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I have finally found a Brexit benefit. No, really. But first, the journey. For someone trained at Goldmans and The Children’s Investment Fund, Sunak is remarkably lacking in ruthlessness. He had a wonderful opportunity to present himself as a clean break with the seediness and shameful self-interest of the Boris years. He could, for instance, have put the ethics advisor on a statutory footing, given him or her the right to start investigations without being asked, differentiated himself from his…

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Good question. In a week when we’ve learnt that a Met officer known as “Bastard Dave” by his colleagues was left uninvestigated on 9 separate occasions when allegations were made, why did those colleagues and his bosses do nothing and say nothing? How is it possible that people turn a blind eye to what is being said and done in front of them, the nature of the people they associate with, listen to and, all too often, enable? By their…

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Holyrood has been considering ca. 150 amendments to the Gender Recognition Reform Bill. All the amendments must be considered and voted on in one day because the Scottish government insists the Bill be enacted before Xmas. There are many issues arising with this Bill but one – which has nothing to do with people with gender dysphoria – is worth highlighting. It is this: should men convicted of sexual offences against women, girls or children be allowed to take advantage…

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Michelle Mone in the Lords was bad enough. What on earth possessed Cameron? It comes as no surprise to find that the VIP lane during Covid resulted in her and others making large profits from their friendships and contacts with politicians, the supply of goods fit for the purpose being purely incidental and often non-existent. Questions have been asked about what she bought with the humongous profits made and where the money has gone. What ought to be asked is…

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“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.” (Huxley) As with history, so with investigation reports. On the Today programme, Mark Rowley, Met Commissioner, said 100 officers were on restricted duties “because frankly we don’t trust them to talk to members of the public”. 500 officers were subject to misconduct investigations plus another 3,000 who also could not be deployed because of injury, mental…

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In these dark days we need all the shafts of light we can get in our politics. So it is with some gratitude that today we learn of two cases being brought before the European Court of Human Rights in the very same week that the tomato-throwing Lord Chancellor and Minister of Justice again brings forward his Bill of Rights and answers questions on it. What make these cases so delicious is that they are being brought by, first, Owen…

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Don’t worry. This is not about trans rights or what a woman is. It is about Scottish governance, the process of Scottish legislation and the consequences of relying on small parties for votes. Above all, it’s about whether Ms Sturgeon is a straight politician as she likes to claim, whether she is being economical with the truth, whether she has misled Holyrood. Like pretty much all politics these days, it’s about integrity. Ms Sturgeon and her Ministers have repeatedly said – both…

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Farewell then Liz Truss: 45 days, 1 mini-Budget, 1 resignation, 2 monarchs, 2 Chancellors, 3 sackings and 3 PMQs. Those setting pub quiz questions will forever be in your debt. As for the runners: Sunak: sensibly stayed away from the Cabinet. Campaign slogan: “I bloody told you so!“ Hunt: appears to be calm and a grown up. Probably the only one willing to speak (and implement) some hard truths to both the party and the country. Mordaunt: only if you…

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