Conservative benches pretty subdued today as Starmer mocks Sunak as a serial election loser who first lost to Liz Truss "who then lost to a lettuce" before entering a two horse race in the local elections and "somehow coming third". #pmqs
I'm slightly concerned about his counting ability.
A Tory MP speaks total sense and in agreement with me. Things they be changing
I'm not sure the fuss around the coronation is the best example of the problems with new laws regarding protests. Much had been made of the six who were, in all probability, wrongfully arrested. I hope they sue and win their case.
However the authorities are reacting to new styles of protests and are responding to public concern. Any right to protest also runs into other peoples rights. For example, if you block the roads as part of your protest, what of the right of the member of the public to drive down that road? To drive to the hospice to see their dying parent for the last time? Its always going to be a balancing act. On the whole Saturday went brilliantly for the police - no trouble, people were allowed to protest (also mainly ignored by the TV).
I don't know what the answers are, but a right to protest is not the same as a right to protest in any way you want to.
“New styles of protest” appears to be the phrase of the day in apologia for what happened. It’s an ahistorical comment. Suffragettes, anarchists and fascists in the first half of the twentieth century used all sorts of different protests.
Suffragettes chained themselves to things: if eco-protesters have used glue instead, it’s still the same approach. Suffragettes scared horses, the accusation laid at republican protesters at the weekend.
How successfully did the Suffragettes, anarchists and fascists advance their causes?
That’s an interesting question perhaps for another time, but I don’t see how it’s relevant…? I’m not applauding or condemning the protesters. I’m saying we’ve always had disruptive protests. The idea that there’s been some sea change involving new styles of protest is questionable.
If people want to know how to deal with disruptive protests, stop pretending that they’re a novel phenomenon justifying new laws. Instead, look at the history. By looking at the history of the Suffragette protests, we can see what stopped them. It was NOT a rash of new laws targeting them, but instead… er… getting involved in a world war such that a tide of patriotism washed away support for protests. OK, maybe that’s not the best lesson…
I wasn’t trying to contradict your point. I was asking a related question
In answer to your question… The fascists failed. The more militant Suffragettes arguably failed, whereas the Suffragists and the upheavals of WWI are probably who delivered change. The anarchists… while subsequently marginalised, arguably they had a role in the social changes in the late 19th through to mid 20th centuries…?
Going back further to the Chartists, Peterloo, even as far as the Peasants revolt, even though disruptive protests failed in the short term, they do tend to eventually cause our establishment to reform.
Protest works, which is why it keeps happening. The people cannot be ignored forever.
How has the environmental movement been ignored. They have won. The issue now is how the change is brought in and what we end up with once we hit net zero. But every political party, every mainstream political party, accepts Net Zero and the need to get to it.
What the eco-zealots of JSO and XR want is to accelerate it and also to use it to re-shape capitalism and how we live.
@gabrielmilland If you'd like to know why a very large part of the Remain campaign didn't have a scoobie about why people might vote Leave, then this is an essential text.
Lord Rose gave it away on the first day of the Remain campaign - Brexit would lead to higher wage costs. The “Polish Plumber” meant VERY different things to different people. And they still think Leave voters were thick……they may have been misguided, but they weren’t thick.
Kemi Badenoch is an MP whose surname is also in a constituency name (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey - not an austere Edinburgh law firm).
I assume there must be more, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.
Hodge Hill and Margaret Hodge 3 Sunderland Seats and James Sunderland Stone and Jamie Stone
All solid ones. So there are a few. I wonder if there's ever been a true Arsene Wenger/Wolfgang Wolf situation though? Vote Sutton for Sutton or whatever.
@gabrielmilland If you'd like to know why a very large part of the Remain campaign didn't have a scoobie about why people might vote Leave, then this is an essential text.
Lord Rose gave it away on the first day of the Remain campaign - Brexit would lead to higher wage costs. The “Polish Plumber” meant VERY different things to different people. And they still think Leave voters were thick……they may have been misguided, but they weren’t thick.
And when the reality of many peoples working lives was minimum wage jobs In supermarkets or call centres or as security guards why would they not vote for Brexit. I voted remain as it was in my self interest to do so. People are not stupid for voting in their own self interest.
@gabrielmilland If you'd like to know why a very large part of the Remain campaign didn't have a scoobie about why people might vote Leave, then this is an essential text.
Lord Rose gave it away on the first day of the Remain campaign - Brexit would lead to higher wage costs. The “Polish Plumber” meant VERY different things to different people. And they still think Leave voters were thick……they may have been misguided, but they weren’t thick.
Fine. If they wanted higher inflation then higher inflation is what they got.
@gabrielmilland If you'd like to know why a very large part of the Remain campaign didn't have a scoobie about why people might vote Leave, then this is an essential text.
Lord Rose gave it away on the first day of the Remain campaign - Brexit would lead to higher wage costs. The “Polish Plumber” meant VERY different things to different people. And they still think Leave voters were thick……they may have been misguided, but they weren’t thick.
Fine. If they wanted higher inflation then higher inflation is what they got.
To be fixating on inflation in 2016 was weird. The problem now is the commodity price shock from the Ukraine war and the policies during covid. Not really to do with wages.
Kemi Badenoch is an MP whose surname is also in a constituency name (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey - not an austere Edinburgh law firm).
I assume there must be more, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.
Hodge Hill and Margaret Hodge 3 Sunderland Seats and James Sunderland Stone and Jamie Stone
All solid ones. So there are a few. I wonder if there's ever been a true Arsene Wenger/Wolfgang Wolf situation though? Vote Sutton for Sutton or whatever.
Emily Thornberry/Thornbury and Yate
I believe there are some members of the Lords who are also named after Commons constituencies, or possibly the constituencies are named after them.
Probably Oct 2024 with a smaller chance of May 2024 to coincide with the local elections or June 2024 following any reasonable result for CON in those local elections.
Barring unreasonably unforeseen events it will be Rishi, Keir and Ed leading the major parties into the election.
Neither Keir nor Ed are ruling out a coalition with each other, which I find interesting.
I would prefer a LAB/LD coalition - in practice more likely to be LD confidence and supply - to LAB majority government.
After the last Coalition Govt there will never be another LD coalition imho.
I don't agree, although we can be reasonably confident there won't be another Tory one in our lifetimes. The key will be that next time they'll try to do it differently, badge it differently, and settle for a "slice" of the government as happens in Germany rather than becoming just a layer in the whole cake.
After all, what is thrown at LibDems is not that they made a coalition at all, but that they propped up the Tories. Having had a coalition with both major parties in living memory is more solution, than problem redoubled.
In reality the LibDems drove both a lot of good policy (gay marriage, pupil premium, raised income tax threshold) and restrained the more base instincts of the Tory party (as witnessed by what they did from 2015 onwards).
Not that anyone progressive wanted to give them a fair hearing at the time - because they also provided succour to a lot of terrible legislation. LDs voted more loyally for shit Tory bills than Tory MPs did. Steve Webb heavily linking himself to Lansley's terrible NHS Destruction bill.
Clegg especially seemed enamoured with his Dave bromance, unwilling to maintain a suitable distance of break it off until he last minute. More visible and public arguments, having rebellions against shit bills like Tory MPs, making a principled stand here and there - all would have made both an immediate difference to the 2015 near ELE and their reputation afterwards.
I expect any future coalition to be run very differently.
I never had a problem with the LDs going into coalition with the Tories. It made total sense. What surprised me was that initial enthusiasm and glee with which they joined the Tories in attacking Labour. Politically, I think they made a huge mistake in doing that as so many of their votes came from former Labour voters who had rejected the Tories, too. Greg Hands (over)uses that Liam Byrne Treasury note but many now forget that it was LD David Laws who made it public, in defiance of the convention that led Byrne to write it in the first place. They realised too late in the 2013-2015 cycle that the Bromance was a big error and paid a big price as a result. Even now, there are a lot of people inside Labour - across the party, not on just one wing - who are highly suspicious of them, to the extent that I think Starmer would struggle internally to sell any kind of formal deal involving LDs within a Labour-led government. If one is needed, it will be nods and winks, not handshakes.
This isn't true. Laws found the note and mentioned it to Osborne. In his book Laws then said he was taken aback to find the Tories harping on about it.
I don't think that's completely true, according to the Guardian story of 17th May 2010
Byrne's note was discovered by David Laws, the Liberal Democrat MP who was appointed by the coalition government to succeed Byrne as No 2 at the Treasury.
It is a convention for outgoing ministers to leave a note for their successors with advice on how to settle into the job. But Byrne's note – which he later said was intended as a private joke – drew attention to Labour's economic record when it was revealed by Laws at a press conference today.
Laws told reporters: "When I arrived at my desk on the very first day as chief secretary, I found a letter from the previous chief secretary to give me some advice, I assumed, on how I conduct myself over the months ahead.
"Unfortunately, when I opened it, it was a one-sentence letter which simply said: 'Dear chief secretary, I'm afraid to tell you there's no money left,' which was honest but slightly less helpful advice than I had been expecting."
It is likely that Laws didn't expect the Tories to still use it as a weapon 13 years into the future but he was the one to put it out there.
IIRC, the background to this was that Byrne was expecting to leave the note for Philip Hammond, who had been his shadow for several years, and they’d worked closely together on the 2008-9 financial crisis in a bipartisan way.
When Laws picked it up, it wasn’t exactly what he was expecting to find on his desk, and so it ended up in David Cameron’s pocket in the 2015 debate.
Whatever their faults, I don't think it can be denied that Brown and Byrne worked very hard to try to prevent the crisis of 2008-10 turning into another Great Depression, and if Hammond assisted them, then it reflects a lot of credit on him as well.
Where I think that the Labour government deserves criticism is (a) letting house prices run out of control from 1997-2007 (with borrowing surging on the back of it) and (b) their hubris, believing that they really had abolished boom and bust.
Whatever they might have done to try and mitigate the worst effects once it had started, it is also the case that Brown had left the UK in a far weakened position to actually deal with the crisis through his actions in the years prior to it starting.
When Brown as Chancellor created the FSA Peter Lilley as Shadow Chancellor warned it would make it far more difficult to deal with a banking or finacial crisis. Likewise the Lib Dems warned of a coming crisis as the result of Britain's financial bubble and were mocked by Angela Eagle. That was only moths before the crisis erupted.
And of course - as you mention - he ignored the basic principle of building a surplus in good times to help deal with the bad times, prefering instead to pretend there would be no more bad tuimes to justify all his spending.
Whilst I agree with you that the “abolish boom & bust” stuff was the amongst the worst of Brown’s sins, a large modern economy can’t “save for the future” in the way that an individual person or household can. What form would this saving take exactly? We could pile up cash, but all that means is that when we go to spend that cash inflation promptly goes through the roof as that cash chases the same limited block of available labour & goods. Same for any other commodity.
Also, Brown kept us out of the Euro, which makes up for everything else by a wide margin IMO. (I may have gone on about this here in the past!) Even had we been paragons of virtue in the run up to 2008, the economic effects of what happened to the USA & the rest of Europe would have had a massive effect on our economy. By maintaining control of our currency we were able to ameliorate the effects of the post 2008 recession & prevent them from turning into outright depression. Brown deserves kudos for that, no matter what else he did.
What Brown failed to do was to run a surplus during the boom, and use that to pay back down government debt.
This gives you the following advantages
- ability to borrow more cheaply to do a fiscal stimulus. - Tax receipts will be reduced. If calculated right, you won’t have to cut spending in the recession *and* use up borrowing capacity just keeping the lights on
Instead we had to borrow at a massive rate to keep things running.
Starmer in rather skittish mood at PMQs today, slightly playfully taking the piss out of the PM. It suits him and he should do it more.
Sadly, Starmer's improvement at PMQs has coincided with interest in the event declining so much that it even merits few comments on PB.
I know, same as the PBers who have gone quiet on Prince Harry this morning.
Or the way those who laughed with joy at the News of the World being shut down over hacking are oddly silent over today's news that Mirror Group have been naughty...
Starmer on fire. Sunak is in trouble in any election campaign
I started reading that to the tune of Gala's Freed From Desire, but the second line didn't quite scan.
Starmer on fi-yah, Sunak is in trouble naaw
My Starmer's got no money, he's got his strong beliefs, My Starmer's got no power, he's got his strong beliefs, My Starmer's got no fay-um, he's got his strong beliefs, My Starmer's got no money, he's got his strong beliefs
Want more and more, Labour P just wantin' more and more...
Starmer in rather skittish mood at PMQs today, slightly playfully taking the piss out of the PM. It suits him and he should do it more.
Sadly, Starmer's improvement at PMQs has coincided with interest in the event declining so much that it even merits few comments on PB.
I know, same as the PBers who have gone quiet on Prince Harry this morning.
Or the way those who laughed with joy at the News of the World being shut down over hacking are oddly silent over today's news that Mirror Group have been naughty...
You mean that Mirror, under Piers Morgan, were guilty of using nefarious means to get stories? Nah, can’t believe that.
Starmer on fire. Sunak is in trouble in any election campaign
I started reading that to the tune of Gala's Freed From Desire, but the second line didn't quite scan.
I read it in this voice.
Well you've made me laugh.
What was the thinking on Brand? Aspirational Essex man type? Or no, more likely the inspiring type to appeal to the army of non-voters who are waiting for a real Labour government.
Starmer in rather skittish mood at PMQs today, slightly playfully taking the piss out of the PM. It suits him and he should do it more.
Sadly, Starmer's improvement at PMQs has coincided with interest in the event declining so much that it even merits few comments on PB.
I know, same as the PBers who have gone quiet on Prince Harry this morning.
Or the way those who laughed with joy at the News of the World being shut down over hacking are oddly silent over today's news that Mirror Group have been naughty...
I'm still waiting for the usual suspects to start a campaign to close the Mirror in the same way they drove the News of the World out of business, because surely their campaign was not partial?
It seems like the Russians are in deep trouble in Bakhmut. After months of tiny advances from the Russian side, the ZSU seems to have pushed back hard, and the Russians are falling back in some disarray. It may be that the Ukrainians are within an ace of winning the Battle of Bakhmut. This is despite the fact that the much vaunted counter offensive has not yet begun in earnest. We here from over the border that there is a growing sense of dread in Russia. They fear, even expect, that the ZSU will be able to overwhelm Russian forces in several places and that morale is rock bottom.
I just hope its true, this war has been utterly horrific and if it leads to the fall of those responsible, there will be a deep sense of relief and satisfaction in Tallinn.
Starmer in rather skittish mood at PMQs today, slightly playfully taking the piss out of the PM. It suits him and he should do it more.
Sadly, Starmer's improvement at PMQs has coincided with interest in the event declining so much that it even merits few comments on PB.
Quite enjoyed it. Just knockabout stuff to rally the troops, but good fun.
What was bizarre and inexplicable was Sunak drawing attention to his own party's mismanagement of the public finances by quoting Rachel Reeves saying she had a "problem".
Her problem is of course because there's sod all money in the coffers.
I always suspected he was some kind of robot, with AI speech generation (lots of superficially plausible sounding bollocks, peppered with factoids but devoid of argument). You can see the wire in this video
Kemi Badenoch is an MP whose surname is also in a constituency name (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey - not an austere Edinburgh law firm).
I assume there must be more, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.
Hodge Hill and Margaret Hodge 3 Sunderland Seats and James Sunderland Stone and Jamie Stone
All solid ones. So there are a few. I wonder if there's ever been a true Arsene Wenger/Wolfgang Wolf situation though? Vote Sutton for Sutton or whatever.
Emily Thornberry/Thornbury and Yate
I believe there are some members of the Lords who are also named after Commons constituencies, or possibly the constituencies are named after them.
Probably Oct 2024 with a smaller chance of May 2024 to coincide with the local elections or June 2024 following any reasonable result for CON in those local elections.
Barring unreasonably unforeseen events it will be Rishi, Keir and Ed leading the major parties into the election.
Neither Keir nor Ed are ruling out a coalition with each other, which I find interesting.
I would prefer a LAB/LD coalition - in practice more likely to be LD confidence and supply - to LAB majority government.
After the last Coalition Govt there will never be another LD coalition imho.
I don't agree, although we can be reasonably confident there won't be another Tory one in our lifetimes. The key will be that next time they'll try to do it differently, badge it differently, and settle for a "slice" of the government as happens in Germany rather than becoming just a layer in the whole cake.
After all, what is thrown at LibDems is not that they made a coalition at all, but that they propped up the Tories. Having had a coalition with both major parties in living memory is more solution, than problem redoubled.
In reality the LibDems drove both a lot of good policy (gay marriage, pupil premium, raised income tax threshold) and restrained the more base instincts of the Tory party (as witnessed by what they did from 2015 onwards).
Not that anyone progressive wanted to give them a fair hearing at the time - because they also provided succour to a lot of terrible legislation. LDs voted more loyally for shit Tory bills than Tory MPs did. Steve Webb heavily linking himself to Lansley's terrible NHS Destruction bill.
Clegg especially seemed enamoured with his Dave bromance, unwilling to maintain a suitable distance of break it off until he last minute. More visible and public arguments, having rebellions against shit bills like Tory MPs, making a principled stand here and there - all would have made both an immediate difference to the 2015 near ELE and their reputation afterwards.
I expect any future coalition to be run very differently.
I never had a problem with the LDs going into coalition with the Tories. It made total sense. What surprised me was that initial enthusiasm and glee with which they joined the Tories in attacking Labour. Politically, I think they made a huge mistake in doing that as so many of their votes came from former Labour voters who had rejected the Tories, too. Greg Hands (over)uses that Liam Byrne Treasury note but many now forget that it was LD David Laws who made it public, in defiance of the convention that led Byrne to write it in the first place. They realised too late in the 2013-2015 cycle that the Bromance was a big error and paid a big price as a result. Even now, there are a lot of people inside Labour - across the party, not on just one wing - who are highly suspicious of them, to the extent that I think Starmer would struggle internally to sell any kind of formal deal involving LDs within a Labour-led government. If one is needed, it will be nods and winks, not handshakes.
This isn't true. Laws found the note and mentioned it to Osborne. In his book Laws then said he was taken aback to find the Tories harping on about it.
I don't think that's completely true, according to the Guardian story of 17th May 2010
Byrne's note was discovered by David Laws, the Liberal Democrat MP who was appointed by the coalition government to succeed Byrne as No 2 at the Treasury.
It is a convention for outgoing ministers to leave a note for their successors with advice on how to settle into the job. But Byrne's note – which he later said was intended as a private joke – drew attention to Labour's economic record when it was revealed by Laws at a press conference today.
Laws told reporters: "When I arrived at my desk on the very first day as chief secretary, I found a letter from the previous chief secretary to give me some advice, I assumed, on how I conduct myself over the months ahead.
"Unfortunately, when I opened it, it was a one-sentence letter which simply said: 'Dear chief secretary, I'm afraid to tell you there's no money left,' which was honest but slightly less helpful advice than I had been expecting."
It is likely that Laws didn't expect the Tories to still use it as a weapon 13 years into the future but he was the one to put it out there.
IIRC, the background to this was that Byrne was expecting to leave the note for Philip Hammond, who had been his shadow for several years, and they’d worked closely together on the 2008-9 financial crisis in a bipartisan way.
When Laws picked it up, it wasn’t exactly what he was expecting to find on his desk, and so it ended up in David Cameron’s pocket in the 2015 debate.
Whatever their faults, I don't think it can be denied that Brown and Byrne worked very hard to try to prevent the crisis of 2008-10 turning into another Great Depression, and if Hammond assisted them, then it reflects a lot of credit on him as well.
Where I think that the Labour government deserves criticism is (a) letting house prices run out of control from 1997-2007 (with borrowing surging on the back of it) and (b) their hubris, believing that they really had abolished boom and bust.
Whatever they might have done to try and mitigate the worst effects once it had started, it is also the case that Brown had left the UK in a far weakened position to actually deal with the crisis through his actions in the years prior to it starting.
When Brown as Chancellor created the FSA Peter Lilley as Shadow Chancellor warned it would make it far more difficult to deal with a banking or finacial crisis. Likewise the Lib Dems warned of a coming crisis as the result of Britain's financial bubble and were mocked by Angela Eagle. That was only moths before the crisis erupted.
And of course - as you mention - he ignored the basic principle of building a surplus in good times to help deal with the bad times, prefering instead to pretend there would be no more bad tuimes to justify all his spending.
Whilst I agree with you that the “abolish boom & bust” stuff was the amongst the worst of Brown’s sins, a large modern economy can’t “save for the future” in the way that an individual person or household can. What form would this saving take exactly? We could pile up cash, but all that means is that when we go to spend that cash inflation promptly goes through the roof as that cash chases the same limited block of available labour & goods. Same for any other commodity.
Also, Brown kept us out of the Euro, which makes up for everything else by a wide margin IMO. (I may have gone on about this here in the past!) Even had we been paragons of virtue in the run up to 2008, the economic effects of what happened to the USA & the rest of Europe would have had a massive effect on our economy. By maintaining control of our currency we were able to ameliorate the effects of the post 2008 recession & prevent them from turning into outright depression. Brown deserves kudos for that, no matter what else he did.
What Brown failed to do was to run a surplus during the boom, and use that to pay back down government debt.
This gives you the following advantages
- ability to borrow more cheaply to do a fiscal stimulus. - Tax receipts will be reduced. If calculated right, you won’t have to cut spending in the recession *and* use up borrowing capacity just keeping the lights on
Instead we had to borrow at a massive rate to keep things running.
Uk gilt rates fell significantly during financial crisis - from something like 5% to 3%.
It seems like the Russians are in deep trouble in Bakhmut. After months of tiny advances from the Russian side, the ZSU seems to have pushed back hard, and the Russians are falling back in some disarray. It may be that the Ukrainians are within an ace of winning the Battle of Bakhmut. This is despite the fact that the much vaunted counter offensive has not yet begun in earnest. We here from over the border that there is a growing sense of dread in Russia. They fear, even expect, that the ZSU will be able to overwhelm Russian forces in several places and that morale is rock bottom.
I just hope its true, this war has been utterly horrific and if it leads to the fall of those responsible, there will be a deep sense of relief and satisfaction in Tallinn.
The other big story is the UK supplying long range missiles to Ukraine. Story in the American press that Biden is relieved as it means there won't be pressure on him to send ATACMS. I do find this all a bit confusing. If the Americans are wary of sending ATACMS why are they not trying to stop us sending our own ones?
It's a little far fetched but perhaps they see it as good psychology? Letting the Brits feel proud about taking the lead, facing Putin down etc.
Is anyone here an EON Next customer. I'm about to do some reconciliations on their billing (Which they've messed up) from the looks of the error it looks like it might not be the sort of problem which affects us...
I always suspected he was some kind of robot, with AI speech generation (lots of superficially plausible sounding bollocks, peppered with factoids but devoid of argument). You can see the wire in this video
It seems like the Russians are in deep trouble in Bakhmut. After months of tiny advances from the Russian side, the ZSU seems to have pushed back hard, and the Russians are falling back in some disarray. It may be that the Ukrainians are within an ace of winning the Battle of Bakhmut. This is despite the fact that the much vaunted counter offensive has not yet begun in earnest. We here from over the border that there is a growing sense of dread in Russia. They fear, even expect, that the ZSU will be able to overwhelm Russian forces in several places and that morale is rock bottom.
I just hope its true, this war has been utterly horrific and if it leads to the fall of those responsible, there will be a deep sense of relief and satisfaction in Tallinn.
The other big story is the UK supplying long range missiles to Ukraine. Story in the American press that Biden is relieved as it means there won't be pressure on him to send ATACMS. I do find this all a bit confusing. If the Americans are wary of sending ATACMS why are they not trying to stop us sending our own ones?
It's a little far fetched but perhaps they see it as good psychology? Letting the Brits feel proud about taking the lead, facing Putin down etc.
Some/all of the below....
1) Being first 2) ATACMS is out of production - limited stocks at that. 3) The replacement isn't in production yet 4) Storm Shadow is in production.
I always suspected he was some kind of robot, with AI speech generation (lots of superficially plausible sounding bollocks, peppered with factoids but devoid of argument). You can see the wire in this video
No Bluetooth in the 18th century, of course.
Well, there was, but mostly due to the inadequacy of contemporary dental care.
Support for Welby from unlikely quarters this afternoon after his opposition to the Migration Bill '@ygceojennie This is why we need unelected priests and religious leaders in the House of Lords
Sometimes, the electorate lose their moral conscience to populism and need to be curtailed'
Is anyone here an EON Next customer. I'm about to do some reconciliations on their billing (Which they've messed up) from the looks of the error it looks like it might not be the sort of problem which affects us...
Yes, they consistently mess up our billing as they estimate ludicrously vast amounts of leccy usage (like 30,000+ kWh annually) and it takes multiple calls and emails to persuade them that no, I'm not running a high-volume skunk farm in my loft.
Support for Welby from unlikely quarters this afternoon after his opposition to the Migration Bill '@ygceojennie This is why we need unelected priests and religious leaders in the House of Lords
Or we compel the state church to elect their bishops properly using STV.
It seems like the Russians are in deep trouble in Bakhmut. After months of tiny advances from the Russian side, the ZSU seems to have pushed back hard, and the Russians are falling back in some disarray. It may be that the Ukrainians are within an ace of winning the Battle of Bakhmut. This is despite the fact that the much vaunted counter offensive has not yet begun in earnest. We here from over the border that there is a growing sense of dread in Russia. They fear, even expect, that the ZSU will be able to overwhelm Russian forces in several places and that morale is rock bottom.
I just hope its true, this war has been utterly horrific and if it leads to the fall of those responsible, there will be a deep sense of relief and satisfaction in Tallinn.
Regarding Russian morale.
1/ Mobilised Russian soldiers from the Moscow region have described the extreme conditions they face around Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, with men scavenging for food, drinking corpse-contaminated water, and living and fighting amongst piles of rotting unburied bodies. ⬇️ https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1656278050344935424
The Metropolitan Police has apologised for not disclosing documents relating to the murder of a private detective which it says were were found in a locked cabinet at its headquarters. ... Thirty-seven documents spanning 95 pages that should have been disclosed to the panel led by Baroness O'Loan were found in the locked cabinet at New Scotland Yard in January and an assessment started in February, the Met said.
The force also admitted a further 23 documents across 71 pages should have been shared with the police watchdog, which in a separate March 2022 report found the Met's approach to tackling corruption within its ranks to be "fundamentally flawed" .
And so on and so forth. Though difficult to believe anything will actually be done about it.
Do you remember the 'Coronation Postboxes'? One in Cardiff angered everyone especially as it was placed outside Owain Glyndwr pub. It lasted less than 24 hours before being defaced, covered in indy stickers and graffiti. Council were forced to clean it and repaint daily but kept coming back. They have now given up and repainted in original red.
Whoever thought it would be a good idea..... idiots.
@gabrielmilland If you'd like to know why a very large part of the Remain campaign didn't have a scoobie about why people might vote Leave, then this is an essential text.
Support for Welby from unlikely quarters this afternoon after his opposition to the Migration Bill '@ygceojennie This is why we need unelected priests and religious leaders in the House of Lords
Sometimes, the electorate lose their moral conscience to populism and need to be curtailed'
How stupid can anyone be?
A unelected legislator happens to say something someone agrees with, and the result is "This is why we need unelected legislators!"
Is the very simple concept of democracy really so hard for people to grasp?
Support for Welby from unlikely quarters this afternoon after his opposition to the Migration Bill '@ygceojennie This is why we need unelected priests and religious leaders in the House of Lords
Sometimes, the electorate lose their moral conscience to populism and need to be curtailed'
How stupid can anyone be?
A unelected legislator happens to say something someone agrees with, and the result is "This is why we need unelected legislators!"
Is the very simple concept of democracy really so hard for people to grasp?
For some on the liberal left democracy is fine provided the electorate vote the right way. However if they vote for Brexit, unwoke 'racist' policies, tax cuts over higher public spending etc then they need to be governed by their more educated appointed betters until they see the light
The Metropolitan Police has apologised for not disclosing documents relating to the murder of a private detective which it says were were found in a locked cabinet at its headquarters. ... Thirty-seven documents spanning 95 pages that should have been disclosed to the panel led by Baroness O'Loan were found in the locked cabinet at New Scotland Yard in January and an assessment started in February, the Met said.
The force also admitted a further 23 documents across 71 pages should have been shared with the police watchdog, which in a separate March 2022 report found the Met's approach to tackling corruption within its ranks to be "fundamentally flawed" .
And so on and so forth. Though difficult to believe anything will actually be done about it.
The Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names of Poland recommended that everyone in the country switch to the new names of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region. The Russian city will now be called Krulewiec on maps https://twitter.com/KyivPost/status/1656269707089936384
Sunak unconvincing. Deflection to hide the decay. The country wants the tories out.
I thought Caroline Lucas’s question was a bit below the belt. Keep politicians kids out of it, imo, even when it’s fairly innocuous. Also, I just don’t think it worked.
It humanises Sunak & his family, which isn’t in the greens interests.
The Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names of Poland recommended that everyone in the country switch to the new names of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region. The Russian city will now be called Krulewiec on maps https://twitter.com/KyivPost/status/1656269707089936384
It seems like the Russians are in deep trouble in Bakhmut. After months of tiny advances from the Russian side, the ZSU seems to have pushed back hard, and the Russians are falling back in some disarray. It may be that the Ukrainians are within an ace of winning the Battle of Bakhmut. This is despite the fact that the much vaunted counter offensive has not yet begun in earnest. We here from over the border that there is a growing sense of dread in Russia. They fear, even expect, that the ZSU will be able to overwhelm Russian forces in several places and that morale is rock bottom.
I just hope its true, this war has been utterly horrific and if it leads to the fall of those responsible, there will be a deep sense of relief and satisfaction in Tallinn.
The other big story is the UK supplying long range missiles to Ukraine. Story in the American press that Biden is relieved as it means there won't be pressure on him to send ATACMS. I do find this all a bit confusing. If the Americans are wary of sending ATACMS why are they not trying to stop us sending our own ones?
It's a little far fetched but perhaps they see it as good psychology? Letting the Brits feel proud about taking the lead, facing Putin down etc.
Neither Russia or China take Britain seriously (and for good reason say the cynics). So if Britain sends Ukraine long-range missiles this can easily be dismissed: there won't be many of them, and they probably won't work.
Then the Americans can send their own later and the taboo has already been broken.
Do you remember the 'Coronation Postboxes'? One in Cardiff angered everyone especially as it was placed outside Owain Glyndwr pub. It lasted less than 24 hours before being defaced, covered in indy stickers and graffiti. Council were forced to clean it and repaint daily but kept coming back. They have now given up and repainted in original red.
Whoever thought it would be a good idea..... idiots.
I take that as a victory.
Bless, victory over the pillar box. Will the achievements of nationalists know no bounds. Next stop, stickers on second homes, that'll show em.
EXCLUSIVE Russian authorities controlling the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine plan to evacuate some 3,100 staff; head of Ukrainian nuclear operator warns of danger of unsupervised infrastructure per @siobhan_ogrady Kostiantyn Khudov
The Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names of Poland recommended that everyone in the country switch to the new names of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region. The Russian city will now be called Krulewiec on maps https://twitter.com/KyivPost/status/1656269707089936384
Support for Welby from unlikely quarters this afternoon after his opposition to the Migration Bill '@ygceojennie This is why we need unelected priests and religious leaders in the House of Lords
Sometimes, the electorate lose their moral conscience to populism and need to be curtailed'
How stupid can anyone be?
A unelected legislator happens to say something someone agrees with, and the result is "This is why we need unelected legislators!"
Is the very simple concept of democracy really so hard for people to grasp?
For some on the liberal left democracy is fine provided the electorate vote the right way. However if they vote for Brexit, unwoke 'racist' policies, tax cuts over higher public spending etc then they need to be governed by their more educated appointed betters until they see the light
It seems like the Russians are in deep trouble in Bakhmut. After months of tiny advances from the Russian side, the ZSU seems to have pushed back hard, and the Russians are falling back in some disarray. It may be that the Ukrainians are within an ace of winning the Battle of Bakhmut. This is despite the fact that the much vaunted counter offensive has not yet begun in earnest. We here from over the border that there is a growing sense of dread in Russia. They fear, even expect, that the ZSU will be able to overwhelm Russian forces in several places and that morale is rock bottom.
I just hope its true, this war has been utterly horrific and if it leads to the fall of those responsible, there will be a deep sense of relief and satisfaction in Tallinn.
The other big story is the UK supplying long range missiles to Ukraine. Story in the American press that Biden is relieved as it means there won't be pressure on him to send ATACMS. I do find this all a bit confusing. If the Americans are wary of sending ATACMS why are they not trying to stop us sending our own ones?
It's a little far fetched but perhaps they see it as good psychology? Letting the Brits feel proud about taking the lead, facing Putin down etc.
Neither Russia or China take Britain seriously (and for good reason say the cynics). So if Britain sends Ukraine long-range missiles this can easily be dismissed: there won't be many of them, and they probably won't work.
Then the Americans can send their own later and the taboo has already been broken.
Storm Shadow, which is what the UK is probably sending, works and is considered a very good weapon.
If you spend about 5 minutes reading Russian propaganda, it seems the at the entire UK lives in their heads, rent free. This may/may not be the Sidney Reilly legacy. It is fairly amusing, though.
The Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names of Poland recommended that everyone in the country switch to the new names of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region. The Russian city will now be called Krulewiec on maps https://twitter.com/KyivPost/status/1656269707089936384
The Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names of Poland recommended that everyone in the country switch to the new names of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region. The Russian city will now be called Krulewiec on maps https://twitter.com/KyivPost/status/1656269707089936384
What?? And not Koenigsberg??
Poland's opinion of Germany isn't much better than their opinion of Russia.
For those on here who are awaiting my verdict on Starmer at PMQs he was the clear winner
However, 500 plus days to go and he is seemingly on course to be next PM but I listened to Beth Rigby verdict today on PMQs who again reiterated that he was on course for the largest party but on the local results is not certain of a majority hence the talk of coalitions
To be fair to Starmer he has warned his supporters of complacency and hubris and as I stated days ago I have no issue with a lab - lib dem coalition while the conservatives regroup and decide if they return to a one nation party
The Metropolitan Police has apologised for not disclosing documents relating to the murder of a private detective which it says were were found in a locked cabinet at its headquarters. ... Thirty-seven documents spanning 95 pages that should have been disclosed to the panel led by Baroness O'Loan were found in the locked cabinet at New Scotland Yard in January and an assessment started in February, the Met said.
The force also admitted a further 23 documents across 71 pages should have been shared with the police watchdog, which in a separate March 2022 report found the Met's approach to tackling corruption within its ranks to be "fundamentally flawed" .
And so on and so forth. Though difficult to believe anything will actually be done about it.
Support for Welby from unlikely quarters this afternoon after his opposition to the Migration Bill '@ygceojennie This is why we need unelected priests and religious leaders in the House of Lords
Sometimes, the electorate lose their moral conscience to populism and need to be curtailed'
How stupid can anyone be?
A unelected legislator happens to say something someone agrees with, and the result is "This is why we need unelected legislators!"
Is the very simple concept of democracy really so hard for people to grasp?
For some on the liberal left democracy is fine provided the electorate vote the right way. However if they vote for Brexit, unwoke 'racist' policies, tax cuts over higher public spending etc then they need to be governed by their more educated appointed betters until they see the light
Unelected Head of State, unelected Upper House!
Thankfully. Unless of course you prefer the US system which is about to descend into gridlock yet again.
Going back to the delightful discussion of last night on the Carroll-Trump verdict (and following on for @darkage) Alan Dershowitz on the inconsistency of the verdict:
For those who mentioned that a major factor was that the jury could not prove rape but could sexual assault, note the following:
"On the main count that Trump raped E. Jean Carroll, the nine-person jury unanimously found that he did not. The plaintiff could not even satisfy its low burden of proof, namely proof beyond a preponderance of the evidence. In so finding, the jury apparently disbelieved at least part of the plaintiff’s testimony. She was very specific about being raped, not merely sexually abused or molested, as the jury did find.
It’s a strange verdict. The jury seems to have believed some of her testimony; namely that she had an encounter with Trump at Bergdorf Goodman in the mid-1990s, which Trump has adamantly denied, both in depositions and in public statements. He did not appear at trial either to testify or to sit in the courtroom, but his lawyer presented his denials to the jury.
It is also hard to reconcile the jury’s finding that he did not rape her with its finding that he maliciously defamed her by essentially saying that he did not rape her."
The Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names of Poland recommended that everyone in the country switch to the new names of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region. The Russian city will now be called Krulewiec on maps https://twitter.com/KyivPost/status/1656269707089936384
What?? And not Koenigsberg??
Or even Königsberg.
"oe" is an alternative to "ö". Perfectly valid in German.
The Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names of Poland recommended that everyone in the country switch to the new names of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region. The Russian city will now be called Krulewiec on maps https://twitter.com/KyivPost/status/1656269707089936384
A lot of platitudinous Kant.
“Physicians think they do a lot for a patient when they give his disease a name.”
The Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names of Poland recommended that everyone in the country switch to the new names of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region. The Russian city will now be called Krulewiec on maps https://twitter.com/KyivPost/status/1656269707089936384
What?? And not Koenigsberg??
Poland's opinion of Germany isn't much better than their opinion of Russia.
It is more or less a translation of Kings Hill, or Königsberg . In Lithuanian it is Karaliaučius, and you see both names on signs in LT. Even local Russians call the place "Kyonig".
Going back to the delightful discussion of last night on the Carroll-Trump verdict (and following on for @darkage) Alan Dershowitz on the inconsistency of the verdict:
For those who mentioned that a major factor was that the jury could not prove rape but could sexual assault, note the following:
"On the main count that Trump raped E. Jean Carroll, the nine-person jury unanimously found that he did not. The plaintiff could not even satisfy its low burden of proof, namely proof beyond a preponderance of the evidence. In so finding, the jury apparently disbelieved at least part of the plaintiff’s testimony. She was very specific about being raped, not merely sexually abused or molested, as the jury did find.
It’s a strange verdict. The jury seems to have believed some of her testimony; namely that she had an encounter with Trump at Bergdorf Goodman in the mid-1990s, which Trump has adamantly denied, both in depositions and in public statements. He did not appear at trial either to testify or to sit in the courtroom, but his lawyer presented his denials to the jury.
It is also hard to reconcile the jury’s finding that he did not rape her with its finding that he maliciously defamed her by essentially saying that he did not rape her."
Don't be a obtuse. He called her a liar and a fantasist.
If the best you've got is Dershowitz, heaven help you.
Comments
Sadly, Starmer's improvement at PMQs has coincided with interest in the event declining so much that it even merits few comments on PB.
3 Sunderland Seats and James Sunderland
Stone and Jamie Stone
If Bridgen does stand again I will happily go campaign for the Tory candidate.
What the eco-zealots of JSO and XR want is to accelerate it and also to use it to re-shape capitalism and how we live.
Again that is starting to happen.
They are merely riding a wave.
I believe there are some members of the Lords who are also named after Commons constituencies, or possibly the constituencies are named after them.
This gives you the following advantages
- ability to borrow more cheaply to do a fiscal stimulus.
- Tax receipts will be reduced. If calculated right, you won’t have to cut spending in the recession *and* use up borrowing capacity just keeping the lights on
Instead we had to borrow at a massive rate to keep things running.
My Starmer's got no money, he's got his strong beliefs,
My Starmer's got no power, he's got his strong beliefs,
My Starmer's got no fay-um, he's got his strong beliefs,
My Starmer's got no money, he's got his strong beliefs
Want more and more, Labour P just wantin' more and more...
What was the thinking on Brand? Aspirational Essex man type? Or no, more likely the inspiring type to appeal to the army of non-voters who are waiting for a real Labour government.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNf2l9SuHHA
I don’t get it.
https://twitter.com/JohnOBrennan2/status/1656056904479563781?s=20
I just hope its true, this war has been utterly horrific and if it leads to the fall of those responsible, there will be a deep sense of relief and satisfaction in Tallinn.
What was bizarre and inexplicable was Sunak drawing attention to his own party's mismanagement of the public finances by quoting Rachel Reeves saying she had a "problem".
Her problem is of course because there's sod all money in the coffers.
That interview was fair enough though.
It's a little far fetched but perhaps they see it as good psychology? Letting the Brits feel proud about taking the lead, facing Putin down etc.
I will reserve judgement until @Big_G_NorthWales passes his fair and impartial view of events.
1) Being first
2) ATACMS is out of production - limited stocks at that.
3) The replacement isn't in production yet
4) Storm Shadow is in production.
This is why we need unelected priests and religious leaders in the House of Lords
Sometimes, the electorate lose their moral conscience to populism and need to be curtailed'
1/ Mobilised Russian soldiers from the Moscow region have described the extreme conditions they face around Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, with men scavenging for food, drinking corpse-contaminated water, and living and fighting amongst piles of rotting unburied bodies. ⬇️
https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1656278050344935424
The Metropolitan Police has apologised for not disclosing documents relating to the murder of a private detective which it says were were found in a locked cabinet at its headquarters.
...
Thirty-seven documents spanning 95 pages that should have been disclosed to the panel led by Baroness O'Loan were found in the locked cabinet at New Scotland Yard in January and an assessment started in February, the Met said.
The force also admitted a further 23 documents across 71 pages should have been shared with the police watchdog, which in a separate March 2022 report found the Met's approach to tackling corruption within its ranks to be "fundamentally flawed" .
And so on and so forth. Though difficult to believe anything will actually be done about it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-65544848
Whoever thought it would be a good idea..... idiots.
I take that as a victory.
"He is only 25 years of age, but Lewis Judd looks a natural at the wheel of a 40-tonne truck"
I mean, why should he not? The minimum age is 18.
(The article is actually full of interesting information, but the FT sneer runs through it like "Blackpool" through rock).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7yBxoUK1GI
A unelected legislator happens to say something someone agrees with, and the result is "This is why we need unelected legislators!"
Is the very simple concept of democracy really so hard for people to grasp?
Looks like the Met are on borrowed time. Lots of interest in this case.
The Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names of Poland recommended that everyone in the country switch to the new names of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region. The Russian city will now be called Krulewiec on maps
https://twitter.com/KyivPost/status/1656269707089936384
Sunak unconvincing. Deflection to hide the decay. The country wants the tories out.
I thought Caroline Lucas’s question was a bit below the belt. Keep politicians kids out of it, imo, even when it’s fairly innocuous. Also, I just don’t think it worked.
It humanises Sunak & his family, which isn’t in the greens interests.
Then the Americans can send their own later and the taboo has already been broken.
https://twitter.com/matthewhaybrown/status/1655636982423273472
Effing nuts.
If you spend about 5 minutes reading Russian propaganda, it seems the at the entire UK lives in their heads, rent free. This may/may not be the Sidney Reilly legacy. It is fairly amusing, though.
However, 500 plus days to go and he is seemingly on course to be next PM but I listened to Beth Rigby verdict today on PMQs who again reiterated that he was on course for the largest party but on the local results is not certain of a majority hence the talk of coalitions
To be fair to Starmer he has warned his supporters of complacency and hubris and as I stated days ago I have no issue with a lab - lib dem coalition while the conservatives regroup and decide if they return to a one nation party
Republicans finally have proof that a man who wears makeup and a wig has committed sexual assault in a changing room and they won't even use it.
https://twitter.com/LOLGOP/status/1656284109122027522
https://thespectator.com/topic/donald-trump-e-jean-carroll-verdict-rorschach-test/
For those who mentioned that a major factor was that the jury could not prove rape but could sexual assault, note the following:
"On the main count that Trump raped E. Jean Carroll, the nine-person jury unanimously found that he did not. The plaintiff could not even satisfy its low burden of proof, namely proof beyond a preponderance of the evidence. In so finding, the jury apparently disbelieved at least part of the plaintiff’s testimony. She was very specific about being raped, not merely sexually abused or molested, as the jury did find.
It’s a strange verdict. The jury seems to have believed some of her testimony; namely that she had an encounter with Trump at Bergdorf Goodman in the mid-1990s, which Trump has adamantly denied, both in depositions and in public statements. He did not appear at trial either to testify or to sit in the courtroom, but his lawyer presented his denials to the jury.
It is also hard to reconcile the jury’s finding that he did not rape her with its finding that he maliciously defamed her by essentially saying that he did not rape her."
The Labour voters on here all seem to think it will be a Hung Parliament and are happy with Labour/Lib Dems.
It is the Tories who think losing 1000 councillors is an achievement, see the Daily Telegraph today.
https://twitter.com/DeItaone/status/1656287902777606148
13 years ago, he says they inherited the largest deficit in the G7. How large is the deficit now?
Is anyone buying this stuff? Really?
He called her a liar and a fantasist.
If the best you've got is Dershowitz, heaven help you.
Their heads will explode