She Forgot To Add 'Unless You Come In On A Dinghy'...

Coffey, secretary of state for environment food and rural affairs since Rishi Sunak took office in September said: “It is not the role of government to provide free food.”

Well, that should stop the flow of illegal immigration! Suella can put her feet up and have a mince pie... 

In her first grilling by MPs on the environment, food and rural affairs committee since taking up the post, she also said she was “very disappointed by the water companies” and acknowledged concern over sewage flows into waterways. She said water company bosses were being summoned to account for their actions next week, and that they would be subject to more monitoring and would have to submit “real-time data”. She stopped short of promising to crack down on sewage flows into rivers and beaches.

Well, of course! I mean, we wouldn't want to upset people who aren't doing their job, would we? It might make the Cabinet nervous... 

Coffey did, however, give comfort to those hoping for an expansion of renewable energy across the UK countryside. She moved away from the position adopted by Sunak in his leadership campaign, when he rejected solar farms on UK agricultural land, and said a government review of land use to be published in the first half of next year would take a “balanced” view.

She told the committee that land graded 3b for agricultural use – judged to be moderate quality, capable of producing cereals and grass – could be used for solar farms.

We need more food production, not less. Why do these 'conservatives' think there's votes in humouring the eco-loons?

Start As You Mean To Go On, Liz..?

The UK government could scrap its entire anti-obesity strategy after ministers ordered an official review of measures designed to deter people from eating junk food, the Guardian can reveal.

The review could pave the way for Liz Truss to lift the ban on sugary products being displayed at checkouts as well as “buy one get one free” multi-buy deals in shops.

I shouldn't get too excited, the blond buffoon said much the same thing, only to roll over like a Labrador offered a low-calorie Bonio. But still...

Health experts have hailed the levy as a key initiative in the fight against dangerous obesity.

“There doesn’t seem to be any appetite from Thérèse [Coffey – the new health secretary] for nanny state stuff,” one source said.

Officials at the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, the part of the Department for Health that formulates policies to tackle major public health problems, were said by a source to be “aghast” at the prospect of Truss potentially discarding strategies to counter junk food that have been agreed and approved by parliament.

It is upsetting all the right people.

Too Little, Too Late Again...

Health chiefs will cull up to 8,000 non-frontline NHS jobs as part of a clampdown on 'waste and wokery' in the health service.

NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard revealed plans to cut between 30 to 40 per cent of jobs at a trio of health bodies by 2024.

How long have the 'conservatives' been in power? Why are they only just getting around to this now..?  

The move will see between 6,000 and 8,000 of the 20,000 jobs at NHS Digital and Health Education England (HEE), which is in charge of training the workforce.

The two central bodies are being merged with NHS England in an effort to reduce duplicating roles and save up to £1billion over five years.

How is it possible that they were ever set up under the noses of successive Health Ministers in the first place? Did no-one have their eye on the ball? 

Previous efforts to slash bureaucracy and doubling up of roles in the NHS have cost the taxpayer billions in pay-offs only for the health service to rehire them.

This time, put the stake through the heart AND cut off the head and stuff the mouth with garlic, just to be sure... 

And If Anyone's Qualified To Speak On 'Dishonesty'...

Sir Chris Whitty claimed attempts by tobacco lobbyists to make any debate around smoking legislation about health vs freedom are 'dishonest'.

...it's surely him. As Longrider points out.

Under the final must-do plan, doctors should promote vaping to patients as an 'effective tool to help people to quit smoking tobacco'.

'We know vapes are not a "silver bullet" nor are they totally risk-free, but the alternative is far worse,' the review states.

That's if you can actually get to see a GP, of course! 

Cartoons and images on vaping products that appeal to children should be banned and flavours should be reviewed to ensure they don't appeal to young people, the report states.

What sort of flavours don't appeal to young people, then? Semolina? Broccoli? 

Mr Javid told Parliament that the Government 'will now consider its response' to Dr Khan's 'clear and challenging' recommendations. He said the Government is already investing in smoking prevention through a public health grant but 'will examine where we can go further'.

I know where you and your wretched nannying government can go, Sajid... 

When Will Priti Get A Grip..?

The Home Office is in the process of drawing up a new hate crimes strategy that aims to 'increase the reporting of all forms of hate crime', including those relating to gender identity.

The plans are being developed despite a court ruling last year, which ordered police to stop recording gender-critical views as non-crime hate incidents, which are declarations of wrongdoing added to someone's criminal record.

This is a department at war with itself. You cannot on the one hand have the law courts refusing you their backing, yet civil servants blindly carrying on with attempting to enforce the impossible demands of a handful of activists. 

What's the Home Secretary doing about it?

But free-speech campaigners fear the new drive could see comedians criminalised for telling jokes, particularly about the rise of transgender ideology.

The move comes after Gervais, creator of The Office, angered Twitter's 'woke' brigade following the broadcast of his new Netflix special, SuperNature, which mocks cancel culture with jokes about trans people, Hitler and AIDS.

It appears to be...nothing.  

Under the new strategy being developed by the Government, members of the public could be allowed to register an official complaint about his routine.

And we know, given the opportunity, they will.  

Last night, the Home Office Minister Rachel Maclean insisted the move was positive. She said: 'Increases in police-recorded hate crime have been driven by improvements in crime recording, better identification of what constitutes a hate crime and increased victim willingness to come forward.

'This is positive and reflects the hard work that has gone in to ensuring police can understand the scale of the challenge, and that victims get the support they need.'

Rein in this idiot, Boris and Priti, or lose yet more votes. It should be another no-brainer, as DumbJon points out. Why aren't you doing it? 

No Government Ever Institutes 'Joined Up Policies'...

...and this one is no exception:

The committee's chairman, Darren Jones, said replacing gas boilers, the major source of pollution from homes, was "a huge task and we are not making near enough progress". The report urges the government to do more to explain to the public the changes they will be facing, including the potential costs and benefits.

Maybe the public has seen the potential costs and decided they don't outweigh the benefits? If that's the case, then nothing the government will do will work... 

Mr Jones said the government should also replace the failed Green Homes Grant – the scheme providing financial support for people to insulate their homes.

“Ministers can’t simply leave this to the market – the government should tackle the cost of heating our homes in the round and bring forward joined-up policies that address these issues together,” he said.

When a government wonk claims that something 'can't be left to the market', hold on tight to your wallet; it means they are pushing something they know people don't want and won't accept. 

“For most people, your boiler is probably the most environmentally damaging thing that you own,” said Nesta's Andrew Sissons.

And people won't care, so long as the alternative is worse.  

Wait, What...?

Britain’s [redacted] laws are racist and cause “high levels of mental health harm” among black people, a former No 10 race adviser has said.

Immigration laws? 

Well, no. Would you believe, drugs laws? 

Simon Woolley said drugs legislation introduced 50 years ago had failed to cut the use, supply and harms associated with illegal drugs, and instead was used “as a tool of systemic racism”.

*blinks* 

Despite white people reporting higher rates of drug consumption, black people were more likely to be stopped and searched for suspected drug possession and were more likely to be arrested, charged and imprisoned for drug offences, he said.

And that has nothing to do with the different attitudes of both groups to how they source and use their product, I presume..?

Who appointed this idiot?

Lord Woolley, 59, who was appointed by Theresa May to chair the government’s race disparity unit’s advisory group and is now a crossbench peer, said the failure of UK drugs legislation was having a devastating impact on public health.

Oh. Of course, that wouldn't have been a problem if the first thing Boris did on Election Day was clear out May's Augean Stables. Rather than add more cattle...

Over To You, Grant...

Seven of London's Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) are to be scrapped after they were found to increase local congestion and caused 'no material change in air quality'.

Ealing Council studied nine LTNs following outcry from residents, who gathered in their thousands outside the town hall in April to demand they be axed.

So, sometimes the local council listens. But surely the effects of these wretched things were well-known before they were put in? Who'd be so stupid as to imag...

Oh...

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps previously announced the scheme - which plans for 200 LTNs across the country - is to receive hundreds of millions of pounds as part of the Government's so-called 'green transport revolution', which hopes to reduce car use by encouraging walking and cycling.

*sigh* 

The damning report challenges the Government's repeated claims that LTNs are a popular idea among the public.

It seems all their claims hold as much water as a sieve when you look at them closely, doesn't it? 

Good, If It's 'Guidance' I'll Take It Under Advisement...

Stronger guidance on wearing masks is being planned in case coronavirus hospitalisations keep rising.

...but we all know it's not going to be guidance, don't we?

Ministers are now concerned by falling compliance in supermarkets, trains and buses amid rising infection levels. Yesterday there were another 37,622 Covid cases and 147 deaths. There are also 8,098 patients in hospital with the virus – a six-month high and a rise of 6 per cent in a week.

No doubt the Met Police can't wait to act like their Aussie counterparts... 

Although government sources insist a mask mandate is not imminent, the fact it is being considered will concern Tory backbenchers.

Not enough to actusally do anything, I expect. They proved supine enough on everything else, they aren't going to rebel over this.

They are already angry at being asked to renew the emergency Covid powers that allow ministers to impose restrictions.

Yoda says 'Angry they maybe, but ineffectual they also are, mmmm...'