Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Sheilbh]

Totally different story - but interesting little note in the Guardian - you feel like they'd only publish this if the "more details soon" are pretty interesting:

Chinese national trying to improperly influence politicians, says MI5
Warning to be circulated to MPs and peers about woman targeting parliamentarians
Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor
Thu 13 Jan 2022 12.13 GMT

An interference warning is being circulated to MPs and peers claiming that a female Chinese national has been seeking to improperly influence parliamentarians.

It is understood that politicians across the political spectrum may have been targeted in an exercise that has been monitored by MI5 for some time. "This has not been about targeting the government in particular," a source added.

The suspicion is that the person concerned, who is thought to be based in the UK, is connected to the Chinese state – but the individual concerned is not being expelled or prosecuted.

More details soon...

And "not being expelled or prosecuted" but connected to the Chinese state makes me think maybe turned?

[mongers]

And "not being expelled or prosecuted" but connected to the Chinese state makes me think maybe turned?

Shelf, today's In Our Times is on Hardy's poetry.

It's here if you missed it, though I guess for you it's as likely to be teaching you to suck eggs:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00139nw

[Tamas]

Spotted this in the Guardian comment section, an apt description I fully endorse:

Mogg really is a gargoyle, a loathsome cretin. I'm not even convinced he can be satirised, since his very essence is cartoonish in nature. He embodies the outdated, out of touch, unreachable, entitled and exclusive attitude that pervades this Tory party. He is the very personification of their contempt for ordinary people.

[Sheilbh]

Shelf, today's In Our Times is on Hardy's poetry.

It's here if you missed it, though I guess for you it's as likely to be teaching you to suck eggs:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00139nw

I listened to it! I love In Our Time and I really like Hardy's poetry - I never really studied him at university but one of my tutors wrote apparently a very good biography (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jun/03/biography.thomashardy) and would bring him in on unrelated topics He was also really into eco-criticism so I imagine there's a bit of that.

I always feel like Hardy a bit unfairly dismissed/not read as much as other 19th century writers because he's seen as a bit gloomy and miserable. Which is fair - but I really like him.

On the spy story a few more details have come out. She's not MSS but worked for the United Front Work Department (I think there's been a couple of stories about them operating in Canada and Australia too). There's photos of her with Cameron and Corbyn. She apparently, since 2005, has donated over £675 ,000 to Barry Gardiner or the Labour Party. As of this morning her son was still working for Barry Gardiner.

She was also given an award by Theresa May because she was the founder of a non-profit called the British Chinese Project aiming to "promote engagement, understanding and cooperation between the Chinese community and wider UK society" but may, given that she was working for the Chinese state, have been a bit of an influence organisation.

[Syt]

Tom Hardy? Loved him as Mad Max.

[Jacob]

One of the slightly interesting things about emigrating is watching how language use changes "back home." A thing I've currently noted is how "shitstorm" has become a very precise - and perfectly acceptable - term... meaning a, well, shitstorm in a political context. There's a Danish word which means - roughly translated - a "crap case" which is, like, 25% of a shitstorm. Basically, it's still under control, while a shitstorm isn't.

Anyhow... presently DR - Denmark's BBC equivalent - is reporting that in spite his apology the shitstorm Boris Johnson is in is not abating.

[Sheilbh]

Being the UK we inevitably have the broadcast regulator that does an - I think annual - update on what the public thinks is mild, moderate or strong swearing as guidance for broadcasters. Which is always quite a fun read
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/225335/offensive-language-quick-reference-guide.pdf

Shitstorm isn't in there, but shit is in the "general swear words" section and considered moderately offensive along with: bastard, bellend, bloodclaat, bumberclat, dickhead, shite, son of a bitch and twat. So you could probably get away with quoting someone who described it as a "shitstorm" on the nightly news or news channels (not watched by kids) but probably not on the six o'clock news.

[Sheilbh]

Gina Miller (the woman who did all the Brexit litigation) has launched her new "True and Fair Party" I think it's the standard centrist party we've seen a million times before - with the slight twist that based on their fundraising page, they aspire to re-conquering the Republic of Ireland which was unexpected


(Also cleaning up politics, modernising democracy, improving policy making - a party whose entire policy offering is about politics. I don't know if it's meta or just self-absorbed.)

Separately interesting thread by an academic whose PhD thesis included details about Christine Lee:

Martin Thorley 马丁
@METhorley
1/20 The news about "Chinese agent" Christine Lee broke today. I've been following her case for some time & in fact she featured in my PhD thesis on UK-China hidden relations. She's appeared in stories by @thetimes & @GuidoFawkes before. Yet there's still a lot more to this case.
2/20 Frankly, if you have experience of the Chinese party-state, it would be hard to miss her enmeshment with it. The contrast between her presence in the UK and China is eye-opening, however, and raises some questions for a few well-placed British citizens and institutions.
3/20 Christine Lee and Co. Solicitors has worked closely with the Chinese embassy. Lee first donated to Barry Gardiner directly in 2015 but had been making donations to the Labour Party in his constituency (Brent North) since 2009. Not all donations, however, were to Labour...
4/20 First Gardiner though: his role in the Labour Party as a supporter of Hinkley Nuclear (with Chinese involvement) was important in shaping the Labour Party's response to the project as official opposition party in Parliament at the time. He would become more critical later...
5/20 Gardiner "strongly opposed internal party criticism of Chinese involvement in the Hinkley Point project" according to a report in @thetimes years back.
But what of the other donations?
6/20 There is a single donation to the Liberal Democrats, made to the Kingston Borough office: Ed Davey's constituency. The donation was registered on the 7th February 2013 during the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition and crucially, when Davey was the Energy Minister.
7/20 Davey would play a central role in securing Hinkley, not least by almost singlehandedly convincing the Liberal Democrats to back nuclear energy. It's a small donation but a fascinating link to consider in today's context...
8/20 Lee also played a crucial role setting up the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) "Chinese in Britain". Her website is now down, predictably, but here is a screenshot I took during thesis research, and an image of records showing funding
9/20 Bearing in mind her clear links to Chinese party-state influence organs, below are some of the objectives of her British Chinese Project organisation from its website:
• Set up the Chinese Council of Britain with the British Chinese Project as its secretary
10/20
• Support next-generation ethnic Chinese political leaders
• Establish formal channels for the British Chinese community to communicate their concerns with UK institutions
This is particularly regrettable as British-Chinese involvement in politics is an important cause.
11/20 But that worthy cause is obviously cheapened when commandeered by the party-state for its own ends.

Now let's look at Lee in China, where things get really interesting...
12/20 Naturally, Lee is connected to multiple united front groups and is an overseas member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC). @Anne_MarieBrady offers a great primer on these organisations if needed:
13/20 Careful Chinese language investigations lead you to records of her meetings with various United Front and CPPCC affiliated individuals, but first, here is an image of her shaking hands with Xi jinping himself.

14/20 Far more interesting, in my opinion, is her selection as an honorary advisor to attend the Shenzhen Overseas Exchange Association Conference led by Director of the Shenzhen United Front Department, Lin Jie. Here is an image of Lee (centre left) meeting Lin (centre right)...

15/20 It's not a coincidence that Lee (from a legal field) is meeting Lin. Lin has worked to strengthen the Communist Party in this arena. For those who read Chinese, here she is discussing strengthening the Party's leadership over lawyers:
16/20 In China, Lee attended a speech by Head of the United Front Dept, You Quan. He told audience to "accept the guidance of Xi Jinping's new era of Socialism with Chinese characteristics. To unite as one & mutually strive to realise the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation"
17/20 Lee responded to this by saying she was "encouraged and touched" by the speech, and that it "evoked strong feelings of national pride and the country's civilizational progress" causing her to "realise that China had stood up". She went on:
18/20 (my translation) "Although I have spent these years in Great Britain, no matter how long the shadow of the tree, the roots forever penetrate the soil... I must be a communicator of China's voice, let the world understand China, help the motherland develop..."
19/20 "...safeguard the motherland's unity, pledge to put my feelings for the motherland into action and do my humble part in realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."
20/20 So this is a significant development today in the UK, but only in the way it has become publicly prominent. If you've been following China and the CCP (or read my PhD thesis ), this won't be a big surprise. And in truth, today's story is just the tip of the iceberg. Fin.

[crazy canuck]

Jenrick acted unlawfully in granting planning permission for a development in his capacity as a minister. That happens al the time in planning, immigration, education and other areas of law. The decision is held unlawful and is quashed. But no criminal offence has been committed and there was nothing which could happen to Jenrick as a result of the legal decision. That is different to Boris who it appears broke the law and could be charged with an offence.

Fair enough but it does sound silly and proving garbon's point that you can try to push through permissions and grants to your friends and sponsors and worst that could happen to you is somebody who isn't in on it notices and it gets cancelled.

It may be too subtle but we are talking about the difference between an administrative decision being overturned on judicial review and an offence for which a fine or worse penalty may result.  One is administrative and one is criminal or quasi criminal. 

[Tamas]

Jenrick acted unlawfully in granting planning permission for a development in his capacity as a minister. That happens al the time in planning, immigration, education and other areas of law. The decision is held unlawful and is quashed. But no criminal offence has been committed and there was nothing which could happen to Jenrick as a result of the legal decision. That is different to Boris who it appears broke the law and could be charged with an offence.

Fair enough but it does sound silly and proving garbon's point that you can try to push through permissions and grants to your friends and sponsors and worst that could happen to you is somebody who isn't in on it notices and it gets cancelled.

It may be too subtle but we are talking about the difference between an administrative decision being overturned on judicial review and an offence for which a fine or worse penalty may result.  One is administrative and one is criminal or quasi criminal.

Ok, but rushing through the spending of taxpayers' money on the personal initiative of a minister, skipping oversight and standard process, is the most classical scenario of corruption and embezzlement there is. It is destructively naive to pretend these things happen because honest mistakes are made.

[Tamas]

Gina Miller (the woman who did all the Brexit litigation) has launched her new "True and Fair Party" I think it's the standard centrist party we've seen a million times before - with the slight twist that based on their fundraising page, they aspire to re-conquering the Republic of Ireland which was unexpected

WTF 

[Tamas]

In a shocking turn which will surprise nobody, the police will not investigate the May 2020 booze party despite the PM's admission it happened:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/downing-street-party-police-boris-johnson-b1992619.html

[Duque de Bragança]

Gina Miller (the woman who did all the Brexit litigation) has launched her new "True and Fair Party" I think it's the standard centrist party we've seen a million times before - with the slight twist that based on their fundraising page, they aspire to re-conquering the Republic of Ireland which was unexpected


(Also cleaning up politics, modernising democracy, improving policy making - a party whose entire policy offering is about politics. I don't know if it's meta or just self-absorbed.)

The Conquest of the British Isles! [spoiler]The Conquest of the Hiberno-British Archipelago does not sound nearly as good[/spoiler]

[garbon]

In a shocking turn which will surprise nobody, the police will not investigate the May 2020 booze party despite the PM's admission it happened:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/downing-street-party-police-boris-johnson-b1992619.html

This is all fine. Sheilbh already told us it is not on the police to look for evidence of a crime.

[crazy canuck]

Ok, but rushing through the spending of taxpayers' money on the personal initiative of a minister, skipping oversight and standard process, is the most classical scenario of corruption and embezzlement there is. It is destructively naive to pretend these things happen because honest mistakes are made.

If what he did was a classic case of embezzlement that would actually be a criminal offence resulting in a criminal conviction and jail time rather than an administrative decision being quashed.