Can This Get Any Worse?
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the speaker expresses frustration with political dishonesty and inconsistency, citing the UK Prime Minister's handling of the winter fuel allowance as an example. They also discuss the lack of accountability for politicians' campaign promises, using the example of a £22 billion 'black hole' in the economy. The speaker criticizes the bending of truth and trust issues in politics, while also sharing a personal experience with data privacy violation. They conclude by emphasizing the importance of direct answers and integrity in governance.
Takeaways
- 😡 The speaker is frustrated with politicians for bending and twisting the truth, evading questions, and being inconsistent with their answers.
- 🚫 Politicians are not legally accountable for their campaign promises, which contributes to the lack of trust.
- 👴 The government's decision to remove the winter fuel allowance from pensioners is criticized as it affects the vulnerable.
- 💸 The government blames a 'black hole' in the economy for necessary cuts, but the speaker questions the validity of this claim.
- 🤔 The speaker emphasizes the importance of accountability and direct answers to questions from politicians.
- 📰 The speaker points out a contradiction in the Prime Minister's statements about a new AI data center investment that was actually announced earlier.
- 📱 The speaker shares a personal experience of having his personal phone number sold by data brokers, highlighting the issue of data privacy.
- 🔒 The speaker promotes a service called Incognito that helps individuals remove their personal data from data brokers' servers.
- 🆚 The speaker discusses contradictions in political stances over time, such as on private healthcare and university tuition fees.
- 🏳️🌈 The speaker notes a shift in political promises regarding conversion therapy and transgender rights, suggesting a need to align with public opinion.
Q & A
What are the two main issues the speaker has with politics?
-The speaker has two main issues with politics: the bending and twisting of the truth, and the lack of accountability for politicians' statements during campaigns.
Why does the speaker dislike the bending and twisting of the truth in politics?
-The speaker dislikes the bending and twisting of the truth because it frustrates their desire for straightforward answers as a barrister and undermines trust in politicians' statements.
What does the speaker find particularly frustrating about politicians' lack of accountability?
-The speaker finds it frustrating that politicians are not legally held accountable for their campaign promises, which can lead to a disconnect between what they promise and what they actually do in office.
What is the context of the video the speaker mentions by Alan Robertshaw?
-The video by Alan Robertshaw likely discusses the legal inability to hold MPs accountable for their statements during campaigns, which is a point of frustration for the speaker.
Why does the speaker criticize the handling of the winter fuel allowance?
-The speaker criticizes the handling of the winter fuel allowance because of the inconsistency between past statements and current actions, as well as the potential impact on vulnerable pensioners.
What is the '22 billion pound black hole' mentioned by the Prime Minister in the script?
-The '22 billion pound black hole' refers to an alleged budget deficit or financial discrepancy that the current government claims to have inherited from the previous government, which they are using to justify austerity measures.
How does the speaker feel about the Prime Minister's response to the winter fuel allowance issue?
-The speaker feels that the Prime Minister's response is evasive and not a direct answer to the question, instead blaming the previous government and the so-called 'black hole' in the economy.
What does the speaker find contradictory about the statements regarding AI and data centers?
-The speaker finds it contradictory that the current government is claiming new investments for an AI data center when the deal was actually announced and confirmed months prior under the previous government.
Why is the speaker concerned about his personal phone number being used by a company?
-The speaker is concerned because his personal phone number was obtained and used by a company without his consent, which he sees as a breach of privacy and potentially GDPR regulations.
What is the role of the company 'incog' in the speaker's story about data privacy?
-Incog is a company that helps individuals remove their personal data from data brokers' servers, preventing further sale and misuse of their information.
What is the speaker's view on politicians receiving gifts and donations during campaigns?
-The speaker views politicians receiving gifts and donations during campaigns as potentially compromising their independence and integrity, and it can create the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Outlines
🗣️ Politics and Truth Distortion
The speaker expresses frustration with politics, particularly the manipulation of truth and evasion of questions. As a barrister, they value direct answers and consistency, which are often lacking in political discourse. They mention the inability to hold MPs accountable for campaign promises and refer to a video by Alan Robert Schwi. The speaker also discusses the lack of accountability in government, regardless of public opinion or voting outcomes. They encourage viewers to subscribe for unbiased analysis of current events from a legal perspective.
💸 Questioning Economic Priorities
The speaker addresses the issue of the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, criticizing the government's decision to remove it despite previous assurances. They highlight the Prime Minister's past statements and current actions, which they view as contradictory. The speaker also discusses the government's claim of a £22 billion 'black hole' in the economy, suggesting that not all of it was unexpected and questioning the sincerity of the government's economic arguments. They emphasize the impact on vulnerable populations and the importance of direct answers to questions about policy changes.
📞 Privacy and Data Misuse
The speaker recounts a personal experience of receiving an unsolicited call from a company that had obtained their personal phone number. They express irritation at the unauthorized use and sale of personal data, which they view as a violation of privacy. The speaker has taken action against the company and discusses the broader issue of data brokers selling personal information. They recommend a service called Incog, which helps individuals remove their data from such brokers, to protect against further misuse and potential fraud.
🔄 Contradictions in Political Stances
The speaker highlights inconsistencies in political promises and actions, using examples from the speaker's own party as well as others. They discuss past statements on healthcare, tuition fees, and transgender rights, showing how initial commitments were later reversed or modified. The speaker also touches on the issue of politicians receiving gifts and donations during campaigns, which they view as potentially compromising. They emphasize the importance of direct and honest communication from political figures and the need for consistency in their actions and words.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Politics
💡Accountability
💡Truth
💡Winter Fuel Allowance
💡Economy
💡Inconsistency
💡Trust
💡Campaign Promises
💡Data Privacy
💡Contradictory
💡Transparency
Highlights
The frustration with politics stems from the bending and twisting of the truth and evading questions.
Inconsistencies in political answers and lack of legal accountability for MPs' campaign promises.
A call for a brutally honest appraisal of current news and politics.
The winter fuel allowance issue and its impact on pensioners.
The Prime Minister's past statements on winter fuel allowance contradict current actions.
The government's justification for taking away the winter fuel allowance due to an 'inherited' economic crisis.
Critique of the government's claim of a £22 billion 'black hole' in the economy.
The announcement of a new AI data center that was not actually new.
The importance of trust in government and the consequences of bending the truth.
A personal experience with a company obtaining and selling personal data.
The recommendation of a service to protect personal data from being sold.
Contradicting statements on private healthcare funding.
The commitment to scrapping university tuition fees and subsequent backtracking.
The promise to ban conversion therapy and the subsequent change in stance.
The necessity to carry the public with policy changes, exemplified by the gender recognition act.
The importance of direct answers to questions in politics and maintaining integrity.
The expectation for politicians to maintain a high level of independence from gifts and donations.
Transcripts
there are two things I really hate about
politics the first is the bending and
the twisting of the truth evading the
question which as a barrister is really
frustrating because I like a straight
answer to a very straightforward
question and the inconsistencies between
answers or giving an answer to a
different question that wasn't asked
added to the fact that you cannot
legally hold MPS accountable for what
they said when they were campaigning to
get into government and there's a great
video on that by my learned friend Alan
Robert shw I'll find it and I'll link it
in the description below but it's this
General bending and twisting of the
truth is the first thing that really
frustrates me and it's that element of
trust trusting what somebody says and
trusting them to answer the question the
second is that we are all accountable to
government and the rules that they make
regardless whether we agree with them or
not regardless of whether you think that
you voted for what they are doing
because you may have thought one thing
when they are campaigning and they do
something else else and again they're
not held accountable to it and those are
the two things that have kept me out of
politics but lots of you have asked me
to talk about this so if you want a
brutally honest Frank appraisal of what
I see going on in the news please do
consider subscribing to my Channel about
60% of the millions of you that watch
every month don't do so I'd like to
think that I offer some insight as a
barister and as a citizen myself living
under the same rules and how I work
within those rules uh so please do
subscribe and I'll offer you my insight
for those that just want my legal videos
I will still do those and they are
obviously in the library there's a
couple of thousand videos in there so
there's something for everybody so thank
you for doing that so what sparked this
video today and why am I talking
specifically about the honesty and the
consistency of all of this let's take a
first look at this bit here which is
this is to do with the winter fuel
allowance there's two or three bits in
this video which and at the end of the
video there's going to be a collection
of different things which all seem
contradictory and I'll leave you to make
your own mind up about that and for the
avoidance of doubt I am not in any
saying that anyone is being fraudulent
in this video these are just
observations for legal reasons you
understand take a listen to this bit
first this is about the winter fuel
allowance of what saki starma said in
May
2024 about um what was said last year
listen to this last year the Prime
Minister was apparently drawing up plans
to remove the winter fuel allowance from
pensioners his pay Master General went a
step further he said these are the sorts
of things that we need to look at so
will he now rule out taking pensioners
winter fuel payments off them and I
don't think I need to play anymore
because that's obviously crystal clear
because that's precisely what they're
doing now so I don't want to come across
and I don't want anyone to judge me as
being against one government and for
another I'm just calling out what I see
this is a fundamentally different
position to what's happening now and I'm
sure if I ask the question because he's
answered the question this way he will
blame previous government and some black
hole that they claimed to have found
which I come back to in a moment but
it's this inconsistency is the first
thing that I don't like and the second
thing that follows is if they decide to
take it away it's gone and so the
pensioners that did depend on that or
would have depended on that obviously
cannot now do so but then again with my
first reason is this sort of bending and
twisting of the truth and dodging and
evading the question whilst he does
answer the question but not so directly
when asked about the winter fuel
allowance and what would he say to
people that are having this removed this
is what he said what about the people
who have worked all of their lives paid
into the state pensioners how can you
justify taking away up to
£300 from those formerly working
people so just to clarify the question I
know she said it very clearly but I want
to emphasize the perfect clarity of that
question how can you justify taking that
away bearing in mind everything else
that's going on how can you justify
taking that away and this is the answer
well it's tough and I think the first
thing to say is and to explain is why we
had to do it we inherited a really
damaged economy we did an audit and we
discovered an undisclosed 22 billion
pound black hole this year
which we have to fix we have to fix that
black hole includes public sector pay
Rises well the last government set up
the pay review bodies for and so this
goes on to essentially for one blame the
previous government which I'm not saying
is wrong necessarily um and also the 22
billion pound black hole that they found
which again is not entirely uh
straightforward but I'll come back to
that in a second but it doesn't directly
answer the question is what would you
say to those people now the answer to
that according to K here is to explain
that it's the previous government's
fault they had a bad economy Etc but
that then begs the question if this
economy is so bad then surely there's
lots of other areas to cut back on
spending and those that are most
vulnerable according to Kama himself and
previous reports that have said lots of
people are at risk of dying of of cold
if they don't get this fuel allowance
and they can't Heat their houses
properly
then lots of those are at risk and yet
it's being taken away anyway and even
when we look at the claim about this 22
billion pound black hole um fact check
and the BBC and other sources have all
said well it's not entirely true it says
that some bits of it such as the BBC
reported that there was an unfunded uh
six something billion p6.4 billion pound
cost of support the Asylum system was
unfunded for example uh much of the
other stuff they would have already been
aware of so both fact check the BBC and
other sources all say that not all of
this was entirely unexpected so that's
not entirely clear either so blame the
previous government blame the black hole
I'm not saying the previous government
was perfect and I'm not saying the
economy isn't in a terrible state I'm
not an economist but I don't need to be
an economist to know that the economy is
in a bit of a state But to answer it
that way not directly answer the
question by giving this roundabout
explanation is a little bit
frustrating um secondly the second thing
to uh bring up for this video uh that
spark this video today is this bit here
which again is bending and twisting of
the truth this is K st's own X account
Twitter if you absolutely insist um he
says here in two tweets uh in reverse
order we can build a future where AI dri
drives growth creates wealth Etc um
speaking of create wealth if you want to
create wealth with me join my Daniel
shens Smith Channel Linked In the
description below it's growing nicely
and I'll help you to make money on that
channel head over there and I'll see you
there as well but he says here uh new
now emphasis I'm being being the lawyer
about this I do pick up on every word he
says new so this is apparently new
information emphasis on the new there
you see I'm being sarcastic here to be
funny because um he being sarcastic in
government I don't really like that
across the bench but that's by The Bu he
says here new we've secured investment
to create one of the largest AI data
centers in Europe based on the northeast
of England delivering jobs and wealth
creation my number one mission is to
grow the economy with my government
Britain is back as great you grow the
economy great secure these deals great
secure Investments great but it it comes
to something when you can see this here
is because I'm a community notes author
for X um which are all anonymized by the
way no one knows who anybody is but um
it does give you access to the to write
proposed Community notes and one of
those takes you to this article here
that says actually no this isn't new
this was announced a while ago um and
this says quite tongue-in-cheek stama
announces deal signed under rishy sunak
and it says here st's meeting with
businesses this morning in New York to
uh convince them to invest in the UK to
prove he's already making successful
investment in the government has
announced um that he secured a 10
billion uh pound deal for the US
Investment Company Blackstone to build
the biggest AI data center but this deal
was signed off and publicized months
before the election on the 15th of April
and was fully confirmed a few weeks
later and that's these two articles here
this one's dated the 15th of April this
is when it was all sort of signed off
and it's the same deal as I understand
it and it was finalized
a few weeks later in May and so this
isn't new at all now to say new we have
secured this
investment from what I've read for legal
reasons from what I've read That's not
entirely true so it's this sort of
bending and the twisting of the truth
and it it does throw into question your
trust in the people that are making the
decisions that are making these
statements running the government and
not not least of which the
contradictions previously many of which
I'll come back to at the end of the
video um but it does throw into play
this whole trust thing now bring you a
little closer for a minute because I've
got a story of trust myself here so I
received a phone call yesterday and this
is an entirely separate matter but I
received a phone call yesterday and to
my personal phone number very few people
have my personal phone number even when
I ring clients with all respect to
clients that I've spoken to I withhold
my number so they don't get my personal
phone number I use my personal phone
number for personal things but if I ring
people with my personal number they
don't have my number except very very
very few and likewise companies most
companies don't have my phone number so
most people don't have my phone number I
think that's clear by now but I received
a phone call from a company I had no
idea who they were I had no idea nor
interest in what they were trying to
sell me and I straight away very
politely said where did you get my phone
number and they said we subscribe to a
service which gives us access to
decision makers names and numbers and
all personal details to get a hold of
you he was quite Frank and open about
that of course the way I asked him the
question very
directly inspired a direct answer from
him which I'm grateful for he gave me a
direct answer but that then tells me
that there's a company selling my data
now this really irritates me because
this is an ongoing thing with me there
are new companies popping up all the
time marketing and quite literally
selling access to my data
so I've since written to that company
and I've threatened to sue them I've
said first of all where did you get it
how did you get it how long have you got
it what did you plan to do with it why
have you collected it and essentially
they're in breach of gdpr because this
is a personal phone number there's no
legitimate interest there's no contract
interest there's no other reason they
should have it so they should remove it
they replied very quickly to say they've
removed it or going to remove it but
nothing else but they are in breach and
so whilst it I could just drop it they
are in breach and it does give rise to
damages but the point here is all of
your data is being sold on quite
literally sold on and that really
infuriates me which is why I work with a
company called incog which goes to these
data Brokers and marketers who collect
all this information about you they
collect your name your date of birth
your address your phone number your
emails your interests what you serve for
online all of this sort of stuff they
put you together like a jigsaw puzzle
and they sell you as they sold me the
day before yesterday and incognit will
demand on your behalf that your data is
removed from their servers there are
hundreds of these Brokers and they will
do all of that for you now I've got a
long list on the dashboard that I get
with incognet that tells me the
companies they've approached that have
confirmed that they've removed my data
new ones as they pop up because this is
an ongoing thing there are always more
going on you'll get a huge 60% discount
if you use my code in the description
below and the links there as well and
they will go to these data Brokers and
they will tell them under both the UK
and US la to remove your data from their
servers that prevents it from being sold
on any further and it stops this kind of
spam and more importantly it will stop
it ending up or hopefully stop it ending
up on the dark web where more nefarious
actors take your data as we've had
clients come to the firm and had loans
and other things taken out in their name
and it will hopefully prevent that from
happening because that is a far worse
situation than an annoying phone call so
check out incog in the description below
with my link and code and now let's take
a look at this hugely contradictory and
somewhat entertaining or it would be
entertaining if it wasn't so infuriating
video of of different contradictions
that K stama has made take a listen to
this really it was so important to her
however ill she was as a matter of
absolute principle she felt that you
shouldn't make money for mental health
and that's it is a matter of principle
it's an absolute matter of
principle So that obviously talking
about Healthcare and private healthcare
and things like that and that original
video was in 2020 so that was about
paying privately for healthcare and
things like that now listen listen to um
the next bit which is obviously later um
our research shows that that's been
underused and we could do more of it
that would clear you know 230,000 people
off the waiting more use private sector
in the NHS under labor
yes a direct a contradiction uh so you
can see the contradictions here let's
play another one sector in the NHS under
labor yeah
Manifesto what about univers tuation
fees then will you remain committed to
scrapping them first term all pledges
Andrew so the answer to these questions
is yes but but it won't be the it won't
be the abandoning of tuition fees will
it well we are likely to move on from
that um
commitment so again whilst he says it's
a pledge we're going to do this promise
to do a certain thing to hopefully Ghana
votes to get into government and then
later on just Backtrack on it just
actually we're going to move on from
that not doing that anymore and for
reasons um I'll leave to the video for
uh from Alan Robert show I'll link in
the description below they can't be held
accountable to these things only at the
next vote but again let's listen on
we're campaigning to ensure conversion
therapy is banned once and for all and
we're committed to updating the gr to
introduce self- declaration for Trans
people
the so updating the gender recognition
act for self-identification for Trans
people and then this one uh second part
of your question was I'm sorry I've
just oh uh yeah look I mean I think that
um if we reflect on what's happened in
Scotland um the lesson I take from that
is that um if you're going to make
reforms you have to carry the public
with you and I think that's a very
important U message and I think that's
why it's clear that in Scotland there
should be a reset of the
situation so they're saying look at
what's happened in Scotland actually we
need to rethink that which is not
necessarily a bad thing because if you
see what's happening and you react to
that that's fine but then the statement
of using that statement to say we have
to be in line with the public if you
take that and apply it to the current
situation I think the vast my my
certainly my impression correct me if
I'm wrong in the comments but My overall
impression is that the general public
are against lots of these things that
are going on at the moment my general
impression is that lots of the public
are against the removal of the winter
fuel allowance which is um somewhat
illustrated by the labor conference
voting um to backtrack on that removal
um my general impression again is that
the general public are against everyone
that was campaigning receiving gifts and
donations which albe it declared look
look like they are a wrong influence I'm
not saying they are for legal reasons
but it looks bad I think a lot of people
think it looks bad um that's the reason
they have to be declared in the first
place now regardless I mean barrs don't
have a register of Declarations of
Interest with our representative body of
the Bar Council we don't say I have
someone that's you know donating this
much to me therefore I'm not compromised
on this case doesn't work like that what
we do do is if we work with a company or
you know in-house coun with the company
we we inform the records department and
we tell them that we work in that
company but if we receive a gift or a
donation or whatever uh we have to
absolutely be sure that it's not it is
not or is not seen to be affecting our
independence which I've mentioned in
previous videos now there is one case
I'm not going to name any names uh for
to avoid embarrassment but there is one
case where a barrister was found to have
been um giving cash to a former client
uh who he felt sorry for because she was
going to be in a very difficult
situation and so after the case had
finished gave her some money because he
felt like he wanted to help her out and
as I recall he was suspended from
practice for six months for doing that
because it would it looks like it would
um both bring the profession into
disrepute and it would compromise his
Integrity uh and Independence so that is
the level of Independence that we need
to maintain which is why any of us
barters would be extremely careful to
accept any gift or donation most of us
would just outright refuse it now many
barters might receive the odd gift here
or there bottle of wine or bottle of
something um and that's not really here
or there but if it was a large gift or
certainly a monetary gift over and above
the fees um that might look questionable
and so barers wouldn't do it and so
therefore I I think it looks bad uh for
politicians to do it when they're
campaigning to get into government
especially when it's uh written up in
sort of a vague or broad way that could
be interpreted another way so office
support which is really clothing now had
they just said it was clothing that
might be a different matter and so these
really are the things that I take issue
with either not answering the question
directly answering the question with
something that was completely different
or going back on promises or just
pretending that that wasn't important or
exaggerating things all of these kind of
things I know that it's an art of
persuasion and all of this sort of stuff
but it's just something I don't like I
like direct straight answers to
questions and if there is a reason um so
for example the gender recognition act
um there was a good reason to say well
we've seen what happened in Scotland we
need to backtrack on that that's fine I
mean that was a direct answer so that at
least was clear uh so I don't want
anyone to think that I'm bashing any one
government or another but I am going to
call out precis ly what I see and what I
think of it and humbly lots of you have
said that you like to hear my views on
that so for that I would ask you please
do subscribe to come back for more and
I'll will see you all next time
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