All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[JackDaw]

Tory Party chari Nadhim Zahawi has been sacked after PM Sunak spent several days ignoring tax crimes that could not be ignored.

I think it was fair enough to spend a few days following due process, though I think sacking was a foregone conclusion. (Nadhim could have saved time by resigning earlier. Wish the UK tax system was simpler, fairer and more transparent, though guess most (all??) advanced countries have horrendously complex tax set-ups.)

[Kirby101]

I think it was fair enough to spend a few days following due process, though I think sacking was a foregone conclusion. (Nadhim could have saved time by resigning earlier. Wish the UK tax system was simpler, fairer and more transparent, though guess most (all??) advanced countries have horrendously complex tax set-ups.)

Goes double in the US. How else would the wealthy avoid paying their fair share of taxes?

[Coin Biter]

The problem is not so much that Sunak shouldn’t have waited for the report of the adviser, it’s that questions about Zahawi’s tax affairs were raised some time ago. Stories were written about them in Private Eye, and numerous questions raised by Dan Neidle the tax commentator and former Clifford Chance adviser, from July of last year. Despite denials and letters from Zahawi’s lawyers at the time, those questions weren’t going away.

A lot of focus is on whether Sunak (or his predecessors) received an official warning re Zahawi before appointing him, well, given that Private Eye and others had scrawled warnings on Belshazzar’s wall, they didn’t bloomin need to. Are we to suppose that Conservative Central Office never vets potential ministers? Or, given the typical moral standard of so many Conservative MPs, that the modern Conservative Party regards anything less than a critical headline in the Daily Mail as a clean bill of health? It’s not that they didn’t know that there was a potential time bomb - either it appears that they just didn’t care, or maybe they took the view that there are so many issues with ideologically suitable MPs that it would seem an absurd Quixotic position to suggest that Zahawi’s tax complication should disqualify him from overseeing the taxation system.

This isn’t finished, of course. The preposterous Raab next, with the allegations of bullying from at least 24 people according to the newspaper report (https://www.theguardian.com/politics...nts-complaints. Was it his sterling record as Foreign Secretary that meant that he was invaluable? Oh, and look, the delightful upcoming prospect of Once and Future King Boris Johnson giving testimony at his standards hearing to come.

What kind of an argument can be made for the Tories at the moment? Their deliberate economic sabotage, implemented through the Bullingdon Boy Brexit deal, and the further damage inflicted by the Truss interregnum? The cynical politics around asylum seekers? Who is benefitting from their rule?

1. If you can’t afford a house and you’re renting, you will curse their name with every new rent increase, as the margins tighten for the private landlord.

2. If you’re on the housing ladder through a massive mortgage rendered essential by shortage of housing and endless price rises, you will be waiting in terror for the end of your fixed mortgage deal.

3. If you’re a professional, you will be waiting in apprehension for the consequences of their latest act of national self sabotage - the upcoming fiasco of the EU Retained Law Bill is going to give the legal and regulatory industry palpitations for decades to come (https://www.macfarlanes.com/what-we-...tained-eu-law/).

4. Sure, the party relies heavily on the over-75s - but that constituency also faces massive NHS waiting times and other issues.

The Tories have taken a page out of the US playbook by upcoming vote suppression (https://www.theguardian.com/politics...any-in-england, but can that really be enough to save them?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Lindsey Graham says there is 'only one Donald Trump' and the GOP can't have 'Trump policies' without him

Once upon a time, Miss Lindsey said in so many words that the GQP would go down in flames if they supported Trump, and that they would "deserve it". Today, he's Trump's biggest asskisser. I'd love to know what Caramel Caligula has on Graham that caused such a drastic 180.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, as well as 2022, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” posted profiles of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who once voted for the impeachment of Bill Clinton, supported Personhood amendments on abortion, and tried advocating for failed Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers by saying her lack of judicial experience would "add to the diversity of the Supreme Court". Since being booted from Washington, D.C. in 2006 and becoming the Attorney General of Ohio, DeWine has spent the time trying to use the power of his office on a partisan quest to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters in Ohio with strict Voter ID measures, and then had the nerve to publicly accuse the Obama administration of "trying to suppress the military vote" during the 2012 elections (without any facts to back that up). That's hardly the end of his conservative endeavors in that role, as he also sued the federal government over the Affordable Care Act, led a witch hunt against Ohio Planned Parenthood clinics after the fraudulent “sting” video was released by the Center for Medical Progress (DeWine also falsely accused Planned Parenthood of dumping fetal tissue in landfills without any proof to back up his claim), and filed every legal brief he could to try and prevent the implementation of same sex marriage in Ohio, per Supreme Court rulings. Lastly, and most heinously, DeWine refused to press any charges against any of the teenagers involved in the Steubenville Rape Case, and only pressed charges against adults covering it up after months of public outcry. Remember, Mark DeWine's one job is to prosecute people who break the law in Ohio.

We were actually looking forward to one thing about the next two years… we thought that when Mike DeWine went up against term limits in 2018, that he would figure he was over 70, and call it a career. However, as it turns out, he’s ran for Governor of Ohio to replace John Kasich, who also was term-limited. DeWine continues to promise he will combat the opioid epidemic in his state, while having done nothing yet about it, and offering no details on how he’ll take care of it either, short of educating KINDERGARTENERS about painkiller abuse (Note: That’s not the age demographic abusing this drug, Mike.) DeWine had enough rich donors pump dark money into his coffers to pull out a narrow win with 50.7% of the vote. Now sworn in, we’re expecting DeWine to somehow make John Kasich’s hard-right socially conservative agenda and make it seem like he is George Clooney in comparison.

The honeymoon did not last long, as after several mass shootings across the country in 2019, one in Dayton, Ohio, that left 27 dead in but minutes, DeWine had constituents literally screaming, “DO SOMETHING!” at him.

Alas, he did not get anything done, because they didn’t elect a man who holds their interests at heart, only his own, and the wealthiest people exploiting his state.

But what he can get done? Oh, you bet he signed a fetal heartbeat anti-choice bill the minute it hit his desk in April 2019, to deny women abortions as early at six weeks, before many even realize they’re pregnant.

Now, here’s the thing about 2020… in a few instances, there were members of the Republican Party who responded to the threat of Covid-19 like rational, sane adults, and wanted to take precautions. Closing non-essential businesses, calling upon the public to voluntarily wear masks, or even mandate that it is necessary. And Gov. DeWine actually was one of those Republicans. This, of course, means that his own party is currently tried to impeach him for doing the smart thing. And of course, the truly insane right-wing crowd were plotting to kidnap him like they were up north in Michigan, where they wanted to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer. As DeWine has continued using his power to do anything in the interests of public safety, his fellow Republicans have attacked him for, y’know, doing anything that would stop people from dying.

So much so that in 2022, he faced a primary challenger in the form of former Ohio Congressman Jim Renacci. But, neither Renacci in the primary, nor Democratic candidate Nan Whaley in the general election came within twenty points of DeWine in either race.

Ohio has four more years to watch DeWine play dumb as kids get gunned down in mass shootings, and as women have to flee the state to get an abortion to save their lives.

[JackDaw]

(https://www.theguardian.com/politics...any-in-england, but can that really be enough to save them?

For the Tories to win the next election from the present position Labour would need to implode.

I guess one worry is that Labour might not win an overall majority, but need the support of the SNP to form a government. The danger then would be that the SNP would extract a series of unfair concessions (unfair to rest of UK) favouring Scotland. (Just as Ulsters Democratic Unionist Party extracted concessions from May’s Conservative government.) I don’t think that will happen…but it’s at least possible.

On the Zahawi tax affair, I think it’s disappointing that the details of what he did are still not in the public domain. The fact that he paid a large penalty suggests he was at least grossly careless, but I’ve seen a fair amount of speculation that what he may have done bordered on intentional evasion.

[Coin Biter]

The lesson of the Con-Lib Dem government is I suspect that no-one will want formal arrangements. Even May’s confidence and supply arrangement with the DUP got her almost nothing, as they wouldn’t support her on the issues that were of crucial importance to the survival of her government anyway. Re the future, yes, I suppose it’s unlikely the Conservatives will be returned, but the big unknowns are how Reform or whatever equivalent the far right put forward will be polling, and whether the Lib Dems surge back in the Tory-dominated South.

My personal hope would be some kind of configuration in the House of Commons that would lead to PR, but experience suggests that won’t happen

[Kirby101]

What is PR?
And speaking of the SNP, is there still talk of independence and joining the EU?

[JackDaw]

What is PR?
And speaking of the SNP, is there still talk of independence and joining the EU?

PR in this context is proportional representation…which would result in parties getting representation in proportion to their total vote.

So in UK for example if Liberal Democratic Party got 25 percent of the votes, they would get 25 percent of the Members of Parliament.

That’s a stark difference to present first past the post system in each constituency, which favours the 2 big parties, Labour and Conservatives. The present system also favours the SNP, of course, because their support is concentrated in one region.

Like CB, I favour PR.


Yes, there is still talk of Scottish Independence, and Scotland rejoining the EU…it’s SNP policy. I think it (independence, yes or no?) is close to 50/50, with some small evidence that suggests support for independence is slightly declining.

[Coin Biter]

Deleted to avoid repetition of the points made above

[Kirby101]

Sounds like our Electoral College and gerrymandering problems.

[Tami]

Lindsey Graham says there is 'only one Donald Trump' and the GOP can't have 'Trump policies' without him

Once upon a time, Miss Lindsey said in so many words that the GQP would go down in flames if they supported Trump, and that they would "deserve it". Today, he's Trump's biggest asskisser. I'd love to know what Caramel Caligula has on Graham that caused such a drastic 180.

Let's reverse this a bit. If there wasn't a Trump, then the GOP would be free from insane 'Trump Policies', since, as Linny said, 'Only Trump can make Trump Policies'.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Let's reverse this a bit. If there wasn't a Trump, then the GOP would be free from insane 'Trump Policies', since, as Linny said, 'Only Trump can make Trump Policies'.

But then, what policies did Trump have, other than making the filthy rich even richer and giving white nationalism a voice?

[Jack Dracula]

But then, what policies did Trump have, other than making the filthy rich even richer and giving white nationalism a voice?

There was obliterating Obamas legacy and furthering the legitimacy and ambitions of foreign dictators.

[JCAll]

Let's reverse this a bit. If there wasn't a Trump, then the GOP would be free from insane 'Trump Policies', since, as Linny said, 'Only Trump can make Trump Policies'.

When he first started it felt like he was just nodding along with what other people suggested, and then pretending he was the one that thought of it.
So I doubt the GOP would be very different without Trump. Less successful maybe.