Westminster sexual abuse scandals

[ruffneck23]

incoming.

thats not going to be biased then,

Just tweeted her ( my 3rd ever tweet , ) asking how much the tories are paying her

 

[killer b]

oh shut up.

 

[Streathamite]

How many lost by-elections till the govt falls?

It's very, very unlikely (as things stand right now) that this will precipitate that many by-elections, if any.
There's only four ways things an MP can do to force one: die, resign, get declared insane, or get jailed, technically for more than a year

 

[killer b]

Hopkins has been suspended from the party while allegations of groping and creepy text messages are investigated (he was previously suspended for the same stuff in 2012 I believe).

 

[ruffneck23]

oh shut up.

Yawn

 

[ruffneck23]

Hopkins has been suspended from the party while allegations of groping and creepy text messages are investigated (he was previously suspended for the same stuff in 2012 I believe).

but to be fair , anyone of the fuckers from any party who has been accused need to be investigated, , shame TM didnt suspend Fallon though

 

[killer b]

Of course. And the BBC's political editor needs to report it when it happens too.

'yawn'

 

[killer b]

I've little time for Laura Kuenssberg, but at least check something out before assuming she's just posting from tory central office.

 

[ruffneck23]

fair comment, i think my personal detest for Laura Kuenssberg overtook me for a min

 

[elbows]

I've little time for Laura Kuenssberg, but at least check something out before assuming she's just posting from tory central office.

Indeed. I got quite angry with something she said on the news when discussing Fallons resignation last night, but I will wait until I can quote her accurately before ranting further.

 

[killer b]

Indeed. I got quite angry with something she said on the news when discussing Fallons resignation last night, but I will wait until I can quote her accurately before ranting further.

I recently started following her on twitter - every tweet has a hundred bellends asking her how much the tories are paying her. It's pretty fucked tbh.

 

[bimble]

Just tweeted her ( my 3rd ever tweet , ) asking how much the tories are paying her

You must be very proud.

 

[J Ed]

I recently started following her on twitter - every tweet has a hundred bellends asking her how much the tories are paying her. It's pretty fucked tbh.

The Canary

 

[ruffneck23]

You must be very proud.

nah i dont do pride, sorry , not got enough self love

 

[Streathamite]

As kb, and Fallon himself, has said. It's not about the knee touching. There's more coming on him. He knows it's going to be bad.

I wonder if he told May what he's done and that's why she sacked him?

as I heard it, she asked him for categorical assurances that there were no other damaging revelations to come, he could not give that, so she forced him to resign

 

[elbows]

Indeed. I got quite angry with something she said on the news when discussing Fallons resignation last night, but I will wait until I can quote her accurately before ranting further.

Found time to transcribe the bit I hated, not sure it was worth it.

'But I think, thirdly, and where Theresa Mays supporters may find some comfort from all of this, if indeed some can be found, after such a sorry affair and a sorry end to a cabinet career, is that its been suggested to me tonight that fresh concerns about Sir Michael were put to number 10 through the course of today. And almost as soon as that happened Theresa May took the view that basically he would have to go. Now, number 10 are not getting into that conversation at all this evening, they are not confirming that account of things in any way, they just don't want to get into the why's and wherefores of what exactly has happened. But it does show that when Theresa May promised to take this seriously, losing one of her senior cabinet colleagues is evidence that she is doing that, but of course that also creates a potential problem if this kind of thing emerges about one of her other significant senior colleagues, she is going to have to take the same kind of action, whatever the political cost.'

 

[elbows]

Hopkins has been suspended from the party while allegations of groping and creepy text messages are investigated (he was previously suspended for the same stuff in 2012 I believe).

Current BBC wording is...

Labour sources say a complaint of sexual harassment was made against Mr Hopkins a couple of years ago.

It was handled internally and the MP was reprimanded at the time, the BBC understands.

However, new allegations have been made about the same incident this week.

Labour suspends MP Kelvin Hopkins

 

[killer b]

There's full details in the Telegraph on the allegations themselves - here

I misread the date for the previous allegation though soz.

 

[Streathamite]

I wonder if it might not be the booze with fallon and/or some of the others.

Yes, one of them is being explicitly claimed as drunk all the time, but with a job like politics I'd be astounded if there weren't a whole stack of people with quite concerning alcohol dependency (in turn, fuelling many of these other behaviours).

very likely, given the THIRTEEN heavily subsidised bars and the late sittings

 

[Weller]

Is it just me or is Williamson a bit of a familiar face?

I think I once saw him in a car park, shouting the word 'Dan'.

Actually called Alan Partridge here as hes my local MP given a safe seat and during election we had many hundreds of his face on posters on sticks peering out of the hedgerows it made him look like a bit of a pervert himself especially as some got out of their cars to rip around the posters just leaving the face it caught on in at least a couple of country lanes

 

[elbows]

There's full details in the Telegraph on the allegations themselves - here

I misread the date for the previous allegation though soz.

Thanks, will take a look shortly.

I think what wound me up with the Kuenssberg stuff I quoted was the way the desire to get back to a political machination narrative brushes very uneasily up against the actual issue of sexual harassment. And all the usual language about 'sorry end to a cabinet career' doesn't exactly fill me with joy at the priorities on show.

Not that this is a mess reserved for journalists I don't like or journalists in general, many of us may get overexcited about the political ramifications from time to time, but surely it is possible to do both without such an uneasy downplaying of the underlying behaviour and misuse of power.

This shit article by Martin Kettle further illustrates the ugly words that may be used when trying to focus on the political aspects only. He is openly uneasy with the way he does this and sticks caveats in as a result but they only make it worse in my eyes!

If Fallon-style scandal drives our politics, Theresa May cannot survive | Martin Kettle

Nevertheless, provisionally, and on the basis of what we have been told so far, it is hard to think of a minister – especially such a senior one – resigning over an apparently less serious “private scandal” than this in British political history.

That’s quite a claim, and I am well aware that it may look idiotic in light of future events, perhaps very quickly. Nevertheless Fallon has not, as far as we know, done anything criminal or irrevocably sackable. But if what we know, and what has appeared in print, is more or less the full story, then there are two larger implications for British politics.

So weak is the prime minister, in fact, that she may well have created a precedent with the Fallon case. Another ministerial embarrassment of this kind could bring her down. After Fallon – if his “previous conduct” is not significantly worse than we know already – any minister who is confirmed to have acted inappropriately in the past will have to go too.

This is the other large implication of the case. It is no accident, as the Trotskyists sometimes say, that the problem of “private scandal” has moved to the heart of politics. Our culture, turbocharged now by social media, gorges more than ever on intimacies and indiscretions. But the problem is complex and there are many sides to it.

Politicians, in my experience, are a variable mix – often within one person – of a strong service ethic, an enormous craving for approval and vindication, and a flair for risk. They aren’t alone in this – most people have done things they are ashamed of. Most are decent people who lead unimpeachable lives.

It’s not that male MPs have become more predatory than in the past. On the whole, perhaps naively, I think the reverse is true. The problem is that sometimes the boundary between the serious and the foolish is still unclear, and the media – social as well as tabloid – have the means, motive and, from time to time, the opportunity to blur it at will. There is not much that politicians can do except try to behave better and observe sensible rules.

 

[Streathamite]

tbf, the point made by Kettle is similar to the one made by Pickman's a few pages back: if this is all there is to the Fallon sacking, she will have to sack every other minister caught out doing that

 

[bimble]

nah i dont do pride, sorry , not got enough self love

You don't have to answer this, obvs, but can you explain what motivated you to do the tweet ? Did you think it would have some effect in the world ?

 

[killer b]

This just in re: fallon:

 

[elbows]

tbf, the point made by Kettle is similar to the one made by Pickman's a few pages back: if this is all there is to the Fallon sacking, she will have to sack every other minister caught out doing that

Yeah, and I'm not criticising that point. It's just something about the way these journalists approach trying to get back to their zone of comfort or interest, to be able to make such political points without the 'baggage' of the real stories of harassment etc. I know, its difficult for them for reasons including libel laws, and a lot of Kettles squirming in that article is because what has emerged publicly so far doesn't smell like the whole story, but that is partly what I'm moaning about and since he went into other shit territory with one or two of his other points, I thought I'd use him as an example.

My point with all of this waffle is perhaps not coming across clearly and may not be that important, I don't know, I'm just trying and probably partly failing to describe some of my displeasure and unease with coverage in the last 24 hours.

 

[ruffneck23]

You don't have to answer this, obvs, but can you explain what motivated you to do the tweet ?

I dont mind answering to be truly honest I really dont know. poor attempt at trolling in a moment of madness ?

perhaps thats why its only my 3rd ever tweet and now ive been pulled up on it i feel a bit ashamed of myself

 

[elbows]

This just in re: fallon:

Perhaps 'just in the sun' would be a more contextual way of putting it!

Their article certainly had no trouble finding some shits to talk to on the subject.

A source close to Sir Michael said last night: “He doesn’t remember what he is supposed to have said in the committee. But he doesn’t deny making comments that someone might have taken offence at.

“He may have said something that Andrea was offended by, but he categorically denies saying something as appalling as he knows where she could warm her hands. That is an appalling slur from Leadsom.”

The figure close to Sir Michael insisted: “If you’re offended by something, why wait six years to say it?

“Is this her way of securing her political survival? Nobody’s going to dare to sack a whistleblower are they?”

Another Cabinet ally of Sir Michael added: “He made mistakes in the past, but what the f*** does Leadsom think she’s doing?

“We’re supposed to be a team. Does she want to bring down the whole f***ing Government?”

 

[agricola]

Yeah, and I'm not criticising that point. It's just something about the way these journalists approach trying to get back to their zone of comfort or interest, to be able to make such political points without the 'baggage' of the real stories of harassment etc. I know, its difficult for them for reasons including libel laws, and a lot of Kettles squirming in that article is because what has emerged publicly so far doesn't smell like the whole story, but that is partly what I'm moaning about and since he went into other shit territory with one or two of his other points, I thought I'd use him as an example.

My point with all of this waffle is perhaps not coming across clearly and may not be that important, I don't know, I'm just trying and probably partly failing to describe some of my displeasure and unease with coverage in the last 24 hours.

A big part of it (probably the main part tbh) is not wanting to be shunned and cut off by that crowd after a hack exposes what one / some of them are up to.

 

[xenon]

Where is this spreadsheet to download anyway? By the way Little finger gets his throat cut. Maybe we can learn from fiction.

 

[Fingers]

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