Also in the news

[davieG]

1 hour ago, MattP said:

The point about the media is very good - the BBC didn't even show the launch of his party today whereas Sky did.

 

Is Farage himself a big enough name to command the press? Yes but he can't do all the workload himself, one of the reasons UKIP rose under his leadership was having a couple of decent media performers to also promote the brand like Woolfe, Jones and Carswell. I'd imagine unless they are polling at 15% they wouldn't get the sane airtime his UKIP got.

 

I'm delighted to see him back though, the debate certainly needs him.

It’s now the top story on the BBC News website

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news

[Wymsey]

Just hope, now, a new referendum is made for the people and those who wished to exit the EU have sense in their minds in that an 'out' majority would result in self-important and unappetising politician leaders come out the woodwork and make a stance in believing they're the right sort of people to lead the country when in truth they're not..

[EnderbyFox]

 

 

Sensational 

[leicsmac]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/15/trump-threatens-use-us-trade-talks-force-nhs-pay-drugs

 

Well, isn't this surprising.

 

This US administration are not friends of the UK, nor anyone other than themselves.

[WigstonWanderer]

3 hours ago, leicsmac said:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/15/trump-threatens-use-us-trade-talks-force-nhs-pay-drugs

 

Well, isn't this surprising.

 

This US administration are not friends of the UK, nor anyone other than themselves.

The thought of the UK trying to negotiate FTAs on its own post Brexit sends a shiver up my spine even though I no longer live there. The deluded bravado of the Brexiteers is entirely laughable. Let’s escape these European bullies and snuggle up to nice cuddly Donald.

[Buce]

1 hour ago, WigstonWanderer said:

The thought of the UK trying to negotiate FTAs on its own post Brexit sends a shiver up my spine even though I no longer live there. The deluded bravado of the Brexiteers is entirely laughable. Let’s escape these European bullies and snuggle up to nice cuddly Donald.

 

For people like Johnson and Rees-Smug, Brexit isn't really about what's best for the country - that's just a veneer - it's purely about how much money they and their cronies will make out of it. The more deregulation and dilution of workers rights there is, the happier they'll be.

[Buce]

Serial drink-driver avoids jail 'for being a woman'

A judge gave a serial drink-driver a chance to avoid jail because she is a woman.

Victoria Parry, 30, hit three other cars after downing a bottle of wine.

Judge Sarah Buckingham said Parry, an alcoholic who had escaped an abusive relationship, would have gone "straight down the stairs" to jail if she were a man.

Although Parry "deserved" a prison term, the judge gave her three months to address her issues.

The comments are being investigated by a judicial watchdog.

Prosecutor Tim Sapwell said Parry caught a van's rear bumper, a Vauxhall Insignia's wing mirror, then the side of a BMW "very heavily" in the crash.

'Shocking case'

He told Warwick Crown Court it caused her Fiat to spin off the A46 near Stratford-upon-Avon into a wooded area where it caught fire.

• Latest news from the West Midlands

An off-duty police officer pulled her from the car, and Parry, who was banned from the road at the time, told him she had drunk a bottle of wine and "shouldn't be driving", Mr Sapwell said.

She was arrested, and registered a reading of almost three times the legal limit at a police station.

Lucy Tapper, defending, said Parry had a "considerable drink problem" after a 15-year abusive relationship, but had begun to tackle her alcohol intake.

The judge said: "If Miss Parry was a man, there is no question it would have been straight down the stairs, because this is a shocking case of dangerous driving against a background of two previous convictions for excess alcohol."

But, she said, the offence had been committed in May 2018, and Parry, who had admitted dangerous driving, had not been in trouble since.

"She has clearly got an alcohol problem. She is, whether she admits it or not, an alcoholic," the judge said.

Deferring sentencing for three months, judge Buckingham told Parry she "richly deserved" an immediate custodial term of 18 months.

"I want to see whether you can really address the issues rather than paying lip service," she said.

She ordered Parry to abstain from alcohol, attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and pay for private counselling.

If Parry complied, she said, the custody would not be made immediate.

"If you don't comply, I will conclude that you are not worthy of the chance," the judge added.

The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office confirmed it received a complaint about the remarks attributed to the judge.

[Carl the Llama]

26 minutes ago, Buce said:

Serial drink-driver avoids jail 'for being a woman'

A judge gave a serial drink-driver a chance to avoid jail because she is a woman.

Victoria Parry, 30, hit three other cars after downing a bottle of wine.

Judge Sarah Buckingham said Parry, an alcoholic who had escaped an abusive relationship, would have gone "straight down the stairs" to jail if she were a man.

Although Parry "deserved" a prison term, the judge gave her three months to address her issues.

The comments are being investigated by a judicial watchdog.

Prosecutor Tim Sapwell said Parry caught a van's rear bumper, a Vauxhall Insignia's wing mirror, then the side of a BMW "very heavily" in the crash.

'Shocking case'

He told Warwick Crown Court it caused her Fiat to spin off the A46 near Stratford-upon-Avon into a wooded area where it caught fire.

• Latest news from the West Midlands

An off-duty police officer pulled her from the car, and Parry, who was banned from the road at the time, told him she had drunk a bottle of wine and "shouldn't be driving", Mr Sapwell said.

She was arrested, and registered a reading of almost three times the legal limit at a police station.

Lucy Tapper, defending, said Parry had a "considerable drink problem" after a 15-year abusive relationship, but had begun to tackle her alcohol intake.

The judge said: "If Miss Parry was a man, there is no question it would have been straight down the stairs, because this is a shocking case of dangerous driving against a background of two previous convictions for excess alcohol."

But, she said, the offence had been committed in May 2018, and Parry, who had admitted dangerous driving, had not been in trouble since.

"She has clearly got an alcohol problem. She is, whether she admits it or not, an alcoholic," the judge said.

Deferring sentencing for three months, judge Buckingham told Parry she "richly deserved" an immediate custodial term of 18 months.

"I want to see whether you can really address the issues rather than paying lip service," she said.

She ordered Parry to abstain from alcohol, attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and pay for private counselling.

If Parry complied, she said, the custody would not be made immediate.

"If you don't comply, I will conclude that you are not worthy of the chance," the judge added.

The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office confirmed it received a complaint about the remarks attributed to the judge.

It's not exactly a secret that men get shorter shrift than women in our legal syste but how dumb do you have to be to explicitly state that as the presiding judge? Should be sacked immediately but I doubt it'll happen.

[Grebfromgrebland]

 

This is global news from all over Europe, the states to small Asian countries but has not even been mentioned in our news with any great significance.  

 

Our standing in the world has never been lower than it is now apart from maybe 1066.

 

Unfortunately I think it's going to get a lot lower in the near future. 

 

Our democracy has been hijacked and our government and media are complicit. 

 

In the same week we have trump and farage inciting violence against opposition MPs and politicians and the bbc and sky choose to play these threats on loop. Almost as a warning to us all. 

[Buce]

22 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

It's not exactly a secret that men get shorter shrift than women in our legal syste but how dumb do you have to be to explicitly state that as the presiding judge? Should be sacked immediately but I doubt it'll happen.

 

Yep. 

 

Imagine what would be said if she was given a shorter sentence for being white/heterosexual. 

[Guest MattP]

4 hours ago, Buce said:

For people like Johnson and Rees-Smug, Brexit isn't really about what's best for the country - that's just a veneer - it's purely about how much money they and their cronies will make out of it. The more deregulation and dilution of workers rights there is, the happier they'll be.

This argument is just a lazy conspiracy theory - nothing of worth behind it whatsoever, any government that diluted rights of its people to a great extent would be out of office and never return.

[Grebfromgrebland]

1 minute ago, MattP said:

This argument is just a lazy conspiracy theory - nothing of worth behind it whatsoever, any government that diluted rights of its people to a great extent would be out of office and never return.

Try taking you fingers out if your ears and opening your eyes. But I know you're well aware of the financial gain most prominent brexiteers will get through a hard brexit.

 

You just choose to lie or pretend it's not happening. 

[Guest MattP]

14 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

Try taking you fingers out if your ears and opening your eyes. But I know you're well aware of the financial gain most prominent brexiteers will get through a hard brexit.

 

You just choose to lie or pretend it's not happening. 

Go on then, show me the evidence of the financial gain they'll all make.

[David Guiza]

6 minutes ago, MattP said:

Go on then, show me the evidence of the financial gain they'll all make.

https://www.channel4.com/press/news/brexiteer-jacob-rees-mogg-estimated-have-earnt-ps7m-investments-referendum-according 

[Guest MattP]

6 minutes ago, David Guiza said:

https://www.channel4.com/press/news/brexiteer-jacob-rees-mogg-estimated-have-earnt-ps7m-investments-referendum-according 

I know Channel 4 is the Guardian on TV but that's a loose connection to say the least - "one expert says" is the whole basis of the article.

 

I'm pretty sure Somerset capital is going to make enough money inside or outside of the EU.

 

If there is a shedload of money to be made from currency devaluation you would have thought all these pro-Brexit politicians would be roaring on a Corbyn government. 

[Strokes]

1 hour ago, MattP said:

I know Channel 4 is the Guardian on TV but that's a loose connection to say the least - "one expert says" is the whole basis of the article.

 

I'm pretty sure Somerset capital is going to make enough money inside or outside of the EU.

 

If there is a shedload of money to be made from currency devaluation you would have thought all these pro-Brexit politicians would be roaring on a Corbyn government. 

It also only says he has made money from us voting leave, it doesn’t say how he will profit from leaving.

The company is making money from emerging markets where we don’t have trade deals, maybe this explains why he thinks the EU is shutting us out and is in decline globally.

 

Im sure we can easily find MPs that support remain that would personally profit from remaining, it doesn’t mean that it what is tainting their view but it might be the experience where they form their opinions.

[David Guiza]

27 minutes ago, MattP said:

I know Channel 4 is the Guardian on TV but that's a loose connection to say the least - "one expert says" is the whole basis of the article.

 

I'm pretty sure Somerset capital is going to make enough money inside or outside of the EU.

 

If there is a shedload of money to be made from currency devaluation you would have thought all these pro-Brexit politicians would be roaring on a Corbyn government. 

His Dad literally wrote the book on how to capitalise on political and economic turmoil. 

 

His interests are himself and his wallet first and foremost. 

[Guest MattP]

10 minutes ago, David Guiza said:

His Dad literally wrote the book on how to capitalise on political and economic turmoil. 

 

His interests are himself and his wallet first and foremost. 

What does his Dad have to do with his political views?

[David Guiza]

2 minutes ago, MattP said:

What does his Dad have to do with his political views?

Yes, you're right, no person ever has been influenced by their family's political views. The vast majority of double barrelled Tories in particular are immune to that. 

 

It's all just a huge coincidence that he has a very profitable company during encominic uncertainty, which he has pushed hard for with a no deal Brexit.

 

[Foxxed]

Farage is riding into employment again on the frustration and anger he helped to create.

 

He's saying he wants to put the "fear of God" into MPs. His previous financial backer said he wanted to "bloody the nose" of MPs. 

 

He's cleverly got Mogg's sister to stand - a great PR move 

 

The people he targets probably know this is more venting frustration than planning a reasoned politicial and economy strategy.

 

The fact he's a serial liar will be irrelevant. No one will vote for him or his party for his integrity. He's a "strong man" leading the weak and frustrated.

 

Any politician who creates a moderate, reasoned solution to Brexit will come up against Farage's firebrand rhetoric - one appealing to the reason and the other to the emotions. 

 

The winner is almost always the latter. He may not win an election but he will continue to carve up the country based on the fear and frustration he's worked his whole life to inflame.

[Guest MattP]

12 minutes ago, David Guiza said:

Yes, you're right, no person ever has been influenced by their family's political views. The vast majority of double barrelled Tories in particular are immune to that. 

 

It's all just a huge coincidence that he has a very profitable company during encominic uncertainty, which he has pushed hard for with a no deal Brexit.

What a great shame Hilary Benn wasn't influenced by his father. Still waiting for any actual evidence that a hard Brexit will be profitable for all these people as claimed?

 

And again, if it's currency devaluation, why aren't they pushing for us to vote for Jeremy Corbyn, as excessive borrowing and potential capital controls would be fantastic for them.

[Milo]

7 hours ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

Try taking you fingers out if your ears and opening your eyes. But I know you're well aware of the financial gain most prominent brexiteers will get through a hard brexit.

 

You just choose to lie or pretend it's not happening. 

I'm kind of seeing the complete opposite, tbh.

 

I have no interest in conspiracy theories for either side, however, if I was involved in a big European powerhouse company that believed Brexit would be bad for my business...and I knew that a majority of MP's could be lobbied hard (read into that what you will) to oppose every single Brexit deal/solution - then I would certainly do my utmost to lobby said bastions of democracy into doing everything they could to halt the Brexit process.

 

Just saying

  

[Alf Bentley]

"We are lions led by donkeys!"......says leader who declined to join his troops marching from Sunderland to Westminster as it looked a bit wet out.... 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6919061/Nigel-Farage-whips-hardline-Eurosceptics-declares-lions-led-donkeys.html

[Carl the Llama]

23 minutes ago, Alf Bentley said:

"We are lions led by donkeys!"......says leader who declined to join his troops marching from Sunderland to Westminster as it looked a bit wet out.... 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6919061/Nigel-Farage-whips-hardline-Eurosceptics-declares-lions-led-donkeys.html

Literally everything he does is rhetoric without substance. Baffling that anybody is still daft enough to take him seriously after all this time.

[Alf Bentley]

5 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

Literally everything he does is rhetoric without substance. Baffling that anybody is still daft enough to take him seriously after all this time.

 

Makes a change to have rhetoric referencing WW1 instead of WW2, I suppose. I've got ancestors who probably fought in the Crimean War....maybe I should quote this to launch my political career as per Mark François (suspiciously Hugenot-sounding name, Mark, not to mention an Italian mother according to Wikipedia): "My great-grandfather, the late Reginald Bentley, led the Charge of the Light Brigade....and today I'm leading the charge for international socialism".... No? 

 

I have to laugh at how Farage gets away with some stuff. The bloke is a wealthy, privately-educated ex-commodity broker with a high income from his MEP salary and media work.....and a "man of the people" with a pint in his hand?

He's an "honest man, unlike those professional politicians" but has been docked half his salary as an MEP for diverting it from work for his constituents to the coffers of his former political party?

....and now he's comparing himself and his followers in his new party to WW1 veterans? 

 

Even so, I'm quite pleased he's back. There is obviously a sizeable Hard Brexit vote up for grabs just now, and I'd be happy for it to go to an attention-seeking bullshitter like Farage, if that causes major damage to the Tories and possibly destroys UKIP - or at least keeps support for the likes of Robinson to a minimum.