Parliament
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Westminster Week: Team games
Wednesday
Today’s Prime Minister’s Questions was a game plan gone wrong. Rather than rise to bat away every ball and reassure the country that he’s got a handle on matters, the big hitter failed to get that far. His final flourish was the most coherent part of it. There’s little more to this leader than his time in Manchester.
Thursday
Ian Room MP (North Devon/Liberal Democrats) raises “suspicious businesses” selling illegal cigarettes as a matter of concern in his constituency. He says more funding is needed for enforcement officers to run the beat. It’s not just the vape shops, then.
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Farage is seeking a fight
The Reform UK ticket is predicated on a rise to prominence and a populist, straightforward path to power. It’s the idea, anyway. The reality will be different now the party has an actual Parliamentary presence. It’s also prone to controversy.
Nigel Farage MP speaking to a journalist in Whitehall on farming matters.
Nigel Farage MP (Clacton/Reform UK) has a way that suggests he know’s what is to come. His focus on his own safety illustrates that a self-awareness many have said is necessary for politics exists deeply set in his mind. The portents for his career are laid there.
The dimensions to politics that define the UK aren’t all perfectly suited to his personality. There are areas where he already struggles. However, his talent for speaking helps him pack a punch. The road ahead is going to need a lot of that, and whatever else his party can offer.
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Revealed: Police conceal real reason for MP deaths
In a stunning rebuke to police transparency and policing greatness in the UK, it can be revealed that police staff are hiding the real reason for MP killings in the UK.
Using newspaper clippings and pencilled in stories, staff are taking to social platforms they share together to make up fake stories about the killing of MPs to blame it on citizens in other countries at will.
The real reason is now said to be nervousness at work, that has resulted in staff taking out their anger on relevant, senior colleagues from the same workplace.
There are investigations ongoing into who it might be, potentially in Parliament’s office network but also in local party branch offices.
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If an election were held today…
The state of UK politics is a many and varied thing right now, and more separated into camps than ever before. As the Labour party fight among themselves at the very top and a part of the way down, they leave an open gap for more jostling for position by the others.
The Liberal Democrats have got a chance at another Coalition Government, in my view, but maybe this is our only paradigm for them at present. As 2010 fades even more into the history books, they may want a larger slice of the pie, but how is this possible right now?
The Conservatives are more ready to return than the other parties, feeling weaker on the front benches because of a lack of support from behind. They need a comeback story, too, to put to bed the aspirations of the Labour party as they’re feeling emboldened right now.
Reform UK requires a mention due to their staggering gains in Wales and Scotland, but England is proving to be a tougher league of politics. They may want more, but their ‘newness’ against the experience of the Conservatives (now there’s a fright about) may keep them away from power a while longer.
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Parliament to receive updated regulations – Reports
In a stunning rebuke to much energetic activity of MP’s of late to compensate for a lack of professional behaviour, rather than under 16’s receiving updated guidance on their own online habits, Parliament itself will be undertaking a retraining metaphor for its Members according to refreshed, revised, and updated guidelines.
This comes as many real and local stakeholders are absolutely appalled by its lack of real progress, and in particular have concerns that no structure to working exists and that even staff and volunteers also renege on nearly all their security and professional standards to harass their enemies and privately benefit themselves.
This embarassment is huge to sensitive people in and across the UK, and because it has led to total shutoffs of communication with some whole countries, there is a feeling of helplessness. But, in an effort to revive vital Parliamentary democracy itself, beyond just wording it out to people all day long, all guidelines will be updated and all historic measures made anew.
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Photo Report: Palace of Westminster
Parliament is described differently depending on the visitor. I’ve heard ‘donkey’ on the one hand, and ‘wonder’ on the other. I suppose it’s the outside that inspires the former, and the inside that incites the latter. It can all be appreciated as you walk up to the site and take a tour of its interior.
What opens up is an historic token of many influences in halls, chambers, and meeting spaces. There are new inspirations being added because matters are explored in modern and mature aspects by its main occupants. These bring perspective by way of faces, meanings, and features of unique walks of life that have roots here.
However, take a look again in the fresh air and see the “guardians” (as they were once called) placed carefully around the exterior. Some look like people, but others are just specific in their height, shape, or proximity to something else. Like many coded artworks, there are lessons worked in for us.
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Westminster Week: Risky business
Tuesday
With the PM in the crosshairs for his appointment of Peter Mandelson, MP’s discuss the appropriate course of action, laying out an appearance to the Privileges Committee on the table. It may seem a polite way to seek to understand someone’s conduct to those outside, but it counts as a sort of review of performance so far for insiders. This isn’t always convenient, and government media managers would hate having even more work to do at present.
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The PM survives a vote, showing that he’s got some support in there, even if some Labour MP’s and many others just want him out. This is political opportunism. Now he’s shown an ability to dodge a bullet.
Wednesday
It’s a tale of two cities. The Leader of the Opposition thinks the Prime Minister has hollowed out the budget for a welfare power grab, and the Prime Minister says she bungled her own response to the Iran conflict, leaving her voters at risk. This is tough stuff.
Parliament is prorogued.
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Starmer survives, but some want him out
The Prime Minister has avoided being forced to appear before the Privileges Committee, therefore surviving his leadership and leaving him to focus on his Plan For Change in government.
MP’s voted 335 to 223 against the motion, suggesting the PM enjoys some broad support, even if a small number of Labour MP’s continue to criticise his tenure.
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Westminster Week: Games & drama
Monday
It’s Judgement Day for the Prime Minister, as some might suspect, and usually no stone is left unturned on these occasions. The rapid questioning can be bewildering as it comes across remotely, but I’m told it’s necessary in the Chamber for some to get their argument across.
Then, there are others that choose to cross a line. Lee Anderson MP (Ashfield/Reform UK) and Zarah Sultana MP (Coventry South/Your Party) both left, on the orders of the Speaker. The latter had more of a hard time of it, being suspended it would seem for calling the Prime Minister a liar. It’s a hard road ahead for the party in waiting.
The noise in the ‘background’ can take attention off proceedings, but experts tell me to pay attention to the faces in the foreground. They’re trying urgently to shine a light on themselves, perchance a gap comes up for a new leader. It’s a long shot, because the Prime Minister isn’t being openly challenged as yet, but that’s the thing. This may help to turn that on its head.
Tuesday
Olly Robins is a quiet figure in his own way, but in his capacity as a Civil Servant he’s a vocal defender of the position. He, like many others, stands up for the Service like a true gentleman, but digs in like a traitor in chief. It’s now obvious people disagree, recollections may vary, and it’s all above board whatever it is and whatever happened.
Wednesday
Peter Mandelson looms eerily over the proceedings of PMQ’s today, showing that his career has made some impact on the UK political system in the wrong way. The Leader of the Opposition is out to find the gaps in the reasoning of the Prime Minister, who just moves the pieces around as if frustrated halfway through a chess game. He hasn’t got a killer strategy, and it’s unlikely the benches opposite will give up.
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Westminster Week: Thinking it over
Monday
Sarah Coombes MP (West Bromwich/Labour) highlights a flashpoint issue in her constituency, regarding racism against a local Sikh community’s place of worship. An offensive item that was left outside its doors leaves her questioning how the building can be made safe again.
Wednesday
Any talk of war brings up the subject of the funding of our Defence infrastructure. It epitomises the worries of people across the UK who feel exposed to global conflicts and also sense we’re underprepared at the same time. The Iran debacle has not slowed in raising the temperature of conversations across Whitehall and Government (as it usually does), and in Parliament there are signs that it’s an issue at the forefront of many people’s minds too. The only trouble is, who has the right answer?
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Westminster Week: Open season
Wednesday
The Prime Minister brings out Tommy Robinson as if he’s a Punch. The question is where’s the Judy?
The Leader of the Opposition says the Prime Minister is a “weak man” and a “strong woman” should lead his party. A few would think that’s a good idea…
Thursday
Mike Kane MP (Wythenshawe and Sale East/Labour) chooses to blame “English law, through the City of London” for high levels of international development debt. If the shoe fits.
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Parliament still needs to prove its worth
The split down the middle in Parliamentary affairs is based on a separation of matters between the Lower and Upper Houses.
The House of Commons is a bulk of the meaning and purpose of Parliament in the life of the four nations of the Union, but of course more so in England.
The MP’s that get elected are able to scoop up work that makes up their beneficial activity for us. They have to be on it, though, or they slip in their reasoning, and in their prominence for us.
The House of Lords is more prone to feeling the earthquakes that result out of shifting tectonic plates of public crisis. They also look at the good trends, but have to focus on dark matters, too.
Peers are not known for being ‘young’ or ‘trendy’, but they know about these people too, as well many more of the groups and communities that are replete in the UK and make it into what it is.
While Parliamentary business is different every week and politics is a changeable thing, just because people want to have their way doesn’t mean there isn’t a method to it and staff that keep it going.
The effort is still needed, and more so as we seek to make more sense of our own affairs following the historic Brexit referendum vote. The need to keep our heads down and focus is now a priority for us.
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Call for information: Parliament fraudsters
In a stunning exclusive for Conservative News Site, a pair of fraudsters alleged of attempting repetitively to keep false staff members in Parliamentary staffing lists and include new fake staff have now been spotted.
It’s believed the duo have been involved in this effort for over ten years and have been supported by some unknown MP’s as Police officer’s have attempted to either remove or interview them.
Any information relating to these individuals must be passed to a relevant public body. It will be used to build an accurate case, if one exists.
