Migrants leave Exmouth hotel bound for the Bibby Stockholm

A coach was spotted outside a hotel in Exmouth on Thursday, (October 19), collecting the first migrants to arrive on the controversial Bibby Stockholm.

Adam Manning and Ben Williams www.exmouthjournal.co.uk 

Pictures, seen by the Journal, which we have decided not to publish to protect the identities of the people on the bus, show migrants leaving a hotel in the town. They are believed to be the first people back on board the ship since it was evacuated on August.

The boat had to be emptied because traces of Legionella bacteria were found in the water supply.

The boat has been controversial because it has been used by the government as a way to accommodate asylum seekers coming to the UK on small boats.

Protesters against the use of the vessel, which they describe as “inhumane” and “like a prison”, gathered at the gates of Portland Port in Dorset as a coach carrying the group arrived on Thursday.

The coach carrying the asylum seekers had been stopped by Just Stop Oil protesters earlier on its approach to Portland in a “positive protest” in support of the campaign against the use of the barge.

Dorset Police confirmed that two people had been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage to the coach after they received a report that it had been damaged as it was stopped in the protest in Portland Beach Road.

A force spokeswoman said that a third person was also arrested on suspicion of criminal damage to a police vehicle.

Candy Udwin, of Stand Up To Racism Dorset, said after the coach entered the port: “It is a terrible way to treat people but we have sent a message today that they are welcome and this is not the way to treat refugees.”

She said she had been in contact with some of those who had been staying on the Bibby Stockholm, adding: “They hate it, they say it feels like a prison, some hate being on the sea, they find it very difficult to leave and they are completely separated from the community.”

A Home Office spokesman said that tests for the bacteria as well as improved fire safety protocols had been completed ahead of the return of the occupants to the barge.

Richard Foord Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Defence)

The SEND crisis extends to Devon, and my postbag is full of correspondence from parents trying to get their children the educational provision they need. It has got so bad that in some cases children are being taught in school cupboards, and Devon has appointed a SEND champion to its cabinet. What steps is the Department taking to help boost SEND services in rural areas such as mine?

David Johnston The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education

There has been a 30% increase in the per-head funding to schools in Devon for their special educational needs provision, and the whole thrust of our reform plan is to make the system work better for parents and families and get the support for their children at the stage when they need it.

So, what exactly is this “30% increase” (meaningless without quoting any baseline)?

John Hart, DCC Leader, didn’t mention it in an article he wrote a few weeks ago. In fact he says Devon is amongst the 42 worst funded councils in the country (see below).

In August the Government announced more support for children with special educational needs, backed by funding of £70m.

“Over a thousand more children and young people with SEND are set to benefit from access to high-quality specialised learning, with seven new special free schools in Cambridgeshire, Kent, Merton and Norfolk selected to be built alongside the existing 83 already committed to opening, located across England from Devon to Darlington.”

The detailed lists of which councils get the money can be found on this site: Revealed: Councils chosen to lead local SEND inclusion plans.

Devon and Cornwall appear to be excluded.

It received one comment from Kevin Hilton which says it all:

So Devon and Cornwall don’t have a requirement for SEND provision? It seems that this part of the ‘South West’ is constantly overlooked or forgotten. I find this a bitter pill as these counties are more the South West than Swindon and Gloucester who already have better transport links to reach other counties.

Did you know that getting from West Cornwall to the nearest major motorway (The M5) is a 100+ mile journey and as nice as West coast trains are they are not an affordable option for the majority of families in Cornwall.

When will the decision makers start to consider the needs of those of us who live and work in the most deprived county in the country? 

Meanwhile, Devon County Council in “Special Measures” is struggling.

See: We’re bottom of the class, John Hart on education funding.

Now John Hart has had to augment the efforts of Cllr Andrew Leadbetter (Wearside & Topsham),  Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Schools, with an additional Cabinet member acting as a dedicated Champion for Special Needs Education, Lois Samuel.

Roll on the County Council elections, it’s time for a change. This administration is obviously tired and failing. – Owl

“The UK already has more millionaire bankers than the whole of the EU put together yet our economy is stagnant and our public services are in crisis.” Director, High Pay Centre.

Fizzy Liz and many Tories still believe in the magic of “trickle down economics”. Do you? – Owl

Cap on bankers’ bonuses scrapped as UK brings back Liz Truss policy

THE UK Government has revived a policy from the short-lived Liz Truss administration and will scrap the cap on bankers’ bonuses.

Xander Elliards www.thenational.scot

The Financial Times reported that the Tories would imminently ditch the rule which limits banker bonuses to double their annual salary.

The EU rule will be scrapped in an effort to improve the attractiveness of London post-Brexit, FT said, in reasoning which reflects words from Kwasi Kwarteng during his brief time as chancellor.

The new rules will come into effect from October 31, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said.

The news has been greeted with anger, with Green MP Caroline Lucas saying it showed the UK Government’s true priorities.

“In case you were wondering what this Govt’s priorities were, look no further,” Lucas wrote.

“Ministers are now planning to scrap the EU cap on bankers’ bonuses.

“More money for city fatcats in the middle of a cost of living scandal – post-Brexit Britain in a nutshell.”

Economist Professor Richard Murphy also commented: “As if evidence was required that Tory UK is run for the benefit of bankers …”

When the cap on bankers’ bonuses was put forward by the Truss government, Labour leader Keir Starmer (below) opposed the decision.

He told the Mirror in September 2022: “Removing the cap on bankers’ bonuses when people are really struggling to pay their bills shows the Tories are absolutely tone deaf to what so many people are going through.”

Starmer had previously claimed the policy amounted to “pay rises for bankers, pay cuts for district nurses”.

Since then however, Labour have embarked on a mission to charm the City of London’s bankers ahead of the next General Election and it remains to be seen if Starmer will continue to oppose the move.

The FCA stated: “The bonus cap does not limit total remuneration but limits the variable remuneration a firm can pay relative to an individual’s fixed pay.

“This has the effect of limiting the proportion of remuneration that can be adjusted by risk and performance measures.”

Richard Foord’s speech at Monday’s Westminster Hall debate on Honesty in Politics, and the damage dishonesty is doing to democracy, has reached the national news.

Has Simon Jupp ever put his head above the parapet on a matter of principle?

Of course, this government is going to do nothing. – Owl

Martina Bet www.independent.co.uk 

A Liberal Democrat MP has taken aim at the “masters of spin” for increasingly manipulating the news cycle.

Richard Foord said that what began as political spin has now morphed into a practice bordering on deceit, saying “it is time to end the dead cat strategy”.

Mr Foord’s comments came as MPs debated two petitions relating to honesty in politics, which called on the Government to introduce legislation to make lying in the House of Commons a criminal offence.

While the Tiverton and Honiton MP said he worried about the “idea of opposition politicians simply getting locked up for telling the truth”, he criticised the Government for employing the “dead cat strategy” during the partygate scandal.

Deadcatting is a political tactic where a shocking or distracting topic is introduced to divert attention from a more damaging subject, often used to steer discourse away from negative media attention.

Speaking in Westminster Hall, Mr Foord said: “On April 12, 2022, the Metropolitan Police served a fixed penalty notice on the then prime minister (Boris Johnson) and the then chancellor of the Exchequer (Rishi Sunak) for attending a rule-breaking event in the Cabinet Office in June 2020.

“Newspapers were full of that dramatic news when, just two days later, the Government announced the so-called Rwanda partnership.

“Whatever you think about the Rwanda partnership, the £120-million scheme that would see some asylum claimants having their claims processed while they were in Rwanda, it is, at the very least, newsworthy.

“The point here is that we have been subject increasingly over the last couple of decades to something that started out as spin that has since become verging on the dishonest.

“So, if I take you back to 11 September 2001, we heard the phrase that it was a ‘good day to bury bad news’.

“At the time, that was symbolic of the worst aspects of the dark arts of spin. But what we have seen since that time is the development of this into an election campaigning technique. We now hear about the dead cat strategy.

“‘Dead catting’ is the idea that when something inconvenient is in the news headlines, the masters of spin might slap a dead cat in front of the public, a shocking announcement to divert attention away from those inconvenient headlines of the day.

“I think it is time to end ‘a good day to bury bad news’. It is time to end the dead cat strategy. It is a good day to bury the dead cat. We need more honesty in public life.”

Elsewhere during the debate, the SNP’s Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) highlighted the limitations of existing mechanisms like the MPs’ code of conduct and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

Urging the Government to make it a criminal offence to lie to Parliament, he said: “Parliamentary privilege grants members the right to speak freely without fear of legal liability or other reprisal.

“However that privilege has been abused and that abuse goes against our code of conduct with little repercussion.

“We should grab this opportunity to examine the challenges and complexities of this matter and come together to find a solution that works.

“Legislation should be brought forward that prevents the trust between Government and those who are governed being further eroded.

“This should be done at the earliest opportunity, so we can move the backward nature of this Parliament forward.”

Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said he did not think the route set out by the petitions was appropriate.

He said: “If honesty is one of the core values of our system, then parliamentary privilege and freedom of speech within Parliament is one of the absolute pillars of the modern constitution.”

He went on: “If we were to accept the ideas put down, we would be accepting, nay, we would be sanctioning, the legal intimidation of MPs in the House of Commons.

“I am afraid that is something that this Government will not support.”

Thérèse Coffey blames “wrong sort of wind” for floods.

“Most of our rain comes from the West. This rain was coming from the other way. We don’t have quite as much experience on that”.

With ministers of such insight as this in the Cabinet, how can we fail! – Owl

Watch the video here