Hancock tried to block plan to build 400 homes in Newmarket

[SydneyRover]

The only way to keep MPs out of the trough is to ban donations, how does the average person get his views taken seriously when he/she can't get past the pile of dough in between them and their MP.


The health secretary, Matt Hancock, repeatedly urged fellow Conservative ministers to block a plan to build 400 homes and a primary school in his constituency, claiming it would damage the horse racing industry.

His opposition to the development came as senior figures in horse racing leading the opposition made financial donations to him.

Rachel Hood, the then Conservative mayor of Newmarket, and her husband, John Gosden, a prominent horseracing trainer who gave evidence opposing the scheme at the public inquiry, each gave Hancock £10,000 in December 2018 and May last year respectively.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jun/23/hancock-tried-to-block-plan-to-build-400-homes-in-newmarket

Added

Hancock has taken £45.000 cash and over £2000 in kind from figures in the racing industry.

[bpoolrover]

Out of interest as he has declared everything what’s the issue?

[idler]

Out of interest as he has declared everything what’s the issue?

Don't you find it a conflict of interests when you support an issue raised by people giving money to your campaign or your party?
I certainly wouldn't be comfortable with it.

[bpoolrover]

Yes but as long as you can prove there is no wrong doing there is no problem for me, if there is evidence he has done wrong then fire him

[bpoolrover]

https://apple.news/AvP-LEhzMQD6P9DI6RgWZeQ someone posted on him awhile back

[RobTheRover]

Out of interest as he has declared everything what’s the issue?

Don't you find it a conflict of interests when you support an issue raised by people giving money to your campaign or your party?
I certainly wouldn't be comfortable with it.

I'm still struggling to see how this "paid lobbying" fails the anti-bribery legislation

[SydneyRover]

It's at a point now Rob that those that accept money in this way think nothing of it, it's all part of the game and those that are paying for it in corrupt processes and more expensive whatevers feel unable to stop it.

[idler]

Yes but as long as you can prove there is no wrong doing there is no problem for me, if there is evidence he has done wrong then fire him

How do you prove that the money didn't influence your decision when you go with the option that suits your benefactors?
Look at the T. Dan Smith & Poulson affair and nearer to home the Donnygate scandal. You should be whiter than white in public office but the reality is that standards drop on a regular basis.

[BillyStubbsTears]

My grandad was elected leader of Conisbrough council years ago. When he got home, there was a bunch of flowers on the table and a congratulations note from the gardener at the council office building.

My grandad went back up to the offices and gave them back. Because he didn't want anyone claiming he took anything as a gift for doing his role.

THAT is the standard that every politician should have.

[bpoolrover]

Yes but as long as you can prove there is no wrong doing there is no problem for me, if there is evidence he has done wrong then fire him

How do you prove that the money didn't influence your decision when you go with the option that suits your benefactors?
Look at the T. Dan Smith & Poulson affair and nearer to home the Donnygat scandal. You should be whiter than white in public office but the reality is that standards drop on a regular basis.

i agree with you really but unless you can prove he has done something nothing will come if it, not that it makes it right but he wouldn’t be the 1st or last mp in any party to get a backhander

[SydneyRover]

Looks like Jenrick misled the house on a similar theme but is being protected by the usual suspects.

[SydneyRover]

''Two days later, Desmond lobbied Jenrick via text message about the deal and arranged a site visit for him.

He wrote: “Your efficient PA … has arranged a meeting for 19th December at 1030am for meet and site visit … we appreciate the speed as we don’t want to give Marxists loads of doe [sic] for nothing!” The message was signed off: “Thanks again, all my best Richard.”''

I suppose there is a streak of this running through those that want to make money from those that trust them except some in a position of trust then abuse that trust and use it to make money ''loads of money'' in fact and then call them stupid, I suppose it makes them happy but certainly not respected in any way.

[Colemans Left Hook]

 

''Two days later, Desmond lobbied Jenrick via text message about the deal and arranged a site visit for him.

He wrote: “Your efficient PA … has arranged a meeting for 19th December at 1030am for meet and site visit … we appreciate the speed as we don’t want to give Marxists loads of doe [sic] for nothing!” The message was signed off: “Thanks again, all my best Richard.”''

I suppose there is a streak of this running through those that want to make money from those that trust them except some in a position of trust then abuse that trust and use it to make money ''loads of money'' in fact and then call them stupid, I suppose it makes them happy but certainly not respected in any way.

are you the same sydney rover who posted this ??

anyhow i claim my £5

https://www.drfc-vsc.co.uk/index.php?topic=276964.msg968710#msg968710



it seems the Guardian originally mis-reported that £10,000 donation...  saying it was donated in 2017   

[SydneyRover]

I reply when I have my interpreter go over it for me 

[Donnywolf]

I have been watching GMB and the phrase about the little Marxists has never featured which I find peculiar as it again plays right to the heart of "one nation" concept that Johnson is trying to project

Here was a chance to get someone who will ultimately make a fortune (Desmond) to play a part by paying Taxes of up to 50 million pounds which were then to be earmarked for amenities in what is one of the most deprived areas of London

Instead he and Jenrick both wanted to rush this through so Desmond could avoid paying those Taxes and personally benefit no doubt AND stop it getting to the poorer area where it was needed. To try to deprive the area and justify it as "keeping it away from the little Marxists" is in my opinion totally uncalled for and amplifies what the haves really think of the have nots

[SydneyRover]

Wolf, the story is getting a run on The Guardian live blog now and they suggested there was an interview that reaised eyebrows on radio ch4

Robert Hutton

''Nadhim Zahawi running into trouble on @BBCr4today, where he seems to suggest that voters who want Richard Desmond-level access to govt ministers should, as he did, go to Tory fundraising dinners''

[BillyStubbsTears]

I heard Zahawi say that and I choked on my coffee.

He was specifically asked "What should your new voters in Doncaster think about how they could get access to ministers?"

He responded, "They could go to fundraisers and talk to ministers."

Just...where the f**k to start?

[SydneyRover]

the matter is closed

[Donnywolf]

Heres a little know bit of speculation from me :

Jenrick is an odious little man who would never have got near a Govt of any colour "in the good old days"

I suppose they will take him on one side and say - there are 2 ways this can go.

1) You resign whilst still denying any wrongdoing and in a few years we will rehabilitate you as Lord Conman of Printworks or choose your own name (remember Labour had Mandelson so they cant bleat) OR

2) We have to sack you and that will mean you are (officially) washed up in career terms

[ravenrover]

Or sit tight say nowt it will all be forgotten when the next gaff crops up in a few days

[BillyStubbsTears]

Wolf.

And David Laws. There are some people who think the rules don't apply to them in every party.

[Colemans Left Hook]

Heres a little know bit of speculation from me :

Jenrick is an odious little man who would never have got near a Govt of any colour "in the good old days"

I suppose they will take him on one side and say - there are 2 ways this can go.

1) You resign whilst still denying any wrongdoing and in a few years we will rehabilitate you as Lord Conman of Printworks or choose your own name (remember Labour had Mandelson so they cant bleat) OR

2) We have to sack you and that will mean you are (officially) washed up in career terms

let us not forget what his "passion in life is " yes the word passion can apply to other thing than football helped achieve for South Yorkshire (at least he knows where South Yorkshire is, showing he is not geographically challenged like Akinfenwa  ) which raised its head above politics.

John Healey is a British Labour Party politician serving as Member of Parliament for Wentworth and Dearne since 1997 and he proposed this early day motion to benefit his constituency  and guess who seconded it. 

https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/47735/wentworth-woodhouse-in-rotherham-south-yorkshire

not a lot of conservatives in there  just the 3 out of 18  so perhaps he just had a day of "non odioustisaty" 

this is worth a read

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wentworth_Woodhouse

n April 1946, on the orders of Manny Shinwell (the then Labour Party's Minister of Fuel and Power) a "column of lorries and heavy plant machinery" arrived at Wentworth. The objective was the mining of a large part of the estate close to the house for coal. This was an area where the prolific Barnsley seam was within 100 feet (30 m) of the surface and the area in front of the Baroque West wing of the house became the largest open-cast mining site in Britain at that time: 132,000 tons of coal were removed solely from the gardens.[32] Ostensibly the coal was desperately needed in Britain's austere post-war economy to fuel the railways, but the decision has been widely seen as useful cover for an act of class-war spite against the coal-owning aristocracy. A survey by Sheffield University, commissioned by Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, the 8th Earl, found the coal to be "very poor stuff" and "not worth the getting"; this contrasted with Shinwell's assertion that it was "exceptionally good-quality."[33]
The open-cast mining came right up to the edge of the main lawn on this side of the house

Shinwell, seemingly intent on the destruction of "the privileged rich", decreed that the mining would continue right up to Wentworth Woodhouse. What followed saw the mining of 99 acres (40 ha) of lawns and woods, the renowned formal gardens and the show-piece pink shale driveway (a by-product of the family's collieries). Ancient trees were uprooted and the debris of earth and rubble was piled 50 ft (15 m) high in front of the family's living quarters.[33]

Local opinion supported the earl – Joe Hall, President of the Yorkshire Area of the National Union of Mineworkers, said that the "miners in this area will go to almost any length rather than see Wentworth Woodhouse destroyed. To many mining communities it is sacred ground" – in an industry known for harsh treatment of workers, the Fitzwilliams were respected employers known for treating their employees well. The Yorkshire branch later threatened a strike over the Labour Government's plans for Wentworth, and Joe Hall wrote personally to Clement Attlee in a futile attempt to stop the mining.[33] This spontaneous local activism, founded on the genuine popularity of the Fitzwilliam family among locals, was dismissed in Whitehall as "intrigue" sponsored by the earl.[34]

[Donnywolf]

Wolf.

And David Laws. There are some people who think the rules don't apply to them in every party.

True - I never deny that

[Draytonian III]

Heres a little know bit of speculation from me :

Jenrick is an odious little man who would never have got near a Govt of any colour "in the good old days"

I suppose they will take him on one side and say - there are 2 ways this can go.

1) You resign whilst still denying any wrongdoing and in a few years we will rehabilitate you as Lord Conman of Printworks or choose your own name (remember Labour had Mandelson so they cant bleat) OR

2) We have to sack you and that will mean you are (officially) washed up in career terms

I had the misfortune to meet Robert Jenrick before he got elected as he attended a meeting that I was at, he came across then as an odious little man who is one those people who talks at you not too you. In fact he was asked to leave the meeting as he tried to turn it into a political rally

[SydneyRover]

Heres a little know bit of speculation from me :

Jenrick is an odious little man who would never have got near a Govt of any colour "in the good old days"

I suppose they will take him on one side and say - there are 2 ways this can go.

1) You resign whilst still denying any wrongdoing and in a few years we will rehabilitate you as Lord Conman of Printworks or choose your own name (remember Labour had Mandelson so they cant bleat) OR

2) We have to sack you and that will mean you are (officially) washed up in career terms

It looks like your observations are reasonable under the circumstances Wolf, he's quite the man about town.

''Robert Jenrick faces questions over meeting with Israeli mining heir
Minister met Idan Ofer in 2018 while assessing scheme that posed threat to Ofer’s business''

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jun/25/robert-jenrick-faces-questions-over-meeting-with-israeli-mining-heir

[SydneyRover]

This is another explainer bp and gives a bit of background too

''Jenrick affair exposes a financialised planning system
Austerity left councils reliant on deals with developers, which spark concerns about transparency''

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jun/26/jenrick-affair-exposes-a-financialised-planning-system

[ravenrover]

Black Diamonds is a very good read about the Fitzwilliams

[selby]

  Totally agree with the sympathies of all posters who rail against this sort of thing especially on this scale, the money should go into the public purse, although councils have a long history of then misplacing and not exactly using it to the best of uses and have their own silly projects or park it off shore to protect their brilliant retirement funds.
  We as a club have profited by the Doncaster Council especially with the ground under Labour domain, which has not pleased every rate payer in the area by the way.

[SydneyRover]

''After Boris Johnson declined to ask the cabinet secretary, Sir Mark Sedwill, to investigate the allegations, Labour has asked Kathryn Stone, the commissioner for standards, to investigate whether Jenrick’s behaviour constitutes a breach of the MPs’ code.

Labour has reported the housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, to parliament’s watchdog for appearing to have acted “on direct instruction” of the Tory donor Richard Desmond''

I'm trying to see the logic behind the johnson/cummings decision as there is patently something wrong and it could be left to fester and grow or be dealt with cut out and body survives, possibly.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jun/26/labour-reports-robert-jenrick-to-parliamentary-watchdog

[Donnywolf]

Yes its bizarre given we all know mostly how these things work

My input from Reply #18 is below and is I think what happens routinely and it seems strange that Jenrick has not been elbowed or become a sacrificial lamb. Perhaps Johnson doesnt like doing ANYTHING that he doesnt want to



I suppose they will take him on one side and say - there are 2 ways this can go.

1) You resign whilst still denying any wrongdoing and in a few years we will rehabilitate you as Lord Conman of Printworks or choose your own name (remember Labour had Mandelson so they cant bleat) OR

2) We have to sack you and that will mean you are (officially) washed up in career terms