Here’s a collection of news stories that probably won’t be covered in any detail by the BBC or much of the mainstream media. We’ll try to put a selection together for you at least once a week. There’s no shortage of material with this government!
- Russian interference in our democracy: Remember the Russia report into interference in the Brexit referendum and our democracy? The report the Conservative government sat on for as long as possible and then refused to implement the recommendations contained within it? No doubt they hope we’ve all forgotten about it. After all, Johnson happily made the son of a former senior KGB agent a Lord and the Conservative party and 14 members of the Johnson government receive (large) donations from Russians.
But the interference scandal/cover-up is in the news again:
What does your Conservative MP think about all this? Maybe you’d like to ask them?
2. Liz Truss refuses to correct lies about the trade deal with Japan:
Emily Thornberry , shadow secretary of state for international trade, explains:
“A year ago today, Liz Truss signed a post-Brexit trade deal with Japan, and subsequently told Parliament it delivered ‘higher’ benefits than our previous deal via the EU. Now I can reveal her officials advised her on how to correct that false claim, something she never did.
The trouble started on 19th November, when I asked her in the Commons simply to quantify in pounds or percentages the difference between the benefits for the British economy of the UK-Japan deal versus the EU-Japan deal. This is how the end of those exchanges played out.
The next day, I wrote to Truss challenging the claim she’d made about the UK-Japan deal delivering ‘higher’ growth in UK exports than the EU-Japan deal, and asking her again to provide the figures to back up her claims. That letter caused quite a stir inside DIT.
Despite the heavy redactions, these internal DIT emails show that officials prepared ‘procedural options’ on how to make a correction to Hansard, or clarify the record through a Written Ministerial Statement. If Truss had told the truth, why were those options necessary?
Despite the advice, Truss left the record uncorrected. Fortunately, I exposed her false claims myself the following week. But this is just what the government does time after time: blatant lies with no consequences and still no correction. It’s shameless.”
Originally tweeted by Emily Thornberry (@EmilyThornberry) on 23/10/2021.
3. Government chooses to ignore evidence that the NHS is under severe strain as a result of the surge in Covid cases (and refuses to implement Plan B):
4. The National Savings and Investment’s new Green Savings Bond: At a pitifully low and uncompetitive interest rate of 0.65%, it’s unlikely that the Treasury will find itself raising much money to spend on sustainable, environmental projects. That’ll suit climate sceptic Sunak who’s in the middle of a scrap with Number 10 over what headline-grabbing announcements the government can make at COP26 in an attempt to restore the UK’s zero carbon credentials.
Expect a load of greenwash hogwash. We should reflect on the fact that we have a Chancellor who cannot even do the maths on how much tax a person earning £24,000 will pay. He told Andrew Marr it was £180! Oh dear!
5. All hail the return of the dirty man of Europe! You’ve seen the sewage story?
Here’s the map which tells you all you need to know:
Many apologies that this news is all pretty…well, you know! Don’t let this government get away with it. Write to your MP. Let them know it’s not OK.
