…is mine clearance in Afghanistan a part of the DAY JOB of the leader of the opposition, or of a constituency MSP?
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MUNGUIN'S NEW REPUBLIC 
Anybody else think that that was a bit ‘staged’?
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Union flag to the fore. You can be sure there wasn’t a mine there either.
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It was clearly a photo op.
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“The camera’s on me, is it? Give me a second to look baleful. OK, that’s me.”
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About that, yeah.
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I wondering where that perilous pic was taken. Kandahar? Fallajuh? Montrose?
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I think it’s probably genuine. They had to get her out of the country (and Fluffy too) for the release of the figures which showed that all the scoffing they had done the previous week at Scottish figures was…erm misplaced.
Not that it would have mattered much. No one in the press would ahve dreamt of actually asking them anything like that.
How’s the cakes going, Ruth?
Erm, who are you again, Fluffy?
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Tris
She was probably scrapping the butchers apron off the brand. She is a clown with nothing to offer, can you imagine if she got a safe English seat and became PM, oh my God. She is up there with the rest of the thicko’s in the Tory Party that’s for sure. I can’t stand her. I was never a fan of a single Annabel Goldie policy but she had integrity, do the current bunch have even a grain of that. I just don’t get Scots who rant about Nicola Sturgeon and then rave about this wooden plank.
Bruce
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She’s a self-serving British nationalist desperate for attention. A sad pathetic person.
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I think this is an appeal to a constituency in the South of England… and a bid in the future for the leadership.
She has to show the English Tories that she is one tough cookie. And being a Colonel and defusing bombs is just the kind of person they like,
But I’m trying to imagine her head to head with someone like Angela Merkel… and my only reaction is a hysterical laugh.
They aren’t on the same planet.
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I thought the possibility of Davidson becoming PM was laughably remote, but looking at the chaotic internal warfare the British Conservatives have got themselves into, they might actually be looking for some gormless stooge to step up and take the flak until they can find an adult to take charge. Poor Davidson would probably be dazzled by the honour and be willing to get promoted to oblivion.
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Aye that’s certainly a possibility, Iain.
Her of the other bozo, Rees Mogg.
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Who’s paying for all this?
And more to the point, why?
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I hope it is the Tory Party, and because they needed her out of the country pretty sharpish when the disastrous Brexit impact forecasts of the UK government were even worse than the ones prepared by the Scottish government, which her party had called ridiculous.
Still, our brave press tackled whoever they could find to question them on the subject.
Pretty much nobody… as Fluffy was apparently in Japan. I look forward to hearing about how he brought home billions of pounds worth of orders with him.
I think someone interviewed Jackson Carlot which is about as much use as interviewing a mountain goat.
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Maybe she is on unpaid leave. Another first for the Tories, whatever hue.
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Well parliament was in recess, but MSPs do more than sit in parliament.
It seems her constituents wouldn’t have missed her as she doesn’t do surgeries.
Maybe it was one of her weeks’ holiday.
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You mean these people get holidays!?
So when do they do the day job? Rhetorical question.
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Oh good… coz I wouldn’t have an answer 🙂
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Is this article relevant?
https://tinyurl.com/yah4oq42
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Thank you, Douglas.
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Sorry, to be clear, the photo above is not in their piece. Indeed they say:
“Not many politicians get to visit Afghanistan and it takes a certain sort to face its dangers only a few days after some major attacks. Ruth saw for herself the work of the 3,500 HALO staff who work across the country. She also witnessed the amazing contribution that UK DFID is making to clearing the country of landmines. DFID’s support is saving lives and creating livelihoods.”
Which is not saying that she got anywhere near a live land mine.
I admire the work that they do, but.
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Yes. I admire the work they do.
But how much help she was is questionable….even if she is a colonel.
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Pretty sure she was nowhere near a live land mine, just saying.
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I don’t think you need to do that to impress the people in Nicholas Soames’ safe constituency. Just the photo op will do.
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Sadly, that is true. We live in a time where reality and fantasy occupy the same space. It is really, really unhealthy.
If the good people that read your blog can distinguish between the two, what the heck is up with the rest of the human race?
On a positive note, adults in the USA are about to be asked the question:
“Do you love us, your children, more than you love your guns?”
Marches are being organised, I, hopefully, see change afoot.
Nothing is forever.
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I’ve scheduled a post for tomorrow on that, Douglas.
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Look forward to it.
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Need to make sure it’s her proper title, Honorary Colonel for the territorial army. Not being petty, they can make her a full blown acting General, if it will hasten her departure to a safe seat in England.
I agree with the others, it is a safe photoshoot, the person not quite out of shot has hands in pockets, super ready, and the poor photographer, if real, would be risking life and equipment standing in what could be uncleared ground.
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Yes, exactly, Alan.
To be fair they all do it.
But maybe her constituents would like her to be in their constituency instead of Afghanistan.
I wouldn’t have mentioned it (because I don’t give a flying one where she goes or what she does) but she went on and on about the day job!
And that’s NOT what she gets paid for.
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Notice that they’re a bit cagey about who laid the mines in the first place and why.
Vague talk about “conflict” not brutal invasion of a sovereign state and military occupation.
Portrayal of the invaders as some kind of international social work department.
Propaganda comes in many forms.
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Of course it’s just a coincidence that the late sainted Diana of Dodi was famously portrayed in fetching landmine-clearance kit. I suppose in Ruthie’s case she has decided to polish her own HALO.
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Ah St Ruth of the Untruth.
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andimac,
Thanks for that, there was a sort of back brain activity going on in my head:
“Where had I seen that before?”
Now I know.
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She looks as if she is thinking, what have I done, I want my Mum!
The person on her left had to put their hands in their pockets, the temptation to clap loudly was getting to him/her.
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Except of course it was a set up…
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They seek her here
They seek here there
Her clothes are loud
And always square
And bullet proof.
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… and then she turns up in Andrew Marr’s studio and he doesn’t ask her any hard questions.
After all, she must be tired after clearing Afghanistan of mines!
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Oh I know it’s a set up, lots of clues in the picture. All that metal next to a metal detector can’t be good. 😉
I should probably have put a smiley in the last post, sorry. 😦
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Yep all designed to make the fearless leader look like she’s ..well a fearless leader and just the woman for Mid Sussex, when Winston’s grandson retires.
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She should go down a bomb in the Tory heartlands.
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LOL, Andi.
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Maybe I should have said Boom Boom!
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Your alert readers have disected the photographs with their usual skill.
I wouldn’t fancy a couple of days in sunny Afganistan , but do notice after read theHalo article that the Mine Clearance had finished in the area, so No mines, quite safe.
Maybe she should have thought that her 15 stone payload would have been better as Rice or medicines for the local population.
They could have done the photo shoot in Dumfries.
Unless of course Halo are paying for some cheap media coverage for their next contract, and since Mother Theresa was a bit busy leccturing on the Road To Brexit, who else was available.
Mines supplied by our USA friends
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They are quite a bright lot, by and large.
I suppose Fluffy was out of the question for the photo-op. I mean he’s even less photogenic than the colonel.
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Fluffy could have dropped off on the way either on his way or back on Japan trip.
But Mother theresa might have lost her tea maker, knowing how competent he is he might just have found a live mine.
Better to use your most likely competitor in the leadership race, ruthie is expendable, she’s almost as good as TM and changing her mind.
Note in the diana picture she’s wearing a Red Cross emblem, not the butcher’s rag
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NOt heard of Fluffs for a while. Maybe the dropped him in Afghanistan, but forgot to land first?
Shameful placing of the butcher’s apron in these pics.
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No, I won’t say it…too cruel. This joker will do anything for a headline except what she’s actually paid for.
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Well, I guess there aren’t many headlines in sitting listening to people’s issues and then trying to solve them.
That should be the main thrust of her work. It’s what we pay her for.
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First of all to listen you have to be interested. I don’t believe for a minute that any tory is interested in any concerns of the common five-eight which might go against their fascist ideology or be about simple humanity.
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Absolutely true. I think many of them (probably also in parties other than the Tories) couldn’t give a flying one for anyone but themselves.
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Don’t believe that is Afghanistan, having enlarged this photo I can clearly see council housing in the distance, and we also have Caledonian Fir Trees, looks awfully like a building site anywhere in Britain … Where are Halo Headquartered ?
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THE HALO TRUST
The HALO Trust | Copyright © 2018
CARRONFOOT, THORNHILL, DUMFRIES, DG3 5BF
https://www.halotrust.org/
If you are right she was taking one hell of a risk…
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