His latest excuse is “I cannot believe we would have gone ahead with an event that was against the rules – nobody warned me it was against the rules”. How pathetic and note the blame game of inserting the word ‘we’ into his excuse. Johnson – you are, at present. PM. You should known the rules all by your self as it was your cabinet that made them – and You were there.
CHAOS
Magistrates are to be able to sentence convicted people to longer in prison to relieve pressure on Crown Courts. Lack of lawyers, and prison places will undermine Raab’s latest cock up. Most educated commentators (Thus eliminating readers of Mail and Telegraph) agree that short prison sentences are counterproductive. Underfunding for years is coming home to roost.
MORE NEW HOUSES IN SANDFORD
Plans are being promoted for more new houses in Sandford. I am not a NIMBY and was vaguely supportive of new Strongvox estate. However there is a limit to growth. So the arguments are :-
Sandford is not ideally located for commuters – rather tortuous bus journeys to Bristol and W-s-M. No new job opportunities have developed in the village over the 20 years I have been here.
Whilst traffic is not a real problem at present, it soon will be if the Banwell By-pass goes ahead with eastern terminus at TowerHead. And the associated housing that will goo with it. It is not rocket science to suggest that each new property will create at least one commuter journey per day.
No new facilities have been created in Sandford other than a fenced off football pitch for the Primary School. I am aware that incompetence may have been behind the lack of a new village hall.
The village school I believe is at capacity and I would be interested to see how projections to include the new houses impact on the school. Churchill Academy will probably love it with their new facilities which is a positive.
A bit of geography! Sandford is a linear settlement at the foot of the northern slope of the Mendips. It has no focal point – the pub is at the western limit of the village, the church reasonably central/west, the shop and school central, and the ski slope to the east end. The swing park is tucked away to the south west. the council had an opportunity to create a cohesive village but have missed it. They should compulsory purchase land by the school to create a viable social hub which includes a new village hall – if needed? I am sure this will cause a few chokes! But is it financially viable? Would new facilities for the school be able to double up? Maybe a hall which is used by the school for gym, lunch and assemblies and the public the rest of the time?
The shop could also benefit from refurbishment?
DAILY MAIL MISINFORMATION
They must be getting worried as todays headline was ‘British Troops sent to Ukraine’ and talks of imminent invasion and a bloodbath. The truth is we have sold some defensive anti-tank weapons to them and are providing some soldiers to train them how to use them. As for invasion – it remains a possibility rather than probability at the moment. The real reason for the headline is that Cummings has offered to testify under oath , along with others, that Johnson authorised the drinks party during lockdown. Tory donors are also calling for him to go.
DESPERATE
Military to be used to stem Channel crossings as Johnson seeks to stay PM. How do they do this – sink boats and kill people? I am seriously thinking that being English is as bad as being called a c***!
THINGS – MIGHT BE A RAMBLE
SHOWTIME
So Johnson launches Operation Red Meat, obviously unaware of the health aspects of red meat! Attacking The BBC seems to be the first target. Then attacking people trying to cross the Channel and ignoring the fact that most of them will have bona fide cases for remaining if they reach the UK. Lifting Covid restrictions which might be OK but seems to be rather risky before the good weather arrives. Throwing money at the NHS backlog – probably by paying private hospitals (privatisation by stealth). Throwing money at investment in skills. Sunak must be having a fit as Johnson spavs public money against the wall in an attempt to save his job and flat (recently redecorated at his own expense eventually).
Michael Fabricate has said The BBC has a witch hunt against Johnson which amounts to a coup attempt. What is he on? Even the Mail and Telegraph have reported the parties with disgust – and Corbyn was crucified by all media outlets 24/7. He should go home and play with his lego, or is it still Duplo for him?
HOUSING SHORTAGE
Every article accepts the housing shortage to be true. Is it though? House prices are rising due to second home buyers and buy to rent. Three quarters of a million homes are second homes and empty for most of the year. Yet we condone the erasure of the countryside for new homes. yet another example of the law working for the rich.
CULTURE WAR
The right wing gutter press is whooping with joy at Dorries attack on the BBC. I have been critical of the BBC and like any large institution it needs constant revision and updating. I even think it has shown pro-establishment bias at times. But this attack is more than that – her attack is because it does not report like the Telegraph and the Mail. It is not unquestioning of government policies and statements. The ‘bias’ mentioned is really just a lack of bias to the government and Brexit. It is not anti-woke and has even allowed presenters who are not white , mostly male and from Public Schools in the south of England.
POLICE
It is necessary to be very careful when criticising the police. As The former Chief Constable of Durham has pointed out – we police this country by consent rather than force or fear. It is therefore important that the police are seen to be impartial is all aspects. They have fallen short of this regarding racism over past years – this is recognised and hopefully measures are being taken to counter this institutional racism.