Current Politics in the United Kingdom

[U99]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

After their "Bollocks to Brexit" campaign we now get the moral indignation song and dance routine. I used to vote for these people. Not any more, though.

The LibDems current use/usefulness, seems to chiefly centre around potential for unseating Conservative MPs - in seats where the electorate maybe hasn't progressed beyond the 19th century "Cons or Lib?" duopoly.

Although if Labour under Starmer, continues with his apparent vacating of the centre-left slot in UK politics? Then the Liberals do have 'previous' for potentially 'migrating leftwards' to fill that gap. As a potentially electable alternative, to Tories Mk 1 and Starmer's 'Tory lite' version of Labour.

Crucially, LibDems also have a potential 'future leader in waiting' - who IMO could pull off such a switch with ease. In the shape of Leila Moran, MP for somewhere in/near Oxford.

None of which, leads away from the fact that we need to replace our "first past the post" voting system with some form of proportional representation. Otherwise, party leaders & MPs can each potentially end up, with reduced levels of both accountability and representativeness. Wherein 'gaming the system' to get more votes / MPs, becomes more important than actually doing what WE the voters want.

[anothercustom]

Originally Posted by CARLTON BROWN

Exciting news from the new Scottish police state.

Orwellian or stupid, take your choice. This is how things are going:

https://news.stv.tv/politics/nearly-...d-since-monday

It's a fucking farce and a waste of police time. Tax payer money pissed down the drain for trivial things like blokes who like to dress up as women, getting upset when people, including of course Rowling, rightly remind them they're not women and never will be.

[foxbat1]

Originally Posted by U99

The LibDems current use/usefulness, seems to chiefly centre around potential for unseating Conservative MPs - in seats where the electorate maybe hasn't progressed beyond the 19th century "Cons or Lib?" duopoly.

Indeed. At least the SNP have a reason to exist beyond simply getting rid of the Tories.

The Lib Dems have always had a problem with general elections, where they do better in the locals but everyone knows they aren't going to be the next government so they are at best a way to vote against someone else.

Since slipping to 4th place behind the SNP, they seem to have lost a lot of momentum. If there is a hung parliament by some miracle, they probably won't be the ones making the king, so to speak.

Originally Posted by U99

Although if Labour under Starmer, continues with his apparent vacating of the centre-left slot in UK politics? Then the Liberals do have 'previous' for potentially 'migrating leftwards' to fill that gap. As a potentially electable alternative, to Tories Mk 1 and Starmer's 'Tory lite' version of Labour.

An interesting thought. They are already to the left of Labour on many issues.

Originally Posted by U99

Crucially, LibDems also have a potential 'future leader in waiting' - who IMO could pull off such a switch with ease. In the shape of Leila Moran, MP for somewhere in/near Oxford.

She does seem like a decent MP, but will always be an also-ran unless she switches party. Or the SNP get their way and break up the Union, making the Lib Dems relevant again.

[Devius]

Liz Truss among Tory MPs at Nigel Farage's birthday party

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss was among the guests at Nigel Farage's 60th birthday party in London on Wednesday.

Fellow Conservative MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns also attended the event for Reform UK's honorary president.

Meanwhile, there was a video message from former US President Donald Trump, who described Mr Farage as a "prophetic leader".

The ex-UKIP leader helped to found Reform from the ashes of the Brexit Party.

The right-wing party has pledged to stand candidates in every seat across England, Scotland and Wales at the next general election, in a challenge to the Tories. It is currently polling at around 12%.

Mr Farage has so far refused to confirm whether he will play a role in the upcoming election, which is expected later this year.

He is not expected to make another bid to become an MP after failing to get elected to the UK Parliament seven times, but could be given a campaigning role.

In a photo shared on X, Dame Andrea, the Tory MP for Morley and Outwood, said it was a "pleasure" to be invited to Mr Farage's party, describing him as "a true patriot, conservative to the core" and "one of the most influential politicians of our generation".

Spotted in the background of the photo was Ms Truss.

Mr Farage recently appeared at the campaign launch of Ms Truss's Popular Conservatism group, although this was technically in his role as a GB News presenter.



In his video message, Mr Trump said Mr Farage he was "very much looking forward to watching what your next move will be", congratulating him on his "incredible" achievements.

Other guests included Tory MP Mark Francois and Lee Anderson, who defected from the Tories to Reform last month.

Also at the event, held at Boisdale, a Scottish-themed restaurant and bar in Canary Wharf,were Reform leader Richard Tice, LeaveEU co-founder Arron Banks and reality TV star Georgia Toffolo.



Mr Farage began his political journey as a Conservative but quit the party in the early 1990s over its then pro-European stance.

He was warmly welcomed at the Tory Party's annual conference in Manchester last year, where he was seen dancing with former Conservative minister Priti Patel at a karaoke party.

His appearance prompted speculation he could rejoin the party.

However, he has insisted he is committed to backing Reform at the next election.

Source:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68731273

[Budo]

Originally Posted by foxbat1

DWP take Cheshire woman's inheritance over supermarket job



https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-68727007

If only they got automatic alerts when some rich arsehole is not paying his taxes.

And then the government complains that people aren't taking minimum wage jobs, when the government punishes them by fleecing them for doing so. I would've thought that the government would be happy that she took a shitty low paid job, but obviously not enough to reward her for it. Instead they jump in and take the little she had.

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by Devius

Liz Truss among Tory MPs at Nigel Farage's birthday party

Source:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68731273

Can’t say that I’m at all surprised to see Liz Truss sucking up to Nigel Farage.

[Devius]

Joe Lewis: How one of Britain's richest people broke insider trading laws

Billionaire Joe Lewis, whose family trust owns Tottenham Hotspur football club, was fined $5m (£4m) Thursday, but will avoid prison after pleading guilty to insider trading.

This is the story of how his plan to enrich his lovers, friends, and employees unravelled.

The pilot had just touched down in Orlando when he texted a friend with a hot tip: "Boss is helping us out."

The "boss" he was referring to was British tycoon Joe Lewis, and the helping hand was a loan of half a million dollars. And it came with juicy stock advice: buy shares in a pharmaceutical company that was about to announce positive results for a new cancer drug.

Two weeks later, the pilot texted again, noting "the Boss has inside info" and "knows the outcome".

He was right - the company's stock price jumped more than 16%. The pilot cashed out and repaid the "Boss".

But there was one big hitch. The whole scheme was illegal.

One of Britain's richest men, the 87-year-old Lewis pleaded guilty to insider trading as part of an agreement with prosecutors in January.

At a hearing in Manhattan on Thursday, he was fined $5m (£4m) and sentenced to three years of probation, avoiding prison. Both defence and prosecutors had urged leniency, citing his guilty plea, co-operation with authorities and poor health.

Lewis wrote in a letter filed with the court that he was "ashamed and deeply aware that I allowed my hubris and childish exuberance to impede my judgment" and that his actions caused him "shame and embarrassment".

As part of the plea deal, one of Lewis' companies, Broad Bay Ltd, also pleaded guilty to securities fraud and was fined $50m (£39m).

A substantial part of his fraudulent activity, according to an indictment, was not meant to pad his estimated worth of $6.2bn (£4.9bn).

Instead, the incident with his pilot Patrick O'Connor was just one of a number of times that he passed along insider information about his companies to his private pilots, friends, personal assistants and romantic partners, in order to enrich his close associates.

In part, the billionaire hatched the scheme because he felt bad for never setting up formal retirement plans for his pilots, according to a statement he made in court at the time of his guilty plea.

Lewis was born in London's East End and took over a restaurant business started by his father before selling it to focus on currency speculation and investments.

He was reportedly one of the investors who made money betting heavily against the pound prior to "Black Wednesday" - the UK's withdrawal from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in September 1992.

He founded the investment firm Tavistock Group, which has ownership stakes in a large array of property, sports, finance, energy and life sciences companies.

Lewis was ranked 39th in the 2023 Sunday Times Rich List and is best known for his ownership of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, which he bought a controlling stake in for £22m in 2001 - a sum then worth around $32m.

In 2022, control was handed over to a family trust, and financial documents the club filed with the UK's Companies House indicate that Lewis no longer has "significant control" over the club.

His current fortune includes homes in several countries, a huge art collection and $250m (£200m) yacht, which he used to secure a bail bond after his arrest in July 2023.



His position in the financial world gave him access to boardroom secrets, and for years, prosecutors said, he tipped off associates so that they could take advantage, in a fraud that netted millions of dollars.

In addition to pilots and workers on his yacht, romantic partners were also on the receiving end of his criminal largesse.

In July 2019, a company called Solid Biosciences that Tavistock had invested in was looking for fresh cash. While considering the deal, Lewis was given confidential information about a clinical trial.

He was staying with his girlfriend in South Korea at the time, and told her to pour money into the company. She invested around $700,000.

The following day the couple returned via private plane to the US. Along the way, Lewis shared his insider tip with his pilots.

As results of the clinical trial were released, the company's shares skyrocketed. Lewis' girlfriend more than doubled her money.

The fraud also went beyond insider trading, prosecutors said. Starting in 2013, Lewis concealed the true scale of his holdings in companies in order to obtain favourable terms for stock deals.

His pilot, O'Connor, pleaded guilty to insider trading charges and will be sentenced in May.

Another pilot, Bryan Waugh, pleaded not guilty and will go on trial later this year. His lawyers have argued in court filings that he did not know that the information he received from Lewis was confidential and not in the public domain.

Breaking news:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68716896

[Budo]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknew...2ce744831&ei=7

If he means fighting yet another foreign war is "fighting for our country", then who's he kiddin'! No, absolutely not. Donate weapons yes, but no more being killed fighting other people's wars for them. If he indeed means that then I suggest we resort to mass civil disobedience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80_39eAx3z8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVNUlOUlMeo

[Devius]

Plus a bonus publication...

[Devius]

William Wragg: Tory gave MPs' numbers to dating app contact, report says

A senior Tory has told the Times he gave the personal numbers of fellow MPs to someone he met on a dating app.

William Wragg told the paperhe shared the contacts after sending intimate pictures of himself to the user, adding he was "scared" the individual had "compromising things on me".

He apologised and said he had "hurt people by being weak".

It comes amid reports that at least 12 men in Westminster have received unsolicited texts and naked pictures.

One ex-MP has told the BBC he was targeted as part of the suspected honeytrap attempt.

A Leicestershire Police spokesperson said they were investigating one of the cases, which was reported last month.

The BBC has attempted to contact Mr Wragg for comment.

'Manipulated'

Speaking to the Times about the person he met through gay dating app Grindr, the vice chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs said: "They had compromising things on me. They wouldn't leave me alone.

"They would ask for people. I gave them some numbers, not all of them. I told him to stop. He's manipulated me and now I've hurt other people.

"I got chatting to a guy on an app and we exchanged pictures. We were meant to meet up for drinks, but then didn't. Then he started asking for numbers of people. I was worried because he had stuff on me. He gave me a WhatsApp number, which doesn't work now.

"I've hurt people by being weak. I was scared. I'm mortified. I'm so sorry that my weakness has caused other people hurt."

Mr Wragg became an MP for the Greater Manchester constituency of Hazel Grove in 2015

In 2022, he announced he would not be running in the next election.

'Familiarity'

On Thursday one former MP told the BBC of his shock at being targeted with flirtatious messages and an explicit image in an apparently coordinated scam.

The ex-politician blocked the WhatsApp number from someone calling themselves "Charlie".

But it was only after he read a story on the news website Politico that he realised he had been the subject of an attempted honeytrap.

"My heart did start racing because I thought everything you're saying from the start, from the name of the individual, the familiarity, this is too close to be just a coincidence," the former MP told the BBC.

Twelve men have contacted Politico to say they had received near-identical messages to the one received by the ex-MP or similar messages from another number. Several of the 12 were sent naked pictures in an attempt to entrap them.

The former MP, who is gay, told the BBC he was first contacted via WhatsApp on the evening of 11 March.

The message was from a number he did not recognise from someone calling themselves Charlie who claimed to remember them from their time working in Parliament.

"The last part of that message was 'Westminster misses you…' and that was basically something that friends usually do say anyway to make me feel better," he told BBC News.

"I was starting to feel bad actually. I was embarrassed thinking I'm speaking to someone who knows who I am and I'm trying desperately not to come across as rude."

The next message said: "I've just become single so I'm hanging out with the Westminster gays."

The former MP explained he was in a relationship but further flirtatious messages followed.

After "Charlie" sent an explicit image, the former MP blocked him.

'Worrying'

BBC News has seen messages sent from the same number also from someone calling themselves "Charlie" to a political journalist.

These messages also talk about the recipient being "missed" around Westminster and asking whether the journalist is still single or not.

The ex-MP told the BBC of his concern on learning that others had been targeted.

"The fact that somebody tried to and that their intent behind it was probably to do harm is really worrying," he said.

"I was oblivious to it."

He hopes to raise awareness about what happened so others come forward.

Speaking after Mr Wragg's interview with The Times, he said the MP's involvement had come as a shock, adding "my first reaction is that I feel awful for him".

"He's a friend, my heart goes out to him and I certainly don't hold any ill will towards him. I want him to know that."

A Parliamentary spokesperson said: "Parliament takes security extremely seriously and works closely with government in response to such incidents.

"We provide members and staff with tailored advice, making them aware of security risks and how to manage their digital safety. We are encouraging anyone affected who has concerns to contact the Parliamentary Security Department."

Source:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68731683