UK News and Discussions

[weatheriscool]

[Time_Traveller]

Rishi Sunak Announces Plan To Gradually Ban Smoking

39 minutes ago

Rishi Sunak has announced plans to eventually ban smoking by raising the legal age people can buy cigarettes by one year, every year.

It would mean someone who is currently 14 years old will never be legally be sold a cigarette.

The prime minister said the change would “save more lives than any other decision we could take” as 64,000 people a year currently die from smoking.

Sunak told the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Wednesday that his MPs would be given a free vote on the new law.

It means Tory MPs will not be ordered to back his plan if they do not want to.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/ ... b6fb38dcd9

[weatheriscool]

UK: Labour defeats SNP to win Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election

The party's candidate, Michael Shanks, took the Westminster seat with 17,845 votes - more than double the number polled by the SNP's Katy Loudon.

The result was a swing of 20.4% from the SNP to Labour.
The by-election was called after former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier was ousted by her constituents for breaking Covid rules.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was a "seismic" night and that people in Rutherglen and Hamilton West had sent "a clear message".

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-67024848

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

This is catastrophic for the Tories.

These were two "safe" Conservative seats.

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Labour success will send chill through spines of Tory MPs

Fri 20 Oct 2023 08.50 BST

There were endless predictions before Thursday’s twin byelections, all with their own potential political messages. But as it turns out, Rishi Sunak wakes up on his trip to the Middle East facing the simplest, and for him, worst of them all: a double Labour victory.

Governments often get a pounding from voters and the Conservatives had heavily managed expectations in advance, briefing in particular that they fully expected to lose their near-20,000 majority in Tamworth.

But even though Tory aides will point to the murky circumstances in which the incumbents in both Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire, Chris Pincher and Nadine Dorries, departed their seats, Labour’s success will send a chill through the spines of Conservative MPs for several reasons.

The first is the sheer scale of the losses. The byelection record tables for swings and biggest majorities overturned are becoming increasingly filled with votes that took place since 2019, and there is now another one to be added.

Dorries’ 24,664 Conservative majority was the biggest numerically to be lost in a byelection at least since 1945, potentially ever, as Labour’s Alistair Strathern won a majority of 1,192.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ion-record

[Time_Traveller]

Greens strengthen position in Worcester in another by-election win

The city’s Greens enjoyed another successful day at the polls as the party tightened its grip on power in the Guildhall.

Katie Collier became the latest Green councillor to join Worcester City Council after she earned a nearly 400-vote win against the Conservatives in the Warndon Parish South ward on Thursday (October 19).

The by-election was held in the ward following the death of long-standing Tory councillor Andy Roberts in August.

There were five candidates in the race with winner Katie Collier picking up 733 votes for the Greens.

https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/23 ... ction-win/





Congratulations to Andrew Cross and Katie Collier of Worcester Green Party on being elected in Warndon Parish and Warndon Parish South with huge swings!

[Time_Traveller]

Green Party's Siân Berry quits as Highgate councillor

19th October

Siân Berry has triggered a by-election in Highgate after standing down as councillor.

The only Green Party member in Camden Council's chamber, Cllr Berry will stand down on Friday (October 20) after nine years serving the ward.

The 49-year-old wrote to her constituents telling them she felt "sad" resigning but wanted "to focus on my work to be the next Green MP for Brighton Pavilion".

She will continue her role on the London Assembly and run for re-election for her seat in May while actively running for the Brighton seat at the next general election, that could be held as late as January 2025.

https://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/new ... ouncillor/

[Time_Traveller]

GB News removed from Senedd televisions

2023-10-18

Nigel Farage has hit out at a “totalitarian” decision after GB News was removed from the internal television system at the Welsh Parliament.

The GB News presenter and former Brexit Party leader joined Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies in condemning the move.

A spokesman for Elin Jones, the Senedd’s Llywydd – the presiding officer – said the channel was removed following a broadcast that was “contrary to our parliament’s values”.

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/ ... wCbM8ZiXFw

If I had my way, all Propaganda channels aka GB News and Murdoch's TalkTV would be purged from all UK media channels.

[Time_Traveller]

Yet another by-election nightmare looms for the Tories

2023-10-22

Fresh from a double electoral blow in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire, the Tories could well be on course for the most dreaded of all hat-tricks. Another by-election looms on the horizon, and in the current climate, there’s no such thing as a ‘safe seat’ for the Conservative Party.

Is there another by-election coming?

The constituency of Wellingborough and Rushden is currently helmed by Tory MP Peter Bone. The senior politician has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons recently, and looks set to receive a six-week suspension as a result.

An independent panel declared last week that bone was guilty of numerous acts of bullying, and one act of sexual misconduct. It was said that the politician exposed himself to a colleague during a work trip in 2013.

Who is Peter Bone?

Should the six-week suspension be enforced, this will trigger a recall petition. Once this process begins, it is almost certain that a by-election will then be called. The Tories hold a majority of more than 18,000 in the area. But that doesn’t count for much.

Majorities of more than 20,000 were wiped out in two constituencies for the party this week. Locals have expressed their frustrations too. The windows of Mr. Bone’s office in Wellingborough have been smashed. The building itself is fairly run down.

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/ ... 1ILSJZ2SX4

[wjfox]

Yet another by-election nightmare looms for the Tories

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

dude be for real, it's rt

That being said this has been corroborated by reliable sources

https://news.sky.com/story/more-than-a- ... n-12990946

[Time_Traveller]

Online Safety Bill could become law on Thursday, Ofcom boss says

5 hours ago

The Online Safety Bill could receive royal assent and become law as soon as Thursday, the chief executive of Ofcom has said.

The new internet safety laws for the UK, which will be overseen by Ofcom as regulator, will place new duties on social media platforms to protect users from harmful content.

Giving evidence to the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes said she hoped the regulator’s remit will “start tomorrow (Thursday) when the Bill, we hope, will receive royal assent”.

Under the new law, social media platforms will be made responsible for the content they host and will have a duty to prevent and remove illegal content from appearing on their sites, as well as carrying out risk assessments on potentially harmful content, with a particular emphasis on protecting children.

The reforms come in response to continuing concern about youngsters accessing pornographic content online, child sexual abuse in cyberspace and the impact of harmful material on social media, which has led young people to take their lives.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 35722.html

[Time_Traveller]

Environment secretary Therese Coffey blames wrong kind of rain for Storm Babet floods

21 hours ago

The environment secretary has suggested the damage done by Storm Babet was harder to predict because rain came in from the east.

Therese Coffey told MPs a “rapid review” would be conducted after highlighting that some flood-hit communities felt they could have been given more pumps to stop them from becoming submerged.

At least seven people are thought to have died in the “unprecedented” weather event, while hundreds were forced to flee their homes in Scotland and northeast England. The storm brought a rare red weather warning to the North with torrential downpours battering the country for days.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 35286.html

Is it me or are the Tories getting dumber every year.

[Time_Traveller]

Why Is Parliament Shutting Down Again So Soon After MPs Returned?

26/10/2023

Believe it or not, parliament is shutting up shop again today - barely a week after MPs returned from the party conference recess.

It’s all to do with the King’s Speech on November 7, when King Charles will set out what the government plans to do in the final parliamentary session before the next general election.

Before that can happen, parliament must “prorogue” - or close down - for several days in preparation.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/ ... 55610426bc

[Time_Traveller]

Tory MP SACKED after calling for a ceasefire in Gaza

2023-10-30

Rishi Sunak has sacked Paul Bristow as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) after he called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The Tory MP for Peterborough wrote a letter to the prime minister last week saying “a permanent ceasefire” would save lives and allow aid to reach those who needed it most.

The government supports “humanitarian pauses” but not a full ceasefire.

Bristow said: “It is difficult to understand how this makes Israel more secure or indeed makes anything better.”

He’s been shown the door for breaking collective responsibility.

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/polit ... sCmKZnlpb8

[Time_Traveller]

Tories plan Halloween election and everyone says the same thing

2023-10-30



The Conservatives are planning to go to the polls in almost exactly a year, according to inside reports.

With speculation over an election date reaching fever pitch, the Sunday newspapers gave our first hint of the date Rishi Sunak will ask the public to decide on his future as prime minister: 31st October 2024 – meaning Britain would go to the polls on Halloween.

The Sunday Times quoted a Tory source suggesting a Halloween election is the most likely time for the next election. “October 31 is a Thursday,” they told the paper.

“That is what people are working towards.”

Sunak will hope that the spooky date will offer his party the best chance of coming back from the dead, but judging by the reaction on social media, most people have their fingers crossed for an altogether different outcome.

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/polit ... C98ZDwVDAI

Only problem they can do alot of damage between then and now.

[Time_Traveller]

Tories losing more voters to Farage’s Reform UK than Labour, poll finds

5 hours ago

Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives are losing more of their 2019 voters to the right-wing Reform UK party than to Labour, a shock new poll suggests.

Only one in 10 voters (11 per cent) who backed the Tories at the last general election have switched to Keir Starmer’s party, a new YouGov survey found.

The poll found that slightly more (12 per cent) of voters who supported the Tories last time have switched to Reform UK.

The results suggests that Labour is still struggling to win over Conservative voters – and that Mr Sunak is cooming under increasing pressure from the right.

The party co-founded by Nigel Farage – who remains honorary president – has seen its rating rise in recent months. The most recent Opinium poll has Reform UK up two points on 8 per cent.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 40343.html

[wjfox]