Mailwatch(ed) Forum

That's all we bloody need.

I think we can safely say that Russell Brand will not be the alleged rapist making the headlines this week.

Front page news on the Mail and the Mirror today.

I'm currently reading the memoirs of Simon Hart, the former Tory Chief Whip. The amount of sexual indiscretions that seemed to be unearthed under the Johnson, Truss and Sunak administrations but didn't get any attention beggars belief.

Some weren't publicised for legal reasons, but the rest just seems to be an unwillingness to report.

I'm currently reading the memoirs of Simon Hart, the former Tory Chief Whip. The amount of sexual indiscretions that seemed to be unearthed under the Johnson, Truss and Sunak administrations but didn't get any attention beggars belief.

Nevermind Adolescence, perhaps it's time for a conversation about the sickness lying in adult generations.
Cut off their goolies.

If this is true then Unite and Sharon Graham can fuck off.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cedyy520v32o

A deal between striking bin workers and Birmingham City Council could have been reached were it not for the interventions of the Unite union's national leadership team, the BBC has been told.

A message seen by the BBC also appears to suggest some local union members are dissatisfied with how the dispute has been handled.

Unite said claims national union figures had scuppered a potential deal were "entirely without merit".

Speaking on a visit to Birmingham on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner urged the union to accept what she said was a "significantly improved" offer from the council.

Thousands of tonnes of rubbish have built up on the city's streets over more than four weeks and Ms Rayner said the situation was "causing misery and disruption to residents".

A number of senior Labour figures outside the council, including some MPs, said they understood the purported deal with local reps would have been reached during the rolling strike in January and February.

However, individuals with knowledge of the situation said while the alleged deal was backed by refuse workers at two of Birmingham City Council's three bin lorry depots, National Unite figures were involved at the third site where it was rejected.

Sources, including some with extensive union experience, say the handling of the dispute is being influenced by power struggles within Unite.

A longstanding Unite member from the West Midlands told the BBC that while commissioners at the council bore some of the responsibility for the dispute, the regional office of Unite was unhappy it had been bypassed.

They said: "Unions traditionally have been about the art of the deal on behalf of their members. Instead, Unite and some others seem to be in the grip of people for whom disruption, disputes and revolution are their priority."

I've had a feeling that there's some outside influence in the future - it's been going on for too long with no end in sight not for there to be someone wanting it to continue. An unholy alliance of those who hate Starmer the most would be about right.

Because 1979 worked out so well...

I'd be a bit sceptical of that article, because internal union opponents, the Government and the council all have a big incentive to dump on Graham. Though I have little regard for the sort of people who tried to elect Howard Beckett, I wasn't impressed with the Gerald Coyne types either. Anyway, Graham is entitled to make the point that they could get a better deal if they hold out a bit longer.

One of the most downright dishonest pieces I have ever read, here.

https://www.declassifieduk.org/morgan- ... CIjaHkuS8A

I’ve read Pogrund & Maguire’s book, and virtually none of what this piece claims is in it. It is, not to put too fine a point on it, a pack of lies. A fantasy. A self-justifying conspiracy theory. An absolute disgrace, but also somewhat irrelevant. If I were Pogrund & Maguire, I’d be considering legal action.

Having said that, it is also a reminder that these bastards won’t lie down, and will come back if and when the opportunity is presented to them again. It’s up to genuine Labour members and supporters to make sure that that doesn’t happen.

The same two authors wrote Left Out about Labour under Corbyn. Doubtless these authors think that's a completely fair and trustworthy document though.

Funny, I can't see any of the reviews on Good Reads there drawing the same conclusion that these authors do...

I see the author throws in a bit of Jew bashing for good measure.

Sharon Graham has been all over the news media today, from LBC to Times Radio and the BBC, basically having a right go at the Labour government. Labour does not defend working people , she says, as justification for suspending Angie Rayner’s membership of Unite the Union, which Rayner had already resigned from several months ago.

Sharon truly is a worthy successor to Laughing Len McCluskey, in the sense that she is a totally naive numpty in political terms. Interviewer after interviewer pressed her on whether Unite the Union is about formally to disaffilate from Labour. Sharonwas equivocal in her answer of course, leaving the prospect (which is actually very unlikely) “on the table”.

She is blaming Angie for the continuing impasse in the bin crews’ strike in Birmingham. But Angie has very little involvement in trying to settle the dispute. There are multiple reasons behind the bin crews’ dispute, including the fact that Birmingham had to declare effective bankruptcy last year due in large part to huge liabilities arising from equal pay claims - which the settlement that Unite the Union is pressing for would add to and exacerbate. Government commisioners have effectively been running the council since the bankruptcy declaration, which limits drastically the room for manoeuvre that the council has in negotiations with Unite the Union. The council, like many other Labour-controlled councils, continues to have to labour under the shadow of year on year draconian cuts in its support grant from central government over 14 years.

In my view, the Brum bins dispute cannot and will not be settled amicably, or any time soon.

Sharon Graham’s idiotic shit-stirring is to say the very least unhelpful.

Abernathy wrote: ↑Tue Apr 29, 2025 7:44 pm One of the most downright dishonest pieces I have ever read, here.

https://www.declassifieduk.org/morgan- ... CIjaHkuS8A

I’ve read Pogrund & Maguire’s book, and virtually none of what this piece claims is in it. It is, not to put too fine a point on it, a pack of lies. A fantasy. A self-justifying conspiracy theory. An absolute disgrace, but also somewhat irrelevant. If I were Pogrund & Maguire, I’d be considering legal action.

Having said that, it is also a reminder that these bastards won’t lie down, and will come back if and when the opportunity is presented to them again. It’s up to genuine Labour members and supporters to make sure that that doesn’t happen.

One thing that stands out amongst all the blatant nonsense in there - why on earth did The Canary need 22 members of staff?

In fact it was a ruthless, factional grouping which aimed, the authors say, “to use any means necessary to delegitimise and destroy” Jeremy Corbyn, “to ensure he lost badly”

This cunning strategy was executed by Corbyn and his crew getting on with it and fighting a GE their way.

The plotters travelled back in time to put embarrassing words in Jeremy Corbyn's mouth. Not just the eccentric foreign affairs and defence stuff, but really devious touches like making him say nuclear power should be shut down, which bit him on the arse in the Copeland by-election.

Most people in France, Germany, Italy and Spain would support UK rejoining EU, poll finds

That's very nice of the public in these countries, but their governments aren't going to waste too much time on us with Badenoch and Farage waiting in the wings.

I'm already shuddering at the "rejoin now, Starmer, Europe wants it" BTL Guardian nonsense.

Abernathy wrote: ↑Sat Jul 12, 2025 9:50 pm
She is blaming Angie for the continuing impasse in the bin crews’ strike in Birmingham. But Angie has very little involvement in trying to settle the dispute. There are multiple reasons behind the bin crews’ dispute, including the fact that Birmingham had to declare effective bankruptcy last year due in large part to huge liabilities arising from equal pay claims - which the settlement that Unite the Union is pressing for would add to and exacerbate.

You can always tell when people are struggling for arguments when they personalize disputes like that. It's also something of a paradox to insult a politician like they have and then demand they personally get involved.

My understanding (from a good poster from Birmingham BTL on the Guardian) is the same as yours, that the solution proposed is a massive liability.

Unite have been accusing the Council of practicing fire and rehire.