I'm sorely tempted to make a trip to Cornwall this weekend, just to find out what worm charming tools people bring..
And what is silver music?
We have a worm charming in our village.
A pair of wooden seagull feet drumming the surface mimics how gulls get worms to come up.
Others use mystery potions, said by some to include Lea and Perrins.....
Seems a poor adaptation by worms that the sound of a seagull on the surface should have them rushing up to investigate. My conclusion is that worms are idiots.
Isn't it more that they thinks its rain? The seagulls are mimicing that.
Yes, its more clever adaptation by seagulls than bad adaptation by worms.
Rain can suffocate worms if they stay underground, so they've evolved to respond to rain. Seagulls want to eat worms, so they've evolved to mimic the rain.
Evolution is clever. Much of it is defensive, animals learning how to defend themselves from threats, but the seagulls have taken their prey's defence (against the rain) and evolved a way to use it offensively to capture their prey. Clever!
Also seems a poor adaptation by worms that they suffocate in the rain. Particularly in England. Seems a surprise they've lasted this long. I stick to my guns: worms are idiots.
Lord Adonis appears to think not changing political leadership is a sign of strength. Glossing over French Presidential terms (how could you remove a dud?) and Germany has now swapped Merkel for Scholz, neither of whom history may judge kindly
Most British heads of govt in last half century have lasted less than 4 years & we’re about to embark on the 11th. In France & Germany not a single head of govt has lasted less than 4 yrs. Spot the country in deep democratic crisis. More in my newsletter
Oh, for goodness sake. You can argue that there have been important policy failures in France or Germany.
But we're a complete basketcase in terms of developed nations. We'll soon be moving on to our fourth PM in six years, and all three of those we've had have been absolute duds, with their terms ending under a shadow, in failure and farce. We are not, at present, a stable country with a political system that appears capable of providing a steady government developing long term, predictable policy of any kind.
We have become a joke. When I travel internationally for work people either laugh at us or shake their heads sadly at whatever the latest nonsense development is. My only response is that I am Scottish and perhaps one day we will escape the asylum.
You must travel to some very strange places. That is not my experience at all.
Flew to Romania late April and was in a car with Romanian and German employees of my client. A lot of talk about our "clown King" and our stupid Brexit deal which we now want to scrap.
The only other example of similar I can think of was being in America late summer of 1997. "Oh you're British? We're so sorry about Princess Diana" followed by endless guff about her whilst I thought "meh"
I think what is happening here is people being cautious reflectors when discussing politics with someone from another country.
If I met a pro Trump American, my language about US politics would be very different to if I met a normal American. Not 180 degrees different, but significantly so, and I feel that is the correct and polite way to talk to a stranger in a casual conversation about politics.
Similarly Brits who really dislike our politics, will get that view echoed when abroad, and Brits who dislike EU politics and think Boris a great statesman will get a very different response.
In reality most foreigners don't care much about UK politics either way.
I think I am in a good position to comment on this. Although Germans will usually avoid being very critical of the UK in front of me and also avoid offending me, I am assimilated into the culture well, and I to know what is being said around me, on other tables, in the media, the asides at work meetings etc, and I understand most of the nuances.
Most Germans really like the UK countries and Ireland. They like the cities, the countryside, the beer, the 90+ year old queen, the history and overall the British/Irish culture. But in terms of politics most people just don't get, why Britain has willingly taken itself down a rabbit hole. Voting to leave the EU wsa just the start, the type of Brexit has made life really difficult for most British businesses to export to the continent. The UK elected a prime minister, who not only "turned out" to be an unreliable joker, he was elected when everyone knew he was an unreliable joker. Most think that the UK going back on the Brexit trade agreement is a really bad idea for the UK as it will make it even harder for British businesses and politicians to get good deals in the near future. Almost everyone is supportive of the ROI point off view.
You're right that most Germans don't really care that much about what the UK does, but they do think about it at times, and when they do, they just shake their heads and think "why?"
Which just shows they don't understand Britain, and our tenacious, often annoying desire to rule ourselves
Lord Adonis appears to think not changing political leadership is a sign of strength. Glossing over French Presidential terms (how could you remove a dud?) and Germany has now swapped Merkel for Scholz, neither of whom history may judge kindly
Most British heads of govt in last half century have lasted less than 4 years & we’re about to embark on the 11th. In France & Germany not a single head of govt has lasted less than 4 yrs. Spot the country in deep democratic crisis. More in my newsletter
Oh, for goodness sake. You can argue that there have been important policy failures in France or Germany.
But we're a complete basketcase in terms of developed nations. We'll soon be moving on to our fourth PM in six years, and all three of those we've had have been absolute duds, with their terms ending under a shadow, in failure and farce. We are not, at present, a stable country with a political system that appears capable of providing a steady government developing long term, predictable policy of any kind.
We have become a joke. When I travel internationally for work people either laugh at us or shake their heads sadly at whatever the latest nonsense development is. My only response is that I am Scottish and perhaps one day we will escape the asylum.
You must travel to some very strange places. That is not my experience at all.
Flew to Romania late April and was in a car with Romanian and German employees of my client. A lot of talk about our "clown King" and our stupid Brexit deal which we now want to scrap.
The only other example of similar I can think of was being in America late summer of 1997. "Oh you're British? We're so sorry about Princess Diana" followed by endless guff about her whilst I thought "meh"
Well, weirdly enough, and speaking as the PB-er who travels more than any other, certainly in the last six months, I can report that in the last 11 weeks of constant movement, from the USA to Turkey to Greece to Germany to Georgia to Armenia to Montenegro....I have not heard a single statement like this. And I have often volunteered my nationality in conversations, as you do
It's funny that it is the dimmer, middlebrow, lefty, Britain-hating Remainers that consistently uncover these reactions, and no one else. Anyone might think they provoke them, eagerly asking opinions of "our awful prime minister" - at which point their bored interlocutors, desperate to get rid of this creepy British weirdo in sandals, tell them what they want to hear so they go away
Yup. These three Germans I had never met detected that I was a "dimmer, middlebrow, lefty, Britain-hating Remainers" and adjusted their conversation topic accordingly.
Probably, that is how conversations work after all. People pick up on clues, or get led in a direction and the conversation goes accordingly, without you even realising its happening.
That's how psychics are able to scam people, because they double down on that, but all conversations can operate on that basis.
indeed
Darren Brown uses this technique a lot. He deftly but easily steers a conversation in a certain way, towards a certain subject, because people are always keen to seek agreement, and will concur with almost anything if it keeps the mood bright
On one condition, though: that you film yourself listening to it and post that on PB.
Derren Brown is at heart a magician. Its all deceit. He says 'I don't use stooges'. Of course says that. Paul Daniels was capable of making things vanish etc.
I recall Derren using the wisdom of crowds to 'predict' the national lottery results, but he was only able to show his prediction after the event. Other magicians had many ways that they could have performed the trick.
The lottery win show was (sadly) clearly a camera trick. Probably his worst stunt, it was way too easy to work out how it was done.
The horse race betting tips show was much better, where he did the old trick of giving 10k people a different list of winners, and of course some of them came in.
Just for sh!ts and giggles, I love the video of him tossing a coin heads 10 times in a row. It’s a genuine video, and had never been done on camera before. What you’re watching is the last minute of about 10 hours of him tossing the coin continuously!
What I find amazing is that people can see what happens for these, but then somehow believe the other stunts. Its a logical fail on their part.
I saw his live show in London a few years ago, and was completely blown away by him. He’s very good at what he does. Yes, it’s all trickery and misdirection, but great entertainment.
Except that I worked out the finale within seconds of it happening. It relied on a raised box containing a prediction being visible at all times, but it disappeared behind the safety curtain for 10 minutes at the interval, at a point where enough was known to be able to switch the box.
I also saw Penn & Teller in Vegas, that was another awesome show, which finished with them shooting bullets at each other!
I went to a ball some years ago and they had a hypnotist there. He called 20 people up on stage and then did the whole you are asleep *snap fingers* they fell asleep, then had them do stuff while they were "asleep".
The most interesting thing he did was to say to them that they could see everyone in the room naked (talking a few hundred people most aged 18-30). The boys in particular just wondered around on stage, open-mouthed, gaping at the girls around them. It really didn't look false at all those boys were in heaven, according to their faces.
I'm sorely tempted to make a trip to Cornwall this weekend, just to find out what worm charming tools people bring..
And what is silver music?
We have a worm charming in our village.
A pair of wooden seagull feet drumming the surface mimics how gulls get worms to come up.
Others use mystery potions, said by some to include Lea and Perrins.....
Seems a poor adaptation by worms that the sound of a seagull on the surface should have them rushing up to investigate. My conclusion is that worms are idiots.
Isn't it more that they thinks its rain? The seagulls are mimicing that.
Yes, its more clever adaptation by seagulls than bad adaptation by worms.
Rain can suffocate worms if they stay underground, so they've evolved to respond to rain. Seagulls want to eat worms, so they've evolved to mimic the rain.
Evolution is clever. Much of it is defensive, animals learning how to defend themselves from threats, but the seagulls have taken their prey's defence (against the rain) and evolved a way to use it offensively to capture their prey. Clever!
The Earthworms who can tell the difference between heavy rain and a seagull dance have a clear Darwinian advantage.
I'm sorely tempted to make a trip to Cornwall this weekend, just to find out what worm charming tools people bring..
And what is silver music?
We have a worm charming in our village.
A pair of wooden seagull feet drumming the surface mimics how gulls get worms to come up.
Others use mystery potions, said by some to include Lea and Perrins.....
Seems a poor adaptation by worms that the sound of a seagull on the surface should have them rushing up to investigate. My conclusion is that worms are idiots.
Isn't it more that they thinks its rain? The seagulls are mimicing that.
Yes, its more clever adaptation by seagulls than bad adaptation by worms.
Rain can suffocate worms if they stay underground, so they've evolved to respond to rain. Seagulls want to eat worms, so they've evolved to mimic the rain.
Evolution is clever. Much of it is defensive, animals learning how to defend themselves from threats, but the seagulls have taken their prey's defence (against the rain) and evolved a way to use it offensively to capture their prey. Clever!
Also seems a poor adaptation by worms that they suffocate in the rain. Particularly in England. Seems a surprise they've lasted this long. I stick to my guns: worms are idiots.
You might be right; I've never seen one on University Challenge.
I think that the Labour vote remains soft. Voters are not turning to Labour rather than rejecting a toxic Conservative party. A new PM helps the Conservatives immensely and while the last few years have highlighted that many Conservative MPs (and perhaps voters) are fantasists who believe that saying things is the same as things being true, Corbyn's years showed that Labour has the same problem. That being equal, the fantasy painted by the weirdos on the right is more attractive to most than the fantasy painted by the left at the moment. Therefore picking a reasonable leader who doesn't alienate too many can very easily put the Conservatives back in government in the next election.
You might have seen this Russian ammunition dump be blown up last night by the Ukrainians, it reveals more than any other attack Ive seen about the state of the logistics war and the real problems the Russians face. We need to start with its location.
These new HIMARS MLRS are brilliant, keep them coming NATO.
LOL that the enemy put their ammo dump on the railway line right where it crosses the river.
The enemy lacks the trucks to put their ammo anywhere else?
I've said it for a long time now, logistics wins wars. If NATO can keep the munitions going into Ukraine and if the Russians can't fix their logistic issues, then the longer this war goes on the better it is for Ukraine.
Russia's best hope was a blitzkrieg that overwhelmed Ukraine, their second best hope is that NATO abandons Ukraine. If NATO stands full square behind Ukraine and if the Russian's can't stop NATO munitions reaching the front line, they are really going to struggle.
Yes, the majority of the Russian logistics operation is rail-based.
Once off the railways, their truck logistics is terrible. Unlike NATO, they don’t have trucks with cranes, all-terrain fork lifts, or containerised storage - everything is moved between vehicles by hand, which takes ages and limits the effectiveness of each vehicle.
I get a sense that the tide of the war had turned over the past couple of weeks, as the supply of offensive weapons has started to arrive. The defenders have a range advantage now, and the MLRS are more accurate than anything the enemy can get their hands on. Their own missile defences can’t take out these new weapons with any regularity, and strategic targets are being hit every night. Apart from that big boom, there was also a command post taken out last night - a dozen officers, including yet another general killed.
I'm sorely tempted to make a trip to Cornwall this weekend, just to find out what worm charming tools people bring..
And what is silver music?
We have a worm charming in our village.
A pair of wooden seagull feet drumming the surface mimics how gulls get worms to come up.
Others use mystery potions, said by some to include Lea and Perrins.....
Seems a poor adaptation by worms that the sound of a seagull on the surface should have them rushing up to investigate. My conclusion is that worms are idiots.
Isn't it more that they thinks its rain? The seagulls are mimicing that.
Yes, its more clever adaptation by seagulls than bad adaptation by worms.
Rain can suffocate worms if they stay underground, so they've evolved to respond to rain. Seagulls want to eat worms, so they've evolved to mimic the rain.
Evolution is clever. Much of it is defensive, animals learning how to defend themselves from threats, but the seagulls have taken their prey's defence (against the rain) and evolved a way to use it offensively to capture their prey. Clever!
Also seems a poor adaptation by worms that they suffocate in the rain. Particularly in England. Seems a surprise they've lasted this long. I stick to my guns: worms are idiots.
And yet they will be responsible for choosing the final two for the Tories...
I think that the Labour vote remains soft. Voters are not turning to Labour rather than rejecting a toxic Conservative party. A new PM helps the Conservatives immensely and while the last few years have highlighted that many Conservative MPs (and perhaps voters) are fantasists who believe that saying things is the same as things being true, Corbyn's years showed that Labour has the same problem. That being equal, the fantasy painted by the weirdos on the right is more attractive to most than the fantasy painted by the left at the moment. Therefore picking a reasonable leader who doesn't alienate too many can very easily put the Conservatives back in government in the next election.
Only with a majority if they hold the redwall Leave seats Boris won from Labour in 2019 or regain the Remain seats Cameron won in 2015 lost to Labour and the LDs in 2017 and 2019
I'm sorely tempted to make a trip to Cornwall this weekend, just to find out what worm charming tools people bring..
And what is silver music?
We have a worm charming in our village.
A pair of wooden seagull feet drumming the surface mimics how gulls get worms to come up.
Others use mystery potions, said by some to include Lea and Perrins.....
Seems a poor adaptation by worms that the sound of a seagull on the surface should have them rushing up to investigate. My conclusion is that worms are idiots.
Isn't it more that they thinks its rain? The seagulls are mimicing that.
Yes, its more clever adaptation by seagulls than bad adaptation by worms.
Rain can suffocate worms if they stay underground, so they've evolved to respond to rain. Seagulls want to eat worms, so they've evolved to mimic the rain.
Evolution is clever. Much of it is defensive, animals learning how to defend themselves from threats, but the seagulls have taken their prey's defence (against the rain) and evolved a way to use it offensively to capture their prey. Clever!
Also seems a poor adaptation by worms that they suffocate in the rain. Particularly in England. Seems a surprise they've lasted this long. I stick to my guns: worms are idiots.
But they survive best in temperate environments. Considering there are potentially I believe more worms living in England, than there are people living on the planet, I think they're doing OK!
As someone who is involved in campaigns I am always appalled by crass statements that come out of Government departments when an alleged wrongdoing is published. The statement is normally pointless, not focused on the issue at hand and makes matters worse. I have experienced this so many times with the campaigns I have been involved in. I am sure people like @ydoethur experiences the same when he raises issues and sees the crass replies in response.
The one from the MOD to the alleged SAS activity this morning is appalling. The response is:
'British forces served with courage and professionalism in Afghanistan'
I doubt anyone thinks that is generally untrue but what the hell has it got to do with the allegations this morning. It is crass, it is insensitive and is a reaction without any (further) investigation so also looks very defensive.
That statement is not a reply to the claims being made. By all means say it, but with a bit more added eg we are not aware..., we will investigate these appalling allegations..., etc, etc.
All looks a bit thin. the BBC's main point is the suspicious recurrence of He grabbed a grenade/He grabbed a rifle stories, but what variations on those themes do they expect if you raid armed hostiles late at night? I mean, I am sure DA would confirm the credibility of the claims if he were among us, but unless these guys were exchanging TikToks they are in the clear. Hence the defensive blocking shot from MOD is exactly what I would expect.
I have no idea if it is true or not. I hope it isn't. It might well have been fully investigated. None of that is the point. I am fed up with Govt Departments sending out crass comments. They do it all the time to everything that comes up.
I could rattle of lists.
A part of the MOD statement:
‘Two service police operations carried out extensive and independent investigations into allegations about the conduct of UK forces in Afghanistan.
‘Neither investigation found sufficient evidence to prosecute.
‘The Ministry of Defence stands open to considering any new evidence, there would be no obstruction.’
'No new evidence has been presented, but the Service Police will consider any allegations should new evidence come to light.'
So your claim that the MOD response was limited to one line praising courage and professionalism is plain wrong.
I accept that. I quoted what was quoted and it followed a trend. I apologise if that was inaccurate.
Following the many fake cases fraudulently created and pursued against members of the Armed Forces in Iraq, involving £30m of public money, and the gotcha due-process ignoring culture in the UK media, I can understand the dusty response of the MoD.
That's the Phil Shiner case. Shiner paid middlemen to find him "victims".
By the time Shiner was struck off in February 2017, the Iraq Historic Allegations Team "had fewer than 250 active investigations". About a week later Britain's Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced that Ihat would soon be shut down, largely due to the exposing of Shiner's "dishonesty".
When welcoming the decision to strike him off, the chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Paul Philip, stated:
His misconduct has caused real distress to soldiers, their families and to the families of Iraqi people who thought that their loved ones had been murdered or tortured. More than £30m of public funds were spent on investigating what proved to be false and dishonest allegations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Shiner#Misconduct_findings
(I had not noticed that this was another case where Baroness Chakrabati embarrassment herself.)
I'll be watching whether the BBC manages to stand up this story.
As someone who is involved in campaigns I am always appalled by crass statements that come out of Government departments when an alleged wrongdoing is published. The statement is normally pointless, not focused on the issue at hand and makes matters worse. I have experienced this so many times with the campaigns I have been involved in. I am sure people like @ydoethur experiences the same when he raises issues and sees the crass replies in response.
The one from the MOD to the alleged SAS activity this morning is appalling. The response is:
'British forces served with courage and professionalism in Afghanistan'
I doubt anyone thinks that is generally untrue but what the hell has it got to do with the allegations this morning. It is crass, it is insensitive and is a reaction without any (further) investigation so also looks very defensive.
That statement is not a reply to the claims being made. By all means say it, but with a bit more added eg we are not aware..., we will investigate these appalling allegations..., etc, etc.
All looks a bit thin. the BBC's main point is the suspicious recurrence of He grabbed a grenade/He grabbed a rifle stories, but what variations on those themes do they expect if you raid armed hostiles late at night? I mean, I am sure DA would confirm the credibility of the claims if he were among us, but unless these guys were exchanging TikToks they are in the clear. Hence the defensive blocking shot from MOD is exactly what I would expect.
I have no idea if it is true or not. I hope it isn't. It might well have been fully investigated. None of that is the point. I am fed up with Govt Departments sending out crass comments. They do it all the time to everything that comes up.
I could rattle of lists.
A part of the MOD statement:
‘Two service police operations carried out extensive and independent investigations into allegations about the conduct of UK forces in Afghanistan.
‘Neither investigation found sufficient evidence to prosecute.
‘The Ministry of Defence stands open to considering any new evidence, there would be no obstruction.’
'No new evidence has been presented, but the Service Police will consider any allegations should new evidence come to light.'
So your claim that the MOD response was limited to one line praising courage and professionalism is plain wrong.
I accept that. I quoted what was quoted and it followed a trend. I apologise if that was inaccurate.
Following the many fake cases fraudulently created and pursued against members of the Armed Forces in Iraq, involving £30m of public money, and the gotcha due-process ignoring culture in the UK media, I can understand the dusty response of the MoD...
Dead folk can't sue.
The Shiner cases were a disgrace, but the BBC investigation at the very least deserves consideration. The fact that it's not individuals looking for compensation, but rather what appears to be evidence of systemic failings makes it rather different from the fraudulent court cases.
I think that the Labour vote remains soft. Voters are not turning to Labour rather than rejecting a toxic Conservative party. A new PM helps the Conservatives immensely and while the last few years have highlighted that many Conservative MPs (and perhaps voters) are fantasists who believe that saying things is the same as things being true, Corbyn's years showed that Labour has the same problem. That being equal, the fantasy painted by the weirdos on the right is more attractive to most than the fantasy painted by the left at the moment. Therefore picking a reasonable leader who doesn't alienate too many can very easily put the Conservatives back in government in the next election.
There are I think going to be 2 significant factors at play at the next GE:
1. Has the new PM righted the ship and returned to somewhat less chaotic governance? 2. How is the economy doing? Are we through the inflation crisis/recession and into smoother waters.
If the answer to both is yes, then it gives the new PM the chance to say that they are not Boris, they are able to govern competently, and they have sorted the cost of living crisis (obviously on the latter there will be global factors at play but when did that ever stop any UK PM for taking credit).
I think the Tories could eke out a small majority on that platform, with the right leader, a fair wind and the right messaging to the country.
If the answer to either is no, then I can’t see them regaining their majority, though stranger things have happened.
GE2024 is wide open IMHO. Advantage Labour right now, but still a ways to go.
I've learnt far more about worm charming than I expected to when I posted that picture earlier!
In Florida it seems to be called worm grunting (or gruntin'), and their method is rather louder - they hammer wooden stakes in the ground and then rasp them
It's also known in some parts as worm fiddling. I gather one Mr Pincher is a keen participant, always eager to show off his worm fiddling kit.
Lord Adonis appears to think not changing political leadership is a sign of strength. Glossing over French Presidential terms (how could you remove a dud?) and Germany has now swapped Merkel for Scholz, neither of whom history may judge kindly
Most British heads of govt in last half century have lasted less than 4 years & we’re about to embark on the 11th. In France & Germany not a single head of govt has lasted less than 4 yrs. Spot the country in deep democratic crisis. More in my newsletter
Oh, for goodness sake. You can argue that there have been important policy failures in France or Germany.
But we're a complete basketcase in terms of developed nations. We'll soon be moving on to our fourth PM in six years, and all three of those we've had have been absolute duds, with their terms ending under a shadow, in failure and farce. We are not, at present, a stable country with a political system that appears capable of providing a steady government developing long term, predictable policy of any kind.
We have become a joke. When I travel internationally for work people either laugh at us or shake their heads sadly at whatever the latest nonsense development is. My only response is that I am Scottish and perhaps one day we will escape the asylum.
You must travel to some very strange places. That is not my experience at all.
Flew to Romania late April and was in a car with Romanian and German employees of my client. A lot of talk about our "clown King" and our stupid Brexit deal which we now want to scrap.
The only other example of similar I can think of was being in America late summer of 1997. "Oh you're British? We're so sorry about Princess Diana" followed by endless guff about her whilst I thought "meh"
I think what is happening here is people being cautious reflectors when discussing politics with someone from another country.
If I met a pro Trump American, my language about US politics would be very different to if I met a normal American. Not 180 degrees different, but significantly so, and I feel that is the correct and polite way to talk to a stranger in a casual conversation about politics.
Similarly Brits who really dislike our politics, will get that view echoed when abroad, and Brits who dislike EU politics and think Boris a great statesman will get a very different response.
In reality most foreigners don't care much about UK politics either way.
I think I am in a good position to comment on this. Although Germans will usually avoid being very critical of the UK in front of me and also avoid offending me, I am assimilated into the culture well, and I to know what is being said around me, on other tables, in the media, the asides at work meetings etc, and I understand most of the nuances.
Most Germans really like the UK countries and Ireland. They like the cities, the countryside, the beer, the 90+ year old queen, the history and overall the British/Irish culture. But in terms of politics most people just don't get, why Britain has willingly taken itself down a rabbit hole. Voting to leave the EU wsa just the start, the type of Brexit has made life really difficult for most British businesses to export to the continent. The UK elected a prime minister, who not only "turned out" to be an unreliable joker, he was elected when everyone knew he was an unreliable joker. Most think that the UK going back on the Brexit trade agreement is a really bad idea for the UK as it will make it even harder for British businesses and politicians to get good deals in the near future. Almost everyone is supportive of the ROI point off view.
You're right that most Germans don't really care that much about what the UK does, but they do think about it at times, and when they do, they just shake their heads and think "why?"
I was talking to a very well informed German commentator on European politics about this yesterday and it chimes absolutely with what they said. Boris Johnson in particular is just a mystery to Germans, they said. And Germans tend to be Anglophiles, at least the English speaking ones in senior business and policy jobs that I speak to.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 18m Becoming increasingly apparent that if the Tory right want to stop Rishi, they're going to have to unite behind Liz Truss.
Fairly weird that Rishi is no longer seen as being on the right. Presumably, simply because he is more competent than the right are used to!
He was the "right wing" Chancellor who massively increased public spending beyond the dreams of Corbyn and then put up taxes to at least pay the interest on the borrowing. I think that his policies worked surprisingly well, especially furlough. Others, such as EOTHO were interesting ideas with some negative side effects. Others, such as bounce back loans, were way too open to fraud. But overall he kept the economy in a recognisable shape despite lockdowns and restrictions which was a remarkable achievement.
His reality check is that having done that we have to pay that money back. This is going to take quite a lot of our tax revenue for a long time. Others want to pretend that the response to Covid was some sort of free lunch which we can ignore the consequences of. In this respect these tax cutters are every bit as dishonest as those from Labour who continue to claim that the solution to everything is yet more government spending.
If I had a vote in this he would get it for his limited candour.
I think that the Labour vote remains soft. Voters are not turning to Labour rather than rejecting a toxic Conservative party. A new PM helps the Conservatives immensely and while the last few years have highlighted that many Conservative MPs (and perhaps voters) are fantasists who believe that saying things is the same as things being true, Corbyn's years showed that Labour has the same problem. That being equal, the fantasy painted by the weirdos on the right is more attractive to most than the fantasy painted by the left at the moment. Therefore picking a reasonable leader who doesn't alienate too many can very easily put the Conservatives back in government in the next election.
Welcome! I agree with your broad thrust - the right leader and the election is winnable. I think the Tories problem is that their definition of "the right leader" and the wider electorate's definition are very different.
I have made the case for a year why Sunak could win. I don't remotely think the same would be true with Truss. And if they end up with a mentalist like Braverman then it could be a thumping anti-Tory win.
I think that the Labour vote remains soft. Voters are not turning to Labour rather than rejecting a toxic Conservative party. A new PM helps the Conservatives immensely and while the last few years have highlighted that many Conservative MPs (and perhaps voters) are fantasists who believe that saying things is the same as things being true, Corbyn's years showed that Labour has the same problem. That being equal, the fantasy painted by the weirdos on the right is more attractive to most than the fantasy painted by the left at the moment. Therefore picking a reasonable leader who doesn't alienate too many can very easily put the Conservatives back in government in the next election.
As someone who is involved in campaigns I am always appalled by crass statements that come out of Government departments when an alleged wrongdoing is published. The statement is normally pointless, not focused on the issue at hand and makes matters worse. I have experienced this so many times with the campaigns I have been involved in. I am sure people like @ydoethur experiences the same when he raises issues and sees the crass replies in response.
The one from the MOD to the alleged SAS activity this morning is appalling. The response is:
'British forces served with courage and professionalism in Afghanistan'
I doubt anyone thinks that is generally untrue but what the hell has it got to do with the allegations this morning. It is crass, it is insensitive and is a reaction without any (further) investigation so also looks very defensive.
That statement is not a reply to the claims being made. By all means say it, but with a bit more added eg we are not aware..., we will investigate these appalling allegations..., etc, etc.
All looks a bit thin. the BBC's main point is the suspicious recurrence of He grabbed a grenade/He grabbed a rifle stories, but what variations on those themes do they expect if you raid armed hostiles late at night? I mean, I am sure DA would confirm the credibility of the claims if he were among us, but unless these guys were exchanging TikToks they are in the clear. Hence the defensive blocking shot from MOD is exactly what I would expect.
I have no idea if it is true or not. I hope it isn't. It might well have been fully investigated. None of that is the point. I am fed up with Govt Departments sending out crass comments. They do it all the time to everything that comes up.
I could rattle of lists.
A part of the MOD statement:
‘Two service police operations carried out extensive and independent investigations into allegations about the conduct of UK forces in Afghanistan.
‘Neither investigation found sufficient evidence to prosecute.
‘The Ministry of Defence stands open to considering any new evidence, there would be no obstruction.’
'No new evidence has been presented, but the Service Police will consider any allegations should new evidence come to light.'
So your claim that the MOD response was limited to one line praising courage and professionalism is plain wrong.
I accept that. I quoted what was quoted and it followed a trend. I apologise if that was inaccurate.
Following the many fake cases fraudulently created and pursued against members of the Armed Forces in Iraq, involving £30m of public money, and the gotcha due-process ignoring culture in the UK media, I can understand the dusty response of the MoD.
That's the Phil Shiner case. Shiner paid middlemen to find him "victims".
By the time Shiner was struck off in February 2017, the Iraq Historic Allegations Team "had fewer than 250 active investigations". About a week later Britain's Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced that Ihat would soon be shut down, largely due to the exposing of Shiner's "dishonesty".
When welcoming the decision to strike him off, the chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Paul Philip, stated:
His misconduct has caused real distress to soldiers, their families and to the families of Iraqi people who thought that their loved ones had been murdered or tortured. More than £30m of public funds were spent on investigating what proved to be false and dishonest allegations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Shiner#Misconduct_findings
(I had not noticed that this was another case where Baroness Chakrabati embarrassment herself.)
I'll be watching whether the BBC manages to stand up this story.
Former human rights lawyer Phil Shiner has been charged with fraud over claims made against soldiers fighting in Iraq, the National Crime Agency (NCA) announced today.
The 65-year-old, whose firm Public Interest Lawyers brought cases against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on behalf of Iraqi civilians, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
An NCA spokesperson said Shiner, from Birmingham, faces charges ‘in respect of fraud offences relating to legal aid claims made in 2007 and information provided to the Solicitors Regulation Authority in 2015’
FFS. I'm in the office (which you may recall is an old Bank which is in the same building we live in). There is an upstairs storeroom which has had activity in it. The door from the kitchen up the stairs into it has slammed itself shut a couple of times.
After the last time it did so I had one of our Ring cameras in there. No activity so I moved it back to where it should have been. So no camera in there at the moment. And of course its just sodding slammed shut again.
And before anyone says "wind". There isn't any today. And although the rear door is open it is two rooms and a pair of 90 degree turns away and past several other doors which haven't just slammed.
I've learnt far more about worm charming than I expected to when I posted that picture earlier!
In Florida it seems to be called worm grunting (or gruntin'), and their method is rather louder - they hammer wooden stakes in the ground and then rasp them
It's also known in some parts as worm fiddling. I gather one Mr Pincher is a keen participant, always eager to show off his worm fiddling kit.
I likewise have learned *google* that worms, not having lungs, can survive for several weeks underwater but would drown beyond that.
Tory MPs will do well to select @KemiBadenoch as the next Conservative leader. She gets the urgency & importance of standing firm on women & girls' sex-based rights & is thoroughly impressive. She is the Tories best hope of securing a victory over Labour at the next GE.
Did you catch the comments of Ian King, Sky News City edition earlier. Talking about tax cuts, "I've never heard so much rubbish coming from so many mouths". Says it all really does it not. What has the Conservative Party come to?
I think that the Labour vote remains soft. Voters are not turning to Labour rather than rejecting a toxic Conservative party. A new PM helps the Conservatives immensely and while the last few years have highlighted that many Conservative MPs (and perhaps voters) are fantasists who believe that saying things is the same as things being true, Corbyn's years showed that Labour has the same problem. That being equal, the fantasy painted by the weirdos on the right is more attractive to most than the fantasy painted by the left at the moment. Therefore picking a reasonable leader who doesn't alienate too many can very easily put the Conservatives back in government in the next election.
Wilkommen. Just remember that everything @roger says is completely wrong (unless he's talking about movies) and then you'll be fine
I think I am in a good position to comment on this. Although Germans will usually avoid being very critical of the UK in front of me and also avoid offending me, I am assimilated into the culture well, and I to know what is being said around me, on other tables, in the media, the asides at work meetings etc, and I understand most of the nuances.
Most Germans really like the UK countries and Ireland. They like the cities, the countryside, the beer, the 90+ year old queen, the history and overall the British/Irish culture. But in terms of politics most people just don't get, why Britain has willingly taken itself down a rabbit hole. Voting to leave the EU wsa just the start, the type of Brexit has made life really difficult for most British businesses to export to the continent. The UK elected a prime minister, who not only "turned out" to be an unreliable joker, he was elected when everyone knew he was an unreliable joker. Most think that the UK going back on the Brexit trade agreement is a really bad idea for the UK as it will make it even harder for British businesses and politicians to get good deals in the near future. Almost everyone is supportive of the ROI point off view.
You're right that most Germans don't really care that much about what the UK does, but they do think about it at times, and when they do, they just shake their heads and think "why?"
Which just shows they don't understand Britain, and our tenacious, often annoying desire to rule ourselves
No, understanding the wish to be independent decision-makers and shaking heads over the decisions we take are two different things, and perfectly compatible.
To take a more extreme example, I don't suppose any of us dispute the right of Sri Lanka to elect whoever they choose. But at the same time, we can be astonished that they elected a government whose policies have plunged the entire country into crisis.
After all, current polling suggests that most British people (not including your good self) regret both the big decisions that they took in recent years - Brexit and electing Boris Johnson. It's not a surprise that Germans feel the same.
But that's all the past. What is a matter of concern is that we (via our elected majority) seem about to choose a PM with equally wacky disregard for the facts of the situation. The best hope is that they do understand the position but have decided they need to lie about it.
Off thread, but do other posters have a view on this proposed tower in Manchester:
You will not be surprised to learn that Amir Khan is involved.
To my surprise, despite trying, I don't hate it. (I hope I'm not unduly influenced in this by the fact that Sam Wheeler, the Momentum largely anti-development councillor for this part of the city centre, does hate it.) I think the higher the building, the more reflective it needs to be, particularly in a city where sunshine isn't a given, and it will at least be shiny.
Lord Adonis appears to think not changing political leadership is a sign of strength. Glossing over French Presidential terms (how could you remove a dud?) and Germany has now swapped Merkel for Scholz, neither of whom history may judge kindly
Most British heads of govt in last half century have lasted less than 4 years & we’re about to embark on the 11th. In France & Germany not a single head of govt has lasted less than 4 yrs. Spot the country in deep democratic crisis. More in my newsletter
Oh, for goodness sake. You can argue that there have been important policy failures in France or Germany.
But we're a complete basketcase in terms of developed nations. We'll soon be moving on to our fourth PM in six years, and all three of those we've had have been absolute duds, with their terms ending under a shadow, in failure and farce. We are not, at present, a stable country with a political system that appears capable of providing a steady government developing long term, predictable policy of any kind.
We have become a joke. When I travel internationally for work people either laugh at us or shake their heads sadly at whatever the latest nonsense development is. My only response is that I am Scottish and perhaps one day we will escape the asylum.
You must travel to some very strange places. That is not my experience at all.
Flew to Romania late April and was in a car with Romanian and German employees of my client. A lot of talk about our "clown King" and our stupid Brexit deal which we now want to scrap.
The only other example of similar I can think of was being in America late summer of 1997. "Oh you're British? We're so sorry about Princess Diana" followed by endless guff about her whilst I thought "meh"
Well, weirdly enough, and speaking as the PB-er who travels more than any other, certainly in the last six months, I can report that in the last 11 weeks of constant movement, from the USA to Turkey to Greece to Germany to Georgia to Armenia to Montenegro....I have not heard a single statement like this. And I have often volunteered my nationality in conversations, as you do
It's funny that it is the dimmer, middlebrow, lefty, Britain-hating Remainers that consistently uncover these reactions, and no one else. Anyone might think they provoke them, eagerly asking opinions of "our awful prime minister" - at which point their bored interlocutors, desperate to get rid of this creepy British weirdo in sandals, tell them what they want to hear so they go away
Yup. These three Germans I had never met detected that I was a "dimmer, middlebrow, lefty, Britain-hating Remainers" and adjusted their conversation topic accordingly.
Probably, that is how conversations work after all. People pick up on clues, or get led in a direction and the conversation goes accordingly, without you even realising its happening.
That's how psychics are able to scam people, because they double down on that, but all conversations can operate on that basis.
indeed
Darren Brown uses this technique a lot. He deftly but easily steers a conversation in a certain way, towards a certain subject, because people are always keen to seek agreement, and will concur with almost anything if it keeps the mood bright
On one condition, though: that you film yourself listening to it and post that on PB.
Derren Brown is at heart a magician. Its all deceit. He says 'I don't use stooges'. Of course says that. Paul Daniels was capable of making things vanish etc.
I recall Derren using the wisdom of crowds to 'predict' the national lottery results, but he was only able to show his prediction after the event. Other magicians had many ways that they could have performed the trick.
The lottery win show was (sadly) clearly a camera trick. Probably his worst stunt, it was way too easy to work out how it was done.
The horse race betting tips show was much better, where he did the old trick of giving 10k people a different list of winners, and of course some of them came in.
Just for sh!ts and giggles, I love the video of him tossing a coin heads 10 times in a row. It’s a genuine video, and had never been done on camera before. What you’re watching is the last minute of about 10 hours of him tossing the coin continuously!
What I find amazing is that people can see what happens for these, but then somehow believe the other stunts. Its a logical fail on their part.
I'm pretty sure some of the mentalist tricks where he makes people say what he wants, via suggestion, are for real
He mixes these up with more traditional (but inventive) stage magic. Is my understanding?
I'm not at all convinced that its not 100% stage magic,
Kemi Badenoch would be the youngest PM since Lord Liverpool. She’ll be 42 years and 243 days old on 5 September, about 11 months younger than David Cameron in 2010. Lord Liverpool was 42 years and one day old when he became PM in 1812.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
FFS. I'm in the office (which you may recall is an old Bank which is in the same building we live in). There is an upstairs storeroom which has had activity in it. The door from the kitchen up the stairs into it has slammed itself shut a couple of times.
After the last time it did so I had one of our Ring cameras in there. No activity so I moved it back to where it should have been. So no camera in there at the moment. And of course its just sodding slammed shut again.
And before anyone says "wind". There isn't any today. And although the rear door is open it is two rooms and a pair of 90 degree turns away and past several other doors which haven't just slammed.
"Bewilderment I have weirdly stacked your chairs Phenomenon Some plates are flying everywhere Precipitate A feeling of unease Consternate Through the scariness of trees..."
BREAKING: The Euro has fallen to parity with the US Dollar
Why? We aren't exactly doing well either. Looks like the strength of the dollar more than it is the respective weaknesses of both Pound and Euro.
Yes, it’s mostly dollar strength off the back of the Fed’s aggressive rate rises, alongside the usual flight to the dollar in times of global uncertainty.
Pound is up about 3% against the Euro in the past month, but also down against the dollar.
Bitcoin is back below $20k, after a minor rally over the past week.
Did you catch the comments of Ian King, Sky News City edition earlier. Talking about tax cuts, "I've never heard so much rubbish coming from so many mouths". Says it all really does it not. What has the Conservative Party come to?
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
As was saying he might vote Leave now. Any Leaver to whom that is vital is spoiled for choice. Any Remainer who regards that, privately, as important, (there are perhaps still a few). Well. That was one of his few distinguishing features.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
Off thread, but do other posters have a view on this proposed tower in Manchester:
You will not be surprised to learn that Amir Khan is involved.
To my surprise, despite trying, I don't hate it. (I hope I'm not unduly influenced in this by the fact that Sam Wheeler, the Momentum largely anti-development councillor for this part of the city centre, does hate it.) I think the higher the building, the more reflective it needs to be, particularly in a city where sunshine isn't a given, and it will at least be shiny.
I've learnt far more about worm charming than I expected to when I posted that picture earlier!
In Florida it seems to be called worm grunting (or gruntin'), and their method is rather louder - they hammer wooden stakes in the ground and then rasp them
It's also known in some parts as worm fiddling. I gather one Mr Pincher is a keen participant, always eager to show off his worm fiddling kit.
I likewise have learned *google* that worms, not having lungs, can survive for several weeks underwater but would drown beyond that.
Every day a school day on PB.
They were discussing this vital topic on More or Less on R4 last week - their worm expert (not Michael Gove) said that the vibrations make worms think there is a mole nearby so they move to the surface as Moles don’t tend to hunt on the surface.
Boris' reign will seem like halycon days with the absolute disaster thats about to hit UK families this winter. None of the candidates have the answers, I don't either. However it's sliced 2023 is going to be horrendous.
BREAKING: The Euro has fallen to parity with the US Dollar
Why? We aren't exactly doing well either. Looks like the strength of the dollar more than it is the respective weaknesses of both Pound and Euro.
I am slightly surprised that there is not more angst and upset in the Bundesbank about this. They built the strongest and largest economy in Europe with a strong deutschmark driving down inflation and forcing firms to invest constantly to improve productivity. A weak currency must be anathema to them.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
Two completely different things. I'm not surprised that a small brain populist like you would be in favour of banning hunting, and I suspect if you had been around in Thatcher's time you would have been an enthusiastic supporter of the former.
How are you feeling btw? You must have run out of kleenex since your idol (the worst PM of all time whom you apologised for in day in day out) was rightly forced out of office
One thing is interesting, whatever happens, its highly unlikely the next tory leader will be a white man.
Indeed, it seems from an "intersectional" basis that the least "progressive" next Tory Prime Minister is if it is a white woman, as that will be their third.
What will be amusing though is many of the same people who would bang on about "intersectionality" etc will insist that Sunak is too privileged to be PM. Funny how that works, when its your political opponent that is the "privileged" one.
Anyone looking at the Uber leaked messages stuff - of moderate interest is who helped them. And who didn't. Boris Johnson (then Mayor of London) refused to meet them - because he thought they were reputation ally toxic ("like ISS" is a quote, apparently).
I think that the way people change as they age is underestimated as a political factor.
Euro was $1.00016 a couple of minutes ago. Today might be the day it breaks through parity.
It’s got quite a bit further to fall too, if as expected the Fed raises rates and the ECB doesn’t.
Yes, Sterling is struggling too because we are paying the price of the MPC of the Bank being so painfully behind the curve on interest rate increases in the face of such high inflation.
Mr. Pulpstar, I agree on the first part (off-chance Hunt makes the first round?) but where their supporters go may be trickier to guess.
More will head to Sunak than Mordaunt would like I think. Of the 3 front runners I think she's in the weakest position once we're into the contest proper.
Harry Cole @MrHarryCole · 6m Rival camps say Shapps about to pull out and back Sunak.
It'll get her some numbers of MPs, but also paint a target on her back.
I remember speaking out against the candidacy of Chukka Umunna because he would have been continuity Brown. Not only was I wrong with that analysis, I later backed him (after his withdrawal from the contest, then from Labour and CHUK).
Truss will work very hard I imagine to not get branded continuity Boris. Despite the endorsement of amoral chancers like GoNads...
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
Two completely different things. I'm not surprised that a small brain populist like you would be in favour of banning hunting, and I suspect if you had been around in Thatcher's time you would have been an enthusiastic supporter of the former.
How are you feeling btw? You must have run out of kleenex since your idol (the worst PM of all time whom you apologised for in day in day out) was rightly forced out of office
I'm feeling good, I have wanted Boris out for nearly a year now, so I'm getting what I wanted.
It seems that hopefully I'm in a win/win position for the leadership race.
On the one hand if Sunak wins, then I'll get my 250/1 tip coming in - I hope you listened to my tip when I made that.
On the other hand if he doesn't win, if Truss does we'll get the person I think is the best possible next PM.
Either way, pretty much so long as it isn't Shapps or Patel I'll be reasonably happy.
BREAKING: The Euro has fallen to parity with the US Dollar
Why? We aren't exactly doing well either. Looks like the strength of the dollar more than it is the respective weaknesses of both Pound and Euro.
I am slightly surprised that there is not more angst and upset in the Bundesbank about this. They built the strongest and largest economy in Europe with a strong deutschmark driving down inflation and forcing firms to invest constantly to improve productivity. A weak currency must be anathema to them.
On the other hand, quite the competitive advantage to exporters, particularly with a recession looming.
Off thread, but do other posters have a view on this proposed tower in Manchester:
You will not be surprised to learn that Amir Khan is involved.
To my surprise, despite trying, I don't hate it. (I hope I'm not unduly influenced in this by the fact that Sam Wheeler, the Momentum largely anti-development councillor for this part of the city centre, does hate it.) I think the higher the building, the more reflective it needs to be, particularly in a city where sunshine isn't a given, and it will at least be shiny.
Sunak has a load of nominations he could "lend". Even more if the Shapps news is true. There are a small handful of candidates who are struggling to scrape the numbers. Does a small or large field help him?
Mr. Pulpstar, I agree on the first part (off-chance Hunt makes the first round?) but where their supporters go may be trickier to guess.
More will head to Sunak than Mordaunt would like I think. Of the 3 front runners I think she's in the weakest position once we're into the contest proper.
Harry Cole @MrHarryCole · 6m Rival camps say Shapps about to pull out and back Sunak.
Start of the Penny squeeze I think.
I think Mordaunt will do the best at the 1922 hustings tommorow. She is adept at tickling that blue erogenous zone.
BREAKING: The Euro has fallen to parity with the US Dollar
Why? We aren't exactly doing well either. Looks like the strength of the dollar more than it is the respective weaknesses of both Pound and Euro.
I am slightly surprised that there is not more angst and upset in the Bundesbank about this. They built the strongest and largest economy in Europe with a strong deutschmark driving down inflation and forcing firms to invest constantly to improve productivity. A weak currency must be anathema to them.
On the other hand, quite the competitive advantage to exporters, particularly with a recession looming.
On the other other hand, a weak currency is exactly what you don't want in an energy crisis, when the whole world - especially Germany - will be out to buy gas and oil, priced in US dollars
Sunak has a load of nominations he could "lend". Even more if the Shapps news is true. There are a small handful of candidates who are struggling to scrape the numbers. Does a small or large field help him?
I think "lending" votes is a terrible idea, trying to be too clever by half.
Build a stonking lead and that can be self-reinforcing. Wavering MPs who want preferment can go to the leader, while many members if there's a clear victor amongst MPs will respect what the MPs chose and go with that.
The only time the members have ever gone against the MPs, is when the MPs themselves didn't choose a clear victor.
Penny seems like such a sensible choice for the Tories I cannot believe they would pick her. She seems pleasant, and sane. That said, she is probably too woke for the rump when it comes down to it.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
Two completely different things. I'm not surprised that a small brain populist like you would be in favour of banning hunting, and I suspect if you had been around in Thatcher's time you would have been an enthusiastic supporter of the former.
How are you feeling btw? You must have run out of kleenex since your idol (the worst PM of all time whom you apologised for in day in day out) was rightly forced out of office
I'm feeling good, I have wanted Boris out for nearly a year now, so I'm getting what I wanted.
It seems that hopefully I'm in a win/win position for the leadership race.
On the one hand if Sunak wins, then I'll get my 250/1 tip coming in - I hope you listened to my tip when I made that.
On the other hand if he doesn't win, if Truss does we'll get the person I think is the best possible next PM.
Either way, pretty much so long as it isn't Shapps or Patel I'll be reasonably happy.
Is that first crow I hear crowing, second or the third?
You didn't really want your beloved "Boris" out. You loved him, even more so that HYUFD and Leon. Your protestations and falling in behind "the herd" are incredible in the real sense of the word.
If there were a leadership race for Bozo Apologist, you would beat HYUFD by a mile. Your protestations to the contrary are as believable as, well, Boris Johnson himself lol.
Mr. Pulpstar, I agree on the first part (off-chance Hunt makes the first round?) but where their supporters go may be trickier to guess.
More will head to Sunak than Mordaunt would like I think. Of the 3 front runners I think she's in the weakest position once we're into the contest proper.
Harry Cole @MrHarryCole · 6m Rival camps say Shapps about to pull out and back Sunak.
Start of the Penny squeeze I think.
I think Mordaunt will do the best at the 1922 hustings tommorow. She is adept at tickling that blue erogenous zone.
Oh she's far from out of it - unlike Shapps and I think *The Saj* but she doesn't deserve her price.
BREAKING: The Euro has fallen to parity with the US Dollar
Why? We aren't exactly doing well either. Looks like the strength of the dollar more than it is the respective weaknesses of both Pound and Euro.
I am slightly surprised that there is not more angst and upset in the Bundesbank about this. They built the strongest and largest economy in Europe with a strong deutschmark driving down inflation and forcing firms to invest constantly to improve productivity. A weak currency must be anathema to them.
On the other hand, quite the competitive advantage to exporters, particularly with a recession looming.
On the other other hand, a weak currency is exactly what you don't want in an energy crisis, when the whole world - especially Germany - will be out to buy gas and oil, priced in US dollars
BREAKING: The Euro has fallen to parity with the US Dollar
Why? We aren't exactly doing well either. Looks like the strength of the dollar more than it is the respective weaknesses of both Pound and Euro.
I am slightly surprised that there is not more angst and upset in the Bundesbank about this. They built the strongest and largest economy in Europe with a strong deutschmark driving down inflation and forcing firms to invest constantly to improve productivity. A weak currency must be anathema to them.
On the other hand, quite the competitive advantage to exporters, particularly with a recession looming.
That's not the way that the Germans have ever looked at in the past. And their track record is seriously impressive, even if they are struggling a bit right now. The tensions within the ECB between them and the Italians (who did well with exactly the opposite policy for the Lire) must be acute. So far the Italian side of the argument seems to be winning.
Euro was $1.00016 a couple of minutes ago. Today might be the day it breaks through parity.
It’s got quite a bit further to fall too, if as expected the Fed raises rates and the ECB doesn’t.
Yes, Sterling is struggling too because we are paying the price of the MPC of the Bank being so painfully behind the curve on interest rate increases in the face of such high inflation.
Alternatively, the dollar is strong as the US is less susceptible to inflationary energy prices.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
A little old lady round the corner feeds the foxes in her garden.
Not long ago, she was distraught - according to her, some evil people must have thrown a dog over the fence, where it tore her cat to bits and then somehow got the dog back....
Its not just the 20mph, its the blanket nature of the policy. Absolutely no need for it to be 20mph at 3am...the argument about runners or kids, there isn't any at that time.
The US system of having 30mph, then at certain times e.g. school times, its 20mph seems a perfectly sensible comprise.
Out of interest the much sighted 30mph kills kids / 20 mph saves them, how many kids are killed as pedestrians on the road each year? I have no idea.
Sunak has a load of nominations he could "lend". Even more if the Shapps news is true. There are a small handful of candidates who are struggling to scrape the numbers. Does a small or large field help him?
I think "lending" votes is a terrible idea, trying to be too clever by half.
Build a stonking lead and that can be self-reinforcing. Wavering MPs who want preferment can go to the leader, while many members if there's a clear victor amongst MPs will respect what the MPs chose and go with that.
The only time the members have ever gone against the MPs, is when the MPs themselves didn't choose a clear victor.
That is one view. On the other hand, the larger the field, the clearer the first round victory, surely?
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
Two completely different things. I'm not surprised that a small brain populist like you would be in favour of banning hunting, and I suspect if you had been around in Thatcher's time you would have been an enthusiastic supporter of the former.
How are you feeling btw? You must have run out of kleenex since your idol (the worst PM of all time whom you apologised for in day in day out) was rightly forced out of office
I'm feeling good, I have wanted Boris out for nearly a year now, so I'm getting what I wanted.
It seems that hopefully I'm in a win/win position for the leadership race.
On the one hand if Sunak wins, then I'll get my 250/1 tip coming in - I hope you listened to my tip when I made that.
On the other hand if he doesn't win, if Truss does we'll get the person I think is the best possible next PM.
Either way, pretty much so long as it isn't Shapps or Patel I'll be reasonably happy.
Is that first crow I hear crowing, second or the third?
You didn't really want your beloved "Boris" out. You loved him, even more so that HYUFD and Leon. Your protestations and falling in behind "the herd" are incredible in the real sense of the word.
If there were a leadership race for Bozo Apologist, you would beat HYUFD by a mile. Your protestations to the contrary are as believable as, well, Boris Johnson himself lol.
I did like Boris when he was standing for what I believed in.
When he broke the manifesto on something I passionately believe in, I turned against him, and I've not equivocated from that point from then on. That was nearly a year ago.
For as long as Boris matched my believes, I was willing to back him. Once he went against them, I wasn't anymore. It was never Boris I believed in, I have always believed in my own beliefs and Boris was matching them until he raised NI (against his prior pledge not to) which was a dealbreaker for me.
Euro was $1.00016 a couple of minutes ago. Today might be the day it breaks through parity.
It’s got quite a bit further to fall too, if as expected the Fed raises rates and the ECB doesn’t.
Yes, Sterling is struggling too because we are paying the price of the MPC of the Bank being so painfully behind the curve on interest rate increases in the face of such high inflation.
Alternatively, the dollar is strong as the US is less susceptible to inflationary energy prices.
I feel a bit sorry for Jeremy Hunt. He’s nowhere near the bogeyman the membership seem to think he is, but his time appears to have gone.
Supporting fox hunting and appointing Esther McVey as deputy PM were bizarre
Supporting fox hunting used to be Conservative mainstream. Should he have lied about it to please people that know fuck all about the countryside and think little foixywoxies are ever so cuddly?
Supporting Section 28 used to be the Conservative mainstream too.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
A little old lady round the corner feeds the foxes in her garden.
Not long ago, she was distraught - according to her, some evil people must have thrown a dog over the fence, where it tore her cat to bits and then somehow got the dog back....
Comments
Tugendhat also beats Hunt 42% to 23%
https://conservativehome.com/2022/07/12/next-tory-leader-run-offs-twelfth-jeremy-hunt/
I stick to my guns: worms are idiots.
He will make sure his Government continues to deliver for places like Newcastle.
#ACleanStart #TT4PM
https://twitter.com/AaronBell4NUL/status/1546781970243395584
The most interesting thing he did was to say to them that they could see everyone in the room naked (talking a few hundred people most aged 18-30). The boys in particular just wondered around on stage, open-mouthed, gaping at the girls around them. It really didn't look false at all those boys were in heaven, according to their faces.
It's amazing the power of suggestion.
Once off the railways, their truck logistics is terrible. Unlike NATO, they don’t have trucks with cranes, all-terrain fork lifts, or containerised storage - everything is moved between vehicles by hand, which takes ages and limits the effectiveness of each vehicle.
I get a sense that the tide of the war had turned over the past couple of weeks, as the supply of offensive weapons has started to arrive. The defenders have a range advantage now, and the MLRS are more accurate than anything the enemy can get their hands on. Their own missile defences can’t take out these new weapons with any regularity, and strategic targets are being hit every night. Apart from that big boom, there was also a command post taken out last night - a dozen officers, including yet another general killed.
That's the Phil Shiner case. Shiner paid middlemen to find him "victims".
By the time Shiner was struck off in February 2017, the Iraq Historic Allegations Team "had fewer than 250 active investigations". About a week later Britain's Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced that Ihat would soon be shut down, largely due to the exposing of Shiner's "dishonesty".
When welcoming the decision to strike him off, the chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Paul Philip, stated:
His misconduct has caused real distress to soldiers, their families and to the families of Iraqi people who thought that their loved ones had been murdered or tortured. More than £30m of public funds were spent on investigating what proved to be false and dishonest allegations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Shiner#Misconduct_findings
(I had not noticed that this was another case where Baroness Chakrabati embarrassment herself.)
I'll be watching whether the BBC manages to stand up this story.
BREAKING: The Euro has fallen to parity with the US Dollar
The Shiner cases were a disgrace, but the BBC investigation at the very least deserves consideration. The fact that it's not individuals looking for compensation, but rather what appears to be evidence of systemic failings makes it rather different from the fraudulent court cases.
1. Has the new PM righted the ship and returned to somewhat less chaotic governance?
2. How is the economy doing? Are we through the inflation crisis/recession and into smoother waters.
If the answer to both is yes, then it gives the new PM the chance to say that they are not Boris, they are able to govern competently, and they have sorted the cost of living crisis (obviously on the latter there will be global factors at play but when did that ever stop any UK PM for taking credit).
I think the Tories could eke out a small majority on that platform, with the right leader, a fair wind and the right messaging to the country.
If the answer to either is no, then I can’t see them regaining their majority, though stranger things have happened.
GE2024 is wide open IMHO. Advantage Labour right now, but still a ways to go.
In Florida it seems to be called worm grunting (or gruntin'), and their method is rather louder - they hammer wooden stakes in the ground and then rasp them
It's also known in some parts as worm fiddling. I gather one Mr Pincher is a keen participant, always eager to show off his worm fiddling kit.
Nevermind the fact Sterling has been rising against the Euro. Such trivialities aren't important when you have an axe to grind.
His reality check is that having done that we have to pay that money back. This is going to take quite a lot of our tax revenue for a long time. Others want to pretend that the response to Covid was some sort of free lunch which we can ignore the consequences of. In this respect these tax cutters are every bit as dishonest as those from Labour who continue to claim that the solution to everything is yet more government spending.
If I had a vote in this he would get it for his limited candour.
I have made the case for a year why Sunak could win. I don't remotely think the same would be true with Truss. And if they end up with a mentalist like Braverman then it could be a thumping anti-Tory win.
Former human rights lawyer Phil Shiner has been charged with fraud over claims made against soldiers fighting in Iraq, the National Crime Agency (NCA) announced today.
The 65-year-old, whose firm Public Interest Lawyers brought cases against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on behalf of Iraqi civilians, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
An NCA spokesperson said Shiner, from Birmingham, faces charges ‘in respect of fraud offences relating to legal aid claims made in 2007 and information provided to the Solicitors Regulation Authority in 2015’
https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/phil-shiner-charged-with-fraud-over-iraqi-civilians-claims/5112903.article
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQlaMCWuRyg&ab_channel=lichnor
(Young ones video may be blocked in the UK)
Hmmm.
(Did we note that AB made it to the Exec of the 1922 Committee.)
Every day a school day on PB.
Poor Jeremy. He even loses to Michael Green...
What time do nominations have to be in?
Tory MPs will do well to select
@KemiBadenoch as the next Conservative leader. She gets the urgency & importance of standing firm on women & girls' sex-based rights & is thoroughly impressive. She is the Tories best hope of securing a victory over Labour at the next GE.
https://twitter.com/BluskyeAllison/status/1546777570032615425
I want Boris back.
https://twitter.com/THEJamesWhale/status/1546458657755381760
To take a more extreme example, I don't suppose any of us dispute the right of Sri Lanka to elect whoever they choose. But at the same time, we can be astonished that they elected a government whose policies have plunged the entire country into crisis.
After all, current polling suggests that most British people (not including your good self) regret both the big decisions that they took in recent years - Brexit and electing Boris Johnson. It's not a surprise that Germans feel the same.
But that's all the past. What is a matter of concern is that we (via our elected majority) seem about to choose a PM with equally wacky disregard for the facts of the situation. The best hope is that they do understand the position but have decided they need to lie about it.
You will not be surprised to learn that Amir Khan is involved.
To my surprise, despite trying, I don't hate it. (I hope I'm not unduly influenced in this by the fact that Sam Wheeler, the Momentum largely anti-development councillor for this part of the city centre, does hate it.) I think the higher the building, the more reflective it needs to be, particularly in a city where sunshine isn't a given, and it will at least be shiny.
https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/developer-of-manchesters-19m-gold-tower-eyes-more-sites/
It’s got quite a bit further to fall too, if as expected the Fed raises rates and the ECB doesn’t.
https://twitter.com/MichaelLCrick/status/1546790611528949760
Speed limits in built-up areas look set to be reduced from 30mph to 20mph in Wales from next year
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-62020427
"Bewilderment
I have weirdly stacked your chairs
Phenomenon
Some plates are flying everywhere
Precipitate
A feeling of unease
Consternate
Through the scariness of trees..."
Pound is up about 3% against the Euro in the past month, but also down against the dollar.
Bitcoin is back below $20k, after a minor rally over the past week.
Bring back the party of “sound money”!
Any Leaver to whom that is vital is spoiled for choice.
Any Remainer who regards that, privately, as important, (there are perhaps still a few). Well. That was one of his few distinguishing features.
Thankfully though, people move on from what used to be the mainstream of the past.
Not sure that is going to help her
So Truss is formally continuity Boris....
It'll get her some numbers of MPs, but also paint a target on her back.
How are you feeling btw? You must have run out of kleenex since your idol (the worst PM of all time whom you apologised for in day in day out) was rightly forced out of office
What will be amusing though is many of the same people who would bang on about "intersectionality" etc will insist that Sunak is too privileged to be PM. Funny how that works, when its your political opponent that is the "privileged" one.
@MrHarryCole
Rival camps say Shapps about to pull out and back Sunak.
https://twitter.com/MrHarryCole/status/1546792860128796673
I think that the way people change as they age is underestimated as a political factor.
Morris_Dancer said:
Mr. Pulpstar, I agree on the first part (off-chance Hunt makes the first round?) but where their supporters go may be trickier to guess.
More will head to Sunak than Mordaunt would like I think.
Of the 3 front runners I think she's in the weakest position once we're into the contest proper.
Harry Cole
@MrHarryCole
·
6m
Rival camps say Shapps about to pull out and back Sunak.
Start of the Penny squeeze I think.
Truss will work very hard I imagine to not get branded continuity Boris. Despite the endorsement of amoral chancers like GoNads...
It seems that hopefully I'm in a win/win position for the leadership race.
On the one hand if Sunak wins, then I'll get my 250/1 tip coming in - I hope you listened to my tip when I made that.
On the other hand if he doesn't win, if Truss does we'll get the person I think is the best possible next PM.
Either way, pretty much so long as it isn't Shapps or Patel I'll be reasonably happy.
Nobody needs to be flying around at 30mph in towns.
Does a small or large field help him?
https://twitter.com/sebastianepayne/status/1546794698119020545
“She’s as strong a Brexiteer as either of us”
Eh? Memory of a goldfish.
It is paternalistic policy making driven by lobby groups not by proper research and evidence.
Classic gesture politics
Build a stonking lead and that can be self-reinforcing. Wavering MPs who want preferment can go to the leader, while many members if there's a clear victor amongst MPs will respect what the MPs chose and go with that.
The only time the members have ever gone against the MPs, is when the MPs themselves didn't choose a clear victor.
But, she would be hard for Labour to beat.
You didn't really want your beloved "Boris" out. You loved him, even more so that HYUFD and Leon. Your protestations and falling in behind "the herd" are incredible in the real sense of the word.
If there were a leadership race for Bozo Apologist, you would beat HYUFD by a mile. Your protestations to the contrary are as believable as, well, Boris Johnson himself lol.
Not long ago, she was distraught - according to her, some evil people must have thrown a dog over the fence, where it tore her cat to bits and then somehow got the dog back....
The risk of death from hitting a child at 20mph vs 30mph are quite telling. Look it up.
Hardly anyone apart from learner drivers sticks to 20mph.
*Seems to work well in some Californian cities.
The US system of having 30mph, then at certain times e.g. school times, its 20mph seems a perfectly sensible comprise.
Out of interest the much sighted 30mph kills kids / 20 mph saves them, how many kids are killed as pedestrians on the road each year? I have no idea.
When he broke the manifesto on something I passionately believe in, I turned against him, and I've not equivocated from that point from then on. That was nearly a year ago.
For as long as Boris matched my believes, I was willing to back him. Once he went against them, I wasn't anymore. It was never Boris I believed in, I have always believed in my own beliefs and Boris was matching them until he raised NI (against his prior pledge not to) which was a dealbreaker for me.