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Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 6:46 am
by HindleA
Morning

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... rsity-work" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Social mobility hindered by ‘culture of inequality’ in school system – peers

http://www.parliament.uk/business/commi ... tionFilter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 6:55 am
by StephenDolan
'The papers hail PM's financial disclosure ' says the BBC.

How brave and prime ministerial it was of him, we are truly blessed. Right, time to move on, what's that funny commy Corbyn up to?

BBC. Blatantly Biased C...

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 7:10 am
by refitman
Merged the two Friday threads.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 7:13 am
by StephenDolan
StephenDolan wrote:'The papers hail PM's financial disclosure ' says the BBC.

How brave and prime ministerial it was of him, we are truly blessed. Right, time to move on, what's that funny commy Corbyn up to?

BBC. Blatantly Biased C...
You have a personal pension? Well you're doing exactly the same. Yes really. R4 Today at the moment.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 7:39 am
by rebeccariots2
Morning. Yahyah posted the BBC tweets re this yesterday - here's the report on the latest govt U turn re scrapping animal welfare codes.
Ministers abandon plan to scrap farm animal welfare codes
Defra confirms U-turn after outcry over move to repeal legislation and put industry in charge of guidance on chicken farming

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... en-farming" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Why the hell did they think this was right in the first place? Why the hell did they think there wouldn't be a fuss - 'outcry' - from the public? As with most of Defra and just about everything the government touches - WHY?

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 7:56 am
by rebeccariots2
The Prime Minister was quite clear at first that he had not, and will not “in the future”, benefit from any offshore trusts. And that, after all, is a much fairer way of assessing behaviour than the old-fashioned method our legal system is based on, which concerns itself solely with the past.

With this approach, a defendant could reply to the question “Did you break through a wall and rob Hatton Garden?” by saying “Look, I’ve been through this several times and let’s be absolutely clear, I stand to gain nothing from robbing any jewellery stores in the future.” And off they’d go.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/if- ... 73161.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mark Steel a joy to read - as usual.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 8:00 am
by rebeccariots2
PoliticsHome Retweeted
Kevin Schofield ‏@PolhomeEditor 6m6 minutes ago Ealing, London
ICYMI EXCLUSIVE: Jeremy Corbyn could face a Shadow Cabinet walkout after the EU referendum http://polho.me/1TE3Qfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Well - we couldn't have a week where the disaffected didn't shout and stamp their feet a bit, eh.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 8:02 am
by ephemerid
There's a Paul Goodman piece on Conservative Home "In defence of Ian Cameron" that is just appalling.

It starts by saying that some people (ie. ordinary people) don't understand the concept of "expenses" and goes on to opine that stashing cash offshore isn't necessarily a tax avoidance thing and most people don't understand why it's done.

Pathetic.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 8:08 am
by rebeccariots2
Perhaps we could start a weekly feature - 'This Week's U Turns'.

We'd have to do it from Friday evening onwards as the govt often tries to release embarrassing news after 5pm on Friday when it gets less coverage and scrutiny.

Our list for this week would start with
The govt is not ruling anything out in order to save Port Talbot steel - then it was ruling out nationalisation - then it wasn't ruling anything out. I'm not sure where it stands now.
Animal welfare codes will not now be scrapped.
Baseline testing for 4 year olds in schools is off.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 8:19 am
by rebeccariots2
Juliet Samuel ‏@CitySamuel 4m4 minutes ago
Cameron's most dishonest act in all this: not declaring all his assets on MP register. This is what the Icelandic PM resigned over.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 8:25 am
by rebeccariots2
GMB Politics ‏@GMBPolitics 34m34 minutes ago
Nick Boles struggling a bit in the interview on @BBCBreakfast - drew the short straw this morning, eh?
Trying to make it all about Cameron protecting his deeply loved father ..... pathetic. It's about Cameron not answering questions about his own involvement - until absolutely forced to.

Not answering questions might actually be the undoing of Dodgy Dave. Hope so - that would be some kind of justice.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 8:28 am
by PaulfromYorkshire
I believe Cameron will go, and soon.

He's surely no longer the leader that polls ahead of his party and he's unfit to lead the Remain cause. Assuming that the "establishment" doesn't want Brexit, they need to get shot of Dave quick. Quite who could step into the role isn't clear to me.

One thing that amuses me is that should Dave resign now, Boris is in trouble. There's no way a Brexit campaigner could become PM.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 8:29 am
by rebeccariots2
Nick Robinson ‏@bbcnickrobinson 5m5 minutes ago
What sticks in mind about PM's interview on tax? Impressions not the detail. Red face, £300k & a very complex explanation

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 8:34 am
by rebeccariots2
PaulfromYorkshire wrote:I believe Cameron will go, and soon.

He's surely no longer the leader that polls ahead of his party and he's unfit to lead the Remain cause. Assuming that the "establishment" doesn't want Brexit, they need to get shot of Dave quick. Quite who could step into the role isn't clear to me.

One thing that amuses me is that should Dave resign now, Boris is in trouble. There's no way a Brexit campaigner could become PM.
I don't think he'll go until he absolutely has to. He's shameless. That seems to be one of his main characteristics and it seems to be a necessary feature for a Tory PM and / or minister. And, as you rightly say, they've not really got anyone looking credible as a successor. I'm sure there are plenty of them who think they are just whizz bang perfect for the job though. Loads of them who think they'd 'be good at it'.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 8:52 am
by PaulfromYorkshire
rebeccariots2 wrote:
PaulfromYorkshire wrote:I believe Cameron will go, and soon.

He's surely no longer the leader that polls ahead of his party and he's unfit to lead the Remain cause. Assuming that the "establishment" doesn't want Brexit, they need to get shot of Dave quick. Quite who could step into the role isn't clear to me.

One thing that amuses me is that should Dave resign now, Boris is in trouble. There's no way a Brexit campaigner could become PM.
I don't think he'll go until he absolutely has to. He's shameless. That seems to be one of his main characteristics and it seems to be a necessary feature for a Tory PM and / or minister. And, as you rightly say, they've not really got anyone looking credible as a successor. I'm sure there are plenty of them who think they are just whizz bang perfect for the job though. Loads of them who think they'd 'be good at it'.
Don't underestimate the Tories' capacity to remove him if he's a liability RR2 :twisted:

Well we'll see....

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 9:08 am
by tinybgoat
I'm confused,
David Cameron has admitted to having bought/sold some shares before being PM & before his father's death. He still hasn't addressed any funds, presumably inherited by his mother, Mary.

http://news.carbon-future.co.uk/archives/12289

Is Blairmore Holdings a bit like Gringotts, in that you just have to have a key to a vault, and once in possession of a key can just take from the vault at will, as long as the withdrawal is under legal limits.
Like Gringotts nobody else needs to know how much is in the vault, or who has keys to the vault?

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 9:16 am
by danesclose
@refitman. Many thanks for posting The Male Online cartoon last night.
Hopefully Beryl's husband will be incandescent very soon when Cameron resigns

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 9:32 am
by nickyinnorfolk
Charlie Stayt on BBC Breakfast shredding Nick Boles regarding his defence of Cameron.
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I didn't hear it, but my other half says that by contrast Boles got a very easy ride on the Today programme.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 9:34 am
by nickyinnorfolk
Daily Mash on top form:
And also there’s the cash from the smack trade, says Cameron
08-04-16
THE prime minister has admitted making £80,000 from importing heroin but that it ended well before the 2010 election.

David Cameron inherited the business, which included opium fields in Malaysia and a processing factory in Malta, but insists he sold his shares two months before he became prime minister.

He continued: “My father’s heroin business was not so much aimed at narcotics refinement as providing a decent income to those former subjects of the Empire left high and dry by independence.

“The unfortunate fact that it was, and is, in contravention of some international laws is really irrelevant. This business kept people in work during some pretty tough times.

“When I was 18 I actually did some door-to-door work selling the product and let me tell you it was very much needed by the ordinary, decent people of Britain.

“I sold the shares, half of which were owned by my wife Samantha, in February 2010 for actually slightly less than the market value, and sadly wasn’t able to pay tax because I feared the authorities would kick up a fuss.

“Now, if my opponents are finished dragging my late father’s name through the mud, I have a country to run.”

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 9:38 am
by rebeccariots2
nickyinnorfolk wrote:Charlie Stayt on BBC Breakfast shredding Nick Boles regarding his defence of Cameron.
" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I didn't hear it, but my other half says that by contrast Boles got a very easy ride on the Today programme.
He did. Humphrys was really sticking up for Cameron when he interviewed the Labour spokesperson. But Boles still managed to sound a total plonker. (I took out the 'like' a total .....)

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 9:45 am
by rebeccariots2
Andrew Simms ‏@AndrewSimms_uk 23m23 minutes ago
Hinkley C delay more likely. EDF shares down about 60% on year. Renewables better value @NewWeatherInst @inter_gen

http://gu.com/p/4t79n?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Tweet" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 9:45 am
by Willow904
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Juliet Samuel ‏@CitySamuel 4m4 minutes ago
Cameron's most dishonest act in all this: not declaring all his assets on MP register. This is what the Icelandic PM resigned over.
This is where he's very clearly done something wrong, although Owen Smith was very good on BBC News about the basic hypocrisy of criticising the immoral, but legal world of tax avoidance when he himself was clearly part of that world. Only selling his shares when he became PM, rather than when he became an MP, and keeping it quiet doesn't look good for him, even if the morally repugnant tax dodging, as he himself put it, is not technically against our tax laws. Random Tories saying he's paid all tax owed on dividends etc are idiots, really, as how could they possibly know that for certain?

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 9:48 am
by rebeccariots2
Ian Dunt Retweeted
Katie Grant ‏@kt_grant 17m17 minutes ago
Poor form for Zac not to bother showing up to the mayoral debate on bbc London.
:?:

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 9:59 am
by rebeccariots2
Telegraph Business ‏@telebusiness 5m5 minutes ago
UK manufacturing slumps as trade deficit with EU hits fresh record ahead of Brexit vote http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/201 ... um=twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
How much longer can the Tories carry on pretending the economy is OK?

How much longer will they be allowed to get away with doing so?

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 10:00 am
by StephenDolan
Twitter feeds of James Landale, Norman Smith and Laura Kuenssberg are interesting.

" "

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 10:01 am
by StephenDolan
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Telegraph Business ‏@telebusiness 5m5 minutes ago
UK manufacturing slumps as trade deficit with EU hits fresh record ahead of Brexit vote http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/201 ... um=twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
How much longer can the Tories carry on pretending the economy is OK?

How much longer will they be allowed to get away with doing so?
Until the media flag this up.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 10:03 am
by rebeccariots2
Stephen Pollard Retweeted
Andrew Lilico ‏@andrew_lilico 10m10 minutes ago
If Labour want to be seen as the sort of folk who want to be 1st in the queue to attack their own fathers, their current strategy's perfect.
Oh the irony. Delicious irony.

That the Tories are now clinging to this emotional hanky wringing excuse for Cameron ...

That they want to make it about fathers rather than politician sons says it all.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 10:10 am
by rebeccariots2
From the G politics blog today - presumably Andrew Sparrow writing:
Earlier this week, after Cameron/Number 10’s second attempt to answer questions about his involvement with his late father’s offshore trust (the ITV interview was attempt number five), I said Cameron had probably said enough to close this down as a story. I’m sorry about that; it turned out to be a very duff call. Today Cameron is under as much pressure as ever, and I will be covering all the developments in detail.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 10:14 am
by PaulfromYorkshire
Willow904 wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Juliet Samuel ‏@CitySamuel 4m4 minutes ago
Cameron's most dishonest act in all this: not declaring all his assets on MP register. This is what the Icelandic PM resigned over.
This is where he's very clearly done something wrong, although Owen Smith was very good on BBC News about the basic hypocrisy of criticising the immoral, but legal world of tax avoidance when he himself was clearly part of that world. Only selling his shares when he became PM, rather than when he became an MP, and keeping it quiet doesn't look good for him, even if the morally repugnant tax dodging, as he himself put it, is not technically against our tax laws. Random Tories saying he's paid all tax owed on dividends etc are idiots, really, as how could they possibly know that for certain?
Hi Willow

Indeed. And we need to remind people that as a public servant he doesn't just have to follow the letter of the law, he is obliged to conform to the "Nolan" Principles of Public Life.

I and others here who work in the public sector are equally obliged to do so and understand this. All official meetings I attend start with a declaration of conflicts of interest. I have to declare any financial interests to my employer. And so on.

Nolan was brought in by Major (I think) in response to cash for questions. People seem to be forgetting it still applies.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 10:23 am
by rebeccariots2
Cameron's increasingly 'dodgy' reputation isn't going to be at all helpful for selling his Remain message. That 9m might turn out to have been anything but 'well spent'. The Remain camp ought to be thinking furiously about how to get a better brand and spokespeople out there ...

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 10:29 am
by rebeccariots2
Stuart Millar ‏@stuartmillar159 8m8 minutes ago
This is great from @JohnHarris1969: Cameron’s admission is a sudden insight into what the Tories stand for http://gu.com/p/4t76c/stw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
And the prime minister clearly had a keen sense of his core constituency. As one wag put it on Twitter this week, “How fortunate for people with money in offshore trusts that the prime minister went out to bat for them.” Quite so. On top of Cameron’s problems, the role of an array of Tory donors named in the Panama Papers comes with an air of grinding familiarity. Then there are Osborne’s evasive answers to questions about whether he has benefited from offshore chicanery and other matters that are on the public record – such as the fact that in 2005, his family firm gained £6m from a complex London property deal with a firm based in the British Virgin Islands. And what of the Conservatives’ increasingly hopeless-looking candidate for London mayor?. Zac Goldsmith’s family wealth has long been held in a trust based in Switzerland, until 2010 he was registered as a non-dom, and he owns two valuable houses acquired through companies registered in the Cayman Islands. His veneer of ecological concern and vague bohemianism cannot quite distract from all this, nor from the fact that his quietly formidable Labour opponent Sadiq Khan is engaging in a modern class politics, to evidently positive effect.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 10:38 am
by rebeccariots2
PressData_Politics ‏@PD_Politics 28m28 minutes ago
UKIP race row over activist who has fun 'blacking up' |@heraldscotland frontpage @GardhamHT http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/1441 ... _campaign/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 10:49 am
by rebeccariots2
Natalie Bennett Retweeted
kt ‏@smileykt 2h2 hours ago Bradford, England
I think John Humphreys should be ashamed of that junior doctor interview, awful. @BBCr4today
Yes it was.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 11:04 am
by AnatolyKasparov
rebeccariots2 wrote:
PoliticsHome Retweeted
Kevin Schofield ‏@PolhomeEditor 6m6 minutes ago Ealing, London
ICYMI EXCLUSIVE: Jeremy Corbyn could face a Shadow Cabinet walkout after the EU referendum http://polho.me/1TE3Qfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Well - we couldn't have a week where the disaffected didn't shout and stamp their feet a bit, eh.
That "story" ends by quoting people saying they don't think it will happen :D

Declaration of interest - Schofield is a former Sun "journalist".

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 11:26 am
by NonOxCol
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Just when you thought you were inured to what a diabolical mess BBC political coverage is.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 11:31 am
by AnatolyKasparov
StephenDolan wrote:'The papers hail PM's financial disclosure ' says the BBC.

How brave and prime ministerial it was of him, we are truly blessed. Right, time to move on, what's that funny commy Corbyn up to?

BBC. Blatantly Biased C...
Even some Tory sympathetic commentators have said today's front pages will not be good reading for the PM!

Seriously, how long can this go on??

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 11:32 am
by tinybgoat
jheard tail end of mp Mark Pritchard, on BBC News,
talking about Cameron's shares,
gist of it was:
Cameron was just protecting his fathers memory,
& (even better) we're in a parliamentary recess, so there's not a lot happening / real news ... so press & Labour trying to make something of nothing.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 11:36 am
by AnatolyKasparov
Did all these "its disgraceful to besmirch his father's memory" people pipe up after "ED MILIBAND'S DAD HATED BRITAIN"??

Do not bother sending answers on a postcard, do not pass Go, do not collect £200 :twisted:

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 11:51 am
by RogerOThornhill
Morning all.

Quick dip in before I shoot off to the library. Just spent a happy few hours getting a chapter ready to send off...and it's gone.

re cameron. I don't think I've seen so much whataboutery come out before. lets's see...

Guardian owned by offshore company - no it isn't
ISAs - it's govt sponsored savings scheme
Miliband's inheritance tax
Owen Jones selling books on Amazon!
That Greek bloke

and many more. Pretty hilarious stuff really.

OK, off now.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 11:52 am
by PorFavor
Good morfternoon.

Answer me this, please (as I think I may have missed it).

Was David Cameron's interest in this Blairmore set-up ever registered in the Register of Members' Financial Interests?

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 11:52 am
by NonOxCol
I can't help but think that historians will find this story as potent a symbol of the age as the infamous sayings of Marie Antoinette were for pre-revolutionary France.

When they review contemporary source material, I hope they're equally aghast at the yawning disconnect between the elites and the masses revealed by some of the media coverage.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 11:55 am
by ohsocynical
PaulfromYorkshire wrote:I believe Cameron will go, and soon.

He's surely no longer the leader that polls ahead of his party and he's unfit to lead the Remain cause. Assuming that the "establishment" doesn't want Brexit, they need to get shot of Dave quick. Quite who could step into the role isn't clear to me.

One thing that amuses me is that should Dave resign now, Boris is in trouble. There's no way a Brexit campaigner could become PM.
Now, now Paul, you should know by now that this government doesn't do anything honourable, logical, or sensible.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 11:59 am
by ohsocynical
NonOxCol wrote:I can't help but think that historians will find this story as potent a symbol of the age as the infamous sayings of Marie Antoinette were for pre-revolutionary France.

When they review contemporary source material, I hope they're equally aghast at the yawning disconnect between the elites and the masses revealed by some of the media coverage.
Another dark ages? I wonder what title they'll give it?

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 12:02 pm
by ohsocynical
PorFavor wrote:Good morfternoon.

Answer me this, please (as I think I may have missed it).

Was David Cameron's interest in this Blairmore set-up ever registered in the Register of Members' Financial Interests?
His father had holdings in Jersey and other places too. As far as I can make out, his father's money was taken out of Panama when he died. £20 million - £30 million? I wonder where that went when Dave only got £300,000 and his sisters only got property?

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 12:03 pm
by ScarletGas
RogerOThornhill wrote:Morning all.

Quick dip in before I shoot off to the library. Just spent a happy few hours getting a chapter ready to send off...and it's gone.

re cameron. I don't think I've seen so much whataboutery come out before. lets's see...

Guardian owned by offshore company - no it isn't
ISAs - it's govt sponsored savings scheme
Miliband's inheritance tax
Owen Jones selling books on Amazon!
That Greek bloke

and many more. Pretty hilarious stuff really.

OK, off now.

Add to this (spotted below the line on Sparrow) no different than anyone who has ever bought duty free goods or a DVD through Amazon!

Really where do they get these people from.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 12:04 pm
by ohsocynical
RobertSnozers wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:Did all these "its disgraceful to besmirch his father's memory" people pipe up after "ED MILIBAND'S DAD HATED BRITAIN"??

Do not bother sending answers on a postcard, do not pass Go, do not collect £200 :twisted:
Quite. The trollish glee over that was very unseemly, and that was over someone who had fought in WW2. That said, I think a lot of people on the right thought that the Mail had gone too far, and it was pretty obvious that they were selectively quoting and twisting things like mad.

And presumably people are only besmirching Cameron the elder if the things he's said to have done aren't true?
It's sickening. And Ed's father hadn't done anything wrong. Except for being Jewish, because that's what it was really about.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 12:11 pm
by AnatolyKasparov
ohsocynical wrote:
RobertSnozers wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:Did all these "its disgraceful to besmirch his father's memory" people pipe up after "ED MILIBAND'S DAD HATED BRITAIN"??

Do not bother sending answers on a postcard, do not pass Go, do not collect £200 :twisted:
Quite. The trollish glee over that was very unseemly, and that was over someone who had fought in WW2. That said, I think a lot of people on the right thought that the Mail had gone too far, and it was pretty obvious that they were selectively quoting and twisting things like mad.

And presumably people are only besmirching Cameron the elder if the things he's said to have done aren't true?
It's sickening. And Ed's father hadn't done anything wrong. Except for being Jewish, because that's what it was really about.
More accurately, being Jewish *and* left wing.

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 12:14 pm
by ohsocynical
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Stuart Millar ‏@stuartmillar159 8m8 minutes ago
This is great from @JohnHarris1969: Cameron’s admission is a sudden insight into what the Tories stand for http://gu.com/p/4t76c/stw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
And the prime minister clearly had a keen sense of his core constituency. As one wag put it on Twitter this week, “How fortunate for people with money in offshore trusts that the prime minister went out to bat for them.” Quite so. On top of Cameron’s problems, the role of an array of Tory donors named in the Panama Papers comes with an air of grinding familiarity. Then there are Osborne’s evasive answers to questions about whether he has benefited from offshore chicanery and other matters that are on the public record – such as the fact that in 2005, his family firm gained £6m from a complex London property deal with a firm based in the British Virgin Islands. And what of the Conservatives’ increasingly hopeless-looking candidate for London mayor?. Zac Goldsmith’s family wealth has long been held in a trust based in Switzerland, until 2010 he was registered as a non-dom, and he owns two valuable houses acquired through companies registered in the Cayman Islands. His veneer of ecological concern and vague bohemianism cannot quite distract from all this, nor from the fact that his quietly formidable Labour opponent Sadiq Khan is engaging in a modern class politics, to evidently positive effect.
If and it's a big if, Cameron resigns, then I wonder if his successors will be vetted for shady financial dealings before they end up in the top spot...

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 12:14 pm
by tinybgoat
PorFavor wrote:Good morfternoon.

Answer me this, please (as I think I may have missed it).

Was David Cameron's interest in this Blairmore set-up ever registered in the Register of Members' Financial Interests?
Says here only have to register if it's over £70,000 ...
http://www.order-order.com/2016/04/08/w ... interests/

Re: Friday 8th April 2016

Posted: Fri 08 Apr, 2016 12:28 pm
by ohsocynical
JS2 ‏@___JS2 2h2 hours ago
Didnt Cameron transfer all his fathers assests to Ireland? I read that somewhere.