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Post by knype on Apr 17, 2024 9:22:47 GMT
Yawn all you want but its true 🥱 🥱 Ahhh bless And looks who's liked your reply
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Post by cvillestokie on Apr 17, 2024 10:47:52 GMT
Unemployment up sickness up this government is a total shambles Blame covid culture! Or we could blame a useless government for long waiting lists that keep people unhealthy and unable to work? Though, I am sure that there are some that just don’t want to work, it seems too much of a coincidence that unemployment is rising alongside a reduction in population health.
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Post by Huddysleftfoot on Apr 17, 2024 18:40:05 GMT
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Post by felonious on Apr 17, 2024 18:51:02 GMT
Or we could blame a useless government for long waiting lists that keep people unhealthy and unable to work? Though, I am sure that there are some that just don’t want to work, it seems too much of a coincidence that unemployment is rising alongside a reduction in population health. Many businesses are struggling in the UK with price increases and this government has just added another 9.8% to wage costs via the National Minimum Wage increases on 1st April. One of the few things that businesses can do is to cut back on hours/ employees. There was always going to be a point where unemployment starts to creep.
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Post by Veritas on Apr 17, 2024 18:59:53 GMT
Or we could blame a useless government for long waiting lists that keep people unhealthy and unable to work? Though, I am sure that there are some that just don’t want to work, it seems too much of a coincidence that unemployment is rising alongside a reduction in population health. Many businesses are struggling in the UK with price increases and this government has just added another 9.8% to wage costs via the National Minimum Wage increases on 1st April. One of the few things that businesses can do is to cut back on hours/ employees. There was always going to be a point where unemployment starts to creep. Of course it's all the fault of the low paid.
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Post by felonious on Apr 17, 2024 19:10:06 GMT
Many businesses are struggling in the UK with price increases and this government has just added another 9.8% to wage costs via the National Minimum Wage increases on 1st April. One of the few things that businesses can do is to cut back on hours/ employees. There was always going to be a point where unemployment starts to creep. Of course it's all the fault of the low paid. There was a butcher, a baker and a candlestick maker on the radio today giving a fair reflection on the cost increases to their businesses today. Personally I use every local business that I can but you can see that many have been struggling since Covid, Ukraine and price hikes. The National minimum wage has almost doubled since 2010 and employment tax on businesses along with it. It's nothing to do with the low paid the point I was making was about businesses continuing to stay in business. Hours are being cut, redundancies are being made.
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Post by Huddysleftfoot on Apr 17, 2024 22:00:56 GMT
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Post by andystokey on Apr 17, 2024 22:06:50 GMT
ferfuxache, when will this shitshow end? Did you read the whole article?
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Post by Huddysleftfoot on Apr 17, 2024 22:11:37 GMT
ferfuxache, when will this shitshow end? Did you read the whole article? Just the screenshots on twitter as it's behind a paywall.
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Post by Paul Spencer on Apr 17, 2024 22:16:00 GMT
That is utterly incredible, how on earth has he not resigned?
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Post by Paul Spencer on Apr 17, 2024 22:18:48 GMT
ferfuxache, when will this shitshow end? Did you read the whole article? Just the screenshots on twitter as it's behind a paywall.
A Tory MP is under investigation over allegations that he misused campaign funds and abused his position after making a late-night phone call saying he’d been locked up by “bad people” who were demanding thousands of pounds, The Times can reveal.
Mark Menzies, the Conservative MP for Fylde and a government trade envoy, rang an elderly local party volunteer at 3.15am in December saying he was locked in a flat and needed £5,000 as a matter of “life and death”. The sum, which rose to £6,500, was paid by his office manager from her personal bank account and subsequently reimbursed from campaign funds raised from donors.
£14,000 given by donors for use on Tory campaign activities had previously been transferred to Menzies’s personal bank account and used for his private medical expenses.
The Conservative Party has been aware of the allegations of potential fraud for more than three months and has taken no action. The MP was accused of paying for sex from a male escort in 2014. Locked up by ‘bad people’
The phone call came in the dead of night.
“Are you on your own?” the man said, with urgency in his voice. “I’ve got in with some bad people and they’ve got me locked in a flat and they want £5,000 to release me.”
The caller was Mark Menzies, 52, the Conservative MP for Fylde in Lancashire.
He had rung his 78-year-old former campaign manager, a woman who The Times is not naming, waking her from her sleep to ask her to hand over thousands of pounds from a bank account containing donations to the MP’s campaign.
She told Menzies that it was 3.15am and she couldn’t transfer any money without leaving the house. He became angry, allegedly telling her it was “a matter of life and death”, and demanding she instead lend him the money from her own savings, according to an account she has subsequently given to friends and the Conservative Party.
The woman refused and told the MP that she would speak to his long-time constituency office manager, Shirley Green, in the morning. A few hours later, Green stumped up the money, telling local Tories that she had cashed in her Isa to do so. By then, the sum demanded had risen to £6,500.
Later that day, having been rescued from the flat in which he had been detained, Menzies rang the 78-year-old again.
He told her that he had summoned one of his staffers to London to collect him from the flat. On arrival, the junior staffer handed over his own money, a sum thought to be a few hundred pounds, which Menzies said he owed to two other men.
Asked if he was concerned he could be blackmailed again, Menzies said he would change his phone number.
The following day, on another call, Menzies said that he needed another £35,000 for medical bills.
Told there was no more money in the campaign funds bank account, Menzies was unperturbed. “Oh, we’ll raise some more,” he allegedly replied.
A source close to Menzies said the MP had met a man on an online dating website and gone to the man’s flat, before subsequently going with another man to a second address where he continued drinking. It was falsely claimed that he had been sick at one point and several people at the address then demanded £5,000, claiming it was for cleaning up and other expenses.
The source said Menzies decided to pay them because he was scared of what would happen otherwise, but did not have the funds to transfer the money from his own savings. His aides gave him money “as friends who wanted to help”. Thousands in campaign funds
Green was reimbursed the £6,500 she gave Menzies in December from funds donated by local supporters to cover the MP’s campaign expenses.
The money was in an account with the name Fylde Westminster Group and was set up as a local business group to allow supporters to donate to Menzies.
A source close to Menzies said that he had offered to repay this sum, but claimed local Tories controlling the account said he did not need to.
The practice of setting up a local business group is common among MPs because donors do not have to declare a donation to the Conservative Party in company accounts, and donors are not publicly declared at all until they reach a certain threshold. It was used to raise funds for his campaigning activities and was administered by his former campaign manager and by Green, his office manager.
The money used to repay Green was not the first time that this campaign fund was used to cover Menzies’s personal expenses.
Four years ago, shortly before the outbreak of the pandemic, Menzies called his former campaign manager seeking £3,000 from the campaign funds, she has told friends.
He claimed to have personal medical bills due urgently that he could not pay and promised to sell some shares in order to repay the money. The former campaign manager and Green authorised the transfer and Menzies received it.
But the MP is understood never to have repaid the money. Instead, he asked for and received a further sum of £4,000.
A source close to the MP disputed this account and said the former campaign manager had been the one who suggested Menzies use funds from the business account to pay his personal medical expenses. She is understood to deny this.
The source claimed that donors would have been happy to donate for this purpose but, in order to avoid disclosing details of Menzies’s health, they were not asked to. They argued that paying the medical bills helped to keep Menzies functioning as an MP and were a legitimate use of the funds.
Several years passed before Menzies again received funds from the account, in November. By then, Green had been replaced as an administrator by another local party member. The sum received amounted to £7,000.
Menzies has not repaid any of the £14,000 he has received from the business group fund — money that had been given by donors for campaigning and not for his personal expenses.
One donor, who gave a four-figure sum to the business group, said he had donated after being told by Menzies that the money would be used for campaigning. He wanted the police to investigate the alleged misuse of the funds. Senior Tories alerted
In the aftermath of the 3.15am phone call in December, Menzies appears to have tried to keep those who knew about it onside, although this has been denied by those allies.
He asked his former campaign manager if she would run his campaign during the next general election, telling her it was “going to be a dirty election, I don’t want any gossip and scandal”. On another occasion, he gave her a large bunch of flowers.
Nevertheless, at the start of January, she reported what had happened to the Conservative chief whip, Simon Hart, detailing Menzies’s misuse of donors’ money and the alleged “abuse of privilege” in pressuring staff into handing over their own savings for his personal use.
An investigation was opened, with the case subsequently transferred from the whip’s office to Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ).
When Menzies became aware that the male staffer who picked him up had confided in a friend about what had happened, he took steps to try to prevent the allegations becoming public, allegedly saying he would “deny everything” if the press got onto him. Sex, drugs and a drunk dog
Menzies was born in Ayrshire and was raised by his mother after his father, who worked in the Merchant Navy, died a month before his birth.
He studied economic and social history at the University of Glasgow and worked in the retail sector at Marks & Spencer and Asda before entering politics.
The unmarried MP has never publicly confirmed his sexuality but has appeared on a list of gay MPs produced by the website Pink News.
He was first elected as MP for Fylde in 2010 as one of David Cameron’s “A-list” candidates and was earmarked for a rapid rise, quickly taking up a post as a parliamentary private secretary.
However, his ascent up the ranks was halted in 2014 when he was at the centre of a sex-for-money scandal. Rogerio Santos, 19, a Brazilian “rent boy”, told the Sunday Mirror that the MP had paid him for sex and asked him to buy an illegal drug. Santos claimed that Menzies had taken drugs on previous occasions.
Menzies, then 42, resigned as a ministerial aide but insisted that some of the allegations were untrue and claimed he would be “setting the record straight in due course”. He has not held a ministerial role since.
Three years later, Menzies was interviewed by police over bizarre accusations that he had deliberately got an acquaintance’s dog drunk and, when challenged over his actions, started a fight with the friend. The dog reportedly required emergency veterinary treatment for “intoxication” and “poisoning”.
Menzies told the press at the time that the allegations were “false and malicious” and police had dismissed the claims. A source close to the MP denied that Menzies had any involvement in the dog drinking alcohol. They claimed the dog had drunk alcohol that had been placed on the grass when the friend fell asleep, and that the friend had given alcohol to the dog on previous occasions.
More recently, Menzies’s Lancashire constituency has been abuzz with gossip about a drunken incident at a Last Night of the Proms concert featuring Katherine Jenkins, held in the grounds of Lytham Hall in August.
Menzies, who was invited to the event by the local mayor, is said to have turned up intoxicated and got into a row with other patrons after discovering that seats had not been reserved for his party within the VIP section.
One attendee said the MP “started kicking the chairs and poking the people on the front row”, creating a disturbance for ticket holders who had paid £150 each for the event. He was spoken to by security and appeared to be heavily intoxicated by the end of the concert. A source close to the MP acknowledged that he had had too much to drink but said he hadn’t intentionally poked anyone and may have done it by accident when waving a flag. Failure to discipline
The allegations against Menzies were reported to senior Tories more than three months ago, but the wheels of party justice have turned slowly.
Menzies’s former campaign manager has given her account multiple times and has sent evidence including bank statements to CCHQ.
The MP has been interviewed by the chief whip and has admitted that he was locked up and that he used campaign funds for private medical bills, although he claims that because this was authorised by the signatories on the bank account it was fine.
The 78-year-old who received the phone call is a devout Tory who has for decades been heavily involved in the party’s efforts in the constituency. She has told friends that she feels betrayed by the way the matter has been handled, and believed CCHQ was content to “brush it under the carpet”.
In the meantime, Menzies has continued with plans to stand at the next election. The true-blue seat has been in Conservative hands for decades and Menzies enjoys a majority of more than 16,000.
The constituency borders Blackpool South, where the former Conservative MP Scott Benton recently resigned after he was exposed by The Times offering to lobby ministers in exchange for money. It remains to be seen whether Sunak faces another by-election headache in the same region.
In a statement, Menzies said: “I strongly dispute the allegations put to me. I have fully complied with all the rules for declarations. As there is an investigation ongoing I will not be commenting further.”
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “The Conservative Party is investigating allegations made regarding a member of parliament. This process is rightfully confidential.
“The party takes all allegations seriously and will always investigate any matters put to them.”
(Admin, please delete if you feel the above is creating any copyright issues, cheers)
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Post by wannabee on Apr 17, 2024 22:36:53 GMT
That is utterly incredible, how on earth has he not resigned?
He has just resigned the Whip, given his previous on record lifestyle it might be a treasured possession I vividly remember the last knockings of the Major Administration, on reflection it's like a Kindergarten Party compared to the present lot attending one of Nero's Soiree's
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Post by wannabee on Apr 17, 2024 22:43:06 GMT
Just the screenshots on twitter as it's behind a paywall.
A Tory MP is under investigation .... - Edited Blimey Paul, when I saw your post first I thought it was a Mr Coke Epistle on the Brexit Thread
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Post by andystokey on Apr 17, 2024 22:53:03 GMT
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Post by Paul Spencer on Apr 17, 2024 23:07:02 GMT
A Tory MP is under investigation .... - Edited Blimey Paul, when I saw your post first I thought it was a Mr Coke Epistle on the Brexit Thread
I wouldn't ordinarily copy and paste so extensively but christ alive, the story was so out there, I thought I didn't have much choice.
It would make for a glorious Play For Today!
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Post by Paul Spencer on Apr 17, 2024 23:45:10 GMT
Blindsided, how the fuck could you have been blindsided?
There wasn't another force secretly plotting against you, or an unexpected event that came into play, completely out of the blue.
EVERYTHING that you needed to know was already out there. Christ alive, you've just admitted that you had no understanding of how the relationship between cause and effect and fiscal policy actually works! FFS ... 🤦♂️
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Post by wannabee on Apr 18, 2024 1:32:21 GMT
Blindsided, how the fuck could you have been blindsided? There wasn't another force secretly plotting against you, or an unexpected event that came into play, completely out of the blue. EVERYTHING that you needed to know was already out there. Christ alive, you've just admitted that you had no understanding of how the relationship between cause and effect and fiscal policy actually works! FFS ... 🤦♂️ In an Alternative Universe I'm quite prepared to believe that Liz Truss is as Thick as Pig Shit I see no particular reason that 8 years after this memorable speech she acquired the knowledge to lead this Country It is often remarked that UK is essentially Socially Conservative and alas its probably true. Even after the colossal mismanagement of the last 14 years, in order to become electable the Labour Party has to stand on a platform of being Conservative lite, like a dreary pallid zero-zero imitation of a strong ale .... and that's just Starmer Even the Conservative Grandee's and Donor's who pour £ Millions into the coffers to preserve the Social Inbalance realise when to throw in the towel and regroup until its time again to stick their noses in the trough The reveal of personal peccadillo's, indiscretions, aberrations of individual members who engorge upon this feeding frenzy simply provide a distraction from the diversion of wealth. The Chums who fall foul know if they play with a straight bat they will be rewarded. Oiks like 30P Lee and quite likely Gullis join Reform.
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Post by essexstokey on Apr 18, 2024 6:36:58 GMT
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Post by essexstokey on Apr 18, 2024 6:57:21 GMT
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Post by LL Cool Dave on Apr 18, 2024 7:04:25 GMT
Blindsided, how the fuck could you have been blindsided? There wasn't another force secretly plotting against you, or an unexpected event that came into play, completely out of the blue. EVERYTHING that you needed to know was already out there. Christ alive, you've just admitted that you had no understanding of how the relationship between cause and effect and fiscal policy actually works! FFS ... 🤦♂️ She's thicker than a boxing day turd.
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Post by maxplonk on Apr 18, 2024 7:21:26 GMT
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Post by Seymour Beaver on Apr 18, 2024 7:26:04 GMT
But but, but ....Angela Rayner SOLD A HOUSE!!!!
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Post by cvillestokie on Apr 18, 2024 10:13:50 GMT
Blindsided, how the fuck could you have been blindsided? There wasn't another force secretly plotting against you, or an unexpected event that came into play, completely out of the blue. EVERYTHING that you needed to know was already out there. Christ alive, you've just admitted that you had no understanding of how the relationship between cause and effect and fiscal policy actually works! FFS ... 🤦♂️ I’m sure some of her friends made a lot of money betting against certain stocks before their “fiscally responsible” budget was released. Has she ever been asked if she thinks it’s fair to take a pension for 10 days (or whatever it was) of pure failure?
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Post by gawa on Apr 18, 2024 10:40:27 GMT
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Post by essexstokey on Apr 18, 2024 10:46:32 GMT
Imf warn uk about rising debt
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Post by foghornsgleghorn on Apr 18, 2024 11:50:16 GMT
Blindsided, how the fuck could you have been blindsided? There wasn't another force secretly plotting against you, or an unexpected event that came into play, completely out of the blue. EVERYTHING that you needed to know was already out there. Christ alive, you've just admitted that you had no understanding of how the relationship between cause and effect and fiscal policy actually works! FFS ... 🤦♂️ In an Alternative Universe I'm quite prepared to believe that Liz Truss is as Thick as Pig Shit I see no particular reason that 8 years after this memorable speech she acquired the knowledge to lead this Country It is often remarked that UK is essentially Socially Conservative and alas its probably true. Even after the colossal mismanagement of the last 14 years, in order to become electable the Labour Party has to stand on a platform of being Conservative lite, like a dreary pallid zero-zero imitation of a strong ale .... and that's just Starmer Even the Conservative Grandee's and Donor's who pour £ Millions into the coffers to preserve the Social Inbalance realise when to throw in the towel and regroup until its time again to stick their noses in the trough The reveal of personal peccadillo's, indiscretions, aberrations of individual members who engorge upon this feeding frenzy simply provide a distraction from the diversion of wealth. The Chums who fall foul know if they play with a straight bat they will be rewarded. Oiks like 30P Lee and quite likely Gullis join Reform. As much as it's a mystery how people thought Johnson was suitable PM material, was the number who thought Truss was a suitable replacement. Even in here, back when she was negotiating crap Trade Deals in 2021, she had one poster saying she was doing a good job, which he found surprising as he has no alignment with any political party, a point he frequently reminds us of.
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Post by Paul Spencer on Apr 18, 2024 12:08:29 GMT
Ben is completely correct but it is not only Truss, or even politician's in general, it's the whole of society it seems and it's bloody scary ...
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Post by wannabee on Apr 18, 2024 12:14:44 GMT
In an Alternative Universe I'm quite prepared to believe that Liz Truss is as Thick as Pig Shit I see no particular reason that 8 years after this memorable speech she acquired the knowledge to lead this Country It is often remarked that UK is essentially Socially Conservative and alas its probably true. Even after the colossal mismanagement of the last 14 years, in order to become electable the Labour Party has to stand on a platform of being Conservative lite, like a dreary pallid zero-zero imitation of a strong ale .... and that's just Starmer Even the Conservative Grandee's and Donor's who pour £ Millions into the coffers to preserve the Social Inbalance realise when to throw in the towel and regroup until its time again to stick their noses in the trough The reveal of personal peccadillo's, indiscretions, aberrations of individual members who engorge upon this feeding frenzy simply provide a distraction from the diversion of wealth. The Chums who fall foul know if they play with a straight bat they will be rewarded. Oiks like 30P Lee and quite likely Gullis join Reform. As much as it's a mystery how people thought Johnson was suitable PM material, was the number who thought Truss was a suitable replacement. Even in here, back when she was negotiating crap Trade Deals in 2021, she had one poster saying she was doing a good job, which he found surprising as he has no alignment with any political party, a point he frequently reminds us of. Indeed Fog, but I know you are well aware said politically unaffiliated Poster would agree with Vladimir Putin if it advanced his overarching support of a particular Political decision
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Post by andystokey on Apr 18, 2024 12:18:26 GMT
Ben is completely correct but it is not only Truss, or even politician's in general, it's the whole of society it seems and it's bloody scary ... There is a very serious argument and ground swell of research supporting the idea that democracy cannot survive in a world so utterly contaminated with no definitive truth. The Eloi are coming.
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Post by Huddysleftfoot on Apr 18, 2024 12:33:09 GMT
Blindsided, how the fuck could you have been blindsided? There wasn't another force secretly plotting against you, or an unexpected event that came into play, completely out of the blue. EVERYTHING that you needed to know was already out there. Christ alive, you've just admitted that you had no understanding of how the relationship between cause and effect and fiscal policy actually works! FFS ... 🤦♂️ I’m sure some of her friends made a lot of money betting against certain stocks before their “fiscally responsible” budget was released. Has she ever been asked if she thinks it’s fair to take a pension for 10 days (or whatever it was) of pure failure? Indeed...you wonder if it was deliberate. If so she and Kwasi should be in jail.
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