Mandelson failed security vetting. Starmer says he didn’t know

Oreo

Many things in the UK have gone to pot.Including great big holes in the tarmac.

What is it about potholes which so obsess people??!!

I've just received a flyer from Reform. One side isn't linked to the constituency at all, but just has a few statistics and a graph showing Reform's popularity. It doesn't seem to have occurred to them that this constituency hasn't had one of the main political parties in charge for nearly a decade.

The other side has a couple of sentences from the Reform candidate. She's been a local politician for quite a few years, during which time she's changed party twice - always to join the party on the ascendancy. As a result, she's been part of the ruling party for about 15 years.

Now she's promising to "fix" the problems caused by previous parties (of which she was a member) and the big issue for her seems to be potholes! Never mind shortage of housing, high rents, problems with adult and children's social care, school places in the wrong places, lack of public transport, problems for isolated villages. No, no, no - potholes trump everything apparently!

PS. The Labour Party allocated money to council councils to fix potholes and it's actually been quite conspicuous how many potholes have been fixed over the last few months - the trouble is roads have to be closed to fix them - and people moan about road closures!

What is it about potholes which so obsess people??!!
New tyres needed for me, thats what.

I've been driving many kilometers in France these past 10 days. How come their roads are immaculate, not a pothole in sight?

Because in the lives of people going to work on low pay who may not have the money to pay for car repairs they are important. But the concerns of those people often aren't seen as important.

Casdon says don't know the whole story yet above I think it's bad enough that a really dodgy character could get passed a vetting system for a pretty big job in government It shows no respect for the victims of Epstein The poor woman who exposed Epstein killed herself but a close friend of Epstein is fit to be an MP and have power in an important role in government

I don’t suppose that councils in France have suffered sustained cuts to their services over so many years. The situation has reached crisis point in the UK because there is a huge amount of backlog. Unfortunately it can’t be fixed all at once.

Pot holes never fixed by labour council where I live and are unsafe for elderly walking across roads pavements are equally bad

TakeThat7

Casdon says don't know the whole story yet above I think it's bad enough that a really dodgy character could get passed a vetting system for a pretty big job in government It shows no respect for the victims of Epstein The poor woman who exposed Epstein killed herself but a close friend of Epstein is fit to be an MP and have power in an important role in government

We don’t know if the vetting failure is related to the Epstein issues or not yet TakeThat7, I’m not sure whether we will know ultimately what the actual issue was, or whether confidentiality will prevent that.

It may have been mentioned upthread, but just now on Facebook, yes, that's why I'm asking here, is it an established fact that Johnson failed his vetting process, but was still appointed by Theresa May?
If so, I don't remember her resigning over that.

What is it about potholes which so obsess people??!!
Do you really have to ask, twaddle? !! 😲

Potholes filled with water cannot be seen.

Burst tyres, could cause an accident if the car swerved.
Motorists might swerve to avoid one.
Not just the tyre might be wrecked, the wheel could be wrecked too.
The suspension could be damaged.
The alignment could be skewed causing steering problems.
Traffic going over potholes cause more vibration, could cause structural damage to nearby buildings.
The cost of compensation paid out by Councils could fill a lot of potholes.
Added to which someone who suffers from travel sickness like my DGC could feel far worse after a pothole-ridden journey.

Do you drive, twaddle?

Of course they all lie from time to time. Real question - who better suited to swim with these sharks? I think Peter's weaknesses (Loves all the Lotd business, not really rich compared to those whose company he keeps, likes a pretty boy) are well known and may be outweighed by his being very clever, charming, able to flatter the real toads of the world. - Possibly would have done a good job for UK - We need a bit of a snake in that role.

Of course Starmer knew.
Let’s put it this way, when the name Mandelson was suggested my first thought was Hinduja scandal. Now if I could come up with that, why couldn’t Starmer.
Starmers sister said her brother was always good at telling lies and was well know for it at school.

On the subject of potholes, the new cash has made a massive difference round here. So many roads mended.

Casdon

TakeThat7

Casdon says don't know the whole story yet above I think it's bad enough that a really dodgy character could get passed a vetting system for a pretty big job in government It shows no respect for the victims of Epstein The poor woman who exposed Epstein killed herself but a close friend of Epstein is fit to be an MP and have power in an important role in government

We don’t know if the vetting failure is related to the Epstein issues or not yet TakeThat7, I’m not sure whether we will know ultimately what the actual issue was, or whether confidentiality will prevent that.

I think that's a problem behind this. Everybody seems to be assuming that Mandelson failed the vetting as a result of something related to Epstein, whereas it could have been for something relatively trivial. If it really was something serious, Olly Robbins really does have some questions to answer. There's no doubt Mandelson knew Epstein and had stayed with him, but it's unlikely that Mandelson was involved with underage girls and, as far as I know, there's no evidence that Mandelson knew the extent of Epstein's abuse.

When Mandelson was appointed, everybody already knew that he was a controversial figure. There was loads already in the public domain. Starmer decided to appoint him despite (and maybe because of) his history. The kind of stuff which would have come up in the vetting was likely to be the subject of blackmail. You can't blackmail somebody for events which are already in the public domain.

Luckygirl3

On the subject of potholes, the new cash has made a massive difference round here. So many roads mended.

Yes! It's certainly made a difference here. The only problem is that my little road leads on to a main road, which has been partially closed for weeks, while the potholes are fixed.

AJKW

Of course Starmer knew.
Let’s put it this way, when the name Mandelson was suggested my first thought was Hinduja scandal. Now if I could come up with that, why couldn’t Starmer.
Starmers sister said her brother was always good at telling lies and was well know for it at school.

Where's your evidence? Sorry, but hearsay isn't evidence.

sandelf

Of course they all lie from time to time. Real question - who better suited to swim with these sharks? I think Peter's weaknesses (Loves all the Lotd business, not really rich compared to those whose company he keeps, likes a pretty boy) are well known and may be outweighed by his being very clever, charming, able to flatter the real toads of the world. - Possibly would have done a good job for UK - We need a bit of a snake in that role.

It would appear that was Starmer's reasoning for the appointment.

Yes, Allira, I drive. And, yes, potholes are a nuisance, but they're not the "only" issue (or even the most important) when people are voting for a county council.

I'll correct myself. Potholes are more than a nuisance. They're a killer for cyclists. If it's raining, a cyclist doesn't know how deep a pothole is and can be thrown off.

I'm not denying they're important, but inadequate social care is a killer too. Why does my local Reform candidate mention potholes and not social care, which takes the lion's share of local government spending?

Oh, I know that!

I wouldn't believe it anyway but if people think Reform might wave a magic wand and resurface every road, they might. As well as cutting Council tax.

Why won't the pundits say it? Starmer is a LIAR.

For heaven’s sake, just leave him alone.

He’s got enough on his plate at the moment.
Dealing with Trump etc.

Mandelson has been dismissed, so that’s that.
There are more important things to be fretting about at this point in time.

^ I think Peter's weaknesses (Loves all the Lotd business, not really rich compared to those whose company he keeps, likes a pretty boy) are well known and may be outweighed by his being very clever, charming, able to flatter the real toads of the world. - Possibly would have done a good job for UK.^

Those sort of views explain the mess we are in; total lack if integrity.

And all the excuses made for the choice of Mandelson ignore the fact that he keeps getting found out. Latest: links with China.

Greciangirl

For heaven’s sake, just leave him alone.

He’s got enough on his plate at the moment.
Dealing with Trump etc.

Mandelson has been dismissed, so that’s that.
There are more important things to be fretting about at this point in time.

I agree with this. It is no moment for jumping on political bandwagon.
And those stating that KS is a liar do not have evidence for that.

And those stating that KS is a liar do not have evidence for that

Agreed Luckygirl13

Perhaps it would be good if politicians could sue for liable!

Even many of us who believed Johnson was a liar, waited for photographic evidence of him actually at the parties (that he said didn’t happen over & over again) before we said ‘Johnson is a liar’.

orly

Why won't the pundits say it? Starmer is a LIAR.

They won’t say it simply because they don’t yet know for sure whether he is or is not. None of us know either, whatever supportive or derogatory views we may have. We just have to wait until Tuesday to find out.