Bloody hell. When I said Putin was thinking of himself as a new Peter the Great, I didn't think that might involve war with Sweden. That would be being rather too literal.
Russians have a bit of a thing about Sweden. We annoy them.
Anyone annoy the English?
Well, duh, the French. I'm surprised you even had to ask.
Ah, yes, of course, la Vieille Alliance.
But you guys love the Argentinians don’t you? And the Germans? And the Scots? Of course you do. Hatchets we’re buried long ago.
I rather like all nationalities. I rather fail to see myself as English, more British, and that's only really about where I was born, and what Rugby team I might support. (If only the Germans could play, or for that matter the French )
France is clearly the nation that has done the UK the most harm, and vice-versa. Some of it was just plain stupid. You'd be daft to hold that against the average person though.
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Sweden is one of only a couple of countries En/GB/UK has never been at war with.
(Well, if you ignore that the Sutton Hoo invasion ship was from what is now Sweden; plus a little administrative hiccup during the Napoleonic wars.)
Your encyclopaedic knowledge of England is not up to all that. The Sutton Hoo ship was used to bury a king not invade England. Or anywhere, except the afterlife.
Bloody hell. When I said Putin was thinking of himself as a new Peter the Great, I didn't think that might involve war with Sweden. That would be being rather too literal.
Russians have a bit of a thing about Sweden. We annoy them.
Anyone annoy the English?
You tell us. You claim to be the experts about the English character on this board. Do tell. We’re anxious to hear more of your valued, and of course dispassionate, analysis of our psyche.
I'll do it: The English love both cricket and incest porn.
Watching one’s step mom being pounded by a big, hairy Australian could combine the two, with a healthy dose of masochism thrown in.
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Why? Fuck Sweden.
In the spirit of AUKUS we should only defend English-speaking nations. Tho I guess that, awkwardly, includes Sweden
Technically as well as defending Australia and the USA, we are obliged to defend France too as it is also in NATO with us unlike Sweden
I really - honestly - wonder if NATO has any reality left at all. Would we go to war to defend France? Why? They’ve acted like utter c*nuts throughout Brexit and continue to do so. They literally want us to fail as a nation so Brexit can be seen as a disaster. Fuck them
I’m perfectly serious. NATO Is brain dead (as, ironically, macron pointed out)
British soldiers should only die defending AUKUS states and possibly Italy coz I like the Italians
Tim Loughton MP @timloughton I have regretfully come to the conclusion that Boris Johnson’s position is now untenable, that his resignation is the only way to bring this whole unfortunate episode to an end and I am working with colleagues to impress that view on Number 10.
I don’t like this poll. It just doesn’t seem right to me.
I expected it to be quite a similar margin gap reported between main parties from opinium, I thought maybe 9, because there’s two traits I’ve noted about this pollster polls in Observer, period when everyone else showed bigger Tory leads over Labour, this polling didn’t, but also didn’t change as markedly between each poll, as others do, certainly you gov do leap about. Obviously it’s all there for you to analyse for your own conclusions. But recent polls show Tory drop, after an uptick for Tories in holiday time polls.
We saw from the by elections before Christmas libdems can attract Tory votes Labour just can’t. So with Tories declining, why only labour increasing and libdems jumping backwards in this polling?
This poll has Labour increasing whilst the libdems drop into single figures - and I am just calling that plain wrong and an outlier in the current climate. To be fair all company’s can suffer a rouge poll now again, not really their fault? and fair enough time will prove me right or wrong if they report differently next time, time after, and the figures from this one don’t sit right in middle of sequence. But whilst voters are deserting scandal hit Tories this poll has labour gaining and the libdems going back into single figures - I’ll bake a tofu hat cake and eat it if that is accurate. More likely its 2 off Tory’s and 1 off Labour on the Lib Dems right now, for 40, 29, 12.
☹️
Trust the swarm.
Even if you compare the same pollster, each reading could fairly easily be two points out either way. That means you can get a change of plus or minus four points without anything really changing.
Step back and look at all the polls together, from a distance, and the landscape is much clearer.
You can see the Paterson Plunge, the little drift upwards when Christmas didn't turn into a disaster, and the next fall is beginning to show in the trendline.
Perhaps Boris needs to copy canoe man and go to Panama :-)
If Boris is looking for a country tiny enough to win a quick war against within a few weeks to get a poll bounce, Panama might do
Good look with trying to take Southern Panama quickly. Darién Gap, its crazy jungle, no roads and stuff full of what's left of the FARC types and drug cartels.
I don’t like this poll. It just doesn’t seem right to me.
I expected it to be quite a similar margin gap reported between main parties from opinium, I thought maybe 9, because there’s two traits I’ve noted about this pollster polls in Observer, period when everyone else showed bigger Tory leads over Labour, this polling didn’t, but also didn’t change as markedly between each poll, as others do, certainly you gov do leap about. Obviously it’s all there for you to analyse for your own conclusions. But recent polls show Tory drop, after an uptick for Tories in holiday time polls.
We saw from the by elections before Christmas libdems can attract Tory votes Labour just can’t. So with Tories declining, why only labour increasing and libdems jumping backwards in this polling?
This poll has Labour increasing whilst the libdems drop into single figures - and I am just calling that plain wrong and an outlier in the current climate. To be fair all company’s can suffer a rouge poll now again, not really their fault? and fair enough time will prove me right or wrong if they report differently next time, time after, and the figures from this one don’t sit right in middle of sequence. But whilst voters are deserting scandal hit Tories this poll has labour gaining and the libdems going back into single figures - I’ll bake a tofu hat cake and eat it if that is accurate. More likely its 2 off Tory’s and 1 off Labour on the Lib Dems right now, for 40, 29, 12.
☹️
Trust the swarm.
Even if you compare the same pollster, each reading could fairly easily be two points out either way. That means you can get a change of plus or minus four points without anything really changing.
Step back and look at all the polls together, from a distance, and the landscape is much clearer.
You can see the Paterson Plunge, the little drift upwards when Christmas didn't turn into a disaster, and the next fall is beginning to show in the trendline.
Nope. You can’t placate me. I’m cheesed off by that bad poll and I’m going to bed early 😠
Troops being sent to Gotland and tanks in the harbour town and capital Visby.
Not convinced of the efficacy of tanks vs submarines. Sounds a bit HYUFD.
FUDHY thinks that tanks are the ideal tool to prevent Catalonian and Scottish grannies from casting votes in ballot boxes.
I wouldn't have thought that would be a problem. After all, sealed ballot boxes are hard to cast votes in. That's why most people prefer polling booths.
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Why? Fuck Sweden.
In the spirit of AUKUS we should only defend English-speaking nations. Tho I guess that, awkwardly, includes Sweden
Technically as well as defending Australia and the USA, we are obliged to defend France too as it is also in NATO with us unlike Sweden
I really - honestly - wonder if NATO has any reality left at all. Would we go to war to defend France? Why? They’ve acted like utter c*nuts throughout Brexit and continue to do so. They literally want us to fail as a nation so Brexit can be seen as a disaster. Fuck them
I’m perfectly serious. NATO Is brain dead (as, ironically, macron pointed out)
British soldiers should only die defending AUKUS states and possibly Italy coz I like the Italians
Surely the other remaining Commonwealth realms too eg Canada and New Zealand?
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Sweden is one of only a couple of countries En/GB/UK has never been at war with.
(Well, if you ignore that the Sutton Hoo invasion ship was from what is now Sweden; plus a little administrative hiccup during the Napoleonic wars.)
I don't think the the Sutton Hoo find was an invasion ship. It was a ship burial.
And Anglo-Saxon
The Wuffings of East Anglia were quite probably from Sweden. The helmet and shield from the burial have their closest examples in the Vendel period finds from Sweden, and some items were probably made there.
Troops being sent to Gotland and tanks in the harbour town and capital Visby.
The Russians along the Ukranian border may well be most effective as a distraction of course.
Does Sweden have any defensive understandings with any of the Baltic states?
What would the Russians have to gain by attacking Sweden ?
Sweden ? Or what’s left of it should they really be serious.
More likely a bloody nose. Most likely it’s just Putin dicking around for the lolz.
It makes sense that Putin would try a few distractions ahead of whatever he has planned.
He’s such an attention seeking nob. Ukraine still seems most likely. Would be good - and highly unlikely - if the West were to do something unexpected and a bit left field in return. We are too predictable: sanctions on a few oligarchs, kick them out of one or two international organisations. Funding a deadly Ukrainian guerrilla insurgency would of course be effective but morally dubious. But a bit of creativity is certainly called for.
There was a suggestion in one article that we might launch retaliatory cyber attacks. One of the advantages of those is that they have a certain degree of deniability that seizing Kaliningrad lacks.
If Putin turned off the supply of gas to Europe, then being able to shut down the Russian gas industry with cyber attacks would be interesting.
What will worry Downing Street is that this call for the PM to go comes after a couple of days of speaking to constituents. We’ve been reporting today that others are hardening their views.
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Why? Fuck Sweden.
In the spirit of AUKUS we should only defend English-speaking nations. Tho I guess that, awkwardly, includes Sweden
Technically as well as defending Australia and the USA, we are obliged to defend France too as it is also in NATO with us unlike Sweden
I really - honestly - wonder if NATO has any reality left at all. Would we go to war to defend France? Why? They’ve acted like utter c*nuts throughout Brexit and continue to do so. They literally want us to fail as a nation so Brexit can be seen as a disaster. Fuck them
I’m perfectly serious. NATO Is brain dead (as, ironically, macron pointed out)
British soldiers should only die defending AUKUS states and possibly Italy coz I like the Italians
Personally I don't see why we should offer much more than tea and sympathy to any other country that gets invaded - unless it's a tiny African state and the invader can be repelled by sending whatever we've got these days that passes for a gunboat. I mean what is it all in aid of? We get in trouble every time we do it.
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Sweden is one of only a couple of countries En/GB/UK has never been at war with.
(Well, if you ignore that the Sutton Hoo invasion ship was from what is now Sweden; plus a little administrative hiccup during the Napoleonic wars.)
I don't think the the Sutton Hoo find was an invasion ship. It was a ship burial.
And Anglo-Saxon
The Wuffings of East Anglia were quite probably from Sweden. The helmet and shield from the burial have their closest examples in the Vendel period finds from Sweden, and some items were probably made there.
Troops being sent to Gotland and tanks in the harbour town and capital Visby.
The Russians along the Ukranian border may well be most effective as a distraction of course.
Does Sweden have any defensive understandings with any of the Baltic states?
What would the Russians have to gain by attacking Sweden ?
Sweden ? Or what’s left of it should they really be serious.
More likely a bloody nose. Most likely it’s just Putin dicking around for the lolz.
It makes sense that Putin would try a few distractions ahead of whatever he has planned.
He’s such an attention seeking nob. Ukraine still seems most likely. Would be good - and highly unlikely - if the West were to do something unexpected and a bit left field in return. We are too predictable: sanctions on a few oligarchs, kick them out of one or two international organisations. Funding a deadly Ukrainian guerrilla insurgency would of course be effective but morally dubious. But a bit of creativity is certainly called for.
There was a suggestion in one article that we might launch retaliatory cyber attacks. One of the advantages of those is that they have a certain degree of deniability that seizing Kaliningrad lacks.
If Putin turned off the supply of gas to Europe, then being able to shut down the Russian gas industry with cyber attacks would be interesting.
I'd also enjoy the confused look on @StuartDickson as the Black Watch fought, under the butcher's apron, to defend his lake house from the Russians.
Much as I value the martial heritage of Scots, I fear for the chances of the several hundred strong battalion of the Black Watch against the 1st Guards Tank Army.
Troops being sent to Gotland and tanks in the harbour town and capital Visby.
The Russians along the Ukranian border may well be most effective as a distraction of course.
Does Sweden have any defensive understandings with any of the Baltic states?
They regularly conduct exercises together and have various defence cooperation arrangements, eg Swedish personnel in NATO cybercentre in Tallinn and NATO’s centre for strategic communication in Latvia.
Sweden and Finland have long history of common defence procurement/development projects.
Perhaps Boris needs to copy canoe man and go to Panama :-)
If Boris is looking for a country tiny enough to win a quick war against within a few weeks to get a poll bounce, Panama might do
Good look with trying to take Southern Panama quickly. Darién Gap, its crazy jungle, no roads and stuff full of what's left of the FARC types and drug cartels.
Have a friend (seeing him for coffee tomorrow) who actually crossed the Darien Gap when he was a kid with his family.
Says it was indeed one heck of a trip. In more ways than one.
I don’t like this poll. It just doesn’t seem right to me.
I expected it to be quite a similar margin gap reported between main parties from opinium, I thought maybe 9, because there’s two traits I’ve noted about this pollster polls in Observer, period when everyone else showed bigger Tory leads over Labour, this polling didn’t, but also didn’t change as markedly between each poll, as others do, certainly you gov do leap about. Obviously it’s all there for you to analyse for your own conclusions. But recent polls show Tory drop, after an uptick for Tories in holiday time polls.
We saw from the by elections before Christmas libdems can attract Tory votes Labour just can’t. So with Tories declining, why only labour increasing and libdems jumping backwards in this polling?
This poll has Labour increasing whilst the libdems drop into single figures - and I am just calling that plain wrong and an outlier in the current climate. To be fair all company’s can suffer a rouge poll now again, not really their fault? and fair enough time will prove me right or wrong if they report differently next time, time after, and the figures from this one don’t sit right in middle of sequence. But whilst voters are deserting scandal hit Tories this poll has labour gaining and the libdems going back into single figures - I’ll bake a tofu hat cake and eat it if that is accurate. More likely its 2 off Tory’s and 1 off Labour on the Lib Dems right now, for 40, 29, 12.
☹️
Trust the swarm.
Even if you compare the same pollster, each reading could fairly easily be two points out either way. That means you can get a change of plus or minus four points without anything really changing.
Step back and look at all the polls together, from a distance, and the landscape is much clearer.
You can see the Paterson Plunge, the little drift upwards when Christmas didn't turn into a disaster, and the next fall is beginning to show in the trendline.
Nope. You can’t placate me. I’m cheesed off by that bad poll and I’m going to bed early 😠
Fair enough. Though glancing at the graph again, that 27% Boris got this week is worse than Keir got in his vaccine bounce doldrums, or Jez got while we were all waiting for him to finally go away.
For now, it's one poll and looks a bit outlier-y, but that's bad.
Ireland has no effective air defence capability. This is provided by the RAF.
And we should withdraw it. See where their endless, shrill Britophobia gets them then.
At various points during Covid Irish media was practically exulting over the high levels of UK deaths
Ireland like Sweden is not in NATO, so technically we also no longer have an obligation to defend it. Nor is it a Commonwealth realm either. Though we could still choose to
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Why? Fuck Sweden.
In the spirit of AUKUS we should only defend English-speaking nations. Tho I guess that, awkwardly, includes Sweden
Technically as well as defending Australia and the USA, we are obliged to defend France too as it is also in NATO with us unlike Sweden
I really - honestly - wonder if NATO has any reality left at all. Would we go to war to defend France? Why? They’ve acted like utter c*nuts throughout Brexit and continue to do so. They literally want us to fail as a nation so Brexit can be seen as a disaster. Fuck them
I’m perfectly serious. NATO Is brain dead (as, ironically, macron pointed out)
British soldiers should only die defending AUKUS states and possibly Italy coz I like the Italians
Because they like the rest of the world think this country's descent into a pathetic caricature of the 1950s is just that?
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Sweden is one of only a couple of countries En/GB/UK has never been at war with.
(Well, if you ignore that the Sutton Hoo invasion ship was from what is now Sweden; plus a little administrative hiccup during the Napoleonic wars.)
I don't think the the Sutton Hoo find was an invasion ship. It was a ship burial.
And Anglo-Saxon
Although it has a lot of similarities to Swedish royal ship burials of the same period, to the extent that some historians have speculated that the Wuffingas dynasty buried at Sutton Hoo (there are about twenty barrows in total there) might have been of Swedish origin.
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Why? Fuck Sweden.
In the spirit of AUKUS we should only defend English-speaking nations. Tho I guess that, awkwardly, includes Sweden
Technically as well as defending Australia and the USA, we are obliged to defend France too as it is also in NATO with us unlike Sweden
I really - honestly - wonder if NATO has any reality left at all. Would we go to war to defend France? Why? They’ve acted like utter c*nuts throughout Brexit and continue to do so. They literally want us to fail as a nation so Brexit can be seen as a disaster. Fuck them
I’m perfectly serious. NATO Is brain dead (as, ironically, macron pointed out)
British soldiers should only die defending AUKUS states and possibly Italy coz I like the Italians
Because they like the rest of the world think this country's descent into a pathetic caricature of the 1950s is just that?
Pathetic.
Impressively incisive for just your third post, Bob
Carrie Johnson, the Prime Minister's wife, was photographed breaking Covid-19 social distancing rules days after the public was warned that it was "critical" to follow the guidance, The Telegraph can disclose.
Despite Boris Johnson's warning that "you should keep your distance from anyone you don't live with", Mrs Johnson, 33, was pictured embracing a close friend while the pair celebrated the friend's engagement at a private members' club in London's West End.
The pair seemingly shared a joke as they posed for the camera while sitting next to each other on a sofa on the club's outdoor roof terrace.
Mrs Johnson appeared to have her arm around the friend, Anna Pinder, and one of her legs draped over her leg. Ms Pinder's hands were clasped together in her lap.
The embrace, seemingly initiated by Mrs Johnson, stands in stark contrast to the isolation rules members of the public rigidly stuck to.
People have been angered by allegations of parties being held at Number 10 despite coronavirus restrictions, including a young woman who abided by guidance which prevented her from hugging her grandmother at her mother's funeral.
At the time, in September 2020, ministers had warned that Britain was facing a second wave of infections. The law prevented people from gathering in groups of more than six, other than for education, work, weddings and funerals.
But the Prime Minister, together with senior ministers and health officials, stressed that adhering to separate social distancing guidance was key to slowing the spread of Covid-19 and avoiding a second national lockdown.
That's a super weak story, when you see what the guidance was i.e it was fine to meet people outside fine (which it was in a small group), you just advised not to hug them.
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Sweden is one of only a couple of countries En/GB/UK has never been at war with.
(Well, if you ignore that the Sutton Hoo invasion ship was from what is now Sweden; plus a little administrative hiccup during the Napoleonic wars.)
I don't think the the Sutton Hoo find was an invasion ship. It was a ship burial.
Hmmm… so a ship manufactured in Mälardalen was buried in Suffolk? It’s a tricky one. Sean’s aliens must have transported it there. There is no other reasonable explanation.
Troops being sent to Gotland and tanks in the harbour town and capital Visby.
The Russians along the Ukranian border may well be most effective as a distraction of course.
Does Sweden have any defensive understandings with any of the Baltic states?
What would the Russians have to gain by attacking Sweden ?
Sweden ? Or what’s left of it should they really be serious.
More likely a bloody nose. Most likely it’s just Putin dicking around for the lolz.
It makes sense that Putin would try a few distractions ahead of whatever he has planned.
He’s such an attention seeking nob. Ukraine still seems most likely. Would be good - and highly unlikely - if the West were to do something unexpected and a bit left field in return. We are too predictable: sanctions on a few oligarchs, kick them out of one or two international organisations. Funding a deadly Ukrainian guerrilla insurgency would of course be effective but morally dubious. But a bit of creativity is certainly called for.
There was a suggestion in one article that we might launch retaliatory cyber attacks. One of the advantages of those is that they have a certain degree of deniability that seizing Kaliningrad lacks.
If Putin turned off the supply of gas to Europe, then being able to shut down the Russian gas industry with cyber attacks would be interesting.
I don’t like this poll. It just doesn’t seem right to me.
I expected it to be quite a similar margin gap reported between main parties from opinium, I thought maybe 9, because there’s two traits I’ve noted about this pollster polls in Observer, period when everyone else showed bigger Tory leads over Labour, this polling didn’t, but also didn’t change as markedly between each poll, as others do, certainly you gov do leap about. Obviously it’s all there for you to analyse for your own conclusions. But recent polls show Tory drop, after an uptick for Tories in holiday time polls.
We saw from the by elections before Christmas libdems can attract Tory votes Labour just can’t. So with Tories declining, why only labour increasing and libdems jumping backwards in this polling?
This poll has Labour increasing whilst the libdems drop into single figures - and I am just calling that plain wrong and an outlier in the current climate. To be fair all company’s can suffer a rouge poll now again, not really their fault? and fair enough time will prove me right or wrong if they report differently next time, time after, and the figures from this one don’t sit right in middle of sequence. But whilst voters are deserting scandal hit Tories this poll has labour gaining and the libdems going back into single figures - I’ll bake a tofu hat cake and eat it if that is accurate. More likely its 2 off Tory’s and 1 off Labour on the Lib Dems right now, for 40, 29, 12.
☹️
I don't think it matters very much here. The idea is to provide an alternative to the tories that they feel safe with. I think the tories aren't scared of starmer/Labour anymore and they will vote for them in tory/Labour seats. They are likely to vote anti tory in other seats as well I think if there was an election tomorrow we would see a 1997 event.
Troops being sent to Gotland and tanks in the harbour town and capital Visby.
The Russians along the Ukranian border may well be most effective as a distraction of course.
Does Sweden have any defensive understandings with any of the Baltic states?
They regularly conduct exercises together and have various defence cooperation arrangements, eg Swedish personnel in NATO cybercentre in Tallinn and NATO’s centre for strategic communication in Latvia.
Sweden and Finland have long history of common defence procurement/development projects.
Putin 'helping out' a Baltic state in need is fairly plausible. A complete defeat of Nato in a day or so and then stop. Let the chips fly.
The best quote I have read about an Orgon Accumulator is from the New York professor who forked out to buy one for his wife. “Do you think it actually works, Professor?” “Of course it doesn’t work! But she sits in that box for endless hours, and it’s so beautifully peaceful and quiet…”
Bloody hell. When I said Putin was thinking of himself as a new Peter the Great, I didn't think that might involve war with Sweden. That would be being rather too literal.
Russians have a bit of a thing about Sweden. We annoy them.
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Sweden is one of only a couple of countries En/GB/UK has never been at war with.
(Well, if you ignore that the Sutton Hoo invasion ship was from what is now Sweden; plus a little administrative hiccup during the Napoleonic wars.)
I don't think the the Sutton Hoo find was an invasion ship. It was a ship burial.
Hmmm… so a ship manufactured in Mälardalen was buried in Suffolk? It’s a tricky one. Sean’s aliens must have transported it there. There is no other reasonable explanation.
I am not sure we know the ship was manufactured in Sweden. But you can get a ship from Sweden to East Anglia by, er, sailing it. It doesn't have to be an invasion, and by the time Raedwald or whoever was buried you were a couple of generations along from the original settlers. So it would have been a consensual visit. Or a purchase.
More hospitality anecdata, following on from this arvo
Parkway in Camden is absolutely buzzing (and it is a cold if clear night - 4C)
All the restaurants that were desolate last Saturday are bustling tonight, some of the pubs are spilling onto the pavements. A transformation.
Great to see, but a little peculiar. I know business always picks up from the famously dead first two weeks of Jan (even without plague) but this is a quintupling of customers.
The rules have not changed one iota, so this is a mood change. People think it's all over, they don't care any more, everyone who wants a jab has been jabbed. Enough. The first thing PM Sunak should do is get rid of the last restrictions. Next weekend
Deep irony that Boris blows it: just as Britain gets in a Borisovian mood of boosterism and bonhomie
Godalming anecdata - 100% masks in Sainsbury. Ate out with a friend in a pub - half full, staff not masked, some customers masked when they came in, took them off once they sat down. General impression here is that people are relaxing for social life but keeping up masks where it doesn't inconvenience them.
Bloody hell. When I said Putin was thinking of himself as a new Peter the Great, I didn't think that might involve war with Sweden. That would be being rather too literal.
Russians have a bit of a thing about Sweden. We annoy them.
Anyone annoy the English?
Nobody, everybody loves us, it is why English is the lingua franca of the world.
I asked if anyone annoys the English, not if you lot annoy other peoples.
The French irritate, the Americans can chafe, the Germans sometimes exasperate. We don't give a fuck about the Scots. Sorry
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Sweden is one of only a couple of countries En/GB/UK has never been at war with.
(Well, if you ignore that the Sutton Hoo invasion ship was from what is now Sweden; plus a little administrative hiccup during the Napoleonic wars.)
I don't think the the Sutton Hoo find was an invasion ship. It was a ship burial.
Also I’m pretty sure that some of the invading Vikings/Norsemen came from “Sweden” as well as Denmark and Norway, so it’s a stretch to say we’ve never been at war
It’s just that, remarkably, for once, it was someone attacking us rather than us invading them
Denmark in that period stretched into what’s now southern Sweden (Scania), and remained so until the 17th century. The Swedish vikings of the period were more focused to the east, and effectively founded what is now both Ukraine and Russia (don’t tell Putin).
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Why? Fuck Sweden.
In the spirit of AUKUS we should only defend English-speaking nations. Tho I guess that, awkwardly, includes Sweden
Technically as well as defending Australia and the USA, we are obliged to defend France too as it is also in NATO with us unlike Sweden
I really - honestly - wonder if NATO has any reality left at all. Would we go to war to defend France? Why? They’ve acted like utter c*nuts throughout Brexit and continue to do so. They literally want us to fail as a nation so Brexit can be seen as a disaster. Fuck them
I’m perfectly serious. NATO Is brain dead (as, ironically, macron pointed out)
British soldiers should only die defending AUKUS states and possibly Italy coz I like the Italians
Yeah, it is why we should leave NATO. It is one of the few things left to do from Michael Foots manifesto.
With all this talk of us leaping to Sweden's defence (and Australia's and Canada's and America's) we'd better hope it happens before Boris's defence cuts kick in.
As stories go, its the equivalent of saying we got em, we got em doing 34mph in a 30mph, when we know all round there has people who been drunk driving, swerving all over the place, crashing into roadside furniture day in day out.
As stories go, its the equivalent of saying we got em, we got em doing 34mph in a 30mph, when we know all round there has people been drunk driving, swerving all over the place, crashing into roadside furniture day in day out.
Putin invading Sweden would be a genius move by the year 2022. How could it possibly outdo 2021 for drama?
Aha!
I like the Swedes but unfortunately for them Sweden is not in NATO.
So if Putin invaded Sweden we would have no obligation to defend them.
Perhaps Stuart Dickson can mobilise a quick militia or else take a crash course in Russian!
Being occupied by a big, ugly, ignorant neighbour isn’t so bad. Lots of wee nations put up with it. For a while.
300 years and counting. And when offered a chance to democratically overthrow your big, ugly, ignorant rulers - uniquely amongst the nations you said Er no thanks, we like them ruling over us
With all this talk of us leaping to Sweden's defence (and Australia's and Canada's and America's) we'd better hope it happens before Boris's defence cuts kick in.
We are not obliged to defend Sweden as it is not in NATO but all other NATO members plus Australia thanks to the recent defence agreement are also all obliged to defend us
If France were being invaded (which is a preposterous idea anyway) then you could be sure the world would be in such a state that Britain, the US and every other power under the sun would be at war.
But let’s get back to reality. Russia is not going to land troops in Gotland. The worst Sweden might get is a few rogue subs or threatening mig fly pasts. No, they’re going to spend their efforts creating yet more frozen conflicts in their former Soviet lands.
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Why? Fuck Sweden.
In the spirit of AUKUS we should only defend English-speaking nations. Tho I guess that, awkwardly, includes Sweden
Technically as well as defending Australia and the USA, we are obliged to defend France too as it is also in NATO with us unlike Sweden
I really - honestly - wonder if NATO has any reality left at all. Would we go to war to defend France? Why? They’ve acted like utter c*nuts throughout Brexit and continue to do so. They literally want us to fail as a nation so Brexit can be seen as a disaster. Fuck them
I’m perfectly serious. NATO Is brain dead (as, ironically, macron pointed out)
British soldiers should only die defending AUKUS states and possibly Italy coz I like the Italians
Yeah, it is why we should leave NATO. It is one of the few things left to do from Michael Foots manifesto.
That's bonkers. In a world where democracy is receding, it is important democracies protect each other. Isolationism never works long term.
Of course this should only apply to countries signing up for common protection. If Sweden and Finland sign up, then we protect them. But if they don't want to commit to others, fuck them if Russia invades.
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Sweden is one of only a couple of countries En/GB/UK has never been at war with.
(Well, if you ignore that the Sutton Hoo invasion ship was from what is now Sweden; plus a little administrative hiccup during the Napoleonic wars.)
I don't think the the Sutton Hoo find was an invasion ship. It was a ship burial.
Hmmm… so a ship manufactured in Mälardalen was buried in Suffolk? It’s a tricky one. Sean’s aliens must have transported it there. There is no other reasonable explanation.
I am not sure we know the ship was manufactured in Sweden. But you can get a ship from Sweden to East Anglia by, er, sailing it. It doesn't have to be an invasion, and by the time Raedwald or whoever was buried you were a couple of generations along from the original settlers. So it would have been a consensual visit. Or a purchase.
Vikings were rather famous for not just sailing across seas and oceans, but also FAR up rivers.
Russia being a prime example in this regard, indeed Kievian Rus was founded by Vikings or close enough.
Which is apt right now, given apparent connection between Gotland and eastern Ukraine
As has been commented on, this a very weak story in the scheme of things and if this is the best the Sundays can do then No 10 will breath a sigh off relief
More hospitality anecdata, following on from this arvo
Parkway in Camden is absolutely buzzing (and it is a cold if clear night - 4C)
All the restaurants that were desolate last Saturday are bustling tonight, some of the pubs are spilling onto the pavements. A transformation.
Great to see, but a little peculiar. I know business always picks up from the famously dead first two weeks of Jan (even without plague) but this is a quintupling of customers.
The rules have not changed one iota, so this is a mood change. People think it's all over, they don't care any more, everyone who wants a jab has been jabbed. Enough. The first thing PM Sunak should do is get rid of the last restrictions. Next weekend
Deep irony that Boris blows it: just as Britain gets in a Borisovian mood of boosterism and bonhomie
Godalming anecdata - 100% masks in Sainsbury. Ate out with a friend in a pub - half full, staff not masked, some customers masked when they came in, took them off once they sat down. General impression here is that people are relaxing for social life but keeping up masks where it doesn't inconvenience them.
Either that or they're tolerating the rules but will burn their masks the nanosecond that the rules get junked.
Sweden is one of the few countries I'd be happy for us to help defend.
Sweden is one of only a couple of countries En/GB/UK has never been at war with.
(Well, if you ignore that the Sutton Hoo invasion ship was from what is now Sweden; plus a little administrative hiccup during the Napoleonic wars.)
I don't think the the Sutton Hoo find was an invasion ship. It was a ship burial.
Also I’m pretty sure that some of the invading Vikings/Norsemen came from “Sweden” as well as Denmark and Norway, so it’s a stretch to say we’ve never been at war
It’s just that, remarkably, for once, it was someone attacking us rather than us invading them
Denmark in that period stretched into what’s now southern Sweden (Scania), and remained so until the 17th century. The Swedish vikings of the period were more focused to the east, and effectively founded what is now both Ukraine and Russia (don’t tell Putin).
The Swedes like to believe that Swedish vikings were peaceful chaps, just going to Novgorod to trade and found the Rus state.
But there is plenty of evidence that Swedes took part in general Viking-ing. There is a tombstone of a Swedish viking in the archaeology museum in Stockholm, celebrating the fact that he came to England and "took geld three times".
Ireland has no effective air defence capability. This is provided by the RAF.
And we should withdraw it. See where their endless, shrill Britophobia gets them then.
At various points during Covid Irish media was practically exulting over the high levels of UK deaths
Ireland like Sweden is not in NATO, so technically we also no longer have an obligation to defend it. Nor is it a Commonwealth realm either. Though we could still choose to
We'd be nuts to allow the Russian Navy use of Irish ports, so it would be in our self-interest to defend Ireland from any potential antagonist.
I suppose the thing that should be noted that the Torygraph is going after the PM's wife. It was suggested that a couple of days ago the Telegraph was running interference by highlighting it was lots of civil servants parties when Boris wasn't there, but this is hyping up a nothing burger in the way the Mirror does when it doesn't have much.
I presume Boris and Princess Nut Nut are going to be very angry about their supposed supportive paper going for them.
As has been commented on, this a very weak story in the scheme of things and if this is the best the Sundays can do then No 10 will breath a sigh off relief
Yes, the story looks to have passed its critical phase. If Boris can hang on until PMQs is over then he should be safe.
Bloody hell. When I said Putin was thinking of himself as a new Peter the Great, I didn't think that might involve war with Sweden. That would be being rather too literal.
Russians have a bit of a thing about Sweden. We annoy them.
Anyone annoy the English?
Some try...
I’m very trying.
One of the great successes behind the British Empire may well have been that the English are quite hard to annoy. You'll get to disapproval at the drop of a hat, but annoy - rare. And of course we have our brothers in the Empire - the Scots - to thank for that!
I'd also enjoy the confused look on @StuartDickson as the Black Watch fought, under the butcher's apron, to defend his lake house from the Russians.
Much as I value the martial heritage of Scots, I fear for the chances of the several hundred strong battalion of the Black Watch against the 1st Guards Tank Army.
The Black Watch are a loyalist regiment. Raised to protect Hanoverian interests.
Comments
It's everything a nation and people should be.
Battle of Helgeå
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Helgeå
France is clearly the nation that has done the UK the most harm, and vice-versa. Some of it was just plain stupid. You'd be daft to hold that against the average person though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanö
I’m perfectly serious. NATO Is brain dead (as, ironically, macron pointed out)
British soldiers should only die defending AUKUS states and possibly Italy coz I like the Italians
@timloughton
I have regretfully come to the conclusion that Boris Johnson’s position is now untenable, that his resignation is the only way to bring this whole unfortunate episode to an end and I am working with colleagues to impress that view on Number 10.
Even if you compare the same pollster, each reading could fairly easily be two points out either way. That means you can get a change of plus or minus four points without anything really changing.
Step back and look at all the polls together, from a distance, and the landscape is much clearer.
You can see the Paterson Plunge, the little drift upwards when Christmas didn't turn into a disaster, and the next fall is beginning to show in the trendline.
Scotland of course had the invasion of Haakon IV in 1263.
Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer
Conservative Party Chairman Oliver Dowden
Former British number one Laura Robson
Papers with Piers Morgan and Katy Balls
9am, BBC One
https://bbc.in/3fvpOkG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pllRW9wETzw
If Putin turned off the supply of gas to Europe, then being able to shut down the Russian gas industry with cyber attacks would be interesting.
Will more follow? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60005134 https://twitter.com/nickeardleybbc/status/1482466532634599425
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Doomsday
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/sweden-boosts-patrols-gotland-amid-nato-russia-tensions-2022-01-13/
At various points during Covid Irish media was practically exulting over the high levels of UK deaths
(We seem to have changed sides on Charles XII's death though).
Sweden and Finland have long history of common defence procurement/development projects.
Says it was indeed one heck of a trip. In more ways than one.
For now, it's one poll and looks a bit outlier-y, but that's bad.
Pathetic.
The Prime Minister’s wife ‘regrets the momentary lapse in judgement' after breaching social distancing guidelines
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1482466659612905472
Despite Boris Johnson's warning that "you should keep your distance from anyone you don't live with", Mrs Johnson, 33, was pictured embracing a close friend while the pair celebrated the friend's engagement at a private members' club in London's West End.
The pair seemingly shared a joke as they posed for the camera while sitting next to each other on a sofa on the club's outdoor roof terrace.
Mrs Johnson appeared to have her arm around the friend, Anna Pinder, and one of her legs draped over her leg. Ms Pinder's hands were clasped together in her lap.
The embrace, seemingly initiated by Mrs Johnson, stands in stark contrast to the isolation rules members of the public rigidly stuck to.
People have been angered by allegations of parties being held at Number 10 despite coronavirus restrictions, including a young woman who abided by guidance which prevented her from hugging her grandmother at her mother's funeral.
At the time, in September 2020, ministers had warned that Britain was facing a second wave of infections. The law prevented people from gathering in groups of more than six, other than for education, work, weddings and funerals.
But the Prime Minister, together with senior ministers and health officials, stressed that adhering to separate social distancing guidance was key to slowing the spread of Covid-19 and avoiding a second national lockdown.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/01/15/carrie-johnson-pictured-breaking-covid-rules-hugging-friend/
There has be to something better.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/01/15/michael-gove-said-leadership-manoeuvres-courting-tory-mps-dinner/?utm_content=politics&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1642278362
Superb expectation management from Bozo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Doomsday
LAB: 41% (+3)
CON: 27% (-3)
LDM: 11% (+1)
GRN: 8% (-2)
RFM: 5% (-2)
Gives this startling map:
LAB: 344 (+142)
CON: 198 (-167)
SNP: 57 (+9)
LDM: 25 (+14)
PLC: 5 (+1)
GRN: 1 (=)
Others: 1 (+1)
Changes w/ GE2019.
Note that Russian sea & air incursions into Swedish waters & airspace are NOT a rare thing. Nor are Swedish counter-measures.
Unsettling Sweden would fit in with that.
Seizing Gotland would too.
The best quote I have read about an Orgon Accumulator is from the New York professor who forked out to buy one for his wife.
“Do you think it actually works, Professor?”
“Of course it doesn’t work! But she sits in that box for endless hours, and it’s so beautifully peaceful and quiet…”
Tho if one were truly bored one could be titillated by the hint of sapphism.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56477900
https://twitter.com/douglascarswell/status/1482449108245827593?s=21
Is that an MRP?
But let’s get back to reality. Russia is not going to land troops in Gotland. The worst Sweden might get is a few rogue subs or threatening mig fly pasts. No, they’re going to spend their efforts creating yet more frozen conflicts in their former Soviet lands.
Of course this should only apply to countries signing up for common protection. If Sweden and Finland sign up, then we protect them. But if they don't want to commit to others, fuck them if Russia invades.
Russia being a prime example in this regard, indeed Kievian Rus was founded by Vikings or close enough.
Which is apt right now, given apparent connection between Gotland and eastern Ukraine
But there is plenty of evidence that Swedes took part in general Viking-ing. There is a tombstone of a Swedish viking in the archaeology museum in Stockholm, celebrating the fact that he came to England and "took geld three times".
Besides, “Sweden” didn’t even exist then.
I presume Boris and Princess Nut Nut are going to be very angry about their supposed supportive paper going for them.
The Tories popularity has fallen due to the green agenda.
Which has seen a rise in support for a party which also is fully on board with the same agenda.
Is,he just trying to get noticed by spouting shite.
PM DITCHES ALL RULES BUT WILL IT SAVE HIM?
https://twitter.com/hendopolis/status/1482464911863300101?s=20