The UK Politics (etc) Thread

[mrsukyankee]

I know that not everyone wants to read about UK politics, so I thought I'd start a thread that I can use to update about the state of the UK and what's happening politically. It could be important for the US as right now we have the right wing government that the US Republicans seem to want (without as much of the Christofascism, but there's a push from that group too here). We may have at least 1-1/2 years until our next election (hopefully sooner) so they can keep pushing the destruction of the country in honour of nationalism/libertarianism/money for the rich. Unfortunately, the other main party, Labour, are having some issues as well - they have moved from more left to almost a bit right of centre with this leader. Feel we're kinda fucked.

Anyway - in the most recent news (note, I tend to read more left centre news in the Guardian, but also love reading a new online/print paper that is more focused on social issues called the Byline Times):

1. Minister denies ‘cultural issue’ among Tory MPs after Crispin Blunt’s arrest
Gillian Keegan says to trust in due process as eighth Conservative loses whip over sexual misconduct allegations since 2019

2. The ‘Secret Lessons Plan’ : Sex and Relationship Education in Schools Targeted by Christian Nationalism Groups
The campaign against “secret lesson plans” was founded by Clare Page who is linked to the group Don’t Divide Us (DDU) who created a guide for parents to search for teachers seeking to indoctrinate children with dangerous ideologies, recommending they collect information, scrutinise behaviour systems, provide the DDU approved reading list and make suggestions about what should be taught. The site has a form for parents to report “controversial materials.” Don’t Divide Us is linked to a number of organisations that appear intent on importing US-style culture wars into the UK which has led to authoritarian anti-LGBT+ legislation in Republican states.

3. Tory environment select committee chair told to quit over ties to lobby group
Campaigners call for Sir Robert Goodwill to resign as Guardian reveals he is also head of ‘destructive’ rural pressure group that backs trophy hunting

4. ‘Make Amazon Pay’ Black Friday strikes planned in 30 countries including UK
The day of action, to be held on 24 November, was announced in Manchester at the first Make Amazon Pay summit of trade unionists and political leaders. On Thursday the online retailer revealed its profits had tripled to £9.9bn (about £8.2bn).

5. More than 1 million UK children experienced destitution last year, study finds
Severe material hardship no longer a rarity, as study reveals impact of benefit cuts and cost of living crisis

6.England to diverge from EU water monitoring standards
Exclusive: campaigners fear less rigorous methods could lead to more pollution in rivers and waterways. In 2019, the last time the full water assessments took place, just 14% of rivers were in good ecological health and none met standards for good chemical health. The government has said it does not intend to deliver a complete update until 2025, the latest permissible date under the new WFD. (Side note: water, electricity, etc have all gone from gov't owned to privately owned and everything has gone downhill due to this  - one example of people trying to get others informed: www.sas.org.uk/water-quality/sewage-pollution-alerts/)

[mrsukyankee]

And from our disgusting Home Secretary who seems to want to be more right wing asshole than most right wing assholes:


Fury as Braverman depicts homelessness as a ‘lifestyle choice’


Suella Braverman has been rebuked by a senior Tory campaigner on homelessness after the home secretary provoked outrage by describing rough sleeping as a “lifestyle choice.”

Bob Blackman MP, head of the all-party parliamentary group for ending homelessness, said Braverman was wrong to discuss a complex and serious issue in such terms and advised her to use “wiser” language.

Braverman posted on X, formerly Twitter, that she plans to crack down on the pitching of tents in urban areas, which she largely blamed on individuals “from abroad”.

The home secretary wrote: “We cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice.”

[gardengal]

😳 to living on streets as a lifestyle choice.

[mrsukyankee]

Our Home Secretary, SB, has been sacked to be replaced by another idiot (James Cleverly - he does not live up to his name) and the idiot who brought us Brexit and then bunked off is the new Foreign Secretary. Yes, you can imagine just how I feel about this.

David Cameron returns to UK government as foreign secretary


David Cameron has returned to government as UK foreign secretary, in a stunning comeback for the former prime minister that highlighted Rishi Sunak’s willingness to take risks as he looks to revive his political fortunes.



Downing Street announced on Monday that Cameron would join the government, accepting a peerage in order to do so, as part of a wider reshuffle in which Suella Braverman was sacked as home secretary and replaced by the foreign secretary, James Cleverly.

[basilosaurus]

There's not a single good person in the bunch. I end up reading a lot of British need and politics because I'm often using a vpn through there or other Commonwealth

[HRH Queen Dick I]

Getting sacked twice from the same job, in less than a year, is quite the achievement.

[mrsukyankee]

And in further attempts by No 10 to become even more of an autocracy...

link

Rishi Sunak has staked his political credibility on pushing through emergency legislation to resurrect his high-profile plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, after the supreme court ruled it was unlawful.

During a combative press conference on Wednesday afternoon, hastily arranged after the five judges unanimously rejected the proposal, Sunak said legislation would end the “merry-go-round” of legal challenges by setting out in law that the east African country is safe.

Amid increasing pressure from the right of the Conservative party to commit to withdrawing from the European convention on human rights (ECHR), Sunak said he would “not allow a foreign court to block these flights”, but declined to say how.


Basically, the right wing faction wants to get rid of our connection the to ECHR so that they can pass laws that would be fitting an autocracy, so that they can gain more money and let people die w/o repercussions from other countries. Since that seems like a bad idea, instead, Sunak is saying that he can pass a law to override decisions made by our supreme court, which would give No 10 far too much power (aka autocracy). If this gets passed, I think the only way to deal with our government is going to be an uprising of some sort - total stoppage of all things moving forward from work to spending to schools, etc. And I'm not sure the British public care enough for their own rights (or know enough) for it to happen. 

[basilosaurus]

David Cameron is now a lord?!

[mrsukyankee]

Nov 18, 2023 0:01:00 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

David Cameron is now a lord?!

Yes. Made a Lord so he could become our new Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Of all people. When the Chinese State hails this as a great thing, you know it's a horrible thing. He's a corrupt guy, who like all our current Tories, is all about making money no matter what the cost to the people.

link


David Cameron is facing calls to disclose the businesses he was working for before being appointed as foreign secretary, after the Foreign Office refused to reveal which jobs and clients he was giving up to take on the role.

The former prime minister has had a series of jobs since he left No 10 in 2016, including lobbying the government on behalf of a controversial, now-collapsed, financial firm, Greensill, which led to a scandal over his influence.

He also worked for a gene-sequencing company, Illumina, which won a £123m government contract during the pandemic, and an AI firm, Afiniti, from which he resigned in 2021. (my note: his contract went through without going through proper channels as was seen during this Tory reign of horror).

[sakoro]

Nov 13, 2023 5:41:52 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

Our Home Secretary, SB, has been sacked to be replaced by another idiot (James Cleverly - he does not live up to his name) and the idiot who brought us Brexit and then bunked off is the new Foreign Secretary. Yes, you can imagine just how I feel about this.

David Cameron returns to UK government as foreign secretary


David Cameron has returned to government as UK foreign secretary, in a stunning comeback for the former prime minister.

These people have a remarkable ability to fail upwards.

I think I read somewhere that 90% of the British public now thinks that Brexit was a mistake. And yet the architects of Brexit keep getting high level jobs.

[mcsangel2]

Fuck David Cameron for Brexit.

Oh, excuse me. I meant, Fuck Lord Cameron.

[basilosaurus]

Nov 18, 2023 0:01:00 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

David Cameron is now a lord?!

Quitting myself here. I think it's important to know I learned this from watching gogglebox on channel 4. The news was received with appropriate disdain.

I've not heard mention in American press, but I don't really consume much of it beyond what's linked here. My days of suffering through fox news in waiting rooms are behind me, thank fsm.

[mrsukyankee]

This is such supreme bullshit - I hate this gov't.


Couples 'devastated' by family visa rule changes


Couples planning a new life in the UK have been left heartbroken by changes restricting who can apply to live here.

From April 2024, British citizens or people already settled in the UK will need to show they earn £38,700 before their overseas partner can live here with them - a sharp jump from the current threshold of £18,600.

They also still need to show they are in a marriage or civil partnership when they apply for a family visa, intend to be within six months, or that they have been living together for at least two years.

Ministers say the increased income threshold will help cut immigration levels, which have reached record highs in recent years, and ensure families can support themselves.

Lee, 24, from Belfast, told BBC News: "This policy means that the girl I want to marry, the girl I love...I cannot live with her and it's destroyed me."

note - this is less than the median salary in the UK. This will keep all nurses, aides, etc away from the UK because they won't be able to bring their family with them. The Tories are trying to completely screw up the country before they go out of power.

[mrsukyankee]

On top of all of this, they are trying to make benefits tied to having a job or trying to get a job. People are already dying in country because the agencies are not paying benefits to people who are incapable of doing the tasks that they are asking for - like a guy dying because he couldn't leave his home to make it to an appointment or shutting off benefits if you are 2 minutes late to a meeting.

We have worries over here that they won't renew the visas of those already here which means less people working in jobs that Brits won't take on in 'droves' like care workers or nurses. This country is sucking more and more every day. Note, this is the future that the Republicans would like. The worse off being denied help while cutting the costs of being rich.