Boris's Brain is missing

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AlanD
Posts: 1733
Joined: 27 Mar 2008, 1:29pm
Location: South Oxfordshire

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by AlanD »

Last Christmas, one of my presents was the book ‘A Promised Land’ by Barak Obama. The book takes us on his journey into The White House and he discusses several issues that he had to face, one of them may be relevant here. I did not catch all the nuances, the USA is a complex machine, but the country was nosediving into a massive recession. There was something called ‘sub-prime’ mortgages that due to poor regulation, had become toxic and resulted in the banks calling them in (meaning they wanted the homeowners to pay up, now!) They could’nt, so the banks were foreclosing and making people homeless. Investors in other areas got frightened, industry was being shut down and the recession was snowballing. Money stopped moving, all because one area was badly handled. What Barak’s adminstration did was to pump money in to keep it all moving. The situation we have in the UK is that we have fuel prices skyrocketing, food prices are sure to go up, the UC is to be cut , taxation will rise and now I hear that Council Tax will have to rise. This is going to force us to tighten our belts so it hurts = money circulation will slow down = recession. I don’t like the idea of the national debt but sometimes the government has to spend just to keep it all moving. I think this is going to be a cold year ahead, so get your woollens and thermals out everyone.
Psamathe
Posts: 17650
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Psamathe »

AlanD wrote: 7 Oct 2021, 10:48pm ..... I don’t like the idea of the national debt but sometimes the government has to spend just to keep it all moving......
They are spending and lots
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/covid-ppe-contract-conservative-donor-b1934073.html wrote:‘Secret’ PPE contract handed to Tory donor’s firm now worth £11m
Boris Johnson’s government has been urged to end “secrecy” after it emerged that a Covid contract handed to a Conservative Party donor’s firm is still under wraps after 18 months.

Clipper Logistics – whose boss has donated £730,000 to the Tories – secured a deal to deliver personal protective equipment (PPE) last year without facing any rival bids.

Government figures show the deal for the firm’s services was renewed at £650,000 a month – which means the contract has cost the taxpayer an estimated £11m.
...
Ian
Jdsk
Posts: 24639
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Jdsk »

Jdsk wrote: 21 Sep 2021, 6:33pm
Jdsk wrote: 26 Aug 2021, 2:11pm
Application for disclosure refused:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... omes-fails
But in the Abingdon Health case:
"Matt Hancock will have his personal WhatsApp and emails searched as part of a High Court battle over millions of pounds’ worth of antibody test contracts."
https://www.thenational.scot/news/19595 ... rt-battle/

One small step...
"Ministers, private emails and security risks: High Court orders urgent hearing":
https://goodlawproject.org/update/high- ... ils%200710

25 October.

Jonathan
Jdsk
Posts: 24639
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Jdsk »

Jdsk wrote: 15 Aug 2021, 2:39pm
Jdsk wrote: 15 Aug 2021, 11:38am
Psamathe wrote: 15 Aug 2021, 11:35amPlenty of time until next election and closer to election I'd expect all sorts of cash to be thrown into the "Red Wall" constituencies to "buy votes" (except that risks a negative reaction from constituencies not getting such hand-outs and further highlighting all the sleaze stories)...
What's the state of the legal challenge to the recent allocation from central government? I saw the analysis by electoral advantage, but was there ever an application for judicial review?
Claim submitted in June. Can't find anything since.
https://goodlawproject.org/case/pork-barrel-politics/
https://goodlawproject.org/update/have-filed-our-claim/
Expedited hearing on or after 20 December 2021:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vGRRWC ... Ths5n/view
https://goodlawproject.org/update/court ... ing-claim/

Jonathan
reohn2
Posts: 45158
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by reohn2 »

Psamathe wrote: 7 Oct 2021, 10:52pm
AlanD wrote: 7 Oct 2021, 10:48pm ..... I don’t like the idea of the national debt but sometimes the government has to spend just to keep it all moving......
They are spending and lots
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/covid-ppe-contract-conservative-donor-b1934073.html wrote:‘Secret’ PPE contract handed to Tory donor’s firm now worth £11m
Boris Johnson’s government has been urged to end “secrecy” after it emerged that a Covid contract handed to a Conservative Party donor’s firm is still under wraps after 18 months.

Clipper Logistics – whose boss has donated £730,000 to the Tories – secured a deal to deliver personal protective equipment (PPE) last year without facing any rival bids.

Government figures show the deal for the firm’s services was renewed at £650,000 a month – which means the contract has cost the taxpayer an estimated £11m.
...
Ian
It's 'mates rates' the Tories mates are sucking the money out of the country for their own self interest,it's sleight of hand,look at all these hopitals we're about to build all these police offiers and nurses we're about to employ,etc,all lies of course,especially as the Tories caused the shortages in the first place!
Meanwhile their mates and themselves are being given contracts left right and centre without question,competition or scrutiny.
The Tories are corrupt to the core and care only for self.

EDITED to add the enboldened script.
Last edited by reohn2 on 8 Oct 2021, 4:53pm, edited 1 time in total.
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"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
Psamathe
Posts: 17650
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Psamathe »

I suspect it will get worse as energy price rises start. And I suspect Conservative supporters tend to have larger houses which means higher heating and electricity consumption which means much biger bills ... more disappointment in Johnson. i.e. your quoted survey those worse off, losing UC £20/week, etc. are already on the "disappointed" side. In the following months they will be joined by the better off.

Ian
reohn2
Posts: 45158
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by reohn2 »

With all the shortages,the enevitability of higher inflation due to those shortages as the Boris 'oven ready' Brexit,the increase in gas and electric,rise in council taxes and the double whammy of reduced in UC.Those at the bottom of the pile will enevitably suffer the worst.
Could this 'perfect storm' finally bring the people of the UK to their senses on what Toryism means?
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
Psamathe
Posts: 17650
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Psamathe »

reohn2 wrote: 8 Oct 2021, 5:01pm With all the shortages,the enevitability of higher inflation due to those shortages as the Boris 'oven ready' Brexit,the increase in gas and electric,rise in council taxes and the double whammy of reduced in UC.Those at the bottom of the pile will enevitably suffer the worst.
Could this 'perfect storm' finally bring the people of the UK to their senses on what Toryism means?
I worry that the UC £20/week cut is seen in a positive light by some/many Conservative supporters. We've even seen it on this forum where somebody has resented the handouts to those they saw as not making the same efforts to support themselves as the particular poster had. Most Conservative supporters wont be hit by the £20/week cut and probably wont notice the petrol price increase (if you drive a Range Rover your petrol bill is not a sensitive issue). Whilst they will be impacted by empty shelves, those shelves will be full again by next General Election. But they will be hit by energy prices as after price increases, even if/when the price of gas drops back down chances are domestic prices will stay at their higher levels. Question is, will the disappointment of that still be noticed in a couple of years.

I bounce around in my opinions as to how much current disasters will impact next General Election as it's all guesswork. But, Johnson seems to drift from one disaster to another so maybe between now and next General Election there will be loads more avoidable disasters he wont hav planed for, wont act on when they happen, etc. Or maybe as people become disappointed now they start to embrace other parties and get comfortable with other leaders so maybe switch allegiance now and maybe not switch back bu General election?

Ian
reohn2
Posts: 45158
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by reohn2 »

There's a difference between those who voted Tory at the last GE and Tories who never see any wrong in the Tory party.
The swing vote and those who were completely shafted by this shower will start thinking their voting Tory wasn't suchca good idea after all going off the shambles in such a short space of time,a shambles which will take a loonnngggg time to put right IMO.
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"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
Stevek76
Posts: 2085
Joined: 28 Jul 2015, 11:23am

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Stevek76 »

AlanD wrote: 7 Oct 2021, 10:48pm I don’t like the idea of the national debt but sometimes the government has to spend just to keep it all moving.
National debt really needs to be considered as an ancillary indicator only. The UK cannot 'go bust' from too much debt, particularly not QE based debt since that is entirely just a government fiddle to increase the money supply. The risk is inflation, but it is critical to correctly assess the cause of the inflation and also the tool to stop it (interest rates vs taxes vs other policy changes). Present inflation is a combination of external gas prices and a labour shortage. The former is an issue of energy independence and a result of decades of prevarication over nuclear & renewables and a reliance upon private investment for both. The latter is several issues including brexit.

The national insurance rise is incredibly poorly aimed given the labour shortage, if any tax rises are required it's on wealth & property, which is where the excess money from QE has tended to pool into. Of course, getting tories to tax wealth? :lol:
The contents of this post, unless otherwise stated, are opinions of the author and may actually be complete codswallop
Debs
Posts: 1335
Joined: 19 May 2017, 7:05pm
Location: Powys

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Debs »

reohn2 wrote: 8 Oct 2021, 5:01pm ...Could this 'perfect storm' finally bring the people of the UK to their senses on what Toryism means?
It's not Toryism nasty as that is, but this is far worse, it's Brexitism, and succeeding in the very thing it was designed to do.
We are experiencing the age of the British Billionaires Bonanza, and the architects of Brexit understand only too well they can't fund a small clique of super-wealthy billionaire vampires without the creation and maintenance of a very large super-poor underclass.
francovendee
Posts: 3148
Joined: 5 May 2009, 6:32am

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by francovendee »

reohn2 wrote: 8 Oct 2021, 5:01pm With all the shortages,the enevitability of higher inflation due to those shortages as the Boris 'oven ready' Brexit,the increase in gas and electric,rise in council taxes and the double whammy of reduced in UC.Those at the bottom of the pile will enevitably suffer the worst.
Could this 'perfect storm' finally bring the people of the UK to their senses on what Toryism means?
I'd like to think they would but..... Come the next GE the Tory owned media will be warning everyone of the dangers of a Labour government.
Completely ignoring the track record of the Tories and spout 'jam tomorrow'.
The 'leave' half of the country will remind themselves how much we've gained by leaving the nasty EU. :(
reohn2
Posts: 45158
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by reohn2 »

Debs wrote: 9 Oct 2021, 1:24am
reohn2 wrote: 8 Oct 2021, 5:01pm ...Could this 'perfect storm' finally bring the people of the UK to their senses on what Toryism means?
It's not Toryism nasty as that is, but this is far worse, it's Brexitism, and succeeding in the very thing it was designed to do.
We are experiencing the age of the British Billionaires Bonanza, and the architects of Brexit understand only too well they can't fund a small clique of super-wealthy billionaire vampires without the creation and maintenance of a very large super-poor underclass.
Yer not wrong! :wink:
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"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
reohn2
Posts: 45158
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by reohn2 »

francovendee wrote: 9 Oct 2021, 8:28am
reohn2 wrote: 8 Oct 2021, 5:01pm With all the shortages,the enevitability of higher inflation due to those shortages as the Boris 'oven ready' Brexit,the increase in gas and electric,rise in council taxes and the double whammy of reduced in UC.Those at the bottom of the pile will enevitably suffer the worst.
Could this 'perfect storm' finally bring the people of the UK to their senses on what Toryism means?
I'd like to think they would but..... Come the next GE the Tory owned media will be warning everyone of the dangers of a Labour government.
Completely ignoring the track record of the Tories and spout 'jam tomorrow'.
The 'leave' half of the country will remind themselves how much we've gained by leaving the nasty EU. :(
That'll be the strategy as it's always been,though what I'm wittnessing presently is far,far worse than anything any political party has ever done before.
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"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
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