U.K. Politics: Boris Johnson referred to police (AGAIN) over potential Covid rule breaches

[Wayne]

I have no sympathy for anyone who cannot live on £7000 a month post tax, especially when they get plenty of work perks like free housing and a £30,000 annual total government grant to sodding decorate.

And no transport costs, subsidised food costs etc.

I wonder if he still feels that feeding children is a luxury that he can afford to ignore without pressure from Marcus Rashford, or whether the minimum wage of £8.91 per hour is indeed a wage that people can live on?

[heppolo]

And no transport costs, subsidised food costs etc.

I wonder if he still feels that feeding children is a luxury that he can afford to ignore without pressure from Marcus Rashford, or whether the minimum wage of £8.91 per hour is indeed a wage that people can live on?

Boris has the freedom to step down and go into consultancy or write an autobiography for a nice paycheck.

[Wayne]

It's a bit outdated but it gives an idea of relative comparison - where the British PM's salary is comparable to other leaders (clue - not in the top 10!).

Lowkey bonkers how much the PM of Singapore makes.

[bm08]

Seems Labour will be slaughtered in the local elections. As we expect.

[Wayne]

Massive Tory win in Hartlepool 'an earthquake' for Labour

This is an earthquake.

This morning, for the first time in 56 years, people in Hartlepool are waking up to a Conservative MP.

This is a huge majority for the Tories - a 16% swing from Labour to Conservative - with Jill Mortimer winning by a country mile.

There is a curiosity here: the Conservatives acting as insurgents, kicking Labour as the establishment, despite the fact the Conservatives have been in government for over a decade in Westminster.

The result won't change the maths at Westminster, but it will change the mood.

Recriminations are already beginning in the Labour party. Some - those loyal to Jeremy Corbyn - have been itching to be able to criticise Sir Keir Starmer - this result will give them plenty of opportunity to do that.

[Wayne]

Just in case anyone asks...

When will we know all the election results?

So when will we know what is going on?

The winner of the Hartlepool by-election is expected soon. We have been waiting since the early hours.

Results for the 60 seats in the Welsh Senedd are due later today.

In Scotland, results are expected in more than half the constituency seats, but the final make up of the Scottish Parliament is not expected until Saturday or Sunday.

Counting in council areas in England will take place today, and throughout the weekend in some areas.

A few early results have come in overnight, with Labour holding control of Newcastle andSunderland, while the Conservatives kept control of Redditch.

The Tories have also won overall control of Harlow Council in Essex, taking seven seats from Labour, and now control the council for Nuneaton and Bedworth, taking 10 seats from Labour.

Doncaster is likely to be the first mayoral race to be announced - potentially this morning - with the rest following later in the day and over Saturday and Sunday.

Twelve of the counts for the 39 police and crime commissioners being elected in England and Wales will not begin until Monday.

[Artoo]

The Tories take Hartlepool.

Absolutely nothing could send a louder message that Labour isn’t working than a north-east constituency voting for the Conservatives. It’s a place with a long memory and able to hold grudges - Margaret Thatcher is still considered the devil, so the fact Labour is losing is a huge statement.

Tony Blair was the MP for one of the north-east constituencies for almost 25 years, yet in the last election it voted Conservative too. The north-east should be a cluster of 30 easy seats for Labour, but it’s lost over a third of them now.

I refuse to believe the Conservatives are offering anything the people actually want - it will literally be a case of ‘I’m not voting for Labour, bloody useless’ and people either purposely voting to express anger or, more likely, they just didn’t vote at all.

[Thriller]

The Labour bloodbath has been a long time coming, you can’t blame Corbyn either as Labour held the seats under him. You can’t even really blame Starmer... the whole party and what it stands for is a lost mess. What even are their policies? Where is the opposition?

The fact the North East is prepared to locally elect the party that has caused them to be at the levels of deprivation they see today just tells me that British politics is broken. Apparently the Hartlepool turnout was 40%... dire.

Labour need to form coalitions with some of the other left leaning parties cos at the moment it’s just a giant Tory machine swallowing everybody up.

[Thriller]

None of the seats held by Cabinet Ministers in Blair's first government are held by Labour today.

[Artoo]

The Labour bloodbath has been a long time coming, you can’t blame Corbyn either as Labour held the seats under him. You can’t even really blame Starmer... the whole party and what it stands for is a lost mess. What even are their policies? Where is the opposition?

The single biggest mistake Labour made in the last two decades was voting for Ed Miliband over David Miliband. The hard left backbenchers got what they wanted and it destroyed the party.

Labour were an absolute joke under Ed, replaced by an angry grandad, who in turn was replaced by the invisible man. I don’t see it recovering in time for the next election, though I dare it to prove me wrong.

[Thriller]

The single biggest mistake Labour made in the last two decades was voting for Ed Miliband over David Miliband. The hard left backbenchers got what they wanted and it destroyed the party.

Labour were an absolute joke under Ed, replaced by an angry grandad, who in turn was replaced by the invisible man. I don’t see it recovering in time for the next election, though I dare it to prove me wrong.

Completely agree.

[Thriller]

Photo ID requirement will be introduced for the next general election, despite there being no issues around voter fraud... this is just the Tories making Britain a one party state and suppressing marginalised groups from voting. Shameful.

[Artoo]

Absolutely ridiculous move, when there is absolutely no legal requirement to possess photographic ID.

[Thriller]

Absolutely ridiculous move, when there is absolutely no legal requirement to possess photographic ID.

Yet.

[SholasBoy]

So there’s trouble brewing over sausages.

Only in Britain.

How did we end up in the position where the EU says what we can and can’t export to Northern Ireland….part of our country?! Ludicrous.

[Rihab]

How did we end up in the position where the EU says what we can and can’t export to Northern Ireland….part of our country?! Ludicrous.

You signed a bad deal.

[Wayne]

The G7 leaders meet Queen Elizabeth.

As she always does, no matter who she meets, the Queen is steadfast and supreme - you can see how revered she is, even by the most powerful leaders in the world.

I think Biden is the 12th US President she has met and Johnson is the 14th U.K. Prime Minister that has served her - utterly remarkable.

[Artoo]

It’s nice to see her back out and about - and it’s her second birthday tomorrow too

[Wayne]

Matt Hancock has resigned after his affair leaked - wonderful news.

[InFamous]

Should have been fired on the spot.

[Wayne]

^ That decision would’ve required an honest, values-led, ethically minded leader - alas, our Prime Minister has proven on countless occasions that he isn’t that type of leader.

This is the first time in a long time that the government have really suffered a blow - and I’m delighted. I wonder what behind the scenes conversations have taken place - I had a suspicion as soon as I saw the media reports indicating that Matt had Boris’ full support that his days were numbered.

Still, all is not lost - he’ll make hundreds of thousands of pounds in the next year or so sitting on various Boards of Directors doing nothing and taking on countless consultancy roles or public speeches.

[Wayne]

I saw a very worthy comparison on Twitter to Al Capone - despite all of the serious crimes he committed, it was ultimately something as silly as tax avoidance or evasion that got him in the end.

Same with Matt - despite all his misgivings and rule breaking and law breaking, it’s ultimately a bit of sex that gets him gone.

[Artoo]

He’s been utterly useless anyway, but honestly, with loads of people breaking rules I don’t buy into the cancel culture outrage. It was only a week or two before the rules actually changed, when a lot of people who had been double vaccinated were bending rules (and they were probably both tested regularly anyway).

Nor do I care if he’s been caught with someone other than his wife - we have a prime minister who has just married the woman he was having an affair with, and our future king is married to his mistress.

But I don’t have it in me to defend a Tory MP, so I’ll just leave it there.

[Spartan]

Yeah he had to resign, there was no way back from that. When you’re that prevalent in the public eye you really need to be more careful about where you stick it.

[Wayne]

Sajid Javid replaces him as Health Secretary.