- Cases are going up again. R above 1 in most regions. So far a fairly small rise. But since the rise is among the oldest groups, first., this means that hospital numbers are being affected.... - Hospital admissions R is above 1 for the first time in a while. - MV beds up slightly - In Hospital up slightly - for both it is interesting how fast a change in cases has come through. Certainly correlates with the observations about Omicron being "quicker" than delta - Deaths down
While we are all watching Ukraine, a new Covid disaster is overtaking Hong Kong, which now has one of the highest death rates ever recorded anywhere
"This #pandemic is gonna make many #experts eat their words, especially those who were ecstatic about HK’s handling of it.
Overwhelmed medics unable to monitor oxygen cylinders for Covid patients at inundated Hong Kong hospitals - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP"
The fact that people who have fled Ukraine are being slowed down in France while they wait to apply for British visas is simply not a humanitarian tragedy or the end of the world. They are out of the warzone and have various options including free rail travel. Unlike other refugees from various global conflicts, they also benefit from enormous public sympathy and goodwill across Europe. People need to get things in to a bit of perspective. It is overly bureaucratic and annoying, but insignificant compared with what the people left in Ukraine are having to deal with. Also, there has to be a long term plan, because we can't simply lift 40+ million people out of danger (and dogs, pets etc) and just hand over the country to the invading Russians. Such a situation would obviously be brilliant for Putin and terrible for us.
Yes, quite
And of course, while the government may be guilty of inertia, red tape, bureaucracy, they actually aren't Nazis, and they probably ARE dealing with tricky issues helping the real Ukrainians, when there are people traffickers who would love to pretend they have boatloads of Ukrainians, but they're actually from Somalia
Meanwhile, half the people whining about it on here do not give an actual fuck, it's yet another proxy battle in the endless Brexit war in their stupid heads, everything Britain does is bad, Patel is a Leaver, Boris got Russian money for his campaign, blah blah fucking blah
Nauseating
There you go with your Brexit thing again. I seriously believe you experience (perhaps subconscious) guilt about your vote, and this compels you to go on about it in every second post.
lol. I refer you to this sentence in your immediately preceding comment:
"this government in particular is still instinctively beholden to its brain dead Brexit ideology about migration, even in the face of opinion polling that shows it is unpopular"
You just can't help yourself. You're so sunk in this toxic madness you aren't even aware that you're doing it
But you want to see a massive fallout between France and Germany, possibly involving skirmishes. Not all of you feels that way, I won't be unfair here, but there's a big part of you that does. This is a more crazy and reprehensible sentiment than being unreconciled to Brexit.
Yes. Of course. I am desperate to see an actual war between France and Germany.
Ahghhhhh....Reports of "Truckloads of Ukrainian Aid stuck in UK due to post-Brexit paperwork: charity workers who are trying to send aid to people in war-torn Ukraine say their donations are spending days stuck at Dover due to complex post-Brexit checks." (PoliticsHome) https://twitter.com/militaryhistori/status/1500889381166587904
Why are they in trucks in Dover
They should be airlifted direct to Poland
The sane approach would be to send money and purchase everything from Poland and or Germany / Surrounding countries.
The second approach is then to ship the stuff by lorry as that is cheaper than air freight.
The charities working with the DEC tend to source stuff locally precisely due to these sort of issues. It may feel good donating goods but most people would be doing more good simply by donating money.
Ahghhhhh....Reports of "Truckloads of Ukrainian Aid stuck in UK due to post-Brexit paperwork: charity workers who are trying to send aid to people in war-torn Ukraine say their donations are spending days stuck at Dover due to complex post-Brexit checks." (PoliticsHome) https://twitter.com/militaryhistori/status/1500889381166587904
Why are they in trucks in Dover
They should be airlifted direct to Poland
The sane approach would be to send money and purchase everything from Poland and or Germany / Surrounding countries.
The second approach is then to ship the stuff by lorry as that is cheaper than air freight.
The head of a charity actually made that point that by donating £40 they would have an immediate impact
And if humanitarian aid convoys are being held by red tape then the EU should exempt such convoys
The fact that people who have fled Ukraine are being slowed down in France while they wait to apply for British visas is simply not a humanitarian tragedy or the end of the world. They are out of the warzone and have various options including free rail travel. Unlike other refugees from various global conflicts, they also benefit from enormous public sympathy and goodwill across Europe. People need to get things in to a bit of perspective. It is overly bureaucratic and annoying, but insignificant compared with what the people left in Ukraine are having to deal with. Also, there has to be a long term plan, because we can't simply lift 40+ million people out of danger (and dogs, pets etc) and just hand over the country to the invading Russians. Such a situation would obviously be brilliant for Putin and terrible for us.
Yes, quite
And of course, while the government may be guilty of inertia, red tape, bureaucracy, they actually aren't Nazis, and they probably ARE dealing with tricky issues helping the real Ukrainians, when there are people traffickers who would love to pretend they have boatloads of Ukrainians, but they're actually from Somalia
Meanwhile, half the people whining about it on here do not give an actual fuck, it's yet another proxy battle in the endless Brexit war in their stupid heads, everything Britain does is bad, Patel is a Leaver, Boris got Russian money for his campaign, blah blah fucking blah
Nauseating
These people have crossed right across Europe, yet nobody along their journey has offered to take them in. Bastards.
No wonder they want to get to the warm bosom of the UK so desperately.
The reports I’ve seen are typically about people with some form of existing UK link.
Typical heartless post from you, I’m afraid.
You don't even live in the UK any more, so why the fuck do you think you have a say on who comes here? Fuck off, you stupid fat fuck
There. I feel better now. Good afternoon, everyone
You’ve been much less funny since Covid impaired your brain. @malcolmg does much better vitriol than you can manage these days.
Ahghhhhh....Reports of "Truckloads of Ukrainian Aid stuck in UK due to post-Brexit paperwork: charity workers who are trying to send aid to people in war-torn Ukraine say their donations are spending days stuck at Dover due to complex post-Brexit checks." (PoliticsHome) https://twitter.com/militaryhistori/status/1500889381166587904
Why are they in trucks in Dover
They should be airlifted direct to Poland
There was a whip round organised by a Ukrainian Yorkshireman back in my homeland, he filled a van up with what he said was needed, telephone and tech cables and pampers etc, and reckoned it would take him 2 days to drive it to Ukraine border. It’s probably people like that getting slowed up?
Don't want to sound grumpy and negative, but wtf? If your phone or cable has been blown to bits almost certainly you have too so there's no net deficit. The urge to send stuff rather than money really is like a clueless aunt buying something she's heard the young like for her nephew at Christmas because it's so much more thoughtful than cash.
Mind you if he intends to fill the vehicle with Ukrainians for the journey back then taking a load of something or other probably makes sense.
Ahghhhhh....Reports of "Truckloads of Ukrainian Aid stuck in UK due to post-Brexit paperwork: charity workers who are trying to send aid to people in war-torn Ukraine say their donations are spending days stuck at Dover due to complex post-Brexit checks." (PoliticsHome) https://twitter.com/militaryhistori/status/1500889381166587904
Why are they in trucks in Dover
They should be airlifted direct to Poland
The sane approach would be to send money and purchase everything from Poland and or Germany / Surrounding countries.
The second approach is then to ship the stuff by lorry as that is cheaper than air freight.
The charities working with the DEC tend to source stuff locally precisely due to these sort of issues. It may feel good donating goods but most people would be doing more good simply by donating money.
Iggzackly. I bet the trucks are full of fluffy toys for the kidzz.
The fact that people who have fled Ukraine are being slowed down in France while they wait to apply for British visas is simply not a humanitarian tragedy or the end of the world. They are out of the warzone and have various options including free rail travel. Unlike other refugees from various global conflicts, they also benefit from enormous public sympathy and goodwill across Europe. People need to get things in to a bit of perspective. It is overly bureaucratic and annoying, but insignificant compared with what the people left in Ukraine are having to deal with. Also, there has to be a long term plan, because we can't simply lift 40+ million people out of danger (and dogs, pets etc) and just hand over the country to the invading Russians. Such a situation would obviously be brilliant for Putin and terrible for us.
Yes, quite
And of course, while the government may be guilty of inertia, red tape, bureaucracy, they actually aren't Nazis, and they probably ARE dealing with tricky issues helping the real Ukrainians, when there are people traffickers who would love to pretend they have boatloads of Ukrainians, but they're actually from Somalia
Meanwhile, half the people whining about it on here do not give an actual fuck, it's yet another proxy battle in the endless Brexit war in their stupid heads, everything Britain does is bad, Patel is a Leaver, Boris got Russian money for his campaign, blah blah fucking blah
Nauseating
These people have crossed right across Europe, yet nobody along their journey has offered to take them in. Bastards.
No wonder they want to get to the warm bosom of the UK so desperately.
The reports I’ve seen are typically about people with some form of existing UK link.
Typical heartless post from you, I’m afraid.
You don't even live in the UK any more, so why the fuck do you think you have a say on who comes here? Fuck off, you stupid fat fuck
There. I feel better now. Good afternoon, everyone
You’ve been much less funny since Covid impaired your brain. @malcolmg does much better vitriol than you can manage these days.
I reserve my pithier remarks for worthy causes
You are not British, and you don't live in Britain, so what gives you the right to lecture the British about who they let in? Butt the fuck out, you dickless freak. Go to americanpoliticalbetting.com and adorn them with your wittering, dreary, mediocre opinions
Quite curious how the same people who think inviting a few thousand refugees into the country is a massive security risk and we will be overrun with Russian sleepers, are simultaneously quite comfortable with billionaires with links to the Russian state, military and security forces paying hundreds of thousands of pounds to get privileged access to Boris Johnson, and as one donor put it "plot" late into the evening over a bottle of wine on Johnson's parliamentary office balcony.
If we're playing subsamples, Labour up to 46% in the E Mids subsample - more than in London. All those Rutland and Lincolnshire workers and intellectuals storming the barricades.
Regarding peacekeeping in Ukraine Macron has achieved nothing so far. The rising commodities prices hitting French consumers will take its tall on his re-election odds
What peace is there to keep in Ukraine, exactly?
Preventing war was a lost cause, but going to Moscow to have a go at that was a sensible thing to try.
so what exactly Macron has achieved there?
UPDATE 3-SocGen warns it could be stripped of Russian business
* French bank has $20 billion of Russia exposure. This is a clear political liability for him
And yet Macron's polling has gone up since the start of the Ukraine crisis. In mid-February, he was on 24-25% in the polls, and now he's 29-30%.
So, when you say "political liability", do you mean "great thing for his polling"?
The polling is absurd. I expect the polling figures to change dramatically in early April. What exactly has Macron won for France? Ukrainian refuges ? sky-high gas prices? the possibility of a nuclear conflict/incident in Europe?
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not true.
Also - don't you perhaps think that Vladimir Putin is responsible for the Ukrainian refugees, rather than Emmanuel Macron?
Macron is weak, that's why Putin attacked. If the French prefer to see Macron as a hero and great administrator, well, let's see...
So, Putin attacked Ukraine because Macron is weak?
It's all Macron's fault, huh?
God, there was me thinking it was Putin's fault for sending troops in, and killing civilians, when it was actually all Macron's fault all along.
Well, you live and learn.
Thanks @d_d for being such an asset to this site. How do you do it? This penetrating analysis is beyond compare.
so you still don't get it, huh
Putin is responsible for Putin's actions.
No-one else.
this question is not about Putin. What exactly Macron is supposed to do to combat commodity and food supply shocks ? How happy will be a French consumer ? But wait perhaps Macron will be re-elected for the third time for his geniusness
Ah, so we shouldn't stand up to dictators invading other countries, because it might lead to (temporarily) higher costs for consumers.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss refuses three times to say that she believes Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a "war of aggression" because she doesn't understand what it means.
Tugendhat Becomes leader in the summer is my thinking this week.
You’d get cracking odds on him as next leader and next PM.
Not really. He is only 9-1 for next PM. I’m on Harper at 40-1 for outside bet. Hunt won’t stand, he’ll back Tugendhat. I know Mike Smithson bigged up Boris chances of surviving this year in a previous header, I just laughed at that, it’s just not true. TSE is right, when Big dog gets the snip no one from the current cabinet will get the job. They are all discredited by being in the Boris government now.
The fact that people who have fled Ukraine are being slowed down in France while they wait to apply for British visas is simply not a humanitarian tragedy or the end of the world. They are out of the warzone and have various options including free rail travel. Unlike other refugees from various global conflicts, they also benefit from enormous public sympathy and goodwill across Europe. People need to get things in to a bit of perspective. It is overly bureaucratic and annoying, but insignificant compared with what the people left in Ukraine are having to deal with. Also, there has to be a long term plan, because we can't simply lift 40+ million people out of danger (and dogs, pets etc) and just hand over the country to the invading Russians. Such a situation would obviously be brilliant for Putin and terrible for us.
Yes, quite
And of course, while the government may be guilty of inertia, red tape, bureaucracy, they actually aren't Nazis, and they probably ARE dealing with tricky issues helping the real Ukrainians, when there are people traffickers who would love to pretend they have boatloads of Ukrainians, but they're actually from Somalia
Meanwhile, half the people whining about it on here do not give an actual fuck, it's yet another proxy battle in the endless Brexit war in their stupid heads, everything Britain does is bad, Patel is a Leaver, Boris got Russian money for his campaign, blah blah fucking blah
Nauseating
These people have crossed right across Europe, yet nobody along their journey has offered to take them in. Bastards.
No wonder they want to get to the warm bosom of the UK so desperately.
The reports I’ve seen are typically about people with some form of existing UK link.
Typical heartless post from you, I’m afraid.
You don't even live in the UK any more, so why the fuck do you think you have a say on who comes here? Fuck off, you stupid fat fuck
There. I feel better now. Good afternoon, everyone
You’ve been much less funny since Covid impaired your brain. @malcolmg does much better vitriol than you can manage these days.
I reserve my pithier remarks for worthy causes
You are not British, and you don't live in Britain, so what gives you the right to lecture the British about who they let in? Butt the fuck out, you dickless freak. Go to americanpoliticalbetting.com and adorn them with your wittering, dreary, mediocre opinions
I am British, though.
I genuinely can’t be arsed with US politics, tbh. it is just way too fucked up.
The fact that people who have fled Ukraine are being slowed down in France while they wait to apply for British visas is simply not a humanitarian tragedy or the end of the world. They are out of the warzone and have various options including free rail travel. Unlike other refugees from various global conflicts, they also benefit from enormous public sympathy and goodwill across Europe. People need to get things in to a bit of perspective. It is overly bureaucratic and annoying, but insignificant compared with what the people left in Ukraine are having to deal with. Also, there has to be a long term plan, because we can't simply lift 40+ million people out of danger (and dogs, pets etc) and just hand over the country to the invading Russians. Such a situation would obviously be brilliant for Putin and terrible for us.
Yes, quite
And of course, while the government may be guilty of inertia, red tape, bureaucracy, they actually aren't Nazis, and they probably ARE dealing with tricky issues helping the real Ukrainians, when there are people traffickers who would love to pretend they have boatloads of Ukrainians, but they're actually from Somalia
Meanwhile, half the people whining about it on here do not give an actual fuck, it's yet another proxy battle in the endless Brexit war in their stupid heads, everything Britain does is bad, Patel is a Leaver, Boris got Russian money for his campaign, blah blah fucking blah
Nauseating
There you go with your Brexit thing again. I seriously believe you experience (perhaps subconscious) guilt about your vote, and this compels you to go on about it in every second post.
lol. I refer you to this sentence in your immediately preceding comment:
"this government in particular is still instinctively beholden to its brain dead Brexit ideology about migration, even in the face of opinion polling that shows it is unpopular"
You just can't help yourself. You're so sunk in this toxic madness you aren't even aware that you're doing it
But you want to see a massive fallout between France and Germany, possibly involving skirmishes. Not all of you feels that way, I won't be unfair here, but there's a big part of you that does. This is a more crazy and reprehensible sentiment than being unreconciled to Brexit.
Yes. Of course. I am desperate to see an actual war between France and Germany.
Do you actually believe this bilge?
You want them to be in a state of huge and semi permanent huffiness with each other so UKokers like yourself can caper about on the sidelines indulging in schadenfreudewanking.
Quite curious how the same people who think inviting a few thousand refugees into the country is a massive security risk and we will be overrun with Russian sleepers, are simultaneously quite comfortable with billionaires with links to the Russian state, military and security forces paying hundreds of thousands of pounds to get privileged access to Boris Johnson, and as one donor put it "plot" late into the evening over a bottle of wine on Johnson's parliamentary office balcony.
We have given more golden visas to Russian donors than we have admitted Ukrainian refugees
As the prospect of a red wave grows, a series of Republican missteps including recruiting stumbles, weak fundraising and intense infighting is threatening the GOP’s path to the Senate majority.
Arizona’s Republican Gov. Doug Ducey dealt his party its latest setback late last week by announcing he would not challenge Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly this fall. His decision, which leaves no obvious front-runner in a crowded Republican primary, disappointed Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and his allies who had spent months privately encouraging Ducey to run. . . .
Republican candidates in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada are struggling to keep pace with Democratic fundraising. Recruiting failures have dashed GOP hopes in reach states like Maryland and threaten a prime pickup opportunity in New Hampshire. And a recent plan that would raise taxes on low-income Americans and seniors, released by the Republican Senate midterm chief, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, is putting GOP candidates in a difficult position across states like Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. . . .
Scott, the leader of the GOP’s Senate midterm efforts, released an 11-point plan late last month that would impose a modest tax increase for many of the lowest paid Americans, while opening the door for cutting Social Security and Medicare. The Senate Democrats’ political arm released a radio ad within 24 hours declaring, “If Senate Republicans win, we pay the price.” . . .
The Senate Republican leader forcefully rebuked Scott’s plan during the Republican leadership’s weekly news conference, which Scott was part of.
“Let me tell you what would not be a part of our agenda,” McConnell said moments after Scott stepped away from the event. “We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half of the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years.” . . .
In Nevada, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, one of the nation’s most endangered Democrats, reported $10.5 million cash on hand at the end of last year, compared to Republican former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt’s $1.7 million.
Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock finished the year with $22.9 million in the bank, while likely Republican challenger Herschel Walker, the former football star who has been endorsed by Trump, reported $5.4 million.
And Arizona Democrat Kelly, a former astronaut who won a 2020 special election to serve out the final two years of the late Sen. John McCain’s term, reported $18.6 million in the bank. Arizona’s Republican state Attorney General Mark Brnovich, the best-known Republican in a crowded primary field, reported less than $800,000 in the bank. . . .
But, seriously, the trend for Boris looks quite promising (for him) judging by a quick scan I had of the figures. I think that is worrying because for everyone's sakes he really needs to go. But it just ain't happening is it?
I'm not brave enough to predict he definitely fights the 2024 election but I cannot see how he departs before summer 2023 (May 2023 elections are admittedly a much more pivotal set of elections for the Tories).
Boris has risen from -31 to -7 (+24) in two weeks and Rishi is +15 (+12)
Russia says their expectations from the negotiations haven't been met and there has been no agreement.
Really not sure what the purpose of all this is other than, hopefully, agreeing genuine humanitarian corridors. Ukraine's not ready to surrender and Russia's not ready to halt their invasion, so not that much to talk about sadly.
The fact that people who have fled Ukraine are being slowed down in France while they wait to apply for British visas is simply not a humanitarian tragedy or the end of the world. They are out of the warzone and have various options including free rail travel. Unlike other refugees from various global conflicts, they also benefit from enormous public sympathy and goodwill across Europe. People need to get things in to a bit of perspective. It is overly bureaucratic and annoying, but insignificant compared with what the people left in Ukraine are having to deal with. Also, there has to be a long term plan, because we can't simply lift 40+ million people out of danger (and dogs, pets etc) and just hand over the country to the invading Russians. Such a situation would obviously be brilliant for Putin and terrible for us.
Yes, quite
And of course, while the government may be guilty of inertia, red tape, bureaucracy, they actually aren't Nazis, and they probably ARE dealing with tricky issues helping the real Ukrainians, when there are people traffickers who would love to pretend they have boatloads of Ukrainians, but they're actually from Somalia
Meanwhile, half the people whining about it on here do not give an actual fuck, it's yet another proxy battle in the endless Brexit war in their stupid heads, everything Britain does is bad, Patel is a Leaver, Boris got Russian money for his campaign, blah blah fucking blah
Nauseating
These people have crossed right across Europe, yet nobody along their journey has offered to take them in. Bastards.
No wonder they want to get to the warm bosom of the UK so desperately.
The reports I’ve seen are typically about people with some form of existing UK link.
Typical heartless post from you, I’m afraid.
You don't even live in the UK any more, so why the fuck do you think you have a say on who comes here? Fuck off, you stupid fat fuck
There. I feel better now. Good afternoon, everyone
You’ve been much less funny since Covid impaired your brain. @malcolmg does much better vitriol than you can manage these days.
I reserve my pithier remarks for worthy causes
You are not British, and you don't live in Britain, so what gives you the right to lecture the British about who they let in? Butt the fuck out, you dickless freak. Go to americanpoliticalbetting.com and adorn them with your wittering, dreary, mediocre opinions
Bit unfair of him to compare you with the Salmond bum licking amoeba-brain.
I, like many others, have been dismayed at some of the reports about how the UK is managing Ukrainian refugees. If Priti Patel really has screwed this up in the way it has been reported then she needs to be removed ASAP. Emergencies like this soon sort the wheat from the chaff.
Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be affecting the positive way UK is seen in Ukraine itself, where the early efforts to support, supply and train seem to be appreciated. Looks like that investment was well worth it, to say the least.
It isn't if. Its a fact. We are not letting refugees in without an approved visa which they have to complete somewhere else. This is a unique way to handle refugees where HM Border Force turn away people fleeing the war and stop them coming to stay with friends / relatives.
Ah, there you go again, pretending that the situation of people in Ukraine trying to get into Poland is identical to people in France trying to get into the UK.
Every country in Europe, not just Poland.
If you think the forrin should be kept away that's fine - Patel is doing this for you. Some of us have humanity still.
No she isn't. She has completely failed to stop immigration. We haven't even got to the point of being able to distinguish between the immigrants we want and the immigrants we don't.
Listen to Sir Edward Leigh. A stack of people don't want *any* immigrants. At all.
That’s true, but they are a tiny minority.
They way you go on about this, and normally you’re pretty level headed, is as if we’re an island of Tommy Robinson’s which we clearly are not.
I am really disappointed in @RochdalePioneers recent rants which do not relate to the discussions in the HOC and the contributions by conservative mps
I was directly quoting from a contribution by a Conservative MP. Then posted verbatim his entire contribution and a link.
How is posting Sir Edward Leigh's entire diatribe me "ranting" in a way which does not relate to contributions by Conservative MPs like Sir Edward Leigh?
Its very very simple. Every country in Europe has opened its doors to Ukrainian refugees. All of them. Except one. Personally I am disgusted by this. Others are not. Me posting verbatim comments by Tory MPs demonstrating why we stand alone in closing our door to refugees is not me performing "recent rants".
You are demonising conservatives by highlighting one disgusting mp who does nor represent HMG
You may as well attack labour who have pro Putin mps on their benches
You are better than this
You are whining about how unfair Rochdale is highlighting Edward Leigh and how his view dovetails with Priti Patel's "current" Ukrainian refugee policy. You then claim Leigh is not representative of the wider Conservative Party. And I would hope he isn't. Yet you yourself last week were demanding Starmer's head for his failure to expel his "Stop the War" MPs.
What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander?
Regarding peacekeeping in Ukraine Macron has achieved nothing so far. The rising commodities prices hitting French consumers will take its tall on his re-election odds
What peace is there to keep in Ukraine, exactly?
Preventing war was a lost cause, but going to Moscow to have a go at that was a sensible thing to try.
so what exactly Macron has achieved there?
UPDATE 3-SocGen warns it could be stripped of Russian business
* French bank has $20 billion of Russia exposure. This is a clear political liability for him
And yet Macron's polling has gone up since the start of the Ukraine crisis. In mid-February, he was on 24-25% in the polls, and now he's 29-30%.
So, when you say "political liability", do you mean "great thing for his polling"?
The polling is absurd. I expect the polling figures to change dramatically in early April. What exactly has Macron won for France? Ukrainian refuges ? sky-high gas prices? the possibility of a nuclear conflict/incident in Europe?
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not true.
Also - don't you perhaps think that Vladimir Putin is responsible for the Ukrainian refugees, rather than Emmanuel Macron?
Macron is weak, that's why Putin attacked. If the French prefer to see Macron as a hero and great administrator, well, let's see...
So, Putin attacked Ukraine because Macron is weak?
It's all Macron's fault, huh?
God, there was me thinking it was Putin's fault for sending troops in, and killing civilians, when it was actually all Macron's fault all along.
Well, you live and learn.
Thanks @d_d for being such an asset to this site. How do you do it? This penetrating analysis is beyond compare.
so you still don't get it, huh
Putin is responsible for Putin's actions.
No-one else.
this question is not about Putin. What exactly Macron is supposed to do to combat commodity and food supply shocks ? How happy will be a French consumer ? But wait perhaps Macron will be re-elected for the third time for his geniusness
Ah, so we shouldn't stand up to dictators invading other countries, because it might lead to (temporarily) higher costs for consumers.
I fear a more common view that we'd like. Few so direct though.
Rishi does indeed seem a busted flush. It’s possible he’d be a better PM than Chancellor though.
His Mais lecture was very interesting in that it demonstrated real attention to detail about various micro-economic policy instruments, but a woeful ignorance about macroeconomics.
His strategy for the UK? Build an “enterprise culture.”
As Martin Wolf asks in the FT, what the fuck has Britain been doing for the past 40 years?
Russia says their expectations from the negotiations haven't been met and there has been no agreement.
Really not sure what the purpose of all this is other than, hopefully, agreeing genuine humanitarian corridors. Ukraine's not ready to surrender and Russia's not ready to halt their invasion, so not that much to talk about sadly.
Given that Russia shelled the first two attempts and mined the route of the third - I wouldn't exactly be trusting those corridors.
The fact that people who have fled Ukraine are being slowed down in France while they wait to apply for British visas is simply not a humanitarian tragedy or the end of the world. They are out of the warzone and have various options including free rail travel. Unlike other refugees from various global conflicts, they also benefit from enormous public sympathy and goodwill across Europe. People need to get things in to a bit of perspective. It is overly bureaucratic and annoying, but insignificant compared with what the people left in Ukraine are having to deal with. Also, there has to be a long term plan, because we can't simply lift 40+ million people out of danger (and dogs, pets etc) and just hand over the country to the invading Russians. Such a situation would obviously be brilliant for Putin and terrible for us.
Yes, quite
And of course, while the government may be guilty of inertia, red tape, bureaucracy, they actually aren't Nazis, and they probably ARE dealing with tricky issues helping the real Ukrainians, when there are people traffickers who would love to pretend they have boatloads of Ukrainians, but they're actually from Somalia
Meanwhile, half the people whining about it on here do not give an actual fuck, it's yet another proxy battle in the endless Brexit war in their stupid heads, everything Britain does is bad, Patel is a Leaver, Boris got Russian money for his campaign, blah blah fucking blah
Nauseating
These people have crossed right across Europe, yet nobody along their journey has offered to take them in. Bastards.
No wonder they want to get to the warm bosom of the UK so desperately.
The reports I’ve seen are typically about people with some form of existing UK link.
Typical heartless post from you, I’m afraid.
You don't even live in the UK any more, so why the fuck do you think you have a say on who comes here? Fuck off, you stupid fat fuck
There. I feel better now. Good afternoon, everyone
You’ve been much less funny since Covid impaired your brain. @malcolmg does much better vitriol than you can manage these days.
I reserve my pithier remarks for worthy causes
You are not British, and you don't live in Britain, so what gives you the right to lecture the British about who they let in? Butt the fuck out, you dickless freak. Go to americanpoliticalbetting.com and adorn them with your wittering, dreary, mediocre opinions
I am British, though.
I genuinely can’t be arsed with US politics, tbh. it is just way too fucked up.
I thought you were a Kiwi?
I agree with you about American politics, of course. Insanely polarised and nasty. It makes our Brexit row look cordial
American politics is like the trans-terf social media battle - multiplied by a trillion and imposed on the entire population of a global superpower
The fact that people who have fled Ukraine are being slowed down in France while they wait to apply for British visas is simply not a humanitarian tragedy or the end of the world. They are out of the warzone and have various options including free rail travel. Unlike other refugees from various global conflicts, they also benefit from enormous public sympathy and goodwill across Europe. People need to get things in to a bit of perspective. It is overly bureaucratic and annoying, but insignificant compared with what the people left in Ukraine are having to deal with. Also, there has to be a long term plan, because we can't simply lift 40+ million people out of danger (and dogs, pets etc) and just hand over the country to the invading Russians. Such a situation would obviously be brilliant for Putin and terrible for us.
Yes, quite
And of course, while the government may be guilty of inertia, red tape, bureaucracy, they actually aren't Nazis, and they probably ARE dealing with tricky issues helping the real Ukrainians, when there are people traffickers who would love to pretend they have boatloads of Ukrainians, but they're actually from Somalia
Meanwhile, half the people whining about it on here do not give an actual fuck, it's yet another proxy battle in the endless Brexit war in their stupid heads, everything Britain does is bad, Patel is a Leaver, Boris got Russian money for his campaign, blah blah fucking blah
Nauseating
There you go with your Brexit thing again. I seriously believe you experience (perhaps subconscious) guilt about your vote, and this compels you to go on about it in every second post.
lol. I refer you to this sentence in your immediately preceding comment:
"this government in particular is still instinctively beholden to its brain dead Brexit ideology about migration, even in the face of opinion polling that shows it is unpopular"
You just can't help yourself. You're so sunk in this toxic madness you aren't even aware that you're doing it
But you want to see a massive fallout between France and Germany, possibly involving skirmishes. Not all of you feels that way, I won't be unfair here, but there's a big part of you that does. This is a more crazy and reprehensible sentiment than being unreconciled to Brexit.
Yes. Of course. I am desperate to see an actual war between France and Germany.
Do you actually believe this bilge?
You want them to be in a state of huge and semi permanent huffiness with each other so UKokers like yourself can caper about on the sidelines indulging in schadenfreudewanking.
Russia says their expectations from the negotiations haven't been met and there has been no agreement.
Really not sure what the purpose of all this is other than, hopefully, agreeing genuine humanitarian corridors. Ukraine's not ready to surrender and Russia's not ready to halt their invasion, so not that much to talk about sadly.
Given that Russia shelled the first two attempts and mined the route of the third - I wouldn't exactly be trusting those corridors.
That's 'hopefully' as in 'it would be nice if that happened' as opposed to thinking they'd be lucky enough to agree and then stick to it.
Rishi does indeed seem a busted flush. It’s possible he’d be a better PM than Chancellor though.
His Mais lecture was very interesting in that it demonstrated real attention to detail about various micro-economic policy instruments, but a woeful ignorance about macroeconomics.
His strategy for the UK? Build an “enterprise culture.”
As Martin Wolf asks in the FT, what the fuck has Britain been doing for the past 40 years?
The fact that people who have fled Ukraine are being slowed down in France while they wait to apply for British visas is simply not a humanitarian tragedy or the end of the world. They are out of the warzone and have various options including free rail travel. Unlike other refugees from various global conflicts, they also benefit from enormous public sympathy and goodwill across Europe. People need to get things in to a bit of perspective. It is overly bureaucratic and annoying, but insignificant compared with what the people left in Ukraine are having to deal with. Also, there has to be a long term plan, because we can't simply lift 40+ million people out of danger (and dogs, pets etc) and just hand over the country to the invading Russians. Such a situation would obviously be brilliant for Putin and terrible for us.
Yes, quite
And of course, while the government may be guilty of inertia, red tape, bureaucracy, they actually aren't Nazis, and they probably ARE dealing with tricky issues helping the real Ukrainians, when there are people traffickers who would love to pretend they have boatloads of Ukrainians, but they're actually from Somalia
Meanwhile, half the people whining about it on here do not give an actual fuck, it's yet another proxy battle in the endless Brexit war in their stupid heads, everything Britain does is bad, Patel is a Leaver, Boris got Russian money for his campaign, blah blah fucking blah
Nauseating
These people have crossed right across Europe, yet nobody along their journey has offered to take them in. Bastards.
No wonder they want to get to the warm bosom of the UK so desperately.
The reports I’ve seen are typically about people with some form of existing UK link.
Typical heartless post from you, I’m afraid.
You don't even live in the UK any more, so why the fuck do you think you have a say on who comes here? Fuck off, you stupid fat fuck
There. I feel better now. Good afternoon, everyone
You’ve been much less funny since Covid impaired your brain. @malcolmg does much better vitriol than you can manage these days.
I reserve my pithier remarks for worthy causes
You are not British, and you don't live in Britain, so what gives you the right to lecture the British about who they let in? Butt the fuck out, you dickless freak. Go to americanpoliticalbetting.com and adorn them with your wittering, dreary, mediocre opinions
I am British, though.
I genuinely can’t be arsed with US politics, tbh. it is just way too fucked up.
I thought you were a Kiwi?
I agree with you about American politics, of course. Insanely polarised and nasty. It makes our Brexit row look cordial
American politics is like the trans-terf social media battle - multiplied by a trillion and imposed on the entire population of a global superpower
I have dual nationality.
Not only is US politics stupidly polarised, it’s also obsessed with various issues (guns, abortion, critical race theory) that I don’t give much of a shit about.
Rishi does indeed seem a busted flush. It’s possible he’d be a better PM than Chancellor though.
His Mais lecture was very interesting in that it demonstrated real attention to detail about various micro-economic policy instruments, but a woeful ignorance about macroeconomics.
His strategy for the UK? Build an “enterprise culture.”
As Martin Wolf asks in the FT, what the fuck has Britain been doing for the past 40 years?
The fact that people who have fled Ukraine are being slowed down in France while they wait to apply for British visas is simply not a humanitarian tragedy or the end of the world. They are out of the warzone and have various options including free rail travel. Unlike other refugees from various global conflicts, they also benefit from enormous public sympathy and goodwill across Europe. People need to get things in to a bit of perspective. It is overly bureaucratic and annoying, but insignificant compared with what the people left in Ukraine are having to deal with. Also, there has to be a long term plan, because we can't simply lift 40+ million people out of danger (and dogs, pets etc) and just hand over the country to the invading Russians. Such a situation would obviously be brilliant for Putin and terrible for us.
Yes, quite
And of course, while the government may be guilty of inertia, red tape, bureaucracy, they actually aren't Nazis, and they probably ARE dealing with tricky issues helping the real Ukrainians, when there are people traffickers who would love to pretend they have boatloads of Ukrainians, but they're actually from Somalia
Meanwhile, half the people whining about it on here do not give an actual fuck, it's yet another proxy battle in the endless Brexit war in their stupid heads, everything Britain does is bad, Patel is a Leaver, Boris got Russian money for his campaign, blah blah fucking blah
Nauseating
These people have crossed right across Europe, yet nobody along their journey has offered to take them in. Bastards.
No wonder they want to get to the warm bosom of the UK so desperately.
The reports I’ve seen are typically about people with some form of existing UK link.
Typical heartless post from you, I’m afraid.
You don't even live in the UK any more, so why the fuck do you think you have a say on who comes here? Fuck off, you stupid fat fuck
There. I feel better now. Good afternoon, everyone
You’ve been much less funny since Covid impaired your brain. @malcolmg does much better vitriol than you can manage these days.
I reserve my pithier remarks for worthy causes
You are not British, and you don't live in Britain, so what gives you the right to lecture the British about who they let in? Butt the fuck out, you dickless freak. Go to americanpoliticalbetting.com and adorn them with your wittering, dreary, mediocre opinions
I am British, though.
I genuinely can’t be arsed with US politics, tbh. it is just way too fucked up.
I thought you were a Kiwi?
I agree with you about American politics, of course. Insanely polarised and nasty. It makes our Brexit row look cordial
American politics is like the trans-terf social media battle - multiplied by a trillion and imposed on the entire population of a global superpower
I have dual nationality.
Not only is US politics stupidly polarised, it’s also obsessed with various issues (guns, abortion, critical race theory) that I don’t give much of a shit about.
Ahghhhhh....Reports of "Truckloads of Ukrainian Aid stuck in UK due to post-Brexit paperwork: charity workers who are trying to send aid to people in war-torn Ukraine say their donations are spending days stuck at Dover due to complex post-Brexit checks." (PoliticsHome) https://twitter.com/militaryhistori/status/1500889381166587904
Why are they in trucks in Dover
They should be airlifted direct to Poland
There was a whip round organised by a Ukrainian Yorkshireman back in my homeland, he filled a van up with what he said was needed, telephone and tech cables and pampers etc, and reckoned it would take him 2 days to drive it to Ukraine border. It’s probably people like that getting slowed up?
Don't want to sound grumpy and negative, but wtf? If your phone or cable has been blown to bits almost certainly you have too so there's no net deficit. The urge to send stuff rather than money really is like a clueless aunt buying something she's heard the young like for her nephew at Christmas because it's so much more thoughtful than cash.
Mind you if he intends to fill the vehicle with Ukrainians for the journey back then taking a load of something or other probably makes sense.
Maybe people feel they want to do something, so it happens?
You make a good point, the receiving country has pampers for the baby and charger cable you forgot to rescuer from the rubble, but maybe he had been talking to people at border on phone and it’s what they asking for, whilst queuing up in cars to get in the countries? But maybe they across border but chargers to keep phone and other tech going and nappies are all in short supply?
If he had filled up with Ukrainians for trip back then that’s a much longer wait at customs ☹️
But, seriously, the trend for Boris looks quite promising (for him) judging by a quick scan I had of the figures. I think that is worrying because for everyone's sakes he really needs to go. But it just ain't happening is it?
I'm not brave enough to predict he definitely fights the 2024 election but I cannot see how he departs before summer 2023 (May 2023 elections are admittedly a much more pivotal set of elections for the Tories).
Boris has risen from -31 to -7 (+24) in two weeks and Rishi is +15 (+12)
That's an incredible surge for Boris. Is he actually going to shrug off Partygate?
I guess a huge war in Europe, and potential nuclear apocalypse, is the kind of thing that might just do that. And he is having a good war. Involved, animated, sensible
I suspect some of the hysterical shrieking about Ukrainian refugees cruelly stuck in, er, France, by Bojo's insane Nazism, is actually sublimated anger that Boris seems to be escaping his Nemesis
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday defended his government’s treatment of Ukrainians fleeing war, after France accused U.K. authorities of “inhumane” behavior towards the refugees.
Johnson said Britain was being “very, very generous,” but wouldn’t have “a system where people can come into the U.K. without any checks or any controls at all.”
Britain says it expects to take in as many as 200,000 Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s invasion, and has set no upper limit on the number it will accept.
But very few have managed to reach Britain so far. The Home Office said “around 50” visas had been granted by Sunday, though Johnson said Monday he wasn’t sure that number was correct.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Sunday that hundreds of Ukrainian refugees in the English Channel port of Calais had been turned away and told by British authorities that they must obtain visas at U.K. embassies in Paris or Brussels.
Calling that “a bit inhumane,” Darmanin urged Britain to “stop the technocratic nit-picking” and be more generous. He said he had urged Britain to set up a consulate in Calais to deal with applications.
Home Secretary Priti Patel denied Britain was turning anyone away, though the British government confirmed Monday that it didn’t have a visa center in Calais, meaning applications need to be made elsewhere.
Patel said Britain had set up a visa application center “en route to Calais” but not at the port, to avoid bottlenecks.
“It is wrong to say we’re just turning people back, we’re absolutely not, we’re supporting those that have been coming to Calais,” she said in the House of Commons.
European Union nations are allowing Ukrainians live and work for up to three years without having to go through a formal asylum-seeking process. The U.K., which left the bloc last year, isn’t waiving the paperwork, citing security reasons, though it is loosening its rules.
Ukrainians based in Britain can bring over family members, including spouses, parents and children. The government has also announced a separate route for groups in the U.K. to sponsor Ukrainian refugees, but details of that were still being worked out.
Patel said the U.K. was flying staff out to countries neighboring Ukraine “so we can fast-track and speed up applications.”
The United Nations says more than 1.7 million people have fled the war in Ukraine, in what it calls Europe’s fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II.
Rishi does indeed seem a busted flush. It’s possible he’d be a better PM than Chancellor though.
His Mais lecture was very interesting in that it demonstrated real attention to detail about various micro-economic policy instruments, but a woeful ignorance about macroeconomics.
His strategy for the UK? Build an “enterprise culture.”
As Martin Wolf asks in the FT, what the fuck has Britain been doing for the past 40 years?
Rishi does indeed seem a busted flush. It’s possible he’d be a better PM than Chancellor though.
His Mais lecture was very interesting in that it demonstrated real attention to detail about various micro-economic policy instruments, but a woeful ignorance about macroeconomics.
His strategy for the UK? Build an “enterprise culture.”
As Martin Wolf asks in the FT, what the fuck has Britain been doing for the past 40 years?
Weird poll. He’s been pretty invisible during the current crisis (rightly so).
The heir apparent gets a boost by default from people wanting to give the Tories some credit for some parts of the crisis being well handled, I assume.
I, like many others, have been dismayed at some of the reports about how the UK is managing Ukrainian refugees. If Priti Patel really has screwed this up in the way it has been reported then she needs to be removed ASAP. Emergencies like this soon sort the wheat from the chaff.
Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be affecting the positive way UK is seen in Ukraine itself, where the early efforts to support, supply and train seem to be appreciated. Looks like that investment was well worth it, to say the least.
It isn't if. Its a fact. We are not letting refugees in without an approved visa which they have to complete somewhere else. This is a unique way to handle refugees where HM Border Force turn away people fleeing the war and stop them coming to stay with friends / relatives.
Ah, there you go again, pretending that the situation of people in Ukraine trying to get into Poland is identical to people in France trying to get into the UK.
Every country in Europe, not just Poland.
If you think the forrin should be kept away that's fine - Patel is doing this for you. Some of us have humanity still.
No she isn't. She has completely failed to stop immigration. We haven't even got to the point of being able to distinguish between the immigrants we want and the immigrants we don't.
Listen to Sir Edward Leigh. A stack of people don't want *any* immigrants. At all.
That’s true, but they are a tiny minority.
They way you go on about this, and normally you’re pretty level headed, is as if we’re an island of Tommy Robinson’s which we clearly are not.
I am really disappointed in @RochdalePioneers recent rants which do not relate to the discussions in the HOC and the contributions by conservative mps
I was directly quoting from a contribution by a Conservative MP. Then posted verbatim his entire contribution and a link.
How is posting Sir Edward Leigh's entire diatribe me "ranting" in a way which does not relate to contributions by Conservative MPs like Sir Edward Leigh?
Its very very simple. Every country in Europe has opened its doors to Ukrainian refugees. All of them. Except one. Personally I am disgusted by this. Others are not. Me posting verbatim comments by Tory MPs demonstrating why we stand alone in closing our door to refugees is not me performing "recent rants".
You are demonising conservatives by highlighting one disgusting mp who does nor represent HMG
You may as well attack labour who have pro Putin mps on their benches
You are better than this
You are whining about how unfair Rochdale is highlighting Edward Leigh and how his view dovetails with Priti Patel's "current" Ukrainian refugee policy. You then claim Leigh is not representative of the wider Conservative Party. And I would hope he isn't. Yet you yourself last week were demanding Starmer's head for his failure to expel his "Stop the War" MPs.
What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander?
Apple with Goose? Or a cherry and wine sauce?
I last week made the point that while I strongly disagree with the Stop the War lot, it's a point if view which at least merits the space to articulate it, and which also merits representation. It shouldn't be unsayable. I'd make the same point about Edward Leigh. I don't agree with what I think his point is, but simply saying that that point of view is beyond the pale and unsayable is dangerous (and moreover, doesn't work).
The fact that people who have fled Ukraine are being slowed down in France while they wait to apply for British visas is simply not a humanitarian tragedy or the end of the world. They are out of the warzone and have various options including free rail travel. Unlike other refugees from various global conflicts, they also benefit from enormous public sympathy and goodwill across Europe. People need to get things in to a bit of perspective. It is overly bureaucratic and annoying, but insignificant compared with what the people left in Ukraine are having to deal with. Also, there has to be a long term plan, because we can't simply lift 40+ million people out of danger (and dogs, pets etc) and just hand over the country to the invading Russians. Such a situation would obviously be brilliant for Putin and terrible for us.
Yes, quite
And of course, while the government may be guilty of inertia, red tape, bureaucracy, they actually aren't Nazis, and they probably ARE dealing with tricky issues helping the real Ukrainians, when there are people traffickers who would love to pretend they have boatloads of Ukrainians, but they're actually from Somalia
Meanwhile, half the people whining about it on here do not give an actual fuck, it's yet another proxy battle in the endless Brexit war in their stupid heads, everything Britain does is bad, Patel is a Leaver, Boris got Russian money for his campaign, blah blah fucking blah
Nauseating
These people have crossed right across Europe, yet nobody along their journey has offered to take them in. Bastards.
No wonder they want to get to the warm bosom of the UK so desperately.
The reports I’ve seen are typically about people with some form of existing UK link.
Typical heartless post from you, I’m afraid.
You don't even live in the UK any more, so why the fuck do you think you have a say on who comes here? Fuck off, you stupid fat fuck
There. I feel better now. Good afternoon, everyone
You’ve been much less funny since Covid impaired your brain. @malcolmg does much better vitriol than you can manage these days.
I reserve my pithier remarks for worthy causes
You are not British, and you don't live in Britain, so what gives you the right to lecture the British about who they let in? Butt the fuck out, you dickless freak. Go to americanpoliticalbetting.com and adorn them with your wittering, dreary, mediocre opinions
I am British, though.
I genuinely can’t be arsed with US politics, tbh. it is just way too fucked up.
I thought you were a Kiwi?
I agree with you about American politics, of course. Insanely polarised and nasty. It makes our Brexit row look cordial
American politics is like the trans-terf social media battle - multiplied by a trillion and imposed on the entire population of a global superpower
I have dual nationality.
Not only is US politics stupidly polarised, it’s also obsessed with various issues (guns, abortion, critical race theory) that I don’t give much of a shit about.
My eldest has dual UK-NZ nationality
It’s a good position to be in.
NZ passports are highly covetable in these apocalyptic times.
They are also massive snowflakes, always whinging about people saying mean things about them. It's odd when they also want to project massive strength and lack of concern about the West's actions.
Regarding peacekeeping in Ukraine Macron has achieved nothing so far. The rising commodities prices hitting French consumers will take its tall on his re-election odds
What peace is there to keep in Ukraine, exactly?
Preventing war was a lost cause, but going to Moscow to have a go at that was a sensible thing to try.
so what exactly Macron has achieved there?
UPDATE 3-SocGen warns it could be stripped of Russian business
* French bank has $20 billion of Russia exposure. This is a clear political liability for him
And yet Macron's polling has gone up since the start of the Ukraine crisis. In mid-February, he was on 24-25% in the polls, and now he's 29-30%.
So, when you say "political liability", do you mean "great thing for his polling"?
The polling is absurd. I expect the polling figures to change dramatically in early April. What exactly has Macron won for France? Ukrainian refuges ? sky-high gas prices? the possibility of a nuclear conflict/incident in Europe?
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not true.
Also - don't you perhaps think that Vladimir Putin is responsible for the Ukrainian refugees, rather than Emmanuel Macron?
Macron is weak, that's why Putin attacked. If the French prefer to see Macron as a hero and great administrator, well, let's see...
So, Putin attacked Ukraine because Macron is weak?
It's all Macron's fault, huh?
God, there was me thinking it was Putin's fault for sending troops in, and killing civilians, when it was actually all Macron's fault all along.
Well, you live and learn.
Thanks @d_d for being such an asset to this site. How do you do it? This penetrating analysis is beyond compare.
so you still don't get it, huh
Putin is responsible for Putin's actions.
No-one else.
this question is not about Putin. What exactly Macron is supposed to do to combat commodity and food supply shocks ? How happy will be a French consumer ? But wait perhaps Macron will be re-elected for the third time for his geniusness
Ah, so we shouldn't stand up to dictators invading other countries, because it might lead to (temporarily) higher costs for consumers.
I fear a more common view that we'd like. Few so direct though.
It's hilarious how these pro-Russian posters are cycling through PB, lasting about three days each before getting humiliated. Do we really believe they are different people?
Rishi does indeed seem a busted flush. It’s possible he’d be a better PM than Chancellor though.
His Mais lecture was very interesting in that it demonstrated real attention to detail about various micro-economic policy instruments, but a woeful ignorance about macroeconomics.
His strategy for the UK? Build an “enterprise culture.”
As Martin Wolf asks in the FT, what the fuck has Britain been doing for the past 40 years?
Regarding peacekeeping in Ukraine Macron has achieved nothing so far. The rising commodities prices hitting French consumers will take its tall on his re-election odds
What peace is there to keep in Ukraine, exactly?
Preventing war was a lost cause, but going to Moscow to have a go at that was a sensible thing to try.
so what exactly Macron has achieved there?
UPDATE 3-SocGen warns it could be stripped of Russian business
* French bank has $20 billion of Russia exposure. This is a clear political liability for him
And yet Macron's polling has gone up since the start of the Ukraine crisis. In mid-February, he was on 24-25% in the polls, and now he's 29-30%.
So, when you say "political liability", do you mean "great thing for his polling"?
The polling is absurd. I expect the polling figures to change dramatically in early April. What exactly has Macron won for France? Ukrainian refuges ? sky-high gas prices? the possibility of a nuclear conflict/incident in Europe?
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not true.
Also - don't you perhaps think that Vladimir Putin is responsible for the Ukrainian refugees, rather than Emmanuel Macron?
Macron is weak, that's why Putin attacked. If the French prefer to see Macron as a hero and great administrator, well, let's see...
So, Putin attacked Ukraine because Macron is weak?
It's all Macron's fault, huh?
God, there was me thinking it was Putin's fault for sending troops in, and killing civilians, when it was actually all Macron's fault all along.
Well, you live and learn.
Thanks @d_d for being such an asset to this site. How do you do it? This penetrating analysis is beyond compare.
so you still don't get it, huh
Putin is responsible for Putin's actions.
No-one else.
this question is not about Putin. What exactly Macron is supposed to do to combat commodity and food supply shocks ? How happy will be a French consumer ? But wait perhaps Macron will be re-elected for the third time for his geniusness
Ah, so we shouldn't stand up to dictators invading other countries, because it might lead to (temporarily) higher costs for consumers.
I fear a more common view that we'd like. Few so direct though.
It's hilarious how these pro-Russian posters are cycling through PB, lasting about three days each before getting humiliated. Do we really believe they are different people?
@rcs1000 has been posting for a while. Apart from his Brexitism and unusual affection for Marie Le Pen, he presents quite normally.
Rishi does indeed seem a busted flush. It’s possible he’d be a better PM than Chancellor though.
His Mais lecture was very interesting in that it demonstrated real attention to detail about various micro-economic policy instruments, but a woeful ignorance about macroeconomics.
His strategy for the UK? Build an “enterprise culture.”
As Martin Wolf asks in the FT, what the fuck has Britain been doing for the past 40 years?
Weird poll. He’s been pretty invisible during the current crisis (rightly so).
He really really hasn't. He's mentioned a lot by the actual Ukrainian president. Specifically mentioned, for helping Ukraine with missiles and training - when the rest of Europe was faffing about talking to Putin across a three mile long table
eg
Володимир Зеленський@ZelenskyyUa·Mar 2Coordinated actions with 🇬🇧 Prime Minister @BorisJohnson. Reported on the course of 🇺🇦 defense and the latest crimes of Russia against the civilian population. We are grateful for 🇬🇧 continued significant assistance in combating aggression. Together with partners we defend 🇺🇦!
Quite curious how the same people who think inviting a few thousand refugees into the country is a massive security risk and we will be overrun with Russian sleepers, are simultaneously quite comfortable with billionaires with links to the Russian state, military and security forces paying hundreds of thousands of pounds to get privileged access to Boris Johnson, and as one donor put it "plot" late into the evening over a bottle of wine on Johnson's parliamentary office balcony.
Ah but they are the right kind of Russian spies. Chaps don't you know.
But, seriously, the trend for Boris looks quite promising (for him) judging by a quick scan I had of the figures. I think that is worrying because for everyone's sakes he really needs to go. But it just ain't happening is it?
I'm not brave enough to predict he definitely fights the 2024 election but I cannot see how he departs before summer 2023 (May 2023 elections are admittedly a much more pivotal set of elections for the Tories).
Boris has risen from -31 to -7 (+24) in two weeks and Rishi is +15 (+12)
That's an incredible surge for Boris. Is he actually going to shrug off Partygate?
I guess a huge war in Europe, and potential nuclear apocalypse, is the kind of thing that might just do that. And he is having a good war. Involved, animated, sensible
I suspect some of the hysterical shrieking about Ukrainian refugees cruelly stuck in, er, France, by Bojo's insane Nazism, is actually sublimated anger that Boris seems to be escaping his Nemesis
It will be interesting to watch if Boris crossovers with Starmer on ratings as he has done in this poll as best PM
"⚡️Ukraine: Russians shoot fake video in Chornobyl.
Ukraine’s state company Energoatom said that after the Chornobyl plant staff refused to participate, the invaders filmed their troops dressed in the uniform of the French company Novarka, which had left the zone in 2020."
Nuclear weapon lies coming I guess. Every aspect of the russian operation has been so sloppy.
Regarding peacekeeping in Ukraine Macron has achieved nothing so far. The rising commodities prices hitting French consumers will take its tall on his re-election odds
What peace is there to keep in Ukraine, exactly?
Preventing war was a lost cause, but going to Moscow to have a go at that was a sensible thing to try.
so what exactly Macron has achieved there?
UPDATE 3-SocGen warns it could be stripped of Russian business
* French bank has $20 billion of Russia exposure. This is a clear political liability for him
And yet Macron's polling has gone up since the start of the Ukraine crisis. In mid-February, he was on 24-25% in the polls, and now he's 29-30%.
So, when you say "political liability", do you mean "great thing for his polling"?
The polling is absurd. I expect the polling figures to change dramatically in early April. What exactly has Macron won for France? Ukrainian refuges ? sky-high gas prices? the possibility of a nuclear conflict/incident in Europe?
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not true.
Also - don't you perhaps think that Vladimir Putin is responsible for the Ukrainian refugees, rather than Emmanuel Macron?
Macron is weak, that's why Putin attacked. If the French prefer to see Macron as a hero and great administrator, well, let's see...
So, Putin attacked Ukraine because Macron is weak?
It's all Macron's fault, huh?
God, there was me thinking it was Putin's fault for sending troops in, and killing civilians, when it was actually all Macron's fault all along.
Well, you live and learn.
Thanks @d_d for being such an asset to this site. How do you do it? This penetrating analysis is beyond compare.
so you still don't get it, huh
Putin is responsible for Putin's actions.
No-one else.
this question is not about Putin. What exactly Macron is supposed to do to combat commodity and food supply shocks ? How happy will be a French consumer ? But wait perhaps Macron will be re-elected for the third time for his geniusness
How happy will be a French consumer ? - How happy will a French consumer be? And geniusness would be an OK comic formulation by a native speaker if you otherwise passed muster, which you don't.
I don't understand you guys being so bad at what you do. Is Vlad sending out the useless conscript cyberwarriors in the first wave to lull us into a false sense of security?
Regarding peacekeeping in Ukraine Macron has achieved nothing so far. The rising commodities prices hitting French consumers will take its tall on his re-election odds
What peace is there to keep in Ukraine, exactly?
Preventing war was a lost cause, but going to Moscow to have a go at that was a sensible thing to try.
so what exactly Macron has achieved there?
UPDATE 3-SocGen warns it could be stripped of Russian business
* French bank has $20 billion of Russia exposure. This is a clear political liability for him
And yet Macron's polling has gone up since the start of the Ukraine crisis. In mid-February, he was on 24-25% in the polls, and now he's 29-30%.
So, when you say "political liability", do you mean "great thing for his polling"?
The polling is absurd. I expect the polling figures to change dramatically in early April. What exactly has Macron won for France? Ukrainian refuges ? sky-high gas prices? the possibility of a nuclear conflict/incident in Europe?
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not true.
Also - don't you perhaps think that Vladimir Putin is responsible for the Ukrainian refugees, rather than Emmanuel Macron?
Macron is weak, that's why Putin attacked. If the French prefer to see Macron as a hero and great administrator, well, let's see...
So, Putin attacked Ukraine because Macron is weak?
It's all Macron's fault, huh?
God, there was me thinking it was Putin's fault for sending troops in, and killing civilians, when it was actually all Macron's fault all along.
Well, you live and learn.
Thanks @d_d for being such an asset to this site. How do you do it? This penetrating analysis is beyond compare.
so you still don't get it, huh
Putin is responsible for Putin's actions.
No-one else.
this question is not about Putin. What exactly Macron is supposed to do to combat commodity and food supply shocks ? How happy will be a French consumer ? But wait perhaps Macron will be re-elected for the third time for his geniusness
Ah, so we shouldn't stand up to dictators invading other countries, because it might lead to (temporarily) higher costs for consumers.
I fear a more common view that we'd like. Few so direct though.
It's hilarious how these pro-Russian posters are cycling through PB, lasting about three days each before getting humiliated. Do we really believe they are different people?
A different one gets assigned each day. "Comrade, today you weel be asseened to a hot-beed of Western decadence, known as PeeBee"
Been out the loop parts of today, but has it been confirmed about the attack on the Russian helicopters that took out 30 of them?
I was wondering about that, If they did I would have thought there would be video of it by now, so I'm a bit sceptical but hope so much it is accurate.
Rishi does indeed seem a busted flush. It’s possible he’d be a better PM than Chancellor though.
His Mais lecture was very interesting in that it demonstrated real attention to detail about various micro-economic policy instruments, but a woeful ignorance about macroeconomics.
His strategy for the UK? Build an “enterprise culture.”
As Martin Wolf asks in the FT, what the fuck has Britain been doing for the past 40 years?
Weird poll. He’s been pretty invisible during the current crisis (rightly so).
He really really hasn't. He's mentioned a lot by the actual Ukrainian president. Specifically mentioned, for helping Ukraine with missiles and training - when the rest of Europe was faffing about talking to Putin across a three mile long table
eg
Володимир Зеленський@ZelenskyyUa·Mar 2Coordinated actions with 🇬🇧 Prime Minister @BorisJohnson. Reported on the course of 🇺🇦 defense and the latest crimes of Russia against the civilian population. We are grateful for 🇬🇧 continued significant assistance in combating aggression. Together with partners we defend 🇺🇦!
But, seriously, the trend for Boris looks quite promising (for him) judging by a quick scan I had of the figures. I think that is worrying because for everyone's sakes he really needs to go. But it just ain't happening is it?
I'm not brave enough to predict he definitely fights the 2024 election but I cannot see how he departs before summer 2023 (May 2023 elections are admittedly a much more pivotal set of elections for the Tories).
Boris has risen from -31 to -7 (+24) in two weeks and Rishi is +15 (+12)
That's an incredible surge for Boris. Is he actually going to shrug off Partygate?
I guess a huge war in Europe, and potential nuclear apocalypse, is the kind of thing that might just do that. And he is having a good war. Involved, animated, sensible
I suspect some of the hysterical shrieking about Ukrainian refugees cruelly stuck in, er, France, by Bojo's insane Nazism, is actually sublimated anger that Boris seems to be escaping his Nemesis
Boris had largely wriggled free of Partygate anyway, I'd have said. But the war in Europe has certainly killed it stone dead as an issue that could cause him any further damage.
Rishi does indeed seem a busted flush. It’s possible he’d be a better PM than Chancellor though.
His Mais lecture was very interesting in that it demonstrated real attention to detail about various micro-economic policy instruments, but a woeful ignorance about macroeconomics.
His strategy for the UK? Build an “enterprise culture.”
As Martin Wolf asks in the FT, what the fuck has Britain been doing for the past 40 years?
But, seriously, the trend for Boris looks quite promising (for him) judging by a quick scan I had of the figures. I think that is worrying because for everyone's sakes he really needs to go. But it just ain't happening is it?
I'm not brave enough to predict he definitely fights the 2024 election but I cannot see how he departs before summer 2023 (May 2023 elections are admittedly a much more pivotal set of elections for the Tories).
Boris has risen from -31 to -7 (+24) in two weeks and Rishi is +15 (+12)
That's an incredible surge for Boris. Is he actually going to shrug off Partygate?
I guess a huge war in Europe, and potential nuclear apocalypse, is the kind of thing that might just do that. And he is having a good war. Involved, animated, sensible
I suspect some of the hysterical shrieking about Ukrainian refugees cruelly stuck in, er, France, by Bojo's insane Nazism, is actually sublimated anger that Boris seems to be escaping his Nemesis
He has had a chance to show a degree of gravitas missing since, well, since the 2019 election (save for a bit on Covid until he was shaking hands with sufferers and descended into being a prat).
He has given his best speeches too, showing that he can still do a great set-piece speech. And maybe he has finally shrugged off his long Covid. That he caught by being way too relaxed about personal bio-security. Prat.
The fact that people who have fled Ukraine are being slowed down in France while they wait to apply for British visas is simply not a humanitarian tragedy or the end of the world. They are out of the warzone and have various options including free rail travel. Unlike other refugees from various global conflicts, they also benefit from enormous public sympathy and goodwill across Europe. People need to get things in to a bit of perspective. It is overly bureaucratic and annoying, but insignificant compared with what the people left in Ukraine are having to deal with. Also, there has to be a long term plan, because we can't simply lift 40+ million people out of danger (and dogs, pets etc) and just hand over the country to the invading Russians. Such a situation would obviously be brilliant for Putin and terrible for us.
Yes, quite
And of course, while the government may be guilty of inertia, red tape, bureaucracy, they actually aren't Nazis, and they probably ARE dealing with tricky issues helping the real Ukrainians, when there are people traffickers who would love to pretend they have boatloads of Ukrainians, but they're actually from Somalia
Meanwhile, half the people whining about it on here do not give an actual fuck, it's yet another proxy battle in the endless Brexit war in their stupid heads, everything Britain does is bad, Patel is a Leaver, Boris got Russian money for his campaign, blah blah fucking blah
Nauseating
These people have crossed right across Europe, yet nobody along their journey has offered to take them in. Bastards.
No wonder they want to get to the warm bosom of the UK so desperately.
The reports I’ve seen are typically about people with some form of existing UK link.
Typical heartless post from you, I’m afraid.
You don't even live in the UK any more, so why the fuck do you think you have a say on who comes here? Fuck off, you stupid fat fuck
There. I feel better now. Good afternoon, everyone
You’ve been much less funny since Covid impaired your brain. @malcolmg does much better vitriol than you can manage these days.
I reserve my pithier remarks for worthy causes
You are not British, and you don't live in Britain, so what gives you the right to lecture the British about who they let in? Butt the fuck out, you dickless freak. Go to americanpoliticalbetting.com and adorn them with your wittering, dreary, mediocre opinions
I am British, though.
I genuinely can’t be arsed with US politics, tbh. it is just way too fucked up.
I thought you were a Kiwi?
I agree with you about American politics, of course. Insanely polarised and nasty. It makes our Brexit row look cordial
American politics is like the trans-terf social media battle - multiplied by a trillion and imposed on the entire population of a global superpower
I have dual nationality.
Not only is US politics stupidly polarised, it’s also obsessed with various issues (guns, abortion, critical race theory) that I don’t give much of a shit about.
Leaving aside CRT, which I think is poisonous bile, I DO give a shit about both guns and abortion, which are serious subjects for discussion - but I value that in the UK we are able to discuss safely without, yet, them being another front in the culture war. Least-bad type questions with negatives on both sides, innit? If only we could view all our problems so soberly.
Regarding peacekeeping in Ukraine Macron has achieved nothing so far. The rising commodities prices hitting French consumers will take its tall on his re-election odds
What peace is there to keep in Ukraine, exactly?
Preventing war was a lost cause, but going to Moscow to have a go at that was a sensible thing to try.
so what exactly Macron has achieved there?
UPDATE 3-SocGen warns it could be stripped of Russian business
* French bank has $20 billion of Russia exposure. This is a clear political liability for him
And yet Macron's polling has gone up since the start of the Ukraine crisis. In mid-February, he was on 24-25% in the polls, and now he's 29-30%.
So, when you say "political liability", do you mean "great thing for his polling"?
The polling is absurd. I expect the polling figures to change dramatically in early April. What exactly has Macron won for France? Ukrainian refuges ? sky-high gas prices? the possibility of a nuclear conflict/incident in Europe?
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not true.
Also - don't you perhaps think that Vladimir Putin is responsible for the Ukrainian refugees, rather than Emmanuel Macron?
Macron is weak, that's why Putin attacked. If the French prefer to see Macron as a hero and great administrator, well, let's see...
So, Putin attacked Ukraine because Macron is weak?
It's all Macron's fault, huh?
God, there was me thinking it was Putin's fault for sending troops in, and killing civilians, when it was actually all Macron's fault all along.
Well, you live and learn.
Thanks @d_d for being such an asset to this site. How do you do it? This penetrating analysis is beyond compare.
so you still don't get it, huh
Putin is responsible for Putin's actions.
No-one else.
this question is not about Putin. What exactly Macron is supposed to do to combat commodity and food supply shocks ? How happy will be a French consumer ? But wait perhaps Macron will be re-elected for the third time for his geniusness
Ah, so we shouldn't stand up to dictators invading other countries, because it might lead to (temporarily) higher costs for consumers.
I fear a more common view that we'd like. Few so direct though.
It's hilarious how these pro-Russian posters are cycling through PB, lasting about three days each before getting humiliated. Do we really believe they are different people?
A different one gets assigned each day. "Comrade, today you weel be asseened to a hot-beed of Western decadence, known as PeeBee"
Somewhere in St Petersburg is a cheat sheet detailing various PB arcana like JackW’s arse, and the fact that posts by @BartholomewRoberts should generally be ignored.
Quite curious how the same people who think inviting a few thousand refugees into the country is a massive security risk and we will be overrun with Russian sleepers, are simultaneously quite comfortable with billionaires with links to the Russian state, military and security forces paying hundreds of thousands of pounds to get privileged access to Boris Johnson, and as one donor put it "plot" late into the evening over a bottle of wine on Johnson's parliamentary office balcony.
Yeah, well the average Ukrainian refugee will have had to leave behind pretty much everything so won't be able to contribute to the criminal conspiracy that used to be the Conservative Party.
Regarding peacekeeping in Ukraine Macron has achieved nothing so far. The rising commodities prices hitting French consumers will take its tall on his re-election odds
What peace is there to keep in Ukraine, exactly?
Preventing war was a lost cause, but going to Moscow to have a go at that was a sensible thing to try.
so what exactly Macron has achieved there?
UPDATE 3-SocGen warns it could be stripped of Russian business
* French bank has $20 billion of Russia exposure. This is a clear political liability for him
And yet Macron's polling has gone up since the start of the Ukraine crisis. In mid-February, he was on 24-25% in the polls, and now he's 29-30%.
So, when you say "political liability", do you mean "great thing for his polling"?
The polling is absurd. I expect the polling figures to change dramatically in early April. What exactly has Macron won for France? Ukrainian refuges ? sky-high gas prices? the possibility of a nuclear conflict/incident in Europe?
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not true.
Also - don't you perhaps think that Vladimir Putin is responsible for the Ukrainian refugees, rather than Emmanuel Macron?
Macron is weak, that's why Putin attacked. If the French prefer to see Macron as a hero and great administrator, well, let's see...
So, Putin attacked Ukraine because Macron is weak?
It's all Macron's fault, huh?
God, there was me thinking it was Putin's fault for sending troops in, and killing civilians, when it was actually all Macron's fault all along.
Well, you live and learn.
Thanks @d_d for being such an asset to this site. How do you do it? This penetrating analysis is beyond compare.
so you still don't get it, huh
Putin is responsible for Putin's actions.
No-one else.
this question is not about Putin. What exactly Macron is supposed to do to combat commodity and food supply shocks ? How happy will be a French consumer ? But wait perhaps Macron will be re-elected for the third time for his geniusness
Ah, so we shouldn't stand up to dictators invading other countries, because it might lead to (temporarily) higher costs for consumers.
I fear a more common view that we'd like. Few so direct though.
It's hilarious how these pro-Russian posters are cycling through PB, lasting about three days each before getting humiliated. Do we really believe they are different people?
A different one gets assigned each day. "Comrade, today you weel be asseened to a hot-beed of Western decadence, known as PeeBee"
ПБ - which (I think) is pronounced in Russian (something like) "Puh Bah"?
I, like many others, have been dismayed at some of the reports about how the UK is managing Ukrainian refugees. If Priti Patel really has screwed this up in the way it has been reported then she needs to be removed ASAP. Emergencies like this soon sort the wheat from the chaff.
Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be affecting the positive way UK is seen in Ukraine itself, where the early efforts to support, supply and train seem to be appreciated. Looks like that investment was well worth it, to say the least.
It isn't if. Its a fact. We are not letting refugees in without an approved visa which they have to complete somewhere else. This is a unique way to handle refugees where HM Border Force turn away people fleeing the war and stop them coming to stay with friends / relatives.
Ah, there you go again, pretending that the situation of people in Ukraine trying to get into Poland is identical to people in France trying to get into the UK.
Every country in Europe, not just Poland.
If you think the forrin should be kept away that's fine - Patel is doing this for you. Some of us have humanity still.
No she isn't. She has completely failed to stop immigration. We haven't even got to the point of being able to distinguish between the immigrants we want and the immigrants we don't.
Listen to Sir Edward Leigh. A stack of people don't want *any* immigrants. At all.
That’s true, but they are a tiny minority.
They way you go on about this, and normally you’re pretty level headed, is as if we’re an island of Tommy Robinson’s which we clearly are not.
I am really disappointed in @RochdalePioneers recent rants which do not relate to the discussions in the HOC and the contributions by conservative mps
I was directly quoting from a contribution by a Conservative MP. Then posted verbatim his entire contribution and a link.
How is posting Sir Edward Leigh's entire diatribe me "ranting" in a way which does not relate to contributions by Conservative MPs like Sir Edward Leigh?
Its very very simple. Every country in Europe has opened its doors to Ukrainian refugees. All of them. Except one. Personally I am disgusted by this. Others are not. Me posting verbatim comments by Tory MPs demonstrating why we stand alone in closing our door to refugees is not me performing "recent rants".
You are demonising conservatives by highlighting one disgusting mp who does nor represent HMG
You may as well attack labour who have pro Putin mps on their benches
You are better than this
You are whining about how unfair Rochdale is highlighting Edward Leigh and how his view dovetails with Priti Patel's "current" Ukrainian refugee policy. You then claim Leigh is not representative of the wider Conservative Party. And I would hope he isn't. Yet you yourself last week were demanding Starmer's head for his failure to expel his "Stop the War" MPs.
What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander?
Apple with Goose? Or a cherry and wine sauce?
I last week made the point that while I strongly disagree with the Stop the War lot, it's a point if view which at least merits the space to articulate it, and which also merits representation. It shouldn't be unsayable. I'd make the same point about Edward Leigh. I don't agree with what I think his point is, but simply saying that that point of view is beyond the pale and unsayable is dangerous (and moreover, doesn't work).
No one is deplatforming him nor trying to stop him saying whatever he wants. But we do reserve the absolute right to point out that saying stuff like that makes him an odious xenophobic fuckwit. Free speech and all that.
But, seriously, the trend for Boris looks quite promising (for him) judging by a quick scan I had of the figures. I think that is worrying because for everyone's sakes he really needs to go. But it just ain't happening is it?
I'm not brave enough to predict he definitely fights the 2024 election but I cannot see how he departs before summer 2023 (May 2023 elections are admittedly a much more pivotal set of elections for the Tories).
Boris has risen from -31 to -7 (+24) in two weeks and Rishi is +15 (+12)
That's an incredible surge for Boris. Is he actually going to shrug off Partygate?
I guess a huge war in Europe, and potential nuclear apocalypse, is the kind of thing that might just do that. And he is having a good war. Involved, animated, sensible
I suspect some of the hysterical shrieking about Ukrainian refugees cruelly stuck in, er, France, by Bojo's insane Nazism, is actually sublimated anger that Boris seems to be escaping his Nemesis
Or maybe just a rally round the flag bounce that could blow away in an instant on a different breeze. 🙂
If anything it has brought a focus on Boris governments closeness to Putin money in the lead up to Putin’s barbarity, in a way that might not even have been scrutinised till a change of government, without this war.
Is there a volunteer role out on the Ukraine borders that fits a person like yourself, man with a suitcase loves foreign travel and experiences, got all the patter for meeting and empathising with strangers? It must be a 24hrs chaos on the bordering countries. Have you ever been close to a war zone?
Rishi does indeed seem a busted flush. It’s possible he’d be a better PM than Chancellor though.
His Mais lecture was very interesting in that it demonstrated real attention to detail about various micro-economic policy instruments, but a woeful ignorance about macroeconomics.
His strategy for the UK? Build an “enterprise culture.”
As Martin Wolf asks in the FT, what the fuck has Britain been doing for the past 40 years?
Weird poll. He’s been pretty invisible during the current crisis (rightly so).
He really really hasn't. He's mentioned a lot by the actual Ukrainian president. Specifically mentioned, for helping Ukraine with missiles and training - when the rest of Europe was faffing about talking to Putin across a three mile long table
eg
Володимир Зеленський@ZelenskyyUa·Mar 2Coordinated actions with 🇬🇧 Prime Minister @BorisJohnson. Reported on the course of 🇺🇦 defense and the latest crimes of Russia against the civilian population. We are grateful for 🇬🇧 continued significant assistance in combating aggression. Together with partners we defend 🇺🇦!
He was sitting on a decent existing policy (armaments to Ukraine) and was willing to step up to be Zelensky’s primary interlocutor from the beginning.
Less so the refugees stuff and the fact he’s historically cosied up to Russian cash.
Ah. Yes, agreed. I guess all boats rise on an incoming tide, hence Sunak also getting a mysterious boost?
As for Boris, I have a sense he will escape this Russian stuff and Partygate simply because of the scale of the crises now facing us. The scandal feels deeply trivial - even tho it is arguably pretty important and highly relevant
So he will lead the Tories into the next GE? He might even win it. He is a lucky general
Regarding peacekeeping in Ukraine Macron has achieved nothing so far. The rising commodities prices hitting French consumers will take its tall on his re-election odds
What peace is there to keep in Ukraine, exactly?
Preventing war was a lost cause, but going to Moscow to have a go at that was a sensible thing to try.
so what exactly Macron has achieved there?
UPDATE 3-SocGen warns it could be stripped of Russian business
* French bank has $20 billion of Russia exposure. This is a clear political liability for him
And yet Macron's polling has gone up since the start of the Ukraine crisis. In mid-February, he was on 24-25% in the polls, and now he's 29-30%.
So, when you say "political liability", do you mean "great thing for his polling"?
The polling is absurd. I expect the polling figures to change dramatically in early April. What exactly has Macron won for France? Ukrainian refuges ? sky-high gas prices? the possibility of a nuclear conflict/incident in Europe?
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not true.
Also - don't you perhaps think that Vladimir Putin is responsible for the Ukrainian refugees, rather than Emmanuel Macron?
Macron is weak, that's why Putin attacked. If the French prefer to see Macron as a hero and great administrator, well, let's see...
So, Putin attacked Ukraine because Macron is weak?
It's all Macron's fault, huh?
God, there was me thinking it was Putin's fault for sending troops in, and killing civilians, when it was actually all Macron's fault all along.
Well, you live and learn.
Thanks @d_d for being such an asset to this site. How do you do it? This penetrating analysis is beyond compare.
so you still don't get it, huh
Putin is responsible for Putin's actions.
No-one else.
this question is not about Putin. What exactly Macron is supposed to do to combat commodity and food supply shocks ? How happy will be a French consumer ? But wait perhaps Macron will be re-elected for the third time for his geniusness
Ah, so we shouldn't stand up to dictators invading other countries, because it might lead to (temporarily) higher costs for consumers.
I fear a more common view that we'd like. Few so direct though.
It's hilarious how these pro-Russian posters are cycling through PB, lasting about three days each before getting humiliated. Do we really believe they are different people?
A different one gets assigned each day. "Comrade, today you weel be asseened to a hot-beed of Western decadence, known as PeeBee"
Somewhere in St Petersburg is a cheat sheet detailing various PB arcana like JackW’s arse, and the fact that posts by @BartholomewRoberts should generally be ignored.
You jest, but it's the lack of attention to such detail which is the giveaway. That and the tendency to March straight in with the controversial opinion, rather than building up gradually to it over a number of months or years with innocuous posts about cheese and real ale and cricket before going full Plato.
Been out the loop parts of today, but has it been confirmed about the attack on the Russian helicopters that took out 30 of them?
There was confirmation that the helicopters were there, and there was a video that purported to show a series of explosions at the airfield from a distance.
For Johnson to win GE2024, he'd have to hope the Labour voteshare drops, as of the current time they've re-built the 2017 coalition which will produce a Hung Parliament.
I, like many others, have been dismayed at some of the reports about how the UK is managing Ukrainian refugees. If Priti Patel really has screwed this up in the way it has been reported then she needs to be removed ASAP. Emergencies like this soon sort the wheat from the chaff.
Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be affecting the positive way UK is seen in Ukraine itself, where the early efforts to support, supply and train seem to be appreciated. Looks like that investment was well worth it, to say the least.
It isn't if. Its a fact. We are not letting refugees in without an approved visa which they have to complete somewhere else. This is a unique way to handle refugees where HM Border Force turn away people fleeing the war and stop them coming to stay with friends / relatives.
Ah, there you go again, pretending that the situation of people in Ukraine trying to get into Poland is identical to people in France trying to get into the UK.
Every country in Europe, not just Poland.
If you think the forrin should be kept away that's fine - Patel is doing this for you. Some of us have humanity still.
No she isn't. She has completely failed to stop immigration. We haven't even got to the point of being able to distinguish between the immigrants we want and the immigrants we don't.
Listen to Sir Edward Leigh. A stack of people don't want *any* immigrants. At all.
That’s true, but they are a tiny minority.
They way you go on about this, and normally you’re pretty level headed, is as if we’re an island of Tommy Robinson’s which we clearly are not.
I am really disappointed in @RochdalePioneers recent rants which do not relate to the discussions in the HOC and the contributions by conservative mps
I was directly quoting from a contribution by a Conservative MP. Then posted verbatim his entire contribution and a link.
How is posting Sir Edward Leigh's entire diatribe me "ranting" in a way which does not relate to contributions by Conservative MPs like Sir Edward Leigh?
Its very very simple. Every country in Europe has opened its doors to Ukrainian refugees. All of them. Except one. Personally I am disgusted by this. Others are not. Me posting verbatim comments by Tory MPs demonstrating why we stand alone in closing our door to refugees is not me performing "recent rants".
You are demonising conservatives by highlighting one disgusting mp who does nor represent HMG
You may as well attack labour who have pro Putin mps on their benches
You are better than this
You are whining about how unfair Rochdale is highlighting Edward Leigh and how his view dovetails with Priti Patel's "current" Ukrainian refugee policy. You then claim Leigh is not representative of the wider Conservative Party. And I would hope he isn't. Yet you yourself last week were demanding Starmer's head for his failure to expel his "Stop the War" MPs.
What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander?
Apple with Goose? Or a cherry and wine sauce?
I last week made the point that while I strongly disagree with the Stop the War lot, it's a point if view which at least merits the space to articulate it, and which also merits representation. It shouldn't be unsayable. I'd make the same point about Edward Leigh. I don't agree with what I think his point is, but simply saying that that point of view is beyond the pale and unsayable is dangerous (and moreover, doesn't work).
No one is deplatforming him nor trying to stop him saying whatever he wants. But we do reserve the absolute right to point out that saying stuff like that makes him an odious xenophobic fuckwit. Free speech and all that.
Also the opposition benches will be happier of the two it’s not someone sat beside or behind them saying it right now.
Regarding peacekeeping in Ukraine Macron has achieved nothing so far. The rising commodities prices hitting French consumers will take its tall on his re-election odds
What peace is there to keep in Ukraine, exactly?
Preventing war was a lost cause, but going to Moscow to have a go at that was a sensible thing to try.
so what exactly Macron has achieved there?
UPDATE 3-SocGen warns it could be stripped of Russian business
* French bank has $20 billion of Russia exposure. This is a clear political liability for him
And yet Macron's polling has gone up since the start of the Ukraine crisis. In mid-February, he was on 24-25% in the polls, and now he's 29-30%.
So, when you say "political liability", do you mean "great thing for his polling"?
The polling is absurd. I expect the polling figures to change dramatically in early April. What exactly has Macron won for France? Ukrainian refuges ? sky-high gas prices? the possibility of a nuclear conflict/incident in Europe?
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not true.
Also - don't you perhaps think that Vladimir Putin is responsible for the Ukrainian refugees, rather than Emmanuel Macron?
Macron is weak, that's why Putin attacked. If the French prefer to see Macron as a hero and great administrator, well, let's see...
So, Putin attacked Ukraine because Macron is weak?
It's all Macron's fault, huh?
God, there was me thinking it was Putin's fault for sending troops in, and killing civilians, when it was actually all Macron's fault all along.
Well, you live and learn.
Thanks @d_d for being such an asset to this site. How do you do it? This penetrating analysis is beyond compare.
so you still don't get it, huh
Putin is responsible for Putin's actions.
No-one else.
this question is not about Putin. What exactly Macron is supposed to do to combat commodity and food supply shocks ? How happy will be a French consumer ? But wait perhaps Macron will be re-elected for the third time for his geniusness
Ah, so we shouldn't stand up to dictators invading other countries, because it might lead to (temporarily) higher costs for consumers.
Regarding peacekeeping in Ukraine Macron has achieved nothing so far. The rising commodities prices hitting French consumers will take its tall on his re-election odds
What peace is there to keep in Ukraine, exactly?
Preventing war was a lost cause, but going to Moscow to have a go at that was a sensible thing to try.
so what exactly Macron has achieved there?
UPDATE 3-SocGen warns it could be stripped of Russian business
* French bank has $20 billion of Russia exposure. This is a clear political liability for him
And yet Macron's polling has gone up since the start of the Ukraine crisis. In mid-February, he was on 24-25% in the polls, and now he's 29-30%.
So, when you say "political liability", do you mean "great thing for his polling"?
The polling is absurd. I expect the polling figures to change dramatically in early April. What exactly has Macron won for France? Ukrainian refuges ? sky-high gas prices? the possibility of a nuclear conflict/incident in Europe?
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not true.
Also - don't you perhaps think that Vladimir Putin is responsible for the Ukrainian refugees, rather than Emmanuel Macron?
Macron is weak, that's why Putin attacked. If the French prefer to see Macron as a hero and great administrator, well, let's see...
So, Putin attacked Ukraine because Macron is weak?
It's all Macron's fault, huh?
God, there was me thinking it was Putin's fault for sending troops in, and killing civilians, when it was actually all Macron's fault all along.
Well, you live and learn.
Thanks @d_d for being such an asset to this site. How do you do it? This penetrating analysis is beyond compare.
so you still don't get it, huh
Putin is responsible for Putin's actions.
No-one else.
this question is not about Putin. What exactly Macron is supposed to do to combat commodity and food supply shocks ? How happy will be a French consumer ? But wait perhaps Macron will be re-elected for the third time for his geniusness
Ah, so we shouldn't stand up to dictators invading other countries, because it might lead to (temporarily) higher costs for consumers.
"⚡️Ukraine: Russians shoot fake video in Chornobyl.
Ukraine’s state company Energoatom said that after the Chornobyl plant staff refused to participate, the invaders filmed their troops dressed in the uniform of the French company Novarka, which had left the zone in 2020."
Nuclear weapon lies coming I guess. Every aspect of the russian operation has been so sloppy.
They just keep coming: "#UkraineRussianWar: The Russian military is so incompetent it releases footage of Su-34 ‘24’ taking off for a new sortie a day after it was shot down over Ukraine." https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1500902154994921476
Regarding peacekeeping in Ukraine Macron has achieved nothing so far. The rising commodities prices hitting French consumers will take its tall on his re-election odds
What peace is there to keep in Ukraine, exactly?
Preventing war was a lost cause, but going to Moscow to have a go at that was a sensible thing to try.
so what exactly Macron has achieved there?
UPDATE 3-SocGen warns it could be stripped of Russian business
* French bank has $20 billion of Russia exposure. This is a clear political liability for him
And yet Macron's polling has gone up since the start of the Ukraine crisis. In mid-February, he was on 24-25% in the polls, and now he's 29-30%.
So, when you say "political liability", do you mean "great thing for his polling"?
The polling is absurd. I expect the polling figures to change dramatically in early April. What exactly has Macron won for France? Ukrainian refuges ? sky-high gas prices? the possibility of a nuclear conflict/incident in Europe?
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not true.
Also - don't you perhaps think that Vladimir Putin is responsible for the Ukrainian refugees, rather than Emmanuel Macron?
Macron is weak, that's why Putin attacked. If the French prefer to see Macron as a hero and great administrator, well, let's see...
So, Putin attacked Ukraine because Macron is weak?
It's all Macron's fault, huh?
God, there was me thinking it was Putin's fault for sending troops in, and killing civilians, when it was actually all Macron's fault all along.
Well, you live and learn.
Thanks @d_d for being such an asset to this site. How do you do it? This penetrating analysis is beyond compare.
so you still don't get it, huh
Putin is responsible for Putin's actions.
No-one else.
this question is not about Putin. What exactly Macron is supposed to do to combat commodity and food supply shocks ? How happy will be a French consumer ? But wait perhaps Macron will be re-elected for the third time for his geniusness
Ah, so we shouldn't stand up to dictators invading other countries, because it might lead to (temporarily) higher costs for consumers.
But, seriously, the trend for Boris looks quite promising (for him) judging by a quick scan I had of the figures. I think that is worrying because for everyone's sakes he really needs to go. But it just ain't happening is it?
I'm not brave enough to predict he definitely fights the 2024 election but I cannot see how he departs before summer 2023 (May 2023 elections are admittedly a much more pivotal set of elections for the Tories).
Boris has risen from -31 to -7 (+24) in two weeks and Rishi is +15 (+12)
That's an incredible surge for Boris. Is he actually going to shrug off Partygate?
I guess a huge war in Europe, and potential nuclear apocalypse, is the kind of thing that might just do that. And he is having a good war. Involved, animated, sensible
I suspect some of the hysterical shrieking about Ukrainian refugees cruelly stuck in, er, France, by Bojo's insane Nazism, is actually sublimated anger that Boris seems to be escaping his Nemesis
Or maybe just a rally round the flag bounce that could blow away in an instant on a different breeze. 🙂
If anything it has brought a focus on Boris governments closeness to Putin money in the lead up to Putin’s barbarity, in a way that might not even have been scrutinised till a change of government, without this war.
Is there a volunteer role out on the Ukraine borders that fits a person like yourself, man with a suitcase loves foreign travel and experiences, got all the patter for meeting and empathising with strangers? It must be a 24hrs chaos on the bordering countries. Have you ever been close to a war zone?
I totally have.
I was once held at gunpoint, with a photographer mate, by Hezbollah, in a Hezbollah safe house in the cold mountains of south Lebanon, in a village - Machgarah - which was simultaneously being shelled and strafed by the Israelis. I heard the screams of people dying, and saw the bombs explode. They kept us for hours
Miraculously, Hezbollah did not briskly execute us (despite suspecting we were Israeli agents). When I got home I told some experienced Middle East hacks what happened to me and they fell off their chairs. Apparently our chances of surviving that were about 1%. We got very very very lucky
I'm getting a modest cold sweat even now, thinking about it. FFFFFuck
Rishi does indeed seem a busted flush. It’s possible he’d be a better PM than Chancellor though.
His Mais lecture was very interesting in that it demonstrated real attention to detail about various micro-economic policy instruments, but a woeful ignorance about macroeconomics.
His strategy for the UK? Build an “enterprise culture.”
As Martin Wolf asks in the FT, what the fuck has Britain been doing for the past 40 years?
A few unconfirmed reports from various sources which people may not all have seen (Guardian, NZZ (Swiss, pro-Ukrainian), Haaretz (Israeli), Interfax (pro-Russian):
"Small positive signs" in the peace talks (Ukrainian source), but agreement not to discuss details in public. Russian allies inching forward in the south, with several suburbs of Mariopol taken. Rumoured big assaults on Kyiv and Odessa haven't happened. Mariopol situation particularly grim, with no utilities. Very little change around Kyiv - Russians picking up a few villages but the main column still stalled All Russian ground forces now committed, but not main air power yet so no overall control in the air. Zero Belorussian troops involved. Ukrainians carried out a successful attack on an airfield, knocking out numerous Russian helicopters. Evacuations from Kharkiv now going relatively well, but everywhere else still stalled with both side blaming each other for local violations.
FWIW I think the Russians are going to capture a cohesive land link from the East to Crimea. but it's not obvious that they're trying to advance much anywhere else at the moment. Possibly they are genuinely stuck, or alternatively waiting to see if the peace talks progress, with the aim of settling for Ukrainian neutrality and acceptance of the "southern corridor"? The former is on the table, the latter still very hard for Ukraine to accept.
The fact that people who have fled Ukraine are being slowed down in France while they wait to apply for British visas is simply not a humanitarian tragedy or the end of the world. They are out of the warzone and have various options including free rail travel. Unlike other refugees from various global conflicts, they also benefit from enormous public sympathy and goodwill across Europe. People need to get things in to a bit of perspective. It is overly bureaucratic and annoying, but insignificant compared with what the people left in Ukraine are having to deal with. Also, there has to be a long term plan, because we can't simply lift 40+ million people out of danger (and dogs, pets etc) and just hand over the country to the invading Russians. Such a situation would obviously be brilliant for Putin and terrible for us.
Yes, quite
And of course, while the government may be guilty of inertia, red tape, bureaucracy, they actually aren't Nazis, and they probably ARE dealing with tricky issues helping the real Ukrainians, when there are people traffickers who would love to pretend they have boatloads of Ukrainians, but they're actually from Somalia
Meanwhile, half the people whining about it on here do not give an actual fuck, it's yet another proxy battle in the endless Brexit war in their stupid heads, everything Britain does is bad, Patel is a Leaver, Boris got Russian money for his campaign, blah blah fucking blah
Nauseating
There you go with your Brexit thing again. I seriously believe you experience (perhaps subconscious) guilt about your vote, and this compels you to go on about it in every second post.
lol. I refer you to this sentence in your immediately preceding comment:
"this government in particular is still instinctively beholden to its brain dead Brexit ideology about migration, even in the face of opinion polling that shows it is unpopular"
You just can't help yourself. You're so sunk in this toxic madness you aren't even aware that you're doing it
But you want to see a massive fallout between France and Germany, possibly involving skirmishes. Not all of you feels that way, I won't be unfair here, but there's a big part of you that does. This is a more crazy and reprehensible sentiment than being unreconciled to Brexit.
It’s not that long since he was waxing lyrical about Putin’s iron grip.
It’s best to treat him like a mildly amusing, filter-free, lecherous uncle.
Labour 40% (+2) Conservative 37% (+2) Liberal Democrat 10% (-2) Green 5% (–) Scottish National Party 4% (-1) Reform UK 2% (-2) Other 1% (–)
Changes +/- 28 Feb Redfield and Wilton
If the Tories can't get ahead during a war, when can they?
Of course they can. Wars are probably the best type of circumstance for the Tories, as strange as that may sound. The Falklands War was the event that pushed the Tories up from 3rd to 1st place at that time.
Regarding peacekeeping in Ukraine Macron has achieved nothing so far. The rising commodities prices hitting French consumers will take its tall on his re-election odds
What peace is there to keep in Ukraine, exactly?
Preventing war was a lost cause, but going to Moscow to have a go at that was a sensible thing to try.
so what exactly Macron has achieved there?
UPDATE 3-SocGen warns it could be stripped of Russian business
* French bank has $20 billion of Russia exposure. This is a clear political liability for him
And yet Macron's polling has gone up since the start of the Ukraine crisis. In mid-February, he was on 24-25% in the polls, and now he's 29-30%.
So, when you say "political liability", do you mean "great thing for his polling"?
The polling is absurd. I expect the polling figures to change dramatically in early April. What exactly has Macron won for France? Ukrainian refuges ? sky-high gas prices? the possibility of a nuclear conflict/incident in Europe?
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not true.
Also - don't you perhaps think that Vladimir Putin is responsible for the Ukrainian refugees, rather than Emmanuel Macron?
Macron is weak, that's why Putin attacked. If the French prefer to see Macron as a hero and great administrator, well, let's see...
So, Putin attacked Ukraine because Macron is weak?
It's all Macron's fault, huh?
God, there was me thinking it was Putin's fault for sending troops in, and killing civilians, when it was actually all Macron's fault all along.
Well, you live and learn.
Thanks @d_d for being such an asset to this site. How do you do it? This penetrating analysis is beyond compare.
so you still don't get it, huh
Putin is responsible for Putin's actions.
No-one else.
this question is not about Putin. What exactly Macron is supposed to do to combat commodity and food supply shocks ? How happy will be a French consumer ? But wait perhaps Macron will be re-elected for the third time for his geniusness
Ah, so we shouldn't stand up to dictators invading other countries, because it might lead to (temporarily) higher costs for consumers.
I fear a more common view that we'd like. Few so direct though.
It's hilarious how these pro-Russian posters are cycling through PB, lasting about three days each before getting humiliated. Do we really believe they are different people?
This particular forum is genuinely unusual, in both the level of debate, intellectual curiosity and longevity of posters.
A Russian bot sticks out like a sore thumb here, in a way they don’t in most other forums.
Rishi does indeed seem a busted flush. It’s possible he’d be a better PM than Chancellor though.
His Mais lecture was very interesting in that it demonstrated real attention to detail about various micro-economic policy instruments, but a woeful ignorance about macroeconomics.
His strategy for the UK? Build an “enterprise culture.”
As Martin Wolf asks in the FT, what the fuck has Britain been doing for the past 40 years?
A few unconfirmed reports from various sources which people may not all have seen (Guardian, NZZ (Swiss, pro-Ukrainian), Haaretz (Israeli), Interfax (pro-Russian):
"Small positive signs" in the peace talks (Ukrainian source), but agreement not to discuss details in public. Russian allies inching forward in the south, with several suburbs of Mariopol taken. Rumoured big assaults on Kyiv and Odessa haven't happened. Mariopol situation particularly grim, with no utilities. Very little change around Kyiv - Russians picking up a few villages but the main column still stalled All Russian ground forces now committed, but not main air power yet so no overall control in the air. Zero Belorussian troops involved. Ukrainians carried out a successful attack on an airfield, knocking out numerous Russian helicopters. Evacuations from Kharkiv now going relatively well, but everywhere else still stalled with both side blaming each other for local violations.
FWIW I think the Russians are going to capture a cohesive land link from the East to Crimea. but it's not obvious that they're trying to advance much anywhere else at the moment. Possibly they are genuinely stuck, or alternatively waiting to see if the peace talks progress, with the aim of settling for Ukrainian neutrality and acceptance of the "southern corridor"? The former is on the table, the latter still very hard for Ukraine to accept.
You still keep bigging up this neutrality option, but I still don't see how it could possibly work. Leaving aside that promising not to formally align with NATO etc is not a neutral choice if it is done only because they'll be killed if they do not, I don't see what it really gains the Russians either - Ukraine is already not in NATO or the EU but is clearly western aligned now, so other than pettily holding Ukraine back it doesn't achieve anything for Russia in terms of preventing Ukraine from leaving its orbit.
I can see Ukraine agreeing to it, reluctantly, but even though Russia claims to want it it doesn't seem to obtain much.
And once again, the blind spot on this site for Boris actually being good at winning elections comes through. Well, the inability for some to learn from the past too. Oh for a “swing back” estimate.
A few unconfirmed reports from various sources which people may not all have seen (Guardian, NZZ (Swiss, pro-Ukrainian), Haaretz (Israeli), Interfax (pro-Russian):
"Small positive signs" in the peace talks (Ukrainian source), but agreement not to discuss details in public. Russian allies inching forward in the south, with several suburbs of Mariopol taken. Rumoured big assaults on Kyiv and Odessa haven't happened. Mariopol situation particularly grim, with no utilities. Very little change around Kyiv - Russians picking up a few villages but the main column still stalled All Russian ground forces now committed, but not main air power yet so no overall control in the air. Zero Belorussian troops involved. Ukrainians carried out a successful attack on an airfield, knocking out numerous Russian helicopters. Evacuations from Kharkiv now going relatively well, but everywhere else still stalled with both side blaming each other for local violations.
FWIW I think the Russians are going to capture a cohesive land link from the East to Crimea. but it's not obvious that they're trying to advance much anywhere else at the moment. Possibly they are genuinely stuck, or alternatively waiting to see if the peace talks progress, with the aim of settling for Ukrainian neutrality and acceptance of the "southern corridor"? The former is on the table, the latter still very hard for Ukraine to accept.
You still keep bigging up this neutrality option, but I still don't see how it could possibly work. Leaving aside that promising not to formally align with NATO etc is not a neutral choice if it is done only because they'll be killed if they do not, I don't see what it really gains the Russians either - Ukraine is already not in NATO or the EU but is clearly western aligned now, so other than pettily holding Ukraine back it doesn't achieve anything for Russia in terms of preventing Ukraine from leaving its orbit.
I can see Ukraine agreeing to it, reluctantly, but even though Russia claims to want it it doesn't seem to obtain much.
Comments
Do you actually believe this bilge?
I can think of a simpler way to achieve that.
And if humanitarian aid convoys are being held by red tape then the EU should exempt such convoys
Mind you if he intends to fill the vehicle with Ukrainians for the journey back then taking a load of something or other probably makes sense.
You are not British, and you don't live in Britain, so what gives you the right to lecture the British about who they let in? Butt the fuck out, you dickless freak. Go to americanpoliticalbetting.com and adorn them with your wittering, dreary, mediocre opinions
Now I get it @PJohnson @d_d
I know Mike Smithson bigged up Boris chances of surviving this year in a previous header, I just laughed at that, it’s just not true.
TSE is right, when Big dog gets the snip no one from the current cabinet will get the job. They are all discredited by being in the Boris government now.
I genuinely can’t be arsed with US politics, tbh. it is just way too fucked up.
That any better?
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/republican-unforced-errors-threaten-path-to-senate-control/
As the prospect of a red wave grows, a series of Republican missteps including recruiting stumbles, weak fundraising and intense infighting is threatening the GOP’s path to the Senate majority.
Arizona’s Republican Gov. Doug Ducey dealt his party its latest setback late last week by announcing he would not challenge Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly this fall. His decision, which leaves no obvious front-runner in a crowded Republican primary, disappointed Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and his allies who had spent months privately encouraging Ducey to run. . . .
Republican candidates in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada are struggling to keep pace with Democratic fundraising. Recruiting failures have dashed GOP hopes in reach states like Maryland and threaten a prime pickup opportunity in New Hampshire. And a recent plan that would raise taxes on low-income Americans and seniors, released by the Republican Senate midterm chief, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, is putting GOP candidates in a difficult position across states like Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. . . .
Scott, the leader of the GOP’s Senate midterm efforts, released an 11-point plan late last month that would impose a modest tax increase for many of the lowest paid Americans, while opening the door for cutting Social Security and Medicare. The Senate Democrats’ political arm released a radio ad within 24 hours declaring, “If Senate Republicans win, we pay the price.” . . .
The Senate Republican leader forcefully rebuked Scott’s plan during the Republican leadership’s weekly news conference, which Scott was part of.
“Let me tell you what would not be a part of our agenda,” McConnell said moments after Scott stepped away from the event. “We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half of the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years.” . . .
In Nevada, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, one of the nation’s most endangered Democrats, reported $10.5 million cash on hand at the end of last year, compared to Republican former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt’s $1.7 million.
Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock finished the year with $22.9 million in the bank, while likely Republican challenger Herschel Walker, the former football star who has been endorsed by Trump, reported $5.4 million.
And Arizona Democrat Kelly, a former astronaut who won a 2020 special election to serve out the final two years of the late Sen. John McCain’s term, reported $18.6 million in the bank. Arizona’s Republican state Attorney General Mark Brnovich, the best-known Republican in a crowded primary field, reported less than $800,000 in the bank. . . .
Starmer is -3
https://twitter.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1500891542470418437?t=6TntdcxOekCIAynJQFEF6Q&s=19
It’s possible he’d be a better PM than Chancellor though.
His Mais lecture was very interesting in that it demonstrated real attention to detail about various micro-economic policy instruments, but a woeful ignorance about macroeconomics.
His strategy for the UK?
Build an “enterprise culture.”
As Martin Wolf asks in the FT, what the fuck has Britain been doing for the past 40 years?
He has no answers to Britain’s economic problems,
I've got a fun Saturday afternoon planned now...
I agree with you about American politics, of course. Insanely polarised and nasty. It makes our Brexit row look cordial
American politics is like the trans-terf social media battle - multiplied by a trillion and imposed on the entire population of a global superpower
https://twitter.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1500891542470418437?t=6TntdcxOekCIAynJQFEF6Q&s=19
Not only is US politics stupidly polarised, it’s also obsessed with various issues (guns, abortion, critical race theory) that I don’t give much of a shit about.
He’s been pretty invisible during the current crisis (rightly so).
You make a good point, the receiving country has pampers for the baby and charger cable you forgot to rescuer from the rubble, but maybe he had been talking to people at border on phone and it’s what they asking for, whilst queuing up in cars to get in the countries? But maybe they across border but chargers to keep phone and other tech going and nappies are all in short supply?
If he had filled up with Ukrainians for trip back then that’s a much longer wait at customs ☹️
I guess a huge war in Europe, and potential nuclear apocalypse, is the kind of thing that might just do that. And he is having a good war. Involved, animated, sensible
I suspect some of the hysterical shrieking about Ukrainian refugees cruelly stuck in, er, France, by Bojo's insane Nazism, is actually sublimated anger that Boris seems to be escaping his Nemesis
AP (via Seattle Times $) - UK government denies giving cool welcome to Ukraine refugees
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/uk-government-denies-giving-cool-welcome-to-ukraine-refugees/
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday defended his government’s treatment of Ukrainians fleeing war, after France accused U.K. authorities of “inhumane” behavior towards the refugees.
Johnson said Britain was being “very, very generous,” but wouldn’t have “a system where people can come into the U.K. without any checks or any controls at all.”
Britain says it expects to take in as many as 200,000 Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s invasion, and has set no upper limit on the number it will accept.
But very few have managed to reach Britain so far. The Home Office said “around 50” visas had been granted by Sunday, though Johnson said Monday he wasn’t sure that number was correct.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Sunday that hundreds of Ukrainian refugees in the English Channel port of Calais had been turned away and told by British authorities that they must obtain visas at U.K. embassies in Paris or Brussels.
Calling that “a bit inhumane,” Darmanin urged Britain to “stop the technocratic nit-picking” and be more generous. He said he had urged Britain to set up a consulate in Calais to deal with applications.
Home Secretary Priti Patel denied Britain was turning anyone away, though the British government confirmed Monday that it didn’t have a visa center in Calais, meaning applications need to be made elsewhere.
Patel said Britain had set up a visa application center “en route to Calais” but not at the port, to avoid bottlenecks.
“It is wrong to say we’re just turning people back, we’re absolutely not, we’re supporting those that have been coming to Calais,” she said in the House of Commons.
European Union nations are allowing Ukrainians live and work for up to three years without having to go through a formal asylum-seeking process. The U.K., which left the bloc last year, isn’t waiving the paperwork, citing security reasons, though it is loosening its rules.
Ukrainians based in Britain can bring over family members, including spouses, parents and children. The government has also announced a separate route for groups in the U.K. to sponsor Ukrainian refugees, but details of that were still being worked out.
Patel said the U.K. was flying staff out to countries neighboring Ukraine “so we can fast-track and speed up applications.”
The United Nations says more than 1.7 million people have fled the war in Ukraine, in what it calls Europe’s fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II.
NZ passports are highly covetable in these apocalyptic times.
My guess is that both are operative, the war more so, but the skew is not nothing.
Apart from his Brexitism and unusual affection for Marie Le Pen, he presents quite normally.
One of Moscow’s more successful astroturfers.
Labour 40% (+2)
Conservative 37% (+2)
Liberal Democrat 10% (-2)
Green 5% (–)
Scottish National Party 4% (-1)
Reform UK 2% (-2)
Other 1% (–)
Changes +/- 28 Feb Redfield and Wilton
If the Tories can't get ahead during a war, when can they?
eg
Володимир Зеленський@ZelenskyyUa·Mar 2Coordinated actions with 🇬🇧 Prime Minister @BorisJohnson. Reported on the course of 🇺🇦 defense and the latest crimes of Russia against the civilian population. We are grateful for 🇬🇧 continued significant assistance in combating aggression. Together with partners we defend 🇺🇦!
https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1498974231266316291?s=20&t=fUy5EXon8PD_7QxiZ9VE3g
"⚡️Ukraine: Russians shoot fake video in Chornobyl.
Ukraine’s state company Energoatom said that after the Chornobyl plant staff refused to participate, the invaders filmed their troops dressed in the uniform of the French company Novarka, which had left the zone in 2020."
Nuclear weapon lies coming I guess. Every aspect of the russian operation has been so sloppy.
I don't understand you guys being so bad at what you do. Is Vlad sending out the useless conscript cyberwarriors in the first wave to lull us into a false sense of security?
And has "d_d" been kicked to the curb by Mods yet?
Boris is certainly having a “good” war.
He was sitting on a decent existing policy (armaments to Ukraine) and was willing to step up to be Zelensky’s primary interlocutor from the beginning.
Less so the refugees stuff and the fact he’s historically cosied up to Russian cash.
It has surprising me and it will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next few weeks
He has given his best speeches too, showing that he can still do a great set-piece speech. And maybe he has finally shrugged off his long Covid. That he caught by being way too relaxed about personal bio-security. Prat.
Least-bad type questions with negatives on both sides, innit? If only we could view all our problems so soberly.
Edit - which makes us PBers all Pooh-Bahs?
If anything it has brought a focus on Boris governments closeness to Putin money in the lead up to Putin’s barbarity, in a way that might not even have been scrutinised till a change of government, without this war.
Is there a volunteer role out on the Ukraine borders that fits a person like yourself, man with a suitcase loves foreign travel and experiences, got all the patter for meeting and empathising with strangers? It must be a 24hrs chaos on the bordering countries. Have you ever been close to a war zone?
As for Boris, I have a sense he will escape this Russian stuff and Partygate simply because of the scale of the crises now facing us. The scandal feels deeply trivial - even tho it is arguably pretty important and highly relevant
So he will lead the Tories into the next GE? He might even win it. He is a lucky general
And now, the gym. Later
Not sure if there's been more since that.
Genuinely curious.
I’ve just moved from London to New York and am horrified by the price of food, especially - for some reason - cucumbers.
Are you telling me it’s going to get worse?
So many tells.
"#UkraineRussianWar: The Russian military is so incompetent it releases footage of Su-34 ‘24’ taking off for a new sortie a day after it was shot down over Ukraine."
https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1500902154994921476
I was once held at gunpoint, with a photographer mate, by Hezbollah, in a Hezbollah safe house in the cold mountains of south Lebanon, in a village - Machgarah - which was simultaneously being shelled and strafed by the Israelis. I heard the screams of people dying, and saw the bombs explode. They kept us for hours
Miraculously, Hezbollah did not briskly execute us (despite suspecting we were Israeli agents). When I got home I told some experienced Middle East hacks what happened to me and they fell off their chairs. Apparently our chances of surviving that were about 1%. We got very very very lucky
I'm getting a modest cold sweat even now, thinking about it. FFFFFuck
One can never rule it out with Boris, but it seems unlikely.
"Small positive signs" in the peace talks (Ukrainian source), but agreement not to discuss details in public.
Russian allies inching forward in the south, with several suburbs of Mariopol taken. Rumoured big assaults on Kyiv and Odessa haven't happened. Mariopol situation particularly grim, with no utilities.
Very little change around Kyiv - Russians picking up a few villages but the main column still stalled
All Russian ground forces now committed, but not main air power yet so no overall control in the air. Zero Belorussian troops involved.
Ukrainians carried out a successful attack on an airfield, knocking out numerous Russian helicopters.
Evacuations from Kharkiv now going relatively well, but everywhere else still stalled with both side blaming each other for local violations.
FWIW I think the Russians are going to capture a cohesive land link from the East to Crimea. but it's not obvious that they're trying to advance much anywhere else at the moment. Possibly they are genuinely stuck, or alternatively waiting to see if the peace talks progress, with the aim of settling for Ukrainian neutrality and acceptance of the "southern corridor"? The former is on the table, the latter still very hard for Ukraine to accept.
Hard to think of an analogy with Norway though.
A Russian bot sticks out like a sore thumb here, in a way they don’t in most other forums.
That's a policy I can get 100% behind. Planning should be disregarded for 5G build.
@RedfieldWilton
Johnson leads over Starmer for better PM for the first time since 3 Jan.
At this moment, which of the following individuals do you think would be the better PM for the UK? (7 Mar)
Boris Johnson: 39% (+3)
Keir Starmer: 35% (-1)
Changes +/- 28 Feb"
https://twitter.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1500894203664084996
Perhaps indeed we are close to my suggested “deal”.
Secession of Crimea.
Agreement not to join NATO.
Some kind of deal in the Donbas (beefed up federal status and perhaps plebiscites on independence).
I can see Ukraine agreeing to it, reluctantly, but even though Russia claims to want it it doesn't seem to obtain much.