Best Of

We were discussing, yesterday, Democrat tickets opposing Trump/Vance that I couldn't vote for.

To sum up

Possibles -

- Andrew Jackson/Andrew Johnson - I could vote for them, I think. Less racist than Trump/Vance, experience. More respect for the Supreme Court. Break the Thanatophobic barrier in American politics.
- Jefferson F. Davis/Alexander H. Stephens - Hmmm. If you are going to advocate treason and armed insurrection, get pros. Plus less racist than Trump/Vance. Also a breakthrough on Thanatophobia. But very unsound on economics

Just No

- Adolf Hitler/Konstantin Chernenko - on reflection, this is a no. While it's a broad ticket, with a lot of outreach and a bold move for the Democrats, the question of nationality would come up. Another Birther thing... Just no.

Al Sharpton/Anthony Weiner v Trump/Vance?

Al Sharpton - damn, that guy knew how to make a deal. Tom Wolf devoted about 500 pages of novel longer than War and Peace to his version of the man. Ol' Sharpie would probably get Putin to give him Moscow in return for some low grade crack. Plus less fraud and criminality than Don Don. Sure, Anthony Weiner is a drag on the ticket.

But overall, I would vote for them.

‪@ianfraser.bsky.social‬

As business secretary Peter Mandelson conspired with leading US bank to end tax on bankers' bonuses. He told Epstein that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon should “threaten” chancellor Alistair Darling over the tax. A year later, Mandy was seeking work with JPMorgan.

https://bsky.app/profile/ianfraser.bsky.social/post/3mdsvot7h6k2w

After the 2010 election Mandelson wanted a job with JP Morgan & wrote this to Epstein: "“My aim is to acquire enough knowledge and networks in time to participate in real deals. I do not want to live by salary alone."

Unlike the overwhelming majority of us who do have to. Labour: the party of the workers.

Why was Epstein bothered by the bankers' bonus tax? He was not affected. Why was he even involved? UK banks were well able to lobby the government without needing the assistance of a man convicted of procuring a child for prostitution in 2008.

So who really was helping who? Was this Mandelson trying to show Epstein that he could get a result so that Epstein would recommend him to his mate Jes Staley at JP Morgan?

The whole affair stinks.

You wonder what Peter Mandelson thought about the ethics and propriety training all ministers are expected attend to and adhere to?

I feel quite a fool that my entire career I've studiously avoided conflicts of interest that would have benefitted me.

Personally I blame my mother all the time for raising me not to be a ruthless sociopath, it has really closed off some doors for me.

Every so often I have an ethics/propriety workshop/seminar I have to attend and I have to give three answers on why I shouldn't do something dodgy professionally.

The expected answers are

1) It is the wrong thing to do

2) It would cause damage to the profession/industry and the trust therein

3) There are no victimless crimes, some people will lose out

my answers are

1) It would be a career ender for me and I like earning money

2) I would not do well in prison

3) The scandal would kill my mother, she's the woman who fainted when opened the letter with my first speeding points, as she thought that was a career ender, and the letter threatened some serious consequences (but only if I didn't reply, which she didn't get to.)

Hurting those one cares about is key, I think.

There are times when I’ve contemplated doing bad things, but then I realise that the remembrance of them, would make my blood run cold, in the small hours.

I am friends with somebody who spent time behind bars because of some stupidity he did in his younger years that was non violent/non sexual, his parents are good people who have never been in trouble.

He said the most difficult thing was seeing the faces of his parents when they first visited him.

I think they visited him about 10 days after he was sentenced so he was still in a Category A prison waiting to be sent to an open prison.

When he found out the checks they perform on visitors to Cat A prisons and people they had sit with in the waiting room he contemplated suicide.

We have to put ourselves out there and make fools of ourselves sometimes. So I am predicting a Reform UK victory in Gorton and Denton. This is based on the following facts:

1. Most importantly, neither Labour nor the Greens are the standard-bearer of the left, or the anti-Reform coalition. This is not Caerphilly, Labour are not obviously going to lose the seat, so they will be trying very hard. That can only lead to a split left vote.
2. The Tories are not presenting a serious challenge - their vote won't really trouble Reform.
3. Reform's candidate selection is clever in that Matt Goodwin isn't from the hated Tories
4. The Muslim vote, which is likely to be an anti-Reform block, has no obvious home here, and may be split between Labour, Greens and A.N. Others.

It is also what I would like to happen, so clearly caveats apply.

1. The left wing or anti-Reform can be somewhat split and Reform still not win. I hazard Reform need a relatively even split to come through the middle. (Or, in other words, Plaid romped home in Caerphilly. The vote could’ve been much less split and Plaid would still have won.) Also, there’s still time for one of Labour or the Greens to come through as the clear left wing/anti-Reform vote.
2. Agreed, although Advance UK might possibly.
3. Goodwin isn’t a Tory, but he doesn’t come across as that likeable, his connection to the constituency isn’t that strong, and there may be skeletons in the cupboard (he claims to be the first in his family to go to university, but his Dad got an MBA and PhD!).
4. The Greens have the endorsement of The Muslim Vote and Salma Yaqoob, and possibly soon of Your Party. They might be well positioned to hoover up any Gaza protest vote, although the Workers Party might be an issue here.

'Much' is doing a bit of heavy lifting there.

On the decline of high streets, I sense a degree of hypocrisy in the zeitgeist, as in:

It's a bloody disgrace. Our high street is collapsing before our very eyes. Shops are closing all the time. Something should be done. Mind you, personally I've bought everything I need from Amazon and Asda home delivery for the last 10 years, so couldn't be arsed to go to the high street anyway.

Trying to return it to what it once was is a fool's game. I don't think everywhere which used to have a viable high street will get one back no matter the policy pronouncements, and our expectations need to change about what they can offer and how many places even have one worthy of the name.

And for quite a lot of goods, online shopping is objectively better, even once the tax dodges are factored out. The department store in every moderately-sized town, the sort portrayed in Are You Being Served?, was a glorious thing. But most of them have a mediocre range and high prices. Much the same is true of high street banking; we like the idea, especially for tricky jobs, but online just works better most of the time. Parking charges are a convenient scapegoat, but the key thing is that we now have more retail space than we need in most towns.

"Managed decline" gets a bad rap. Sometimes, managing an inevitable decline, so that the future High Street actually makes sense, is just what's needed.

I am an extreme non shopper with the single exception of food shopping, which I don't delegate to anyone. Which means that I almost never enter a non food shop. I agree of course that this is sociopathic, destructive and horrible but there it is. If I want a roll of sellotape I can either drive a total of 12 miles and probably but not certainly get it (small town retail can be a bit random), or I can click a button and it arrives the following day.

It is not impossible that the choice I make - saving my journey - is more efficient and kinder on the ecosphere.

What amazes me is how much gargantuan retail still exists. As one who almost never uses it, it seems grotesquely dominant. Whole cities are full of retail outlets selling complete junk to each other, while the stuff I would quite like - like bank branches or a local HMRC office where I can ask a human a question have vanished.

A branch of retail sadly vanished but which used to exist is men's outfitters dedicated mostly to the interests of older unfashionable men who hate clothes, looking smart, buying things and shopping. The nearest thing is an outfit called Amazon who deliver.

Survation guy:


Damian Lyons Lowe
@DamianSurvation
·
44m

If Gorton and Denton voters see more of Burnham this really could be a tough one to call…

https://x.com/DamianSurvation/status/2018028603796054166

Fair play to Burnham, his backing the Labour candidate on the campaign trail and not throwing his toys out the pram will do him good longer term

If Burnham spends a fair bit of time over the next few weeks campaigning directly alongside the Labour candidate for G&D, thus enthusiastically endorsing her, I reckon Labour could spring a surprise and win it.

It always made sense that he would campaign enthusiastically for her

1) She loses - then he can't be tarred with "Didn't help out. Hoped for failure etc". Instead - "He put his shoulder to the wheel. Did the decent, loyal thing, for the party"
2) She wins - "He helped her across the line. Did the decent, loyal thing, for the party"

On the decline of high streets, I sense a degree of hypocrisy in the zeitgeist, as in:

It's a bloody disgrace. Our high street is collapsing before our very eyes. Shops are closing all the time. Something should be done. Mind you, personally I've bought everything I need from Amazon and Asda home delivery for the last 10 years, so couldn't be arsed to go to the high street anyway.

Trying to return it to what it once was is a fool's game. I don't think everywhere which used to have a viable high street will get one back no matter the policy pronouncements, and our expectations need to change about what they can offer and how many places even have one worthy of the name.

What we need in our High Streets is a lot more people and the obvious way to achieve that is to have them live there by converting a lot of the unused retail space into housing. Once enough people live in our town centres again local shops, restaurants and cafes will thrive making them more attractive place to go.

What is needed is changes to the General Development Order so that there is an almost irrebuttable presumption in favour of change of use and a removal of conditions about parking and the like so that the alterations are commercially viable. Its really not complicated.

Its not just unused retail space which needs converting but much of the used retail space as well.

Quality of shops is as important as quantity of shops and the former locations of M&S, HoF and Debenhams becoming what look like third world jumble sales is not an improvement.

Various vape shops, convenience stores, cafes which never have any customers and sundry other shops which don't seem to have a purpose would also be better used for residential purposes.

It's the never ending supply of charity shops, who are exempted something like 80% of their business rates and who increasingly exist as adjuncts of the state who funnel them money for the "services" that they provide that irritate me. Vaping shops, with their colourful goods designed to attract children, are indeed another blight.

I wouldn't mind charity shops if they each concentrated on one thing - one for books, one for men's clothes, one for women's clothes, one for furniture etc.

Currently its not worth the time and effort to go in any as there's not a critical mass of whatever I might be interested in.

Loros (our local Hospice) has separate shops for furniture, books, and and another one for music. I often browse their vinyl and DVDs. Excellent value and a good cause, though I think there would be a lot less demand for Euthanasia if we had better government funding for hospices.

‪@ianfraser.bsky.social‬

As business secretary Peter Mandelson conspired with leading US bank to end tax on bankers' bonuses. He told Epstein that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon should “threaten” chancellor Alistair Darling over the tax. A year later, Mandy was seeking work with JPMorgan.

https://bsky.app/profile/ianfraser.bsky.social/post/3mdsvot7h6k2w

The Mandelson stuff could escalate into a major problem for the government.

Kieron Clarke
@kieronishere

Labour MPs are this evening demanding that Keir Starmer throw Peter Mandelson out of the Labour Party over his links to the convicted paedo Jeffrey Epstein.

One government minister told me they were "disgusted and infuriated" by Mandelson, and demanded the prime minister "throw him out of the party, out of the Lords". They added that the fresh dump of Epstein files this weekend are "so awful" and enough to radicalise, telling me, "I'm not ready to burn it all down".

Another senior backbench Labour MP said "If he wasn’t as close to McSweeney, Mandelson would have been kicked out of the party already."

A third Labour MP said Mandelson must "not be allowed to wriggle out of anything" when it comes to Epstein.


https://x.com/kieronishere/status/2018027781720777108

‪@ianfraser.bsky.social‬

As business secretary Peter Mandelson conspired with leading US bank to end tax on bankers' bonuses. He told Epstein that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon should “threaten” chancellor Alistair Darling over the tax. A year later, Mandy was seeking work with JPMorgan.

https://bsky.app/profile/ianfraser.bsky.social/post/3mdsvot7h6k2w

The Mandelson stuff could escalate into a major problem for the government.

The Brown Government?

The Government that bought him back to be Ambassador to the US. Despite a number of people suggesting that it was unwise, since Mandelson’s jobs in government seem to end up with him resigning over scandals.

On the decline of high streets, I sense a degree of hypocrisy in the zeitgeist, as in:

It's a bloody disgrace. Our high street is collapsing before our very eyes. Shops are closing all the time. Something should be done. Mind you, personally I've bought everything I need from Amazon and Asda home delivery for the last 10 years, so couldn't be arsed to go to the high street anyway.

Trying to return it to what it once was is a fool's game. I don't think everywhere which used to have a viable high street will get one back no matter the policy pronouncements, and our expectations need to change about what they can offer and how many places even have one worthy of the name.

What we need in our High Streets is a lot more people and the obvious way to achieve that is to have them live there by converting a lot of the unused retail space into housing. Once enough people live in our town centres again local shops, restaurants and cafes will thrive making them more attractive place to go.

What is needed is changes to the General Development Order so that there is an almost irrebuttable presumption in favour of change of use and a removal of conditions about parking and the like so that the alterations are commercially viable. Its really not complicated.

Its not just unused retail space which needs converting but much of the used retail space as well.

Quality of shops is as important as quantity of shops and the former locations of M&S, HoF and Debenhams becoming what look like third world jumble sales is not an improvement.

Various vape shops, convenience stores, cafes which never have any customers and sundry other shops which don't seem to have a purpose would also be better used for residential purposes.