When it comes to it, MPs of whatever party, no matter how high-minded they can be when it’s their opponents in trouble, will overlook pretty much anything if they can justify it in pursuit of a higher cause (usually their job) and the polls have not turned against them. And, in truth, it’s only the last issue which really matters to them. Pincher’s groping hands, Boris’s parties and his repeated lies would be mere footnotes if the Tories were still consistently ahead in the polls.
And Johnson would already be gone if the Tories were 20% adrift of Labour rather than averaging more like 6-7%. Small wonder if Mr & Mrs Average end up regarding politics and its practitioners as entirely devoid of ethics and principle. The evidence against them is overwhelming.
Meanwhile, in other news, most of the British population is now living hand-to-mouth, or something very close to it:
Most Lloyds Bank customers have less than £500 of savings in their accounts, its chief executive said.
The head of the UK's biggest high street bank told the BBC: "80% of individuals and UK customers and families have less than £500 pounds worth of savings in their current account and their savings account."
Frankly, the more I think about this, the more astonishing it becomes. The customer base of Lloyds must be broadly representative of the general population. I might've guessed that about a third of us had nothing or next to nothing in the bank, but four-fifths?!?! Anybody in this position who finds themselves out of a job, or with unexpected bills to settle, is immediately going to have to resort to debt - if they've not already maxed out their capacity to do so. Those of working age who end up unemployed, or having to take a new job with a substantial cut in income, will be staring almost immediately down the barrel of heat or eat dilemmas or being slung out onto the street.
Essentially, a finding like this implies that most of the country - especially all those still paying rent or a mortgage - is now part of the precariat. Any significant spike in unemployment and a lot of these people will be sunk.
driving around the M60 not so long ago I was struck by the sheer number of costly cars.... BMWs, VWs other top spec brands.... not sure how it sits with the above.
So many "costly" cars are on cheap PCP deals issued when manufacturers could actually build cars and needed to hit a sales target.
‘The SNP will be rejoicing at Starmer's hard Brexit line‘
"MAKE Brexit Work” sounds like one of Boris Johnson's test slogans for the next General Election. In fact it is now Labour's headline policy following Sir Keir Starmer's remarkable conversion to the Brexit cause. He unveiled the new slogan in a speech to the Centre for European Reform.
It's an unexpected gift to Nicola Sturgeon, whose latest Indyref plan was getting heavy weather from sceptics in and out of the SNP. Suddenly she leads the only serious pro-European party in Scotland, apart from the Greens and the LibDems. Getting 50 per cent of the vote in the 2024 General Election looks easier now that the SNP is the obvious destination for the 62 per cent of Scots who voted to remain in the EU.
(The Herald €)
The SNP are promising yet more upheaval. Labour are promising relatively stability and a path to recovery. I am not sure the Scots will vote for more Brexit style chaos. A split in the U.K. will make Brexit look like a picnic.
Labour and the Tories: two faces of the same dud coin.
SNP and Tories, surely? Vote SNP for a Conservative government. Scots voters need to think separately about Westminster and Holyrood elections.
English nationalists and Scottish nationalists. Two cheeks of the same arse. Brexit = Sindy. Both need to go.
Starmer is now committed to the British nationalist line. Proof once again that one should choose one’s bedfellows with care.
Nah. He’s just not going to invest all his political capital in trying to reverse a done deal. There are more important issues like fixing the NHS and the economy. The SNP would be wise to drop the ideological baggage and focus on what matters.
Starmer is going to “fix the economy” without improving international trade? This car crash might well be worse than the last one.
I do think, if I may say, that you're letting your vitriolic anti-Labour stance cloud your judgement?
Starmer is playing smart politics at the moment: what he has said about Brexit (even if he doesn't believe it) was good red wall politicking.
Tony Blair did all this brilliantly in the run up to winning.
It tells me that Labour are hungry for power and they sense they are in with a real chance.
Hmmm…. The “Tony Blair was Brilliant” line lost its potency a long time ago.
“Hungry for power”?!? Dearie, dearie me.
The words “Smart politics” and “Labour” don’t belong in the same sentence.
William Hague tells Times Radio MPs are reading Boris Johnson his "last rites', saying: “I think it’s over. It’s reading the last rites - slowly, unfortunately… Boris still isn’t accepting that this really is over, but it is.” https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1544572079084904449
Whilst seeking that Dumbledore quote I also came across this one:
“It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.”
Someone who always wanted to be king of the world should have been let nowhere near it.
Totally agree, but I suspect 90% of politicians, if not more, have actively sought power for their own ends, rather than to help others.
There's always a chunk of ego there- if only at the level of "I should take charge to improve the country". That's true even of the dorky ones like EdM or Starmer.
But Boris is different, and far worse. For him, it is all about the big chair, and he jettisoned any ideas or beliefs he ever had to ease his path to the top. He really is the textbook example of pure desire for power making him unsuitable for it.
And all this is abnormal. One of the worst legacies Big Dog is leaving is the sense that everyone else is as bad as him. They really aren't.
When it comes to it, MPs of whatever party, no matter how high-minded they can be when it’s their opponents in trouble, will overlook pretty much anything if they can justify it in pursuit of a higher cause (usually their job) and the polls have not turned against them. And, in truth, it’s only the last issue which really matters to them. Pincher’s groping hands, Boris’s parties and his repeated lies would be mere footnotes if the Tories were still consistently ahead in the polls.
And Johnson would already be gone if the Tories were 20% adrift of Labour rather than averaging more like 6-7%. Small wonder if Mr & Mrs Average end up regarding politics and its practitioners as entirely devoid of ethics and principle. The evidence against them is overwhelming.
Meanwhile, in other news, most of the British population is now living hand-to-mouth, or something very close to it:
Most Lloyds Bank customers have less than £500 of savings in their accounts, its chief executive said.
The head of the UK's biggest high street bank told the BBC: "80% of individuals and UK customers and families have less than £500 pounds worth of savings in their current account and their savings account."
Frankly, the more I think about this, the more astonishing it becomes. The customer base of Lloyds must be broadly representative of the general population. I might've guessed that about a third of us had nothing or next to nothing in the bank, but four-fifths?!?! Anybody in this position who finds themselves out of a job, or with unexpected bills to settle, is immediately going to have to resort to debt - if they've not already maxed out their capacity to do so. Those of working age who end up unemployed, or having to take a new job with a substantial cut in income, will be staring almost immediately down the barrel of heat or eat dilemmas or being slung out onto the street.
Essentially, a finding like this implies that most of the country - especially all those still paying rent or a mortgage - is now part of the precariat. Any significant spike in unemployment and a lot of these people will be sunk.
driving around the M60 not so long ago I was struck by the sheer number of costly cars.... BMWs, VWs other top spec brands.... not sure how it sits with the above.
So many "costly" cars are on cheap PCP deals issued when manufacturers could actually build cars and needed to hit a sales target.
Yet second hand cars are ridiculously pricy, and new cars have long delivery times. There is a lot of money about, just not very evenly distributed.
Whilst seeking that Dumbledore quote I also came across this one:
“It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.”
Someone who always wanted to be king of the world should have been let nowhere near it.
A good illustration of how unoriginal Rowling was.
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
British citizens in Northern Ireland may have to show their passports to get back into Britain
“Even Tony Blair, the last Labour leader ever to be elected, has said that the Protocol is not compatible with the Good Friday Agreement. “Something has to go because it breaks article six in the acts of the union, it takes Northern Ireland out of that trading block inside the UK. “It also calls into account any constitutional issues around the border and most of all, in amongst the common travel area where, when the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain were both together either inside or outside the EU, it made sense to have that common travel area. “Now what we have is people that aren’t British, coming into Dublin, coming across a borderless island, getting on a ferry and going straight into Britain. “So the workings out of that will be is, in a very short space of time, we will end up with British citizens in Northern Ireland having to show their passports to get back into Britain.”
(gbnews)
Breaking articles of the Acts of Union?! Ho ho. The fuckers have been doing that for centuries.
As I keep pointing out, there is no UK trading zone. GB and NI are legally separate...
Whilst seeking that Dumbledore quote I also came across this one:
“It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.”
Someone who always wanted to be king of the world should have been let nowhere near it.
Totally agree, but I suspect 90% of politicians, if not more, have actively sought power for their own ends, rather than to help others.
There's always a chunk of ego there- if only at the level of "I should take charge to improve the country". That's true even of the dorky ones like EdM or Starmer.
But Boris is different, and far worse. For him, it is all about the big chair, and he jettisoned any ideas or beliefs he ever had to ease his path to the top. He really is the textbook example of pure desire for power making him unsuitable for it.
And all this is abnormal. One of the worst legacies Big Dog is leaving is the sense that everyone else is as bad as him. They really aren't.
While they continue to enable him, they effectively are.
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The person who will be most delighted if the chaos of the Brexit wars resumes is Boris.
I admit I have a cynical view of politicians, and a similar one for self-proclaimed 'activists'. Since I've grown old, my political views seem to be alligning more with the great mass of the British public. Those with little interest in politics for its own sake.
Gradually, Starmer is growing on me. Prepared to concede on some aspects to gain power. Much more a Wilson than a Corbyn. Bojo is merely in favour of number one. Lack of scruples, combined with chronic laziness subjugated to selfishness isn't a good look.
The Tories need a completely new look. An ethnic or a woman. Liz Truss - no - too much like a posh Thatcher without the drive. Starmer looks steady, and that might do it. No loons like Corbyn. Unexciting, undramatic, but in the right place at the right time.
‘The SNP will be rejoicing at Starmer's hard Brexit line‘
"MAKE Brexit Work” sounds like one of Boris Johnson's test slogans for the next General Election. In fact it is now Labour's headline policy following Sir Keir Starmer's remarkable conversion to the Brexit cause. He unveiled the new slogan in a speech to the Centre for European Reform.
It's an unexpected gift to Nicola Sturgeon, whose latest Indyref plan was getting heavy weather from sceptics in and out of the SNP. Suddenly she leads the only serious pro-European party in Scotland, apart from the Greens and the LibDems. Getting 50 per cent of the vote in the 2024 General Election looks easier now that the SNP is the obvious destination for the 62 per cent of Scots who voted to remain in the EU.
(The Herald €)
The SNP are promising yet more upheaval. Labour are promising relatively stability and a path to recovery. I am not sure the Scots will vote for more Brexit style chaos. A split in the U.K. will make Brexit look like a picnic.
Labour and the Tories: two faces of the same dud coin.
SNP and Tories, surely? Vote SNP for a Conservative government. Scots voters need to think separately about Westminster and Holyrood elections.
English nationalists and Scottish nationalists. Two cheeks of the same arse. Brexit = Sindy. Both need to go.
Starmer is now committed to the British nationalist line. Proof once again that one should choose one’s bedfellows with care.
He was committed to a Corbynite manifesto a couple of years ago. He is even more blatantly dishonest than Boris Johnson, which takes some doing.
Whilst seeking that Dumbledore quote I also came across this one:
“It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.”
Someone who always wanted to be king of the world should have been let nowhere near it.
The problem is that quote is bullsh*t. An average person wields power very poorly over situations they are not adequately prepared for. For every thousand Average Joes going into battle, only one will end up being a go-forwards hero. At best, most will be mediocre.
Most will ignore the mantle and let some other bu**er pick it up.
And to be prepared, you need to show some desire for whatever that power is. If we were to take 650 people off the streets and make them MPs for four years, how many would sink? How many would swim? ow many would make good decisions? I'd argue *fewer* than we get from people choosing to stand for election - because they have a desire for that position, that power, and most will be at least partially prepared for it.
In addition, most people put in a position of power that they do not want will say they cannot be @rsed and do the job poorly.
And the same goes for management, politics and everything else.
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
There is no 60% in the country who want it to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Unless perhaps the country is France, and you're not moving beyond Paris.
Try speaking to people outside your own bubble. Whether you think that Brexit was right or wrong, revisiting it is the last thing most normal people want.
What last night seems to have shown is that even after 2 major cabinet resignations the vast serried ranks of Ministers have once again stuck with the PM. There have been a few extremely trivial resignations as PPS or trade representative etc but ideas that this would lead to 40-50 more resignations and the collapse of the Johnson regime seems wide of the mark. In a party where the PM had lost support generally we should have been getting to the point some posts were difficult to fill. Instead the sea has swept over Sunak and Javid and it is as it was before.
This is grim news for both the country and the Conservative party. What is it going to take? More than this apparently.
I doubt he will go before recess in 3 weeks, which means conference season at the earliest.
The 1922 haven't changed their rules yet and I still doubt we're at 180 MPs yet.
Whilst seeking that Dumbledore quote I also came across this one:
“It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.”
Someone who always wanted to be king of the world should have been let nowhere near it.
A good illustration of how unoriginal Rowling was.
I never made it past Harry Potter 4, and that would have been a better book at half the length.
The early books are good examples of story telling, with a fast pace of action and good twists in the tale. Then it all got rather self indulgent.
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The interesting poll on Starmer's policy is that 79% of conservatives approve but only 30% of labour do
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The person who will be most delighted if the chaos of the Brexit wars resumes is Boris.
Labour cannot appease Brexiteers. They must be confronted and defeated.
Starmer surrendered yesterday: he is not fit for purpose. Labourites better pray that Durham police do their work for them.
What do we think would happen if Boris announces a GE to take place as soon as possible? Could and would he be wrested from power by his own party before that happens or not?
Yes he could because he'd need the monarch's permission for dissolution and an early GE now would violate all three of the Lascelles principles.
When it comes to it, MPs of whatever party, no matter how high-minded they can be when it’s their opponents in trouble, will overlook pretty much anything if they can justify it in pursuit of a higher cause (usually their job) and the polls have not turned against them. And, in truth, it’s only the last issue which really matters to them. Pincher’s groping hands, Boris’s parties and his repeated lies would be mere footnotes if the Tories were still consistently ahead in the polls.
And Johnson would already be gone if the Tories were 20% adrift of Labour rather than averaging more like 6-7%. Small wonder if Mr & Mrs Average end up regarding politics and its practitioners as entirely devoid of ethics and principle. The evidence against them is overwhelming.
Meanwhile, in other news, most of the British population is now living hand-to-mouth, or something very close to it:
Most Lloyds Bank customers have less than £500 of savings in their accounts, its chief executive said.
The head of the UK's biggest high street bank told the BBC: "80% of individuals and UK customers and families have less than £500 pounds worth of savings in their current account and their savings account."
Frankly, the more I think about this, the more astonishing it becomes. The customer base of Lloyds must be broadly representative of the general population. I might've guessed that about a third of us had nothing or next to nothing in the bank, but four-fifths?!?! Anybody in this position who finds themselves out of a job, or with unexpected bills to settle, is immediately going to have to resort to debt - if they've not already maxed out their capacity to do so. Those of working age who end up unemployed, or having to take a new job with a substantial cut in income, will be staring almost immediately down the barrel of heat or eat dilemmas or being slung out onto the street.
Essentially, a finding like this implies that most of the country - especially all those still paying rent or a mortgage - is now part of the precariat. Any significant spike in unemployment and a lot of these people will be sunk.
driving around the M60 not so long ago I was struck by the sheer number of costly cars.... BMWs, VWs other top spec brands.... not sure how it sits with the above.
So many "costly" cars are on cheap PCP deals issued when manufacturers could actually build cars and needed to hit a sales target.
A friend works in private banking for a bank that has an illustrious name. Perhaps “used to have an illustrious name”…
It seems that they got lax about vetting the customers they allowed to join. And lending them money afterwards
He describes large numbers of people who owned 5% of some very nice, completely unproductive assets and a fistful of credits cards drawn to the max.
One of his jobs was to force such people to sell the unproductive assets and get the money for the bank back. Quite simply he was reducing peoples lifestyles by an order of magnitude.
His guesstimate was that about 70% of the “rich” people you see, out and about, are fake.
OT: toast still stuck in the toaster. Things will not change until there is proper vetting of new MPs. And, in a world of professional politicians who know nothing but Parliament, systematic professional training and development.
‘The SNP will be rejoicing at Starmer's hard Brexit line‘
"MAKE Brexit Work” sounds like one of Boris Johnson's test slogans for the next General Election. In fact it is now Labour's headline policy following Sir Keir Starmer's remarkable conversion to the Brexit cause. He unveiled the new slogan in a speech to the Centre for European Reform.
It's an unexpected gift to Nicola Sturgeon, whose latest Indyref plan was getting heavy weather from sceptics in and out of the SNP. Suddenly she leads the only serious pro-European party in Scotland, apart from the Greens and the LibDems. Getting 50 per cent of the vote in the 2024 General Election looks easier now that the SNP is the obvious destination for the 62 per cent of Scots who voted to remain in the EU.
(The Herald €)
The SNP are promising yet more upheaval. Labour are promising relatively stability and a path to recovery. I am not sure the Scots will vote for more Brexit style chaos. A split in the U.K. will make Brexit look like a picnic.
Labour and the Tories: two faces of the same dud coin.
SNP and Tories, surely? Vote SNP for a Conservative government. Scots voters need to think separately about Westminster and Holyrood elections.
English nationalists and Scottish nationalists. Two cheeks of the same arse. Brexit = Sindy. Both need to go.
Starmer is now committed to the British nationalist line. Proof once again that one should choose one’s bedfellows with care.
He was committed to a Corbynite manifesto a couple of years ago. He is even more blatantly dishonest than Boris Johnson, which takes some doing.
Fair point.
I’ve campaigned against George Galloway when he was Labour MP for Kelvin. Nobody needs to tell me about blatant Labour dishonesty. I’ve witnessed it first hand.
I remarked Zahawi was looking pretty chipper at yesterday's otherwise funereal cabinet meeting. Had he already had conversations with Boris ?
Bagging the Chancellorship was a major move. He'd otherwise have had fairly little chance of the leadership in the forthcoming election, and while supporting the liar carries its downside, he vaults into the big beast league - and potentially becomes the leading 'loyalist'.
What last night seems to have shown is that even after 2 major cabinet resignations the vast serried ranks of Ministers have once again stuck with the PM. There have been a few extremely trivial resignations as PPS or trade representative etc but ideas that this would lead to 40-50 more resignations and the collapse of the Johnson regime seems wide of the mark. In a party where the PM had lost support generally we should have been getting to the point some posts were difficult to fill. Instead the sea has swept over Sunak and Javid and it is as it was before.
This is grim news for both the country and the Conservative party. What is it going to take? More than this apparently.
I doubt he will go before recess in 3 weeks, which means conference season at the earliest.
The 1922 haven't changed their rules yet and I still doubt we're at 180 MPs yet.
Bridgen has just said if the cabinet are not to act then the 1922 rules will be changed and they will throw him out
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The person who will be most delighted if the chaos of the Brexit wars resumes is Boris.
Labour cannot appease Brexiteers. They must be confronted and defeated.
Starmer surrendered yesterday: he is not fit for purpose. Labourites better pray that Durham police do their work for them.
Labour needs the next election to be about the economy and catastrophic public services, not an ideological battle for Brexit returning red wall voters to the Tories.
I expect there will be a time one day to reset our relationship with the EU. Some things have to come first.
What do we think would happen if Boris announces a GE to take place as soon as possible? Could and would he be wrested from power by his own party before that happens or not?
Yes he could because he'd need the monarch's permission for dissolution and an early GE now would violate all three of the Lascelles principles.
The second Lascelles Principle no longer exists. Whether the third is met or not would be a matter of some dispute.
In reality its a moot point anyway, because it would be completely insane political suicide for the Tories to call an election now, Boris would lose his own seat and Labour would I expect end up with an overall majority. In the event that Boris were to call an election Starmer wouldn't believe his own luck and would immediately be in front of the cameras saying that it is right for the country to decide a change of government. The media would immediately be on an election footing. There's not a chance of this happening, its just utterly mad.
British citizens in Northern Ireland may have to show their passports to get back into Britain
“Even Tony Blair, the last Labour leader ever to be elected, has said that the Protocol is not compatible with the Good Friday Agreement. “Something has to go because it breaks article six in the acts of the union, it takes Northern Ireland out of that trading block inside the UK. “It also calls into account any constitutional issues around the border and most of all, in amongst the common travel area where, when the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain were both together either inside or outside the EU, it made sense to have that common travel area. “Now what we have is people that aren’t British, coming into Dublin, coming across a borderless island, getting on a ferry and going straight into Britain. “So the workings out of that will be is, in a very short space of time, we will end up with British citizens in Northern Ireland having to show their passports to get back into Britain.”
(gbnews)
Breaking articles of the Acts of Union?! Ho ho. The fuckers have been doing that for centuries.
As I keep pointing out, there is no UK trading zone. GB and NI are legally separate...
William Hague tells Times Radio MPs are reading Boris Johnson his "last rites', saying: “I think it’s over. It’s reading the last rites - slowly, unfortunately… Boris still isn’t accepting that this really is over, but it is.” https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1544572079084904449
Once again, I'll only believe that collection of slimy invertebrates are finally going to dump him when it happens and not before.
I remarked Zahawi was looking pretty chipper at yesterday's otherwise funereal cabinet meeting. Had he already had conversations with Boris ?
Bagging the Chancellorship was a major move. He'd otherwise have had fairly little chance of the leadership in the forthcoming election, and while supporting the liar carries its downside, he vaults into the big beast league - and potentially becomes the leading 'loyalist'.
The timeframe is key.
If BoZo goes quickly, then he campaigns on the loyalist ticket.
If he is in the job long enough to tank the economy to try and shore up BoZo, it matters not...
Given the Chris Pincher scandal, it's worth noting that the new Chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, never fully explained why he attended the mens-only "Presidents Club" dinner where dozens of women say they were sexually assaulted and harassed by the guests. https://mobile.twitter.com/AdamBienkov/status/1544448292481794053
Worth noting in the context of his sticking with the morally bankrupt PM.
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The person who will be most delighted if the chaos of the Brexit wars resumes is Boris.
Labour cannot appease Brexiteers. They must be confronted and defeated.
Starmer surrendered yesterday: he is not fit for purpose. Labourites better pray that Durham police do their work for them.
Labour needs the next election to be about the economy and catastrophic public services, not an ideological battle for Brexit returning red wall voters to the Tories.
I expect there will be a time one day to reset our relationship with the EU. Some things have to come first.
Their problem being that so many of the economic woes can be linked to our exit from the EEA and CU...
‘The SNP will be rejoicing at Starmer's hard Brexit line‘
"MAKE Brexit Work” sounds like one of Boris Johnson's test slogans for the next General Election. In fact it is now Labour's headline policy following Sir Keir Starmer's remarkable conversion to the Brexit cause. He unveiled the new slogan in a speech to the Centre for European Reform.
It's an unexpected gift to Nicola Sturgeon, whose latest Indyref plan was getting heavy weather from sceptics in and out of the SNP. Suddenly she leads the only serious pro-European party in Scotland, apart from the Greens and the LibDems. Getting 50 per cent of the vote in the 2024 General Election looks easier now that the SNP is the obvious destination for the 62 per cent of Scots who voted to remain in the EU.
(The Herald €)
The SNP are promising yet more upheaval. Labour are promising relatively stability and a path to recovery. I am not sure the Scots will vote for more Brexit style chaos. A split in the U.K. will make Brexit look like a picnic.
Labour and the Tories: two faces of the same dud coin.
SNP and Tories, surely? Vote SNP for a Conservative government. Scots voters need to think separately about Westminster and Holyrood elections.
English nationalists and Scottish nationalists. Two cheeks of the same arse. Brexit = Sindy. Both need to go.
Starmer is now committed to the British nationalist line. Proof once again that one should choose one’s bedfellows with care.
He was committed to a Corbynite manifesto a couple of years ago. He is even more blatantly dishonest than Boris Johnson, which takes some doing.
No less dishonest than the many Tory cabinet members continuing to tell us Johnson is the man for the job.
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The person who will be most delighted if the chaos of the Brexit wars resumes is Boris.
Labour cannot appease Brexiteers. They must be confronted and defeated.
Starmer surrendered yesterday: he is not fit for purpose. Labourites better pray that Durham police do their work for them.
Given that you are going to oppose parties in London simply because they are English why should we listen to you in this. You just don't like England or the English. Fair enough.
Brexiteers cannot be defeated. They have won. The EU and EFTA will not allow any return of England to the EU or SM. Any application would be vetoed - not least by Scotland if it is a member by then in order to stymie the ambitions of its geopolitical enemy. Starmer is just accepting reality.
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The person who will be most delighted if the chaos of the Brexit wars resumes is Boris.
Labour cannot appease Brexiteers. They must be confronted and defeated.
Starmer surrendered yesterday: he is not fit for purpose. Labourites better pray that Durham police do their work for them.
I think Rejoin is the wrong policy for the next GE. People do not want that psychodrama to dominate the next election. It would have been possible though to come up with a policy more explicitly a rapprochement with the EU to reduce trade barriers and red tape, with convergence rather than divergence in mind.
Not only a better policy, but also a more plausible one, and one with widespread support from both Remainers and Leavers.
British citizens in Northern Ireland may have to show their passports to get back into Britain
“Even Tony Blair, the last Labour leader ever to be elected, has said that the Protocol is not compatible with the Good Friday Agreement. “Something has to go because it breaks article six in the acts of the union, it takes Northern Ireland out of that trading block inside the UK. “It also calls into account any constitutional issues around the border and most of all, in amongst the common travel area where, when the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain were both together either inside or outside the EU, it made sense to have that common travel area. “Now what we have is people that aren’t British, coming into Dublin, coming across a borderless island, getting on a ferry and going straight into Britain. “So the workings out of that will be is, in a very short space of time, we will end up with British citizens in Northern Ireland having to show their passports to get back into Britain.”
(gbnews)
Breaking articles of the Acts of Union?! Ho ho. The fuckers have been doing that for centuries.
As I keep pointing out, there is no UK trading zone. GB and NI are legally separate...
It makes clear that NI is part of UK customs territory.
So why do I need an export license and complete customs paperwork to ship stuff from GB to NI?
The whole furore about the protocol from the Unionist perspective is explicitly because there is no UK customs zone. Whatever the government document claims. On the ground, in reality, as a matter of practical fact there are two zones.
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The person who will be most delighted if the chaos of the Brexit wars resumes is Boris.
Labour cannot appease Brexiteers. They must be confronted and defeated.
Starmer surrendered yesterday: he is not fit for purpose. Labourites better pray that Durham police do their work for them.
Labour needs the next election to be about the economy and catastrophic public services, not an ideological battle for Brexit returning red wall voters to the Tories.
I expect there will be a time one day to reset our
relationship with the EU. Some things have to come first.
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The person who will be most delighted if the chaos of the Brexit wars resumes is Boris.
Labour cannot appease Brexiteers. They must be confronted and defeated.
Starmer surrendered yesterday: he is not fit for purpose. Labourites better pray that Durham police do their work for them.
Labour needs the next election to be about the economy and catastrophic public services, not an ideological battle for Brexit returning red wall voters to the Tories.
I expect there will be a time one day to reset our relationship with the EU. Some things have to come first.
But it's not ideological. It's the reason the economy is tanking and it's becoming more widely understood by the day. It is a mighty USP that is being thrown away.
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The person who will be most delighted if the chaos of the Brexit wars resumes is Boris.
Labour cannot appease Brexiteers. They must be confronted and defeated.
Starmer surrendered yesterday: he is not fit for purpose. Labourites better pray that Durham police do their work for them.
Labour needs the next election to be about the economy and catastrophic public services, not an ideological battle for Brexit returning red wall voters to the Tories.
I expect there will be a time one day to reset our relationship with the EU. Some things have to come first.
Their problem being that so many of the economic woes can be linked to our exit from the EEA and CU...
I expect if the problems persist, one day the argument will be, we tried to make the current Brexit settlement work but to succeed we need access to the SM. There will be a referendum or GE and the change will come. Right now I sense no pubic appetite for a new round of Brexit wars.
When it comes to it, MPs of whatever party, no matter how high-minded they can be when it’s their opponents in trouble, will overlook pretty much anything if they can justify it in pursuit of a higher cause (usually their job) and the polls have not turned against them. And, in truth, it’s only the last issue which really matters to them. Pincher’s groping hands, Boris’s parties and his repeated lies would be mere footnotes if the Tories were still consistently ahead in the polls.
And Johnson would already be gone if the Tories were 20% adrift of Labour rather than averaging more like 6-7%. Small wonder if Mr & Mrs Average end up regarding politics and its practitioners as entirely devoid of ethics and principle. The evidence against them is overwhelming.
Meanwhile, in other news, most of the British population is now living hand-to-mouth, or something very close to it:
Most Lloyds Bank customers have less than £500 of savings in their accounts, its chief executive said.
The head of the UK's biggest high street bank told the BBC: "80% of individuals and UK customers and families have less than £500 pounds worth of savings in their current account and their savings account."
Frankly, the more I think about this, the more astonishing it becomes. The customer base of Lloyds must be broadly representative of the general population. I might've guessed that about a third of us had nothing or next to nothing in the bank, but four-fifths?!?! Anybody in this position who finds themselves out of a job, or with unexpected bills to settle, is immediately going to have to resort to debt - if they've not already maxed out their capacity to do so. Those of working age who end up unemployed, or having to take a new job with a substantial cut in income, will be staring almost immediately down the barrel of heat or eat dilemmas or being slung out onto the street.
Essentially, a finding like this implies that most of the country - especially all those still paying rent or a mortgage - is now part of the precariat. Any significant spike in unemployment and a lot of these people will be sunk.
driving around the M60 not so long ago I was struck by the sheer number of costly cars.... BMWs, VWs other top spec brands.... not sure how it sits with the above.
So many "costly" cars are on cheap PCP deals issued when manufacturers could actually build cars and needed to hit a sales target.
Cars with good residuals (so some but by no means all BMWs) are relatively cheaper to lease. Unless the OEM underwrites the value of an otherwise rapidly depreciating car. Like McLaren. LOL.
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The person who will be most delighted if the chaos of the Brexit wars resumes is Boris.
Labour cannot appease Brexiteers. They must be confronted and defeated.
Starmer surrendered yesterday: he is not fit for purpose. Labourites better pray that Durham police do their work for them.
Labour needs the next election to be about the economy and catastrophic public services, not an ideological battle for Brexit returning red wall voters to the Tories.
I expect there will be a time one day to reset our relationship with the EU. Some things have to come first.
But it's not ideological. It's the reason the economy is tanking and it's becoming more widely understood by the day. It is a mighty USP that is being thrown away.
But the former Labour voters who voted for Bozo the clown don't particular care about the overall economy they care about themselves.
And in their world Brexit is a success because they now earn more than they used to.
Which means that if you want those people to vote for you you either need to spend time changing their minds and that isn't possible - so best to offer them what they want this time around and slowly change the story so come 2029 they don't mind a softening in Brexit.
https://mobile.twitter.com/raymondopolis/status/1544440058672951296 Turkey found 694Mt of rare earths—that's 6x the size of all other global reserves and _15x_ the reserves of China, which currently dominates the market. Enough for >1,000 years at current demand. What happens now??
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The interesting poll on Starmer's policy is that 79% of conservatives approve but only 30% of labour do
If that's the case then you could say it's a short term advantage. Labour voters have no where else to go. That would be true if other things were equal but they aren't Labour need a big tent.
When it comes to it, MPs of whatever party, no matter how high-minded they can be when it’s their opponents in trouble, will overlook pretty much anything if they can justify it in pursuit of a higher cause (usually their job) and the polls have not turned against them. And, in truth, it’s only the last issue which really matters to them. Pincher’s groping hands, Boris’s parties and his repeated lies would be mere footnotes if the Tories were still consistently ahead in the polls.
And Johnson would already be gone if the Tories were 20% adrift of Labour rather than averaging more like 6-7%. Small wonder if Mr & Mrs Average end up regarding politics and its practitioners as entirely devoid of ethics and principle. The evidence against them is overwhelming.
Meanwhile, in other news, most of the British population is now living hand-to-mouth, or something very close to it:
Most Lloyds Bank customers have less than £500 of savings in their accounts, its chief executive said.
The head of the UK's biggest high street bank told the BBC: "80% of individuals and UK customers and families have less than £500 pounds worth of savings in their current account and their savings account."
Frankly, the more I think about this, the more astonishing it becomes. The customer base of Lloyds must be broadly representative of the general population. I might've guessed that about a third of us had nothing or next to nothing in the bank, but four-fifths?!?! Anybody in this position who finds themselves out of a job, or with unexpected bills to settle, is immediately going to have to resort to debt - if they've not already maxed out their capacity to do so. Those of working age who end up unemployed, or having to take a new job with a substantial cut in income, will be staring almost immediately down the barrel of heat or eat dilemmas or being slung out onto the street.
Essentially, a finding like this implies that most of the country - especially all those still paying rent or a mortgage - is now part of the precariat. Any significant spike in unemployment and a lot of these people will be sunk.
driving around the M60 not so long ago I was struck by the sheer number of costly cars.... BMWs, VWs other top spec brands.... not sure how it sits with the above.
So many "costly" cars are on cheap PCP deals issued when manufacturers could actually build cars and needed to hit a sales target.
A friend works in private banking for a bank that has an illustrious name. Perhaps “used to have an illustrious name”…
It seems that they got lax about vetting the customers they allowed to join. And lending them money afterwards
He describes large numbers of people who owned 5% of some very nice, completely unproductive assets and a fistful of credits cards drawn to the max.
One of his jobs was to force such people to sell the unproductive assets and get the money for the bank back. Quite simply he was reducing peoples lifestyles by an order of magnitude.
His guesstimate was that about 70% of the “rich” people you see, out and about, are fake.
OT: toast still stuck in the toaster. Things will not change until there is proper vetting of new MPs. And, in a world of professional politicians who know nothing but Parliament, systematic professional training and development.
It's bizarre. Living well within your means is a much happier state to be in.
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The person who will be most delighted if the chaos of the Brexit wars resumes is Boris.
Labour cannot appease Brexiteers. They must be confronted and defeated.
Starmer surrendered yesterday: he is not fit for purpose. Labourites better pray that Durham police do their work for them.
Labour needs the next election to be about the economy and catastrophic public services, not an ideological battle for Brexit returning red wall voters to the Tories.
I expect there will be a time one day to reset our relationship with the EU. Some things have to come first.
But it's not ideological. It's the reason the economy is tanking and it's becoming more widely understood by the day. It is a mighty USP that is being thrown away.
But the former Labour voters who voted for Bozo the clown don't particular care about the overall economy they care about themselves.
And in their world Brexit is a success because they now earn more than they used to.
Which means that if you want those people to vote for you you either need to spend time changing their minds and that isn't possible - so best to offer them what they want this time around and slowly change the story so come 2029 they don't mind a softening in Brexit.
Not sure that statement stands up to reality. We haven't seen a wholesale shooting up of wages. Just a wholesale shooting up of prices.
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The person who will be most delighted if the chaos of the Brexit wars resumes is Boris.
Labour cannot appease Brexiteers. They must be confronted and defeated.
Starmer surrendered yesterday: he is not fit for purpose. Labourites better pray that Durham police do their work for them.
Labour needs the next election to be about the economy and catastrophic public services, not an ideological battle for Brexit returning red wall voters to the Tories.
I expect there will be a time one day to reset our relationship with the EU. Some things have to come first.
Indeed. Europe is not a priority for the bulk of the electorate. Besides anything else, if it were then the Scottish Government's attempts to use it to move the dial on secession might actually have had some useful effect over the last six years.
‘The SNP will be rejoicing at Starmer's hard Brexit line‘
"MAKE Brexit Work” sounds like one of Boris Johnson's test slogans for the next General Election. In fact it is now Labour's headline policy following Sir Keir Starmer's remarkable conversion to the Brexit cause. He unveiled the new slogan in a speech to the Centre for European Reform.
It's an unexpected gift to Nicola Sturgeon, whose latest Indyref plan was getting heavy weather from sceptics in and out of the SNP. Suddenly she leads the only serious pro-European party in Scotland, apart from the Greens and the LibDems. Getting 50 per cent of the vote in the 2024 General Election looks easier now that the SNP is the obvious destination for the 62 per cent of Scots who voted to remain in the EU.
(The Herald €)
The SNP are promising yet more upheaval. Labour are promising relatively stability and a path to recovery. I am not sure the Scots will vote for more Brexit style chaos. A split in the U.K. will make Brexit look like a picnic.
Labour and the Tories: two faces of the same dud coin.
SNP and Tories, surely? Vote SNP for a Conservative government. Scots voters need to think separately about Westminster and Holyrood elections.
English nationalists and Scottish nationalists. Two cheeks of the same arse. Brexit = Sindy. Both need to go.
Starmer is now committed to the British nationalist line. Proof once again that one should choose one’s bedfellows with care.
He was committed to a Corbynite manifesto a couple of years ago. He is even more blatantly dishonest than Boris Johnson, which takes some doing.
I believe Starmer's Brexit policy U-turn to be folly, nonetheless your post is blatantly untrue.
I don’t want to alarm you but a corrupt & discredited leader’s determination to cling on to power at any cost at all is often the backdrop to terrible things. And, as we saw in America just 18 months ago, to some very near misses. https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1544577416542183425
https://mobile.twitter.com/raymondopolis/status/1544440058672951296 Turkey found 694Mt of rare earths—that's 6x the size of all other global reserves and _15x_ the reserves of China, which currently dominates the market. Enough for >1,000 years at current demand. What happens now??
It's confirmed on the Turkish Government website (posted that as I can't access the Turkish original)
One interesting snippet in Sunaks resignation letter was the mention of a joint speech on the economy. I suspect that is being rapidly rewritten as number 1 priority by Zaharwi.
https://mobile.twitter.com/raymondopolis/status/1544440058672951296 Turkey found 694Mt of rare earths—that's 6x the size of all other global reserves and _15x_ the reserves of China, which currently dominates the market. Enough for >1,000 years at current demand. What happens now??
I'd treat it with a healthy dose of scepticism. It appears to be a press release from a government agency, and Turley is in need of good financial news atm. And then there's the fact that most 'rare earths' are not actually rare: the problem is in the difficulty in extraction.
I have no doubt that they have discovered massive deposits of rare earths. There's a long, long way from that to extracting them in meaningful quantities, and even further to profit.
https://mobile.twitter.com/raymondopolis/status/1544440058672951296 Turkey found 694Mt of rare earths—that's 6x the size of all other global reserves and _15x_ the reserves of China, which currently dominates the market. Enough for >1,000 years at current demand. What happens now??
‘The SNP will be rejoicing at Starmer's hard Brexit line‘
"MAKE Brexit Work” sounds like one of Boris Johnson's test slogans for the next General Election. In fact it is now Labour's headline policy following Sir Keir Starmer's remarkable conversion to the Brexit cause. He unveiled the new slogan in a speech to the Centre for European Reform.
It's an unexpected gift to Nicola Sturgeon, whose latest Indyref plan was getting heavy weather from sceptics in and out of the SNP. Suddenly she leads the only serious pro-European party in Scotland, apart from the Greens and the LibDems. Getting 50 per cent of the vote in the 2024 General Election looks easier now that the SNP is the obvious destination for the 62 per cent of Scots who voted to remain in the EU.
(The Herald €)
The SNP are promising yet more upheaval. Labour are promising relatively stability and a path to recovery. I am not sure the Scots will vote for more Brexit style chaos. A split in the U.K. will make Brexit look like a picnic.
Labour and the Tories: two faces of the same dud coin.
SNP and Tories, surely? Vote SNP for a Conservative government. Scots voters need to think separately about Westminster and Holyrood elections.
English nationalists and Scottish nationalists. Two cheeks of the same arse. Brexit = Sindy. Both need to go.
Starmer is now committed to the British nationalist line. Proof once again that one should choose one’s bedfellows with care.
He was committed to a Corbynite manifesto a couple of years ago. He is even more blatantly dishonest than Boris Johnson, which takes some doing.
I believe Starmer's Brexit policy U-turn to be folly, nonetheless your post is blatantly untrue.
Morning all.
On this mini thread I'm having trouble deciding which post is 'blatantly untrue', or is it all of them?
‘The SNP will be rejoicing at Starmer's hard Brexit line‘
"MAKE Brexit Work” sounds like one of Boris Johnson's test slogans for the next General Election. In fact it is now Labour's headline policy following Sir Keir Starmer's remarkable conversion to the Brexit cause. He unveiled the new slogan in a speech to the Centre for European Reform.
It's an unexpected gift to Nicola Sturgeon, whose latest Indyref plan was getting heavy weather from sceptics in and out of the SNP. Suddenly she leads the only serious pro-European party in Scotland, apart from the Greens and the LibDems. Getting 50 per cent of the vote in the 2024 General Election looks easier now that the SNP is the obvious destination for the 62 per cent of Scots who voted to remain in the EU.
(The Herald €)
The SNP are promising yet more upheaval. Labour are promising relatively stability and a path to recovery. I am not sure the Scots will vote for more Brexit style chaos. A split in the U.K. will make Brexit look like a picnic.
Labour and the Tories: two faces of the same dud coin.
SNP and Tories, surely? Vote SNP for a Conservative government. Scots voters need to think separately about Westminster and Holyrood elections.
English nationalists and Scottish nationalists. Two cheeks of the same arse. Brexit = Sindy. Both need to go.
Starmer is now committed to the British nationalist line. Proof once again that one should choose one’s bedfellows with care.
Nah. He’s just not going to invest all his political capital in trying to reverse a done deal. There are more important issues like fixing the NHS and the economy. The SNP would be wise to drop the ideological baggage and focus on what matters.
Starmer is going to “fix the economy” without improving international trade? This car crash might well be worse than the last one.
I do think, if I may say, that you're letting your vitriolic anti-Labour stance cloud your judgement?
Starmer is playing smart politics at the moment: what he has said about Brexit (even if he doesn't believe it) was good red wall politicking.
Tony Blair did all this brilliantly in the run up to winning.
It tells me that Labour are hungry for power and they sense they are in with a real chance.
Yes, but Blair also stuck to much of it, squandering his chance to enact more radical changes during his first term when he had maximum political capital. Hasn't he accepted that this was one of his biggest misjudgements? (Obviously he has never accepted the biggest misjudgement, which came later)
When it comes to it, MPs of whatever party, no matter how high-minded they can be when it’s their opponents in trouble, will overlook pretty much anything if they can justify it in pursuit of a higher cause (usually their job) and the polls have not turned against them. And, in truth, it’s only the last issue which really matters to them. Pincher’s groping hands, Boris’s parties and his repeated lies would be mere footnotes if the Tories were still consistently ahead in the polls.
And Johnson would already be gone if the Tories were 20% adrift of Labour rather than averaging more like 6-7%. Small wonder if Mr & Mrs Average end up regarding politics and its practitioners as entirely devoid of ethics and principle. The evidence against them is overwhelming.
Meanwhile, in other news, most of the British population is now living hand-to-mouth, or something very close to it:
Most Lloyds Bank customers have less than £500 of savings in their accounts, its chief executive said.
The head of the UK's biggest high street bank told the BBC: "80% of individuals and UK customers and families have less than £500 pounds worth of savings in their current account and their savings account."
Frankly, the more I think about this, the more astonishing it becomes. The customer base of Lloyds must be broadly representative of the general population. I might've guessed that about a third of us had nothing or next to nothing in the bank, but four-fifths?!?! Anybody in this position who finds themselves out of a job, or with unexpected bills to settle, is immediately going to have to resort to debt - if they've not already maxed out their capacity to do so. Those of working age who end up unemployed, or having to take a new job with a substantial cut in income, will be staring almost immediately down the barrel of heat or eat dilemmas or being slung out onto the street.
Essentially, a finding like this implies that most of the country - especially all those still paying rent or a mortgage - is now part of the precariat. Any significant spike in unemployment and a lot of these people will be sunk.
driving around the M60 not so long ago I was struck by the sheer number of costly cars.... BMWs, VWs other top spec brands.... not sure how it sits with the above.
So many "costly" cars are on cheap PCP deals issued when manufacturers could actually build cars and needed to hit a sales target.
A friend works in private banking for a bank that has an illustrious name. Perhaps “used to have an illustrious name”…
It seems that they got lax about vetting the customers they allowed to join. And lending them money afterwards
He describes large numbers of people who owned 5% of some very nice, completely unproductive assets and a fistful of credits cards drawn to the max.
One of his jobs was to force such people to sell the unproductive assets and get the money for the bank back. Quite simply he was reducing peoples lifestyles by an order of magnitude.
His guesstimate was that about 70% of the “rich” people you see, out and about, are fake.
OT: toast still stuck in the toaster. Things will not change until there is proper vetting of new MPs. And, in a world of professional politicians who know nothing but Parliament, systematic professional training and development.
It's bizarre. Living well within your means is a much happier state to be in.
Living within your means is much more affordable and typically allows a better lifestyle in the longer term too - but the problem is too many people will prefer the short term over the longer term.
And in their world Brexit is a success because they now earn more than they used to.
But it's worth less
Not an argument they will care about...
The reality is that the SNP win seats by screaming Freedom / Independence every 5 minutes. Given the option Bozo would be screaming Brexit every chance he got (and that would swing a fair few voters).
You simply want to remove the entire conversation from any election campaign to focus on my winnable items.
When it comes to it, MPs of whatever party, no matter how high-minded they can be when it’s their opponents in trouble, will overlook pretty much anything if they can justify it in pursuit of a higher cause (usually their job) and the polls have not turned against them. And, in truth, it’s only the last issue which really matters to them. Pincher’s groping hands, Boris’s parties and his repeated lies would be mere footnotes if the Tories were still consistently ahead in the polls.
And Johnson would already be gone if the Tories were 20% adrift of Labour rather than averaging more like 6-7%. Small wonder if Mr & Mrs Average end up regarding politics and its practitioners as entirely devoid of ethics and principle. The evidence against them is overwhelming.
Meanwhile, in other news, most of the British population is now living hand-to-mouth, or something very close to it:
Most Lloyds Bank customers have less than £500 of savings in their accounts, its chief executive said.
The head of the UK's biggest high street bank told the BBC: "80% of individuals and UK customers and families have less than £500 pounds worth of savings in their current account and their savings account."
Frankly, the more I think about this, the more astonishing it becomes. The customer base of Lloyds must be broadly representative of the general population. I might've guessed that about a third of us had nothing or next to nothing in the bank, but four-fifths?!?! Anybody in this position who finds themselves out of a job, or with unexpected bills to settle, is immediately going to have to resort to debt - if they've not already maxed out their capacity to do so. Those of working age who end up unemployed, or having to take a new job with a substantial cut in income, will be staring almost immediately down the barrel of heat or eat dilemmas or being slung out onto the street.
Essentially, a finding like this implies that most of the country - especially all those still paying rent or a mortgage - is now part of the precariat. Any significant spike in unemployment and a lot of these people will be sunk.
driving around the M60 not so long ago I was struck by the sheer number of costly cars.... BMWs, VWs other top spec brands.... not sure how it sits with the above.
So many "costly" cars are on cheap PCP deals issued when manufacturers could actually build cars and needed to hit a sales target.
A friend works in private banking for a bank that has an illustrious name. Perhaps “used to have an illustrious name”…
It seems that they got lax about vetting the customers they allowed to join. And lending them money afterwards
He describes large numbers of people who owned 5% of some very nice, completely unproductive assets and a fistful of credits cards drawn to the max.
One of his jobs was to force such people to sell the unproductive assets and get the money for the bank back. Quite simply he was reducing peoples lifestyles by an order of magnitude.
His guesstimate was that about 70% of the “rich” people you see, out and about, are fake.
OT: toast still stuck in the toaster. Things will not change until there is proper vetting of new MPs. And, in a world of professional politicians who know nothing but Parliament, systematic professional training and development.
It's bizarre. Living well within your means is a much happier state to be in.
People living stress free, happy lives on middling incomes don't attract hordes of Instagram followers. Professional wankers posing in front of Ferraris do. Consumer capitalism and social media both promote the joys of empty, meaningless acquisition to great effect. A lot of people exist only to accumulate stuff.
DALL-E is now getting scarily, scarily good at faces. Despite the fact that faces have only been “permitted” for a week or two
That person does not exist. Yet the only tiny clue is some blurring at the hairline/temple
Conclusions: the potential for porn deep fakes is troubling. You’re still not allowed to use “real” faces - but inevitably that prohibition will fail. You’ll be able to depict anyone doing anything with 100% accuracy
Also: photography as “art” is finished. Dead. DALL-E does this for free in seconds, 24/7
Also: what happens when DALL-E is allowed to do moving images? Films? TV? With AI voice generation that will open up amazing possibilities for movies made with entirely fake “people” - who don’t need to be paid
When it comes to it, MPs of whatever party, no matter how high-minded they can be when it’s their opponents in trouble, will overlook pretty much anything if they can justify it in pursuit of a higher cause (usually their job) and the polls have not turned against them. And, in truth, it’s only the last issue which really matters to them. Pincher’s groping hands, Boris’s parties and his repeated lies would be mere footnotes if the Tories were still consistently ahead in the polls.
And Johnson would already be gone if the Tories were 20% adrift of Labour rather than averaging more like 6-7%. Small wonder if Mr & Mrs Average end up regarding politics and its practitioners as entirely devoid of ethics and principle. The evidence against them is overwhelming.
Meanwhile, in other news, most of the British population is now living hand-to-mouth, or something very close to it:
Most Lloyds Bank customers have less than £500 of savings in their accounts, its chief executive said.
The head of the UK's biggest high street bank told the BBC: "80% of individuals and UK customers and families have less than £500 pounds worth of savings in their current account and their savings account."
Frankly, the more I think about this, the more astonishing it becomes. The customer base of Lloyds must be broadly representative of the general population. I might've guessed that about a third of us had nothing or next to nothing in the bank, but four-fifths?!?! Anybody in this position who finds themselves out of a job, or with unexpected bills to settle, is immediately going to have to resort to debt - if they've not already maxed out their capacity to do so. Those of working age who end up unemployed, or having to take a new job with a substantial cut in income, will be staring almost immediately down the barrel of heat or eat dilemmas or being slung out onto the street.
Essentially, a finding like this implies that most of the country - especially all those still paying rent or a mortgage - is now part of the precariat. Any significant spike in unemployment and a lot of these people will be sunk.
driving around the M60 not so long ago I was struck by the sheer number of costly cars.... BMWs, VWs other top spec brands.... not sure how it sits with the above.
That's partly why no one has any money - they are playing "keeping up with the Jones" running a brand new BMW on a PCP deal they can hardly afford, rather than owning a 10 year old Fiesta outright...
When it comes to it, MPs of whatever party, no matter how high-minded they can be when it’s their opponents in trouble, will overlook pretty much anything if they can justify it in pursuit of a higher cause (usually their job) and the polls have not turned against them. And, in truth, it’s only the last issue which really matters to them. Pincher’s groping hands, Boris’s parties and his repeated lies would be mere footnotes if the Tories were still consistently ahead in the polls.
And Johnson would already be gone if the Tories were 20% adrift of Labour rather than averaging more like 6-7%. Small wonder if Mr & Mrs Average end up regarding politics and its practitioners as entirely devoid of ethics and principle. The evidence against them is overwhelming.
Meanwhile, in other news, most of the British population is now living hand-to-mouth, or something very close to it:
Most Lloyds Bank customers have less than £500 of savings in their accounts, its chief executive said.
The head of the UK's biggest high street bank told the BBC: "80% of individuals and UK customers and families have less than £500 pounds worth of savings in their current account and their savings account."
Frankly, the more I think about this, the more astonishing it becomes. The customer base of Lloyds must be broadly representative of the general population. I might've guessed that about a third of us had nothing or next to nothing in the bank, but four-fifths?!?! Anybody in this position who finds themselves out of a job, or with unexpected bills to settle, is immediately going to have to resort to debt - if they've not already maxed out their capacity to do so. Those of working age who end up unemployed, or having to take a new job with a substantial cut in income, will be staring almost immediately down the barrel of heat or eat dilemmas or being slung out onto the street.
Essentially, a finding like this implies that most of the country - especially all those still paying rent or a mortgage - is now part of the precariat. Any significant spike in unemployment and a lot of these people will be sunk.
driving around the M60 not so long ago I was struck by the sheer number of costly cars.... BMWs, VWs other top spec brands.... not sure how it sits with the above.
So many "costly" cars are on cheap PCP deals issued when manufacturers could actually build cars and needed to hit a sales target.
Yet second hand cars are ridiculously pricy, and new cars have long delivery times. There is a lot of money about, just not very evenly distributed.
Yes, if it weren't for the minor detail that most people need a car, there is money to be made buying cars at the end of the three-year PCP and immediately selling them on.
https://mobile.twitter.com/raymondopolis/status/1544440058672951296 Turkey found 694Mt of rare earths—that's 6x the size of all other global reserves and _15x_ the reserves of China, which currently dominates the market. Enough for >1,000 years at current demand. What happens now??
If rare earths are that abundant in Turkey it suggests they might be found, in similar plenitude, in multiple places across the world
Whilst seeking that Dumbledore quote I also came across this one:
“It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.”
Someone who always wanted to be king of the world should have been let nowhere near it.
Totally agree, but I suspect 90% of politicians, if not more, have actively sought power for their own ends, rather than to help others.
I actually used the fact that I don’t especially enjoy being the boss, as a reason for me being good at it, at an interview not long ago. Which rather startled the interviewers. Who then gave me the thumbs up….
Good morning everyone; rather cloudy here this morning but still quite pleasant. What rather surprise me about last night's events was the speed at which new ministers came into post. Does suggest that our Prime Minister has more support among the cabinet that we might of expected, particularly given the circumstances!
Or, further and better thoughts! There are some people who will do anything for preferment!
Nick Robinson just gets better. His 8.05 slot isn't to be missed
Zahawi is being skewered and it is well deserved.
What a creep.......
Zahawi didnt do well, he is out of his depth (and it wasnt on the economy themes), it wont have reassured many at all. 1922 will have heard it no doubt
https://mobile.twitter.com/raymondopolis/status/1544440058672951296 Turkey found 694Mt of rare earths—that's 6x the size of all other global reserves and _15x_ the reserves of China, which currently dominates the market. Enough for >1,000 years at current demand. What happens now??
Rare Earths are not really very rare.
They are quite rare, but you have to grasp the size of the planet which is 6,400,000,000,000,000 Mt
Mr. Dickson, and that terrible decision is with him as Defence Secretary. You think a Nadine Dorries or similar would be better for Defence?
I think the Conservatives need a period in opposition. About a century will do.
PR Mr Starmer. PR.
That's why the best outcome to the next election is one that leaves Labour as weak as possible, without the bloody Tories actually winning it again.
If Labour is miles short of a majority, doubts its ability ever to win one again, has a large and potentially resurgent Conservative Opposition breathing down its neck, and ends up reliant on both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, then they might be persuaded to yield.
The likelihood of Labour abandoning FPTP if it wins outright is nil.
Labour's problem is that so far they have only one policy which is to maintain the draconian Brexit but fix the Norhern Ireland protocol.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
The interesting poll on Starmer's policy is that 79% of conservatives approve but only 30% of labour do
If that's the case then you could say it's a short term advantage. Labour voters have no where else to go. That would be true if other things were equal but they aren't Labour need a big tent.
I think it’s pretty clear now that the rebels have the numbers to get rid of the clown . Given only 32 MPs needed to vote the other way last time .
The problem is that kicking the can down the road to the autumn allows more time for him to recover and get his lapdog Zahawi to put operation save Johnson into full throttle .
There’s also the Starmer situation re Durham police . Very hard to read how that plays out if he does get a FPN .
Will the media attention on that give the clown more breathing space or will his resignation if he does get fined make life even more uncomfortable .
I think the rebels need to act in the next two weeks and need to change the 1922 rules and move to another vote before recess.
Mr. Leon, there are already, separately, computer voice 'actors' being developed. Voice actors have been hired, not told the detail, and been pissed to find their recorded voices were used to help develop the tech that may well put them out of work.
At the moment, the voices are passable but not as good as human voice actors.
When it comes to it, MPs of whatever party, no matter how high-minded they can be when it’s their opponents in trouble, will overlook pretty much anything if they can justify it in pursuit of a higher cause (usually their job) and the polls have not turned against them. And, in truth, it’s only the last issue which really matters to them. Pincher’s groping hands, Boris’s parties and his repeated lies would be mere footnotes if the Tories were still consistently ahead in the polls.
And Johnson would already be gone if the Tories were 20% adrift of Labour rather than averaging more like 6-7%. Small wonder if Mr & Mrs Average end up regarding politics and its practitioners as entirely devoid of ethics and principle. The evidence against them is overwhelming.
Meanwhile, in other news, most of the British population is now living hand-to-mouth, or something very close to it:
Most Lloyds Bank customers have less than £500 of savings in their accounts, its chief executive said.
The head of the UK's biggest high street bank told the BBC: "80% of individuals and UK customers and families have less than £500 pounds worth of savings in their current account and their savings account."
Frankly, the more I think about this, the more astonishing it becomes. The customer base of Lloyds must be broadly representative of the general population. I might've guessed that about a third of us had nothing or next to nothing in the bank, but four-fifths?!?! Anybody in this position who finds themselves out of a job, or with unexpected bills to settle, is immediately going to have to resort to debt - if they've not already maxed out their capacity to do so. Those of working age who end up unemployed, or having to take a new job with a substantial cut in income, will be staring almost immediately down the barrel of heat or eat dilemmas or being slung out onto the street.
Essentially, a finding like this implies that most of the country - especially all those still paying rent or a mortgage - is now part of the precariat. Any significant spike in unemployment and a lot of these people will be sunk.
driving around the M60 not so long ago I was struck by the sheer number of costly cars.... BMWs, VWs other top spec brands.... not sure how it sits with the above.
So many "costly" cars are on cheap PCP deals issued when manufacturers could actually build cars and needed to hit a sales target.
It has been a not yet enacted project of mine to go around taking photos of thoroughly normal perhaps council two-up two-downs with brand spanking new Range Rover Velars parked in front of them.
‘The SNP will be rejoicing at Starmer's hard Brexit line‘
"MAKE Brexit Work” sounds like one of Boris Johnson's test slogans for the next General Election. In fact it is now Labour's headline policy following Sir Keir Starmer's remarkable conversion to the Brexit cause. He unveiled the new slogan in a speech to the Centre for European Reform.
It's an unexpected gift to Nicola Sturgeon, whose latest Indyref plan was getting heavy weather from sceptics in and out of the SNP. Suddenly she leads the only serious pro-European party in Scotland, apart from the Greens and the LibDems. Getting 50 per cent of the vote in the 2024 General Election looks easier now that the SNP is the obvious destination for the 62 per cent of Scots who voted to remain in the EU.
(The Herald €)
The SNP are promising yet more upheaval. Labour are promising relatively stability and a path to recovery. I am not sure the Scots will vote for more Brexit style chaos. A split in the U.K. will make Brexit look like a picnic.
Labour and the Tories: two faces of the same dud coin.
SNP and Tories, surely? Vote SNP for a Conservative government. Scots voters need to think separately about Westminster and Holyrood elections.
You mean Labour needs Scots voters to think separately about Westminster and Holyrood elections? Not that voters ‘need’ to do anything, as all parties find out sooner or later.
At least he can Implement the 9% pay rise for teachers that he was pleading the Treasury for last week.
Yes, and further increase inflation.
Genius.
Without decent pay settlements not too far behind inflation there will be strikes everywhere by the autumn. People need to be able to pay those bills.
I note the Red Funnel voted to strike yesterday, over pay. Fortunately my trip next week is unaffected.
Besides which, I'm four square behind the unions on the topic of inflation. It's a supply side problem caused, crudely speaking, by the lunacy of the Chinese and the Russians. Making workers take hefty pay cuts in an effort to suppress it is just going to make ordinary people poorer without doing anything to suppress prices.
It has been a not yet enacted project of mine to go around taking photos of thoroughly normal perhaps council two-up two-downs with brand spanking new Range Rover Velars parked in front of them.
There is a caravan park near me where the cars outside are Range Rovers and Mercedes
When it comes to it, MPs of whatever party, no matter how high-minded they can be when it’s their opponents in trouble, will overlook pretty much anything if they can justify it in pursuit of a higher cause (usually their job) and the polls have not turned against them. And, in truth, it’s only the last issue which really matters to them. Pincher’s groping hands, Boris’s parties and his repeated lies would be mere footnotes if the Tories were still consistently ahead in the polls.
And Johnson would already be gone if the Tories were 20% adrift of Labour rather than averaging more like 6-7%. Small wonder if Mr & Mrs Average end up regarding politics and its practitioners as entirely devoid of ethics and principle. The evidence against them is overwhelming.
Meanwhile, in other news, most of the British population is now living hand-to-mouth, or something very close to it:
Most Lloyds Bank customers have less than £500 of savings in their accounts, its chief executive said.
The head of the UK's biggest high street bank told the BBC: "80% of individuals and UK customers and families have less than £500 pounds worth of savings in their current account and their savings account."
Frankly, the more I think about this, the more astonishing it becomes. The customer base of Lloyds must be broadly representative of the general population. I might've guessed that about a third of us had nothing or next to nothing in the bank, but four-fifths?!?! Anybody in this position who finds themselves out of a job, or with unexpected bills to settle, is immediately going to have to resort to debt - if they've not already maxed out their capacity to do so. Those of working age who end up unemployed, or having to take a new job with a substantial cut in income, will be staring almost immediately down the barrel of heat or eat dilemmas or being slung out onto the street.
Essentially, a finding like this implies that most of the country - especially all those still paying rent or a mortgage - is now part of the precariat. Any significant spike in unemployment and a lot of these people will be sunk.
driving around the M60 not so long ago I was struck by the sheer number of costly cars.... BMWs, VWs other top spec brands.... not sure how it sits with the above.
So many "costly" cars are on cheap PCP deals issued when manufacturers could actually build cars and needed to hit a sales target.
A friend works in private banking for a bank that has an illustrious name. Perhaps “used to have an illustrious name”…
It seems that they got lax about vetting the customers they allowed to join. And lending them money afterwards
He describes large numbers of people who owned 5% of some very nice, completely unproductive assets and a fistful of credits cards drawn to the max.
One of his jobs was to force such people to sell the unproductive assets and get the money for the bank back. Quite simply he was reducing peoples lifestyles by an order of magnitude.
His guesstimate was that about 70% of the “rich” people you see, out and about, are fake.
OT: toast still stuck in the toaster. Things will not change until there is proper vetting of new MPs. And, in a world of professional politicians who know nothing but Parliament, systematic professional training and development.
It's bizarre. Living well within your means is a much happier state to be in.
I don't believe the Lloyds numbers to be representative of the overall picture - it looks like current account and immediate reserve savings, and overdone conclusions. What Which used to call 'emergency money'.
For example, 10 million people save into Personal Pensions, around 13 million into ISAs in the most recent year I can see.
The 80% figure as an overall number is misleading imo.
Comments
“Hungry for power”?!? Dearie, dearie me.
The words “Smart politics” and “Labour” don’t belong in the same sentence.
https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1544572079084904449
However he is unlikely to have the time to produce a new budget
But Boris is different, and far worse. For him, it is all about the big chair, and he jettisoned any ideas or beliefs he ever had to ease his path to the top. He really is the textbook example of pure desire for power making him unsuitable for it.
And all this is abnormal. One of the worst legacies Big Dog is leaving is the sense that everyone else is as bad as him. They really aren't.
As perhaps only twenty people in the country understand the Northern Ireland protocol and even less care it's not going to have them queuing round the blocks at polling stations.
Meanwhile the door is open to anyone who wants to attract the now 60% in these islands who want the whole madcap scheme to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
In short. Is Starmer's Labour party fit for purpose? I don't think so. Does Starmer understand this politics business? I don't think so. The first rule of politics is to find policies that voters want and the first rule of selling those policies is remember the first rule of copywriting. People don't want a drill they want a hole.
It predates Ben Wallace's time by several years.
Gradually, Starmer is growing on me. Prepared to concede on some aspects to gain power. Much more a Wilson than a Corbyn. Bojo is merely in favour of number one. Lack of scruples, combined with chronic laziness subjugated to selfishness isn't a good look.
The Tories need a completely new look. An ethnic or a woman. Liz Truss - no - too much like a posh Thatcher without the drive. Starmer looks steady, and that might do it. No loons like Corbyn. Unexciting, undramatic, but in the right place at the right time.
Most will ignore the mantle and let some other bu**er pick it up.
And to be prepared, you need to show some desire for whatever that power is. If we were to take 650 people off the streets and make them MPs for four years, how many would sink? How many would swim? ow many would make good decisions? I'd argue *fewer* than we get from people choosing to stand for election - because they have a desire for that position, that power, and most will be at least partially prepared for it.
In addition, most people put in a position of power that they do not want will say they cannot be @rsed and do the job poorly.
And the same goes for management, politics and everything else.
Unless perhaps the country is France, and you're not moving beyond Paris.
Try speaking to people outside your own bubble. Whether you think that Brexit was right or wrong, revisiting it is the last thing most normal people want.
The 1922 haven't changed their rules yet and I still doubt we're at 180 MPs yet.
The early books are good examples of story telling, with a fast pace of action and good twists in the tale. Then it all got rather self indulgent.
Starmer surrendered yesterday: he is not fit for purpose. Labourites better pray that Durham police do their work for them.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascelles_Principles
It seems that they got lax about vetting the customers they allowed to join. And lending them money afterwards
He describes large numbers of people who owned 5% of some very nice, completely unproductive assets and a fistful of credits cards drawn to the max.
One of his jobs was to force such people to sell the unproductive assets and get the money for the bank back. Quite simply he was reducing peoples lifestyles by an order of magnitude.
His guesstimate was that about 70% of the “rich” people you see, out and about, are fake.
OT: toast still stuck in the toaster. Things will not change until there is proper vetting of new MPs. And, in a world of professional politicians who know nothing but Parliament, systematic professional training and development.
I’ve campaigned against George Galloway when he was Labour MP for Kelvin. Nobody needs to tell me about blatant Labour dishonesty. I’ve witnessed it first hand.
Bagging the Chancellorship was a major
move. He'd otherwise have had fairly little chance of the leadership in the forthcoming election, and while supporting the liar carries its downside, he vaults into the big beast league - and potentially becomes the leading 'loyalist'.
I expect there will be a time one day to reset our relationship with the EU. Some things have to come first.
In reality its a moot point anyway, because it would be completely insane political suicide for the Tories to call an election now, Boris would lose his own seat and Labour would I expect end up with an overall majority. In the event that Boris were to call an election Starmer wouldn't believe his own luck and would immediately be in front of the cameras saying that it is right for the country to decide a change of government. The media would immediately be on an election footing. There's not a chance of this happening, its just utterly mad.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/840230/Revised_Protocol_to_the_Withdrawal_Agreement.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiR1L2o1-P4AhWFWcAKHZocCTgQFnoECE8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw2PEfDS5hvRUrUTUD1PcTrw
It makes clear that NI is part of UK customs territory.
If BoZo goes quickly, then he campaigns on the loyalist ticket.
If he is in the job long enough to tank the economy to try and shore up BoZo, it matters not...
https://mobile.twitter.com/AdamBienkov/status/1544448292481794053
Worth noting in the context of his sticking with the morally bankrupt PM.
'The good news is I got a promotion...."
Brexiteers cannot be defeated. They have won. The EU and EFTA will not allow any return of England to the EU or SM. Any application would be vetoed - not least by Scotland if it is a member by then in order to stymie the ambitions of its geopolitical enemy. Starmer is just accepting reality.
Not only a better policy, but also a more plausible one, and one with widespread support from both Remainers and Leavers.
The whole furore about the protocol from the Unionist perspective is explicitly because there is no UK customs zone. Whatever the government document claims. On the ground, in reality, as a matter of practical fact there are two zones.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Fraser/status/1544427929916133381
UK’s new chancellor of the exchequer Nadhim Zahawi used company in tax haven to buy his Warwickshire constituency home...
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/labour-10-point-lead-keir-starmer-boris-johnson-approval-1725579
And in their world Brexit is a success because they now earn more than they used to.
Which means that if you want those people to vote for you you either need to spend time changing their minds and that isn't possible - so best to offer them what they want this time around and slowly change the story so come 2029 they don't mind a softening in Brexit.
https://mobile.twitter.com/raymondopolis/status/1544440058672951296
Turkey found 694Mt of rare earths—that's 6x the size of all other global reserves and _15x_ the reserves of China, which currently dominates the market. Enough for >1,000 years at current demand. What happens now??
Laura Trott, a rising star of the 2019 Tory intake, has quit has PPS to the Department for Transport:
"Trust in politics is - and must always be - of the upmost importance, but sadly in recent months this has been lost. "
https://twitter.com/SebastianEPayne/status/1544579661971296261
https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1544577416542183425
https://enerji-gov-tr.translate.goog/haber-detay?id=20996&_x_tr_sl=tr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc
600tonnes of lithium a year at a glance
https://twitter.com/patrick_hurley/status/1544427291266240513?t=4-HC26iwGuz39_oKGi1T0w&s=19
One interesting snippet in Sunaks resignation letter was the mention of a joint speech on the economy. I suspect that is being rapidly rewritten as number 1 priority by Zaharwi.
Genius.
I have no doubt that they have discovered massive deposits of rare earths. There's a long, long way from that to extracting them in meaningful quantities, and even further to profit.
On this mini thread I'm having trouble deciding which post is 'blatantly untrue', or is it all of them?
*innocent face*
The reality is that the SNP win seats by screaming Freedom / Independence every 5 minutes. Given the option Bozo would be screaming Brexit every chance he got (and that would swing a fair few voters).
You simply want to remove the entire conversation from any election campaign to focus on my winnable items.
Zahawi is being skewered and it is well deserved.
What a creep.......
DALL-E is now getting scarily, scarily good at faces. Despite the fact that faces have only been “permitted” for a week or two
That person does not exist. Yet the only tiny clue is some blurring at the hairline/temple
Conclusions: the potential for porn deep fakes is troubling. You’re still not allowed to use “real” faces - but inevitably that prohibition will fail. You’ll be able to depict anyone doing anything with 100% accuracy
Also: photography as “art” is finished. Dead. DALL-E does this for free in seconds, 24/7
Also: what happens when DALL-E is allowed to do moving images? Films? TV? With AI voice generation that will open up amazing possibilities for movies made with entirely fake “people” - who don’t need to be paid
Sorry, you can't afford to feed your family, but if you could afford to buy food it no longer has to meet EU safety standards!
Vote Brexit again...
https://twitter.com/RoryStewartUK/status/1544580977334386690
So I’d say this is good news
Analysis by @rowenamason https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/05/boris-johnsons-limps-on-for-now-but-for-how-much-longer?utm_term=62c521e4161d500051905d9adc1d7af2&utm_campaign=FirstEdition&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=firstedition_email
I note the Red Funnel voted to strike yesterday, over pay. Fortunately my trip next week is unaffected.
What rather surprise me about last night's events was the speed at which new ministers came into post. Does suggest that our Prime Minister has more support among the cabinet that we might of expected, particularly given the circumstances!
Or, further and better thoughts! There are some people who will do anything for preferment!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/07/05/even-boris-johnson-cannot-survive-dramatic-cabinet-resignations/
The problem is that kicking the can down the road to the autumn allows more time for him to recover and get his lapdog Zahawi to put operation save Johnson into full throttle .
There’s also the Starmer situation re Durham police . Very hard to read how that plays out if he does get a FPN .
Will the media attention on that give the clown more breathing space or will his resignation if he does get fined make life even more uncomfortable .
I think the rebels need to act in the next two weeks and need to change the 1922 rules and move to another vote before recess.
At the moment, the voices are passable but not as good as human voice actors.
It’s weird how DALL-E hasn’t *quite* mastered eyes and noses - yet. I suspect this is a lagging glitch from its former constraint - don’t use faces
For example, 10 million people save into Personal Pensions, around 13 million into ISAs in the most recent year I can see.
The 80% figure as an overall number is misleading imo.