Politics Thread 5

[DML]

You can't just ignore the rules and have them not....matter. They have to be held to account.

You can't cheat and still win, you can't not release your tax returns and still govern - its absolutely ludicrous and arrogant how much power these people think they have.

The last two years have shown that they can do exactly that.

And half the electorate will cheer them on as they do it.

They will do it and lose the next election as a result.

The problem is they hold power at the most crucial time in 100 years.

It’s hard to predict the next election until we know exactly how bad Brexit will be.

The next election doesn’t have to be run until 2022 though, so we have many more years of this before we even get the chance to vote again.

And I wouldn’t be too sure that a Corbyn led Labour Party (that waved through so much of the Brexit legislation) will get a majority or even enough for a coalition.

I feel fairly confident that as this government slowly eats itself alive, an election will inevitably happen. Theres zero chance this minority government is propping itself up until 2022, it nearly died this week!

[Moggy]

You can't just ignore the rules and have them not....matter. They have to be held to account.

You can't cheat and still win, you can't not release your tax returns and still govern - its absolutely ludicrous and arrogant how much power these people think they have.

The last two years have shown that they can do exactly that.

And half the electorate will cheer them on as they do it.

They will do it and lose the next election as a result.

The problem is they hold power at the most crucial time in 100 years.

It’s hard to predict the next election until we know exactly how bad Brexit will be.

The next election doesn’t have to be run until 2022 though, so we have many more years of this before we even get the chance to vote again.

And I wouldn’t be too sure that a Corbyn led Labour Party (that waved through so much of the Brexit legislation) will get a majority or even enough for a coalition.

I feel fairly confident that as this government slowly eats itself alive, an election will inevitably happen. Theres zero chance this minority government is propping itself up until 2022, it nearly died this week!

The only way a new election can happen is with a vote in Parliament. If May’s government collapses, then the Tories are not going to call another election until a new leader is in place. With the summer recess coming next week and not returning until September, none of that is going to happen before we are past the point of no return for a Brexit deal.

Post Brexit, the Tories may well finally pull the trigger on May, the new leader might or might not then call an election. With a new leader bounce and the worst of Brexit not yet hitting, there is no guarantee the Tories will be in a worse place than they are now. And if they are in a worse place, then I don’t see Labour being in much of a better place, half the Labour MPs still hate Corbyn and the Tories will be pointing out all of those votes where Corbyn whipped his party to support Brexit.

Anything can happen, but it will be a long long time before the Tories pay for their lies and cheating. And they probably never will.

[Hexx]

The next election will be won on who makes the most convincing "Brexit would have been great if we implemented as we wanted" speech.

Tory Brexiteers seem to be better at that message than Corbyn.

[Moggy]

The next election will be won on who makes the most convincing "Brexit would have been great if we implemented as we wanted" speech.

Tory Brexiteers seem to be better at that message than Corbyn.

Or there won’t be an election as PM Rees-Mogg will have sent us all to the workhouse.

[Squinty]

The next election will be won on who makes the most convincing "Brexit would have been great if we implemented as we wanted" speech.

Tory Brexiteers seem to be better at that message than Corbyn.

Or there won’t be an election as PM Rees-Mogg will have sent us all to the workhouse.

But he's a fine parliamentarian and an all together good guy. I will be okay going to the workhouse.

[Irene Demova]

twitter.com/sajidjavid/status/1019882108809043969

yay we're going to get a libel case!

[Hypes]

Please retweet.

[KK]

Latest crime statistics make grim reading:

Only 9% of crimes end with suspects being charged or summonsed in England and Wales, Home Office figures suggest.

In the 12 months to March, 443,000 crimes resulted in a charge or summons out of 4.6 million offences - the lowest detection rate since 2015.

Data also shows police closed nearly half (48%) of all cases because no suspect could be identified.

It comes as new figures show the number of homicides has increased for the fourth year running.

The Home Office statistics on crime outcomes is published at the same time as quarterly crime figures and the Crime Survey for England and Wales, which is based on people's experiences of crime.

The changing picture of how successfully police are catching criminals comes against a backdrop of rising crime.

verall, crimes recorded by police went up 11% in the year to March, figures published by the Office for National Statistics suggested.

The Home Office said that along with a growing caseload, there was evidence to suggest that more recorded crimes were in the most challenging offence types to investigate.

It gives the example of sexual offences - up 24% on last year - giving officers a bigger workload and becoming more complex.

Rape cases take an average of 129 days to solve compared with, for example, two days for theft or criminal damage.

Other notable findings from the Home Office include:

• In sexual offence cases, only 5% resulted in someone being charged or summonsed
• That figure falls to 3% for rape cases. In about a third (34%) of rape cases, the victim did not want to take the case to its conclusion
• In all, one in five cases went unresolved because the victim did not support action, usually meaning they did not want to go through the courts
• Three quarters of theft cases were closed with no suspect identified
• This was also the case in more than half (57%) of robberies, including muggings

Meanwhile, the latest figures for recorded offences showed homicides in England and Wales were up 12% in the 12 months to the end of March, from 627 to 701.

Homicide covers cases of murder, manslaughter, corporate manslaughter and infanticide, but these figures exclude terror attacks.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said homicide remained rare and tended to take place in London and other cities.

The start of 2018 was characterised by what appeared to be regular killings on the streets of London.

Between January and March, the BBC recorded 46 killings in the city - some from gunshot wounds but most from stabbings. Among those killed were a handful of teenagers.

The data also showed:

• Knife crime up 16%
• Robbery offences, including muggings, up 30% - 77,103 cases were recorded in the 12 months to March. In February, the BBC reported that the "rich pickings" on Oxford Street in London's West End had made it a hotspot for robberies and ride-by moped thefts
• Vehicle-related thefts up 12% - it is the second year for vehicle-related theft numbers to rise and is backed up by the separate Crime Survey which showed an increase of 17%

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44884113

Reminds me of an old George Osborne speech from about 5 years ago where he was listing all the economic accomplishments at the dispatch box. Labour would be wise to trot this lot out in similar fashion.

[Moggy]

Whoever could have guessed that cutting police numbers and resources while in a period of austerity would lead to an increase in crime?

Still, it’s probably just easier to blame the London Mayor.

[Errkal]

Whoever could have guessed that cutting police numbers and resources while in a period of austerity would lead to an increase in crime?

Still, it’s probably just easier to blame the London Mayor.

Its ok when we can control our borders we wont have crime as it is all done by people that aren't even from around here!

[Herdanos]

Whoever could have guessed that cutting police numbers and resources while in a period of austerity would lead to an increase in crime?

Still, it’s probably just easier to blame the London Mayor.

Its ok when we can control our borders we wont have crime as it is all done by people that aren't even from around here!

Some of the replies on news sites to this story are terrifying - it seems many believe these figures/ the situation is all because the police essentially don't police people from ethnic minority backgrounds, apparently for fear of being called racist if they then arrest them. Or, that the police will only respond to an incident if the victim is BAME background.

[Moggy]

Whoever could have guessed that cutting police numbers and resources while in a period of austerity would lead to an increase in crime?

Still, it’s probably just easier to blame the London Mayor.

Its ok when we can control our borders we wont have crime as it is all done by people that aren't even from around here!

Some of the replies on news sites to this story are terrifying - it seems many believe these figures/ the situation is all because the police essentially don't police people from ethnic minority backgrounds, apparently for fear of being called racist if they then arrest them. Or, that the police will only respond to an incident if the victim is BAME background.

I posted this in the comments thread earlier, the story was about how young people today do less drugs, drink less, smoke less and get arrested less than younger people in previous generations. But obviously that’s only because of the muslims and political correctness!!

1. Drinking less - More young people from a Muslim background.
2. Drug use less - Questionable!
3. Less teenage pregnancy - No council flats available.
4. Less smoking - Now unfashionable.
5. Fewer young arrested - fewer police and they are busy with terrorist threat & combating political correctness.

Now show us graphs for mental health issues and student debt amongst young people.

People are strawberry floating evil.

[KK]

UK government unveils the "fake news unit" to combat spread of bollocks online

The Government has begun its fight against “alternative” news sources and “sensationalist” stories with a team of experts and data scientists monitoring and responding to the spread of misinformation online.

Dubbed the “fake news unit” by the media when it was first announced by Prime Minister Theresa May in January this year, the team’s work has been kept under wraps for the past seven months.

But the Government has finally revealed some of the work it has been quietly carrying out since a pilot period began in April.

The Rapid Response Unit – as the Government prefers it to be called – is made up of analysts, data scientists and media and digital experts.

The team will “identify emerging issues with speed, accuracy and with integrity”, according to Government Communications Service director Alex Aiken

“We do this to better understand the news environment, to let departments know about emerging stories, and to assess the effectiveness of our public information,” he said in a blog post published yesterday.

Since it began round-the-clock monitoring of what news is being shared and engaged with online, the team has identified and sought to tackle “several stories of concern” in order to reclaim a “fact-based public debate”.

These include domestic news relating to the NHS and crime, plus stories about a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria on 7 April 2018.

After the Syria airstrikes in April, Aiken said the unit saw that a number of false narratives from “unreliable” alternative news sources were gaining traction online and appearing above official Government information on Google.

“These ‘alt-news’ sources are biased and rely on sensationalism rather than facts to pique readers’ interest,” Aiken said.

The unit took action to improve the Google ranking of the relevant Government information from below 200 to number one, so that those using search terms indicating bias, such as “false flag”, were “presented with factual information on the UK’s response”, said Aiken.

The RRU – which is based across the Cabinet Office and No 10 – supports, but is separate from, the National Security Communications Team, contrary to earlier reports.

NCST tackles the communications elements of national security challenges including disinformation but will work closely with the RRU in “crisis situations”.

A report by Reuters released last month found that two-thirds of people believe the UK Government needs to do more to combat “fake news”.

An investigation into “fake news” by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee is still ongoing.

It's a noble endeavor (even if the name is ridiculous) but I guess this Rapid Response Unit doesn't include Theresa "it's only the press" May, who just stood there last week as Donald Trump wrongly ripped on CNN and The Sun for spreading fake news.

[Hypes]

I also presume it doesn't cover Brexit

[Moggy]

UK government unveils the "fake news unit" to combat spread of bollocks online

RIP in peace KK's GR account.

[KK]

It's that part of the month you all enjoy,

Newspaper print circulation figures, June 2018

Metro: 1,474,383 (year-on-year decline -0.38%)
The Sun: 1,451,584 (-7.61%) *includes 118,217 given away free
Daily Mail: 1,264,810 (-12.19%)
The Sun on Sunday (includes 10p price rise, to £1.10): 1,224,119 (-8.98%)
The Mail on Sunday: 1,056,916 (-14.55%)
London Evening Osborne: 886,328 (-2.31%)
The Sunday Times: 721,808 (-8.87%) *includes 84,468 given away free
Daily Mirror: 562,523 (-12.21%)
Sunday Mirror: 475,976 (-14.36%)
The Times: 428,034 (-6.62%) *includes 91,218 given away free
The Daily Telegraph: 370,613 (-23.43%)
Daily Star: 364,448 (-14.48%)
Daily Express: 338,575 (-11.24%)
Sunday Express: 295,294 (-10.12%)
The Sunday Telegraph: 288,484 (-18.86%)
i: 248,234 (-8.4%) *includes 59,598 given away free
Daily Star Sunday: 220,684 (-11.81%)
Sunday People: 183,784 (-18.19%)
Financial Times: 183,319 (-5.03%) *includes 30,865 given away free
The Observer: 166,317 (-13.78%)
The Guardian: 138,082 (-13.16%)

Newspaper online viewing figures per day, June 2018

Mail Online: 12,622,077 (year-year-decline -18.07%)
Reach digital group (Mirror): 8,976,593 (-11.31%)
The Sun: 5,410,691 (+2.44%)
Metro: 1,689,148 (-36.89%)

News UK announcing a major subscription milestone with The Times and The Sunday Times reaching 500,000 subscribers at the end of June 2018. Digital subscribers have overtaken print subscribers for the first time, with digital-only subscriptions up 20 per cent year on year to 255,000, in the most successful year since the digital subscription model was launched in 2010.

The Times and The Sunday Times have subscribers in 120 countries and 3.75m Registered Access users who can sample two complimentary articles per week.

The Guardian doesn't like its website to be independently audited, for whatever reason.

[NickSCFC]

The Sun: 1,451,584 (-7.61%) *includes 118,217 given away free
.

Newspaper online viewing figures per day, June 2018

Mail Online: 12,622,077 (year-year-decline -18.07%)
Reach digital group (Mirror): 8,976,593 (-11.31%)
The Sun: 5,410,691 (+2.44%)

Ah feck

Also, Mail Online down nearly 20%, what happened there?

[KK]

I believe it's partly to blame on not as many articles being linked to from Facebook. Similar happened to Breitbart.

[Vermilion]

Newspaper online viewing figures per day, June 2018

Metro: 1,689,148 (-36.89%)

Well that's hardly surprising considering some of the rubbish they've been posting lately.

[Garth]

Tory MP Anna Soubry is on The Last Leg at the moment, called Trump a dickhead and said Jacob Rees-Mogg is running the country.