Best Of

8 people charged after 'Unite the Kingdom' protest

There really needs to be a charge of being really embarrassing and entirely failing to understand history or the way to behave.

I find all 100,000 guilty.

And there lies the problem

As Trevor Phillips has just said in an interview on Sky that he mingled with the crowd at the March and he was struck just how normal they were and certainly not of the right

He went on to say that the Labour and Conservative Party are barely at 40% combined in the polls, and that is because they are simply not relating to people’s concerns

He said the asylum hotels are a particular problem in communities where family's had either had a wedding reception there, or a celebration, or a dance, and now saw them taken over by the asylum seekers which is upsetting their communities

Now, Sir Trevor Phillips, who was once head of the Equalties and Human Rights Commissioner, is probably one of the best journalists in the media at present and is well worth listening too

You cannot simply condemn 100,000 people who may even be your neighbours, because you try to associate them with the unacceptable face of the far right because they aren't

No, no. I feel I can simply condemn them. And let it be a lesson to them!

And especially so if they are my neighbours. Rabble to a man!

Seriously the antics of these people are unacceptable. Much as the antics of the violent football fans were in the 80s and 90s. The leaders of this sort of thing should be horribly ashamed of themselves and much of their following too.

The antics of the Palestine mob similarly, and pretty much all the mobs that have ever congregated,

And so it goes on and Farage grows stronger

And only 8 arrests so far and less than expected

Could the small number of arrests be partly down to the fact that the Police appear to have been overwhelmed by the sheer numbers that turned up on the march and hence the large number of police officers who were injured during the outbreaks of violence when they clearly lost control of the situation?

24 arrests, 8 charges, by Sunday.

A number of people turned off onto Victoria Embankment to get out of the crowds which was understandable.

However, we then saw large crowds ignore police directions, turning left up Horse Guards Avenue, Whitehall Place, Northumberland Avenue and Craven Street in an effort to get into Whitehall, including into sterile areas and areas occupied by those taking part in the Stand Up To Racism protest.

When officers intervened to block their path they were assaulted with kicks and punches. Bottles, flares and other projectiles were also thrown and concerted attempts to get past barriers were made.
...
“The violence they faced was wholly unacceptable. 26 officers were injured, including four seriously – among them broken teeth, a possible broken nose, a concussion, a prolapsed disc and a head injury,

“The 25 (corrected to 24) arrests we have made so far is just the start. Our post-event investigation has already begun – we are identifying those who were involved in the disorder and they can expect to face robust police action in the coming days and weeks."
https://news.met.police.uk/news/update-26-officers-injured-in-disorder-at-central-london-protest-501006

I just don’t believe the police. Not any more. Fuck them

24 arrests is nothing for a 300k crowd. Notting Hill carnival had more than double the arrest rate and over 100 knives and other weapons including guns were confiscated.

The march was largely very peaceful, nothing like the hard left ones we've had in past smashing up central London, vandalising memorials and generally causing mayhem.

The liberal media mafia can't stand that there's no actual hard evidence that there was "unruly violence" so now they're just making it up with a compliant police putting out nonsense PR.

That poll is no surprise. I can’t think of a single Labour supporting friend who likes Starmer . Chasing Reform voters has gone down like a bucket of sick , his Trump sycophancy and spineless performance on Gaza are the other things mentioned .

Admittedly my Labour friends aren’t from the Red Wall and will be classed as the smashed avocado on toast brigade but Labour still need those votes if they’re not to sink without trace .

Labour might not be able to maintain their juggling act , their coalition of voters seem irreconcilable now .

They’re losing twice as many voters to the left than to Reform.

Yes, I dont know any too, and it is notable that there are no Starmer supporters on here, or amongst the former PBers on BlueSky.

It's only a matter of time before he goes, but tricky to have a contest at present, while there is no Deputy Leader.

One odd thing about the Mandelson/Epstein emails – Mandelson describes Epstein as his ‘best pal’.
If I were to hear a man use this phrase – or more commonly, ‘best friend’ or ‘best mate’ I would infer it to be someone he had known since childhood – or, at the very outset, since his late teens or early twenties.
Can Jeffrey Epstein really be Peter Mandelson’s ‘best pal’? It paints a very strange picture of him.

Everything seems to paint an odd picture of Mandelson. It'd be nice to know what Mandelson actually honestly wanted from this life...

Position and wealth

Certainly not reputation.

Some senior politicians - e.g. Major, Balls, or Portillo, are hated during their time in politics, but become more popular afterwards. In the case of the latter two, through TV. Mandelson was admired for his skills, but also disliked, and when he left power seems to have done little to improve his standing.

The dynamics of this are curious. Blair, for instance, seems to have shed popularity despite retiring undefeated. Hague, his oppo number during his first term, has ended up being elected Chancellor of Oxford (handily beating Mandy in the process), and is seen as an all round good egg.
What's at play here?

In Major's case, I think it was that he was unfairly maligned whilst in power (he wasn't *that* bad, and he was head of an ungovernable party), and he has maintained a fairly quiet, thoughtful and stately demeanour since leaving office.

In Blair's case, Iraq hangs around him like the stink from a pig farm. And I think many on the left of the party, who may have been very glad to be in power, are more than happy to give his reputation a kicking now. He's also been less 'stately' since he left office. So both left and right love to give him a bit of a kicking - but he does not help his own cause.

Strange to ponder that if not for Iraq, Tony Blair would be hailed as the best Prime Minister of this century, and possibly since the war.

I remember going on the big anti-Iraq war demo - one of the few demo's I've ever been on. And then realising that despite a million or two people making it very clear they didn't want The Thing, that... well... f**k you.

Certainly rather tarnished my view of him and New Labour generally.

OMG they can’t even do THIS

“The first deportation of a Channel migrant under Sir Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” deal with France was cancelled at the last minute.

The Telegraph understands that one migrant was due to be flown from Heathrow to Paris on an Air France passenger flight on Monday, but the flight was postponed amid protests by charities and threats of legal action.”

It’s beyond surreal. They can’t fly one migrant to Paris, Business Class

Lol. Oh jesus. Its over man, its over

It’s incredible. Meanwhile under this deal the French will still be formally sending their migrants to us

Also, this:

“Although the first migrant on Tuesday is due to be put up in a hotel on arrival, officials said the plan was for them to be placed in a reception centre from which they will be free to come and go.

“Didier Leschi, director general of the French office for immigration and integration, said the migrants could “try again” to cross to the UK”

So they are completely free to just go to Calais and try again

How much are we paying Paris for this?

On the plus side, it wasn't held up by French air traffic control strikes.