PMQs and drugs

PMQs today was interesting.  Of the many things that came up, the one I want to address today is drugs and legalisation.

I have stated that I feel that they should be legalised and regulated, but Starmer raised an important point, that being date-rape drugs.  While his view in PMQ's is that drugs should not be legalised and regulated, I do think that he is right about date rape drugs like GHB and flunitrazepam (also known as Rohypnol).  I had a chat with my daughter about this later in the day.  We both agreed that drugs like this should not be legalised as the idea of legalisation and regulation is about risk reduction to the user. 

It is because of this, that I do not think that there is a point in the legalisation and regulation of anabolic steroids.  Drugs ruin peoples lives, and making them legal will not stop them doing so, but doing so may help reduce some of the harm that they cause. Also, it will probably reduce the rates of drug related crime and has seen to have advantages abroad. 

Gender and PMQs

PMQ's was interesting.  As many would have guessed, the judgement of the Supreme Court stating that the Equality Act definition excludes transgender women was brought up. I thought that Starmer dealt with it quite well when he called for the debate to be calmer, this link being from Bluesky, this link from Twitter.

There have been lots of different views on this, some of it good some of it not so.  As posted before, I disagree with the interpretation that means that people have to use bathrooms based on biological sex, but it appears that having that view is wrong.

I often disagree with Novara media, and while I do not agree fully with their video, I think that this is quite good.  Notably the issue where trying to discuss matters about inclusion and addressing concerns about prisons and sports was and is viewed by some as being transphobic.  The Rest is Politics have brought up the issue of Trans-Men and the issues they face.  In addition to which they have also discussed how toxic the debate has become.  I would love parliament to debate this so that we can have more guidance on where people who do not conform to their chromosomal make up do when it comes to single sexed spaces.  But I suspect that the reasons that Labour are not keen on this is because of how some vested interest groups would act. 

It will be interesting to see how this progresses.  I do hope that debate about the concerns of this will be civil.  There are many examples of where it can be so.

I was sad that Starmer did not answer questions

It was sad to see Starmer not answer questions in PMQ’s today and instead evade them. Yes, it is easier to be the leader of the opposition, a fact Starmer forgot last week.

What was more interesting was Nigel Farage defending the rights of those who have been jailed around the time of the Farage Riots for Social Media posts.  People were jailed for the same over the riots of 2011, conviction's which were upheld when appealed. I am not sure if Nigel Farage will call for those convictions to be overturned. 

Inaction man

I guess the best bit of PMQ's today was a comment made by Starmer to Sunak calling him Inaction Man.  My daughter was not impressed, but she is of a generation that never had Action Man.

To be fair to Sunak, he has tried to do a lot while Prime Minister.  He has brought forward legislation to increase the amount of sewage in our rivers.  He has tried to stop the boats, he has tried to deport those seeking asylum to Rwanda.  But like a poor marksman, he just keeps missing the target!

Schools out, oops

In PMQs today, Sunak tried to avoid the blame for the recent school closures. 

Put simply, in 2010, the Conservatives cancelled building work on schools. Many of these schools are now shut or partially shut due to the risk of a roof collapsing on pupils. Starmer pointed this out in PMQs and Sunak attempted to duck and weave and to  even imply that Labour had some responsibility for this by not raising it enough. 

I am sure his words will stick with some, but put simply, the Conservatives have been in power since David Cameron became Prime Minister in 2010 and they have had thirteen years to sort this out, or as appears to have happened , ignored it and hoped that this would only become an issue after he next election.

The Conservatives are right in that most schools do not have the structural issues that had put many children at risk. But tell that to the children who cannot return to school, or are having disruption to lessons thanks to these cuts. 

When is it right for a business to discriminate

In PMQ's the issue of if Farage should be discriminated against came up.  It has transpired that the bank he was with decided not to allow him to bank with them because they felt that he had a different view to him.  That would be acceptable, if they did this all the time, but they do not.

An internal report, prepared for the Coutts risk committee, had described Farage as a “disingenuous grifter” who promotes “xenophobic, chauvinistic and racist views” and while Farage had described the dossier as a “prejudiced, nasty document” the report is right.

The issue that I am concerned about, is if it is right to deny Farage the right to bank, what about other people and also other organisations?  Would it be right to deny banking services to Just Stop Oil, an organisation I agree with (in part)?

I have no issues with a bank trying to be ethical, so long as it tries more often than Coutts has in this situation.  Well, I do have issues, but I would accept them more if the policy was one that is open and transparent.  Nigel Farage has just as much right to have a bank account as Gerry Adams does and a bank changing rules to discriminate against him is just as wrong as it would be for a bank to discriminate against Just Stop Oil.

PMQs and housing

Housing was an issue which was brought up in a fairly boring PMQ's today. Keir Starmer was great before being Labour leader, but he has not been as inspiring as Jeremy Corbyn. However, he has not been as controversial and has got many voters to switch to Labour.  He is, to put it bluntly, boring.  In PMQ's while he did have a few good lines and asked important questions, he makes it too easy for his questions to be ignored by not learning a lesson from Corbyn. That is the use of real human examples.  It is much harder to avoid a question when it relates to an actual person and Starmer should use this Corbyn tactic in PMQ's.

I had described him as dependable and reliable, but recent issues have changed that perception with more people that Labour keeps changing its views.  The most recent one is on housing, and rent controls.  I have seen issues with people renting in private accommodation, which is the right thing for many tenants.  But I have seen too many people having to move from place to place when landlords have to remove them, for one reason or another.  

After my parents divorced, I grew up in a council flat and then later, a house. A huge advantage of this was that we did not need to move, and when we did, it was across the road.  Too many people have had to move from one area of Colchester, to another.  This has big issues for children who are in school as either they have to change schools, or spend more time travelling.  I know that this also is an issue for those who own homes, but it is an issue which I think, is harming the education and development of too many children.  

Changing a policy before elected based on changing circumstances, or being made aware of the effects of such a change is important.  I would love to see a change to a Labour policy which favours the building of council homes again, and ideally, gets rid of the right to buy.    

It's the way I tell 'em

Frank Carson was a Northern Irish comedian renowned for bawdily irreverent humour and his catchphrase, "it's the way I tell 'em" and that catchphrase is something Keir Starmer needs to take on board. The questions and issues that he raised in PMQ's were very relevant, but his delivery was below par and as pointed out by Rishi Sunak after one question, quite longwinded. He, like many Labour politicians, needs to think up catchphrases that can be used in PMQ’s which the electorate will respond do. Like the Conservatives do. 

I do understand why many think that there is no point to PMQ’s, but it is thanks to the scrutiny that the PM is put under, that consequences can arise. It was a question that was asked on the 8th of December 2021 by Catherine West that may result in Parliament acting against Boris Johnson for his answer and the way he misled Parliament. 

King Charles comes to town

King Charles came to town yesterday (or rather the city). My son was at school, but my daughter, being at the Sixth Form College, saw him as she waited in the centre and he passed by her. She, and her friends, waved at the snipers who were in town as well.  She wore a burger king crown and waved a flag. I found all this out when I had sent a text on the family group chat asking if she had been with the banner crowd or had been using the megaphone.

 

Many do not like the King, but I admire his views on Climate Change and also the deportation of refugees which he has has to remain silent in now he is our monarch. I do wish he had spoken out about the racist double standards his daughter-in-law had been subjected to however.

Issues about racism and refugees were in the news today thanks to a tweet by Gary Liniker. I think that a better choice of words would have made things clearer, but there is no doubt that the language used about asylum seekers is designed to incite hatred and has resulted in lots of the electorate blaming them for many issues in our nation.

In PMQs, the government reminded us how many refugees were taken in from Ukraine, Hong Kong and Afghanistan. But the fact remains that many crossing the channel to get to the UK, have no safe and legal route to get here. It would be easy to process applications in France rather than housing asylum seekers in hotels in the UK, and once there is a decent safe and legal route, then we can deport those crossing the channel. Instead many are now blaming this issue for the way the government have underfunded the NHS (and other public services).

Needless to say, issues of asylum and refugees were brought up in PMQs, the government who has failed to deport failed asylum seekers has been stating that it is Labour that are in favour of open borders. One thing that many Labour supporters will not like, will be the way that when this is sorted out when Labour come to power, deportations will take place.

PMQs and answering the question

Quick post on PMQs, I will post on the nightmare that is Matt Hancock later this week if possible.  It was good to see Rishi Sunak getting taken to task on not answering a question.  It is a shame that this has not happened on the other occasions questions have not been answered.  

While Starmer has asked searching questions, this performance today was not good for headlines and soundbites, his questions being detailed, but not short and to the point, like the answers the Sunak gives (even though inaccurate).  

PMQ's yesterday

My son found out yesterday that his maths mock exam was to include subjects that he had yet to learn while he was sitting it.  My wife and I disagreed with the usefulness of this, but he did not seem to be too fazed as many in his class had the same issues.  

My daughter did the cooking.  I had intended to do this, but I had some bad news about the holidays I had requested and was not quite in the right frame.  To be honest, she made dinner better than I could so it was great that I was not able to cook!

PMQ's yesterday was quite tame.  The main questions from Starmer were to show unity for the view of the President of Ukraine.  The SNP instead tried to take over the role of the opposition and failed miserably when it came to bringing up the claims of Liz Truss that she was not to blame for the economic crash which took place under her watch.  As Sunak had said when he took office, mistakes had been made.  I did not get to listen/watch it live as I had a meeting when it was on, but I caught up with this on the dog walk that took place later in the day.  

PMQs and resignations

As predicted last week, Nadhim Zahawi has resigned but Richard Sharp has managed to keep his job. Starmer righty focused on when the PM was made aware of the allegations that Nadhim Zahawi had concerns about his tax payments considering that they had been raised in July last year.  He then moved onto the allegations of bullying but I think that he missed the opportunity to ask why Richard Sharp is in his job despite not raising the issues he had with helping the then PM get a loan.  Both needed full disclosure for their jobs. The only reason I can see is that Richard Sharp is still being investigated. If he is not sacked, it will be interesting to see the reason or reasons why. 

PMQs and gender (again)

Today PMQs, as expected focused on corruption, or the appearance of it in the Conservative Party. Keir Starmer started asking about the probation service and then moved on to tax issues. The answers in general were to be expected, but the one that stood out was the denial of Rishi Sunak over knowledge about the tax affairs of the former chancellor. Officials raised a ‘flag’ over Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs before he was appointed chancellor, which means that Rishi Sunak is lying about Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs or someone made a big error by not telling him about this.

Before watching PMQs, I watched Politics Live which discussed gender. My views have changed again, I feel that safe spaces such as toilets etc, should be genitalia based even if they have a gender recognition certificate. It is not just the recent case of the rapist Adam Graham (now known as Isla Bryson), who I suspect is not Transgender but is a predator pretending to be one so that they can continue to hunt prey once incarcerated. It is also that some men will want to exploit rules so that they can expose themselves. We are moving to a situation where women, who are being sent too many explicit images, will have to face up to seeing male genitalia in spaces like changing rooms. 

In my work, I sadly come across too many people who 'game' the system to act within the law but in a morally reprehensible manner, and in most cases, the person who is doing so is male, the victim being female.  

I do not consider predators like Adam Graham/Isla Bryson, Karen White/Stephen Wood or Katie Dolatowski to be TransWomen, I consider them to be men pretending to be TransWomen so that they can hunt.  I have disagreements on Twitter about this before, but I think that it is wrong to compare them to real TransWomen like Rebecca Root or Yasmin Finney. 

My views on safe spaces such as toilets have fluctuated over time and will probably change again.  I am genuinely interested in views on this, but sadly, debate on this is rarely civil. 

Ambulances and PMQs

I think that both the PM and The Leader of the Opposition think that they won PMQs today. I am biased, but I feel that Keir Starmer won it with his simple and repeated questions about the ambulance service.

More or Less this morning talked about ambulance response times, starting with the time taken for a 999 call to be answered to the wait for an ambulance once one was dispatched. As noted before, this is not a new issue, though it is one that was not present during the years Labour looked after the NHS. This was debated in Parliament in 2016.  It turns out that the time that NHS England expects an ambulance crew to be at a hospital to hand over a patient is fifteen minutes. After that, they prepare the ambulance for the next job and then go to the next patient. Now, they have to wait at A&E to offload the patient which means that they cannot collect the next patient. Patients like my Mum who had to take herself to hospital by taxi after having a suspected heart attack because no ambulance was available to collect her.  Fortunately it was not her heart, but her symptoms sounded like it could be. 

Sadly, I do not see this improving until some time after the next election. 

PMQs yesterday and NHS workers striking (or not in Scotland)

PMQs yesterday could have been better. Keir Starmer used the example of one person on his second question but did not mention that strike action may be averted in Scotland where nurses are voting on the pay deal that has been offered to them.  If Alex, the person Starmer mentioned in PMQs lived in Scotland, his operation would not be cancelled by strike action, an issue later mentioned by the SNP. Sunak mentioned COVID as being the reason for the NHS waiting lists, Starmer responded with the report the government commissioned which cited a decade of underfunding as a reason for the care backlog. I did not hear Starmer mention how staffing shortages are causing operations to be cancelled especially as Sunak blamed strikes for this.

Eating disorders were mentioned later by Fabian Hamilton, delays in mental health treatment being reported in the media as causing children to be put into care. 

Ambulance waiting times were brought up as well and Sunak implied that there were no issues before the pandemic, but the issue of ambulance waits being too long was discussed in Parliament in 2016 and the issue of some patients waiting more than 24 hours for an ambulance was raised by the media in 2018. Issues of patients waiting in ambulances for too long before being handed over to A&E was also discussed before the pandemic, this article being from 2017. 

Basically, there is an argument that these strikes are political, though those making the argument are blaming the left. When it comes to NHS workers, the strikes could be stopped, as they have in Scotland, by the government talking to the unions. That they are not, is a political decision because they hope to make Labour look bad over this.  I guess those working in the NHS (like me) should be glad that we have been clapped.

PMQs and PPE (again)

I watched PMQs with my daughter after it had taken place due to work commitments. She was at home as she had an inset day. After Starmer lost the first questions on housing, the issue of PPE came up.  Again, I admire the actions of the Conservatives when it came to Nightingale hospitals (though staffing would have been an issue) as well as changes in the law to allow doctors to certify deaths without risking death.  

But PPE was a big issue, not just the lack of it despite the findings of Exercise Alice and Exercise Cygnus, but how our nation exported PPE even though we had a huge shortage because those who raised how we could supply our frontline workers were not part of the Chumocracy.  Even then, the PPE sourced by those friends of the Conservatives was not up to our standards!

Matt Hancock has appeared to blame frontline workers for bringing COVID into nursing homes, but this would have been less likely to happen if we had decent testing and also PPE. 

Cooking and private education

Have been cooking with my son. I order food from Gousto and on most Wednesday’s cook a meal. The rest of the family will cook a second meal most weeks, but it is getting me cooking, and I think, is improving my confidence. Having my son join me was great. It meant

that the food was prepared on time and I hope we continue to do this going forwards.

PMQs was not a major victory for either side this week. Private schools were discussed, specifically the tax breaks that they claim for being charities. They are not, they are businesses and while they may do some charitable work, they should only be able to claim back the money for any bursaries they offer. I disagree with the idea of getting rid of them, but I fail to understand why they get tax breaks which state schools do not.

PMQs during Anti-Bullying Week

Normally when Angela Rayner is asking questions on behalf of the opposition she is devastating. In fact, I was looking forwards to today and when Dominic Raab referred himself to be investigated for bullying I thought that she had an open goal. But faced with it, she did not make the easy kill and Dominic Raab managed to hold her off. 

The SNP fared better, but I did not get to listen to the rest of PMQs today as my daughter had friends round. I may get time to listen to the rest of it tomorrow.

Both my mother and mother-in-law rang me to get the children to talk to them, both on my way back to the house. I cannot force the children to talk to them and I can only imagine how painful it is for them. We did have a bit of an idea when last week, one gave us the silent treatment, my wife for most of it and me for a bit. We did try to talk about it today, but other than being told that we were over half the reason for the stress that child faced, we were not told how. We both hope to find out later this week. 

Sir Gavin Williamson

While many were outraged at the way Gavin Williamson had acted towards a Conservative whip, I was not too bothered with this, especially with the way Conservative whips acted in the last big vote of the Liz Truss Premiership. I should actually refer to allegations as no improper behaviour was proven on a later investigation.

I did think he should resign over the allegations over how he treated civil servants, and he did.  Watching The Thick Of It with my daughter, again for me, I get the impression that bullying is, or was common in the past, and many of us remember how Priti Patel got away with allegations of bullying herself. I myself had engaged in bullying behaviour when I worked in our local hospital about twenty years ago, behaviour which I now accept was wrong. Well some of it. However I do not recall telling someone to jump out of a window, or to slit their throat and while I did promise to hit someone, that was when they refused to listen to me when I had explained why I had done something and instead decided to berate me without accepting what I did was right.

PMQs was interesting with a question about people who received a fix penalty notice due to Partygate being made Lords.  Starmer won again, his first question being about bullying and while Sunak gave a nice response, he did not answer the first question. Sunak was honest stating that he regretted the appointment of Williamson into his role, but then was silly saying his government is in favour of accountability while sitting next to Suella Braverman! Sunak did not answer the third question about thanking Williamson for his service.  The next question about the Windfall tax which Labour had called for (though Labour wanted a better one) was not answered, Starmer answering it for him in the preamble to he fifth question on how the Windfall tax should be changed. The final question mentioned how the Conservatives crashed the economy in its build up, but was wasted as it asked what chance the Prime Minister had of running the country. Sunak answered referring to Jeremy Corbyn who would have been a much better Prime Minister than any of the three we have had in this Parliament.

I was to go to bed before watching the SNP’s Ian Blackford answer his questions. Normally he asks the best questions of the session, he fell far short today.

Ian Blackford beats Keir Starmer in PMQ’s

Starmer did well in PMQ’s yesterday but Ian Blackford did better. However the Conservatives have to stick by Cruella despite the latest revelations about her refusal to follow the rules on sending communications as she comes across as being strong on immigration. By immigration, I mean those crossing the channel to seek asylum. The media are supporting the narrative that we are being swamped rather than looking, as Starmer has raised, why it is taking so long to process asylum applications.