Best Of

Our distaste, bordering on contempt, for Donald Trump is a remarkably unifying factor across our political spectrum. Surely an organised two minute hate would be appropriate and bring together society's disparate factions?

I find it hard to understand why so many Trump supporters on the UK right - such as Jenrick - now criticise him when it was absolutely clear what he was going to do on Ukraine and tariffs well before November. Were they being opportunistic then or is it now?

We have friends in California who are (or were) Trump voters. He voted Trump because (a) concerns about illegal immigration / crime, and (b) because he thought Trump (as a businessman() would manage the economy better than Harris.

Said friend has a clothing business: he basically supplies big chains with own label clothing that bears a remarkable physical resemblance to that made by more expensive brands.

Before the election, he saw the way the wind was blowing and moved a lot of production out of China, and into Mexico. He's been absolutely poll-axed by the Mexican tariffs: he's genuinely worried he is going to lose his business because his contracts are in the US and his cost of importation just rose 25%, and his customers don't care.

He's still clinging on to the hope that this will all blow over, but he's in wide eyed shock right now that things have gone the way they've gone.

Please find me the smallest violin . Sorry if this sounds a bit flippant and you said they’re friends of yours but I have zero sympathy for anyone who voted for Trump and if they get screwed now I could care less.

He's a human being.

I didn't agree with his vote, but he's just another human being.

He's a tosser. We are all paying a price because of him and tossers like him. Some are paying with their lives.

Why should we care about him?

Food Standards Authority failed to act (what a shock !!) against non stun halal slaughterhouse where animals were subjected to cruelty and abuse before being despatched.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/slaughterhouse-abattoir-sheep-meat-halal-warwickshire-b2705241.html

Mm. I've mentioned this before, but I'm greatly troubled by the creeping normalisation of halal.

There are many former religious practices that have been outlawed. Not sure why the same can’t happen again.

Dare you to have a bash at banning infant circumcision. You'd need a century of campaigning.

How many people would have any skin in the game?

I'll get my coat.

I once had a job as a circumcisors assistant. The guy that held the scissors and mopped the circumcisors brow, basic stuff really.

I did it before I went into engineering. Interesting job. Basic pay was poor but he gave me half the tips.

In fact, I cannot remember the last time I met an actual right wing lawyer. As in: a full-on Brexity Tory gin-swilling hang-em-high justice of the peace

I wonder if they even exist any more

On the other hand, I have met many many many left wing lawyers and judges, some very left, nearly always Remainery

There are a whole host of reasons why the poor black man ends up in prison and the rich white women doesn’t.

Poor people are much more likely to go to prison, whatever their colour. Their propensity to steal, for example, is driven by their situation and lack of options.

They are less likely to be in employment so less able to pay compensation.

They are more likely to live in criminal environs making recidivism more likely.

They are less likely to have a secure address or a stable family relationship.

They are likely to be less well represented.

They are more likely to have a problematic relationship with drugs and alcohol, not least because their life is shit.

I could go on but if the courts are going to find ways of not sending a disproportionate number of poor black men to prison they need to think outside the box a bit more and a pre-sentencing report can help with that.

These guidelines are based on real evidence and real experiences of those at the sharp end. Having given it some thought I back them and regret that Labour ran away because they thought it looked “woke”.

And a bleeding heart liberal I ain’t.

Andrew Neil not mincing his words on the US administration

https://x.com/afneil/status/1897683496753066033?s=61

Elon Musk proving himself to be a massive bellend and enemy of Ukraine.

***SHOCKED***

But he's also completely wrong, unless of course the US helps Russia stuff the ballot boxes in Ukraine to oust Zelenskyy, which I guess isn't beyond the realms of possibility now, in fact it's verging on probable.

Why should another state force an election on a different sovereign state, out of a wartime victor scenario?

Musk has been very pi**ed off with Starmer, and encouraged the petition calling for another UK election. If Trump said he was going to enact tough sanctions against the UK unless we held elections to get rid of Starmer, would you approve?

Zelenskyy is the elected president of Ukraine, and Ukrainian law says there should be no elections during war - for obvious reasons.

From Guardian reporting:

Yesterday Lord Justice William Davis, chairman of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, issued a statement defending the new guidelines criticised by Robert Jenrick and Shabana Mahmood. He said:

One of the purposes of the revised Imposition of community and custodial sentences guideline is to make sure that the courts have the most comprehensive information available so that they can impose a sentence that is the most appropriate for the offender and the offence and so more likely to be effective. The guideline emphasises the crucial role played by pre-sentence reports (PSRs) in this process and identifies particular cohorts for whom evidence suggests PSRs might be of particular value to the court. The reasons for including groups vary but include evidence of disparities in sentencing outcomes, disadvantages faced within the criminal justice system and complexities in circumstances of individual offenders that can only be understood through an assessment.

PSRs provide the court with information about the offender; they are not an indication of sentence. Sentences are decided by the independent judiciary, following sentencing guidelines and taking into account all the circumstances of the individual offence and the individual offender.

I understand the problem of bias that the guidelines are intented to solve and sympathise with their objective but the chosen means looks like an excessively blunt instrument, and one that could introduce new biases. It's important that everyone has faith in the fairness and impartiality of the justice system. They should think again.

Surely the easiest remedy is to ensure that all offenders have a pre sentence report? If it's true that the categories for whom it's currently recommended cover the majority anyway then the overhead wouldn't be that great.

This is the correct take on Trump

“Europeans make the mistake of regarding Trump as an overmighty would-be emperor. In fact, he is actuated by a nagging sense of weakness. He must either strike enough deals around the world to power and equip his country’s economy, or face an unacceptable level of dependence on China, the most powerful industrial and military foe the US has ever faced.”

https://x.com/nfergus/status/1897581485147783498?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

Trump is a symptom of relative American DECLINE, not a new world-tyrant of a mighty surging power. That may not be much consolation as he trashes NATO, mind

That's in essence buying his whole "Make America Great Again" shtick.

There is another, more compelling, theory that Ed Miliband is to blame, not just for Trump, but for everything that's gone wrong in the West.

It was Miliband who made Obama look weak by vetoing the Syria intervention which precipitated Russian involvment and the migrant crisis, leading to a rise in right-wing politics across the Western world.

It was Miliband who was instrumental in promoting badly-designed net-zero policies at a time when Britain had a relatively high level of global influence through international institutions.

The Manchurian candidate is not Trump, but Miliband.

That is compelling.

Is "compelling" a synonym of "bollocks"?