Government Watch - 2

The government have really just taken the summer off. Isn't it time they caught up with everyone else?

Petitions had to stop because of the recent general election. After a new Petitions Committee is set up by the House of Commons, petitions will start again. This will be after Parliament returns in September.

So no new petitions - which often alert journalists to issues - until after September.

Powerful stuff from Save the Children.

t.emails.savethechildren.org.uk/r/?id=h2c65f00,2369e6f7,2378d387

The government is still arming the Saudis to bomb Yemen.

t.emails.savethechildren.org.uk/r/?id=h2c65f00,2369e6f7,2378d386

For some reason the https gets removed.
However, you can see it if you go on save the children website.
If you want to, that is.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/03/britain-world-beater-ripping-off-citizens-rail-fares-water-energy-bills

One very angry reporter, and he's right to be.

Worthing Marine returned the first LABOUR councillor I can ever remember!!!!

It is a bastion of the right, in fact has returned someone from UKIP in the past.

Labour 47%

Tories 38%

More or less matching the national polls

Margate South Thanet

Labour 57%
Tories 24%

Ukip out

Labour won Thanet . Ukip collapses

Marine, Worthing first Labour councillor for over 40 years, whitewave.
Well done, Worthing. Seeing sense at last.

Labour gain Milton Regis from UKIP.

A sure sign of Tory incompetence.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/04/us-surgeon-may-be-forced-to-quit-uk-because-of-visa-nightmare

It would probably make a good documentary.

You couldn't make it up could you.

From your Guardian link on rip off Britain, dj, a fine 'below the line' comment!

"It is because the British public keep on voting for the governments that do it. It may be the government that actually pulls the trigger, but it is the great unwashed who hand them the gun and seem to be happy to hand over fresh supplies of ammo on a five yearly basis. We live in a democracy where peoples priorities no longer seem to be not being ripped of, caring about the poor, the mentally ill and the disabled. We can sit in our ivory towers and blame it on misinformation, Rupert Murdoch, the Tories or god, but whilst large chunks of the population ask for it, they will continue to get it. They don't care, because most people are alright or think they are and if they don't think they are, they will blame immigrants, the left, the Guardian or god sooner that own the misery they force on minorities and the less well of. That's how democracy works."

Who was it that said "it is easier to fool people than to get them to admit they have been fooled"?

I do know that but have forgotten (showing my age)

Mark Twain [I googled it...]; it's usually him or Oscar Wild [or sometimes even Hitler...but his quote was something like tell a lie, make it big and, if you say it enough times they will believe you...which is similar]

Have you seen Charlie Chaplin's final speech from The Great Dictator, Tegan?

This is brilliant! A Tory MP is organising a festival to rival Corbyn at Glastonbury. Good luck to him.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/aug/05/norfolk-mp-organises-tory-glastonbury-to-boost-grassroots-support

Bit like the "moggonomics" site. Last time I looked it had a massive 2000 followers

At least moggonomics isn't trying to hide itself from others, in case anyone finds out about it.
By invitation only to between 100-200 people?
Corbyn's really worried!

Must say it sounds enormous funwonder what they will sing?

twitter.com/hashtag/ConservativeIdeasFest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fpolitics%2F2017%2Faug%2F05%2Fnorfolk-mp-organises-tory-glastonbury-to-boost-grassroots-support

Fields of Gold, for Theresa.

Idiots!

Apparently there is big support for the idea among backbench MPs. They obviously don't know they are not all invited.

I've just rewatched two programmes. Michael Woods series about King Alfred which chronicled how hard it was to unite the country and Sam Willis's series about shipwrecks. The first one made me sad to think of how dis united we are now. The latter series showed how people in power did everything they could to further their own ends even though it meant hardship [and even death] to everyone else. [eg it took a long time to make ships safe because the ship owners made more money from ships sinking than it did if they completed the journey; and sailors who refused to work on a ship that they'd been signed up for because they realised the ship was unsafe were imprisoned]. All I could think was that nothing much changes .