BREXIT - Statements by Politicians

(1) More money for the NHS
Vote Leave’s battle bus said: “We send the EU £350 million a week. Let’s fund our NHS instead”
“Instead of sending £350 million per week to Brussels, we will spend it on our priorities like the NHS and education.” – Vote Leave briefing
“After we Vote Leave on 23 June, the Government should use some of the billions saved from leaving the EU to give at least a £100 million per week cash transfusion to the NHS.” – Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, and Gisela Stuart

(2) More money for farmers
“The UK government will continue to give farmers and the environment as much support – or perhaps even more – as they get now.” – George Eustice, Minister for Farming, Food and Marine Environment

(3) More money for scientists
“If we Vote Leave, we will be able to increase funding to science and still save billions” –Vote Leave

(4) More money in your pocket
“Wages will be higher for working people outside the EU… because pay will no longer be undercut by uncontrolled migration.” – Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, and Gisela Stuart

(5) And scrapping VAT on fuel bills and tampons
“In 1993, VAT on household energy bills was imposed… When we Vote Leave, we will be able to scrap this unfair and damaging tax.” – Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, and Gisela Stuart
‘After we Vote Leave… We will need a carefully managed negotiation process and some major legislative changes before 2020, including taking real steps… to abolish VAT on fuel and tampons” – Chris Grayling

(6) No EU beneficiaries left worse-off
“There is more than enough money to ensure that those who now get funding from the EU – including universities, scientists, family farmers, regional funds, cultural organisations and others – will continue to do so… We will continue to fund EU programmes in the UK until 2020” – Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, and Priti Patel (amongst other signatories)

(7) And no short-term economic disruption
“After we Vote Leave, there won’t be a sudden change that disrupts the economy.” – Boris Johnson, Gisela Stuart and Michael Gove

(8) We’ll get brand new trade deals all over the world
“We would immediately be able to start negotiating new trade deals… which could enter into force immediately after the UK leaves the EU” – Chris Grayling

(9) There’ll be no damage to trade with the EU
“There is a European free trade zone from Iceland to the Russian border and we will be part of it… Britain will have access to the Single Market after we vote leave… The idea that our trade will suffer because we stop imposing terrible rules such as the Clinical Trial Directive is silly.” Vote Leave
(10) Or our cooperation with the EU

“We will negotiate a UK-EU Treaty that enables us 1) to continue cooperating in many areas just as now (e.g. maritime surveillance), 2) to deepen cooperation in some areas (e.g. scientific collaborations and counter-terrorism)” – Vote Leave

(11) Guaranteed in a treaty which we’ll sort out before 2020
“It will be possible to negotiate a new settlement with the EU, including a UK-EU free trade deal, by the next general election in May 2020” – Vote Leave

(12) Which won’t have any obligation to follow EU laws
“The supremacy of EU law and the jurisdiction of the European Court over the UK will come to an end” Vote Leave

(13) We’ll cut immigration
“I wouldn’t set a time limit for it but the ambition would be to bring it down to tens of thousands.” – Michael Gove

(14) With a new system in place by 2020
“By the next general election, we will create a genuine Australian-style points based immigration system.” – Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, Priti Patel and Gisela Stuart

(15) That doesn’t favour EU citizens
“Those seeking entry for work or study should be admitted on the basis of their skills without discrimination on the ground of nationality.” – Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, Priti Patel and Gisela Stuart
“[We will introduce a bill to] end the automatic right of all EU citizens to enter the UK by the next election” – Vote Leave

(16) But which gives Irish citizens total free access
“The right of Irish citizens to enter, reside and work in the UK is already enshrined in our law. This will be entirely unaffected by a vote to leave on 23 June.” – Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, Priti Patel and Gisela Stuart

(17) And stronger border controls
“There is one absolutely clear-cut dividend from leaving the EU. That is our ability to regain control of our borders, including far stronger powers over who we can deport, and proper preventative checks at the border.” – Dominic Raab

(18) But no controls on the Northern Irish land border with the EU
“There will be no change to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.” – Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, Priti Patel and Gisela Stuart

(19) And the union with Scotland will be stronger than ever
“If we vote to leave then I think the union will be stronger…  I think when we vote to leave it will be clear that having voted to leave one union the last thing people in Scotland wanted to do is to break up another.” – Michael Gove

Corrected 31/08/2016: Vote Leave’s battle bus promised £350m a week to the NHS, not the EU.

Leaving will be “a careful change, not a sudden step”
So much for careful – the government’s rush to trigger formal negotiations after the referendum means we now risk crashing out by default on 29 March. In fact, Vote Leave promised the exact opposite, saying “no rational government would immediately begin any legal process to withdraw so there is no issue of an immediate use of Article 50”.

 “Taking back control is a careful change, not a sudden stop,” the campaign pledged. “We will negotiate the terms of a new deal before we start any legal process to leave.” The same campaign document—which can still be read on its website—also promised that the UK would be part of “a free trade zone from Iceland to Turkey and the Russian border.” If we leave without a deal—as those prominent Brexiteers are now advocating—that will be impossible.

 Liam Fox has said a post-Brexit free trade deal with the EU should be the “easiest in human history”, but insisted that the UK could survive without one.




LINKS
https://infacts.org/cut-keep-list-top-19-brexiteer-promises 
http://www.voteleavetakecontrol.org/why_vote_leave.html 
https://fullfact.org/europe/what-was-promised-about-customs-union-referendum
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/no-deal-is-against-the-will-of-the-people-and-heres-the-proof
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/20/liam-fox-uk-eu-trade-deal-after-brexit-easiest-human-history
https://www.buzzfeed.com/patricksmith/nobody-said-it-was-easy
https://www.indy100.com/article/brexit-deal-lates-quotes-liam-fox-theresa-may-nigel-farage-eu-michael-gove-8636801
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/05/no-one-said-brexit-would-easy-says-david-davis-sure/

 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/05/no-one-said-brexit-would-easy-says-david-davis-sure/
https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/seven-times-brexiteers-told-us-this-was-all-going-to-be-easy-1-5558147 
 

Boris Johnson = BloJo

Boris Johnson

BlowJo.... 

More hot air than a tumble drier. Less substance than a cloud and more deceitful than a weasel with a foxes tail.

EU could declare no-deal Brexit a major natural disaster

I wonder if the UK has an emergency fund it can dip into. Maybe they can shake the magic money tree and find some more money that they claimed wasnt there?




LINKS
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/02/eu-could-declare-no-deal-brexit-as-major-natural-disaster

The people who bet against Britain are going to lose their shirts.

“The people who bet against Britain are going to lose their shirts.”Boris Johnson, UK prime minister, 24 July 2019

Which is strange because......

Leading Brexiteer fund manager Crispin Odey has readopted a negative outlook on the pound as the UK comes closer to dropping out of the EU on 29 March without an agreement in place. 

Bloomberg on Monday reported that Odey said he is now shorting sterling on the expectation the currency will slide in a no deal Brexit scenario.

https://citywire.co.uk/wealth-manager/news/odey-bets-against-pound-again-as-no-deal-brexit-looms/a1202211

Boris Johnson’s pro-Brexit backer Crispin Odey has made a £300m bet against British businesses and stands to make huge profits from the woes of the UK economy. 

The firm owned by the multimillionaire hedge fund tycoon, who made millions betting against the pound after the 2016 referendum, has taken out £299m in “short” positions on some of Britain’s biggest firms.

Thetimes: Boris Johnson’s donor Crispin Odey eyes Brexit jackpot with £300m bet against British firms

Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg is estimated to have earnt £7m from investments since the referendum

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

LINKS
https://www.channel4.com/press/news/brexiteer-jacob-rees-mogg-estimated-have-earnt-ps7m-investments-referendum-according
https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/crispin-odey-rubbishes-channel-4s-brexit-millionaires-investigation-20190320

A deal with the EU would seal an Election win for BoJo

Lets hope I'm wrong and Boris Johnson and his team do have a Brexit plan for the NI border. A credible one that can take the place of the backstop and that the EU and parliament will go for.

There have been no details of a plan so we will wait and see.

Of course the stakes are high because if Johnson can somehow miraculously come up with a deal he will have pretty much sealed a win in the next election.

Tory incompetence has led to Proroguing of parliament

Its pretty obvious what BoJo and his crew are doing but I have to say they have played it well and how Moogy keeps a straight face I just don't know, they will probably get away with it as well. 

The main reason for proroguing parliament now, even though its the longest session ever, it to stop those who were moving to vote on stopping parliament going into recess. which would have given many more days to carry on with their debating, wheeling and dealings over brexit. Having said that I totally agree that they have had 3 years to do this, what they are doing now should have been done when they initially launched article 50. Prior to that Cameron should have run the referendum differently (don't forget Farage said when he thought he'd lost that "if remain win like 52/48 then it will be unfinished business") which split the country. 

Dictator May should have sought some form of consensus before going off and negotiating what she thought "Brexit means Brexit" should be and shouldn't have called an election which was just another attempt to be a dictator and be able to force through wat she thought "Brexit means Brexit", an election she nearly lost.  Also the 36 billion and other things should never have been negotiated away in some exit agreement. All those things should have been part of the whole pie and if the EU didn't want to negotiate on that, then that was the time to say its all or nothing.

Since then we have had varying degrees of Tory incompetence if the above wasn't enough. Grayling with his shipping company without ships is one that springs to mind. Fine to help startup companies in normal times but not in what would be in effect a state of emergency.

No one else has made these decisions the Tories alone have the blame squarely on their shoulders as much as they try and deflect responsibility on others.  It was the Tory ERG group that effectively voted down leaving in March, rejecting Mays deal. Why?  Come on Brexit means Brexit May negotiated what she thought that meant,  wasn't what others thought it meant though was it?

Same as the EU referendum we were given a simple choice Leave or Stay, however the devil is always in the detail as I covered in my recent Blog & Blog.

Even members of Johnson's own cabinet recently stated that proroguing parliament now would be undemocratic.

Nicky Morgan 

Proroguing parliament is clearly a mad suggestion” – 6th June  

I’m a member of the cabinet, I fully support the prime minister” – Thursday 29th June

Matt Hancock

Prorogation would mean the end of the Conservative party” – 6 June 

Morning, how are you? Sorry. How are you?” – Thursday 29th June

Michael Gove 

It would not be true to the best traditions of British democracy” – 9 June 

Parliamentarians will have plenty of time to debate Brexit” – Wednesday 28th June

Amber Rudd 

Nobody should consider involving the Queen” – 16 June 

I’m here on a visit to work out what’s going on in my department” – Thursday 29th June

Sajid Javid 

You don’t deliver on democracy by trashing democracy” – 16 June (said in a tweet that is now removed :-)) 

No comment” – Thursday 29th June

LINKS
The Guardian - Then and now: what senior Tories say about proroguing parliament

Jacob Rees Mogg Calls Out John Bercow & Fake Remoaner Out Rage

Lol what a load of twaddle that utuber spouts.

Its blatantly obvious what they have done and I admit they have played it well as in effect only about 4 days of parliament are actually missed, so it actually looks legit.

However what they have actually blocked is the move to have parliament not go into recess they were planning next week to vote to continue on through but can't do that now. Well played Joker Johnson and Moogy. 

I don't have a problem with the leave vote as such. I do have a problem with how it was carried out and the lies and misinformation that were told to reach that result. It should be against the law to misinform the voting public. The other problem I have is people spouting just leave it'll be fine don't listen to project fear when they are talking rubbish, they don't know and anyone that says they do is a bare faced liar. Those that do say such things might change their tune if their grandkid/s relied on some french medicine to keep them alive and those supplies might be disrupted. They might not but would you be willing to risk your kids life?

Most Brexiteers who all claimed it would be easy to get a deal and be the quickest deal we had ever done have now all changed their tune and they are all saying "there might be bumps in the road" what a fcuking understatement that is considering the Governments own recent report on the negative effects. 

No one voted for no deal we were all told by the leave campaign a deal would be quick and easy to do. Leave won the argument and the vote. That is what people voted for Leaving with a quick and easy deal. Only they were lied to.

The level of incompetence in how the Tories have run this is unprecedented and I could probably write pages on that alone.
There is noone else to blame for this situation than the Tories. Luv em. having said all that I believe there is no other way out now but no deal and suck up the pain. whatever that is.  We will still have to do a deal, the irish border will still be an issue but we'll be like a one legged man in an arse kicking competition.

Have you noticed how when England are playing anyone at football most other countries will support the other side, regardless who they are and not england and that's even the home countries.
People have got axes to grind going back hundreds of years and with a weakened UK needing deals it'll be hunting season.

Time will tell now. Lets see who out of Johnsons mini that hes driving at the EU lorry blinks 1st. Personally I wouldn't want to be in the mini. 

I voted to leave .......wasn't that simple though was it

I voted to leave .......wasn't that simple though was it

Simple wasn't it....?

However, simple is not always good.

It is possible to leave the EU and remain part of the single market.....
It is possible to stay in the single market but be outside the customs union......

The votes on the slip were to leave the house or stay in the house.

It didn't say which door to use.

As in most things the devil is in the detail.

"Brexit means Brexit" Mays favorite sound bite, except Mays version of "Brexit means Brexit" wasn't the same as anyone else's.

That's why we are in the shit we are in now. 😂😂

Why did leave win when they didn't expect to?

The leave campaign were better in putting over their misinformation and more people believed that than what Cameron was saying.

People voted leave because they were told by Leave campaign that a deal would be easy, It would be quick, we were told the government are spouting project fear by saying getting a deal would be difficult. No deal was portrayed as a worse case scenario and project fear, project fear, project fear how many times did we hear project fear spouted.  The fact that a very complex issue was brought down to two selections on a voting slip is more evidence of the Tories mismanagement of this whole issue. When the majority ticked the leave box they were voting to leave with a deal because that is what the leave campaign sold to everyone. Now I'm sure some will claim higher knowledge, better foresight than most. But if they do possess those abilities they were in the minority. The majority of the small majority, voted to leave with a deal.

Just to put some clarity on why we have such a problem at present, the so called majority wasn't much of a majority. In fact if it had been an election it would have been a hung parliament. So now you should be able to understand why we have the problems we do, the country is split.

Also the amount of EU myths and misinformation spouted about the EU was ramped up by media like the Mail, Telegraph, Express, Times, the Sun etc went into overdrive and as stupid as most of these were (Curved bananas, Cabbage documentation, Bombay mix renamed, the list went on and on and it was all absolute bollox) a hell of a lot of people took it hook line an sinker and I still come across people that believe some of it to this day.

The fact is project fear wasn't project fear but project reality. It hasn't proven to be easy to get a deal and certainly hasn't been quick. If we leave without a deal no one knows what damage will possibly be done and it certainly won't be easier to get one after. Once we leave we will still have to negotiate a deal and the problems will still be there. I fear the UK will be like a one legged man in an arse kicking contest at that point.

What's really sad is not that there was so much misinformation that it was impossible for anyone to make a balanced decision. Its the fact that people actually believed the horse shit that was put out by the leave campaign. With not one shred of evidence that things would be better, people would be better off they voted for it. Hook line and sinker following the will of the rich media owners, the corporations and the Rich Brexiteers. This hasn't been project fear its been Project Tax evasion, a project to turn the UK into a nice little tax haven away from the EU tax laws. That wont benefit you or me though, oh no you and me will be screwed. Time will tell. 

But One thing is clear Boris has no plan to get a deal. No one has a valid idea that they are willing to put any detail on to solved the irish border.... Noone... they havnt got a scooby and the EU has always said, come up with a viable, credible solution and we'll talk. Noone has , no one will, so Joker Johnsons only plan is No Deal see what happens. It has been a shambles from start to finish a shambles that only the totally incompetent Tories are to blame for. Noone else, there is no shifting of blame here. If they had run it right we would be out.

While i'm on the subject would you expect a leading billionaire backer of brexit to bet for or against british companies if we leave with no deal?
Well he bet 500 million that they would lose value.....
Anyone want to bet against him and bet they'll go up? Stick a £500 bet on the ft250 going up after no deal and post the betting slip on here.....


LINKS
https://youtu.be/w87GNWJHtFM
https://youtu.be/uLFo6XOoXF0
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/single-market-brexit-eu-trade-deals-what-is-uk-leave-european-union-why-a8557176.html

Boris culls the team

The Native Americans should have built a wall

From behind a screen designed to stop any kind of flavoured milkshake, Trump delivered his independence day speech which contained the immortal words ....

“Our army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do, and at Fort McHenry, under the rockets’ red glare, it had nothing but victory.”

So Trump thinks there was aircraft in the latter part of the 1700s. I'm not sure if this is...

A. Incredibly hilarious
B. Incredibly scary

We won't even go into Fort Mc Henry being nothing to do with the war of independence.

What's more scary is we now have thousands of blinkered Trump faithfull who now think the US had aircraft in the 1700s. 

Or is that even more hilarious. 😂😂😂😂😂

Short history lesson....

1620 a bunch of religious migrants set sail for what was then N. America.
There wasn't a wall .😂  so they were able to land and set up shop.
The Native Americans foolishly (history shows) gave food to the settlers to help them through the 1st winter.
After that the Natives were virtually wiped out by the diseases brought by the settlers and within 200 years the Native Americans were forced to live on reservations.

Conclusion: The Native Americans should have built a wall .😂😂😂

Trump then when questioned blamed the teleprompter, which makes it even more hilarious as it means it was a prepared speech.

Sorry Im dying 😂😂😂 

LINKS

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-revolutionary-war-airports

#devilsadvocate

Just playing devils advocate as I really don't know whether in or out will be best for UK as a whole. 

 

So far we have only seen negatives but we haven't actually left yet. Will it get better or worse after we leave, well even Rees Moog thinks it'll take some time before we see the benefits??

So if the UK had a vote to go parachuting, never been done before, but you'd all been told everything will be OK parachutes are all tested and checked there will be no problems and better still everyone will benefit financially from doing the jump ....

3 years later The day of the jump comes but you've now got other information to hand, the parachutes ain't checked, they were never tested and there is conflicting information as to whether they will work or everyone will gain out of doing it. People are saying we had a democratic vote we should all still jump .....

To reiterate.....

The parachutes ain't checked.

They were never tested.

There is conflicting information as to whether they will work.

There is conflicting information that everyone will gain out of doing it.

Your life is now on the line ...Would you still jump?

#devilsadvocate

Mark Field and the Greenpeace protest

I can’t believe it, how this story of a person being forcibly ejected from somewhere they shouldn't be has been spun into some sort of violence against women project and I cant believe Im defending a Tory but hey ho.

Bearing in mind that I’m a lefty and have no love for Tory policies, however I don’t agree with people throwing stuff over politicians nor do I agree with them being knifed and killed, nor do I agree with terrorists blowing people up nor do I agree with domestic abuse or intimidation.  Now having got that out of the way.

Under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, people can use "reasonable force" in self-defence, to defend someone else, to prevent a crime or to assist in the arrest of someone.

The law says you do not have to wait until someone is attacked: Fear of attack or fear that someone else could be attacked may be sufficient.

How much force is reasonable comes down to the circumstances of each case.

So Let’s stick to the facts shall we.

1. Was this person in a place they should have been = NO
2. Did mark Field seek out this person with the intention of using violence or intimidation = NO
3. Do we live in unprecedented times with regards to terrorists = YES
4. Is our security alert status at one of the highest levels = YES
5. Could this person have been carrying a knife = YES
6. Could this person have been carrying a bomb = YES
7. Could this person have been carrying an acid spray = YES
8. Was the person injured, whilst being removed = NO
9. If they weren’t injured was there an inappropriate use of force = NO
10. Do we each have a responsibility to not put ourselves in harm’s way = YES

If you study the video you can see in the first few seconds Field is struggling with where to put his hands.

"Yes but everyone knows that Greenpeace are peaceful protesters"…. sorry unfortunately these days it only takes one crank to decide to change that.

Many are jumping on the band wagon trying to insinuate this is similar to domestic abuse. It’s not, whilst domestic abuse is abhorrent this is a totally different situation for the 10 reasons I’ve listed above. It’s actually insulting to victims of domestic abuse to suggest that it’s similar.

The rest of the protesters were ejected in a similar forceful manner, nothing being said about them.

At the end of the day none of the protestors were injured, this is all about publicity which they achieved and now others are jumping on the publicity bandwagon.

At the end of the day the question "was reasonable force used" can only really be answered in a court. As no one is pressing charges that wont happen.

SOAPBOX OPINION

No one was injured therefore reasonable force was used.

The person shouldn't have been there and certainly shouldn't have been trying to approach the main table.

SOAPBOX UPDATE

Some people have suggested that the protester was walking slowly handing out leaflets.
This is plainly not true as the person is walking quite quickly and definitely not handing out leaflets.

Fields spots the person at the last moment and puts out arm to stop them.
Protester continues to try and force their way through.
Fields responds with force to stop them and marches them out.
Ill reiterate again No one was injured therefore reasonable force was used.

Lets vote in someone that thinks fcuking pigs heads and burning £50 notes in front of homeless people is good sport.

I know ....lets vote in someone who was member of a club that thinks fcuking pigs heads and burning £50 notes in front of homeless people is good sport. 

Great idea sounds like the perfect candidate.....

Oh he's also been sacked twice for lying and has a history of misinformation you could list on a bog roll ..... 

Great even better sounds perfect .......

....and he's going to give us all a tax cut ...well not all ...just ..you know ...US 


.....super ...is it my birthday?




LINKS
Independent: Rory Stewart is out. The Tories have killed off the truth teller so that the lies might live

So you think you know the real Donald Trump

Thought id do a little checking on this meme from 2016 doing the rounds again  I'll give it 3 out of 6 that are provably factually correct.

1. Donald Trump sheltered Jennifer Hudson rent free after her family was murdered.

POSSIBLY TRUE:  As the reports stem from the man himself in comments made to Peoples Magazine its difficult to know the truth. Many media reports say that he did but hudson has never, as far as I can tell, confirmed or denied it. 

2. Donald Trump sued the city of palm beach when he bought a segregated club, Mar A Lago, to open it to Jews and Blacks.

NOT TRUE:  Half truths and misinformation worded to throw a different moralistic light on a situation. However if we go by the actual statement that Trump bought a segregated club to open it to Jews and Blacks. He didn't. When he bought it in 1985 it was an estate and not a club. It wasn't until over 5 years later that Trump moved to change the property into a private club in the 90s.  So did he buy a segregated club to open it to Jews and Blacks - NO

3. Donald Trump paid to ensure a Mexican American boy would graduate from college when he saw a news story about his terminally ill Mom.

NOT TRUE:  Trump was a financial partner in Fundanything.com whist Trump promoted the boys plight via twitter after meeting Melisa Young 2005 Miss Wisconsin. He never paid any money himself and the money was crowd funded via fundanything.com. The crowd funding page was started by Chelsea Cooley Altman Miss USA 2005.

4. Donald Trump dispatched his plane to fly a sick jewish boy for special care when he heard no airline would accommodate his medical equipment.

TRUE: Occured in July 1988

5. Donald Trump sent $10,000 to hero bus driver Darnell Barton after seeing a news story about how he saved a woman from jumping off a bridge.

TRUE: Occured in 2013

6. Donald Trump gave the job of constructing Trump tower to Barbra Res, making her the 1st woman in history to build a skyscraper.

TRUE: Occured in 1980

LINKS
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/so-you-think-you-know-donald-trump/

1. https://people.com/celebrity/donald-trump-shelters-jennifer-hudson
1. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jennifer-hudson-very-safe_n_143042
1. https://www.today.com/popculture/trump-takes-jennifer-hudson-family-wbna27667541
1. https://www.businessinsider.com/2008/11/in-other-trump-news-today-he-s-protecting-jennifer-hudson?r=US&IR=T
1. https://www.instagram.com/p/BMjZSoNA9wz/?hl=en
2. https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2016/12/how-donald-trump-beat-palm-beach-society-and-won-the-fight-for-mar-a-lago
3. https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/274624-ex-miss-wisconsin-tears-up-thanking-trump-at-rally
3. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=440460079469009&id=100005150620207
4. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-flies-sick-boy/
4. Donald Trump dispatched his plane
5. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/396148779088609280
5. https://news.sky.com/story/donald-trump-gives-hero-bus-driver-10-000-10429580
5. Donald Trump Gives $10,000 Gift To Hero Bus Driver
6. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&dat=19801225&id=2ggyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=K40DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6833,5204145&hl=en

Drunk Driving is Gods will....

My old favourite religion

I was thinking (always a dangerous thing) about these votes in america to make abortion illegal.

Well if your religious ...and most religious people will claim the reason bad things happen is because god gave humans free will.

Well if God gave humans free will then it stands to reason that abortions are Gods will, if God didn't want them to happen he wouldn't have given free will.

Likewise with

Murder
Rape
Assault
Drunk Driving
Wars
Homelessness
Drug addiction
Gays
Animal cruelty
Bullying
Marital Violence
etc etc

The list is endless

But it's all Gods will, God gave humans free will and free thinking, therefore all that humans do is God's will.

Ah .....now your going to bring the work of the devil into it .......

Should Labour champion remain now?

The Tories will now vote in a PM that will take the UK out of the EU regardless of economic cost.

Labours bet route now is to become the serious opposition, all parties combined that have a remain stance got more votes than the Brexit party.

Seems there is a genuine remain force out there and Labour would be advised to harness it.  There is nothing to loose. If the Tories take us out without a deal and its negative for the country then that's a bonus for Labour.

If Labour go the remain route then they would pick up a lot of votes from the Lib Dems and Greens.

The vote to leave was so slim its obvious or should be now that both sides cannot be kept happy, Labour now has to accept that and become champions of the remain side yes they will loose the vote of the brexiteers. but hey ho you cant please all of the people all of the time and its obvious from the EU vote that a lot of votes are going to remain parties.

The Tories will be tarred by the brush of the past couple of years regardless what happens now.

We shall see what pans out.

Lets leave and trade on WTO rules ....Er

Quite often hear the statement we can leave the EU and trade under WTO rules most of the worlds non EU countries do.

The meme above even states....

"WTO rules are what most great countries trade under. If its good enough for Australia, America and Canada, its good enough for the UK!"

If Richard Tice actually said this it's misinformation and blatantly not true, there are very few countries that trade solely on WTO rules alone. Certainly Australia, Canada and America don't.

In fact, and I do like facts if I can find them, there is only one country that trades solely on WTO rules and that country is ..........................

Mauritania

Ever heard of that country?  must be big players?

For those of you not familiar with Mauritania, it’s GDP is $4,714million (0.2% of the UK’s), 50% of its exports consist of Iron Ore, and between 1% and 17% of the population still live in slavery.

Although, hang on .....it seems that even that is not 100% factual.  Mauritania as a member of ECOWAS and WAEMU has an economic partnership agreement with the EU.

In fact there isn't one country that trades solely on WTO rules.

LINKS 

Who actually trades solely under WTO rules

http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/regions/west-africa

https://fullfact.org/europe/who-trades-eu-under-wto-rules 

bbc.co.uk: Reality Check: Does the UK trade with 'the rest of world' on WTO rules?

What would ‘trading on WTO terms’ mean for the UK?

There is nothing to fear from leaving the EU and trading with them under WTO rules

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/08/whos-afraid-of-the-wto

https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/james-obrien/experts-explanation-trading-wto-rules-means

Did Nazir Afzal say on radio .............

Today's offering comes from Politicalite

The headline screams ....

"GORDON Brown’s Labour Government allegedly urged Police Forces across the UK ‘not to investigate’ grooming gangs."

So I thought that's a bit strange coming on the back of Brown having a go at Farage something doesn't look right.  Hmmm.

The heading immediately throws up warning bells with the word "allegedly" so basically this is rumor and hearsay because if they had any evidence they wouldn't need to cover themselves with the word  "allegedly".

Lets have a look at who Politicalite.com are, the support us page claims ....

Politicalite is the truly independent news site that reports the unreported news by the people, for the people, but we’re under attack by the Establishment who are trying to censor real news written by the people, for the people.

and

Britains most censored news outlet 

The search bar at the top of the page contains individual links to Tommy and Farage, along with Trump, Tories, Labour, Brexit etc.  and from searching the content we can safely say Politicalite.com supports Tommy Robinson, Nigel Farage and Trump. Also Politicalite.com link to therebel.media

A quick google search of  "is Politicalite.com a fake news site" gets quite a few hits but would need further investigation.  The site doesn't appear on the wikipedia list of fake websites. On that basis I will work on the principle that we are undecided at present whether Politicalite.com promotes fake news, as I want to stick with the main Gordon Brown story.

A further search revealed that someone had already done a freedom of information request. Child grooming - circular to Police Forces in 2008 the home office replied We have not been able to identify any circular which includes the statement in your request.  click the link for the full document.
The document also links to the national archives Home office circulars 2008 and the only documents i can find from 2008 are
The duties and powers of the police under The Children Act 1989

Which doesn't mention anything about young girls sexual behavior as alleged on Politicalite by Nazir Afzal a former Chief Prosecutor for North West England.

“as far as these young girls who are being exploited in towns and cities, we believe they have made an informed choice about their sexual behaviour and therefore it is not for you police officers to get involved in.”

I also searched the 2007 archive and the 2009 archive, but found nothing.

So I searched for Nazir Afzal to find out who he is and he was indeed Chief Prosecutor in North West England from 2011 to 2015 and does appear to be a very respected individual.

A search on the actual comment made found these

mayor of London- questions to the Mayor November 22, 2018 - Ref: 2018/3142  basically just saying unable to identify the Home Office circular from 2008 referred to nor the letter in question.

and

https://www.westmercia.police: FOI 10695 and 10696 2008 Grooming Circular  the answer was similar "No specific recorded information held"

So whilst being a very respectable individual one has to question did he actually make the statement that is being claimed or has the comment been altered to serve a narrative. The majority of sites reporting it are definitely dubious. 

Its stated that Nazir Afzal made the comment when he was  interviewed very briefly on the Radio 4 PM programme on 19th October.   Altnewsmedia goes on to say ....."In the interview he made a quite astonishing claim which does not seem to have received the publicity it deserves so we thought it worth publicizing here. He said (@34minutes):"  

Unfortunately the link goes to a Sorry, the page you are looking for cannot be found!
I run another search for Nazir Afzal radio program Radio 4 PM programme on 19th October. That search came up with an interview of 1 minute and is the correct date https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06pbs8q
Altnewsmedia states "he was interviewed very briefly" but then claims, the astonishing claim was made at 34mins. 34 minutes is not a brief interview.

So I'm starting to smell bullshite here.

In the International Business Times Nazir Afzal writes the article himself but the claim here is different.

"The term "child prostitute" was used to describe victims and the Home Office in a circular to police in 2008 used that term and spoke of girls making an "informed choice" to engage in this behaviour"

No mention of an instruction saying that police shouldn't get involved.

Another comment from the article was ....

The term "child prostitute" was used extensively to describe them and it should be noted both that the Home Office in a circular to police in 2008 used that term and spoke of girls making an "informed choice" to engage in this behaviour. Parliament only finally removed the term from all laws a couple of years ago.

I still cannot find any relating circular and a search of the words "informed Choice" finds nothing on https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Nazir Afzal goes on to say in the International Business Times article ....

Following the case, everyone including the prime minister chose to respond to the lessons learnt. I was commended in parliament and in the media, but the reaction of the far right to me was very different. The BBC film doesn't show this at my request.

The far right narrative was and is very simple – "all these minorities attacking our white children." The inconvenient fact that I, the Birmingham born son of an immigrant family that were catering contractors for the British Army for two generations, was the prosecutor who helped bring them to justice, damaged that narrative, I guess.

However, they began circulating messages online falsely suggesting that I was behind the earlier decisions not to prosecute. I only came to the north west in 2011, but fake news took hold. I was then subjected to thousands of letters and emails to my office, to the prime minister and even to President Barack Obama calling for me to be sacked and deported. The thugs held a demonstration outside my home, and because of threats to harm me a panic alarm was placed in my home with additional security, including police patrols. My children had to go to school by taxi. Nick Griffin and BNP TV door-stepped me outside my office.

SOAPBOX COMMENT
I have not been able to find any evidence of  Nazir Afzal saying what is claimed ie ....

“as far as these young girls who are being exploited in towns and cities, we believe they have made an informed choice about their sexual behaviour and therefore it is not for you police officers to get involved in.”

In the brief radio interview mentioned on Altnewsmedia he doesn't say anything about it. and the closest I can find to it is.

"The term "child prostitute" was used to describe victims and the Home Office in a circular to police in 2008 used that term and spoke of girls making an "informed choice" to engage in this behaviour"

Therefore in the absence of any supporting evidence I would have to conclude that the accusation ....

"GORDON Brown’s Labour Government allegedly urged Police Forces across the UK ‘not to investigate’ grooming gangs."

Is pure rumor and hearsay

Soapbox Rating: BOLLOX

Update 15/07/19

A recording of Nazir Afzal saying 

“as far as these young girls who are being exploited in towns and cities, we believe they have made an informed choice about their sexual behaviour and therefore it is not for you police officers to get involved in.”

has been posted on YouTube, in case that video is taken down I have a copy but for the present will link to it. Many thanks to the person that posted it in the comments.

The relevant quote is at 2:02.

Lets update the facts we have

• We've now confirmed that Nazir Afzal did say the quote about the Home Office circular to police in 2008.
• What would be great to have now is a copy of the actual circular, otherwise we just have one person's word for what actually happened however respectable that person appears to be.
• So did the home office issue the circular as Nazir Afzal claims ?
• If they did why is the no record of it?
• 
  

Soapbox Rating: (Changed to) Further investigation Needed

If you have any information that would help in the accuracy of this blog please comment and I'll update. 

LINKS
Politicalite.com: GORDON Brown’s Labour Government allegedly urged Police Forces across the UK ‘not to investigate’ grooming gangs.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/child_grooming_circular_to_polic
altnewsmedia: THE ‘INFORMED CHOICES’ OF YOUNG GIRLS
webarchive.nationalarchives: Home Office Circulars from 2008
webarchive.nationalarchives: home office circulars from 2007
webarchive.nationalarchives: home office circulars from 2009
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazir_Afzal
https://www.thersa.org/events/speakers/nazir-afzal
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmhaff/68/6803.htm
ibtimes.co.uk: Three Girls: I prosecuted the Rochdale child grooming gang - it wasn't about race
bbc.co.uk/programmes: Not about race or ethnicity 'it's the fact they're men'
https://www.therebel.media/


News sources checked
www.Politicalite.com           - Undecided
www.altnewsmedia.net        - https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/altnewsmedia-net/
https://www.therebel.media - https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-rebel/

She is surely the worst prime minister in British political history

"She is surely the worst prime minister in British political history, rivaled only by her predecessor. The only thing to say in her favour is that she will very soon lose that title to her successor, given the rabble lining up to pitch for her job."

Have to say I agree I have no sympathy for incompetence or the stupidly obstinate. However its more likely that like Thatcher with the Falklands war, this was more by design than incompetence. Is there more at work here than we are seeing or is she really that vain that she cant see the writing on the wall. However, If Thatcher didn't design the events that led to the Falklands or May the events that led to the position the UK now finds itself in then we really only have incompetence to consider.

LINKS

Independent.co.uk: Spare your tears for Theresa May – she doesn’t deserve an ounce of sympathy
https://garysoapbox.blogspot.com/2016/12/was-falkands-war-thatchers-gamble.html

58 Veterans committed suicide - Jeremy Kyle stole the show.

In 2018 approximately 58 UK veterans committed suicide.

1 person from the Jeremy Kyle reality show dies and everyone goes into meltdown.

Nothing but condolences to Family and friends of all.

That's all I can say really.

"Darren Greenfield had served with the Royal Tank Regiment but, after leaving the Army, he struggled to cope with civilian life and ended up begging for spare change in his khakis."

 ~

"The British Legion has estimated that there are currently about 6,000 homeless veterans in the UK."

~ 

"Ministers have disclosed that more than 25,000 veterans received mental health treatment in 2016-17, but the Mental Health Foundation says only half ask for help, implying there are 50,000 former military personnel with mental health issues."

~ 

"Campaigners estimate that last year, at least 58 veterans took their own lives."

~

LINKS

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-47246487/is-there-a-suicide-crisis-for-british-veterans 

https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/armed-forces-veterans-homeless-crime-prison-mental-health

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5274955/Homeless-ex-soldier-died-slept-Edinburgh-streets.html