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Government Watch - 2

(967 Posts)
whitewave Wed 26-Jul-17 13:27:27

Very much needed.

First happy thing to report.

Unison have won their case making it illegal to charge employees for employment litigation. Introduced by the Tories in 2013.

The judges quite rightly said it was wrong to make it difficult/impossible for anyone to resort to law.

Those who paid will be reimbursed.

durhamjen Sun 03-Dec-17 22:27:03

Bottom of every list as well, without being robbed of £2 million by a tax fraudster.

Just in case you can't see it.

pbs.twimg.com/media/Con_h2SWAAA1VWf.jpg

whitewave Mon 04-Dec-17 08:07:38

So as a direct result of this evil government’s austerity programme

7000000 more children and pensioners driven into poverty.

whitewave Mon 04-Dec-17 09:19:00

700000! Too many zeros.

Ilovecheese Mon 04-Dec-17 12:58:19

Re Damien Green:
Isn't it worse if it was not him looking at the porn? That would mean that he was letting other people use his computer without any idea what they were doing on it.

whitewave Mon 04-Dec-17 13:16:26

Yes! Of course. When I was at work, I changed my password every month, and if I left my desk logged off. No one had access to my computer. No one had access to my password.

whitewave Mon 04-Dec-17 13:19:33

I might add it would have been a discipline offence - and rightly so- if I had broken any one of those rules. Dismissal if used for such a serious thing as browsing pornography.

I would be a bit miffed if I thought that any confidential information about me was able to be accessed by anyone other than my MP, and in fact I think it should be a serious offence.

grumppa Mon 04-Dec-17 14:02:50

I expect that Green's parliament computer was regularly accessed by the House's IT staff without his bothering too much about security.

I remember two women members of my team coming to me to complain that they had found a load of pornographic literature on their computers, which it turned out had been put there by one of the IT people. Which is why it is very hard to determine that Green was aware of what was on his computer. And what was on other MPs' computers?

whitewave Mon 04-Dec-17 14:06:54

Are you suggesting grumppa that Green would not have been aware that pornography had been down loaded onto his computer!! That stretches credulity too much.

whitewave Mon 04-Dec-17 14:23:07

I might add that IT staff do not have access to your password. It was all done remotely with my permission, whilst I sat watching the computer take on a life of its own, but absolutely no one had access without my say so under any circumstances.

durhamjen Mon 04-Dec-17 16:13:23

If he didn't do it himself, he should definitely know who did.

It's worrying that they are now going after the policemen who gave the information.
To my mind, it is definitely in the public interest.

durhamjen Mon 04-Dec-17 16:15:08

The problem is, whenever I hear of another Tory minister standing up for him, I just picture an ever bigger group of men standing round his desk, nudging and winking.

whitewave Mon 04-Dec-17 16:16:11

Or there is stuff on their own computer

whitewave Mon 04-Dec-17 16:40:53

It is definately a case of scapegoating. Anyone else would be praised for whistleblowing, and remember it was only after green has been allegedly accused of groping that the other stuff came out. National interest? I should say so.

POGS Mon 04-Dec-17 18:13:29

Kangaroo court again. sad

durhamjen Mon 04-Dec-17 18:24:35

t.co/pR6J0zXyQD

This was Nadine Dorries.
She has admitted to breaking data protection.
Glad she's not my MP.

varian Mon 04-Dec-17 18:34:20

A bit sloppy, wouldn't you say?

durhamjen Mon 04-Dec-17 18:34:44

"No matter how many technical systems we put in place, we also rely on you to help us to protect yourself, your office and the wider parliamentary community from cyber attack. Cyber security is everyone’s responsibility.

A strong password, known only to you, is an essential first- line defence . As the attack in June demonstrated, weak and shared passwords can put the entire parliamentary network at risk.

Parliament’s ICT Security Policy, which we all agree to comply with as a condition of using parliamentary digital services, clearly states:

“Passwords must be considered as confidential and must be used only by the originator (and so not shared with other users)”. If you share your password, or login as anyone other than yourself, you are in breach of this policy.

If you have been working in an insecure way by sharing your password with others, or by logging in to someone else’s account, we would like to help. In most scenarios, the solution is to provide colleagues with delegated access to your email and calendar via their own accounts. Contact the Support Desk on 020 7219 2001 to set this up. If your issues are more sensitive or more complex, please contact [email protected] , and someone will call or email you back."

durhamjen Mon 04-Dec-17 19:53:33

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/parliament-data-security_uk_5a2543f6e4b04dacbc9bd8ff?utm_hp_ref=uk-politics

This is the government that has been telling us this weekend not to use Kaspersky because it's Russian and you never know who is reading your emails, etc.

So they now know that they can probably quite easily get into Dorries's computer, and Blunt's.

lemongrove Mon 04-Dec-17 20:19:35

Typical knee jerk reactions from some left wing GN members (about Damien Green). If this had been a Labour MP on trial by media, there would have been nothing but sympathy.
Think hard about what these ex policeman have done ( no doubt for revenge purposes) and in fact, they may well be prosecuted for it......by the police!

GracesGranMK2 Mon 04-Dec-17 20:19:47

I see it as two separate issues - or possibly three.

One is that information was given to the Conservatives about legal porn being accessed during working time in the HoP. The difficultly, as I see it, is that MPs are not actually employed as far as I am aware. I believe they are self-employed. So no HR and not one to comment on your conduct.

The second is the cover-up, if that is what it is. Lying to Parliament is a no-no. It is cover-ups that tend to bring politicians down and it is usually media led. It could be called a Kangaroo Court but it is often what happens as MPs don't have the protection of being employed.

The third is should the policemen, retired or not, have made privileged information public. I don't believe they should have done. There is more depth to that argument but I believe it affects the trust we have in the police.

durhamjen Mon 04-Dec-17 20:30:47

Two Labour MPs have died because of this, lemon. You appear to have forgotten.

GracesGranMK2 Mon 04-Dec-17 21:01:59

to what the government is doing to the rest of us. ink{https://www.express.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/884980/state-pension-pensions-pension-credit-pensioners-new-state-pension-retirement-Steve-Webbwww.express.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/884980/state-pension-pensions-pension-credit-pensioners-new-state-pension-retirement-Steve-Webb REVEALED: Poorest pensioners to get smallest increase in April}

^Figures published today by the Department of Work and Pensions show that the new flat-rate state pension will rise by 3 per cent next April - from £159.55 to £164.35 per week.
However the weekly limit for pension credit - a means tested benefit for those on low incomes that tops up the old basic state pension - will only rise by 2 per cent, from £159.35 to £163 per week for individuals and from £243.23 to £248.80 per week for couples.^

GracesGranMK2 Mon 04-Dec-17 21:02:38

Sorry - should have checked before I posted.

durhamjen Mon 04-Dec-17 21:05:09

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2017/12/04/an-mmt-interlude/

Here's something worth reading, GracesGran.

GracesGranMK2 Mon 04-Dec-17 21:06:43

Two in 10 pensioners now living in poverty

As we prepare to leave the EU, we have to make sure that our country and our economy works for everyone and doesn’t leave even more people behind.