Not only rats jumping off a sinking ship, but still belive in cloud cuckoo land.

Mr Halfon's resignation as skills, apprenticeships and higher education minister, was unexpected but his letter to the prime minister was warm, saying he believed there was "quiet admiration" for Mr Sunak across the country.

Another 2 gone

How many people needlessly died from this piece of politics?...


Rishi Sunak spent £2m on focus groups for ‘eat out to help out’ scheme
wrote:

Rishi Sunak ordered multiple taxpayer-funded focus groups and polls to craft the messaging of his planned “eat out to help out” campaign in July 2020, despite keeping the UK’s top medical and scientific advisers in the dark about the scheme.

The Treasury negotiated five public opinion contracts worth more than £2m from June 2020 throughout the pandemic, while Sunak was chancellor, including those to establish how best to “sell” the hospitality scheme to voters...

... Sunak has denied that the £850m policy – which gave diners a state-funded £10 discount – drove a second wave of Covid infections, despite research showing it caused a rise of between 8% and 17%, while the economic benefits of the scheme were short-lived.

The Covid inquiry has heard that senior scientific advisers were not consulted ... leading some in government to privately refer to him as “Dr Death” and the Treasury as the “pro-death squad”...

... “That [recently released material] proves what we have always feared – Rishi Sunak cared passionately about how [the “eat out to help out” campaign] introduction would affect his own political standing, but [he] could not have cared less what it would do to Covid infection rates.”...

To my view: Deadly Damning.


Is that healthy politics at work?

All in the UK!
Martin

---

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

Is this where our government's austere policies are making ever more people ill?...


Why are we so ill? The working-age health crisis
wrote:

There is, it seems, an epidemic of illness among the working-age population.

This week the Office for National Statistics once again warned about the number of people being driven out of the jobs market because of ill-health...

... [And] there are as many people aged 16 to 64 in work whose health limits what they can do as they are out of work because of ill-health...

... "The 2008 financial crisis had a major impact on society - we saw an economic downturn and public spending cuts. That had an impact on people's health in many different ways. The pandemic and subsequent cost of living crisis exacerbated trends, but the signs were there before Covid hit.

"Access to health care has become more difficult, while those fundamental building blocks of health - such as good housing and adequate incomes - are under strain."

How that has affected people varies depending on their age and where they live. Research published this week warned the numbers with major illness was set to increase significantly. with the people in the most deprived areas suffering the most...

... significant burden of ill-health: chronic pain, type 2 diabetes and mental health problems...

... the situation has been made worse by the increasing difficulty people face getting treatment ... The hospital waiting list has been rising pretty consistently for the past decade as spending on the health service has been squeezed...

... our diets and increasingly sedentary lifestyles...

... "You need a healthy workforce if you want a healthy economy,"...

Very much so!

I see all that very directly, all around, for very much most of the people there, for a certain site that I'm visiting all too regularly at the moment. (Also notably, there is no readily available healthy food there...)


Stay healthy folks and enjoy life!!
Martin

---

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

Oh well, just as things looked to be stable in Scotland the First Minister decides the frying pan of political life is too hot:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-68918151

As many have found before, life in a minority government is tough, and a minor slip can make it very hot, and he had a few worse than minor slips on his record card. Honourable or cowardly looser - others will make their own minds up.

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Burn baby burn them all?!


Sunak to allow oil and gas exploration at sites intended for offshore wind
wrote:

Exclusive: decision to grant licences condemned by critics as a stunt that shows Tories are ‘playing politics with climate’

Fossil fuel companies will be allowed to explore for oil and gas under offshore wind-power sites for the first time, the government will announce on Friday, in a move that campaigners said is further proof that ministers are abandoning the climate agenda...

... The move has brought renewed criticism of Rishi Sunak from environmentalists, including from the prime minister’s own former net zero tsar, who worry that any future oil and gas production could hamper clean energy generation...

... “With a general election just months away, this is a deeply irresponsible and divisive move that goes against all advice from the International Energy Agency or the UN, and regrettably will further set back the UK’s climate reputation.

“Instead of wind powering new oil, the investment should instead be in more wind and renewables. More fossil fuels will only create stranded assets and stranded jobs at a time when demand for oil and gas is falling.”...

... Friday’s announcement is likely to undermine investor confidence in Britain’s green energy sector as a whole. The Guardian understands that investors in offshore wind have already expressed concern to the government about the decision, even threatening to pull out of the UK clean power sector altogether...

[Instead of more oil and gas:] ... the trade body RenewableUK, said: “Prioritising offshore wind over oil and gas isn’t just the right choice for the planet, but given renewables are the lowest-cost means of generating power, we should be doing this for bill payers.”...

And what else? And our planet be burnt unto a Sunak crisp?

All in our deadly political world...
Martin

---

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

Consequences:


More NHS hospitals leaving patients in corridors to free up ambulances


How many more people must suffer yet?...

What of the government's promises to improve??...


Stay healthy folks!
Martin

---

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

What of the government's promises to improve??...

Taxes. Taxes. we need TAXES! new more bigger TAXES!

And that hurts more than only our Climate for the foreseeable future:


Net zero U-turns will hit UK infrastructure, say government advisers
wrote:

Sir John Armitt urges ministers to act swiftly or risk impeding growth...

What corruption is being perpetrated?...

To who's benefit??


All on our only one planet...
Martin

---

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

It's time to bite the bullet and end the joke of the revolving clown show.

UK general election called for July 4, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak makes surprise early announcement.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, from the Conservative Party, has called a surprise general election for July 4.

Legally, a vote did not need to be held until late January next year.

Mr Sunak's Conservatives, which have been in government since 2010, have trailed the opposition Labour Party in every opinion poll published since January 2022.....

But will it end the musical chairs game?

Just moaning and complaining from the Labour leader and I do not like it at all.

Or perhaps only moaning when still complaining and it becomes for just the same.

So what if I discovered a cosmic string and that should not be any String theory either.

Indeed, cosmic strings would be a whole universe of improvement instead of our existing heads of politics and their self-serving gaming of politics.

The real world be damned?


All in our overly myopic game of politics,
Martin

---

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

[quote]Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, from the Conservative Party, has called a surprise general election for July 4.

Oh, wow.

Out of very bad experiences from the 1930s we removed the rights of a PM or president to call for early elections from our constitution. The only way out that was left is a constructive vote of 'no confidence' by a parliament majority, i.e. only a newly elected PM can replace the exiting one, so that there can't be political games of repeated early elections as well as no blocked parliament incapable to act.

There was an attempt, following the 2010 election, to switch to a fixed-term system here too. It lasted until 2015, but the incoming government after the 2015 election scrapped it again.

Since then, we've had elections (called by the Prime Minister of the day) in 2017 and 2019.

There have been three Prime Ministers since then, so the post has changed hands twice without a general election: the newcomers were in some sense 'elected', but the 'electorate' for those changes was the very narrow public membership of the Government's own political party (less than 200,000 people). The PM chosen in September 2022 - Liz Truss - was thrown out after 50 days because of her national financial plans.

Which rather confirms your point.

Why is a PM giving a speech outside in the pouring rain, wearing an informal suit, soaking wet?

The last one I remember was the previous French President François Hollande. This happened often, so people mocked him with a slight variation of the old saying:

• "Gouverner c’est pleuvoir” instead of "prévoir" (to govern means "to rain" instead "to plan")
  

In the end Hollande was the only President of the 5th Republic not to seek a second term in office. An event of bad omen for Rishi Sunak?

Damning:

No Tory MPs voted positively on climate issues since party took power...

... And that very much includes my Tory MP.

Very obviously, my vote is going elsewhere...

And Sunak enjoys his golden forever holiday.


All in our despicable political world...
Martin

---

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

The far right and Donny loving moron that was going to run, then wasn't, is now going too.

In a surprise U-turn, Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage is set to shake up the UK’s upcoming election.

...which will enable a convincing election victory for Labour...

That is the good thing about majority voting. It leads to clarity. In our proportional election system, on the other hand, such populist "reform parties" fragment parliaments, reduce coalition options, and paralyze the political landscape in multi-party coalitions.

Another source who knows the Downing Street team well said of Mr Sunak: “He surrounds himself with yes men and women who don’t challenge him.

It seems that Yes Minister has returned for a 2024 run.

With Risky in charge, it looks like a bad year for the Armed Forces.
A 12 month National Service for the youth of the country?
What planet does Risky thinks he's living on?

By the time they've finished their training & settled into their posting, the year is up.
A total waste of time, money & resources for the which the army will see no benefit from.

With the countdown at T-27, plenty of time for some more fun. :-)

Ouch!...

'He was a deeply unembarrassed racist': Nigel Farage, by those who have known him
wrote:

Some say the Reform UK leader is kind and entertaining, but it is striking how many enemies he has made, even among those close to him politically...

That tells 'em!

All in the UK!!
Martin

---

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

Gambling, you win some but you lose more.

One of Rishi Sunak's bodyguards arrested over alleged bets on UK election date.

One of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's police bodyguards has been arrested over alleged bets on the date of Britain's national election made before it was announced.

Metropolitan Police said a constable in the Royalty and Specialist Protection Command was arrested on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

The arrest came after the Gambling Commission contacted the force. The commission, which regulates the gambling industry, confirmed it was investigating "the possibility of offences concerning the date of the election"......

......Last week, Mr Sunak's aide, Craig Williams, who is running to be re-elected to parliament, acknowledged he was being investigated by the Gambling Commission for placing a 100 pound ($190) bet on a July election before the date had been announced.

Mr Williams said the regulator was making "some routine inquiries and I confirm I will fully cooperate with these".

"I don't want to be a distraction from the campaign, I should have thought through how it looked," he said.