Current Affairs 2023

[Ray B]

Now that Germany has agreed to supply tanks and to allow other nations to be allowed too as well, so as not leaving Germany on its own in supplying, the Russian spokesperson Maria Zakharova called the move as pre planned war.
Well call it what you may, I think it's helping a country which has unlawfully been invaded by a foreign aggressor to fight back.
But it certainly goes to make peace in Europe just that bit more fragile.

[oldbluefox]

I think peace in Europe was pretty fragile once Russia invaded Ukraine. Pleased to see Germany, Poland and now America are sending tanks. Hopefully other European countries will follow suit.
The sooner Putin is defeated and this war is over the better it will be for all of us.

[towny44]

Can Putin afford to lose, I doubt it.
He must appreciate that anything other than a complete annexation of the Donbas, and his time in office is doomed. What lengths he is willing to go to is the unknown factor, he must know that the nuclear option would surely lead to a firm response from NATO, and I doubt Rudssia can afford to continue to finance the war at it's current level for much longer, whilst for NATO the economics are widely spread. The unknown is whether China will help to finance Russia's war, this most certainly would lead to significant western sanctions, and China relies on the west to keep its factories running.
Let's hope the NATO tanks do enable Ukraine to get back onto the front foot in this conflict.

[barney]

Putin is between a rock and a hard place.
He cannot win but he cannot afford to lose.
I’d expect some kind of compromise with Ukraine agreement about the annexation of the Donbas and Crimea.
That is, a reset of the pre February boundaries.
This three day war has certainly dragged on.

[Onelife]

Now that the tanks are rolling in the pressure on Putin increases so I wouldn’t be surprised if he is removed either by consensus or force, either way this has to be the end game. If he starts the nuclear strike rhetoric again then I can see an inside assassination attempt not far behind it.

Long live Ukraine.

[Mervyn and Trish]

The worry is he presses the button rather than threatening. My hope is the Russians, like the Americans, have a system to prevent a rogue president doing so without a second person involved. Putin is ready to go down with the ship. Hopefully someone else will realise there is a way back from the precipice once he is dumped.

[Ray B]

Of course if he was mad enough to press the button he would be safely stowed away, miles away, because he knows what would be coming back.

[Ray B]

How disappointing to hear the amount of police officers awaiting for court appearances in the Met. At the same time, how upsetting it must be for genuine police officers to have to spend time having to investigate their follow officers for the crimes committed instead of chasing the real criminals on the out side.

[barney]

I think the criminals in the Met are ‘real’ criminals as well Ray.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Irrespective of one's view on the tax affairs of the Tory Party Chairman, once again a civil servant who should remain neutral is dabbling in politics.

On Thursday the boss of HMRC told MPs there were no penalties for "innocent" tax errors, a very clear swipe at Zahawi.

Yet today we learn that 400,000 self employed people on low incomes have been penalised for filing tax returns late, when most of them don't actually owe any tax.

There may be a difference in scale but today's story makes yesterday's a lie. It really is time that civil servants got on with the job they are paid for (and HMRC is a shambles at best) and kept out of party politics.

[towny44]

I thought that HMRC worked on the basis that they are right when they overcharge you, (surely that's a penalty) and it was up to you to prove them wrong before they would consider giving you a refund, generally years later.

[Bensham33]

I expect the HMRC boss is fed up with Government ministers lying to the public and multi millionaires evading their taxes, especially when a lot of his staff are having difficulty paying their bills and making ends meet, just like millions of ordinary people.

I do not believe for one minute that the HMRC boss lied, I think it's more likely he made a mistake.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Sorry Bensham. It was a deliberate political gibe.

[Bensham33]

And his bosses never do that. Okay.

[towny44]

And his bosses never do that. Okay.

From politicians, political gibes are to be expected, but from respectable civil servants we expect better.

[Bensham33]

Any tactic from any civil servant is okay with me, especially if it helps to get rid of this rubbish, despicable Government.

[Mervyn and Trish]

That way lies anarchy. Civil Servants have a professional and legal obligation to behave impartially. You won't be so blasé in ten years time when they're agitating to get rid of a Labour government.

[david63]

I do wonder that when the day comes that Labour are in government if all of their MPs will be "squeaky clean".

If the opposition parties were to put as much effort into helping run the country as they do in trying to bring down the government perhaps we may not have as many problems as we have.

Any tactic from any civil servant is okay with me, especially if it helps to get rid of this rubbish, despicable Government.

That may well be one of those be careful of what you ask for statements.

[Bensham33]

I actually voted for this lot, but no one can say what will happen if we get a Labour Government, but I do know that they can't do any worse than this lot and maybe, just maybe they will do it better.

As for political parties working together we are never going to get it. Whenever an opposition party suggest a different approach to solving something then the Government reject it. Whoever that Government is.

[oldbluefox]

I have little faith in any political party but my experience is that the Tories, for all their faults
are the better option. I look at Starmer's team and can't help thinking (with the odd exception) OMG.
Yvette Cooper was lording it on the TV this morning. This is the one, along with her husband Ed, was claiming allowances on two properties in London even though they lived there. Totally legal but morally wrong. Champions of the working class they will rinse them at every opportunity.
The one and only time I voted Labour was for Tony Blair and his promise of New Labour and we know how that turned out

[Onelife]

If you want to clean up UK politics then you need to put in a new damp course, one that stops the rot from rising again…Our present system is broken, corrupt, dysfunctional, ineffective and full of damp squids. While I see many flaws in the labour party I’m now starting to think perhaps now is the time for a change….at least by doing this it will give the Conservative party 5 years to reflect on how cronyism brought the party down.

[Onelife]

My wife was at our village hall meeting the other night where one of the community members asked if the committee had any plans for the coronation…a lone voice piped up and said “PROTEST”!!!

I rocked when my wife got back and told me

[oldbluefox]

My wife was at our village hall meeting the other night where one of the community members asked if the committee had any plans for the coronation…a lone voice piped up and said “PROTEST”!!!

I rocked when my wife got back and told me

She shouldn't have taken you with her

[Stephen]

I dare Keith to stage a lone protest at a local street party.

[Stephen]

If you want to clean up UK politics then you need to put in a new damp course, one that stops the rot from rising again…Our present system is broken, corrupt, dysfunctional, ineffective and full of damp squids. While I see many flaws in the labour party I’m now starting to think perhaps now is the time for a change….at least by doing this it will give the Conservative party 5 years to reflect on how cronyism brought the party down.

They’re all the same Keith. It’s just a case of who can get away with the lies and cover up’s the longest.