Sheesh!
2 old pharts that should have been pensioned off ages ago.

7 banks says PEP while 1 say falls below threshold.
Which is correct?

What's is correct is you have to be dirty to get the cash needed to be a politician.

What's is correct is you have to be dirty to get the cash needed to be a politician.

Cash needed? Well, getting cash requires at least some skills, maybe dirty ones, but skills.

Those of our MPs who declare very high secondary income are at least clever, smart and intelligent. No common skills among MPs today thanks to more than half of our MPs who aren't elected by winning a district but who are drawn from a party's cadre list if their party's share of all votes was sufficient for their list position. Promising positions can be achieved through perseverance, knowing the right people, years of slavish work, putting up election posters... Other skills are irrelevant.

Quite frankly I wouldn't want to be connected to a moron either, nor would I stand down over such a slime bag who couldn't meet set expectations.

Aussie CEO resigns from bank for rich and famous over Nigel Farage scandal.

But having friends in high places seems to be a way to get away with having lower than expected standards.

Whoops.

British Ministry of Defence investigates why emails were sent to Russian ally Mali instead of Pentagon.

The UK Military of Defence is investigating why emails intended for US military intelligence were unwittingly sent to Russian ally Mali.

The emails were meant for the Pentagon, whose domain name is ".mil", but accidentally sent to Mali inboxes, which have the domain name ".ml", the Times newspaper reported.

Mali has cultivated close ties with Russia since a 2021 coup, distancing itself from from France and other Western nations.

UN peacekeeping forces were asked to leave the country last month.

UK officials said the information mistakenly shared was not highly sensitive......

The USA reported exactly the same mistake two weeks ago:

Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali

No doubt the Brits checked their server after the earlier report, but the questions remain - which of the allies drew up the original list, and how long has it been in use?

Ain't gentrification a b*tch.
The energy crisis caught many in authority short.
Whinging about insufficient gas storage to cover the Winter months.
Watching the final test match of this seasons Ashes at the Oval, then the Oval Invincibles in the 100, made me think back to this:

The Oval skyline will be totally changed by this time next year.
The gasometers & works will no longer be with us.
Instead, it will be new build flats.

I think some people have taken Twitter's rebranding to heart.
UK politics today
They must have been drinking too much Castlemaine. :-)

Migrants being moved off barge over bacteria fears

Migrants are being temporarily removed from the Bibby Stockholm barge after traces of Legionella bacteria were found in the water.

The BBC understands that routine testing was done before migrants moved on to the vessel, moored in Dorset.

But test results showing traces of the bacteria came back only after migrants had moved to the barge.

You shouldn't be able even to make it up, but with the current Government, you simply have to assume that absolutely anything is possible.

No way to run a country?...


See:

"the House of Commons bar";

and:

"Debate over closing UK parliament bars"...


We have laws about drunken driving...

Steady as she goes?...


All in our only one world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Cancelled flights: Air traffic disruption caused by flight data issue

Widespread flight disruption that left thousands of passengers stranded was caused by some flight data received, air traffic control bosses say.

The National Air Traffic Services (Nats) said the data saw primary and back-up systems suspend "automatic processing".

So they don't error-trap third-party data on arrival? Sounds like a a scientific research project - and a beta one at that. They'll be running it on BOINC next.

At 1st, thought about posting this in the Glory & Grumble thread on the Boinc dev board, but politics.
Better here.
Remember Mr 6 B's favourite slogan Save the NHS?
Yeah saving it by chronic under funding for years forcing segments of the organisation to privatise to be able to stay in business.
The following e-mail says it all.

Dear Mr Bristow

My partner & I are long standing Peterborough residents.
Over the years, I have rarely had need to write to my local MP let alone any MP.
However, I did a few years ago & my MP at that time resolved the matter to all satisfaction, which both my partner & I greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately, another need has arisen & one that I feel need addressing fairly quickly.

Approx. 11:01 this morning our dentist called, which they have done on many occasions in the past to confirm attendance at a booked appointment.
This morning, that call was different.
It was to inform my partner's appointment for 11/9/23 was cancelled & was asked if she had received a letter from them.
As we had not, was informed to go to their website's home page & read the importance notice.
That notice was a 2 page letter stating that all NHS appointment for September have been cancelled & that from 1st October the surgery will become a private one.

What we find deplorable was the fact that the letter only showed the date as August 2023 & that the surgery will be holding registration open days on 22/23/24/25/30/31 August from 09:30 - 15:30.

Only informing its patients on 5th September?
Recalling the pandemic & the national slogan - Save the NHS.
The reason being given for going private was the chronic lack of investment by successive governments.
Sadly that is the main reason that I personally believe.
I had great difficulty in finding a NHS dentist some years ago after moving from one side of Peterborough to another.

After receiving that call, spent a considerable amount of time in locating another NHS dentist.
There are still a few remaining.
Unfortunately, they are not accepting new patients at this time (confirmed by actual calling to get the latest updates on that situation), & have been that way for several years.
Is this another case of privatisation vis the back door?

I look forward to hearing your view on this matter.

Birmingham is in financial distress.

Major UK city goes bankrupt over $1.5 billion equal pay claims.

A major UK city has declared financial distress after revealing it doesn’t have the resources to pay back historical equal pay claims

The council of the nation’s second biggest city, Birmingham, became the latest local authority to declare financial distress, with the opposition blaming Conservative governments of years of underfunding.

Birmingham City Council in England’s midlands said it had issued a Section 114 Notice under the Local Government Finance Act 1988, which blocks spending on all but essential services.

Leaders of the Labour-controlled council — one of Europe’s largest — called the move “a necessary step” to get spending back on a stronger footing.

They said “longstanding issues”, including “the council’s historic equal pay liability concerns” and rollout of a new computer system, had been compounded by cuts of £1 billion ($A2 billion) by successive Conservative governments since they came to power in 2010.......

I can't get my head around this report. :-(
Homeowners slapped with ULEZ charges without leaving home

Ahead of the expansion, HMRC confirmed that tradesmen could choose to claim back the cost of the low-emission charge on their tax returns as travel expenses instead.

I got told a saying years ago: Believe only half of what you hear & nothing what you see.
The question then as now: What half do you believe.

I know what I do believe: The biggest rip-off merchants in the UK are the 950 scroungers that occupy Westminster.

[url]I know what I do believe: The biggest rip-off merchants in the UK are the 950 scroungers that occupy Westminster.[/url]

How big a pay rise are they going to pay themselves to cover the ULEZ charges for themselves and their staff.

It seems the the people around London arn't happy at all and I take it that most of them are considered poor.

Furious UK drivers destroy government emissions cameras.

Furious motorists are destroying surveillance cameras used to enforce a controversial air pollution scheme in the UK.

London drivers with older cars are being fined £12.50 ($24.30) for every day that they spend on the road as part of an “ultra-low emissions zone” (ULEZ) in the English capital.

The minimum emission standards for ULEZ-compliant cars are “Euro 4” for petrol cars generally built after 2005, or “Euro 6” for diesel models generally built after 2015.

Protesters are obscuring or destroying cameras used to enforce the scheme.

The BBC reports that at least 500 of the cameras have been stolen or vandalised in London this year......

It seems the the people around London arn't happy at all and I take it that most of them are considered poor

If they are not, they probably will be within a short period of time, because tradesmen are allowed to pass on each £12.50 charge to their customers.

It seems the the people around London arn't happy at all and I take it that most of them are considered poor

If they are not, they probably will be within a short period of time, because tradesmen are allowed to pass on each £12.50 charge to their customers.

They would anyway.

Fortuitous politics and the real debate be damned?...


Lords sink plan to axe homebuilding pollution rules
wrote:

The House of Lords has blocked the UK government's plan to relax restrictions on water pollution to encourage housebuilding in England.

Labour led a rebellion in the Lords on Wednesday to defeat the government in a vote on removing the EU-era "nutrient neutrality" rules...

... Shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said the government had put forward "an entirely bogus dilemma". "Don't pretend it's a choice between looking after our environment and building more houses, because it isn't,"...

... Ms Rayner said the defeat showed "the Tories have utterly failed in their attempt to score cheap political points with a flawed plan". She added: "We stand ready to sit down with the government, housebuilders and environmental groups to agree on a workable solution to build the homes we need."

The Levelling up Secretary, Michael Gove, said Labour had ordered peers from its party to block "the dream of homeownership for thousands of families"...

... The attempt to ease the rules, by amending the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill, was defeated by 203 votes to 156, a majority of 47...

That voting shows the game is Politics and short term financial profits, and our environment and our lives and the world be damned.


All in our only one world...
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)