Government watch

Now I would be in agreement with,anyone who wants a general election. I am a Conservative who voted leave with a new determination to live given the scandalous statement by John Snow that leave voters , being old, would soon die. If he bothered to look at social trends people in middle age often stop voting for socialism. I really wish Mr Snow would retire. We need a general election that both Labour and Lib Dems shy away from.

I find all this accusing people of being actively malign and making laws to crush other people to make money is silly. Of course there are some nasty operators at all levels and in all parties, but often what happens, as I think with Grenfell Towers are that safety regulations ar made piecemeal by different groups for different uses.

Obviously we will not know until the enquiry reports, but the kind of thing that seems to happen is that one body clears a material as meeting flamability standards, or meets them for certain narrow uses, someone else comes along sees the relevant safety stamp on the product, but then uses it in a way it was never meant to be used and which negates the flammability standard. The same with breached voids in the structure. A block of flats (any block of flats) is designed to be fire safe but a few years later someone decides to replace the plumbing systems and builders go in and drill holes in all the barriers meant to stop flame spreading to get new plumbing from floor to floor.

Councils and companies - and governments, cut back on inspections because so few problems are found, failing to realise that problems hadn't arisen because things were inspected regularly.

Kier Starmer letter to Gove saying he misled parliament.

pbs.twimg.com/media/EFYJmXtXUAEBhMs.jpg

"Misleding* is a very polite way of putting it.

Whiewavemk2, Michael Gove misled the House of Commons by far more than your above post lays out. Gove informed Parliament that British Hauliers would not be affected greatly should Britain withdraw from the European Union on the 31st of October with no-deal.

Britain he stated would place no checks on vehicles leaving the UK via the Channel ports or tunnel, therefore no delays would be incurred to those vehicles by way of British Border personal. However, he then went on to state that as those vehicles return "empty" from their European deliveries they would be "waved through" at the channel ports and tunnel by EU border personal.

In the above, nothing could be further from the true facts. Hauliers only gain revenue from their vehicles when they are in the process of actually transporting freight. No one pays those distribution operators for running "empty mileage" and therefore that running is strictly avoided in the road haulage industry. If a haulier cannot guarantee a return load from an EU country they will most definitely not undertake a journey into the continent whatever the revenue rates they may be offered.

Therefore Michael Gove must have been totally ignorant of the above when he made that statement to parliament, in which case he had not undertaken the required consultation with the industry, or he had full knowledge of the haulage industries normal mode of operation, in which case he deliberately misled the House of Commons.

More than sixty percent of my companies work is brought about by our close working with the haulage industry. In that, supply companies such as ours and the entire haulage industry itself have been stunned by what Gove stated to parliament yesterday. Joking emails have been "doing the rounds" in regard to the stupidity of Gove's remarks.

However, on the serious side, hundreds of thousands of jobs rely on those haulage industry vehicles having seamless transit through the ports without delays. It should also be remembered that more than forty percent of the United Kingdoms fresh food crosses the channel every day in those returning trucks.

Gove's action in his statement to Parliament is nothing short of disgusting either in his negligence or in his deliberate misleading of the House of Commons.

Richard Burnett the Chief Executive the Road Haulage Association has I believe urgently written to Gove with regard to what has been stated.

With government ministers such as Michael Gove, this crisis can only deepen further I feel.

Grandad I think I missed the second page ?

pbs.twimg.com/media/EFYJmXtX4AAe4oc.jpg

Gove, like Rees Mogg, maintains a veneer of politeness which cannot disguise his blatant dishonesty.

Whitewavemark2, many thanks for posting the second page of that letter. Together with the letter sent by Richard Burnett of the Road Haulage Association, It will be interesting to see if any meaningful response is received by either

Not holding my breath in that regard.