Best Of

For once (and it is a rare thing) Peston is correct.

I know we’re mostly inured to Donald Trump’s disregard for institutional norms and proprieties, but pre-announcing the resignation of the prime minister of America’s supposedly most important ally is pretty extreme, even by his standards. UK ministers are genuinely and understandably shocked
https://x.com/Peston/status/2068705056589758797

The only worrying thing about this is that even now some UK Ministers appear not to have worked out that Trump is an arsehole. Which is pretty remarkable for anyone paying even the slightest attention.

Why the surprise ? It;s taken them 5 years to work out Starmer;s one and theyve been with him all that time.

Not sure why jumping on @Brixian59 is allowed but jumping on others is not. Surely it can't be politics related

Don't be so precious.

Disagreeing with anyone has always been allowed, even if its many people disagreeing with the same person.

Anyone who holds extreme or unpopular views can have many people simultaneously disagreeing with them. I frequently have and have never complained about being jumped on, nor had people rushing to my defence on that ground - not that I would want it either. Many people here have, anyone with strong views that goes against the mainstream tends to.

Turning personal and abusive is another matter, but that hasn't happened.

@Brixian59 is one of the best posters on this board. People just don't like their posts because they are unapologetically "Labour".

No, people find them tiresome because they are unremitttingly biased and partisan which reduces their conversational value to zero. There is an utter lack of self awareness. He is the political equivalent of Leon but without the comedy value.

And I say this even though I sometimes agree with him.

Someone in campaigning mode is tiresome. Most of us have very set political opinions and hinterland, and debate from those starting points. I try to acknowledge my biases and separate what I want to happen from what I think will happen. Others choose to use this as a campaigning platform, and debating with them saps energy because they will dissemble or misrepresent your comments if it suits their talking point.

Not sure why jumping on @Brixian59 is allowed but jumping on others is not. Surely it can't be politics related

Don't be so precious.

Disagreeing with anyone has always been allowed, even if its many people disagreeing with the same person.

Anyone who holds extreme or unpopular views can have many people simultaneously disagreeing with them. I frequently have and have never complained about being jumped on, nor had people rushing to my defence on that ground - not that I would want it either. Many people here have, anyone with strong views that goes against the mainstream tends to.

Turning personal and abusive is another matter, but that hasn't happened.

@Brixian59 is one of the best posters on this board. People just don't like their posts because they are unapologetically "Labour".

No, people find them tiresome because they are unremitttingly biased and partisan which reduces their conversational value to zero. There is an utter lack of self awareness. He is the political equivalent of Leon but without the comedy value.

And I say this even though I sometimes agree with him.

Aren't lots of posters here biased and partisan?

Of course but the best - or even the moderately good - also accept they are sometimes wrong and that everything is not black and white. Hence the reason I used the word unremitting

Not sure why jumping on @Brixian59 is allowed but jumping on others is not. Surely it can't be politics related

Don't be so precious.

Disagreeing with anyone has always been allowed, even if its many people disagreeing with the same person.

Anyone who holds extreme or unpopular views can have many people simultaneously disagreeing with them. I frequently have and have never complained about being jumped on, nor had people rushing to my defence on that ground - not that I would want it either. Many people here have, anyone with strong views that goes against the mainstream tends to.

Turning personal and abusive is another matter, but that hasn't happened.

@Brixian59 is one of the best posters on this board. People just don't like their posts because they are unapologetically "Labour".

No, people find them tiresome because they are unremitttingly biased and partisan which reduces their conversational value to zero. There is an utter lack of self awareness. He is the political equivalent of Leon but without the comedy value.

And I say this even though I sometimes agree with him.

Aren't lots of posters here biased and partisan?

I'd just like to place it on record that I am very neutral and always hold opinion I cannot disagree with.

Not sure why jumping on @Brixian59 is allowed but jumping on others is not. Surely it can't be politics related

Don't be so precious.

Disagreeing with anyone has always been allowed, even if its many people disagreeing with the same person.

Anyone who holds extreme or unpopular views can have many people simultaneously disagreeing with them. I frequently have and have never complained about being jumped on, nor had people rushing to my defence on that ground - not that I would want it either. Many people here have, anyone with strong views that goes against the mainstream tends to.

Turning personal and abusive is another matter, but that hasn't happened.

@Brixian59 is one of the best posters on this board. People just don't like their posts because they are unapologetically "Labour".

No, people find them tiresome because they are unremitttingly biased and partisan which reduces their conversational value to zero. There is an utter lack of self awareness. He is the political equivalent of Leon but without the comedy value.

And I say this even though I sometimes agree with him.

There is also a repetitive overcurrent of "it's Morgan or one of his minions doing party spin" in some of the responses to Brixian. That's also tiresome and, bluntly, not nice. Playing the person not the ball also doesn't add much value to the conversation.

Don't let them get away with a sleight of hand.

Tories and Farage called for a fall in NET MIGRATION for years.

Decent chance Labour achieves net emigration next year.

Net emigration being the goal was never mentioned before Lowe got big on X, started going on about mass deportations, and fell out with Farage. Net migration in the tens of thousands was the supposed end point throughout the entire Tories' duration in office.

Net migration in the tens of thousands was a policy of Cameron/May, not throughout the entire Tories duration in office.

Boris abolished that ambition.

And yet the policy is back. As the Good Book says,
As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

I suppose the question is- what is the end in mind of such a policy?

Is it just about numbers? That feels oddly desicated. (Which is what we might all be in the south of the UK by Thursday.)

Is it pressure on public services? Perhaps, though there are bigger issues there, and in some ways, cutting migration threatens to make things worse. And if your worry is housing, there's One Weird Trick they don't want you to know that solves it.

Is it not liking seeing different faces, hearing different accents on the streets? I'd like to say tough luck. After all, I'm not a native of the London/Essex borderlands, do I have to move back to South Hampshire? But it's also a really tough hurdle to cross- resetting every town to zero incomers is unimaginable... isn't it?

Speaking personally (and I appreciate that I live in Scotland which is largely empty and has none of the pressures of the south of England or London), I want immigrants with skills, the drive and ambition to make something of themselves in this country. I don't want Just Eat drivers, I don't want large families on benefits claiming our supplies of public sector housing, I don't particularly want Primary Schools with 15+ languages and so many children where English is not their first language slowing the class down. I don't want men from theocratic societies that treat women as chattels. I want people who want to integrate and add to our society, not keep apart from it.

In short, I have no great problem with immigration, I do have problems with those not interested in integration.