Corruption in Government

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  • Pay peanuts.....are you having a laugh. Do you know how much the average bar worker or shop worker earns in a year. If I had my way a I would put the PM in a council estate flat so at least they have some grasp on reality the majority. Anyway why should they even have a living quarters with the job. They could have their own pad and commute back and forth like the majority of people do. It's time they started living in the real world.

    Well of course if you did that, you wouldn’t get very competent PMs, would you? I don’t mind not paying expenses, but the salary should be commensurate with the job, which clearly it isn’t at the moment.

    We need to attract the best brains into politics, not the befuddled career politicians who don’t know their backsides from their elbows.

  • We very rarely get competent mps now under the present system so that can't be used as a excuse that if you pay them less they would be worse, they would atleast know what it's like to live in the real world and manage on a low income. 🙄

    • Staff Notice

    We very rarely get competent mps now under the present system so that can't be used as a excuse that if you pay them less they would be worse, they would atleast know what it's like to live in the real world and manage on a low income. 🙄

    I don’t want to be ruled by the rabble, Ron. We need good brains at the top to make this country great again. We won’t get that if we fail to pay them in line with the kind of salaries other countries pay.

    Being Prime Minister of the UK is a difficult and thankless task, if you ask me.

  • I don’t want to be ruled by the rabble,

    You don't want to but we are. It's not about money it's about duty of care and having moral standards. Because of their privilege and already have more than the average person they are so far from reality that they can't govern.

  • I don’t want to be ruled by the rabble, Ron. We need good brains at the top to make this country great again. We won’t get that if we fail to pay them in line with the kind of salaries other countries pay.

    Being Prime Minister of the UK is a difficult and thankless task, if you ask me.

    High pay doesn't garuntee thay have brains.

    • Staff Notice

    High pay doesn't garuntee thay have brains.

    Low pay is much less likely to get you the brains. If you want to attract intelligent and capable people, you have to pay them the rate for the job. Business people understand this well.

    After all, why would a successful businessman want to take a serious drop in pay and lifestyle to take on the thankless job of being Prime Minister, with all the frustrations of the job? It just wouldn't happen.

  • That makes absolutely no sense. How does money make someone more intelligent. You either have a functional brain and are educated or your not. Linking money with intelligence is the way of the aristocracy. The same aristocracy that is bringing the country down for their own selfish gains. Does Lord Sugar lack intelligence because he went to the local comprehensive school and not private, not that school has anything to do with intelligence, in fact it can be misleading, and one can teach themselves and think for themselves. Those that think outside the box more often than not show more intelligence and some are considered scholars. You know who would make a good PM, someone with a disability like extreme Autism. Imagine that...a PM with a mental disability, not psychotic. That would be genius in itself.

  • Boris Johnson’s ‘Downing Street Donor’was Allowed to Bid for£120 Million Public Contracts

    https://bylinetimes.com/2021/04/28/fir…blic-contracts/

    A firm founded and owned by Lord David Brownlow, the man who reportedly helped to fund Boris Johnson’s Downing Street flat renovation, has been allowed access to public sector contracts worth up to £120 million in recent years.

    Although the source of funding for the Prime Minister’s upgrade in furnishings at No. 11 Downing Street is unclear, reports over recent days suggest that Johnson received a loan from the Conservative Party to pay the up-front costs. Estimates for the total outlay, above and beyond the £30,000 annual allowance that can be claimed from the public purse for such work, range from anywhere between £58,000 and £200,000.

    It is believed that the loan was funded, at least in part, by Conservative peer and former party vice-chair Lord Brownlow. In correspondence leaked to the Daily Mail, Brownlow indicated that the financing arrangement would be made via a charitable ‘Downing Street Trust’ – of which he expected to be appointed chair. However, it does not appear as though any such organisation has been set up, and Johnson has not yet declared the loan in his register of interests.

    Blah, blah, blah! The electorate has now made clear that they are not interested in this character assassination. They are more interested in policies that mean something to them.

    Unfortunately, Labour has no discernable policies that people can identify with, and this has resulted in a disturbing loss of seats for Labour.

    When will politicians finally understand that character assassination shows that they have no policies to fight with? The electorate is not concerned about bumfluff - they want relevant policies that will make a difference for them.

    The uncomfortable truth for the Conservatives is that the Scots have given so many votes to the SNP. So, given that they are in no mood to offer a referendum at this point, they will have to demonstrate to them that they are better placed to deliver plans that will demonstrably benefit Scots. If that doesn't convince them, we will have to accept that Scotland is a lost cause. Unfortunately, that will be disastrous for the Scots. The removal of a headache for us though, I expect.

  • Low pay is much less likely to get you the brains. If you want to attract intelligent and capable people, you have to pay them the rate for the job. Business people understand this well.

    After all, why would a successful businessman want to take a serious drop in pay and lifestyle to take on the thankless job of being Prime Minister, with all the frustrations of the job? It just wouldn't happen.

    Well surely if they were that successful in business they wouldn't want the job regardless of pay they would be running their very successful business instead. :P

  • The uncomfortable truth for the Conservatives is that the Scots have given so many votes to the SNP. So, given that they are in no mood to offer a referendum at this point

    And if they leave it's looking like the Nukes may go abroad so that will be a big contract lost and loss of jobs.

    Trident could be forced overseas or scrapped entirely if Scotland were to leave the UK, according to Rear Admiral John Gower.

    https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/trident-could-…land-leaves-uk/

  • And if they leave it's looking like the Nukes may go abroad so that will be a big contract lost and loss of jobs.

    Trident could be forced overseas or scrapped entirely if Scotland were to leave the UK, according to Rear Admiral John Gower.

    https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/trident-could-…land-leaves-uk/

    That won't happen. There are many places on the South Coast where the storage of Nuclear Missiles and the servicing of Nuclear submarines could take place. DevonPort is a prime example. Most Scots would like to see the back of the Trident facilities on the Clyde.. It might take a few months for the transfer but it is feasable and sensible.

    The Voice of Reason

  • David Cameron is giving evidence to the MPs now on his dealings with Greensill. On the news channels now.

    It was as pathetic as the usual UK parliamentary committee, not that the American equivalent is any better.

    The parliamentary committee wasted time by having too many instances of the same questions asked by different members. It was almost as if they were relying on questionnaire whilst pretending to be engaged in conversation or cross-examination. This meant Cameron’s replies were seldom pursued and the Q&A routine became shallow and monotonous. Many of the questions were rhetorical, accusatory, unfounded, unanswerable or just plain rude. For all their formalities and pedantries, they behaved like a mob. I found Cameron’s studied disregard of such treatment spineless but that's typically Cameron.

    Cameron indirectly admitted to commercial naivety but at least showed a reasonable understanding of the scheme he was lobbying. There was no evidence of untruthfulness in his description of its benefits. He claims to have taken on this project because it offered real benefits for government and country. Heaven forfid he should ackowledge it could have been a nice little earner. His emphasis on public service was over-egged and his persistent unwillingness to admit his motivation must surely have included financial gain seemed cowardly and ingenuous.

    Cameron’s justification for such over-informal and over-assertive lobbying was to do with rapid solutions in pandemic times. But I think Cameron missed the point, which in my view is that there is nothing in sch informality and enthusiastic lobbying. Even in normal times, where is the corruption in the lobbyist/promoter/salesman (same difference) seeking to persuade the government of an idea worth considering? What is speeding up communication and decision-making between private business and government? Why does Government need to place itself in an ivory tower, aloof and protected from capitalism?

    Was Cameron seeking to take advantage of his former status as prime minister to gain access and influence? Of course. Why not? Cameron wasn’t hired as a nonentity, nor was he expected to pitch to procurement officers or low-grade civil servants. Those who Cameron contacted about this financial service only had to say “no”.

    Government is expected to function in a modern post-Dickensian world, staffed by grown-ups, not vulnerable children. It was within Cameron’s gift to tell it the way it is this to this showboating cheap point-scoring Parliamentary committee. The trouble is that Cameron, in spite of his previous position as PM was nothing more than aa posh smooth talking lightweight. Even among lightweights Cameron would stand out as being exceptionally lightweight, granted, a posh lightweight, who should have been an estate agent for Savilles or Knight Frank.

    End result? More rules for government, to ensure they never have to wonder how they are supposed to behave. Eventually Artificial Intelligence/Androids will guide the way.

  • Political Corruption During The Pandemic - Those Who Profited

    The wheels of justice sometimes turn slowly, but the do turn.

    The EU's new anti-corruption wing, the European Public Prosecutor's Office started work on 1 June and is already getting it's teeth into the first cases. This may not directly involve investigating British domestic corruption but will certainly be significant as Britain tries to pursue trade deals across the globe. Little wonder then that, as former members, Britain tried to prevent the organisation being set up. Now Britain has no say in the matter. We voted away our voice at the table. But UK is still subject to investigation and possible prosecution in international affairs.

    It's estimated that the unit will return between 30 - 60 billion Euro a year to the EU Recovery Fund in resolved cases.

    snip 1

    Financial crime (corruption, money laundering and cross-border fraud) can be directly reported to the EPPO on its website by anyone in any EU language.

    Right now, the attention is on allegations of political corruption and conflicts of interest. The fact that the UK opposed the creation of the EPPO hasn’t gone unnoticed given scandals surrounding the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) and potential corruption.

    The doctors’ campaigning group EveryDoctor has a case on this in the high court with the Good Law Project and questions continue to be asked about ministers’ conflicts of interest and crucially their overseas interests.

    The suspicion that some politicians are not above profiting from human misery during the pandemic has angered people across the EU.


    In UK, the EveryDoctor campaign has been largely crowdfunded and hasn't been able to get the best lawyers to pursue their case which has left them rather hamstrung, but they will now be able to get the assistance of EPPO that will change. The international aspect of the vaccine scandal, and the way the AstraZenica vaccine was distributed gives the EU an interest in this. EveryDoctor is about to get European teeth.


    snip 2

    Mistrust of those in power

    Citizens are increasingly aware that those in power and politics have let them down by failing to prepare adequately for the pandemic. And as awareness grows, so too do the demands for politicians to be held accountable for their failings.

    All eyes are on the UK. Disbelief has been replaced by fascinated horror at the UK’s mutation from trusted friend to dodgy deviant. On the one hand, there is the history of pandemic mismanagement and using it to disguise a lack of Brexit preparedness. On the other hand, the UK now has a reputation as the artful dodger: the EU has experienced how slippery the government is, and not just in respect of the Northern Irish Protocol.

    The EU so distrusts the UK to keep its word that it is preparing a code of practice for all member governments in their dealings with the UK.

    The question now is not whether the government has been incompetent, but rather – can it prove it has not been deliberately deceitful? And since that is not forthcoming, the EU will keep very close tabs on it. In Britain, that role has fallen to the informal all party parliamentary groups (APPG) exploring the facts behind the media headlines on covid and the NHS, for example.

    Not trusted abroad and not trusted at home

    Mishandling both the pandemic and Brexit expose rolling benefits to the few not the many. As the impact of rising utility and food prices, and sloppy trade deals that benefit foreign interests hit home, could falling public trust coupled with suspicion of financial sleight of hand reach a tipping point?


    This mistrust was always going to come home to roost one day. You can only play this game for so long and get away with it. Sooner or later it catches up with you in the end.

    The British government has played a very risky game since 2016 and the sheer, corrupt criminality of it's activities has been glaringly obvious to anybody who looks at Boris Johnson's gang of criminals with less than adoring eyes.

    Nothing is going to happen overnight, and this isn't going to be something that is played out on the front pages of the newspapers. The law..... that is, serious law........ doesn't work like that. The work has begun. It will carry on quietly in the background, doing what it does. But come home to roost in the end, this will.

    Truth and honesty will always prevail in the end.

  • It certainly doesn't surprise me that there is suspected widespread corruption within the EU. Their shenigans make even North Korea look like trustworthy angels. The sooner the EU falls apart, as it surely will, the better for everybody concerned...The UK is lucky to be shot of the failed EU political experiment.

    The Voice of Reason

  • The UK is one of the least corrupt countries in the world.

    Hoots of derisive laughter...!!!! You'll be telling me next that Dido Harding got £37 billion for the failed test and trace system because she was the best person for the job and the end result was "World Beating".


    People don't believe me when I tell them about this place. I have to copy and paste things you people write and post them.

  • Hoots of derisive laughter...!!!! You'll be telling me next that Dido Harding got £37 billion for the failed test and trace system because she was the best person for the job and the end result was "World Beating".


    People don't believe me when I tell them about this place. I have to copy and paste things you people write and post them.

    Left wing fanatics are in a different world and in a different dimension from those of us living in the real world. I do not recognise many of the ludicrous comments you come out with, Jenny!

    I guess this just shows that the internet can bring so many lost souls together, as you have found so many kindred spirits on other forums of like-minded people. Nothing wrong with that, but hopefully you can understand the derision with which people who don’t share your perspective greet your hostile posts.

    If you were not so condescending, we could engage in sensible conversation, but that does not appear to be your goal.

    But please do keep posting your views on here, Jenny. One day you might actually hit on something! One day…

    PS - This post is not an endorsement of Dido!

  • Left wing fanatics are in a different world and in a different dimension from those of us living in the real world. I do not recognise many of the ludicrous comments you come out with, Jenny!

    Yes.... we agree on something, although I balk at the word 'fanatics' I prefer 'passionate protester'. But call it what you will. I don't care.

    Yes, we are in a different world. A world where the truth counts for something. A world where we aspire to honest democracy, not the edging-towards-fascism that you espouse. We want to live in a world where broadcasters who tell the truth aren't threatened with de-funding, or polticians who don't toe the (Tory) party line aren't purged. We look forward to a world where our country honours its agreements, and gives aid to the poor and needy of the world. A world where foreign policy isn't dictated (yes, dictated. I chose that word deliberately) by a bullying, vicious excuse for a human being who isn't fit to hold high office.

    A world where problems are resolved by consensus and we will accept compromises instead of sending gunboats.

    A world where our country isn't being torn apart by a dictators, liars, conmen and criminals, and our political system isn't gerrymandered and our laws aren't changed in order to make them easier for those in power to break.

    And no.......... you and I will never get anything close to a "conversation" of any kind because neither of us will see the other side's argument. The difference between I and you is that I only post the truth. You ignore it. You present no evidence for any of your assertions, which amount to nothing more than overcredulous belief in a failing project. How can we do any talking when we are poles apart. But at least I'm concerned with the truth. I don't think Brexiters recognise the truth when it's staring them in the face.... and if they did, they'd ignore it.

    My honesty, truth and evidence based messages

    Versus

    Your blind faith.

    If either of us is a fanatic, it's not me.

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