartPass
a 60+ SmartPass
a Half Fare SmartPass
PASS card though to the list (e.g. holographic and photographic CitizenCards and some student IDs)*
This means that six of the Government-accepted IDs are specifically targeted at older people, while almost none are aimed at younger people.

New secondary legislation introduced by ministers to extend the Elections Act using ‘Henry VIII powers’ – whereby Parliament is bypassed – include 310 references to the word “refusal” to grant a ballot paper. Members of the House of Lords passed an amendment which would have allowed a greater number of IDs to be used – but it was overturned by the Conservatives in the Commons. 

“I pushed very hard for ministers to accept other forms of ID,” Russell-Moyle said. But the decision was taken to exclude forms of ID “that are just as secure”. He added that “student ID cards or Railcards have been deemed not acceptable” and that, “on average, young people will be discriminated against much worse than older voters”.

According to the MP, there is “clearly” an element of voter suppression, with surveys by the Department for Transport finding that the number of young people with a driving licence has fallen to a record low. 

“Will it mirror US voter suppression?” he told Byline Times. “The answer is yes. I had a colleague from the New York City Council here last week – we chatted and he couldn’t believe the levels of ID that were unacceptable. He said, even in the US, college cards are accepted. It’s far worse than any US state here – he couldn’t believe it.”

Baroness Natalie Bennett, who campaigned for student IDs to be included in the law, said the Elections Act was “voter suppression straight out of the American right’s playbook”.

Around half of local authorities in England will hold elections next May. Peter Stanyon, chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA), told Byline Times that 2% of people might need access to a free ID, which the Government has promised to introduce. Other figures show that this could be as high as 6%. 

“The reality is that geography, demographics and so on may well influence the number of applications being made [for free IDs],” he said. “Returning officers will have to be able to cope with the worst-case scenario.”

Councils do not currently know how much money will be offered to support their registration efforts. “No one knows,” Mr Stanyon added. “There will be funding for an additional member of staff per polling station. The problem will be when there’s an issue where they don’t have an ID or an ID is unknown.”

It has triggered concerns from the AEA of ballot box battles. “Staff are effectively volunteers – we’ve already had anecdotal evidence that people who’ve done it for a while are less keen now,” he added.

Disputes among people turned away from voting is “one of the things we’re concerned about”, he said. “Despite requests to do so, provisions against intimidation haven’t been extended to staff who deliver the elections in polling stations – it only applies to candidates, not electoral officials. That’s disappointing. There’s potential for there to be an awful lot more conflict.” 

LGBT+ groups have also expressed anger over the voter ID provisions because of the potential for trans people to be turned away if their ID does not match their current appearance.

The Government has rejected calls from the AEA to provide the free form of ID on an app or a secure website for people to use. “A decision was made to be given the ID only on an A4 piece of paper – we would prefer to see something allowed on an Android or iPhone,” Mr Stanyon added. 

The AEA has gone so far as to call for a postponement of the use of voter ID in next May’s elections if returning officers are not ready. The lack of preparation could present a real problem. Lloyd Russell-Moyle believes councils are nowhere near ready for the electoral nightmare that could be heading their way.

“My local council doesn’t have a plan yet for free ID,” he told Byline Times. “They say they don’t have the resources, and they’ll be in the bizarre situation where the polling clerk might know the person and still won’t be able to give them a ballot paper. It opens it up to a whole load of discrimination.

“The Tories are trying to cling onto power anyway they can. Legalised voter suppression is what they’re now engaged in. They will not stop. This is a challenge for Labour too – this is the most important thing on day one [of a Labour government]. We need to get rid of ID… It is gerrymandering.” 

For Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse, the “only outcome” of the Elections Act will be putting “more barriers in front of marginalised and minority groups” as they try to exercise their democratic rights.

“It is particularly telling that the Conservatives are not treating student IDs and young people’s railcards as valid,” she said. “For the Government to waste parliamentary time during a cost of living crisis, and then pile more pressure onto already strained local authority budgets through the implementation of this policy, shows their priorities are completely in the wrong place.”

Kyle Taylor, director of democracy campaign Fair Vote UK, said the Government’s ID plans “arbitrarily” exclude some groups – which equates to a “fairly transparent attempt at gerrymandering elections” in order to “rig the system in their favour”. He called the move “undemocratic, immoral and disgraceful”.

Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain – who campaigned against the Elections Act and who successfully got some aspects removed – agrees. “While Voter ID is a naked attempt by the Government to use a non-existent problem to suppress voters more likely to vote against them, it is just one of the frightening, anti-democratic parts of the Elections Act,” she said.” 

“In a move straight out of the Trumpian playbook, the Act also gave the Government control over the previously independent election watchdog (the Electoral Commission). It must be repealed.”

The introduction of mandatory voter ID is set to cost £180 million to implement over 10 years.

A Government spokesperson said: “Our Elections Act will protect the integrity of our elections and stamp-out the potential for voter fraud. Young persons’ travelcards are not deemed appropriate as the identity checks when applying are not rigorous enough.”

Byline Times