.

The labour/lefty thing is ridiculous, but serves to illustrate how some people will happily post negative stories about politicians they don't agree with, while conveniently ignoring the same types of allegations about politicians who are closer to their own political viewpoint.

Heath is in the news cycle Smith isn't and without a better reason I'm not going to suspect anyone posting about Smith due to partisan bias, especially when most leftists would consider both Heath and Smith politically and morally repugnant absent these allegations.

A former PM is more newsworthy to an American, it's just a bigger story. I don't think these kids gave a s*** what the politics of these guys were/are. We know child abuse and rape happens everywhere on the political spectrum. But when it's the PM being covered up by the establishment there is another dimension here. Elrazor you have spectacularly missed the point.

Has to be the worst run of posts ever by one person in this thread.

Jfc ER.

This is good stuff

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41560927

"Communities Secretary Sajid Javid denied the data would drive a grievance culture but said it would help identify disparities.
"There are hundreds of thousands of British Pakistani women and Bangladeshi women who don't speak proper English, who don't speak English at all," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"That might be through choice in some cases, it might be a cultural issue. But that is a big issue because that does then hold those women back from the employment market and other opportunities", he said."

He might want to speak to his own government which scrapped ESOL funding.

Just words, most likely result will be more lies from the good for nothing tory bastards.

Bunch of thatcherites and fascists probably doing the survey to see what else they can do to **** everyone that isn't them over.

More like trying to regain their lost ground in the big cities.

TM the PM was going to kelp out the JAMs. How did that work out? Wouldn't hold my breath for her solving discrimination.

It's a good thing just as the gender pay gap data was a good thing.

This sort of data is not remotely close to everything but it is simply a good thing.

What do you think is a good thing?

A) The data
B) That the data is going public
C) Theresa May is talking about the data

All good things.

Treeza's mates

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...nti-dup-banner

The only prosecution should be for Wells wasting police time.

He's an ignorant bigot.

This all seems rather shady about Ian Lavery.


=http://http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41688280

Here's the right link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41688280


Woah, taking £165000 from a 10-man union, wtf.

guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/politics...watchdog-finds
Bbc inaccurately reports Lavery as gen sec, he was president.
Not sure how accurate the 10 members statement is though obv the union is tiny now. Unions build up large reserves and often possess valuable real estate so you can have a cash rich union with a small membership and obv as membership declines theres nobody to spend the money on. They could even afford to lend 4m to a coop run mine
https://www.ft.com/content/1d6358a0-...1-a754d5d9538c

For Lavery a written off mortgage and a standard pay off for a prominent well paid employee of a wealthy organisation for 18 years service doesnt strike me as an early return to Blairite sleaze just yet. Yes we would all prefer these funds to be spent on former mining communities but then how far does 180k go. For real investment you need a type of society the miners fought for and Thatcher fought against.

Sorry for cluttering up server but I think its worth posting Laverys response in full so people can make up their own minds about who this guy is

http://www.ianlavery.org.uk/the_real_story

It is highly unusual for me to respond to the scurrilous allegations which have been levelled at me in the past few weeks in this fashion, but I felt the need to set the record straight.

In recent weeks I have been subjected to what is clearly a politically motivated attack designed to cast doubt on my character and undermine my position. All of this is centred around my previous employment with the National Union of Mineworkers, which ended prior to my election to Parliament.

For the record, I am immensely proud to have spent almost twenty years as a full time official of the NUM at all levels, including as National President from 2002-2010. I am also incredibly proud to have worked on behalf of people in the industry and the communities in bringing in tens of millions of pounds of compensation for Common Law and Industrial Disease claims.

The area that I now represent in Parliament was heavily dependent on coalmining and many of the communities in the constituency would not be there were it not for the discovery of coal. My own history in mining gained me an insight into the power that the industry brought to the communities - but also the negative impact many years of weak safety and health in the mines had on peoples’ lives.

At a time when the Conservative Government was picking apart the very fabric of my communities, the National Union of Mineworkers provided much needed opposition, as well as support to the men and women whose lives had been touched by coal. While the number of working miners declined, the number of those in need exponentially increased.

And while the official AR21 forms that have formed the basis of these unwarranted attacks in the press showed a small number of working miners and NUM members, they fail completely to tell the true story. The communities built around coal had their main source of employment removed, yet tens of thousands of former miners remained, many scarred by their former occupation and in desperate need of support.

That support came in the form of the NUM (Northumberland Area). All contributions made to the union were entirely voluntary and were given by those who wanted to ensure that future claimants were afforded the same level of representation they themselves had received. That £1.6 million was received is both testament to the generosity and comradeship of those in the community, but also to the work of the union which brought tens of thousands of successful claims.

The National Union of Mineworkers refused to abandon those who it had represented for decades simply because their source of employment had been lost. We fought for compensation for both current and past mineworkers for the serious damage that working underground had done to their health - not to forget the pivotal role the NUM played in bringing equal pay claims for women canteen workers in the industry.

Our approach, which covered Pneumoconiosis, Vibration White Finger, CB&E and Occupational Deafness among others, saw the NUM (Northumberland Area) held up as an exemplar across the coalfields. We represented tens of thousands of former miners and succeeded in bringing in tens of millions of pounds in compensation and reduced earnings allowances. That has been a lifeline for these former miners and their families.

The recent attacks in the media have failed to represent the work that I am proud as a full time official to have played a part in. The biggest criticism would appear to be the fact the NUM employed its officials on excellent wages, terms and conditions. This is something the union fought for all of its existence and something that we can rightly be proud of. My wages, terms and conditions were set according to union agreements and I was privileged to be well paid for a job I loved.

Another target has been a redundancy payment I received that was part of my contract of employment. Following allegations that this should have been declared, I met with the Parliamentary Commissioner at the earliest opportunity to provide clarity on the matter and will continue to cooperate fully.

Sections of the press and sadly some within my own party have sought for political ends to use innuendo and half-truths to attack me and my proud record as a trade unionist. They have also made false allegations about a £250,000 mortgage between the union and myself, which I totally refute and am taking legal counsel on.

I have worked all of my adult life defending and representing miners and working people. The coordinated attack which began by suggesting that I was using the compensation of sick miners to enrich myself have struck me like a bullet through the heart.

These shameful accusations are being made by some of the very outlets that, throughout the period the industry was being destroyed, formed the press arm of an attack on the communities in which we live, and should be viewed with the contempt they deserve.

His statement doesn't actually adress the allegations that were made. It would be good if he could discount them point by point...

Thats because the allegations are basically true but there is a media spin that makes this sound dodgy. As he points out employees of the union had excellent terms and conditions, to be expected as they should demonstrate the kind of employment rights they demanded of employers. 80-100k redundancy pay outs are nothing out of the ordinary. Low-medium skilled ford workers were recently offered these kinds of severance packages. I dont know how standard having loans written off is (though he was cleared of any wrong doing) I would like to know if others benefitted from this. Nowadays being part of a union might give you a better mortgage deal, back then it might have helped write it off.

Lol union pocketliners

Nah that's the only dodgy bit. I wonder if he paid tax on that write off?

Fallon resigns over sexual offences.

The loss to UK politics is undetectable

May can't reshuffle the cabinet because she doesn't know who else is going to be forced out, according to multiple well placed journos.

Buried in this:

https://www.theguardian.com/business...-business-live

are the minor headlines:

UK services grows at fastest rate in six months in October
FTSE 100 on track for new closing high

And behind your minor headlines is this: