GOVERNMENT

A strange time until the budget. With Parliament not sitting for most of the time since the GE, nothing much has happened. A non-story about Sue Gray, the press were largely silent when Cummings was runing amok; another non story about the Chagos Islands, and apart from that it has all been speculation and lies. Angela Ripon was castigated for buying her boyfriend a present which she paid for herself – the brazen huzzie, what audacity. MP’s being given tickets for sports events has suddenly become big news as Starmer was asked to move from his usual (paid for) seat into a box for security reasons (I wonder how many tories accepted tickets to the Olympics/Wimbledon/test matches/Ersom etc.- somehow that is not news). Should Starmer have paid for Taylor Swift concert – yes; should an MP have to pay to attend a local football/rugby/sports event – I would say no. The club would probably;y see it as free publicity and the political influence is negligible – if however the tickets are provided by a betting company or other business it becomes less clear as there is lobbying going on. But all in all it is a non-story when pu in perspective.