Defence Secretary Resigns

[Stuff]

I would have posted this in the other thread but it's been locked.

Breaking news on BBC Sir Michael Fallon resigns over behaviour claims - BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41838682)

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has resigned following allegations of past behaviour, the BBC has been told.

He said his behaviour in the past may have "fallen short".

[Ken Scott]

The previous thread may have closed but clearly Sir Michael took note of the comments and did the 'decent' thing. Not sure if a bottle of whisky & a revolver were involved.

[dead_pan]

Revelations forthcoming in tomorrow's press, apparently. Suffice to say, I doubt it'll have much to do with Julia Hartley-Brewer's knee...

[glad rag]

Nailed.
Just Hammond to do now.

[Onceapilot]

Fall-on his dinghy knife. :rolleyes:

OAP

[Onceapilot]

TBH, I think this clears the air for some rational debate. Fallon has not seemed anything special. He has just sat-in on an over-budget MOD that should have been making huge moves to match capabilities to need and funding. Beyond that, his cold hand was also on the limitation of the Officers LSGC gong, limited to retiring after 2014. He saved pennies there! :mad:

OAP

[The B Word]

Missing you already....who? :cool:

[NutLoose]

I seriously hope there are more allegations, because considering the person involved was not concerned over it and therefore there was no case to answer, it seems tragic that he has the legs kicked out from under him and has been brought to his knees over it all.

It gets me that the world seems to take today's standards and foist them on actions of the past, actions that were at the time probably deemed acceptable, heck I used to enjoy watching Love Thy Neighbour, a popular and major comedy of its time, but today that would make me a racist!

[gijoe]

Ls&GC for Officers - one of the stupidest decisions ever made by the MOD...and he was in charge.

Bye!

[NutLoose]

I wonder if the First Sea Lord will send him a congrats on your retirement card.

[reds & greens]

About 4 days ago, Mr Fallon was said to have given a verbal shoeing to the First Sea Lord over the conduct of the crew of HMS Vigilant that included more than just the touching of a female knee.....

Volte Face

"Do as I say, not as ... oh, hang on.......
No tears shed here from R&G

[Dougie M]

FFS
When compared to the Profumo Affair this is Kindergarten Stuff. Can I say that?

[Stuff]

Dougie, agree that's true of all that has been in the press so far.

However, it would seem that #KneeGate is not the cause of the resignation, the good stuff is yet to come.

[jindabyne]

And hopefully it will come, soon. Not out of curiosity, but in the need for truth. It may be that the poor sod has been driven out by all of the current PC breast beating (sorry) about sexual harassment. What is the distinction twixt 'making a pass' and 'offensive behaviour'. Many relationships are born out of the former, and most of the latter can be dealt with by a put-down. Or so it was agreed in the pub tonight.

And as for that lady who said I had a nice bum (again in the pub); my reaction was to invite her to have a feel. Doesn't work for breasts though!

All a load of b*****ks.

IM(old)HO

[dead_pan]

Maybe he Adam Werrity'd someone?

[tartare]

Defence Secretaries don't resign because they touched someone's knee a number of times 15 years ago.
There's more we're not being told about - yet.

[Basil]

Wonder how my Australian Captain would have fared in Parliament?

New Hostie (to us) walks into flight deck.
AC: "What do you say to a little fvck?"
Bas (thinks): 'Tvat!'
NH walks up to AC, pats him on head and says, in baby voice: "Hello, Little Fvck!"

Clearly she wasn't that new :ok:

[Melchett01]

I really hope there is more to it than this. Whatever your opinion of him as SoS, for someone to lose their job over something so trivial done decades ago in a setting bearing no relation to anything he is doing or responsible for now is insane!

If 'kneegate' is the sum total, I think it says more about society than Fallon. Excessively PC, overly sensitive, clickbait media fuelled and with apparently no sense of how to relate to other people on a human level. At this rate societal progress is going to take us back to the Victorian era.

[Corporal Clott]

"What might have been acceptable 15, 10 years ago is clearly not acceptable now,"

Err, I can’t think of anything that was acceptable in 2002 or 2007 but is acceptable in 2017 in this context Sir Michael? If you said 30-40 years ago - ie. the 1970s then I would still say it was unacceptable but just tolerated behaviour by a bullish and misogynistic majority. Many women still bear the mental scars of their treatment by their male co-workers from that time.

[Easy Street]

With the Cabinet Office-led "security capabilities review" (definitely NOT an SDSR17 :hmm:) due to report in the next few weeks, this is a very convenient moment for Fallon to be eased out. It spares the Government the humiliation of a senior Cabinet minister being told that his own review of only 2 years ago was undeliverable. A new SofS will be able to embrace the Sedwill Review's findings enthusiastically without losing face.

[Cazalet33]

Let's strike a medal for the prick.

The Fallon gong.

[Barksdale Boy]

C33

Is this the time to be upsetting the Chinese?

[Cazalet33]

"The culture has changed over the years, what might have been acceptable 15, 10 years ago is clearly not acceptable now.

Yamean ya can't bugger choirboys or shag the watchstander on a submarine nowadays? Can't even snort a line of coke nowadays, not in the navy, anyway.

Time to retire. (Or join the fekkin army).

[Dougie M]

Should the thread be re-titled "Kneegate"?

[JAVELINBOY]

Just waiting for others to surface, it won't be long, this one has the smell of an iceberg about it.

[jolihokistix]

She demonstrated the art of self-defence. He learned, no?

[DirtyProp]

Let's strike a medal for the prick.

The Fallon gong.

Let's strike one as well for hypocrisy and "double-standardism" for the PC brigade, shall we?

[Heathrow Harry]

About time - this will be like the Expenses Scandal - it starts with the Tories but since they're all at it the damage will spread across the whole lot.

Fallon probably realised he was likely to be in a very difficult position shortly -caught between his past speeches and future options - so he might as well go now

Of course since its' all going to be blokes who are affected it makes Mrs May (and the Sturgeon) much safer

[ShotOne]

It hasn't "started with the Tories" witness the allegation of rape of a Labour activist against a senior personage, in the first place far more serious than anything Fallons supposed to have done then hushed up by the party. Come to that, how about the powerful and appalling evidence against Cyril Smith, inexplicably not investigated?

[zetec2]

No body has mentioned Prescott and his dalliance yet - will that erupt into something bigger ?.

[Crromwellman]

What happened to my dear old mums advice to my sisters: "A short sharp knee to the b******s will usually deter and give you the time to get the hell out of there.

[NutLoose]

Ironic that this is directly below the "Help for hips and knees" sticky.

[Wensleydale]

Am I the only one who thinks that if a hand on a knee 15 years ago is the cause of resignation then what about the active support and encouragement of terrorism against the UK? Perhaps this is more of a resignation issue?

[langleybaston]

This way madness lies.

As it is time for confessions and resignations, and before my daughters out me, I want to confess that I once farted during Christmas Midnight Mass whilst a churchwarden in a military garrison church.

Too late to resign, the garrison and the church has gone, together with all sense of balance and proportion.

[Heathrow Harry]

By "started with the Tories" I was referring to political heads rolling - I expectteh Labour front bench to be laid waste as well

I don't think ANYONE thinks this is a Party Political issue - like expenses they are, in this case, all the same.......

[Heathrow Harry]

"Am I the only one who thinks that if a hand on a knee 15 years ago is the cause of resignation then what about the active support and encouragement of terrorism against the UK? Perhaps this is more of a resignation issue?"

Ahh - but we knew about that - this melt-down is about things we didn't know about (but may have suspected)

I'm with Langley on this one - it's like some madness descending on the world.

There has to be some way to recognise and apologise for behaviour in the past which, at the time was accepted (belonging to the Conferacy, putting your hand on someone's knee) whilst prosecuting the really bad ones (lynching, rape etc).

Otherwise it's going to be like the Salem Witches.

[Jumping_Jack]

GAVIN WILLIAMSON, new Defence Sec


Anyone ever heard of him?

[tucumseh]

Anti-Boris. Anti-Brexit. Pro-May. An Economist. (Oh crap). Two kids. One assumes this was not the result of inappropriate touching.

[The Old Fat One]

Anyone ever heard of him?

An anodyne career politician, never really had a job outside politics. (worked in the pottery industry, yeah sure). Potential fast-tracker, but as mentioned above, enemy of The Blonde Haired Thunder****. May's puppet (was Cameron's earlier) so while she is at the helm (not much longer) he'll do as he is told.

Thereafter all bets are off, as they pretty much are with everything to with British politics.

[VX275]

GAVIN WILLIAMSON, new Defence Sec


Anyone ever heard of him?



Previous post was Chief Whip, does this mean flogging will be brought back?

[Tankertrashnav]

Probably never went away in the navy - but more as a recreational pursuit than a punishment ;)

[glad rag]

On the positive side he might look at the costs of the flat tops and their non existent aircraft and say..

**** this!

And a Remoaner to boot!!

Love it when a plan comes together. Yes I'm thinking the long long game here ..

[langleybaston]

Previous post was Chief Whip, does this mean flogging will be brought back?
"rum, sodomy and the lash!"

alternatively

"rum, bum and baccy!"

I suppose the new man could make an even bigger mess of our hollowed out armed forces, and I am sure he will try.

[Onceapilot]

My expectation is that, the new Minister for Defence has been chosen to "crack the whip". I suspect that Theresa May has not put one of her valuable hard-hitters in that post to merely preside over a simple job of implementing minor reductions or increases in Defence spending! No Sir! He is there to force through big changes! :uhoh:

OAP

[NutLoose]

Surely that would be little changes, as we only now have a little military.

[The Oberon]

My expectation is that, the new Minister for Defence has been chosen to "crack the whip". I suspect that Theresa May has not put one of her valuable hard-hitters in that post to merely preside over a simple job of implementing minor reductions or increases in Defence spending! No Sir! He is there to force through big changes! :uhoh:

OAP

Or maybe a case of " I've had enough of being Chief Whip and I have this dossier of accusations and rumours, I really would like a minister's job, or else".

[Melchett01]

Or maybe a case of " I've had enough of being Chief Whip and I have this dossier of accusations and rumours, I really would like a minister's job, or else".

Well the Chief Whip does traditionally advise on the suitability of candidates for Cabinet posts which does raise interesting questions given his lack of Ministerial experience.

[MPN11]

"And greater Whips have lesser Whips, upon their backs to bite them"

[RAFEngO74to09]

The now ex-Defence Secretary may well have factored in that having accusations against him after only just having had a serious chat (allegedly) with the First Sea Lord over the disgraceful behavior by crew members of HMS Vigilant - both in transit to the USA and ashore - might be seen as a bit off.

The latter catalogue of shenanigans has been all over the specialist military press and in local papers here in the USA recently since the latest run in with local law enforcement (theft and giving false information to law enforcement - incorrect name / incorrect boat). The whole back story is there for all to see on the internet now and serious damage has been done to the reputation of the RN abroad - particularly regarding the overall reliability of this particular SSBN crew.

[BEagle]

Anti-Boris. Anti-Brexit. Pro-May

Sounds like a sensible chap!

[Cazalet33]

The Tory 'whip' list has been floating around the internet for many months.

It's genuine.

The Whip will pass his PV scrutiny for the post of Sec'y Def.

https://i.imgur.com/oLCjTQR.jpg

[Cazalet33]

I couldn't help guffawing at the description by a subordinate paramour of Soames that having sex with him was like having a wardrobe fall on top of one, with the key still in the lock.

[Thomas coupling]

Hands up those who really believes he resigned because he is alleged (even) to touching a females' knee - 15 years ago?

C'mon guys - he's been rumbled and someone's told him to resign pronto, or else......

[Fortissimo]

My expectation is that, the new Minister for Defence has been chosen to "crack the whip".

Just so long as he hasn't been chosen to "whip the crack"... He will at least need to do a gap analysis first.

[dead_pan]

Cazalet -wasn't that Mellor?

Re Fallon, turns out it was Leadsom. FFS

[VX275]

The Tory 'whip' list has been floating around the internet for many months.



I don't know if I should be pleased or disappointed that my MP (Tory) doesn't appear on that list.

[Vendee]

I don't know if I should be pleased or disappointed that my MP (Tory) doesn't appear on that list.

Mine does. Apparently she has had an affair with the same PPS that the Home Secretary had an affair with.... allegedly.

[Dougie M]

The list purports to have been drawn up by an ex Tory hack at the behest of the Lord of Darkness who engineered Tony Bliar's rise to power after John Major's "Back to basics" plan. Seems like he's up to his old tricks.

[Wander00]

Must have been hard up (allegedly) going for Leadsome

[Cazalet33]

Dead Pan, no, the wardrobe tale is definitely of Soames.

Here's one version:

The rotund Mr Soames, affectionately known as Bunter, Nickers, Fatty, Creepy Crawley and Crawley Food Mountain (after his former constituency, Crawley in Sussex), denied being drunk. He had pitched up at the Money Resolution in the Regional Development Agencies Bill after a "very small, abstemious lunch in the tea-room of the House", he insisted, adding: "My lunches consist of bananas, still water, preserved apricots and bats' droppings."

His performance was vintage stuff. "I remember a morning not long ago: a cold, damp, spring morning, after the House had been sitting all night. Regrettably, Madam Speaker, you were not in the Chair," he mused, before lamenting the absence of Dawn Primarolo: "It is a matter of regret to me that the Financial Secretary - a woman who, for whatever reason, commands the universal admiration of Conservative Members - is not in her place."

Betty Boothroyd gently guided him back to the "very limited" motion. "He is romanticising and taking me along with him, but I must attend to the business of the House," she said. Her mild ticking off, which was tempered by her closing remarks: "The Hon Gentleman is never a bore: he always has something interesting to say", was something of a replay. Only last November, she had to reprimand him for "crossing the floor" to chat to a female MoD official during Question Time. "Mr Soames! They may be pretty girls, but we don't do those things," she exclaimed.

I recall an amusing anedote, told by Soames when he was a Minister at the MoD, of his boyhood at Chartwell. He ventured into his grandfather's study while the great man was studying important papers of State during his final spell as PM.

"Is it true that you're the greatest statesman who ever lived?" enquired the young Soames.

"Yes", growled the Great Man. "Now bagger orf!".

[tartare]

The evidence grows - not just a resignation driven by one knee grope.
No doubt more to emerge.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/commentisfree/2017/nov/04/michael-fallon-lunged-at-me-jane-merrick