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Rishi/BoJo U-Turn on a windfall tax – politicalbetting.com

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Comments

  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,585

    Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: “The CPS has authorised criminal charges against Kevin Spacey, 62, for four counts of sexual assault against three men.

    https://twitter.com/CPSUK/status/1529829942816555009?s=20&t=j-KGcCp1DHRkDKDc4SLKsw

    That sounds like a good test case for the UK/US extradition Treaty. Will the US really refuse to send over someone, who’s already well and truly cancelled in the States?
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 2,747

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    For the sake of balance worth noting LibDems done a deal with SNP in Aberdeen and removed Labour/Tory Admin. Swings and roundabouts.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835
    dixiedean said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Nigelb said:

    As for the next round of Potemkin laws that will be passed in Republican states…

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-security-plan-rcna30568
    … Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District had doubled its security budget in recent years, according to public documents, in part to comply with state legislation passed in the wake of a 2018 school shooting in which eight students and two teachers were killed. The district adopted an array of security measures that included its own police force, threat assessment teams at each school, a threat reporting system, social media monitoring software, fences around schools and a requirement that teachers lock their classroom doors, according to the security plan posted on the district’s website.

    It happened anyway.…

    What a lovely environment for a primary school...
    Sounds like a dystopia. What a useless country the USA has become in some respects.
    The perfect gift for Back to School.

    https://eu.northjersey.com/story/news/2019/08/15/bulletproof-backpack-for-kids-under-fire-do-these-backpacks-hold-up/2017751001/
    I wonder if the US equivalent of the Consumers' Association has started running pieces on flak jackets and saying which are Best Buys and Don't Buys.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,401
    Andy_JS said:

    tlg86 said:

    Claudia Webbe has lost her appeal.

    Any chance of a by-election?
    Andy_JS said:

    tlg86 said:

    Claudia Webbe has lost her appeal.

    Any chance of a by-election?
    Recall petition first I think.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    edited May 2022
    I blame BBC budget cuts....didn't work in Downing Street, didn't die of COVID...other than that, bang on.


    BBC presenter Nick Robinson has today apologised after wrongly claiming a Ministry of Justice cleaner died 'of Covid' while working in 'Downing Street'.

    The Radio 4 Today show host brought up the tragic death of government cleaner Emanuel Gomes while grilling Boris Johnson's chief of staff Steve Barclay over Partygate.

    Quoting a report by political sketch magazine, The Critic, he said Mr Gomes had been 'instructed to keep coming into work during lockdown, had contracted Covid and had died'.

    He later referred to Mr Gomes as having worked at Downing Street - where he was 'surrounded by people who were routinely breaking the rules'.

    But Mr Gomes had not been working at Downing Street at the time of his death - because he was a cleaner at the Ministry of Justice.

    And while colleagues had raised concerns that Mr Gomes had been suffering Covid-like symptoms in the lead up to his death in April 2020, an official coroner's report recorded it as hypertension of the heart.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10856883/BBCs-Nick-Robinson-apologises-wrongly-claiming-Downing-Street-cleaner-died-Covid.html
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    For the sake of balance worth noting LibDems done a deal with SNP in Aberdeen and removed Labour/Tory Admin. Swings and roundabouts.
    Quite. Very difficult to run councils otherwise under the proportional voting system.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,585

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    Presumably the thinking behind the anti-SNP coalition in Edinburgh, is to completely nix the idea of a wildcat referendum, and force Holyrood to think about the (failure of) domestic policy such as education, policing and transport?
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146
    Eabhal said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".

    The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
    I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?

    (Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
  • ApplicantApplicant Posts: 3,379
    .
    Carnyx said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    For the sake of balance worth noting LibDems done a deal with SNP in Aberdeen and removed Labour/Tory Admin. Swings and roundabouts.
    Quite. Very difficult to run councils otherwise under the proportional voting system.
    Good luck to the voters knowing how their votes will translate into council control.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 27,894
    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835
    Sandpit said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    Presumably the thinking behind the anti-SNP coalition in Edinburgh, is to completely nix the idea of a wildcat referendum, and force Holyrood to think about the (failure of) domestic policy such as education, policing and transport?
    No, coalitions per se are quite normal, though Labour do have a tendency to go anti SNP out of sheer spite. The current issue is the way in which Mr Sarwar tried to get extra votes before the election by saying Labour wouldn't enter into any coalitions.*

    *I suspect weasel wording - collaboration is somehow OK, but we have to see the details for coalitions before we can be sure.

  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,990
    Acting Met chief asked whether police issued fines for Lee Cain leaving do, Downing Street flat, or both events on 13 Nov 2020. He responds: "Well I know, but I'm not allowed to tell you". Unclear why not, when Met identified which other events they issued fines for.
    https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1529834794019966979
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,786
    edited May 2022
    Applicant said:

    .

    Carnyx said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    For the sake of balance worth noting LibDems done a deal with SNP in Aberdeen and removed Labour/Tory Admin. Swings and roundabouts.
    Quite. Very difficult to run councils otherwise under the proportional voting system.
    Good luck to the voters knowing how their votes will translate into council control.
    Same happens with fptp all over England so I don't see the issue, just in this case those elected are in proportion to the votes and not random. Where I am there is a coalition in the council in England.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277
    The cops are claiming the door was made of steel and had a cinder block behind it.

    And yet American cops have bazookas and explosives and bloody NLAWS.

    Unspeakable horror
  • jamesdoylejamesdoyle Posts: 790

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Coop d'Etat? Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835
    Applicant said:

    .

    Carnyx said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    For the sake of balance worth noting LibDems done a deal with SNP in Aberdeen and removed Labour/Tory Admin. Swings and roundabouts.
    Quite. Very difficult to run councils otherwise under the proportional voting system.
    Good luck to the voters knowing how their votes will translate into council control.
    Especially Labour ones who had been promised no coalitions with Tories - or SNP or anyone else. Given the split within Labour voters as to Yes/No to indy, this might have been a particularly calculated move ...
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,255
    Sandpit said:

    Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: “The CPS has authorised criminal charges against Kevin Spacey, 62, for four counts of sexual assault against three men.

    https://twitter.com/CPSUK/status/1529829942816555009?s=20&t=j-KGcCp1DHRkDKDc4SLKsw

    That sounds like a good test case for the UK/US extradition Treaty. Will the US really refuse to send over someone, who’s already well and truly cancelled in the States?
    As far as I am aware, the Americans have extradited everyone we have issued extradition proceeding for under the 2003 act.

    The UK has refused extradition in several cases.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,990
    This is a local gunstore, for local mass murderers...

    Tried to visit the gun store that sold weapons to the Uvalde gunman. Was stopped in parking lot by management. It’s open but I’m not allowed in. Asked why… “You have a notepad… and an accent.”
    https://twitter.com/DaveLeeFT/status/1529830077718044672
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835

    Eabhal said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".

    The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
    I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?

    (Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
    If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,585

    Sandpit said:

    Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: “The CPS has authorised criminal charges against Kevin Spacey, 62, for four counts of sexual assault against three men.

    https://twitter.com/CPSUK/status/1529829942816555009?s=20&t=j-KGcCp1DHRkDKDc4SLKsw

    That sounds like a good test case for the UK/US extradition Treaty. Will the US really refuse to send over someone, who’s already well and truly cancelled in the States?
    As far as I am aware, the Americans have extradited everyone we have issued extradition proceeding for under the 2003 act.

    The UK has refused extradition in several cases.
    Anna Sacoolas?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    edited May 2022
    Sandpit said:

    Sandpit said:

    Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: “The CPS has authorised criminal charges against Kevin Spacey, 62, for four counts of sexual assault against three men.

    https://twitter.com/CPSUK/status/1529829942816555009?s=20&t=j-KGcCp1DHRkDKDc4SLKsw

    That sounds like a good test case for the UK/US extradition Treaty. Will the US really refuse to send over someone, who’s already well and truly cancelled in the States?
    As far as I am aware, the Americans have extradited everyone we have issued extradition proceeding for under the 2003 act.

    The UK has refused extradition in several cases.
    Anna Sacoolas?
    Kev better try and join the US intelligence agencies double quick...I think passing the background checks might be a bit tricky though.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,585

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    It’s almost as if the Russians have been targeting both sides of every contentious issue, with the intention of sowing division rather than any particular outcome.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,255

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    No. No. No.

    It's like Dom Cummings. He's a Neon-Fascist, Lying Scumbag Traitor.

    Until he attacks the people you approve of attacking.

    In which case he becomes an unquestionable Sword Of Truth.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,249
    Sandpit said:

    Sandpit said:

    Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: “The CPS has authorised criminal charges against Kevin Spacey, 62, for four counts of sexual assault against three men.

    https://twitter.com/CPSUK/status/1529829942816555009?s=20&t=j-KGcCp1DHRkDKDc4SLKsw

    That sounds like a good test case for the UK/US extradition Treaty. Will the US really refuse to send over someone, who’s already well and truly cancelled in the States?
    As far as I am aware, the Americans have extradited everyone we have issued extradition proceeding for under the 2003 act.

    The UK has refused extradition in several cases.
    Anna Sacoolas?
    Did we start proceedings formally?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,255
    Sandpit said:

    Sandpit said:

    Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: “The CPS has authorised criminal charges against Kevin Spacey, 62, for four counts of sexual assault against three men.

    https://twitter.com/CPSUK/status/1529829942816555009?s=20&t=j-KGcCp1DHRkDKDc4SLKsw

    That sounds like a good test case for the UK/US extradition Treaty. Will the US really refuse to send over someone, who’s already well and truly cancelled in the States?
    As far as I am aware, the Americans have extradited everyone we have issued extradition proceeding for under the 2003 act.

    The UK has refused extradition in several cases.
    Anna Sacoolas?
    Her extradition was never requested. Because of the diplomatic immunity.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    No. No. No.

    It's like Dom Cummings. He's a Neon-Fascist, Lying Scumbag Traitor.

    Until he attacks the people you approve of attacking.

    In which case he becomes an unquestionable Sword Of Truth.
    Mr C comes up in an orange glow?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,255

    Sandpit said:

    Sandpit said:

    Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: “The CPS has authorised criminal charges against Kevin Spacey, 62, for four counts of sexual assault against three men.

    https://twitter.com/CPSUK/status/1529829942816555009?s=20&t=j-KGcCp1DHRkDKDc4SLKsw

    That sounds like a good test case for the UK/US extradition Treaty. Will the US really refuse to send over someone, who’s already well and truly cancelled in the States?
    As far as I am aware, the Americans have extradited everyone we have issued extradition proceeding for under the 2003 act.

    The UK has refused extradition in several cases.
    Anna Sacoolas?
    Kev better try and join the US intelligence agencies double quick...I think passing the background checks might be a bit tricky though.
    That would only work, if the UK formally accepted him into the country, affirming his diplomatic status :-)
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,486
    Carnyx said:

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    No. No. No.

    It's like Dom Cummings. He's a Neon-Fascist, Lying Scumbag Traitor.

    Until he attacks the people you approve of attacking.

    In which case he becomes an unquestionable Sword Of Truth.
    Mr C comes up in an orange glow?
    Ironic given his dislike for mandarins.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,377
    Meanwhile, I can't help thinking that the astronomical cost of today's announcements would be comfortably covered if the government hadn't been so negligent as to be susceptible to UC fraud (£5b), Covid business loans fraud (£4.9b), furlough fraud and error (£5.3b) and PPE fraud and error (unknown).
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,357
    edited May 2022
    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".

    The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
    I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?

    (Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
    If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
    I'm sure that's meant in a joking manner, but as a cyclist in Edinburgh, who has always been careful around pedestrians, but has faced continuous aggression from drivers, it actually makes me feel really threatened.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    edited May 2022
    Classic BBC fudge, they aren't really cutting the channels they say they are, just moving them online. It does beg the question why they decided BBC Three HAD to be an over the air channel, targeted at a demographic who are least likely to watch traditional telly.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-61591674
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277
    Scott_xP said:

    This is a local gunstore, for local mass murderers...

    Tried to visit the gun store that sold weapons to the Uvalde gunman. Was stopped in parking lot by management. It’s open but I’m not allowed in. Asked why… “You have a notepad… and an accent.”
    https://twitter.com/DaveLeeFT/status/1529830077718044672

    Apparently he spent $4000 on assault rifles. Age 18. That didn’t ring any tiny alarms?
  • ApplicantApplicant Posts: 3,379

    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".

    The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
    I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?

    (Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
    If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
    I'm sure that's meant in a joking manner, but as a cyclist in Edinburgh, who has always been careful around pedestrians, but has faced continuous aggression from drivers, it actually makes me feel really threatened.
    You must be one of the good ones. Unfortunately the 95% give you a bad name.
  • MightyAlexMightyAlex Posts: 1,660
    edited May 2022
    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".

    The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
    I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?

    (Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
    If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
    Seems unlikely.

    'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'

    As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/08/killer-cyclists-roads-bikes-pedestrian-collision-deaths-britain
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,585

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    No. No. No.

    It's like Dom Cummings. He's a Neon-Fascist, Lying Scumbag Traitor.

    Until he attacks the people you approve of attacking.

    In which case he becomes an unquestionable Sword Of Truth.
    See also: Julian Assange.

    (Although the look on the faces of the luvvies who put up his £250k bail, must have been something to behold when he absconded).
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,357
    edited May 2022
    Leon said:

    Scott_xP said:

    This is a local gunstore, for local mass murderers...

    Tried to visit the gun store that sold weapons to the Uvalde gunman. Was stopped in parking lot by management. It’s open but I’m not allowed in. Asked why… “You have a notepad… and an accent.”
    https://twitter.com/DaveLeeFT/status/1529830077718044672

    Apparently he spent $4000 on assault rifles. Age 18. That didn’t ring any tiny alarms?
    I could imagine quite a few people buying guns on their 18th birthday as a birthday present. It's probably not that unusual.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,557

    Andy_JS said:

    tlg86 said:

    Claudia Webbe has lost her appeal.

    Any chance of a by-election?
    No, she only got a short suspended sentence and clearly no desire to step down.
    Maybe a petition.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,011
    BBC: "The BBC has announced that it plans to stop airing CBBC and BBC Four as traditional broadcast channels."

    How bloody ridiculous. They bring back BBC3 (aimed at 'the youth' who don't watch normal telly) and then get rid of BBC4 (aimed at the more mature viewers who do watch normal telly). Who makes these decisions?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    edited May 2022

    BBC: "The BBC has announced that it plans to stop airing CBBC and BBC Four as traditional broadcast channels."

    How bloody ridiculous. They bring back BBC3 (aimed at 'the youth' who don't watch normal telly) and then get rid of BBC4 (aimed at the more mature viewers who do watch normal telly). Who makes these decisions?

    These people...



    I predict they don't end up saving any money via these moves in the end.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,779

    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".

    The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
    I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?

    (Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
    If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
    Seems unlikely.

    'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'

    As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/08/killer-cyclists-roads-bikes-pedestrian-collision-deaths-britain
    And I bet at least half of those deaths involving cyclists were the fault of the pedestrian, walking blithely into the road in front of the cyclist while looking at their phone or listening to headphones. Seriously, why don't people look before they cross the road anymore? It's a nightmare cycling through Central London.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,011
    Leon said:

    Scott_xP said:

    This is a local gunstore, for local mass murderers...

    Tried to visit the gun store that sold weapons to the Uvalde gunman. Was stopped in parking lot by management. It’s open but I’m not allowed in. Asked why… “You have a notepad… and an accent.”
    https://twitter.com/DaveLeeFT/status/1529830077718044672

    Apparently he spent $4000 on assault rifles. Age 18. That didn’t ring any tiny alarms?
    It rang the tills. That's all the gun store care about.
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 2,747
    Sandpit said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    Presumably the thinking behind the anti-SNP coalition in Edinburgh, is to completely nix the idea of a wildcat referendum, and force Holyrood to think about the (failure of) domestic policy such as education, policing and transport?
    I don't honestly think that you would need an anti-SNP coalition at Edinburgh City Council to nix a referendum. If ScotGov needs consent from all the councils to run a wildcat ref there are plenty with a unionist majority who could put a spoke in the wheels. TBH this is a non-issue. There ain't gonna be a referendum, wildcat or domestic moggie, anytime soon. I know that, you know that, and Nicola koows that. Just don't tell the saltire-wavers.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,585

    BBC: "The BBC has announced that it plans to stop airing CBBC and BBC Four as traditional broadcast channels."

    How bloody ridiculous. They bring back BBC3 (aimed at 'the youth' who don't watch normal telly) and then get rid of BBC4 (aimed at the more mature viewers who do watch normal telly). Who makes these decisions?

    Someone more interested in trying to make a political point, looking to annoy the sort of people who willl complain to their MP, rather than the majority of their viewers.

    Their customer (the person who pays them money) is the government.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,561

    BBC: "The BBC has announced that it plans to stop airing CBBC and BBC Four as traditional broadcast channels."

    How bloody ridiculous. They bring back BBC3 (aimed at 'the youth' who don't watch normal telly) and then get rid of BBC4 (aimed at the more mature viewers who do watch normal telly). Who makes these decisions?

    The same fuckwits who could have had the world's leading media brand, if they hadn't sat on their fat, licence fee-protected arses for the past few decades.
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,310
    Sandpit said:

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    It’s almost as if the Russians have been targeting both sides of every contentious issue, with the intention of sowing division rather than any particular outcome.
    No shit Sherlock. Anyone who believes the Russia Report that there was no Russian interference in British elections and referenda needs the Gullibility Award I handed to another poster who doesn't believe Boris Johnson lied to parliament.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,401

    Leon said:

    Scott_xP said:

    This is a local gunstore, for local mass murderers...

    Tried to visit the gun store that sold weapons to the Uvalde gunman. Was stopped in parking lot by management. It’s open but I’m not allowed in. Asked why… “You have a notepad… and an accent.”
    https://twitter.com/DaveLeeFT/status/1529830077718044672

    Apparently he spent $4000 on assault rifles. Age 18. That didn’t ring any tiny alarms?
    I could imagine quite a few people buying guns on their 18th birthday as a birthday present. It's probably not that unusual.
    Sing along

    It's not unusual
    To buy guns on your birthday
    La la la la la la.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,990
    Hammond: "Since 9 December I have been critical of the Prime Minister’s behaviour and the culture that existed in Number 10. All I can do as a backbencher is speak out and submit a letter."
    https://www.stephenhammond.net/news/publication-sue-gray-report
  • eekeek Posts: 28,370
    Foxy said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    FPT I'm fuming at the £400 thing.

    I live in a tiny flat that is heated by my neighbours. The vast majority of my energy goes on my PS4 / PC and my gas powered power shower.

    I'm currently trying to decide on what new DSLR to buy. I'm booking a holiday to the Alps and possibly Greece (hat tip @Leon). I've booked a posh restaurant for GFs birthday.

    I've made hardly a dent in my pandemic savings, revaluation of my flat. I do not need £400. Give it to the minimum wage folk getting screwed by inflation.

    Canon R5.
    Very happy with my Sony, perfect for travel and wildlife.

    https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-cyber-shot-dsc-rx10-iv
    Not quite an DSLR - I do rather like my Sony Alpha A6500...
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,715

    WarMonitor🇺🇦
    @WarMonitor3
    Ukrainians forces are reportedly reinforcing Severodonetsk instead of withdrawing.
  • MightyAlexMightyAlex Posts: 1,660

    Meanwhile, I can't help thinking that the astronomical cost of today's announcements would be comfortably covered if the government hadn't been so negligent as to be susceptible to UC fraud (£5b), Covid business loans fraud (£4.9b), furlough fraud and error (£5.3b) and PPE fraud and error (unknown).

    Seems its possible to fund anything if careers are on the line.

    That missing bit of HS2. Sure start, Carers allowances, UC uplift. Just a few more scandals...
  • Nigel_ForemainNigel_Foremain Posts: 14,310
    Carnyx said:

    Sandpit said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    Presumably the thinking behind the anti-SNP coalition in Edinburgh, is to completely nix the idea of a wildcat referendum, and force Holyrood to think about the (failure of) domestic policy such as education, policing and transport?
    No, coalitions per se are quite normal, though Labour do have a tendency to go anti SNP out of sheer spite. The current issue is the way in which Mr Sarwar tried to get extra votes before the election by saying Labour wouldn't enter into any coalitions.*

    *I suspect weasel wording - collaboration is somehow OK, but we have to see the details for coalitions before we can be sure.

    Out of sheer spite? Oh come on! SNP wish to break up the UK, which is fairly fundamental to UK parties, quite aside from the pretty unsavoury aspects of nationalism per se. It doesn't need to be spite, it is sensible politics.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677
    Leon said:

    Scott_xP said:

    This is a local gunstore, for local mass murderers...

    Tried to visit the gun store that sold weapons to the Uvalde gunman. Was stopped in parking lot by management. It’s open but I’m not allowed in. Asked why… “You have a notepad… and an accent.”
    https://twitter.com/DaveLeeFT/status/1529830077718044672

    Apparently he spent $4000 on assault rifles. Age 18. That didn’t ring any tiny alarms?
    He used DDM M4s which can't fire full auto and therefore are not "assault rifles".
  • Foxy said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    FPT I'm fuming at the £400 thing.

    I live in a tiny flat that is heated by my neighbours. The vast majority of my energy goes on my PS4 / PC and my gas powered power shower.

    I'm currently trying to decide on what new DSLR to buy. I'm booking a holiday to the Alps and possibly Greece (hat tip @Leon). I've booked a posh restaurant for GFs birthday.

    I've made hardly a dent in my pandemic savings, revaluation of my flat. I do not need £400. Give it to the minimum wage folk getting screwed by inflation.

    Canon R5.
    Very happy with my Sony, perfect for travel and wildlife.

    https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-cyber-shot-dsc-rx10-iv
    We have just bought a Canon R6 for our holiday this summer.

    https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-r6-review
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,958

    Sandpit said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    Presumably the thinking behind the anti-SNP coalition in Edinburgh, is to completely nix the idea of a wildcat referendum, and force Holyrood to think about the (failure of) domestic policy such as education, policing and transport?
    I don't honestly think that you would need an anti-SNP coalition at Edinburgh City Council to nix a referendum. If ScotGov needs consent from all the councils to run a wildcat ref there are plenty with a unionist majority who could put a spoke in the wheels. TBH this is a non-issue. There ain't gonna be a referendum, wildcat or domestic moggie, anytime soon. I know that, you know that, and Nicola koows that. Just don't tell the saltire-wavers.
    Is Nicola still in charge? I’m sure it was you (among other UJ wavers) who said she’d be off to pastures new this year. And last year. And the one before that.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298

    Sandpit said:

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    It’s almost as if the Russians have been targeting both sides of every contentious issue, with the intention of sowing division rather than any particular outcome.
    No shit Sherlock. Anyone who believes the Russia Report that there was no Russian interference in British elections and referenda needs the Gullibility Award I handed to another poster who doesn't believe Boris Johnson lied to parliament.
    Dearlove has already confirmed the accuracy of the emails, so it’s not “propaganda” as Sandpit suggests.
  • Meanwhile, I can't help thinking that the astronomical cost of today's announcements would be comfortably covered if the government hadn't been so negligent as to be susceptible to UC fraud (£5b), Covid business loans fraud (£4.9b), furlough fraud and error (£5.3b) and PPE fraud and error (unknown).

    The only way to eliminate UC fraud is to eliminate UC - and so on and so forth for all the other programs.

    If you open up systems for people to claim money, there will be fraud, there always has been and always will be.

    Trying to prevent it is something governments of all colours always try to do, but as soon as you open a scheme for giving money to people, fraudsters will find a way to exploit it.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835
    edited May 2022

    Carnyx said:

    Sandpit said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    Presumably the thinking behind the anti-SNP coalition in Edinburgh, is to completely nix the idea of a wildcat referendum, and force Holyrood to think about the (failure of) domestic policy such as education, policing and transport?
    No, coalitions per se are quite normal, though Labour do have a tendency to go anti SNP out of sheer spite. The current issue is the way in which Mr Sarwar tried to get extra votes before the election by saying Labour wouldn't enter into any coalitions.*

    *I suspect weasel wording - collaboration is somehow OK, but we have to see the details for coalitions before we can be sure.

    Out of sheer spite? Oh come on! SNP wish to break up the UK, which is fairly fundamental to UK parties, quite aside from the pretty unsavoury aspects of nationalism per se. It doesn't need to be spite, it is sensible politics.
    You're pleasantly innocent of the nature of the Slab pooch and its reaction to having its perpetual dinner bowl sharply removed.

    And you are still confounding nationalism with pro autonomy. Come to think of it, you must have been voting Tory for many years, or am I wrong? Now that is a ferociously UK nationalist party, to the degree that its main supporters here actively advocate armed invasion and even insurrection against opponents. And your hostility to SNP and PC rather implies your converse wish to support the nationalist integrity of the UK.
  • MISTYMISTY Posts: 1,594

    Meanwhile, I can't help thinking that the astronomical cost of today's announcements would be comfortably covered if the government hadn't been so negligent as to be susceptible to UC fraud (£5b), Covid business loans fraud (£4.9b), furlough fraud and error (£5.3b) and PPE fraud and error (unknown).

    The only way to eliminate UC fraud is to eliminate UC - and so on and so forth for all the other programs.

    If you open up systems for people to claim money, there will be fraud, there always has been and always will be.

    Trying to prevent it is something governments of all colours always try to do, but as soon as you open a scheme for giving money to people, fraudsters will find a way to exploit it.
    When taxes are low, people don't care.

    But when they are the highest in decades, every piece of wastage is a target.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    edited May 2022

    Sandpit said:

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    It’s almost as if the Russians have been targeting both sides of every contentious issue, with the intention of sowing division rather than any particular outcome.
    No shit Sherlock. Anyone who believes the Russia Report that there was no Russian interference in British elections and referenda needs the Gullibility Award I handed to another poster who doesn't believe Boris Johnson lied to parliament.
    Dearlove has already confirmed the accuracy of the emails, so it’s not “propaganda” as Sandpit suggests.
    That isn't what he has said...

    "Dearlove, who led Britain's foreign spy service - known as MI6 - between 1999 and 2004, told Reuters the leaked material should be treated with caution"....Dearlove said that the emails captured a "legitimate lobbying exercise which, seen through this antagonistic optic, is now subject to distortion."

    The claim is "they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.".

    That's full on Carole Conspiracy stuff.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,990
    Trust is at a low ebb between PM and his backbenchers - just last week Tories were whipped to vote *against* a windfall tax. It follows repeated U-turns, eg Paterson and standards system, free school meals, sewage. Not a great way of keeping MPs on side.
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-26/uk-slaps-25-windfall-tax-on-profits-of-oil-and-gas-companies
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677

    Sandpit said:

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    It’s almost as if the Russians have been targeting both sides of every contentious issue, with the intention of sowing division rather than any particular outcome.
    No shit Sherlock. Anyone who believes the Russia Report that there was no Russian interference in British elections and referenda needs the Gullibility Award I handed to another poster who doesn't believe Boris Johnson lied to parliament.
    Dearlove has already confirmed the accuracy of the emails, so it’s not “propaganda” as Sandpit suggests.
    I do like the Russian hackers' name for Johnson- Sneaky Strawhead. Very apt.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,585

    Foxy said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    FPT I'm fuming at the £400 thing.

    I live in a tiny flat that is heated by my neighbours. The vast majority of my energy goes on my PS4 / PC and my gas powered power shower.

    I'm currently trying to decide on what new DSLR to buy. I'm booking a holiday to the Alps and possibly Greece (hat tip @Leon). I've booked a posh restaurant for GFs birthday.

    I've made hardly a dent in my pandemic savings, revaluation of my flat. I do not need £400. Give it to the minimum wage folk getting screwed by inflation.

    Canon R5.
    Very happy with my Sony, perfect for travel and wildlife.

    https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-cyber-shot-dsc-rx10-iv
    We have just bought a Canon R6 for our holiday this summer.

    https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-r6-review
    Nice. I’m looking at R5, R6 and 5D IV, still can’t decide between them!
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,779

    Sandpit said:

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    It’s almost as if the Russians have been targeting both sides of every contentious issue, with the intention of sowing division rather than any particular outcome.
    No shit Sherlock. Anyone who believes the Russia Report that there was no Russian interference in British elections and referenda needs the Gullibility Award I handed to another poster who doesn't believe Boris Johnson lied to parliament.
    Dearlove has already confirmed the accuracy of the emails, so it’s not “propaganda” as Sandpit suggests.
    That isn't what he has said...

    "Dearlove, who led Britain's foreign spy service - known as MI6 - between 1999 and 2004, told Reuters the leaked material should be treated with caution"....Dearlove said that the emails captured a "legitimate lobbying exercise which, seen through this antagonistic optic, is now subject to distortion."

    The claim is "they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.".

    That's full on Carole Conspiracy stuff.
    We know that there is a group of hard-line pro-Brexit figures calling the shots. They're called the Cabinet. It's hardly a secret!
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298

    Sandpit said:

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    It’s almost as if the Russians have been targeting both sides of every contentious issue, with the intention of sowing division rather than any particular outcome.
    No shit Sherlock. Anyone who believes the Russia Report that there was no Russian interference in British elections and referenda needs the Gullibility Award I handed to another poster who doesn't believe Boris Johnson lied to parliament.
    Dearlove has already confirmed the accuracy of the emails, so it’s not “propaganda” as Sandpit suggests.
    That isn't what he has said...

    "Dearlove, who led Britain's foreign spy service - known as MI6 - between 1999 and 2004, told Reuters the leaked material should be treated with caution"....Dearlove said that the emails captured a "legitimate lobbying exercise which, seen through this antagonistic optic, is now subject to distortion."

    The claim is "they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.".

    That's full on Carole Conspiracy stuff.
    Yes, fair enough, that bit.
    It’s very hard to imagine a “deep state network” including Robert Tombs.

    I’d like to see the emails though.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277
    Ted Cruz walks out of interview when asked why these shootings only happen in America. One of his attempts to parry the question is to say “people flock to America because it is the freest, most prosperous… safest…”

    Yet you can see his eyes flicker when he says “safest”. A tell. He’s lying and he knows it


    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10856753/Texas-school-shooting-Ted-Cruz-storms-TV-quizzed-gun-control.html
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835
    edited May 2022

    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".

    The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
    I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?

    (Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
    If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
    I'm sure that's meant in a joking manner, but as a cyclist in Edinburgh, who has always been careful around pedestrians, but has faced continuous aggression from drivers, it actually makes me feel really threatened.
    All I can say is I feel really threatened by cyclists on pavements and road crossings and pelican crsossings. I have had some bad frights. And I never drive in Edinburgh.

    I was most of all at risk when in the middle of hte road crossing a green man and a cyclists demo came barrelling straight at me and wouldn't stop at the red - I was really relieved when several dozen of the arrogant, self-entitled shites had finally passed within inches on all sides with me as piggy in the middle. One of those supposed reclaim the streets for cyclists things.

  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    edited May 2022

    Sandpit said:

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    It’s almost as if the Russians have been targeting both sides of every contentious issue, with the intention of sowing division rather than any particular outcome.
    No shit Sherlock. Anyone who believes the Russia Report that there was no Russian interference in British elections and referenda needs the Gullibility Award I handed to another poster who doesn't believe Boris Johnson lied to parliament.
    Dearlove has already confirmed the accuracy of the emails, so it’s not “propaganda” as Sandpit suggests.
    That isn't what he has said...

    "Dearlove, who led Britain's foreign spy service - known as MI6 - between 1999 and 2004, told Reuters the leaked material should be treated with caution"....Dearlove said that the emails captured a "legitimate lobbying exercise which, seen through this antagonistic optic, is now subject to distortion."

    The claim is "they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.".

    That's full on Carole Conspiracy stuff.
    Yes, fair enough, that bit.
    It’s very hard to imagine a “deep state network” including Robert Tombs.

    I’d like to see the emails though.
    My guess would it that they are emails between people involved in the Brexit campaign, then moaning about May making a right hash of the deal negotiations and that the Tories need to get rid and that they will be writing / meeting with such and such a person to moan at them about how badly it is all going and that they need to change leader. And probably some hyperbolic talk of I can get such and such person in a position of power will listen to me.

    And that is being spun as this group controls the world.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,153

    Andy_JS said:

    tlg86 said:

    Claudia Webbe has lost her appeal.

    Any chance of a by-election?
    No, she only got a short suspended sentence and clearly no desire to step down.
    Hang on: wasn't the suspended sentence long enough to allow a recall petition? And didn't Labour say that they would back a recall?
  • theakestheakes Posts: 930
    Everyone gets £400, yes but the cap will have gone up £1400. Am I missing something?.
    Affluent pensioners get an extra £300 at Christmas and if on a diabled benefit another £150, again what am I missing.
    The more one looks at the policy the more unfait holes seem to appear.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    edited May 2022
    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    tlg86 said:

    Claudia Webbe has lost her appeal.

    Any chance of a by-election?
    No, she only got a short suspended sentence and clearly no desire to step down.
    Hang on: wasn't the suspended sentence long enough to allow a recall petition? And didn't Labour say that they would back a recall?
    I believe the sentence is 10 weeks suspended for 2 years. And obviously not part of Labour now.

    Correction, it has been reduced further.

    "However the ten-week suspended sentence she received in November was reduced to community service. Judge Deborah Taylor and two magistrates ruled this should amount to 80 hours - a reduction from the 200 hours she was originally ordered to complete."
  • JonathanBarnesJonathanBarnes Posts: 70
    edited May 2022

    HYUFD said:

    YouGov / The Times
    Sample Size: 1,115
    Fieldwork: 18-23 May 2022
    (+/- change from 18-22 November 2021)

    Westminster voting intention

    SNP 46% (-2)
    Lab 22% (+4)
    Con 19% (-1)
    LD 6% (nc)
    Grn 3% (nc)
    Ref 1% (-1)
    oth 2% (nc)

    Holyrood voting intention - FPTP constituency vote

    SNP 47% (-1)
    Lab 23% (+4)
    Con 18% (-3)
    LD 7% (nc)
    Grn 2% (nc)
    oth 3% (nc)

    Holyrood voting intention - List vote

    SNP 39% (+1)
    Lab 21% (+2)
    Con 18% (-1)
    Grn 10% (-1)
    LD 8% (+1)
    Alba 2% (+1)
    Ref 1% (-1)
    All for Unity 0 (-1)
    UKIP 0 (-1)
    oth 1% (nc)

    No 55% Yes 45% from the same poll

    https://twitter.com/JohnRentoul/status/1529397583776464896?s=20&t=GzBpx5_5UYR31Se1J5mDZQ
    Since when did you care about Independence Referendum voting intention? Your infinitely repeated assertion is that the Jocks will never be allowed inside the polling stations, so what does it matter how they might cast their votes?

    So far you have not advocated banning Scots from casting votes in Westminster or Holyrood elections, and here are the relevant VI findings for your party:

    Westminster VI: Con 19% (-1)

    Holyrood VI:
    FPTP constituency vote Con 18% (-3)
    List vote Con 18% (-1)

    Instead of attempting to spot squirrels, perhaps you’d like to explain why your political party attracts support in the teens and has fallen back to third place behind Labour?
    Even with the state of Conservative popularity in Scotland independence is over

    It is not happening and the SNP are soon to discover labour are going to take seats off them
    I think Anas Sarwar is starting to look like a value bet for First Minister AFTER the next Holyrood election (as it only needs the SNP-Greens to narrowly lose their majority for that to happen) although I expect Sturgeon to stand down in 2024 or 2025 and be replaced by Angus Robertson.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,822
    Scott_xP said:

    Trust is at a low ebb between PM and his backbenchers - just last week Tories were whipped to vote *against* a windfall tax. It follows repeated U-turns, eg Paterson and standards system, free school meals, sewage. Not a great way of keeping MPs on side.
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-26/uk-slaps-25-windfall-tax-on-profits-of-oil-and-gas-companies

    He has no desire to keep them onside, simply to keep them under his thumb.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    Martin MoneySavingExpert Lewis is apparently going to do an interview with Sunk at 5.30pm.
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146

    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".

    The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
    I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?

    (Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
    If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
    I'm sure that's meant in a joking manner, but as a cyclist in Edinburgh, who has always been careful around pedestrians, but has faced continuous aggression from drivers, it actually makes me feel really threatened.
    I know what you mean. I am very privileged as a cyclist in Sweden, where politicians (left, right and centre) have ensured that I almost always have dedicated cycle lanes, away from road vehicles.

    Scotland, and many other countries, certainly has a problem with day-to-day aggressive behaviour. I have several theories about that, but there is nothing intrinsically provocative about cycling that would explain aggression. As usual, the dreadful media in the country must be a contributing factor.
  • eekeek Posts: 28,370
    Sandpit said:

    Foxy said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    FPT I'm fuming at the £400 thing.

    I live in a tiny flat that is heated by my neighbours. The vast majority of my energy goes on my PS4 / PC and my gas powered power shower.

    I'm currently trying to decide on what new DSLR to buy. I'm booking a holiday to the Alps and possibly Greece (hat tip @Leon). I've booked a posh restaurant for GFs birthday.

    I've made hardly a dent in my pandemic savings, revaluation of my flat. I do not need £400. Give it to the minimum wage folk getting screwed by inflation.

    Canon R5.
    Very happy with my Sony, perfect for travel and wildlife.

    https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-cyber-shot-dsc-rx10-iv
    We have just bought a Canon R6 for our holiday this summer.

    https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-r6-review
    Nice. I’m looking at R5, R6 and 5D IV, still can’t decide between them!
    Looks at Canon's product numbering system... WTAF

    At least with Sony it's fairly clear the higher the number the better the camera...
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835

    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".

    The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
    I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?

    (Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
    If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
    I'm sure that's meant in a joking manner, but as a cyclist in Edinburgh, who has always been careful around pedestrians, but has faced continuous aggression from drivers, it actually makes me feel really threatened.
    TBF point taken - including pollution. But currently the behaviour of far too many cyclists really does not help promote giving them extra rights. One particular pavement on the main route from central Edinburgh to the South Side across the Meadows is lethal because the cyclists use it as a short cut rather than go round one corner on a one way system, for instance.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    eek said:

    Sandpit said:

    Foxy said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    FPT I'm fuming at the £400 thing.

    I live in a tiny flat that is heated by my neighbours. The vast majority of my energy goes on my PS4 / PC and my gas powered power shower.

    I'm currently trying to decide on what new DSLR to buy. I'm booking a holiday to the Alps and possibly Greece (hat tip @Leon). I've booked a posh restaurant for GFs birthday.

    I've made hardly a dent in my pandemic savings, revaluation of my flat. I do not need £400. Give it to the minimum wage folk getting screwed by inflation.

    Canon R5.
    Very happy with my Sony, perfect for travel and wildlife.

    https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-cyber-shot-dsc-rx10-iv
    We have just bought a Canon R6 for our holiday this summer.

    https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-r6-review
    Nice. I’m looking at R5, R6 and 5D IV, still can’t decide between them!
    Looks at Canon's product numbering system... WTAF

    At least with Sony it's fairly clear the higher the number the better the camera...
    Computer Monitors are the absolute worst for product numbering.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,175

    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    tlg86 said:

    Claudia Webbe has lost her appeal.

    Any chance of a by-election?
    No, she only got a short suspended sentence and clearly no desire to step down.
    Hang on: wasn't the suspended sentence long enough to allow a recall petition? And didn't Labour say that they would back a recall?
    I believe the sentence is 10 weeks suspended for 2 years. And obviously not part of Labour now.

    Correction, it has been reduced further.

    "However the ten-week suspended sentence she received in November was reduced to community service. Judge Deborah Taylor and two magistrates ruled this should amount to 80 hours - a reduction from the 200 hours she was originally ordered to complete."
    What?!

    Her appeal should have been deemed "frivolous" and the sentence increased.
  • MightyAlexMightyAlex Posts: 1,660
    edited May 2022

    Sandpit said:

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    It’s almost as if the Russians have been targeting both sides of every contentious issue, with the intention of sowing division rather than any particular outcome.
    No shit Sherlock. Anyone who believes the Russia Report that there was no Russian interference in British elections and referenda needs the Gullibility Award I handed to another poster who doesn't believe Boris Johnson lied to parliament.
    Dearlove has already confirmed the accuracy of the emails, so it’s not “propaganda” as Sandpit suggests.
    That isn't what he has said...

    "Dearlove, who led Britain's foreign spy service - known as MI6 - between 1999 and 2004, told Reuters the leaked material should be treated with caution"....Dearlove said that the emails captured a "legitimate lobbying exercise which, seen through this antagonistic optic, is now subject to distortion."

    The claim is "they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.".

    That's full on Carole Conspiracy stuff.
    Yes, fair enough, that bit.
    It’s very hard to imagine a “deep state network” including Robert Tombs.

    I’d like to see the emails though.
    My guess would it that they are emails between people involved in the Brexit campaign, then moaning about May making a right hash of the deal negotiations and that the Tories need to get rid and that they will be writing / meeting with such and such a person to moan at them about how badly it is all going and that they need to change leader. And probably some hyperbolic talk of I can get such and such person in a position of power will listen to me.

    And that is being spun as this group controls the world.
    This seems to include tracts from the emails.

    https://thegrayzone.com/2022/05/15/operation-leaked-emails-intelligence-coup-boris-johnson/

    Though the site seems a little partisan.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 10,061
    theakes said:

    Everyone gets £400, yes but the cap will have gone up £1400. Am I missing something?.
    Affluent pensioners get an extra £300 at Christmas and if on a diabled benefit another £150, again what am I missing.
    The more one looks at the policy the more unfait holes seem to appear.

    Most help is targetted at the worst off, everyone gets some relief. Its risky and splurgy but unfair?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835

    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".

    The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
    I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?

    (Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
    If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
    I'm sure that's meant in a joking manner, but as a cyclist in Edinburgh, who has always been careful around pedestrians, but has faced continuous aggression from drivers, it actually makes me feel really threatened.
    I know what you mean. I am very privileged as a cyclist in Sweden, where politicians (left, right and centre) have ensured that I almost always have dedicated cycle lanes, away from road vehicles.

    Scotland, and many other countries, certainly has a problem with day-to-day aggressive behaviour. I have several theories about that, but there is nothing intrinsically provocative about cycling that would explain aggression. As usual, the dreadful media in the country must be a contributing factor.
    Quite. It's not just the neds - vide my near death at the hands of a cyclists' demo full of middle class folk. Almost Bullingdon in their arrogance and **** the plebby pedestrians.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    edited May 2022
    tlg86 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    tlg86 said:

    Claudia Webbe has lost her appeal.

    Any chance of a by-election?
    No, she only got a short suspended sentence and clearly no desire to step down.
    Hang on: wasn't the suspended sentence long enough to allow a recall petition? And didn't Labour say that they would back a recall?
    I believe the sentence is 10 weeks suspended for 2 years. And obviously not part of Labour now.

    Correction, it has been reduced further.

    "However the ten-week suspended sentence she received in November was reduced to community service. Judge Deborah Taylor and two magistrates ruled this should amount to 80 hours - a reduction from the 200 hours she was originally ordered to complete."
    What?!

    Her appeal should have been deemed "frivolous" and the sentence increased.
    I believe the specific claim of "threat to throw acid in their face" got thrown out, which I imagine makes quite a difference in terms of sentencing.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,585

    theakes said:

    Everyone gets £400, yes but the cap will have gone up £1400. Am I missing something?.
    Affluent pensioners get an extra £300 at Christmas and if on a diabled benefit another £150, again what am I missing.
    The more one looks at the policy the more unfait holes seem to appear.

    Most help is targetted at the worst off, everyone gets some relief. Its risky and splurgy but unfair?
    The blanket approach avoids the financial cost of means-testing, the financial cost of fraud, and the political cost of loud complaints from edge-cases.

    There will be Covid business loan fraud cases going through the courts for years to come.
  • Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Sandpit said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    Presumably the thinking behind the anti-SNP coalition in Edinburgh, is to completely nix the idea of a wildcat referendum, and force Holyrood to think about the (failure of) domestic policy such as education, policing and transport?
    No, coalitions per se are quite normal, though Labour do have a tendency to go anti SNP out of sheer spite. The current issue is the way in which Mr Sarwar tried to get extra votes before the election by saying Labour wouldn't enter into any coalitions.*

    *I suspect weasel wording - collaboration is somehow OK, but we have to see the details for coalitions before we can be sure.

    Out of sheer spite? Oh come on! SNP wish to break up the UK, which is fairly fundamental to UK parties, quite aside from the pretty unsavoury aspects of nationalism per se. It doesn't need to be spite, it is sensible politics.
    You're pleasantly innocent of the nature of the Slab pooch and its reaction to having its perpetual dinner bowl sharply removed.

    And you are still confounding nationalism with pro autonomy. Come to think of it, you must have been voting Tory for many years, or am I wrong? Now that is a ferociously UK nationalist party, to the degree that its main supporters here actively advocate armed invasion and even insurrection against opponents. And your hostility to SNP and PC rather implies your converse wish to support the nationalist integrity of the UK.
    Does beg the question as to why the SNP have been able to go with coalition with Labour in D&G which you said wouldn't happen and form minority administrations in Midlothian and E Dunbartonshire but have been unable to form agreements with other parties in other areas?
  • juniusjunius Posts: 73
    Is every household going to get £400 each time the Government needs to move unwelcome headlines off the front pages? I can't afford to wait for more parties!
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Sandpit said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    Presumably the thinking behind the anti-SNP coalition in Edinburgh, is to completely nix the idea of a wildcat referendum, and force Holyrood to think about the (failure of) domestic policy such as education, policing and transport?
    No, coalitions per se are quite normal, though Labour do have a tendency to go anti SNP out of sheer spite. The current issue is the way in which Mr Sarwar tried to get extra votes before the election by saying Labour wouldn't enter into any coalitions.*

    *I suspect weasel wording - collaboration is somehow OK, but we have to see the details for coalitions before we can be sure.

    Out of sheer spite? Oh come on! SNP wish to break up the UK, which is fairly fundamental to UK parties, quite aside from the pretty unsavoury aspects of nationalism per se. It doesn't need to be spite, it is sensible politics.
    You're pleasantly innocent of the nature of the Slab pooch and its reaction to having its perpetual dinner bowl sharply removed.

    And you are still confounding nationalism with pro autonomy. Come to think of it, you must have been voting Tory for many years, or am I wrong? Now that is a ferociously UK nationalist party, to the degree that its main supporters here actively advocate armed invasion and even insurrection against opponents. And your hostility to SNP and PC rather implies your converse wish to support the nationalist integrity of the UK.
    Does beg the question as to why the SNP have been able to go with coalition with Labour in D&G which you said wouldn't happen and form minority administrations in Midlothian and E Dunbartonshire but have been unable to form agreements with other parties in other areas?
    Mr Sarwar before the election, denying any Labour coalition with anyone else, which is why I was so surprised at D&G. Obvs this gives Labour some right in the result, but whyt did Mr S rule that out an initio?

    Coalitions in general - meh, quite normal. As is the complaining from opponents who get left out. All part of hte game. But when one football club manager announces that his team is going to play solitaire on its own, and then suddenly decide after all it's OK to join in ...
  • StuartDicksonStuartDickson Posts: 12,146

    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".

    The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
    I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?

    (Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
    If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
    Seems unlikely.

    'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'

    As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/08/killer-cyclists-roads-bikes-pedestrian-collision-deaths-britain
    Very good point.

    It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,070

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    ‘Calling the shots’ is the kind of nonsense the late lamented Gary would have come out with.
    The hack does seem genuine, though… FWIW, which isn’t much.

    It’s not a secret that Dearlove is a hardline Brexiteer, is it ?
    Whatever you think of him (not much in my case), the old git’s entitled to lobby now he’s retired.
    … The "English Coop" site makes a variety of allegations, including one that Dearlove was at the center of a conspiracy by Brexit hardliners to oust former British Prime Minister Theresa May, who had negotiated a withdrawal agreement with the European Union in early 2019, and replace her with Johnson, who took a more uncompromising position.

    Dearlove said that the emails captured a "legitimate lobbying exercise which, seen through this antagonistic optic, is now subject to distortion."

    He declined further comment.…
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298

    Sandpit said:

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    It’s almost as if the Russians have been targeting both sides of every contentious issue, with the intention of sowing division rather than any particular outcome.
    No shit Sherlock. Anyone who believes the Russia Report that there was no Russian interference in British elections and referenda needs the Gullibility Award I handed to another poster who doesn't believe Boris Johnson lied to parliament.
    Dearlove has already confirmed the accuracy of the emails, so it’s not “propaganda” as Sandpit suggests.
    That isn't what he has said...

    "Dearlove, who led Britain's foreign spy service - known as MI6 - between 1999 and 2004, told Reuters the leaked material should be treated with caution"....Dearlove said that the emails captured a "legitimate lobbying exercise which, seen through this antagonistic optic, is now subject to distortion."

    The claim is "they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.".

    That's full on Carole Conspiracy stuff.
    Yes, fair enough, that bit.
    It’s very hard to imagine a “deep state network” including Robert Tombs.

    I’d like to see the emails though.
    My guess would it that they are emails between people involved in the Brexit campaign, then moaning about May making a right hash of the deal negotiations and that the Tories need to get rid and that they will be writing / meeting with such and such a person to moan at them about how badly it is all going and that they need to change leader. And probably some hyperbolic talk of I can get such and such person in a position of power will listen to me.

    And that is being spun as this group controls the world.
    I managed to track down some stuff online.

    It’s very largely bog standard lobbying stuff, although in this case the explicit objective was a hard Brexit and the deposition of May and replacement with Boris.

    They had a mole inside the civil service leaking intel, and we’re funded by some offshore plutocrats.

    The write pieces under pseudonyms for friendly publications like the Telegraph and at least discussed infiltrating “Best for Britain” (remainer organisation) with undercover operatives and spying on Olly Robbins.

    The key players were Richard Dearlove and some defence guy called Gwythian Prins.

    Interestingly they appear to have been still operating until v recently:

    More recent emails show Prins’ enthusiasm for the Prime Minister has considerably waned. In January of this year, he wrote to Dearlove predicting Johnson’s imminent and welcome departure, and bemoaned the premier’s lack of “stamina” to truly “get Brexit done.”

    “Sunak won’t do will he? He’s another globalonist [sic] Blairite at heart isn’t he? Like Boris?” Prins lamented, noting major Johnson donors had shifted their backing to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,585
    eek said:

    Sandpit said:

    Foxy said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    FPT I'm fuming at the £400 thing.

    I live in a tiny flat that is heated by my neighbours. The vast majority of my energy goes on my PS4 / PC and my gas powered power shower.

    I'm currently trying to decide on what new DSLR to buy. I'm booking a holiday to the Alps and possibly Greece (hat tip @Leon). I've booked a posh restaurant for GFs birthday.

    I've made hardly a dent in my pandemic savings, revaluation of my flat. I do not need £400. Give it to the minimum wage folk getting screwed by inflation.

    Canon R5.
    Very happy with my Sony, perfect for travel and wildlife.

    https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-cyber-shot-dsc-rx10-iv
    We have just bought a Canon R6 for our holiday this summer.

    https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-r6-review
    Nice. I’m looking at R5, R6 and 5D IV, still can’t decide between them!
    Looks at Canon's product numbering system... WTAF

    At least with Sony it's fairly clear the higher the number the better the camera...
    Canon’s is the opposite, the lower number is better. They’ve just introduced the new range of mirrorless cameras, which are the R range, as opposed to the “old-fashioned” DSLRs with a mirror. The EOS 5D Mk IV, to give it its full title, is equivalent to the new R5. Previous iterations of the 5D were Mk III, Mk II and the original, with a couple of special editions.

    The big change with the R series, is the new RF lens mount, which means you need an EF-RF adaptor for your old Canon RF lenses. The new glass is, of course, about 20% more expensive than the “old” glass.
  • sladeslade Posts: 2,041
    Leon said:

    Scott_xP said:

    This is a local gunstore, for local mass murderers...

    Tried to visit the gun store that sold weapons to the Uvalde gunman. Was stopped in parking lot by management. It’s open but I’m not allowed in. Asked why… “You have a notepad… and an accent.”
    https://twitter.com/DaveLeeFT/status/1529830077718044672

    Apparently he spent $4000 on assault rifles. Age 18. That didn’t ring any tiny alarms?
    I wonder if there is a legal case for charging the owner of the gun store with accessory to murder?
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,175

    tlg86 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    tlg86 said:

    Claudia Webbe has lost her appeal.

    Any chance of a by-election?
    No, she only got a short suspended sentence and clearly no desire to step down.
    Hang on: wasn't the suspended sentence long enough to allow a recall petition? And didn't Labour say that they would back a recall?
    I believe the sentence is 10 weeks suspended for 2 years. And obviously not part of Labour now.

    Correction, it has been reduced further.

    "However the ten-week suspended sentence she received in November was reduced to community service. Judge Deborah Taylor and two magistrates ruled this should amount to 80 hours - a reduction from the 200 hours she was originally ordered to complete."
    What?!

    Her appeal should have been deemed "frivolous" and the sentence increased.
    I believe the specific claim of "threat to throw acid in their face" got thrown out, which I imagine makes quite a difference in terms of sentencing.
    I hope this had no influence over the decision...

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-61591802

    The appeal heard since the trial, Ms Merritt's phone had been examined and downloaded by police, revealing sexual messages between her and Mr Thomas.

    Webbe's barrister Helen Law suggested Ms Merritt had "lied" or "misled" the magistrates' court when she said she and Mr Thomas were just "good friends".

    But prosecutor Susannah Stevens said: "What was going on between Michelle Merritt and Lester Thomas is actually unhelpful to the appellant's case because Claudia Webbe's suspicions as to all of that provide her not with a defence but with a motivation."


    I can imagine some mags are too thick to realise that this makes it look worse for Ms Webbe.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,647

    Foxy said:

    Sandpit said:

    Eabhal said:

    FPT I'm fuming at the £400 thing.

    I live in a tiny flat that is heated by my neighbours. The vast majority of my energy goes on my PS4 / PC and my gas powered power shower.

    I'm currently trying to decide on what new DSLR to buy. I'm booking a holiday to the Alps and possibly Greece (hat tip @Leon). I've booked a posh restaurant for GFs birthday.

    I've made hardly a dent in my pandemic savings, revaluation of my flat. I do not need £400. Give it to the minimum wage folk getting screwed by inflation.

    Canon R5.
    Very happy with my Sony, perfect for travel and wildlife.

    https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-cyber-shot-dsc-rx10-iv
    We have just bought a Canon R6 for our holiday this summer.

    https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-r6-review
    Looks good too. The Sony is a very high spec bridge camera rather than a DSLR, but great performance. Particularly on wildlife trips, I dislike changing lenses because of the dust and moisture, and weight is an issue too. You cannot take a picture through a lens left at home.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,835

    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".

    The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
    I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?

    (Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
    If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
    Seems unlikely.

    'Of around 400 pedestrians killed in collisions in the UK each year, about 2.5 involve a bicycle. Put it another way: more than 99% of pedestrian collision deaths in this country involve a motorised vehicle.'

    As you push them back into their cars you many well be increasing your own risk.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/08/killer-cyclists-roads-bikes-pedestrian-collision-deaths-britain
    Very good point.

    It is astonishing to witness the media prominence given to (relatively rare) rail, maritime and aviation loss of life and life-changing disability injuries whereas the literally daily carnage caused by motor vehicles gets a brief mention on page 32, if you’re lucky.
    That article by a whining cyclist activist (and cyclist activists nearly killed/seriously injured me, jumping a red) has a pretty massive logical flaw. It omits the small fact that one can also walk or take the bus. Or indeed tram. Edinburgh/Lothian does have a pretty good bus and growing tram service, at a decent price. So no need to run over anyone else whether cyclist or pedestrian.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,958
    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Sandpit said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    Presumably the thinking behind the anti-SNP coalition in Edinburgh, is to completely nix the idea of a wildcat referendum, and force Holyrood to think about the (failure of) domestic policy such as education, policing and transport?
    No, coalitions per se are quite normal, though Labour do have a tendency to go anti SNP out of sheer spite. The current issue is the way in which Mr Sarwar tried to get extra votes before the election by saying Labour wouldn't enter into any coalitions.*

    *I suspect weasel wording - collaboration is somehow OK, but we have to see the details for coalitions before we can be sure.

    Out of sheer spite? Oh come on! SNP wish to break up the UK, which is fairly fundamental to UK parties, quite aside from the pretty unsavoury aspects of nationalism per se. It doesn't need to be spite, it is sensible politics.
    You're pleasantly innocent of the nature of the Slab pooch and its reaction to having its perpetual dinner bowl sharply removed.

    And you are still confounding nationalism with pro autonomy. Come to think of it, you must have been voting Tory for many years, or am I wrong? Now that is a ferociously UK nationalist party, to the degree that its main supporters here actively advocate armed invasion and even insurrection against opponents. And your hostility to SNP and PC rather implies your converse wish to support the nationalist integrity of the UK.
    Does beg the question as to why the SNP have been able to go with coalition with Labour in D&G which you said wouldn't happen and form minority administrations in Midlothian and E Dunbartonshire but have been unable to form agreements with other parties in other areas?
    Mr Sarwar before the election, denying any Labour coalition with anyone else, which is why I was so surprised at D&G. Obvs this gives Labour some right in the result, but whyt did Mr S rule that out an initio?

    Coalitions in general - meh, quite normal. As is the complaining from opponents who get left out. All part of hte game. But when one football club manager announces that his team is going to play solitaire on its own, and then suddenly decide after all it's OK to join in ...
    One of Anas’s MSPs must now think Edinburgh SLab are worthless.


  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,298
    slade said:

    Leon said:

    Scott_xP said:

    This is a local gunstore, for local mass murderers...

    Tried to visit the gun store that sold weapons to the Uvalde gunman. Was stopped in parking lot by management. It’s open but I’m not allowed in. Asked why… “You have a notepad… and an accent.”
    https://twitter.com/DaveLeeFT/status/1529830077718044672

    Apparently he spent $4000 on assault rifles. Age 18. That didn’t ring any tiny alarms?
    I wonder if there is a legal case for charging the owner of the gun store with accessory to murder?
    Since Texas wants to (has?) criminalised helping woman to leave the state for abortion, it seeems only fair.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,727
    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    There's some ragin' Nats out there:

    Let’s be clear about what has just happened in Edinburgh:

    Labour has seized control of the council with 13 of 63 councillors.

    Only 11 of their own councillors voted in favour of this + 12 Lib Dems.

    Why could this happen anyway?
    Because Labour chose to give positions to Tories.


    https://twitter.com/TanjaBueltmann/status/1529787678635528195

    Because working with the Toreeees is always evil - except when the SNP do it.....

    I'm not a Green/SNP ultra but this is a complete disaster for those of us who engage in the extreme sport "cycling about in Edinburgh".

    The Tories are rabidly pro-driver here. It's honestly impossible to find a reason to vote for the neanderthals either on a national or local basis - everything is a culture war. I think they associate bikes with wokeists.
    I am no fan of the democratic abomination where a tiny group of 13 Labour councillors can control a council comprised of 63 elected members, but in what respect is the new Labour minority administration “a complete disaster” for cyclists? I got the impression that Scottish Labour is quite pro-cycling? Or are the Edinburgh Labourites uncharacteristically pro-car?

    (Incidentally, the centre-right are very pro-cycling in many European countries, so the hostility of the ones on the big island is a bit of a mystery. Surely we ought to be encouraging healthy and cheap activities? Makes our cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in. Reduces heart-lung and obesity catastrophe. Is fun!! Or ought to be…)
    If they could ban cyclists in Edinburgh it would considerably increase my safety and life expectancy and that of all other pedestrians.
    I'm sure that's meant in a joking manner, but as a cyclist in Edinburgh, who has always been careful around pedestrians, but has faced continuous aggression from drivers, it actually makes me feel really threatened.
    TBF point taken - including pollution. But currently the behaviour of far too many cyclists really does not help promote giving them extra rights. One particular pavement on the main route from central Edinburgh to the South Side across the Meadows is lethal because the cyclists use it as a short cut rather than go round one corner on a one way system, for instance.
    As a cyclist (but not in Edinburgh) I'd be happy to see the plod standing there handing out fines.

    Around York, which is a big cycling city, it all seems pretty civilised (experienced as a cyclist, driver and pedestrian). There seems to be a bit of actual respect between people, drivers give way to me a lot on the bike. Lots of shared routes with cyclists dropping to walking pace on the compliated bits. Maybe I've just been lucky.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,255
    Sandpit said:

    Russian hackers release Brexiteers' emails

    The website - titled "Very English Coop d'Etat" - says it has published private emails from former British spymaster Richard Dearlove, leading Brexit campaigner Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters of Britain's divorce from the EU, which was finalized in January 2020.

    The site contends that they are part of a group of hardline pro-Brexit figures secretly calling the shots in the United Kingdom.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-russian-hackers-are-linked-new-brexit-leak-website-google-says-2022-05-25/

    Sounds like somebody has fallen for repeating Russian propaganda.
    No. No. No.

    It's like Dom Cummings. He's a Neon-Fascist, Lying Scumbag Traitor.

    Until he attacks the people you approve of attacking.

    In which case he becomes an unquestionable Sword Of Truth.
    See also: Julian Assange.

    (Although the look on the faces of the luvvies who put up his £250k bail, must have been something to behold when he absconded).
    Assange was the In Thing
    Then he was Out over the rape allegations
    Then he was In again
    Now he is Out - as a Russian stodge.

    It's a funny old world.
This discussion has been closed.