Another question for the Tory supporters

[wilts rover]

This afternoon 'Failing; Chris Grayling, Cummings/Johnson's choice to be chairman of the Intelligence & Security Committee, kept up his admirable record of being useless at most everything - the quality that most endered him to Cummings/Johnson we presume - by failing to win a rigged vote when another Tory MP put himself forward instead.

What happened next?

Clue - the government's majority has now apparently been reduced by two.

https://twitter.com/bbclaurak/status/1283475433128960000

[BillyStubbsTears]

So does this mean we will get to see the Russia Report?

Grayling was lined up by No10 to kill it.

[wilts rover]

According to the news feeds they can throw him out of the Party but they can't remove him from the Committee.

So I would guess after tonight we are now more likely to see (an unredacted) Russia Report!

[DonnyOsmond]

It makes you wonder what they were determined to hide?

[MachoMadness]

Chris Grayling really is a once-in-a-generation kind of politician. Losing a rigged vote that he was parachuted in to win is Alan B'stard stuff.

[BillyStubbsTears]

It makes you wonder what they were determined to hide?

As the ex-Intelligence Advisor to Cameron said on the radio just now, there won't be a smoking gun. But there's obviously stuff in there that is highly embarrassing to the Govt. More embarrassing than being seen to try to cover it up by putting a no mark like Grayling in place to spike it.

[SydneyRover]

Conservatives have always had a difficult relationship with democracy.

''MP who beat Chris Grayling to intelligence chair role loses Tory whip
Julian Lewis kicked out of parliamentary party after beating Boris Johnson’s pick''

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/15/chris-grayling-fails-to-become-intelligence-and-security-chair

''Civil servant in charge of bullying inquiry into Priti Patel to leave post
Helen MacNamara will become a permanent secretary in an as-yet unidentified Whitehall department''

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/15/civil-servant-in-charge-of-bullying-inquiry-into-priti-patel-to-leave-post

[Filo]

Imagine the outcry if Corbyn had done that, he’d be called a commie Stalinist bas**rd. The executive of today is just a Dictatorship!

Did n’t Johnson only today at PMQ’s say that the opposition should be working with the Government? Yet hours later he removes the whip because one of his was working with the opposition, f**king comedy gold this lot are 😂😂😂😂

[Donnywolf]

Chris Grayling really is a once-in-a-generation kind of politician. Losing a rigged vote that he was parachuted in to win is Alan B'stard stuff.

.... and think how bad he must REALLY be if he cant get a job in what passes for a Cabinet. There is only Sunak who looks credible (in relative terms of course) v the rest of them. DIRE almost to a man and woman

[BillyStubbsTears]

Christ, Alok Sharma on R4 this morning. Asked 5 or 6 times about the Intelligence Committee issue and every time he said, "That's a matter for the party whips."

So what in the name of God was the point of you going on?

[Filo]

Christ, Alok Sharma on R4 this morning. Asked 5 or 6 times about the Intelligence Committee issue and every time he said, "That's a matter for the party whips."

So what in the name of God was the point of you going on?

It isn’t a matter for the party whips though, the intelligence comittee elect their own chairman independently of the executive, the chief whip and No. 10 have overstepped their remit

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Christ, Alok Sharma on R4 this morning. Asked 5 or 6 times about the Intelligence Committee issue and every time he said, "That's a matter for the party whips."

So what in the name of God was the point of you going on?

It isn’t a matter for the party whips though, the intelligence comittee elect their own chairman independently of the executive, the chief whip and No. 10 have overstepped their remit

The party issue is their decision I think that's the point.  Some talk that he lied to the whips on where his vote was going so you could see why they're frustrated.  But, many will say there's a big sense of irony there.

If the Russia report is likely to cast doubt on the whole Brexit points, I'm not sure Julian Lewis is the person who's going to expose that, just look at his political record.

[BillyStubbsTears]

BFYP.

Yes, but the specific question Sharma was asked was "Is the IC free and independent of Govt, if it cannot choose a leader without retribution?"

Regarding Lewis lying to the whips, that's kind of making the point. The whips had no business discussing the issue of the Chair of the IC with anyone. It is supposed to be separate from Govt and party political considerations.

[SydneyRover]

Not sure about the bona fides of the byline times but here's a link

''RUSSIAN INFLUENCE PART I''


https://bylinetimes.com/2019/11/09/russian-influence-in-britain-what-johnson-doesnt-want-you-to-know/

[SydneyRover]

We'd have published anyway even if grayling got the job, a spokesman said 

''The government is to finally publish the greatly anticipated Russia report before the summer parliamentary recess begins next week.

A statement from the intelligence and security committee said:

The intelligence and security committee has unanimously agreed this morning that it will publish the Report on Russia prepared by its predecessor before the house rises for the summer recess. There will be no further comment''

[BillyStubbsTears]

We'd have published anyway even if grayling got the job, a spokesman said 

''The government is to finally publish the greatly anticipated Russia report before the summer parliamentary recess begins next week.

A statement from the intelligence and security committee said:

The intelligence and security committee has unanimously agreed this morning that it will publish the Report on Russia prepared by its predecessor before the house rises for the summer recess. There will be no further comment''

Oh I'm sure they would have published anyway. After a process of re-writing it.

[BillyStubbsTears]

And while we are talking about missing reports, anyone seen that one that was supposed to totally exonerate Priti Patel of bullying her staff?

No. Me neither.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53422019

[Not Now Kato]

Julian Lewiss speaks out
 

In a statement issued to the Press Association this morning, Mr Lewis said he did not ever confirm he would vote for Mr Grayling, and said the Prime Ministser did not legally have the power to select the chairperson.

He said: “Because the ISC (Intelligence and Security Committee) is a special committee, I feel constrained in what I can say.

“However, the following points are relevant: The 2013 Justice and Security Act explicitly removed the right of the Prime Minister to choose the ISC chairman and gave it to the committee members.

"I remember this well, as I served on the committee from 2010 to 2015 and took part of the legislation through the Commons myself on behalf of the committee. There is no other Conservative MP in the House of Commons with any past experience of working on the ISC.

"It was only yesterday afternoon that I received a text asking me to confirm that I would be voting for the Prime Minister’s preferred candidate for the ISC chair.

"I did not reply as I considered it an improper request. At no earlier stage did I give any undertaking to vote for any particular candidate.

"In recent days, the official No 10 spokesman explicitly denied that the Government was seeking to ‘parachute’ a preferred candidate in to the chair, stating that it was a matter for the senior parliamentarians on the committee to decide.

“It is therefore strange to have the whip removed for failing to vote for the Government’s preferred candidate.”

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18586583.mp-julian-lewis-issues-statement-sacked-conservatives/
 
This government is turning into a dictatorship!

[BillyStubbsTears]

I wonder just what there is in the Russia Report that has the Govt running so scared?

Now they are trying to muddy the waters by pushing this back into the media.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53433523

[DonnyOsmond]

Julian Lewiss speaks out
 

In a statement issued to the Press Association this morning, Mr Lewis said he did not ever confirm he would vote for Mr Grayling, and said the Prime Ministser did not legally have the power to select the chairperson.

He said: “Because the ISC (Intelligence and Security Committee) is a special committee, I feel constrained in what I can say.

“However, the following points are relevant: The 2013 Justice and Security Act explicitly removed the right of the Prime Minister to choose the ISC chairman and gave it to the committee members.

"I remember this well, as I served on the committee from 2010 to 2015 and took part of the legislation through the Commons myself on behalf of the committee. There is no other Conservative MP in the House of Commons with any past experience of working on the ISC.

"It was only yesterday afternoon that I received a text asking me to confirm that I would be voting for the Prime Minister’s preferred candidate for the ISC chair.

"I did not reply as I considered it an improper request. At no earlier stage did I give any undertaking to vote for any particular candidate.

"In recent days, the official No 10 spokesman explicitly denied that the Government was seeking to ‘parachute’ a preferred candidate in to the chair, stating that it was a matter for the senior parliamentarians on the committee to decide.

“It is therefore strange to have the whip removed for failing to vote for the Government’s preferred candidate.”

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18586583.mp-julian-lewis-issues-statement-sacked-conservatives/
 
This government is turning into a dictatorship!

Turning into one?

[DonnyOsmond]

I wonder just what there is in the Russia Report that has the Govt running so scared?

Now they are trying to muddy the waters by pushing this back into the media.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53433523

https://twitter.com/ITVNewsPolitics/status/1283786417206956034?s=09

And they're trying to switch it on to Corbyn.

[wilts rover]

I wonder just what there is in the Russia Report that has the Govt running so scared?

Now they are trying to muddy the waters by pushing this back into the media.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53433523

https://twitter.com/ITVNewsPolitics/status/1283786417206956034?s=09

And they're trying to switch it on to Corbyn.

Despite them having first been leaked and published 4 months earlier by the Daily Telegraph

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/07/10/lack-progress-us-uk-trade-talks-laid-bare-cache-leaked-documents/

Which today appears to be news to the Daily Telegraph:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/07/16/russians-tried-interfere-election-promoting-leaked-trade-documents/