UK British News Megathread - aka CWCissey's news thread

teriyakiburns · Nov 12, 2024

Starmer at the climate conference. Starmer has just announced ~~his intention to kill the entire British economy by 2035~~ a new UK carbon dioxide emissions target of 81% below 1990 levels. The previous target was a something like 68% by 2030. He has also announced that he isn't going to tell people how to live their lives, but when taken in concert with other government plans for energy production, food, and transportation, it's clear that his intent is to tell everyone exactly how to live their lives in excruciating detail. This new target will require a significant curtailment of meat consumption and a general reduction in farm productivity to reduce methane emissions. It will require a mass reduction of ICE vehicles, rather than the "mere" ban on new sales. It will require a fundamental transformation of how energy is generated (and by "transformation" I mean complete destruction of the energy sector). Much of the remaining industry in the UK is high energy consumption industry like precision manufacturing, electronics, and chemical engineering. These will all leave.

All this because an idiot in the 70s blamed us for a natural temperature rise that began before the industrial revolution was even a tingle in James Watt's great grandfather's nethers.

FedPostalService · Nov 12, 2024

Phalanges Mycologist said:
What have you heard? I don't pay attention to football so unless it's him chimping out on twitter or something I hear non of the rumours about him.

Probably best I keep my trap shut as it would immediately dox people I knew.

Rusty Metal Skull Gun · Nov 12, 2024

teriyakiburns said:
Starmer at the climate conference. Starmer has just announced ~~his intention to kill the entire British economy by 2035~~ a new UK carbon dioxide emissions target of 81% below 1990 levels. The previous target was a something like 68% by 2030. He has also announced that he isn't going to tell people how to live their lives, but when taken in concert with other government plans for energy production, food, and transportation, it's clear that his intent is to tell everyone exactly how to live their lives in excruciating detail. This new target will require a significant curtailment of meat consumption and a general reduction in farm productivity to reduce methane emissions. It will require a mass reduction of ICE vehicles, rather than the "mere" ban on new sales. It will require a fundamental transformation of how energy is generated (and by "transformation" I mean complete destruction of the energy sector). Much of the remaining industry in the UK is high energy consumption industry like precision manufacturing, electronics, and chemical engineering. These will all leave.

All this because an idiot in the 70s blamed us for a natural temperature rise that began before the industrial revolution was even a tingle in James Watt's great grandfather's nethers.

Free Gear Keir said:
The central most important thing for me here at Cop is one, to continue to show UK leadership on climate at this critical time and we will continue to do so, to make sure that we are the enablers of the leveraging of private capital now towards the targets that need to be set, to set out own target as I have just done in relation to emissions.

But most importantly, to be clear that I see this not just as a global challenge but a global opportunity. If you were to look at where global investors are investing, they are investing in renewables and everybody knows there is a transition, an energy transition, these things happen quite rarely, once in a generation usually, perhaps a little bit longer than that where there is a global transition on energy and the lesson from history is to go into that transition with a clear plan, for a just outcome.

But also to take advantage of being a first mover in that and that is what I want us to be which is why I say there is a race on for the next generation of jobs... other countries are in that race, I want to be in it and I want to win it for the UK because that will be measured in jobs, well-paid, good, secure jobs in the UK for many years to come.

So if it's such a sure-fire investment, why are so many other countries reluctant to take part? Gosh, aren't they stupid!

red lichen0 · Nov 12, 2024

teriyakiburns said:
Starmer at the climate conference. Starmer has just announced ~~his intention to kill the entire British economy by 2035~~ a new UK carbon dioxide emissions target of 81% below 1990 levels. The previous target was a something like 68% by 2030. He has also announced that he isn't going to tell people how to live their lives, but when taken in concert with other government plans for energy production, food, and transportation, it's clear that his intent is to tell everyone exactly how to live their lives in excruciating detail. This new target will require a significant curtailment of meat consumption and a general reduction in farm productivity to reduce methane emissions. It will require a mass reduction of ICE vehicles, rather than the "mere" ban on new sales. It will require a fundamental transformation of how energy is generated (and by "transformation" I mean complete destruction of the energy sector). Much of the remaining industry in the UK is high energy consumption industry like precision manufacturing, electronics, and chemical engineering. These will all leave.

All this because an idiot in the 70s blamed us for a natural temperature rise that began before the industrial revolution was even a tingle in James Watt's great grandfather's nethers.

I don't really understand why so many people are so focused on carbon emissions. If we want to save the environment, one the UK's last concerns should be the carbon emissions of the general public. Spending efforts to improve the way meat and dairy is made and not relying on imports of such things by supporting our farmers would be far more effective for both the economy, morale and environment.
Don't listen to Kier (and a lot of other media/government voices) using "climate change" or whatever as an excuse, it's just greenwashing.

Gorillion others · Nov 12, 2024

teriyakiburns said:
Starmer at the climate conference. Starmer has just announced ~~his intention to kill the entire British economy by 2035~~ a new UK carbon dioxide emissions target of 81% below 1990 levels. The previous target was a something like 68% by 2030. He has also announced that he isn't going to tell people how to live their lives, but when taken in concert with other government plans for energy production, food, and transportation, it's clear that his intent is to tell everyone exactly how to live their lives in excruciating detail. This new target will require a significant curtailment of meat consumption and a general reduction in farm productivity to reduce methane emissions. It will require a mass reduction of ICE vehicles, rather than the "mere" ban on new sales. It will require a fundamental transformation of how energy is generated (and by "transformation" I mean complete destruction of the energy sector). Much of the remaining industry in the UK is high energy consumption industry like precision manufacturing, electronics, and chemical engineering. These will all leave.

All this because an idiot in the 70s blamed us for a natural temperature rise that began before the industrial revolution was even a tingle in James Watt's great grandfather's nethers.

What in the actual fuck? :stress:

Whoopsie Daisy · Nov 12, 2024

teriyakiburns said:
Starmer at the climate conference. Starmer has just announced ~~his intention to kill the entire British economy by 2035~~ a new UK carbon dioxide emissions target of 81% below 1990 levels. The previous target was a something like 68% by 2030. He has also announced that he isn't going to tell people how to live their lives, but when taken in concert with other government plans for energy production, food, and transportation, it's clear that his intent is to tell everyone exactly how to live their lives in excruciating detail. This new target will require a significant curtailment of meat consumption and a general reduction in farm productivity to reduce methane emissions. It will require a mass reduction of ICE vehicles, rather than the "mere" ban on new sales. It will require a fundamental transformation of how energy is generated (and by "transformation" I mean complete destruction of the energy sector). Much of the remaining industry in the UK is high energy consumption industry like precision manufacturing, electronics, and chemical engineering. These will all leave.

All this because an idiot in the 70s blamed us for a natural temperature rise that began before the industrial revolution was even a tingle in James Watt's great grandfather's nethers.

His cabinet offered an alternate solution of using the money to live with climate change, rather than fight it. He rejected the idea.
They then explained that if Trump pulls out of the PA and COP, their increase in CO2 would make even an 89% target for the UK negligible, as we would only create 0.5% of the world's C02, which is a fraction compared to the US and China. (Please, ignore the C02 cost of war though, that doesn't count.)
Kier rejected this proposal and idea. He is going full 'Green Leap Forward' on the UK.

Take aside what that does to you as a British Citizen, what does this say to international business? "You can come here, but you'll be taxed on goods you produce, taxed on carbon emissions, taxed on EU certs then taxed again when you export it".

Doom and Gloom is easy to do, in this case though, Starmer needs taking out to pasture before he does serious damage to the UK, the likes of which would have Tony Blair wince.

teriyakiburns · Nov 12, 2024

Bog-standard Poster said:
Doom and Gloom is easy to do, in this case though, Starmer needs taking out to pasture before he does serious damage to the UK, the likes of which would have Tony Blair wince.

The conspiracy-minded might wonder if this is him being set up to fail in some way. Pretty sure it's just him being that retardedly pig-headed in the face of even the slightest opposition.

Whoopsie Daisy · Nov 12, 2024

teriyakiburns said:
The conspiracy-minded might wonder if this is him being set up to fail in some way. Pretty sure it's just him being that retardedly pig-headed in the face of even the slightest opposition.

I think the hopeful and optimistic would share the same view as well. I just genuinely think we will see more of this kind of behaviour from governments, as we hurtle head-first into Agenda 2030 and 2050.
The mega cities will be constructed, the 15-minute bug-hives will go ahead, the electric car will run ICE off of the road, physical media will be banned, you will own nothing. Happiness may vary.

My conspiracy mind says Sunak agreed to do unpopular things, but he wasn't willing to do unspeakable things. He was jettisoned by the WEF and this bath-house-frequenting homo was put in his place.

Mound Dweller · Nov 12, 2024

red lichen0 said:
I don't really understand why so many people are so focused on carbon emissions

MONEH of course.
The whole "offsetting" nonsense is just religious indulgences for the modern age, paying to dispense away sins. They can do it with carbon capture because it sounds like it's actually doing something so carbon credits are what they brand and sell it as, just another consumer product now.
There will never be a "solution" because just like it's the MIC in the US and the petro shit in the Middle East the climate change derangement is our new fixation.

Kane Lives · Nov 12, 2024

teriyakiburns said:
The conspiracy-minded might wonder if this is him being set up to fail in some way. Pretty sure it's just him being that retardedly pig-headed in the face of even the slightest opposition.

Well, if your theory of Labour being full of people sharpening their knives waiting to backstab Starmer at the first stumble holds true...

K!w!Fartz · Nov 12, 2024

QE65 said:
So, as many of you will have noticed gender identity ideology is everywhere. It's in UK schools, universities, the NHS, HR departments, and widely lauded by various slack-jawed celebrity figures. We've happily adopted this export from US universities. It's clearly a very robust and well studied aspect of public policy that we should all adopt without second thoughts. Oh wait, what's this - the government spokesperson for equalities can't even provide a working governmental definition for what gender identity is when questioned in the House of Lords.

View attachment 6635577
Hopefully more officials will start to wake up to this academic pseudoscience and we'll start to see more and more roll backs.

That woman is so fucking ugly.
No wonder she doesn't know what gender is when there isn't a single man out there willing to make her feel like a woman.

Morethanabitfoolish · Nov 12, 2024

Kane Lives said:
Well, if your theory of Labour being full of people sharpening their knives waiting to backstab Starmer at the first stumble holds true...

Poor time to mention the "k-word"

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14073103/Knifeman-34-arrested-outside-Parliament-Armed-police-swoop-detain-man-carrying-weapon.html

A 34-year-old man has been arrested following reports of someone carrying knives outside the Houses of Parliament.

Police cars and armed officers descended on the scene in front of Carriage Gates - one of the most prominent entrances to the Palace of Westminster - following reports of a man 'in possession of knives' on Tuesday afternoon.

A man wearing a red hooded top could be seen handcuffed and surrounded by police, before being bundled into a police van. One person on the scene claimed he 'appeared to be wearing homemade armour'.

The area was cordoned off during the incident and the entrance - which is often used by MPs - was closed. Police said there had not been any reported injuries.

A Met spokesperson added the incident is 'not being treated as terror related'.

A Met spokesman said: 'Police were called at 2.01pm to reports of a man in possession of knives outside Parliament.

'Officers attended and a 34-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place. He will be taken to a police station.

'No injuries have been reported.'

They added: 'At this early stage investigation it is not being treated as terror related.'

A Parliament spokesperson said: 'We are aware of an incident outside Carriage Gates. Parliamentary security and the Metropolitan Police are present and managing the situation.'

Can't embed the video but very white before people start guessing.

teriyakiburns · Nov 12, 2024

Morethanabitfoolish said:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-police-swoop-detain-man-carrying-weapon.html

He's wearing cosplay armour and was carrying a union jack, judging by the video. I have to assume the "knife" was a fake sword that couldn't put a hole in wet plaster.

Morethanabitfoolish · Nov 12, 2024

teriyakiburns said:
He's wearing cosplay armour and was carrying a union jack, judging by the video. I have to assume the "knife" was a fake sword that couldn't put a hole in wet plaster.

I'm assuming the same given the police seem to have handled him without issue or any dramatic footage.

No doubt people will be screaming about Chris Kaba again after this. Almost like people who surrender to the police get arrested and people who try to imitate GTA on them get shot.

QE65 · Nov 12, 2024

On the off chance there are climate scientists ITT, isn't carbon capture essentially next to useless except maybe for long-long term reductions? Attempting to ladle out water from Morecambe bay to stop the tide coming in? It doesn't seem like the best option for a country wide focus - but that's just my lay opinion. It was funny how Starmer mentioned his willingness to not force anybody to change their habits, which is exactly what would be necessary to shift towards greener energy production and reduce emissions to the levels he now expects.

You will eat bugs and be happy. I guess I'd better start researching the nutritional qualities of woodlice in preparation.

Bloom Worm Cross Field · Nov 12, 2024

QE65 said:
isn't carbon capture essentially next to useless except maybe for long-long term reductions? Attempting to ladle out water from Morecambe bay to stop the tide coming in?

There are two types of process commonly called "carbon capture".

Carbon capture at the power station. Basically taking the extremely carbon-rich air coming out of power station chimneys and extracting some of the carbon from it. Not a terrible idea if you want to make fossil fuels slightly less carbon-intensive, but ultimately they are still a net carbon positive no matter what you do, so in terms of actually stopping or reversing climate change this is only at best a stopgap mitigation until the power stations are replaced by 0-carbon sources.
Direct air capture and storage. This is the only technology that can actually, meaningfully take carbon out of the system in a way that isn't just a "carbon offset" shell game scam.

The only problem is that direct air capture is hilariously energy inefficient, and that is unlikely to change ever due to simple physics. If you take a lump of coal and burn it, you get X units of energy from the reaction, and the carbon in the rock is converted to CO2 in the atmosphere. To do the reverse and get solid carbon from CO2, you have 2 problems:

Running the reaction in reverse means that you are spending energy instead of gaining it. The absolute theoretical minimum amount of energy, in principle, that you would have to spend to go back to solid carbon, is the same as the energy you got out of it in the first place. Out of the gates, this means that, in the ideal case of returning to a pre-industrial level of CO2, you would have to spend as much energy as humans have ever produced, including for heating etc etc.
That assumes 100% efficiency. Unfortunately the amount of energy you need to just get the carbon out of the air absolutely dwarfs everything else. When you burn coal, every atom that you need is in a lump right in your hand. In direct air capture, it's at a 400ppm concentration in the entire atmosphere. Even at 100% efficiency (taking all CO2 out of all the air that you process) just processing enough air in theory is an insane ask. There's a stat somewhere that puts the scope of the problem like this: Each day, the USA burns X amount of carbon. The atmosphere contains CO2 at Y concentration. Therefore, the effective volume of "CO2 atmosphere" created that day is Z. That works out to something insane like a many-metres-high layer of air over the entire USA. That's how much air you'd need to process at 100% efficiency every day to theoretically counteract US fossil fuel burning.

All that's to say, even if huge technological strides are made in CO2 air capture (and I'm not against research into the concept), it is still bound by the laws of physics to require VASTLY more energy that the amount of carbon you actually capture. Therefore, as long as there is a single CO2-producing power station on Earth, you will *always* reduce CO2 emissions more by replacing the power station with renewables, than you would by burning the fuel in the power station and then capturing it again using renewable energy.

As a climate-solving technology, it may have its place in the future. But that will be a future in which (a) we have completely eliminated the burning of fossil fuels for all but the most incredibly niche tasks, and (b) energy is so ridiculously, abundantly cheap that we can use what today we would consider a mind boggling amount of power to take billions of tonnes of carbon out of the air. Importantly, so abundantly cheap that some state, NGO, or corporation would altruistically do this for 0 profit (since, by the laws of entropy, there is no possible profit to be made). Basically, DAC is reliant on us tapping into the fusion wet dream of having a machine that turns a bucket of seawater into untold gigawatts of power. Not impossible in the long term, but don't hold your breath.

anklyscr · Nov 12, 2024

if only there was some sort of solar powered mechanism that would take carbon out of the atmosphere.......

Snekposter · Nov 12, 2024

Wonderland foster child said:
This sort of thing makes me want to cancel all my charity direct debits and give the money to the ranting guy outside the Tesco Metro. At least he's not manipulative.

In Cyberpunk 2077 you can find hobos with signs saying their wives and families left them and they're broke and jobless, and only need a couple of eddies to buy themselves a drink. Its a worthier cause than most in Night City.

Morethanabitfoolish · Nov 13, 2024

Lineker's taken a paycut ahead of his departure from the BBC. The Sun's the source though so take with pinch of salt.

https://archive.ph/utE5v

Gary Lineker agreed to take a £500,000 pay cut in order to stay with the BBC and sign a new contract, according to reports.
News broke on Monday night that the former footballer would be leaving the broadcaster in 2026, once the World Cup that year is out of the way.

It was then confirmed on Tuesday that Lineker had signed a short-term contract extension with the BBC and that he'll be leaving Match of the Day at the end of the season.

The 63-year-old, who has presented the popular football highlights show ever since 1999, will spearhead the Beeb's coverage of the next World Cup and next season's FA Cup as well.

According to The Sun, however, he's now agreed to a £500,000 pay cut - which means he'll take home roughly £800,000 instead.
That means that Lineker, it seems, is no longer the BBC's best-paid presenter.
That honour now belongs to Zoe Ball, with the 53-year-old paid between £950,000-£954,999.

The archbishop is gone!

https://archive.ph/2QA8g

Other people may need to resign, the Church of England’s deputy lead bishop for safeguarding has warned in the wake of Justin Welby’s decision to step down from his role.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has resigned after a damning report found he failed to alert police about sexual abuse allegations made against a barrister associated with the Church of England.

He had been facing growing pressure to stand down over his “failures” to alert authorities about John Smyth QC’s “abhorrent” abuse of children and young men.
Smyth is said to have subjected as many as 130 boys and young men to traumatic physical, sexual and psychological abuse over five decades in the UK and Africa.
Julie Conalty, Bishop of Birkenhead, said “very possibly some of the people should go” and warned that the Church was in some ways “not a safe institution”.
Mr Welby was made aware of the allegations in 2013 - but did not report them to police after he was told authorities had already been notified.

The Makin review into Smyth’s abuse, published last week, concluded that he might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported it to police.

Cancel culture is a problem again. Reading between the lines it sounds more like a false rape allegation.

https://archive.ph/MrdOY

A coroner has called on the government to examine the prevalence of “cancel culture” on university campuses, after ruling that a 20-year-old Oxford student took his own life after being “ostracised” by his peers.
Alexander Rogers, a third-year studying materials science at Corpus Christi College, died in January. His body was recovered from the River Thames, and he was found to have suffered a head trauma.

Following an inquest into his death, a coroner has now ruled that “in the preceding days Alexander had been ostracised” and “his distress at this led him to form an intention to take his own life”, while noting that “suicide arises often from a complex interplay of factors”.

Mr Rogers, from Salisbury, had been isolated by his peers and friends after a former partner “expressed discomfort over a sexual encounter” on 11 January, the ruling states.
He had written to friends expressing “remorse for his actions and a belief that they were unintentional but unforgivable”, the coroner said. He was reported missing to police on 15 January by a concerned peer, and his body was recovered by fire and police crews that afternoon.
Mr Rogers’s family said in a statement that, for him, “the rational became the irrational, and he ended what could have been a beautiful life”.

Dr Dominique Thompson, an independent consultant tasked by Oxford with investigating Mr Rogers’s death, reportedly described a “pervasive cancel culture” as she said the allegations against Mr Rogers caused a “pile on” effect of students agreeing with others because of an “unwritten” moral imperative to “do the right thing”.
Dr Thompson said: “It was shocking to hear that students were treating each other in this way, but I was not surprised by this pattern of behaviour.”

Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Graham said, however, that he had not been able to establish whether any element of a culture at Corpus Christi had either caused or contributed to Mr Rogers’s distress.

Mr Graham concluded: “Of course, it is certainly possible that such a culture influenced the actions of Alexander’s peers in forming the judgements that they did; it is also possible that Alexander felt that – because of this culture – there was no way of getting back into the social group that obviously meant so much to him, once he had been excluded.
“What I cannot say is that this was probable. Nor, on the balance of probabilities, that this culture materially contributed to Alexander’s distress and his fateful decision on the morning of the 15 January.”

However, the coroner said that Dr Thompson’s findings highlighted “the potentially harmful effects of social ostracism”, which evidence suggests is an issue for the higher education sector as a whole.
“Rightly [Mr Rogers’s] family are concerned that this culture ought to be addressed,” said Mr Graham, adding that he would write in his capacity as coroner to ask the Department for Education “to reflect on the concerns that have arisen in this case and to take those concerns forward”.
Recording a verdict of suicide, Mr Graham said: “I would like to express my condolences to the family.
“While what we are dealing with here is in the interest of the public the family additionally has to carry the unique burden of grief, which is a heavy one. From what we have heard Alexander was an extremely able and popular young man and his passing is sad indeed.”
On a fundraising page for suicide prevention charity Papyrus, friends of Mr Rogers said: “Alex was undeniably caring; he would fill up a room with his laughs and smiles and brought so much joy to us all. A man that lived life to the full, who gave us our favourite stories and memories and whom we miss deeply.”
A spokesperson said: “Oxford University and Corpus Christi College extend our deepest sympathies to Alexander’s family and everyone in our community who has been saddened by his tragic death.
“The college commissioned an independent review to identify all learning in this case with the aim of minimising the chance of such a tragic loss happening again. A college working group has been set up to take forward all the recommendations, a number of which have already been implemented. The university is also working on recommendations made by the review as part of its ongoing work on student welfare.
“We note that the coroner will be writing to the Department for Education about wider issues arising from today’s inquest, and we will respond to any further guidance for the higher education sector.
“The wellbeing of our students remains our absolute priority and we are committed to maintaining the safety of all those within our university and college community. Our thoughts remain with Alexander’s family and his friends.”

International news but mostly seeing UK papers reporting on it

https://archive.ph/UcyUw

One of the founders of the world’s oldest breastfeeding support charity has quit in protest at its inclusion of transgender women.

Marian Tompson denounced La Leche League International as an ‘organisation that has become a travesty of my original intent’.

In a damning resignation letter from the board of directors, the 94-year-old condemned the group’s shift from focusing on mothering to ‘indulging the fantasies of adults’.

She wrote in a letter to senior figures at La Leche League (LLL): ‘From an organisation with the specific mission of supporting biological women who want to give their babies the best start in life by breastfeeding them, LLL’s focus has subtly shifted to include men who, for whatever reason, want to have the experience of breastfeeding, despite no careful long-term research on male lactation and how that may affect the baby.

‘This shift from following the norms of nature, which is the core of mothering through breastfeeding, to indulging the fantasies of adults, is destroying our organisation.’

However, she added that she hoped to return to the organisation – which she helped found in 1956 to improve breastfeeding rates in the USA – when it returns to its ‘original mission and purpose’.

Last night Helen Joyce of British women’s rights charity Sex Matters said: ‘The situation at La Leche League is one of the starkest examples of how gender-identity ideology turns organisations upside-down.

‘By including men who want to breastfeed in its services, LLL is destroying its founding mission to support breastfeeding mothers.

'It also goes against the wishes of many mothers, group leaders and trustees around the world, who have been fighting to convince LLL International to hold fast to its woman-focused mission, including here in the UK.’

Earlier this year, the Mail told how the British arm of La Leche League had been forced to call in the Charity Commission regulator in a dispute over its trans inclusive policy.

There were claims of ‘harassment and bullying’ over a policy to include trans women in meetings.

Directors raised concerns that the diktat from the global organisation could mean volunteers are also forced to give advice to trans women wishing to breastfeed.

One of its trustees of La Leche League GB has now quit over the row.

Miriam Main wrote: ‘I do not recognise LLL in the bullying, lies, and cruelty of recent times and this has been unreasonably hard to endure.’

A spokesman for the British charity said: ‘The LLLGB Council of Directors are aware that Marian Tompson has resigned from the La Leche League International Board.

‘We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the role Marian Tompson has taken both in founding LLL and her tireless global work in the wider field of breastfeeding support for almost seventy years.’

And for some reason Sue doesn't want the job Kier offered.

https://archive.ph/UEy9w

Sue Gray has turned down Sir Keir Starmer’s offer to become the prime minister’s envoy for the nations and regions, No 10 said, in yet another blow to the prime minister as questions continue about his Downing Street operation.
Ms Gray was sacked as chief of staff last month after losing a power struggle with election strategist Morgan McSweeney.

It came as the prime minister attempted to reshuffle his top team of advisers following a dreadful start to his government, which has been plagued by infighting, a row over freebies and complaints that he is failing to get his message over on difficult policies like ditching winter fuel payments.

This latest blow comes as the government is locked in a row about the new family farm tax.
But The Independent understands that questions were being raised almost immediately after Sir Keir appeared to attempt to appease Ms Gray’s humiliation with a new job of envoy for the nations and regions. But she failed to turn up at a nations and regions conference that same week and now appears to have rejected the role after months of speculation.

It is understood that ministers involved in the nations and regions portfolio were “less than impressed” and “not enthusiastic” about the idea of Ms Gray, with questions over whether she would be telling them what to do.
No 10 repeatedly said she was on a short break before taking up her new post, but has since confirmed she has decided not to take up the role.
Meanwhile, an ally of Ms Gray told the Financial Times she is “going to focus on other things”.
“She’s taken time to think about it properly, talking to stakeholders, but ultimately she’s decided she doesn’t want to do it”, they added.

There have also been rumours that the prime minister was considering withdrawing the job offer.

No 10 had previously described her new position as a “vital role in strengthening our relations with the regions and nations”.
In the job, she would have acted as a go-between for ministers with devolved governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and regional mayors across England.
On Tuesday, the prime minister’s spokesperson said: “Sue has played a vital role in strengthening our relations with the regions, as such she was in a unique place to build on that.

“But she has decided not to take up that role. We will keep that role under review to ensure we have the right processes in place in terms of the regions and nations.”
Her resignation as chief of staff followed weeks of infighting almost from the moment Labour won a historic election result, coupled with questions over gifts for the prime minister, and fears the government had lost control of its own agenda.

The prime minister was forced to reset his top team in an attempt to regain control of the political agenda, even after announcements about restricting gifts in the future and paying back some of them.
At the time, Ms Gray agreed to take up the new role in government following an admission she had become a “distraction”, not least over revelations of her £170,000 salary – more than the prime minister.
In a statement, Sir Keir thanked Ms Gray for her work to “prepare us for government and get us started on our programme of change”.
Ms Gray did have some support among the metropolitan mayors. Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen told The Independent: “She was effective and helped me get stuff done over the few months she was there.”

FedPostalService · Nov 13, 2024

Morethanabitfoolish said:
The archbishop is gone!

The next one is selected by the Prime Minister, so bet on black.

UK British News Megathread - aka CWCissey's news thread

teriyakiburns

If a cow got the chance, he'd eat you!

FedPostalService

Delivering threats in Minecraft

Rusty Metal Skull Gun

i vill not move out of ze vay

red lichen0

Gorillion others

Whoopsie Daisy

Ask me about how teen boys deserve to be molested

teriyakiburns

If a cow got the chance, he'd eat you!

Whoopsie Daisy

Ask me about how teen boys deserve to be molested

Mound Dweller

Orcneas

Kane Lives

Peace through power

K!w!Fartz

The strong should fear the weak.

Morethanabitfoolish

Bruh.

teriyakiburns

If a cow got the chance, he'd eat you!

Morethanabitfoolish

Bruh.

QE65

Don't hit me with those negative waves...

Bloom Worm Cross Field

Frêche Mite

anklyscr

Seriously. Tits on a ghost

Snekposter

Year of the Snek

Morethanabitfoolish

Bruh.

FedPostalService

Delivering threats in Minecraft