11 bits of bad news the Tories buried on the last day before their summer holiday

[Denzil_DC]

...

More than 300 documents have been dumped by the government just hours before MPs toddle off for their summer break.

Ministers alone have given 30 written statements on the final day of Parliament, up from a usual level anywhere between two and 10.

... Labour shadow minister without portfolio Jonathan Ashworth wasn't impressed.

He said: "In a deluge of statements her ministers have slipped out confirmation that tuition fees will go up, nurse bursaries will be scrapped and the news that correspondence regarding patients’ medical records has gone missing.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/11-bits-bad-news-tories-8465961

The article summarizes the "bits of bad news" it's chosen to focus on (and these aren't necessarily the most significant in the grand scheme of things):

1. 57,000 Bedroom Tax victims fell behind on rent
2. ... While rich people get more second homes
3. The DWP got told off for its 45p-a-minute phone line
4. A Saudi diplomat 'brought a slave to Britain'
5. A Mexican diplomat 'made child sex abuse images'
6. Tuition fees are going up ...
7. ... And school budgets could be going down
8. Diplomats owe Britain nearly £100million
9. Bungling NHS chiefs sent wrong forms for 5 YEARS
10. A special jobs body will be shut down
11. It's confirmed nursing bursaries are being axed

Dumps like this on the final day of a sitting aren't that unusual, but the scale of this one is.

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. More: Government quietly admits it was wrong to say Saudi Arabia is not targeting civilians

or committing war crimes:

Ministers have quietly issued reams of corrections to previous ministerial statements in which they claimed that Saudi Arabia is not targeting civilians or committing war crimes
...
Britain has been a staunch defender of the dictatorship’s assault, with UK arms companies supplying billions in weapons and ministers staking their reputation on the conduct of the Saudi Arabian armed forces.

However as MPs went back to their constituencies for recess on Thursday the Foreign Office admitted six ministerial statements from the past year “did not fully reflect” the real situation.

In many cases ministers had denied war crimes were being committed – statements the FCO now believes went too far. Instead, ministers were meant to only say that they had not actively confirmed that war crimes were being committed.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/saudi-arabia-war-crimes-human-rights-uk-british-government-yemen-saudi-correction-philip-hammond-a7150761.html