Owen Patterson and sleaze- a shameful day in the House

Urmstongran

Nadhim Zahawi, the Education Secretary, insisted the ambition of reforming the wider process of investigating MP standards was right, tacking it onto a vote about the long-standing North Shropshire MP was not the right approach.

"I take collective responsibility, I am part of the Government, I am part of the Cabinet," Mr Zahawi told BBC Breakfast. "I also take collective responsibility to say we made a mistake... We shouldn't have conflated the issue of fairness... with the specific case of Owen Paterson."

He added: "All I can say is I am sorry, we made that mistake, but it was right to move quickly and actually it is much more human. I would prefer a leader who is able to reflect and come back and say 'we made a mistake', rather than just ploughs on."

Zahawi has just said on Sky that he voted for it but ‘hadn’t actually read it’…..(well that inspires confidence doesn’t it)….

Zahawi has just said on Sky that he voted for it but ‘hadn’t actually read it’…..(well that inspires confidence doesn’t it)…

Doesn't he have the nouse to see that not having read it makes him look even worse?

Yes, just seen this - unbelievable, inexcusable!

I concur Barmeyoldbat I turned regretted my vote pretty early on, really don’t understand how anyone can still support such a populist incompetent.

Shockingly, Mr Paterson is blaming the people who called him out on his misdemeanours for his poor wife's suicide. Where is his moral compass? He is at fault, here, no one else. I am sure that the prisons have inmates who blame the judge/jury for the problems endured by their families in their period of incarceration .

I am ashamed of the Government and their sleazy dealings. I always held our democracy in high place and high value. This week’s events have shown all of us how utterly corrupt and insensitive Boris and his pals are.
The electorate have been conned by this lot of self righteous, self centred , selfish Etonians. Even Maggie wasn’t this bad and I ended up despising her and her actions.
Unfortunately the opposition is weak in its reaction to all that is happening. With 3 by elections in the offing it is time for opposition parties to work together .
If things carry on like this, Boris will be our front man fir a long time and that is a horrible thought. Dictatorship springs to mind. Why do the electorate not see this?
The world is bemused by our situation. It is nothing to be proud of.

Chocolatelovinggran

Shockingly, Mr Paterson is blaming the people who called him out on his misdemeanours for his poor wife's suicide. Where is his moral compass? He is at fault, here, no one else. I am sure that the prisons have inmates who blame the judge/jury for the problems endured by their families in their period of incarceration .

He has said this before Chocolatelovinggran. I thought when I heard it that he has to do this. If he didn't do so who would blame and then, how could he how can he go forward? The committee found he was in the wrong but others must have encouraged him to continue to challenge this. He has certainly been used this week, in my opinion.

I hope his family can support him and he can find a way through this. I find that despite the wrong-doing I still feel sympathy for anyone trying to come to terms with everything he has had to face.

Urmstongran

Boris has an instinct for public opinion which is more accurate than that of most other politicians. This is why he wins almost all the elections and votes he takes part in. If he loses on an issue, he U-turns quickly and moves on. You may call it unprincipled but he is successful. Who do you think is cleverer?

One day, soon, it will just stop working. And then it will all happen VERY fast. Even the Daily Mail has turned!

This is just one example of another dodgy deal:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56667960

The article was dated 20 April and, as far as I know, nothing has been done about it.

Samir Jassal is now a millionaire, as a result of the pandemic. He is described as a good friend of Priti Patel and Johnson's adviser Munira Mirza.

Incidentally, Mirza is the husband of Dougie Smith, who also works in Downing Street. Smith was one of the founders of "Killing Kittens" (which I've mentioned before). It's an upmarket swingers' club, which was given £170,000 of emergency funds at the beginning of the pandemic, so that it could go online when lockdown was imposed.

So now we're being told that the debt has to be paid back (no, I know it doesn't), but I hope the people who justify the rise in taxes and cuts realise how some of the debts were run up in the first place. A handful of people have made a great deal of money out of the pandemic.

Kali2

Urmstongran

Boris has an instinct for public opinion which is more accurate than that of most other politicians. This is why he wins almost all the elections and votes he takes part in. If he loses on an issue, he U-turns quickly and moves on. You may call it unprincipled but he is successful. Who do you think is cleverer?

One day, soon, it will just stop working. And then it will all happen VERY fast. Even the Daily Mail has turned!

Now Paul Dacre has finally left the Daily Mail, the government won't be able to rely on support.

growstuff

Kali2

Urmstongran

Boris has an instinct for public opinion which is more accurate than that of most other politicians. This is why he wins almost all the elections and votes he takes part in. If he loses on an issue, he U-turns quickly and moves on. You may call it unprincipled but he is successful. Who do you think is cleverer?

One day, soon, it will just stop working. And then it will all happen VERY fast. Even the Daily Mail has turned!

Now Paul Dacre has finally left the Daily Mail, the government won't be able to rely on support.

He’s applying to be chair of OFcom I believe….

MayBee70

growstuff

Kali2

Urmstongran

Boris has an instinct for public opinion which is more accurate than that of most other politicians. This is why he wins almost all the elections and votes he takes part in. If he loses on an issue, he U-turns quickly and moves on. You may call it unprincipled but he is successful. Who do you think is cleverer?

One day, soon, it will just stop working. And then it will all happen VERY fast. Even the Daily Mail has turned!

Now Paul Dacre has finally left the Daily Mail, the government won't be able to rely on support.

He’s applying to be chair of OFcom I believe….

Paul Dacre has applied once and been passed over as unsuitable by the appointing board. Johnson has overruled the board, wants Dacre to apply again with changed criteria. Johnson's after controlling the TV media through a political appointment.

That is what I have read. Not sure why he is bothering as he’s got the BBC largely in his pocket. When I look at other news outlets I realise that the bbc is ignoring or under-reporting so much that is detrimental to Johnson.

Yes, he is applying to be Chair of Ofcom and is the favourite to be appointed.

Apparently, there's no love lost between Dacre and Geordie Greig, the new editor of the Daily Mail. Maybe the DM will even turn on its former editor!

Not sure how genuine the readers' comments section of the Daily Mail website is but the comments under articles about Johnson's behaviour and the recent U turn are brutal. I remember a time when they were all supportive but recently they are eviscerating.

But it’s OFcom that I was going to complain to about the shambolic way that passports are being delivered. Or not delivered….

growstuff

Yes, he is applying to be Chair of Ofcom and is the favourite to be appointed.

Apparently, there's no love lost between Dacre and Geordie Greig, the new editor of the Daily Mail. Maybe the DM will even turn on its former editor!

But he's applying for the second time. The appointing body didn't accept him as suitable applicant the first time. Johnson overturned their initial decision and has insisted that they have another go. I don't know why they took any notice of him; they are meant to be an independent regulator, aren't they?

But perhaps his success at overruling Ofcom spurred him to try to override, and disband, the Standards Select Committee?

Whenever Johnson doesn’t get his way he just moves the goalposts….

Did you hear John Major on today's (Saturday's) Today programme on Radio 4? It was a well argued, well evidenced, total attack on Johnson and his sense of having the power to do as he likes - having a large majority of MPs on the basis of just 29% of the electoral vote.

Owen whatsisname should be thoroughly ASHAMED OF HIMSELF blaming the enquiry for his poor wife's demise,. Typically of all selfish self centred monsters he fails miserably in accepting that it was mostly HIS disgusting greedy behaviour and the ensuing shame etc that probably pushed the poor darling over the edge. Abismal.

Applegran, you are right about John Major's interview this morning. He gave a brilliant summing up of the government ,saying what a lot of people are thinking.
Will it make any difference to this apology for a Government . ~it should.

This is why it is so important to clean the sewer.

From an Article by J. Freedman

I've just read this post on Twitter.

It would be very interesting to hear responses to this from people who continue to support the Conservatives.

"Boris Johnson, if he stands for anything, stands for corruption, sleaze, sewage, hungry children, breaking the rule of law, using Parliament as his plaything, Islamophobia, dishonesty and U-turns. And still he leads in the polls. What a country we’ve become." (Matthew Stadlen)

I think people have been brainwashed with the idea that there’s no feasible opposition. But just look at the people Labour could have in the cabinet. Yvette Cooper, Hilary Benn,Ed Milliband. So much experience, expertise (and, dare I say, decency). You only have to listen to Yvette Cooper speak either in parliament or in the select committees to realise how amazing she is. But the idea seems to be baked into people’s consciousness.

I agree that bringing in is wife's tragic death is totally inappropriate.