love* in the time of plague (and by love* i mean brexit* and other dreary matters of uk politics)

Obviously if he did it then it's still terrible & disgusting

https://worldofcrapblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/123025_mfi_store_300_elvis.jpg?w=474&h=283

MFI

The company I work for decided to get rid of half of the employees last week (despite saying they see a return to normality in Q1 2021)

Now they're putting back their decision another week while they decide what to do. Their original statement doesn't make sense to me. If they think normality is returning in 6 months, dismantling a successful team (that you can furlough for 3 of those 6 months) seems counter-productive

They either think normality isn't returning for much longer than 6 months, or they're getting cold feet and want to be ready to scale up when recovery happens. Or more likely they're split between the two camps and can't decide what to do

Twitter seems to think it knows who the MP is, and if it's true, well, let's say you couldn't wish for anyone more suitable to suffer public disgrace.

― Anti-Cop Ponceortium (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, August 3, 2020 12:51 AM (nine hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Can someone explain why this is kept under covers? UK tabloids otherwise don't exactly hold back shaming someone w/ full name and photo. Is it one of the perks of being a PM? Why is there no outrage about this?

I think they can't be named till they've been charged.

Hmm, ok.

Regular people can, just not MPs aiui.

Twitter has a very good idea of who it is, n’est ce pas?

that's the most plausible one i think

so much stupid tho on Twitter i'll believe nothing until there's confirmation

quelle domage!

At least Twitter has taken his name out of the "Trending With" bit now, after about 18 hours.

It was "trending with 'Penfold'" last night.

cripes

OK so it is him then.

Unnamed tory MP still hasn't had their whip suspended. Also not seen anything from zero tolerance Starmer over one of his MPs making an antisemitic comment.

Until now purely on the basis of his name, I thought Barry Sheerman was Jewish?

NEW REPORT: Academic freedom in the UK

Protecting viewpoint diversity

By @RemiAdekoya1, @epkaufm and Tom Simpson

Foreword by @RuthSmeeth https://t.co/500ddnsdW9

— Policy Exchange (@Policy_Exchange) August 3, 2020

As @jim_dickinson and others have pointed out, the new @Policy_Exchange report features some truly incredible quotes from anonymous academics. pic.twitter.com/nirGjRvuT5

— Steven Jones (@StevenJones_MCR) August 3, 2020

worst Pistols cover ever

Sheer waste is neither Jewish nor has he read the bible, as claimed in his transparently phoney defence.

Both Weetman and Sheerman revealed themselves as the worst biblical scholars ever this weekend

pic.twitter.com/MQsfyyMdpk

— The Trashies (@TheTrashiesUK) August 2, 2020

if only he hadn't re-read the entire bible during lockdown

so much stupid tho on Twitter

NV OTM.

Can someone explain why this is kept under covers? UK tabloids otherwise don't exactly hold back shaming someone w/ full name and photo. Is it one of the perks of being a PM? Why is there no outrage about this?

The best reason I've heard is that because the allegations involve his own ministerial personal assistant you can't name/sack the MP without effectively naming the assistant and infringing her right to privacy.

Not saying that was actually the govt's first priority, though. Wouldn't seem out of character for something more unpleasant to have been the main motivation.

also, ffs at mysterious culture-war-stoking think tanks

APS, that makes sense I suppose, esp if this is because of the victim's privacy. Though I doubt that's why he can't be named though.

The tiptoeing around the obvious just struck me as odd; though it's probably UK libel law making everyone so docile. Making tweets like "hey what is 54 year old Tory and ex-minister Mark Francois who deleted his twitter account up to today #justwondering" seem naughty.

allegedly the victim is very upset that the MP has not had the whip suspended.

It's absolutely about libel law – and the police haven't named him yet which would give papers more cover. Failing that an MP naming him under parliamentary privilege would do it.

Having the whip suspended is something that gets reported so same principle as not naming, I guess.

Haven't looked up the deets but did the Cliff Richard case give publishers pause?

It's not libelous to say someone has been arrested if they have. It's libelous to say that they have been arrested if they haven't.

It's much more of a grey area if someone is under investigation but hasn't been arrested - as per Cliff.

Is this not why they can't be named?

https://policehour.co.uk/2020/08/in-2016-parliament-decided-to-keep-mps-arrests-secret-from-the-public-thats-why-we-cant-name-the-mp-arrested/

that's why

That was my first thought as well but i don't think it's correct, tbh.

Grayling's law, aiui, removes the obligation for arrested MPs to be named in the House, it doesn't create a right to anonymity.

after sally bercow, everyone is wisely playing it safe, for now

What did she do?

Pride of our alley iirc

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McAlpine_v_Bercow

McAlpine hadn’t been arrested iirc.

I suspect the distinction in the current case is that it’s not, legally, a problem to say someone has been arrested and also fine to detail allegations against an unnamed person but a risk to do both. I’d guess that they know he’d be named anyway so prioritised getting the details in.

It's not libel to say someone has been arrested, no — but the Met themselves haven't confirmed they've arrested him. They're sticking with "a man in his 50s". So to name him you'd need to say "we understand X has been arrested" which is the additional (at this point not massive tbf) risk on top of the other two.

+UPDATE+

Conservative Party chief whip & Jacob Rees Mogg hid details of Tory MP rape allegation for over a month before police became involved.

— Nick🇬🇧🇪🇺 (@nicktolhurst) August 2, 2020

I'd written that off as fake news earlier today - the article that was being widely shared on Twitter was from something called Dorset Eye, which appears to be something of a conspiracy farm. Also it was quoting Sky News but there nothing I could see on the Sky News site itself. Maybe I was wrong?

From the BBC:

It is understood that Mr Spencer spoke with the complainant in April, but he insists that she did not make any allegation of serious sexual assault.

A spokesman for the chief whip said that he took all accusations of harassment and abuse extremely seriously and had strongly encouraged anybody who has approached him to contact the appropriate authorities.

According to sources, Mr Spencer had not known the "magnitude" of the allegations.

But a report in the Daily Telegraph suggested the woman became frustrated after they spoke that nothing was done.

It is also understood the Leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, was told by an MP in recent weeks about the claims - with sources saying he had said the woman should contact the police.

Weird how the ever-present Angela Rayner was elected deputy leader and then just wandered off into the woods, never to be seen again

— keewa (@keewa) August 3, 2020

In other dubiously-sourced twitter embeds:

Opinium - Westminster VI
CON: 41% (-4)
LAB: 38% (+6)
LDEM: 6% (-6)
SNP: 6% (+2)
GRN: 4% (+1)
PC: 1% (-)

Flavible Projection
CON: 299 (-66)
LAB: 264 (+61)
SNP: 58 (+10)
LDEM: 6 (-5)
PC: 4 (-)
GRN: 1 (-)

*Changes with GE
31 Jul 2020https://t.co/MocPWMJVf3

— Flavible Politics (@flaviblePolitic) August 3, 2020

newsflash: Starmer still isn't 20 points ahead and considering the state of this shambolic govt...

“Do you mean women?”, and when Rosie Duffield, MP for Canterbury, liked Morgan’s tweet, she was accused of being a transphobe. Duffield then tweeted: “I’m a ‘transphobe’ for knowing that only women have a cervix...?!” Progressives who presumably want to win back those “red wall” seats called for her sacking.

lovely stuff

If I understand correctly: crazy how those poll figures above still produce a map overwhelmingly blue.

It's a truth universally acknowledged that first past the post is no way to create a democracy that represents even the chunk of the electorate that votes