Chris Huhne... going soon?

[don4l]

Zod said:

The real Apache said:

Tried that, and got shouted down by the "any vote for UKIP is a vote for Labour" brigade...people won't step out of their comfort zone I'm afraid

Explain how a vote for UKIP does not help Labour then?

In any marginal seat the Tories have a chance of winning, a vote for UKIP helps the other party, whether Labour or (likely to be rare in the future) LibDem.

I think that you have to ask yourself if you really support the Conservatives.

They espoused policies that many of us wanted to see implemented. However, they have now been in power for a year, so we can now judge them by their actions.

We wanted spending cuts. However spending continues to rise.

We wanted a sensible energy policy, but they are going to build windmills instead.

We want to be protected from criminals, but they have cut the police budget (so that they can build windmills!).

We were promised a "bonfire of quangos". What happened... nothing.

We were promised that all the red tape that Labour saddled us with would be removed.

They said that they would get the state finances under control, and then they increased the International Aid budget. We are borrowing money so that we can give it away.

This government is not acting any differently to a Labour government. Voting Tory to keep Labour out is utterly pointless. Cameron's conservatives are as left wing as most of the Labour party.

Meanwhile, we are sliding further into the mess with another £141bn of government borrowing this year. It would not have been any different if Labour had won the last election.

Don
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[don4l]

Things are getting worse for Mr Huhne. The Liberal Democrat Voice has turned against him.

LibDem Voice said:

Many things in the Coalition are not going well for the Lib Dems. Perhaps our best hope in the medium term is to show that we are not just a protest Party but that we can be a competent Party of Government. However good Huhne is as Energy Secretary it will be overshadowed by the continuing coverage of his private life. He should stand down now, on the understanding that if he is cleared by the police he will be able to re-enter the Government in due course.

If he chooses not to do this then Clegg should show that he will put the interests of the Party first and fire him.

Don
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[don4l]

thinfourth2 said:

No we have a one party system.

just half of the party wears one tie colour while the other half wears a different tie colour

Succinct, and accurate.

It cetainly looked like a one party parliament during Chris Huhne's Carbon Budgets announcement last week. The biggest spending decision that parliament has ever taken went through with only one mild voice of dissent.

This is not how a democracy should work.

Don
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[don4l]

Zod said:

It appears that some of you think that the Conservative Party used to be something closer to UKIP. You have no understanding of the party's history. It has never been anti-EU and it has never been in favour of stopping immigration.

The current government is a coalition. If the LibDems just accede to everything the Tories want, then they get nothing out of it. It is not a difficult bargain to understand. The reality is that the Tories are getting almost everything they want, but managing to use the LibDems as a shield.

One key difference between the two main parties used to be government spending. That difference has evaporated.

Don
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[don4l]

Pesty said:

Yep.

so who do I vote for?

At the last election I voted for the party whose manifesto most closely reflected my views.

There was very little chance that they (UKIP) would win. However, I took the opportunity to send a very small message to the Conservatives.

Don
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[don4l]

It would appear that Vicky Price has signed a confession admitting that she took the points on Huhne's behalf.

Daily Telegraph said:

Chris Huhne's former wife signed a sworn legal confession, admitting that she had taken speeding points on behalf of the Energy Secretary, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

Full story here...



Don
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[don4l]

Andy Zarse said:

Being a low down, no good, lying, jumped up little toerag, Huhne will admit to nothing. The police won't have anything other than a dodgy "confession" from a scorned wife to procede against him and the case, very regrettably IMO, will be dropped.

However, the fact that he is a low down, no good, lying, jumped up little toerag is the reason that he has no friends.

Unlike Mandleson, if Huhne goes, his political career will be finished.

There are rumours that even his own children are willing to give evidence against him.


Don
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[don4l]

F i F said:

As I said a couple of pages back.

I suspect his defence will be, "I can't remember where I was at that time. You, the police, prove who WAS driving."

It is still mostly rumour at the moment, However, if the following evidence turns out to be true, then I think that a jury would have no problem reaching a guilty verdict.

Chris Huhne probably arrived in Stansted on the 10:23 Ryanair flight. Ryanair say that they can find this information.

Vicky Price can prove that she was in London at the time of the offence.

Vicky Price told a Judge at the time.

One of the children remembers what happened.

Vicky Price has admitted to police that she took the points on his behalf.

There is no suggestion that anyone else had access to the car, and it wasn't reported stolen.

That all looks like a strong case to me.

Don
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[don4l]

youngsyr said:

Doesn't she realise that she's opening herself up to a charge of perverting the course of justice (which can carry prison time) by doing that?

Hell hath no fury...

I'm sure that she is aware of the potential consequences. However, she is likely to be able to claim that she was put under considerable pressuse. This means that she is quite likely to get a non-custodial sentence.

Let's hope that he doesn't get prosecuted for the election expenses until after he gets out of prison for the PCoJ.

Don
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[don4l]

Bedazzled said:

...and yet nobody seems to know the exact time, or location, of the speeding ticket.

I think that you mean that you don't know the exact time or location of the speeding ticket.

I think that you will find that Chris Huhne knows. Vicky Price probably knows. Some people who work in Essex plod also know.


Don
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[don4l]

Bedazzled said:

don4l said:

I think that you mean that you don't know the exact time or location of the speeding ticket.

I think that you will find that Chris Huhne knows. Vicky Price probably knows. Some people who work in Essex plod also know.


Don
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Obviously they know, but if you're going to claim she can prove she wasn't there at the time, and couldn't have been driving, you need to back it up with some evidence. So, exactly when and where was the speeding ticket?

I was correcting your earlier mistake. You seem to have forgotten that earlier you wrote the following:

Bedazzled said:

...and yet nobody seems to know the exact time, or location, of the speeding ticket.

I'm not going to say that you are wrong, but anybody who has made the slightest effort to familiarse themselves with the case will see that you are unlikely to be correct.

Don
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[don4l]

Derek Smith said:

I also find it difficult to put from my mind the idea that there is probably money involved somewhere. I'm not sure the 30 pieces of sliver she'd get from a paper would be enough though. Don't forget, he's got real money.

I'm not so sure. He is only worth £7m, and TBH, £3.5m isn't enough to retire on(comfortably) these days.

My godfather retired on £3m 25 years ago. It hasn't gone according to plan.


Don
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[don4l]

Bedazzled said:

So it's not even her word against his, as she clammed up when she realised she might actually get in trouble herself for dropping hubby in it, and refused to tell police the truth?

It's only 35 miles from London School of Economics to Stansted, and why would she only have 15 minutes to get there? How do you know what time she left London? Would an airport retain CCTV footage for 8 years?

Anyone know when and where the ticket was...?

Your attitude puzzles me.

One would almost think that you must be related to Huhne. However, this is unlikely because most of his family, and even his own children, seem to detest the odious individual.

Don
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[don4l]

Over at the BBC, Michael Crick is saying that the Telegraph report is wrong and that Vicky Price did in fact co-operate with the police.

Mght be worth keeping an eye on Newsnight tonight.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13579513

Don
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[don4l]

Bedazzled said:

BBC said:

Huhne's car was photographed, I am told, by a speed camera at around 11.20pm on the night in question, on a southbound section of the M11 close to London.

That's a full hour after his plane landed, if he'd been driving himself he could have been home by then. Or he may have been waiting for someone to pick him up, someone who was held up at a meal in London, for example. Even if she left at 10pm she could have got to Standsted in under an hour and then got flashed 20 mins later on the way back. They're going to need more than that, imho.

Hmmmm...

How long from central London to Stansted? 70 minutes?

How long back to the "outskirts" of London? 50 minutes?


That would mean that the ticket couldn't have been issued before midnight.


Don
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[don4l]

Derek, we seem to have a situation where Ms Price says that she took the points on Huhne's behalf, and Huhne denies it. Surely, at this point, issues such as timing become important?

Michael Crick is saying that people who attended the dinner have been approached by police, which would suggest that they are looking for corroborative evidence. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13576329


Mind you, as this is Essex Police's first ever criminal investigation, who knows how it will pan out?


Don
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[don4l]

Bedazzled said:

Even Michael Crick has conceded she could have been there, using his pessimistic estimates for the journey times, give or take 15 mins. The suggestion that it's physically impossible would be gently ripped apart by a defense barrister, it merely suggests that he was more likely to be driving, and yet she signed the NIP saying she was the driver. How likely is that that they will find someone willing to swear on oath that they can remember exactly what time a colleague left a dinner 8 years ago?

Pryce says she's 'cooperating' with police, and yet the Telegraph claims she didn't admit to a conspiracy, that needs a bit of clarification. If they haven't owned up to it, I think the police are going to need some physical evidence, such as the photo example Derek mentioned. Juries want proof, or some inescapable logic, to convict someone beyond reasonable doubt, marginal timing theories won't cut it.

Is the investigation of an 8 year old speeding ticket good use of tax payers' money, and police resources, I wonder?

You are forgetting that we are talking about Chris Huhne. The jury won't want to waste their time listenening to evidence.

There was an opinion poll earlier in the week, and 96% of people considered him to be guilty. This isn't because of any compelling evidence, it is because he is intensly disliked. He has backstabbed his way up to his current position, and has no friends left.

The only evidence that most people will require, is that the man in the dock is indeed Chris Huhne.

Guilty M'lud!

Don
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[don4l]

mybrainhurts said:

Yes, yes, but what shade of green is he...?

Oh dear! This is from his website:-
Norman Lamb said: "it is refreshing to see a utility company stepping up and taking action to tackle climate change, which is a huge threat to the East of England. Actions like Love Every Drop are vital in securing a sustainable future for all."

I'm struggling to undersstand how somebody could be thick enough to believe that using less water will save the planet from climate change. I've heard some real rubbish in the climate debate, but this really takes the buscuit.


http://normanlamb.org.uk/en/article/2011/456013/no...

Don
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[don4l]

mybrainhurts said:

This is going too slowly...

It really is quite weird.

We are told that the police already have the tape of the phone conversation that Ms. Price had with Huhne. If the public transcripts of that tape are accurate, then there is already enough evidence to secure a conviction.

Don
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[don4l]

Daily Telegraph said:

The Crown Prosecution Service has requested further evidence from Essex police as it examines allegations that Mr Huhne asked Vicky Pryce, his estranged wife, to accept his points so he could keep his licence....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8707017/P...

So, is this a precursor to the case getting dropped due to "lack of evidence?

After all, the police must have felt that they had enough evidence when they passed the file to the CPS.

Don
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