[Misc] Owen Patterson M.P.

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

This is why we need to scrap FPTP and replace with PR. many decent ordinary folk who would usually vote Tory despise BJ and his Government, many have turned against Brexit, but all the moderate Tory backbench MPs in safe seats will always get voted back in and endorse the current government, so nothing changes. If the party and government as a whole knew they would get a real kick in from the electorate they wouldn't do it

In this country we would end up with a permanent tory-led coalition, and the same old sleaze. In this country, with PR, what would happen is the number of people voting would drop (many Brits are capricious and vote only if they imagine their vote will directly lead to change) fuelling the sense of disenfranchisement (which was exactly what happened with European elections and the EU) and there would be even more disgruntlement and apathy, and with nobody getting the government they want because nobody wants a coalition.

If you want to get the tories out you need to vote against them and, on the whole, where labour have a chance to win, vote labour.

 

[Bold Seagull]

The government is basically pegging the population, we're expected to bend over and not complain. Let's instead focus on the word mandatory, because that's really the thing that bothers me most about all this...

 

[sparkie]

That is a bit misleading - what does 'makes Randox mandatory for travel' mean? They never had a monopoly or the only service you could use

They had some sort of partnership with Ryanair and Easyjet ( maybe others ) who offered discount codes to them and linked passengers to their website.

 

[Springal]

They had some sort of partnership with Ryanair and Easyjet ( maybe others ) who offered discount codes to them and linked passengers to their website.

Yes along with many other providers. My questioning is the use of the word 'mandatory' - I am not aware of Randox having any kind of monopoly or mandatory use (as someone who travelled to Europe 3 times this summer, I never used Randox)

Again not defending it but Randox at least existed before COVID - the vast majority of these testing services were companies set up during the pandemic and have very dubious backgrounds / websites etc

 

[WATFORD zero]

Yes along with many other providers. My questioning is the use of the word 'mandatory' - I am not aware of Randox having any kind of monopoly or mandatory use (as someone who travelled to Europe 3 times this summer, I never used Randox)

Again not defending it but Randox at least existed before COVID - the vast majority of these testing services were companies set up during the pandemic and have very dubious backgrounds / websites etc

And the one thing Randox and all these 'dubious' companies had in common (together with all the other dubious companies in every other area of Covid testing, PPE, Developing Apps, Track and Trace etc etc ?)

Everyone single one of them was either approved, or given contracts (and often both) by this Government in order to operate

 

[A1X]

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[nwgull]

The next case that the committee was going to look at involved Alex de Pfeffel Johnson, our Prime Minister. Not a coincidence.

There you go. I wasn’t aware of this. Let’s hope that this coincidence is proliferated throughout both mainstream and social media over the next few days.

 

[Springal]

And the one thing Randox and all these 'dubious' companies had in common (together with all the other dubious companies in every other area of Covid testing, PPE, Developing Apps, Track and Trace etc etc ?)

Everyone single one of them was either approved, or given contracts (and often both) by this Government in order to operate

I don't think it is even a Tory thing, a lot of it is just incompetence. There is evidence of known convicted drug dealers running companies on the government approved list. I think very little vetting has been done

 

[Questions]

I spoke about this some time ago with a wealthy customer of mine and he quite seriously said, without a hint of of a smile that it was just ‘networking’ as is the way with these things. He was too far gone to listen to me. Three other people in the room just shrugged and offered no opinion on the matter. That is the crux of it all on these types of occasions.
So often you will hear a soft Tory say things like, ‘Well they’re all at it’………..
They’re not, they’re really not.
I wonder what snag de Pfeffel will get caught on…………. If at all.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Certainly open to interpretation. The Government made the tests mandatory and Randox had the Government contract as the UK's largest PCR testing provider

Ministers face calls to intervene in ‘scam’ Covid travel test system

As photos posted online showed drop-off boxes run by Randox, the UK’s largest PCR testing provider, overflowing with unprocessed swabs, growing numbers of returning holidaymakers are reporting that their test kits are failing to arrive, or are taking up to six days to process.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/10/ministers-face-calls-to-intervene-in-scam-covid-travel-test-system

In the interests of fairness, we used Randox for Day 2 tests, on return from France, in September. They seemed to be the cheapest at £48 each. We used the drop box at Woodingdean pharmacy, and got the results back within 48 hours.
There wasn't a link from Eurotunnel with a discount code, so I just searched for Day2 tests.

 

[vegster]

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Unashamed sleaze today as Kwarteng says that the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner should " Consider her position ".... They really don't give a xxxx anymore do they? Sadly they have already divided the country so effectively by stoking division and culture wars there us no effective opposition left.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

I love this twitter account... warning contains some swearing

[tweet]1456027653140582402[/tweet]

 

[WATFORD zero]

I don't think it is even a Tory thing, a lot of it is just incompetence. There is evidence of known convicted drug dealers running companies on the government approved list. I think very little vetting has been done

It's not incompetence (although this government is clearly incompetent)
It's not lack of vetting

It's clear and simple corruption

 

[A1X]

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Guess they felt even they couldn't ride this one out

 

[Springal]

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Guess they felt even they couldn't ride this one out

Gary Neville called this last night. Classic Tory U-Turn

 

[sparkie]

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Guess they felt even they couldn't ride this one out

And the fact that any new anti-corruption panel would look terrible if no opposition parties took part and it was just a bunch of tory mps with their "no corruption here" rubber stamp ?

 

[WATFORD zero]

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Guess they felt even they couldn't ride this one out

Oh well, looks like the Government will have to find another way to cover up the fact that while some people in Britain were dying, other people in Government were more concerned with lining theirs and their friend's pockets

 

[Machiavelli]

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Guess they felt even they couldn't ride this one out

I'm concerned about this, because for the last few days we've been told that the measure was introduced to bring about 'natural justice', and now it's been reversed we'll be devoid of this wonderful thing that contains two words that calm the public.

 

[nicko31]

I love this twitter account... warning contains some swearing

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I see the U-turn has occurred

But when will the public ever wake up to what's being done to us?

 

[rippleman]

Not only is Patterson a crook, he is a thick crook.

A 30 day suspension for corruptly obtaining hundreds of thousands of pounds. Anybody with any sense would have shut up, accepted the minor slap on the wrist, and thought to themselves "**** me, got off light there".

A bit like you get pulled over by old bill for being a little bit naughty. The cop wants to give you "words of advice" and a roadside warning. Instead of saying "sorry" you shout and swear at the OB claiming you have done absolutely nothing wrong, so the cop gives you 3 points and a fine. Patterson is THAT stupid.

How many of us have employers who would merely suspend us for 30 days if we had done side deals with customers / clients that had earned us a small fortune?

Playing the sympathy card at this late stage just makes Patterson even more stupid. Claiming the investigation contributed to his wife's suicide is a nonsense. If he hadn't been corrupt, there would never have been an investigation.

Corrupt AND stupid. But let's face it, he isn't the only one. Made in Johnson's image.