Best Of

Cyclefree (thanks for the article) says this:

What we have failed to understand or teach or show is that we – especially men and boys but not just them – must know the extent of our strength and power, the limits of it, why we have to value and exercise self-restraint and self-control and why we have to think of the effect of our behaviour on others


But overlooks the fact that the overwhelming majority of people - women as well as men - behave in exactly these ways. This needs to be accounted for.

When Cycle free says "We have failed" I do not know who she includes, but tentatively I count Cyclefree out. And me.

I was referring to society as a whole. Lots of us do try to behave well and teach our children well. But I look at our society and I see one in which self-restraint is not valued and a selfish individualism seems to be its main animating force.

The drama is a good drama. It is not an educational tool. And the reaction to it by politicians has been pathetic. Yes there is a serious issue about misogyny - but the underlying one is about how best to channel the energies and talents of boys is fruitful ways, for them and all of us. Misogyny is one aspect of this. But it is not the only one, which is why I referenced the killing of males by other males. The conversation needs to go wider.

I was also interested in why in all the discussion about it there was so little reference to the victim - which is itself a sign of misogyny - even though I quite understand why, from a dramatic perspective, the writers concentrated on the boy and his father. But what makes a good drama does not make for a thoughtful educational tool, which is the point I was trying to make.

And also that dramas can allow us to express outrage but effective action takes something more, something which is being ignored by the politicians in this soundbite era.

PS The Bates drama was very good at showing in a human way the reality of a very complex PO scandal. That is not at all easy and all credit to the writer. She also wrote a very good drama about a real life "honour" killing - Honour, which led to no political action or national conversation at all - Asian girls being at the bottom of everyone's concerns, shamefully.

This is a problem - as Casino pointed out yesterday, the rise of notices warning that abuse won’t be tolerated is a result of the amount of people who seem to think they are entitled to whatever they want.

I’m personally noticing (might be getting old and grumpy) a huge rise in absolutely inconsiderate arseholes who feel it’s perfectly acceptable to stop and have chats on pavements forcing everyone else to walk on the road whilst they live their best lives and added to this is the sheer number of cretins who seem unable to walk along without staring at their phone and give no shits that everyone else needs to dodge them.

There is an idea that a huge portion of society are afflicted these days by “main character syndrome” where they are totally the centre of a film of their lives and so everything truly revolves around them and so cannot cope when it’s not how they like things to be.

A favourite is “Pavement Combing”

A group of people walking, side by side, in a Hollywood skirmish line (1m apart from each other)

For full effect, 80% are head down in a mobile.

Oblivious to anyone they are pushing through. I’ve even seen collisions with people daring to walk the other way.

The most splendid version is seen down by the river Thames. Where on a weekend, some roads are pedestrian dominated. So you get such groups occupying a pavement *and* the whole of a two way road….

Ha, a kid on an electric scooter was clearly very disgruntled when I didn't move aside on a pavement for him. There was (just) enough room to my side but I'd grown tired of making space for morons who shouldn't be there.

Such an attitude can result in a prison sentence.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-68641891

That conviction was an utter travesty. And I say that as a cyclist, runner and walker who actually knows that stretch of road very well.

It's OK to push someone into moving traffic?
The conviction was rational IMO. If she'd just not moved or just shouted fine but she physically caused the other person to fall into the path of a moving vehicle.

I don't think she pushed the poor lady, and AIUI it was never claimed in court that contact was made between the two. Also, bear in mind that the lady in question was partially sighted and had cerebral palsy, so might have slower reactions against cyclists than many other people.

The whole thing was an utter tragedy.

But, then again, assault doesn’t have to involve actual touching. Scaring someone is enough…

I don't think shouting "get off the fucking pavement" from a distance at a cyclist illegally riding on the pavement is assault. Maybe behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace, but the cyclist was 77 and unlikely to engage in a breach of the peace.

“Common assault is an act by which a person intentionally or recklessly causes another to suffer or apprehend immediate unlawful violence. ”

What kind of threat scared the angels off the pinhead?

She started shouting at the cyclist when they were some distance away (so the cyclist didn't surprise her) and she made a physical motion towards the cyclist when she was near.
"claimed that Mrs Ward had been cycling "at high speed" and that she was "anxious I was going to get hit by it" so "flinched out with her left arm to protect herself"."

The original decision to convict was rational, she's moved her left arm out towards the cyclist causing them to fall into the road.

If it had been a similarly aged cyclist and Grey had fallen into the road and been killed there'd have been a media campaign for them to get life.

Post spring statement @Moreincommon_ VI sees Labour fall to our lowest score for them at 21%. Tories at 26% lead Reform by 1.

🌳 CON 26% (+1)
➡️ REF UK 25% (+1)
🌹 LAB 21% (-3)
🔶 LIB DEM 13% (+1)
🌍 GREEN 7% (-3)
🟡 SNP 2% (-1)

N =2,081 | Dates: 28 - 31/3 | Change w 24/3

https://x.com/luketryl/status/1907323946090872979

Not the best poll for Labour...

People will vote for the real thing over pallid imitation. Will Labour never learn?

They need to have a left of centre government that isn't ashamed of being left wing if they want left wing voters to turn out for them.

Well they tried that with Corbyn and the result was suboptimal?

The truth is, Labour and especially Starmer, were never popular in Opposition it was just a case that the Tories became even more unpopular and the only alternative to a Con government was a Lab government.

But it was always obvious that once in power, Labour and Starmer woulds prove very unpopular. The implosion has been spectacular and very unusual in it's quickness, though.

I think Starmers Labour would be relieved to do as well at the next election as Corbyn 2019, and ecstatic if they could poll as well as Corbyn 2017

I still think we’re in a bit of a “something’s got to give” stage in the polling, because it is hard to see three parties polling so closely together being sustained when the public has to make a choice approaching the next GE.

The key point may indeed be the elections in 2026 and whether Reform beat the Tories or not.

If things do broadly stay where they are, the next GE feels like it’s going to be tactical voting mad, and liable to throw up results way out of kilter with UNS. I would suspect the left would have the edge if it came to that, but that’s nothing more than a hunch.

I also can't see this, roughly 25/25/25 situation lasting indefinitely so I think,in the end, one of the top three (Con/Lab/Ref) will break through and leave the other two behind.

But which one will it be?

Or will we see a big right wing tactical voting campaign? On those numbers it wouldn't take much effort to give Ref + Con a stonking majority. And that's probably the best outcome too - the Tories should know how to use the levers of government, Reform should keep them honest, and force them to govern right.

It's funny how we can't resist adding up Reform and Conservative. Even I do it instinctively, even though the evidence is clear that it's not correct.

Some of the issue polling suggests that Conservative voters are closer to LD and Labour than they are Reform. If we're going to see tactical voting from Conservative voters, it might be in the other direction.

And Reform UK voters are often viscerally anti Conservative and will consider other alternatives.

According to YouGov, more Reform voters think Labour/Conservatives are similar than they do Conservative/Reform. 41% to 27%.

Reform is NOTA.

No its bloody not, thank you very much.

I still think we’re in a bit of a “something’s got to give” stage in the polling, because it is hard to see three parties polling so closely together being sustained when the public has to make a choice approaching the next GE.

The key point may indeed be the elections in 2026 and whether Reform beat the Tories or not.

If things do broadly stay where they are, the next GE feels like it’s going to be tactical voting mad, and liable to throw up results way out of kilter with UNS. I would suspect the left would have the edge if it came to that, but that’s nothing more than a hunch.

I also can't see this, roughly 25/25/25 situation lasting indefinitely so I think,in the end, one of the top three (Con/Lab/Ref) will break through and leave the other two behind.

But which one will it be?

Or will we see a big right wing tactical voting campaign? On those numbers it wouldn't take much effort to give Ref + Con a stonking majority. And that's probably the best outcome too - the Tories should know how to use the levers of government, Reform should keep them honest, and force them to govern right.

It's funny how we can't resist adding up Reform and Conservative. Even I do it instinctively, even though the evidence is clear that it's not correct.

Some of the issue polling suggests that Conservative voters are closer to LD and Labour than they are Reform. If we're going to see tactical voting from Conservative voters, it might be in the other direction.

And Reform UK voters are often viscerally anti Conservative and will consider other alternatives.

According to YouGov, more Reform voters think Labour/Conservatives are similar than they do Conservative/Reform. 41% to 27%.

Reform is NOTA.

The US judge making a victory speech is, from a British perspective, completely ******.

There's no way any MAGA supporting American could be confident that they would get a fair trial under her, and the whole thing just feeds the idea there is a "deep state" undermining the elected government.

You also had the White House yesterday saying that US immigration judges work for the DoJ and must rule in line with government policy. America might be irretrievably broken.

How can the liberal Judge be a member of the "deep state" when she has been elected to her position ?

The MAGA idea of the "deep state" is that it is an unelected bureacracy with its own hidden liberal agenda, and which works to undermine elected right-wing office-holders & stops these politicians from carrying out their conservative agenda.

Not only has the liberal Judge has been elected to her office, but she openly stated that she would be a liberal Judge.

Republicans are elected. Democrats are deep state operatives put in place by Soros’s money.

Interesting letter - https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/11bRIaC89byaiJiBdDZVig0Oq0rZUNdy_mLwlRvLErrA/mobilebasic

Note what it says in item 9 about the portrayal of the victim. Those on here who have criticised what I've said about this should ask themselves how girls would respond to this portrayal. Or whether boys will respond in the way we would like them to.

I just don't think many of you get how invisible women of all ages feel they are - in the sense of not being seen as unambiguously at the centre of their own lives as opposed to a supporting character in others, how passively and negatively they are portrayed, how they are usually seen as people to whom something is done by men or those who must put matters right for others (usually men) or seen as bit parts in the lives of men, around which everything revolves.

As for @RochdalePioneers statement earlier - "What they need to learn the basics of [deleted] respect towards women. How many rights does a man have over a woman? Zero." - well I agree. But we are about to get the Supreme Court's judgment in the FWS case which will tell us whether women can even define who we are. If we can't even do that, the idea that men have or should have zero rights over a woman will be further away than ever.

I'm torn between liking that post, and pointing out that you would deny my transgender son the same right.