Had to give up his usual seat “for security reasons”. Are Arsenal bothered with seagulls too?
Labour
- Thread starter Hattie
- Start date
Possibly.
But I doubt it.
The gulls fly upside down over the Emirates.
There's nothing worth shitting on.....
Smurf
Private Member
'Gifts' are declared and I don't see the issue. The issue is if a gift is buying influence? You say "the latest to surface" as if its a gift hidden? It isn't hidden. It's all documented. Arsenal FC (who he supports) or whoever associated with Arsenal gave him and his staff hospitality. And as per the rules it's documented and in the public domain? OK some were declared late and right and proper he should be given a hard time about that but It's hardly cash in brown envelopes or money transferred into a Swiss bank account following some secret meeting in some dodgy hotel.... And it isn't him appealing for money that'll be ringfenced for a referendum happening no time soon... And that money now maybe not ringfenced...
And Sue Gray a highly respected civil servant is earning more money than the PM. So what? There's always been high ranking civil servants who are paid more than PMs. That as his chief of staff she's sacked certain members of staff not deemed good enough to be part of the government high command? Good. That she's denied wage increases to certain members of staff she's deemed that haven't been performing? Good.
All of this is a storm in a tea cup especially his gifts. Folk in his inner circle deciding on his behalf he needs better quality suits to look Prime Ministerial gets donations for them from super rich supporters. It's always gone on. As I said as long as it isn't buying influence.
The Bernie Eccleston donation of £1,000,000 to Labour definitely failed the smell test in 1997. The attempts by a media desperate to knock Labour and Starmer over this is pretty laughable. Comparing it to Tory sleaze utterly ridiculous.
That said the headlines are not good. And although the smell is a lot worse than the reality Labour and Starmer really need to get a grip over all of this.
Smurf
Private Member
What you seeing?
Eh?
paigntonhibby
Private Member
Why should a multi millionaire need donations for him and his mrs to buy clothes, and why has that donor been given a pass to 10 Downing Street, that my Hibee friend is buying influence.
Accepting gifts from football clubs could be seen as them buying support against the controls and regulations that might be happening and therefore a conflict of interest.
A lot of the govt advisors are unhappy cause they’re now earning less in govt than they were in opposition thanks to Sue Gray.
Sleaze is sleaze whether it be Labour or Tory, Labour ,quite rightly called out the tortes on cronyism,now they’re doing exactly the same
paigntonhibby
Private Member
And I fear this Labour govt is going to be even worse for older people who have worked hard and paid tax all their lives than the tories were, and that’s fuckin saying something
It’s fuckin bribery.
Smurf
Private Member
Where's the influence gained?
paigntonhibby
Private Member
So you honestly believe Waheed Alli will have no influence on policies, he’s just got access to number 10 so he can pop in for tea and crumpets , come on.
It’s cronyism of the highest order , and whatever the legality of it it’s fuckin wrong.
I’ve also just learned that the woman who’s stopping my 200 quid a year heating allowance has claimed nearly 4 grand in expenses from us , the taxpayer, to pay for energy bills etc in her 2nd home in the last 5 years, aye we’re all in this together right enough.
Want tae buy a bridge?
egb_hibs
Private Member
It is outrageous this. I mean i know green is a hard sell but basing this on utterly false premises and then repeating it again and again is up there with anything Trump has done.
Hibee Kev
Private Member
Yet to travel to Aberdeen as a government minister and meet oil & gas leaders. Staring down the barrel of 100k redundancies and new projects being shelved if they push ahead with abandoning North Sea investment allowances. Should this transpire there will come a point of no return in a few years time with regards UK hydrocarbons.
egb_hibs
Private Member
Well that'll be Labour's brief reacquaintance with Scotland gone again!
Anyone would think this a golden opportunity for the SNP, except...
emerald green
Private Member
i really do think folks get confused about the snp and scotland standing as an independent nation. Not saying anyone on this thread does, but thought id pop it here anyway, for Bounce fans everywhere.
egb_hibs
Private Member
That's fair but assuming the SNP really does have indy as priority number one, this should be an open goal.
Smurf
Private Member
I'm holding fire until the budget. I expect most to be hit hard but we need to see some direction of travel in terms of fundamental reforms and investments. To show imagination and vision. If it's a budget to just ruthlessly balance the books then we'd have been better electing a Tory Government.
Smurf
Private Member
Pretty shameful. I suspect he'll be the first cabinet minister demoted.
Not sure there's any relevance seeing as he became a former SPAD 10 years ago.
Archie
Private Member
Well being an SNP Spad at some point suggests a) that he aligned with the views of the party; b) that he was sufficiently well thought of to be given a job to advise Ministers. This was at a time of the crest of a wave. So I do think it's relevant that someone who was in that position has the views they have now.
Archie
Private Member
The headlines aren't good and yes Labour do need to get a grip of it. I get he's an Arsenal fan and I fully accept that there are security issues, but even so.
This tit put me off ever wanting to vote for the Labour Party ever again. Recall his words during the scare campaign before the Independence vote to the effect that if Scotland decided to go its own way, it may necessitate having armed guards on the border between England and Scotland.
For someone who has family in both Scotland and England as I do, that was a fcuking unforgivable thing to say. Utterly stupid too. The man is a buffoon.
Archie
Private Member
OK - but that then means the SNP is in no position to say what a post independence Scotland would look like. Take the EU for example. The policy is to take a successful independence vote as a signal to start negotiations with the EU. So there is a direct link until a) new Scottish parliament elections and b) the SNP decides to dissolve itself. That used to be policy, but I'm not sure it is now. Otherwise what you are saying that anything the SNP says about an independent Scotland is not valid. You can't have it both ways.
Or it could be a case of sour grapes.
It's unlikely that the SNP would win the first election post-Indy. Hopefully, the branch offices would become fully-fledged Scottish parties instead of unionist yes men and give people more choices.
emerald green
Private Member
Its ok Archie. I just think folk get confused about a political party and an independent country.
First and foremost, I think people who live in Scotland should be able to vote in and out of power any government they see fit. A government voted in which has full autonomy to decide for itself.
Its not a priority for you. Thats ok. Watch that cliff now Archie.....
Archie
Private Member
You don't think the explicit linking of a party to Scotland reinforces that 'confusion'? Anyway, the cliff was avoided.
emerald green
Private Member
what are ye wittering about? The confusion is in yer heid. You dont get it. You dont think there is a problem that Scotland cannae vote in or out any government. And dinnae be obtuse about our wee parish cooncil at the bottom o holyrood yer man blair referred it as aw they years ago.
The cliffs in yer heid tae.
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emerald green
Private Member
Why is this so important? Is everyone else made a definitive statement? Ken what archie, you could vote in a labour party which is registered in Edinburgh and it could form a labour government whose sole purpose would be for the people who live in Scotland. It wouldnt need to take its orders from the English labour party, it would have all the powers that every other free nation of the earth enjoys. How does that not excite you? Whats scary about that? Grow some balls ffs
Archie
Private Member
So the actual point where a party expressly links itself to country is, in your view, no way contradictory to your initial point?
Archie
Private Member
It's really important if the SNP sells a vision of an independent Scotland that they can't deliver on. EU membership for example.
Interesting that you think I said that I thought the SNP would remain as a party. I never agreed or disagreed about the bold statements either so stop trying to put words in to my mouth. The party seeking indy has to make statements unless you'd prefer that they just shrugged their collective shoulders and said "vote for us and we'll see how it goes"
Archie
Private Member
You said you thought it was 'unlikely the SNP would win the first election post indy'. I took that to mean that you thought they would continue .
On the post independence statements, it's a real tension. Because they do have to describe how an independent Scotland might look if they are to convince voters. But the SNP would not be in a position to deliver any of that vision if they didn't continue as a party and be the party of government post independence. So I guess the question is how does the SNP balance that tension.
No idea why the SNP should be any different to any other party making shit up to get elected when they have no intention of keeping to their word. Look at all the gullible rsoles that voted for Labour in Scotland because of their promises. I'd rather vote for a lying SNP party than a lying Unionist party intent on pillaging Scotland every day of the week.
egb_hibs
Private Member
I
But given your answer to critiques of labour is we have to wait for a landing to determine that driving a car at speed towards a cliff edge probably isn’t a good idea, it’s only a bit.
We can’t after all draw any conclusions about anything until it’s in the rear view mirror, right ?
I sympathies with your frustration…a bit.
But given your answer to critiques of labour is we have to wait for a landing to determine that driving a car at speed towards a cliff edge probably isn’t a good idea, it’s only a bit.
We can’t after all draw any conclusions about anything until it’s in the rear view mirror, right ?
