UK XI: Degrees of Care

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/apr/16/gradual-smoking-ban-tory-splits-rishi-sunak-labour-uk-politics-live?page=with:block-661e4acf8f0891c952aa3593#block-661e4acf8f0891c952aa3593

Sucking up oxygen in the room, Braverman warns Tories that including leaving the ECHR in the Tory Manifesto during an election they will lose would be a mistake. Given that they aren't likely to include it and by the time they're likely to win another it likely won't be in such a manifesto - don't worry yourself Cruella.


Smoking ban: Penny Mordaunt among ministers wavering over support | Penny Mordaunt | The Guardian
Speaking of sucking the air out of the room. More Tory MP's are wavering on supporting the clear slam dunk and sole common sense idea Sunak has of banning smoking via gradual ban in the wake of the smoking industry hard lobbying them.

[Neon Ignition]

Belgian mayor orders halt to NatCon conference attended by Braverman | Belgium | The Guardian

[Neon Ignition]

Tory rightwingers criticise plans for gradual smoking ban in Commons debate – UK politics live (theguardian.com)
MP's air their objections to the smoking ban and they are as ludicrous as expected

[Neon Ignition]

MPs vote for smoking ban despite Tories’ division over policy | Smoking | The Guardian
100 Tory MP's abstained from the vote whilst 57 voted in favour of giving children cancer. That the majority of Tory voters support the proposal and that the most prominent objectors have leadership ambitions and/or vaping and smoking industry links says it all.


Ban smacking children in England and Northern Ireland, say doctors | Child rights | The Guardian
Playing devil's advocate - I'm not entirely sure the difference this would make purely from the angle that reading the examples given in the article raises the question of enforcement. The examples the article mention, those aren't examples of smacking a child to discipline them. A light smack is something many parents, politicians, educational bodies etc have debated for years but fracturing a childs skull from a heavy object or a belt etc is clear child abuse and already illegal. If those children are being treated and observed now but the parents not arrested then changing the law for smacking won't have any impact, and the actions of those who somehow believe such serious abuse of a child is acceptable won't change either. You also need to introduce better guidance and support for parents on how to deal with unruly behaviour. Given parents aren't given a manual to parenting when they have a child there needs to be better guidance on these things to help families, single parents, those with MH needs or difficult circumstances etc cope better as there's also a growing issue with childrens behaviour within school settings. The naughty step isn't an answer.

It plays into another modern day chicken and egg problem that we have. If discipline and behaviour standards in schools can't be managed then how do you manage the ones in peoples homes where the government have less control? But vice versa if you can't control it in the home you're going to be in a bind in schools. There are by far and a away too many parents with terrible approaches to raising children, those with social and behavioural issues in school now will be the parents of tomorrow so it's only going to get worse. There needs to be, to begn with, a mixture of telling parents what to do (rather than just what not to do) and social education for primary school age children to embed understanding of personal and societal expectations and accepted behaviour from very young ages to curb it as they grow older.

Instead though we have MP's being more invested in fighting for parents rights to blow cancer into their kids lungs on a daily basis...

[QualityChimp]

https://newsthump.com/2024/04/15/smacking-never-did-me-any-harm-argue-parents-psychologically-compelled-to-hit-their-own-children/

[Neon Ignition]

Tories on Wednesday: Angela Rayner! Look at Angela Rayners money!

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/apr/17/tory-mp-loses-whip-after-claims-he-used-party-funds-to-pay-bad-people

Tories on Thursday: Don't look here... umm.... look at Rayner...

[Neon Ignition]

Rwanda bill further delayed after Lords again votes for changes | Immigration and asylum | The Guardian


Forced home moves cost renters over half a billion pounds a year | Housing | The Guardian

[QualityChimp]

The Rwanda thing is just insanity at every stage.

I haven't got all my facts, but listening to The Trawl podcast this morning drove it home.
It's pushing close to £500 million with not a single person sent, yet.
Rwandair refused to partner with the UK for the deportations for fear of damage to brand.
We paid to build a load of houses in Rwanda to house the deportees, only for all but about 16 houses to be sold off to locals.
The Gov offered a financial incentive for people to go (£30K?), which got people interested, but once they knew the details, nobody did it.

It's now just optics, wanting just a solitary plane to go for "Proof of concept" so that's something they can sell to voters.

To make it happen, the government want us abandon the ECHR. Such a price to pay to assuage some ranting gammons.

[Neon Ignition]

There's still the £50m bonus we'll pay Rwanda when we pass the bill (I'm still not sure why that warrants them getting more money), £1.8m cost per person sent on a flight and the Tories categorically know that by the end of 2024 the plan will have been shelved regardless - and there's absolutely no way they will ever square shifting blame to Labour for it.

[fishbowlhead]

The Rwanda thing is just insanity at every stage.

I haven't got all my facts, but listening to The Trawl podcast this morning drove it home.
It's pushing close to £500 million with not a single person sent, yet.
Rwandair refused to partner with the UK for the deportations for fear of damage to brand.
We paid to build a load of houses in Rwanda to house the deportees, only for all but about 16 houses to be sold off to locals.
The Gov offered a financial incentive for people to go (£30K?), which got people interested, but once they knew the details, nobody did it.

It's now just optics, wanting just a solitary plane to go for "Proof of concept" so that's something they can sell to voters.

To make it happen, the government want us abandon the ECHR. Such a price to pay to assuage some ranting gammons.

look QC the gov just doesn't have the spare budget to house the homeless right now, its all tied up in our buddies fake projects, sorry we mean initiatives, and its a really bad time with inflation and all to be asking things like this. Our pals, sorry we mean partners, on the Rwanda scam, sorry we mean initiative, absolutely need that few billion to finish their golden parachutes off nicely, sorry we mean initiatives.

[Neon Ignition]

Sunak accused of launching ‘full-on assault on disabled people’ | Welfare | The Guardian
Because he has no understanding at all of how winning over voters works

Nicola Sturgeon says it is ‘incredibly difficult’ after husband Peter Murrell charged in SNP finance investigation – UK politics live (theguardian.com)

[Protocol Penguin]

Sunak accused of launching ‘full-on assault on disabled people’ | Welfare | The Guardian
Because he has no understanding at all of how winning over voters works

He has no understanding that Pip is needed for disabled people to be in work and stay in work (to pay for transport, equipment, therapy, etc). But that’s likely to be the point.

[egparadigm]

He has no understanding that Pip is needed for disabled people to be in work and stay in work (to pay for transport, equipment, therapy, etc). But that’s likely to be the point.

Yes it’s all about punishing the poor, they don’t care about outcomes or even evidence-based policy.

I also detest the continuous re-use of the same old language to describe how they’re planning to cut disability benefits even though this is actually going a step further in denying people their rights. The DWP already pays medical professionals (or rather the private companies that employ them) to assess disability. This new policy is about preventing people from being assessed by gatekeeping the fit note. Disgraceful.

EDIT: Just realised govt has announced PIP-related policy. I’m talking about the work capability assessment. Sunak said the following about PIP:

We will do that by being more precise about the type and severity of mental health conditions that should be eligible for PIP. We’ll consider linking that assessment more closely to a person’s actual condition and requiring greater medical evidence to substantiate a claim

We will see what they actually propose to do but it sounds like maybe defining a list of conditions they think should count. Blatant discrimination if so and open to legal challenge. People with mental health problems already find it harder to obtain PIP than those with physical problems. The DWP basically ignores or misinterprets medical evidence in almost all cases to say whatever suits them (usually less benefit). The outcome of raising the bar is almost always to exclude the people “most in need” the govt always (cynically) says it wants to help with its policies.

[Neon Ignition]

Who’s who in Boris Johnson’s first cabinet | Boris Johnson | The Guardian
Feels like a lifetime ago but casting back to 2019's election big winners....


Boris Johnson - Resigned for one, not even the worst, of his many actions
Sajid Javid - Resigned and standing down
Dominic Raab - Resigned after bullying investigation and standing down
Priti Patel - Resigned
Michael Gove - Still in post despite having been fired and re-instated mid-term
Matt Hancock - Resigned after having an office affair and standing down
Andrea Leadsom - Still in post despite having been shuffled out for 3 out of 5 years of term
Liz Truss - Prime Minister for less time than the life of a lettuce, Resigned
Theresa Villiers - Shuffled out after just six months
Gavin Williamson - Resigned after bullying investigation
Alok Sharma - Career trajectoried out of the cabinet
Amber Rudd - Resigned after just six weeks and standing down
Ben Wallace - Resigned and standing down
Stephen Barclay - Still present having held eight appointed roles in five years
Nicky Morgan - Stood down within months, shifting to House of Lords
Grant Schapps - Still present having held six appointments and one dismissal from posts in five years
Robert Jenrick - Resigned
Robert Buckland - Resigned
Julian Smith - Shuffled out

That doesn't even remotely touch on how this line up was already a very poor one built from three years of the Tories eating their own young over Brexit, or the sheer volume of controversies many of these have been embroiled in, or the many-many names that have followed them in a very short period. It also highlights just how epically far off track we are.

[Neon Ignition]

Former Tory MP Mark Menzies quits amid claims he misused party funds | Conservatives | The Guardian

UK voters frustrated with politicians’ ‘desperate’ culture war tactics, survey finds | Politics | The Guardian
Senior Tories: "Quick! The only answer to this is to find a new minority to demonise!"