What happened on 10th June 2023 - with your comments in the Web

The main Saturday and the entire week news became that Boris Johnson has stepped down as a Tory MP after claiming he was "forced out of Parliament" over Partygate. The ex-PM saw in advance a report by the Commons Privileges Committee investigating if he misled the Commons over Downing Street lockdown parties.

In an explosive and lengthy statement, he called the committee a "kangaroo court" whose purpose "has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts".

The committee said it had "followed the procedures and the mandate". The cross-party committee of MPs - the majority of which are Conservative - added it would conclude its inquiry on Monday and "publish its report promptly".

 Yet, he met no sympathy among British users:

"If he's resigned, does his honours list get voided? Some bint called 'Doris' is asking me about it."

"The man is an utter narcissist."

"The guy is pathetic as they come."

"Good riddance. Shame that he will not face any consequence for the lies that he peddled...

Is there a way to stop his honours list?"

"Can’t be bothered to read it. Does he use the term “witch-hunt”? Oh please let him use the term witch-hunt" - "

Not just "witch-hunt" but also "kangaroo court".

AFAIK, he didn't used the term "trumped up charges" - possibly because that would invite comparisons with the Donald. Their bleatings are so similar; basically "'I did nothing wrong - they're all out to get me"."

"There is something deeply sinister going on in government at the moment. They are handing complete and total control of ‘pandemic’ response to the WHO while attempting to keep it quiet. Anyone who hasn’t read the amendments to the pandemic preparedness treaty really must - it’s terrifying! Labour are completely silent on the matter because they’re in on it too.

Ties with other non elected bodies such as the WEF are deepening very, very quietly. The same thing is happening across the western world amongst allied countries. It appears that they’re creating non elected global government.

It appears that some MPs are getting out before they can be held to account for what’s going on."

At once, Johnson's honours list became even more discussed. It contained some of his closest allies - including Priti Patel and Jacob Rees-Mogg - have been rewarded with peerages and other award. It was published hours before Mr Johnson stepped down as an MP.

Former secretaries of state Simon Clarke and Mr Rees-Mogg were knighted, while Ms Patel was made a dame. Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen and London Assembly member Shaun Bailey are among seven new peers.

No serving MPs were given peerages, avoiding by-elections for the Tories. But there will now be one in Mr Johnson's own constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Former Conservative minister Nadine Dorries was not put forward for the House of Lords, despite speculation she would be on the published list. Ms Dorries - who served as culture secretary under Mr Johnson - stood down as an MP "with immediate effect" just over an hour before the honours list was released.

 

"I don't think someone who resigns in disgrace should be allowed to publish an honours list..." - "And I don't think someone who is sacked in disgrace should be allowed to receive one either"

 

"Resignation honour lists should be done away with entirely. They serve no purpose conducive to the public good."

 

"This might be a good time to mention that neither Tony Blair nor Gordon Brown had a resignation honours list."

 

"Rees-Mogg gets a knighthood and Patel gets a damehood ? I would write what I feel but the words are not repeatable in polite company."

 

"Don't forget the hairdresser."

 

On the same day, the Inews called BBC journalist Marianna Spring 'disinformation correspondent' while citing her "Conspiracy theories have become normalised in the UK."

 

Marianna Spring vows violent threats won’t stop her exposing the forces behind false and dangerous claims. “I have to be more vigilant and careful when I’m going out,” admits Marianna Spring. She is talking about her role as the BBC’s first ever disinformation and social media correspondent, and her investigations into online hate that have made her one of the most trolled women in Britain.

“Most of the people who send those violent threats would never do anything about it. But it only takes one person radicalised by this kind of hate for something bad to happen,” she says.

Analysts at the University of Sheffield assessed 75,000 tweets directed at Spring over six months last year, and found that 55 per cent of the abuse was designed to discredit her as a journalist, while 27 per cent was sexist and misogynistic. The remainder was classified as generally abusive.

And then, as with so much on the internet, Elon Musk got involved. In March there was another spike in abuse towards Spring, after the Twitter boss told his 130 million followers that he was “rolling on the floor laughing my ass off” at her Panorama investigation into the platform.

 British web users expressed their opinion about her:

"Exactly what someone who was paid to cover up conspiracies would say! Wake up sheeple!"

"Has she investigated the conspiracy theory that the BBC covered up Jimmy Savile's activities for years during the 70's and 80's?"

"So many people have incredibly empty lives, so they fill themselves up with hatred, anger and conspiracy theories because they have nothing else."

Another resignation of this Saturday. Neyland mayor branded racist resigned amid circumcision row. The claims were made against Andrew Lye at a Neyland council meeting when members were handed an extract of a 2008 blog he wrote discussing the morality of male circumcision.

The post, titled "Uncut," asserted God made man in his image therefore "we must assume God has a foreskin". Mr Lye said he was against all forms of abuse and insisted he was not racist.

The furore was sparked after the mayor of the Pembrokeshire council wrote he could not understand why any religion would require the removal of a foreskin, adding: "If God didn't mean us to have one, he'd have created us without one."

 This raised even more discussion than Johnson's 'force out':

"He’s not wrong.

Male circumcision without medical need is still nothing more than genital mutilation.

Infants cannot consent to the procedure.

It has no benefits to them.

It should be banned.

I support religious freedom but I do think that possibly stops at mutilating your children."

"Religious freedoms should not trump law or ethics. Plain and simple. Do whatever the fuck you like so long as it isn’t harming others"

"Doctor and Roundhead here. I feel very strongly that circumcision is male genital mutilation and wholly wrong when not conducted for strictly medical (non-prophylactic) reasons.

However, it’s incorrect to say it has no benefits. Circumcision as an infant confers a reduced lifetime risk of penile cancer (which is in itself a rare cancer anyway so the overall benefit is small, but non-zero). This benefit is not conferred to adults who undergo the procedure so it is a benefit specific to those circumcised as babies.

It reduces the risk of infections of the head of the penis which tend to affect babies and young boys (balanitis). It reduces the risk of HIV transmission and other STI’s. It requires less effort to maintain basic hygiene (YMMV on how much of a benefit this is - some young blokes don’t seem to clean much down there - but this is, I believe, the main religious justification for the practice, at least in Islam)"

 "If we lived in the desert in the Iron Age without access to clean water for long periods and antibiotics hadn’t been invented then maybe, on balance, there’d be some small benefit. Maybe. But we don’t. So there isn’t. And we don’t abuse children as a matter of course any more."

 

"Far fucking leap to say being against mutilating babies for no fucking reason is racist. It's 2023, this shit should not be happening anymore. Fuck whatever you think your god wants, it's not acceptable."