"Abolisher of Tolls " resigns.

It has not been  a good start to the Tories election campaign .

Welsh Secretary  Alun Cairns  resigned after   following claims he knew about a former aide's role in the "sabotage" of a rape trial.

Here is his resignation letter and the prime minister's response in full.

Alun Cairns wrote:

Dear Prime Minister

You will be aware of allegations relating to the actions of a party employee and candidate for the Welsh assembly elections in the Vale of Glamorgan.

This is a very sensitive matter, and in light of continued speculation, I write to tender my resignation as secretary of state for Wales.

I will cooperate in full with the investigation under the Ministerial Code which will now take place and I am confident I will be cleared of any breach or wrong doing.

It has been an honour to serve in your government and a privilege to see the positive steps you have made in such a short time. Your work to secure a deal to leave the European Union has been extraordinary and the opportunities it brings are exciting for all parts of the country. I thank you for your commitment to the Union and the way in which you have made it central to all areas of government policy.

My experience of seeing your work first hand with Cabinet colleagues gives me confidence for the future. Your vision and drive to move the country forward to meet the opportunities of Brexit and to protect and enhance public services is exemplary.

I will continue to work to support your vision and ambitions for the country and am grateful for the honour of serving in your Cabinet.

Rt Hon Alun Cairns MP

Secretary of State for Wales

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson replied:

Dear Alun

Thank you for your letter resigning as secretary of state of Wales. I am pleased to hear that you will co-operate fully with the Cabinet Office during this process.

I am extremely grateful for all the work you have done in the role as secretary of state since March 2016. In particular, I would like to put on record my gratitude for all the support you have given to this government in ensuring we honour the commitment to the people that we leave the European Union. Given your long service as secretary of state, you can be proud of your record of delivery for the people of Wales, in particular in ensuring the abolition of tolls on the Severn bridges.

This an unstinting record of service to the party in Wales with over a decade as assembly member for South Wales West where you were a vocal critic of the Labour government.

Boris Johnson

It is indicative, that Mr Johnson seems to think that the main achievement  of Mr Caorns ist he abolition of tolls on the Severn bridges. 

Of course  devolution has meant the role of the Secretary of State for Wales has diminished over the years and Mr Cairns seems to have spent his time trying to create a new role as the Secretary for West Briton with his Western Powerhouse  and placing much of South Wales under a Bristol led umbrella along with North Wales coming under the influence of Liverpool.

Cairns has of course announced he will stand in the General Election for the Vale of Glamorgan . If he wins he probably thinks that he wil have to spend a short time in purdah , before getting a new role in any future Tory Government.

But even if the electors in the Vale inexplicably reelect this disgraced politician , one can only wonder what Boris Johnson or any Tory leader could find for "The  "Abolisher of Tolls"

Indeed with the possibility of no Tory or Labour  MP in Scotland and complete non-entices, from Wales.

Both Johnson and Corbyn . may well decide to end this tokenism and create a Secretary for the Regions whose role is paradoxically  to make sure they don't make have any more powers and preserve the Union.

Vale Tory voters should not vote for Alun Cairns.

There is a option if Alun Cairns does not  resign after  BBC Wales obtained a leaked email which suggests he was told about Ross England's involvement in the collapse of a rape trial.and that on December 12th the voters of the Vale of Glamorgan should sack him.

I have covered this here  and here

The email, dated August 2, 2018, was from his special adviser Geraint Evans and was copied to Richard Minshull - the director of the Welsh Conservatives - and another member of staff.

Labour and Plaid have called for Mr Cairns - who had previously denied knowing the details of Mr England's involvement - to resign but Tory party chairman James Cleverly has said he has "complete confidence" in him and a No.10 spokesman said the Prime Minister also does.
When asked by BBC Wales if Mr Cairns should resign, the victim, who worked for the Conservative Party, said: "Absolutely. If he'd come out and condemned Ross [England] in the first instance, he wouldn't be in this position.
"I would like an apology from the party and Alun Cairns for selecting him in the first place. I can't believe that not one senior Welsh Conservative has said that what he did was wrong."
Christina Rees MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Wales said: “There are no two ways about this - Alun Cairns has been caught brazenly lying about how much he knew of Ross England’s appalling behaviour at a rape trial.
“We have previously been asked to believe that Alun Cairns - who describes Mr England as a “friend and colleague” - had no knowledge of the behaviour that led to the collapse of a rape trial - and unimaginable trauma for the victim.
“We now know this was a fiction.
“The Secretary of State, Special Advisers, and senior Welsh Tory officials knew what had happened. They chose to select Ross England anyway - and to mislead and obfuscate when found out.
“The decision is an error of judgement - the cover up is unforgivable. Alun Cairns should go; as Secretary of State and as a candidate.”
Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts said Mr Cairn's actions show that he is unfit to hold public office.
She said: “Not only did Mr Cairns know about Mr England’s role in the case, but he also blatantly told an untruth when he claimed last week he only knew of it once the story had broken last week.
“At worst, Mr Cairns is complicit in the attempted cover up of his former staff member’s actions which collapsed a rape trial. At best, he has displayed gross incompetence in judgement, dishonesty and a lack of leadership.
“In either case, he should immediately resign as Secretary of State for Wales, and should withdraw as a general election candidate.”

 Mr Cairns has a slim Majority in what should be a Labour Target seat

General election 2017: Vale of Glamorgan^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Alun Cairns	25,501	47.5	+1.5
	Labour	Camilla Beaven	23,311	43.4	+10.8
	Plaid Cymru	Ian Johnson	2,295	4.3	−1.3
	Liberal Democrat	Jennifer Geroni	1,020	1.9	−0.7
	UKIP	Melanie Hunter-Clarke	868	1.8	-8.1
	Green	Stephen Davis-Barker	419	0.8	−1.3
	Women’s Equality	Sharon Lovell	177	0.3	N/A
	Pirate	David Elston	127	0.2	N/A
Majority			2,190	4.1	-9.3
Turnout			53,718	72.6	+1.5
Registered electors			73,959
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.6

As it is already a Two Horse Race  i doubt that tactical voting from Plaid or the Liberal Democrats  would topple Mr Cairns.

However it is Mr Cairns own voters who should respond by voting for another Party , they have a responsibility to remove him .

By his backing of Ross England in full knowledge of his sabotage of a rape case , Mr Cairns does not deserve the support of decent Tory voters and , they should transfer their vote or if they can't abstain.



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Those most opposed to the USSR are now collaborating with the regime successors.

This from today's Guardian must surley get as wide a circulation as possible, it is an appealing 

PM accused of cover-up over report on Russian meddling in UK politics

No 10 refuses to clear release of report into Russian political interference before election

Boris Johnson was on Monday night accused of presiding over a cover-up after it emerged that No 10 refused to clear the publication of a potentially incendiary report examining Russian infiltration in British politics, including the Conservative party.
Downing Street indicated on Monday that it would not allow a 50-page dossier from the intelligence and security committee to be published before the election, prompting a string of complaints over its suppression.
The committee’s chairman, Dominic Grieve, called the decision “jaw dropping”, saying no reason for the refusal had been given, while Labour and Scottish National party politicians accused No 10 of refusing to recognise the scale of Russian meddling.
Fresh evidence has also emerged of attempts by the Kremlin to infiltrate the Conservatives by a senior Russian diplomat suspected of espionage, who spent five years in London cultivating leading Tories including Johnson himself.
It can now be revealed that Sergey Nalobin – who once described the future prime minister as “our good friend” – lives in a Moscow apartment block known as the “FSB house” because it houses so many employees from the Kremlin’s main spy agency.

 The committee’s report is based on analysis from Britain’s intelligence agencies, as well as third-party experts such as the former MI6 officer Christopher Steele, and is subject to a final clearance from Downing Street. That has to come before parliament is dissolved on Tuesday if it is to be released ahead of the election.Downing Street sources stated that was not now expected to happen in time, claiming the sign-off process typically takes six weeks. A No 10 spokesman added: “There are processes reports such as this have to go through before publication, and the committee is well-informed of these.”

However, it is understood the dossier has already been approved by the intelligence agencies themselves as part of a long clearance process that began in late March. Downing Street was sent a final draft on 17 October and had been expected to sign off the report by the end of last week.
Grieve said: “The protocols are quite clear. If the prime minister has a good reason for preventing publication he should explain to the committee what it is, and do it within 10 days of him receiving the report. If not, it should be published.”
The dossier specifically examines Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 EU referendum. Members of the committee – which meets in secret because of the sensitivity of its work – had wanted to make recommendations to introducean Lucas, a Labour MP who sits on the culture media and sport select committee, which has conducted related inquiries into the conduct of the EU referendum said “the government needs to come clean about its view on Russian interference in British politics”.

Ministers have argued that there are no examples of successful Russian interference in UK elections, but Lucas said that this needed to be properly tested: “This decision looks like it is designed to avoid proper scrutiny of what we actually know.”
Allegations that Moscow money has flowed into the Conservative party via emigres living in the UK making high-profile donations, were also heard by the committee – although the party has consistently denied receiving money improperly.
In 2014, Lubov Chernukhin – the wife of the former Russian deputy finance minister – paid £160,000 to play tennis with Johnson and David Cameron. The match was the star lot at a Conservative summer party auction. Another guest at the 2013 fundraiser was Vasily Shestakov, Vladimir Putin’s judo partner.
Committee members were also briefed on an extraordinary – and for a while an apparently successful – attempt to penetrate Conservative circles by Nalobin, who instigated a pro-Kremlin parliamentary group, the Conservative Friends of Russia.
During his time in the UK, Nalobin went to exclusive Tory fundraising events and met senior Conservatives. In January 2014 he posed for a photograph with Johnson at an event at city hall in London. Nalobin posted it on Twitter, writing in a caption that the then mayor was “our good friend” who said “warm words” about Russians.

Conservative Friends of Russia held its 2012 launch party in the Russian ambassador’s Kensington garden, with about 250 Russian and British guests present, including Tories who went on to play a prominent role in the referendum campaign. One was Matthew Elliott, now chief executive of pro-Brexit group Vote Leave, alongside Dominic Cummings, now the prime minister’s chief strategist. greater safeguards ahead of the December poll.

 Another guest was Johnson’s future girlfriend Carrie Symonds, a Tory party activist. At the time she worked in the office of John Whittingdale, the pro-Brexit MP who was the group’s honorary vice-president. The group collapsed after revelations of Nalobin’s alleged ties with the Kremlin’s SVR foreign intelligence agency.Over the weekend, the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, raised questions over Cummings’ connections to Russia, and the levels of security vetting to which he had been subject, after an official whistleblower raised concerns with her.
Thornberry asked if Cummings had been asked about his relationship with members of Conservative Friends of Russia, as well as the purpose of his three-year period of work in post-communist Russia between 1994 and 1997.
The Guardian’s investigation was carried out with the The Insider, an independent Russian news website. Property records show that Nalobin owns an apartment at Michurinskiy Prospect 27, in south-west Moscow. The block’s ties with state spying are so well established that sellers are able to advertise their properties in the “FSB house” at above market rates.
Peers held a special debate about the withheld dossier, after an urgent question from the cross-bench peer David Anderson, a national security expert, who insisted the delay was unjustified. “It invites, I’m afraid, suspicion of the government and its motives,” he said.
Earl Howe, responding for the government, told peers: “The length of time that the government had had for this report is not at all unusual. It was delivered on 17 October – that is not a very long time ago. And the prime minister is entitled to take his view on what the report contains.”
Stewart McDonald, the SNP’s defence spokesman, said: “Parliament is about to be sent packing into a general election without fully understanding the extent to which Russia has meddled in our most recent democratic electoral events.”

It is extraordinary  how Russian behaviour during the Communists  era and the Cld War that the slightest indication of interference into UK politics would be regarded with horror and cries of treason.

Now however it is those who claimed to be most opposed to the USSR who seem to be collaborating with  the regime successors.

Whats more it is clearly far more successful.

Best not risk the Tories winning in Gower.

There will be a whole list of Candidates for the 12th December General Election , who are going to regret comments they have made on Social media , whether their sorry for the language they use , or that it has been brought to the attention is of course a moot point.

Francesca O'Brien, who is running for the Gower seat in December's election, for the Conservative  has apologised for a Facebook post in which she said people on a TV show needed "putting down".

She made the made the comments about Channel 4's Benefits Street in January 2014.

The BBC report that.

Ms O'Brien said her comments were made "off the cuff" but admitted her "use of language was unacceptable".
She is still set to run in the General Election on 12 December.
Ms O'Brien, a former commission officer with RAF Air Cadets, was selected to be the Conservative party candidate for Gower in October after an open primary in which residents were able to participate as opposed to just party members.
Having lost Gower to Labour in the 2017 election, the seat is a top Tory target in Wales.
In the posts following the broadcast of the first episode of Benefits Street five years ago, Ms O'Brien said: "Benefit Street..anyone else watching this?? Wow, these people are unreal!!!"
Responding to another user's comment, she said: "My blood is boiling, these people need putting down."

In a statement released on Sunday, Ms O'Brien said: "These comments were made off the cuff, a number of years ago.
"However, I accept that my use of language was unacceptable and I would like to apologise for any upset I have caused."
Benefits Street, which featured the residents of James Turner Street in Birmingham, was a ratings hit for Channel 4 when it was broadcast.
But a total of 887 viewers complained to the broadcasting regulator, claiming the show had vilified and misrepresented benefits claimants.
Ofcom decided the programme did not breach broadcasting rules.
Ms O'Brien is due to stand against Labour's Tonia Antoniazzi and Sam Bennett of the Liberal Democrats. Other parties are yet to confirm their candidates.

I have often found in the hustings for Pontypridd that the Tory candidates often portray themselves as moderates , who even say they disagree with some Tory policies.

Of course they never win and we never really know whether they are moderate or not.

Despite  the lurch of the Tories to even more right wing policies many of the candidates who are challenging other parties of the centre and left will not be adopting the rhetoric of the Johnson,Rees Mogg and the European Reform Group who seem to have seized control of the party.

If you don't like the  Non-Tory party in a area where it is a clear two horse race between them and the Tories (like the Gower) , it probably best not to risk the likes of Francesca O'Brien winning, even if she suddenly seems to be portraying herself as a moderate.

The Fib-Dems misleading "Little Bar Graphs" are back.

Having two very bad General Elections after loosing  support and seats after their disastrous decision to become the Tories Bag Carriers in the Cameron-Clegg coalition the Liberal Democrats , have gone back to their misleading indeed  "Little Bar Graphs"

 The Liberal Democrats will be campaigning in opposition to Britain's departure from the EU during the December 2019 election, attempting to target Conservative seats with Remain sentiments and pull Remain-supporting Conservatives away from the governing Tory Party.

The Liberal Democrats released a constituency opinion poll on Thursday for North East Somerset showing that the party lands as a slight second behind incumbent seat holder and House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg.

The poll, conducted by Survation on behalf of the party, showed the leading Conservatives on 38%, the Liberal Democrats on 32%, and Labour on 8%, leading the Lib Dems to call for an alliance to unseat the House leader and for the Labour candidate to stand down.

​However, if you read the  the small print on the survey, where the question put to respondents was "Imagine that the result in your constituency was expected to be very close between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidate, and none of the other parties were competitive. In this scenario, which party would you vote for?" Then its not a poll putting thr Liberal Democrat s second 

Lets face it if the option was the Monster Raving Loony Party, you would probably get the same result. It ia a

Anyone but Rees-Mogg poll

As AAV points out

The Lib-Dems are absolutely notorious for producing absurdly misleading bar charts aimed at duping the gullible into voting for them, but this year the Lib-Dems in North East Somerset have absolutely outdone themselves by producing one of the most shockingly deceptive political bar charts ever.
The North East Somerset constituency is a Tory safe seat for Jacob Rees-Mogg on 54%, with Labour trailing almost 20 points behind on 35%, and the Lib-Dems in a distant 3rd on just 8%.

So in order to produce a favourable bar chart for themselves the Lib-Dems conducted an absurd push poll asking "Imagine the result in your constituency was expected to be very close between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidate, and none of the other parties were competitive..."

At the last election the LIb Dems were a distinct forth

General election 2017: North East Somerset^{[13][14][15][16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Jacob Rees-Mogg	28,992	53.6	+3.9
	Labour	Robin Moss	18,757	34.7	+9.9
	Liberal Democrat	Manda Rigby	4,461	8.3	+0.4
	Green	Sally Calverley	1,245	2.3	-3.2
	Independent	Shaun Hughes	588	1.1	+1.1
Majority			10,235	18.9	-5.9
Turnout			54,043	75.7	+2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.0

Even in 2010 before the coalition backlash they were not in contention

General election 2010: North East Somerset^[20][21][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Jacob Rees-Mogg	21,130	41.3	+2.2
	Labour	Dan Norris*	16,216	31.7	−7.0
	Liberal Democrat	Gail Coleshill	11,433	22.3	+2.7
	UKIP	Peter Sandell	1,754	3.4	+1.2
	Green	Michael Jay	670	1.3	+1.3
Majority			4,914	9.6	N/A
Turnout			51,203	76.0	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

* Served in the 2005–2010 Parliament as MP for Wansdyke

The defeat of Rees-Mogg would be a "Portillo Moment" in the next election, and who knows it may be the Lib-Dems who do it bit at least do it honestly..

s

Alun Cairns must come clean over his knowledge of employee's involvement in a rape trial collapse.

It seems that Vale of Glamorgan Tories Campaign leaflets are being distributed in the name of Alun Cairns which show his links to a Tory aide suspended from the party which I blogged on yesterday 

Tories denial of knowledge over candidates and trial collapse runs hollow.



As Wales Online explain

On Thursday, a campaign leaflet for Mr Cairns - who will be fighting for his seat in the marginal of Vale of Glamorgan on December 12 - was delivered to homes in the Illtyd ward in Barry, according to a resident who received the leaflet.
As with all political leaflets, the small print contains the name of the promoter.
The Electoral Commission explains the role of a promoter - "the promoter is the person who has caused the material to be published. If the promoter is acting on behalf of a group or organisation, the group or organisation’s name and address must also be included".
On this leaflet, the promoter is named as "Ross England of CCHQ Wales".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was asked about the case in Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday. He said he could not comment about ongoing legal proceedings. When his press secretary was told the case had been concluded, he said it was a matter for the Welsh Conservatives and he would not comment further.
The Welsh Conservative and Mr Cairns were asked when the leaflets were printed and in what capacity was Mr England was employed - whether as Mr Cairns’ agent or campaign manager or by the Welsh Conservatives.
They were asked if he was still a campaign manager and, if not, when did the employment end.

 This is not me or anyone else using the actions of a slimeball like Mr England who prevented the course og justice , but when Alun Cairns and other top Tories became aware of it.

I remind you that  the Judge in the case said to Mr England.

 I shall be writing personal letters to people who are politically close to you and I hope they take appropriate action. Get out of my court.

If he carried out his threat then , and it seems from his tone he fully intended to, then surley one of those  "politically close " to Mr England would be his employer.

 

Tories denial of knowledge over candidates and trial collapse runs hollow

The Conservative Party has denied knowledge of Ross England's involvement in a rape trial collapse before he was selected as a candidate.

BBC Wales reports that ..

Mr England was accused by a Crown Court judge of deliberately sabotaging the trial in April 2018, by making claims about the victim's sexual history.
The defendant, James Hackett, was convicted following a retrial.
Sources had told BBC Wales the party knew about his involvement, but the Welsh party chairman denied this.
In the first of two statements issued on Thursday evening, Lord Davies of Gower said the party only became aware of the "full extent of the proceedings" when Hackett's appeal process ended earlier this month.
He said: "We were fully aware that Ross England was involved as a witness in a sensitive case. We are also aware of the responsibility we have as employers.
"Since the end of the Appeal Court case, we have now been made aware of the full extent of the proceedings."
In a second statement, he said he could "categorically state" that he and Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns were "completely unaware of the details of the collapse of During the trial Judge Stephen Hopkins QC told Mr England:  "You have managed, singlehandedly, and I have no doubt it was deliberate on your part, to sabotage this trial.

Which as far as I can see is strange  because  during the trial the Judge admonished England woth these words

"Mr England, as far as I am concerned, this matter so far as you are concerned isn’t ended. I shall be writing personal letters to people who are politically close to you and I hope they take appropriate action. Get out of my court.

 The case had to be ended early and a retrial took place six months later, last October, when the victim had to go through the ordeal of giving evidence for a second time and the defendant, James Hackett, was found guilty and jailed for five years.

Until now the case could not be reported as Hackett was attempting to appeal against his conviction. However his request for an appeal has now not been granted.

It does appear there fore that Mr England as part of his submission in the case had stated his involvement with the Conservative Party  Mr England  and  possibly that he used to work for Mr Cairns in the Vale of Glamorgan, a Though he was not a prospective Senedd candidate then)in order to give kudos in his statment in defense of what is now a convicted rapists.

Alun Cairns  and Ross England on the latter 's selection as Senedd Candidate.

We don't know if the Judge did carry out is threat to right to those who were "politically close"  Mr England but his tone suggest he did

.I do not not normally believe that we should judge a political party solely on the actions of a slime ball like Ross England , but in this case unless it is proven that Mr Cairns and others were not fully aware  of the Judge's comments they have a lot to answer.