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... and the sleaze goes on ...

(135 Posts)
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PippaZ Tue 20-Apr-21 16:22:01

I haven't given up on KS yet but keepingquiet's first post echoes my feeling except for saying I get the feeling they don't even accept they have to obey the rules. This lot seem to think they are above all that in a way I don't feel I've seen for decades.

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Ilovecheese Tue 20-Apr-21 16:00:53

varian loved the typo

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Ilovecheese Tue 20-Apr-21 15:59:52

You would think so MaizieD but they still have so much support, still ahead in the polls.

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MaizieD Tue 20-Apr-21 15:55:12

that during a pandemic people want to really trust in the Government because they want to feel safe.

That is so weird, Ilovecheese, because this government makes me feel as though I'm in constant danger.

Perhaps people might have felt safe in the first few months, but the constant dithering and late reactions must surely have scared many people?

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varian Tue 20-Apr-21 14:50:00

Starmer

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varian Tue 20-Apr-21 14:47:31

The leaders of six opposition parties call out Johnson's failre to tell the truth.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/apr/19/parties-inquiry-boris-johnson-failurehonest

What a pity Keir Starker did not join them.

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keepingquiet Tue 20-Apr-21 14:38:46

Maybe, Ilovecheese, but by then it may well be too late.
How do you trust a government that is responsible for one of the highest per capita death rates on the entire planet. Getting away with that they can now get away with anything. The pandemic is far from over.

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Ilovecheese Tue 20-Apr-21 14:19:50

Someone on another thread, I am afraid I can't remember who, made what I thought was a very interesting point, that during a pandemic people want to really trust in the Government because they want to feel safe. Maybe that is why, at the moment, the corruption in the Government is being given such an easy ride.
I am hoping that when the pandemic has receded and we all feel safer, that the Government actions will be less acceptable to the public.

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keepingquiet Tue 20-Apr-21 14:14:55

I feel very pessimistic about what is going on in this country. It seems the establishment is closing ranks in way it hasn't since before the war.
Most government ministers are privately educated privileged profiteers who know their mates will watch out for them.
The press more and more sides with the money and even the BBC no longer pretends to be impartial.
Increasingly, I hear people say they are all the same, there's no point in voting, and most alarming to me- 'they know better than us,' etc etc.
I fear we are not going to see any change anytime soon.
The upcoming elections will show what a stranglehold the establishment have and how untouchable they now are.

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PippaZ Tue 20-Apr-21 12:55:57

This is the latest email from The Good Law Project

We already knew that Boris Johnson had misled Parliament when he insisted in February 2021 that all COVID contracts were now “on the record”. Now we’ve uncovered a new contract that makes further nonsense of that claim.

In July 2020 Pharmaceuticals Direct Limited was handed a £102.6 million Government PPE contract - without any competition. Though it was awarded the multi-million pound deal to supply face masks last July, Government failed to publish any details relating to the contract until March this year. In fact, it was only after our lawyers wrote to Government about Pharmaceuticals Direct that this lucrative contract was disclosed, long after Boris Johnson claimed all contract details were on the record. The company’s named representative was a man named Samir Jassal.

Samir Jassal is a well-connected figure within the Conservative Party. A two-time Conservative Party parliamentary candidate and former councillor, he has met Boris Johnson on at least three occasions, with the last meeting held in October 2020. According to his LinkedIn profile, he was an adviser in No.10 during David Cameron’s premiership in 2015 and has worked with several other prominent Conservative Party figures, including the Home Secretary Priti Patel and Minister Zac Goldsmith. Jassal has also donated £4,000 to the Conservative Party in recent years.

This £102.6 million contract is not the only one handed to Pharmaceuticals Direct by the Department for Health and Social Care - the firm received an earlier PPE contract in May 2020, worth £28.8 million. Both deals were directly awarded to the firm without any competition.

The High Court has already ruled that Government acted unlawfully by failing to publish details of Covid-related contracts. The appearance of bias in some of these lucrative contracts awarded without competition is cause for even greater concern.

The more details that we uncover on PPE contracts, the more serious the questions that arise. In this case Government's apparent amnesia when it comes to its legal obligations has prevented timely public scrutiny of a multi-million pound direct award to a Tory party member and donor.

We intend to get answers. To hold Government to account and protect public funds, we have sent a pre-action protocol letter initiating legal proceedings.

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