Best Of
Re: Focus on the share of the vote not the lead – politicalbetting.com
Starmer losing his deputy pm and US Ambassador in a week of sleaze is a Boris level crisis for himYou have had a great week, having personally taken two Labour scalps and a probability of the PM too, but Boris levels of sleaze is too far by a country mile.
The BBC have tasted blood and won't stop until Farage is in No10.
Re: Focus on the share of the vote not the lead – politicalbetting.com
Politicians take note of political assassination. Yeah it's really weird.I’d barely heard of him before yesterday.I see Boris and Farage have also tweeted about Charlie Kirk.Bizarre reaction. Kirk is widely credited with delivering Trump's election victories, was a close friend of Trump's, and was one of the most influential political voices in America.
Absolutely bizarre.
I don’t recognise this terminally online, house of mirrors that British politics has turned into.
But I suppose we're only on POLITICAL betting.com so where's the picture of that dog.
I doubt most PBers had, either.
Re: Focus on the share of the vote not the lead – politicalbetting.com
I mean he was totally out there in that (evangelical) christian ultra-conservative bonkers way but I didn't get any sense that he was malevolent towards specific groups, beyond repeating certain (who knows, perhaps spurious) statistics such as the number of Jews in/running Hollywood (can you run Hollywood these days with all the streamers) and in particular black-on-black violence and death statistics.Wikipedia:"APPARENTLY"https://www.jta.org/2025/09/10/united-states/charlie-kirk-conservative-activist-who-considered-himself-a-defender-of-jews-and-israel-is-dead-at-31Yes I am aware of the support for Israel from evangelical Christians. Could you please post the source clip where he said that about the media. I'm interested in hearing it directly.He was a big friend of Israel because, like a lot of US evangelicas, he saw the return of the Jews to Israel as fulfilling biblical prophecy and hence bringing forward the end times scenario sketched out in the Book of Revelation (at which point Jews in common with other non Christians will come to a sticky end). There is no inconsistency in this worldview with also thinking Jews in the US are a sinister cabal seeking to replace white Christians with minorities.For someone who hadn't heard of him until last night you happen to have a lot of his wit and wisdom to hand.The guy said that empathy was a made up term, he said Jews controlled the media and were pushing hatred of white people, he said black people only got their jobs because of affirmative action, he said school shootings were worth it to protect gun rights... yeah sounds like a lovely man.Not a thoroughly nasty piece of work at all. A committed Christian (which I find bonkers but it takes all sorts) and articulated the views that are anti-fashionable and, no doubt (@Foxy?) biblically-based. I have heard him articulate support for Israel in terms of Jesus being Jewish and walking on water wherever it was but which is now modern-day Israel.Yeah me neither. Seems like a thoroughly nasty piece of work but it should go without saying that his murder is a terrible thing.I hadn't heard of him either.Phew that is a relief. I'm not feeling so stupid now. All over my head. I didn't even have a vague sense re Charlie Kirk.I’m having a day of ignorance the last 24 hours. I didn’t know who Charlie Kirk was save a vague sense he was someone American, I’d no idea what the NTA was until this post, and I’ve never heard of Mollie Mae.From the NTA’s.An award show that is voted for by ITV viewers giving a number of awards to ITV programs and presenters - it's not a surprise.
This is the great British Public for you.
Freddie Flintoff - Nearly Died
Rob Burrow - Died
Strictly Amy - Living with cancer
Molly Mae - Split up with her boyfriend
Which one wins the NTA… absolute bollocks #ntaawards
https://x.com/jord9393/status/1965884420617023623?s=61
Also Molly Mae's show was a lighter touch with a large audience than the other programs.
After Sandy Hook though I decided not to allow myself to get too upset about US gun violence. It's like a drug addict who keeps relapsing and OD'ing. People who apparently have no desire to help themselves don't really deserve our sympathy.
I have a lot of sympathy for saying committed religionists are weird, albeit, ironically, essentially human (and therefore scared which makes them turn to an unseen greater power), but not "thoroughly nasty".
A quick google "Charlie Kirk....Jews" shows that many in that community, including notably Benjamin Netanyahu, are very much mourning his killing.
I have only ever heard him talk about black people in the context of proportional numbers and the major cause of death of black youths (he would say other black youths).
The 2nd Amendment yes he did say that, not particularly nasty although I don't happen to agree with it.
This piece I think has links to the comments, apparently made on his show/podcast.
LOL
In other words you have never heard him say any of those things. FFS it helps if you don't make stuff up.
Kirk was highly supportive of Israel. Amidst the Gaza war, Israeli politicians and political activists including Itamar Ben-Gvir, Eli Cohen, Danny Danon, Benny Gantz, Isaac Herzog, Yoav Kisch, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yair Netanyahu, Amir Ohana, Miri Regev and Miki Zohar mourned Kirk's death, with many describing him as a "friend" of Israel and a few linking his death to anti-Zionist activism. *
Iran–Israel War
Main article: Iran-Israel War
In June 2025, Kirk opposed the involvement of the United States in the Iran–Israel War.
* In the usual manner of X, there are a significant number of posts (probably bots) blaming "the Jews" for his murder.
It's the old scorpion and frog tale.
I don't think he was nasty.

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Re: Focus on the share of the vote not the lead – politicalbetting.com
I see Boris and Farage have also tweeted about Charlie Kirk.Bizarre reaction. Kirk is widely credited with delivering Trump's election victories, was a close friend of Trump's, and was one of the most influential political voices in America.
Absolutely bizarre.
I don’t recognise this terminally online, house of mirrors that British politics has turned into.
But I suppose we're only on POLITICAL betting.com so where's the picture of that dog.

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Re: Focus on the share of the vote not the lead – politicalbetting.com
You and lefty woke academics expressing sympathy for big pharma companies!That is perhaps the first time I've ever persuaded anyone of a case on PB !And, having read a little more and talked to some colleagues over coffee earlier, I've concluded that I'm out of date and you were largely right in our earlier exchange. Some years ago I worked on cost-effectiveness evaluations that were used by NICE, but the environment has changed since then, it seems. There's more to it than NHS drugs spend, but I do accept there's a problem there.While dodgy Mandy getting the sack AGAIN is amusing, this is the damage that has been and is being done to the UK economy,Discussed earlier on, upthread.
Blow for UK drugs sector as Merck scraps £1bn expansion
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgzyxjr0lzo
Interesting lesson though, falling into the trap of thinking that because I used to know a lot about a subject I still do.

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Re: Focus on the share of the vote not the lead – politicalbetting.com
Starmers judgement is now really really questionable. Backing Ang is one thing, but backing Mandy, when EVERYONE knows what a dodgy slimey sleazy person he is, when he had to resign twice before over sleaze is really taking the biscuit.
Re: Focus on the share of the vote not the lead – politicalbetting.com
What are so many posters mis-spelling Mandelson?Perhaps the due process was carried out on Mandleson rather than Mandelson
Re: Focus on the share of the vote not the lead – politicalbetting.com
That’s Envoy of the Regions Gray to you.SKS got a fantastic track record of appointments.We have had so many sacking / resignations in such a short space of time, I had actually forgotten about the clusterfuck that was Sue Gray.
Mandy, Sue Gray, 3 dude Directors of Communication
What next Tzipi Hotlovey as Foreign Secretary

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Re: Focus on the share of the vote not the lead – politicalbetting.com
SKS got a fantastic track record of appointments.
Mandy, Sue Gray, 3 dude Directors of Communication
What next Tzipi Hotlovey as Foreign Secretary
Mandy, Sue Gray, 3 dude Directors of Communication
What next Tzipi Hotlovey as Foreign Secretary
Re: Focus on the share of the vote not the lead – politicalbetting.com
Well I must say that I have been laughing so loudly that the neighbouring stand at this trade show asked what was so funny.
Laugh? I nearly shat.
Why the actual fucking fuck did Starmer say that at PMQs yesterday?
Mandelson was a POLITICAL appointment, calculated as the best way for Britain to slime its way into the Trump cesspit. Which means forget all the guff yesterday about a proper process, Mandy was Starmer's choice.
It seems incomprehensible that nobody knew Mandy and Jeffrey were bezzies because everyone knew. So Mandy having to be sacked for something this bad directly calls Starmer's judgement into question.
Backing a man backing a nonce is not a good look at the best of times, never mind now in the febrile mood out there.
Starmer may have just holed himself below the water line and it's in danger of overtopping the watertight doors...
Laugh? I nearly shat.
Why the actual fucking fuck did Starmer say that at PMQs yesterday?
Mandelson was a POLITICAL appointment, calculated as the best way for Britain to slime its way into the Trump cesspit. Which means forget all the guff yesterday about a proper process, Mandy was Starmer's choice.
It seems incomprehensible that nobody knew Mandy and Jeffrey were bezzies because everyone knew. So Mandy having to be sacked for something this bad directly calls Starmer's judgement into question.
Backing a man backing a nonce is not a good look at the best of times, never mind now in the febrile mood out there.
Starmer may have just holed himself below the water line and it's in danger of overtopping the watertight doors...