I've got a US road trip coming up for the Gazette, and I want to explore Virginia, Maryland maybe Kentucky, especially Civil War sites. Anyone got any recommendations? What are the most resonant battlefields? Gettysburg? Atietam?
Interesting. He's right that there's stress within the main party coalitions: - Labour are too woke for some traditional supporters, even if they have a farily coherent soft-left economic agenda (some traditional supporters would prefer harder left economics) - Conservatives are too gammon for some traditional supporters (the higher educated)
The successful people have mainly ridden fine lines. Blair, socially liberal, but not too woke (civil partnerships, but gay marriage a step too far - that seems quaint now) and lots of bluster about law and order etc. Brown 'that bigoted woman' unable or unwilling to play that game. Cameron 'hug a hoodie' being soft-right on economics and clearly socially liberal - successful coalitions of the elites and the oldies by catering to them with triple lock etc.
Johnson tore that up, with the Brexit opportunity. Get Brexit done and don't be Corbyn gave him a new coalition and a big win. But, having torn it up, it can't be easily put back together. The Tories are stuck, they have to be anti-woke to keep some of their converts, but the economics and failure to level up and the fact he Brexit is now done makes that coalition fall apart. Pivoting to social liberalism again doesn't work that well as the elites are still pissed over Brexit and Sunak would in any case have to sack half his cabinet (and their appointment in the first place makes the social liberal suspicious of him). Labour have a route through not being too far left economically, not being too woke, not openly threatening Brexit and - after 13-14 years - not being the Tories.
In any PR system, we'd have at least four parties for the big two - left economics with social conservatism; left economics with social liberalism; right economics with social conservatism; right economics with social liberalism. The LD coalition would split between the socially liberal parties (having their own internal tensions over interventionist or laissez faire economics) and possibly some 'centre' parties that tried to sit between the four described).
Labour can win the next election by not being Tory, not owning Brexit and not being too scary to anyone. For the GE after that, who are their best challengers? It's not really yet clear and depends in part on how Starmer governs. How long before another Cameron could rebuild a socially liberal soft-right economic coalition, given Brexit? Can a soft-right socially conservative party win enough social conservatives from Labour? Is Goodwin right and there's a real opportunity for a more old Labour economic left, socially conservative party?
TLDR: There's also an opportunity for a soft-right socially liberal party, like Cameroon Tories, but the same challenges remain under FPTP and the Conservative brand is pretty badly tainted to be the brand of that, for now at least.
I've got a US road trip coming up for the Gazette, and I want to explore Virginia, Maryland maybe Kentucky, especially Civil War sites. Anyone got any recommendations? What are the most resonant battlefields? Gettysburg? Atietam?
Manassas would definitely be one of my picks, but I've not yet done any, so my opinion isn't worth much.
I'm in favour of 'promoting not attacking Britain’s distinctive identity, history, & culture'.
Afterall, our liberal (some might say woke) culture/identity is one of our great strengths.
(Is the quoted number 3 missing commas: 'Promoting, not attacking, Britains...' or is it supposed to be a campaign to not attack Britain's identity, history and culture. It's a hideously ugly turn of phrase if so.)
I've got a US road trip coming up for the Gazette, and I want to explore Virginia, Maryland maybe Kentucky, especially Civil War sites. Anyone got any recommendations? What are the most resonant battlefields? Gettysburg? Atietam?
Manassas would definitely be one of my picks, but I've not yet done any, so my opinion isn't worth much.
Of course, many ACW battles have two names, one Union and the other Confederate, thus First Manassas = what the final victors call the First Battle of Bull Run. Confused me to begin with ...
Am I alone in noticing a lightness of spirit in the nation, since Brexit? A kind of blitheness, even a sublimity of humour: we are free, and it is good, and the sun is shining
Even the most curmudgeonly Remoaners are begging to turn to the light. Shyly smiling, even as they try not to. Shrugging awkwardly, but not unhappily. Saying, Yeah, OK, maybe Brexit was the right thing BUT DON'T MAKE ME SAY SORRY
It's OK. We won't force you. You can thank us down the line
I sense a change, because the Tories are evidently about to be voted out.
It is there, isn't it? A brightness in the eyes. Optimism about Britain. We are free and sovereign. BREXIT feels GOOD
I feel good about the future of Britain under a Labour Government yes.
You're more optimistic than me.
It's so shit now things only being a little better makes me feel optimistic
I've got a US road trip coming up for the Gazette, and I want to explore Virginia, Maryland maybe Kentucky, especially Civil War sites. Anyone got any recommendations? What are the most resonant battlefields? Gettysburg? Atietam?
Gettysburg is the classic, but of course swamped by Americans on trips or paying their homage. Giant flag, giant car park, lots of coaches, etc.
In Virginia down by Richmond yacht basin there is a wealth of under-visited civil war sites that will give you a good feel for how the war played out away from the big battles.
In Kentucky, not so much by way of battle sites, but the people are mighty friendly and the Kentucky Lakes region is worth exploring (if you ignore the dead fish floating about due pollution).
Maryland, get yourself down to St Michael’s. There’s no civil war stuff down there, but if you ask for oysters they will bring you a menu with ten different types to choose from. The Maritime museum there is supposed to be worth a visit; when I was there it was underwater, which was taking being a maritime museum a tad too seriously.
Not much of a detour, check out Chattanooga and the hills just to the south, where a ferocious civil war encounter took place. The trenches are still there to see, if you take a walk in the woods.
I see America has woken up, the "What is a Woman" video on the Daily Wire tweet has now had over 10 million views.....
Musk actually retweeted it, and it now has nearly 12m views. Not sure how many of those are watching the whole thing (it’s a full 93-minute movie) but crazy numbers.
Am I alone in noticing a lightness of spirit in the nation, since Brexit? A kind of blitheness, even a sublimity of humour: we are free, and it is good, and the sun is shining
Even the most curmudgeonly Remoaners are begging to turn to the light. Shyly smiling, even as they try not to. Shrugging awkwardly, but not unhappily. Saying, Yeah, OK, maybe Brexit was the right thing BUT DON'T MAKE ME SAY SORRY
It's OK. We won't force you. You can thank us down the line
I sense a change, because the Tories are evidently about to be voted out.
It is there, isn't it? A brightness in the eyes. Optimism about Britain. We are free and sovereign. BREXIT feels GOOD
No he isn't, indeed after Blair and Cameron he is probably the 3rd most competent UK PM this century
Is this a dark joke?
I would agree with @HYUFD , but look at the competition:
Brown - indecisive May - stubborn Johnson - corrupt Truss - useless
This is my semi-regular reminder that I liked Brown and thought he made a good PM (Chancellor, on the other hand...). Given his actions during the GFC, referring to him as "indecisive" should at least be qualified.
It was Brown's spending too much and failing to regulate banks and building societies lending too much to home buyers that partly caused the UK borrowing crisis and financial crash
'The Chancellor has also come under pressure from senior figures in other parties. The leader of Reform UK backed The Telegraph’s campaign, describing the tax as an “attack on the grieving”.
Richard Tice said: “Reform UK is the only party that would scrap inheritance tax.
“It is a tax on the already taxed, is an attack on the grieving, and fuels a tax avoidance industry. We fund this by cutting the vast wasteful government spending.”
Am I alone in noticing a lightness of spirit in the nation, since Brexit? A kind of blitheness, even a sublimity of humour: we are free, and it is good, and the sun is shining
Even the most curmudgeonly Remoaners are begging to turn to the light. Shyly smiling, even as they try not to. Shrugging awkwardly, but not unhappily. Saying, Yeah, OK, maybe Brexit was the right thing BUT DON'T MAKE ME SAY SORRY
It's OK. We won't force you. You can thank us down the line
I sense a change, because the Tories are evidently about to be voted out.
It is there, isn't it? A brightness in the eyes. Optimism about Britain. We are free and sovereign. BREXIT feels GOOD
So does heroin (apparently).
Hmm...
Obtaining it requires collaboration with some shady characters It's expensive It can give a short-lived feeling of euphoria to some The come down is a bitch It can leave you much worse off and a pathetic shadow of your former self in the eyes of others
Question; if the current Inquiry leads to questions for Fishy Rishi, will he …. or maybe his Mrs…. decide the game isn’t worth it and he’s leaving Parliament. If so will Boris, who will be out of Parliament, somehow find himself the candidate for Rishi’s safe seat?
Damned nonsense. IHT abolition penalises the very people who work hard to earn money. Not Tory-votingf pensioners sitting on their thumbs as their houses go up in price, pampered by thge current IHT allowances.
Am I alone in noticing a lightness of spirit in the nation, since Brexit? A kind of blitheness, even a sublimity of humour: we are free, and it is good, and the sun is shining
Even the most curmudgeonly Remoaners are begging to turn to the light. Shyly smiling, even as they try not to. Shrugging awkwardly, but not unhappily. Saying, Yeah, OK, maybe Brexit was the right thing BUT DON'T MAKE ME SAY SORRY
It's OK. We won't force you. You can thank us down the line
I sense a change, because the Tories are evidently about to be voted out.
It is there, isn't it? A brightness in the eyes. Optimism about Britain. We are free and sovereign. BREXIT feels GOOD
Guffaw. You know when @leon is trying to convince himself. Brexit is an enormous pile of shite and he, like his idol, the Piss Artist Formally Known as Prime Minister, know that it was completely pointless. He is like a passenger who bought a ticket on the Titanic who has dressed as a woman to get in the lifeboat, watching his fellow citizens drown and still trying to convince himself that the ticket he bought to sail first class was really good value after all.
I've got a US road trip coming up for the Gazette, and I want to explore Virginia, Maryland maybe Kentucky, especially Civil War sites. Anyone got any recommendations? What are the most resonant battlefields? Gettysburg? Atietam?
Gettysburg is the classic, but of course swamped by Americans on trips or paying their homage. Giant flag, giant car park, lots of coaches, etc.
In Virginia down by Richmond yacht basin there is a wealth of under-visited civil war sites that will give you a good feel for how the war played out away from the big battles.
In Kentucky, not so much by way of battle sites, but the people are mighty friendly and the Kentucky Lakes region is worth exploring (if you ignore the dead fish floating about due pollution).
Maryland, get yourself down to St Michael’s. There’s no civil war stuff down there, but if you ask for oysters they will bring you a menu with ten different types to choose from. The Maritime museum there is supposed to be worth a visit; when I was there it was underwater, which was taking being a maritime museum a tad too seriously.
Not much of a detour, check out Chattanooga and the hills just to the south, where a ferocious civil war encounter took place. The trenches are still there to see, if you take a walk in the woods.
Am I alone in noticing a lightness of spirit in the nation, since Brexit? A kind of blitheness, even a sublimity of humour: we are free, and it is good, and the sun is shining
Even the most curmudgeonly Remoaners are begging to turn to the light. Shyly smiling, even as they try not to. Shrugging awkwardly, but not unhappily. Saying, Yeah, OK, maybe Brexit was the right thing BUT DON'T MAKE ME SAY SORRY
It's OK. We won't force you. You can thank us down the line
I sense a change, because the Tories are evidently about to be voted out.
It is there, isn't it? A brightness in the eyes. Optimism about Britain. We are free and sovereign. BREXIT feels GOOD
Guffaw. You know when @leon is trying to convince himself. Brexit is an enormous pile of shite and he, like his idol, the Piss Artist Formally Known as Prime Minister, know that it was completely pointless. He is like a passenger who bought a ticket on the Titanic who has dressed as a woman to get in the lifeboat, watching his fellow citizens drown and still trying to convince himself that the ticket he bought to sail first class was really good value after all.
It's worth asking why the Brexit-despairers feel compelled to lie about how terrible everything is though.
Chris Patten went viral for saying that our per capita GDP is lower than Lithuania "for heaven's sake". Even if it were true it's such a revealing comment about his de haut en bas view of the rest of Europe.
Surely it penalises those who wish to inherit money so they don't have to work hard?
You don't pay inheritance tax on money you have earned.
Personally I wouldn't scrap it completely but would raise the threshold to £1 million for all estates. That way only the very richest pay it and an inheritance can be passed tax free to most children and grandchildren but not to the extent you could live comfortably without ever working
'The Chancellor has also come under pressure from senior figures in other parties. The leader of Reform UK backed The Telegraph’s campaign, describing the tax as an “attack on the grieving”.
Richard Tice said: “Reform UK is the only party that would scrap inheritance tax.
“It is a tax on the already taxed, is an attack on the grieving, and fuels a tax avoidance industry. We fund this by cutting the vast wasteful government spending.”
I think a review of inheritance tax on those who have taken risks to become wealthy by having businesses that employ people should be reviewed. As for those who want to cash in on grand mama's £2M pound house in Putney that she bought in 1959 for twopence halfpenny I am not so sure.
It looks very likely that we are doomed to have a Labour government who will soak "the rich" to further bolster public sector final salary pension schemes, so I guess the best idea is to move as much as possible to business interests outside UK
Surely it penalises those who wish to inherit money so they don't have to work hard?
You don't pay inheritance tax on money you have earned.
To be fair, usually it is one's representatives, the executors, who pay the inheritance tax. But that isn't always the case. And if one is dead, who cares?
This hysrerical bleating about intrusion into family life and finances is nonsense anyway as paperwork is all necessary to get probate, place the will and account on public register, and authorise payments to the beneficiaries, even if zero IHT is payable.
The IHT bit is an add on - annoying to fill in, but not in itself qualitatively different.
Surely it penalises those who wish to inherit money so they don't have to work hard?
You don't pay inheritance tax on money you have earned.
Besides, the main store of wealth for most people is houses, and the only way people work hard to make house prices rises is writing cross letters to the council objecting to planning applications.
Question; if the current Inquiry leads to questions for Fishy Rishi, will he …. or maybe his Mrs…. decide the game isn’t worth it and he’s leaving Parliament. If so will Boris, who will be out of Parliament, somehow find himself the candidate for Rishi’s safe seat?
Any seat Johnson is the candidate for will no longer be a 'safe seat'.
I've got a US road trip coming up for the Gazette, and I want to explore Virginia, Maryland maybe Kentucky, especially Civil War sites. Anyone got any recommendations? What are the most resonant battlefields? Gettysburg? Atietam?
Gettysburg is the classic, but of course swamped by Americans on trips or paying their homage. Giant flag, giant car park, lots of coaches, etc.
In Virginia down by Richmond yacht basin there is a wealth of under-visited civil war sites that will give you a good feel for how the war played out away from the big battles.
In Kentucky, not so much by way of battle sites, but the people are mighty friendly and the Kentucky Lakes region is worth exploring (if you ignore the dead fish floating about due pollution).
Maryland, get yourself down to St Michael’s. There’s no civil war stuff down there, but if you ask for oysters they will bring you a menu with ten different types to choose from. The Maritime museum there is supposed to be worth a visit; when I was there it was underwater, which was taking being a maritime museum a tad too seriously.
Not much of a detour, check out Chattanooga and the hills just to the south, where a ferocious civil war encounter took place. The trenches are still there to see, if you take a walk in the woods.
Oooh, really useful. Ta
Don't know if you read much fiction, but I can recommend Bernard Cornwell's Starbuck series. Only four books and didn't get much past the middle of the war as his character was fighting for the South, and things didn't go so well for them after '63, but provide a good 'history' in an accessible way.
Am I alone in noticing a lightness of spirit in the nation, since Brexit? A kind of blitheness, even a sublimity of humour: we are free, and it is good, and the sun is shining
Even the most curmudgeonly Remoaners are begging to turn to the light. Shyly smiling, even as they try not to. Shrugging awkwardly, but not unhappily. Saying, Yeah, OK, maybe Brexit was the right thing BUT DON'T MAKE ME SAY SORRY
It's OK. We won't force you. You can thank us down the line
I sense a change, because the Tories are evidently about to be voted out.
It is there, isn't it? A brightness in the eyes. Optimism about Britain. We are free and sovereign. BREXIT feels GOOD
Guffaw. You know when @leon is trying to convince himself. Brexit is an enormous pile of shite and he, like his idol, the Piss Artist Formally Known as Prime Minister, know that it was completely pointless. He is like a passenger who bought a ticket on the Titanic who has dressed as a woman to get in the lifeboat, watching his fellow citizens drown and still trying to convince himself that the ticket he bought to sail first class was really good value after all.
It's worth asking why the Brexit-despairers feel compelled to lie about how terrible everything is though.
Chris Patten went viral for saying that our per capita GDP is lower than Lithuania "for heaven's sake". Even if it were true it's such a revealing comment about his de haut en bas view of the rest of Europe.
William, even you must be due for a further trip down the road to Damascus. Brexit has brought this country zero benefit, and significant disbenefit. Only the terminally deranged and the last redoubters of the condition known as Closed Mind Syndrome really believe that Brexit was anything more than a massive con trick played out on a gullible electorate, ably assisted by a hostile power with significant expertise in social media manipulation.
Damned nonsense. IHT abolition penalises the very people who work hard to earn money. Not Tory-votingf pensioners sitting on their thumbs as their houses go up in price, pampered by thge current IHT allowances.
Absolutely. The Roman Empire lasted thousands of years largely funded by inheritance tax. It’s one of the best taxes there is. Not least because you only get the bill once you are beyond caring about it.
Damned nonsense. IHT abolition penalises the very people who work hard to earn money. Not Tory-votingf pensioners sitting on their thumbs as their houses go up in price, pampered by thge current IHT allowances.
You do realise the AVERAGE detached home in Scotland is worth £349,000 now? So over the £325k IHT threshold too.
Damned nonsense. IHT abolition penalises the very people who work hard to earn money. Not Tory-votingf pensioners sitting on their thumbs as their houses go up in price, pampered by thge current IHT allowances.
Particularly retired lecturers and other "public servants" who lounge about benefitting from final salary pension schemes that are essentially subsidised by the young and the poorer members of the private sector workforce eh Carnyx?
I've got a US road trip coming up for the Gazette, and I want to explore Virginia, Maryland maybe Kentucky, especially Civil War sites. Anyone got any recommendations? What are the most resonant battlefields? Gettysburg? Atietam?
Gettysburg is the classic, but of course swamped by Americans on trips or paying their homage. Giant flag, giant car park, lots of coaches, etc.
In Virginia down by Richmond yacht basin there is a wealth of under-visited civil war sites that will give you a good feel for how the war played out away from the big battles.
In Kentucky, not so much by way of battle sites, but the people are mighty friendly and the Kentucky Lakes region is worth exploring (if you ignore the dead fish floating about due pollution).
Maryland, get yourself down to St Michael’s. There’s no civil war stuff down there, but if you ask for oysters they will bring you a menu with ten different types to choose from. The Maritime museum there is supposed to be worth a visit; when I was there it was underwater, which was taking being a maritime museum a tad too seriously.
Not much of a detour, check out Chattanooga and the hills just to the south, where a ferocious civil war encounter took place. The trenches are still there to see, if you take a walk in the woods.
Oooh, really useful. Ta
Here’s the dog, amid what’s left of the Chattanooga and Chickamauga trenches
Damned nonsense. IHT abolition penalises the very people who work hard to earn money. Not Tory-votingf pensioners sitting on their thumbs as their houses go up in price, pampered by thge current IHT allowances.
You do realise the AVERAGE detached home in Scotland is worth £349,000 now? So over the £325k IHT threshold too.
Still, if the country does ever have a spare £5bn to cut taxes with, it would benefit people who work for their living a lot more to cut NI or income tax rates, then it would do to cut IHT.
I do have to admire the work of the Tory Press and politicians in convincing so many people that IHT is the more objectionable tax. A successful opinion-forming campaign on their part.
Interesting. He's right that there's stress within the main party coalitions: - Labour are too woke for some traditional supporters, even if they have a farily coherent soft-left economic agenda (some traditional supporters would prefer harder left economics) - Conservatives are too gammon for some traditional supporters (the higher educated)
The successful people have mainly ridden fine lines. Blair, socially liberal, but not too woke (civil partnerships, but gay marriage a step too far - that seems quaint now) and lots of bluster about law and order etc. Brown 'that bigoted woman' unable or unwilling to play that game. Cameron 'hug a hoodie' being soft-right on economics and clearly socially liberal - successful coalitions of the elites and the oldies by catering to them with triple lock etc.
Johnson tore that up, with the Brexit opportunity. Get Brexit done and don't be Corbyn gave him a new coalition and a big win. But, having torn it up, it can't be easily put back together. The Tories are stuck, they have to be anti-woke to keep some of their converts, but the economics and failure to level up and the fact he Brexit is now done makes that coalition fall apart. Pivoting to social liberalism again doesn't work that well as the elites are still pissed over Brexit and Sunak would in any case have to sack half his cabinet (and their appointment in the first place makes the social liberal suspicious of him). Labour have a route through not being too far left economically, not being too woke, not openly threatening Brexit and - after 13-14 years - not being the Tories.
In any PR system, we'd have at least four parties for the big two - left economics with social conservatism; left economics with social liberalism; right economics with social conservatism; right economics with social liberalism. The LD coalition would split between the socially liberal parties (having their own internal tensions over interventionist or laissez faire economics) and possibly some 'centre' parties that tried to sit between the four described).
Labour can win the next election by not being Tory, not owning Brexit and not being too scary to anyone. For the GE after that, who are their best challengers? It's not really yet clear and depends in part on how Starmer governs. How long before another Cameron could rebuild a socially liberal soft-right economic coalition, given Brexit? Can a soft-right socially conservative party win enough social conservatives from Labour? Is Goodwin right and there's a real opportunity for a more old Labour economic left, socially conservative party?
TLDR: There's also an opportunity for a soft-right socially liberal party, like Cameroon Tories, but the same challenges remain under FPTP and the Conservative brand is pretty badly tainted to be the brand of that, for now at least.
Very interesting thoughts, Mr Selebian. But I think you go wrong in talking about "parties" once we have some form of PR. Espcially STV and multi-member constituencies.
Better by far to talk about "groups". I could easily vote for a candidate who supported my favourite policies and was prepared to team up with like-minded MPs to get those policies through.
The particular party label he was wearing would cease to be important. He would not support policiesthat I positively disliked.
And in that way we get the government (more exactly, policies) that we, as a people, want to see.
I see America has woken up, the "What is a Woman" video on the Daily Wire tweet has now had over 10 million views.....
Musk actually retweeted it, and it now has nearly 12m views. Not sure how many of those are watching the whole thing (it’s a full 93-minute movie) but crazy numbers.
If I, as a middle aged senior manager within my company, met an underage schoolgirl, befriended her, employed her at my company on graduation, then began an affair with her while she was in my employ, using company expenses to pay for jollies and using company resources to advance her career, then covered it up and lied to HR when asked about it, I would be looking at a sacking and I wouldn't rate my chances of future employment very highly.
Everything about this, from the age and power gap to the misuse of company resources and lying about it when confronted screams wrong, even if you want to hang onto the threadbare excuse that it was an affair that took place between two consenting adults.
It's simply not acceptable in a modern workplace.
On a related note, who remembers this corker of an ad from We Buy any Car on how to create the perfect modern workplace?
The whole Schofield thing is bizarre. Who gives a tiny fuckticle?
As far as I can see he hasn't even done anything illegal. Was he illadvised or inethical, sure, probs, but he has done no more than what Mrs Macron did to young Emannuel, and he is President of France and not a breakfast TV presenter
If I, as a middle aged senior manager within my company, met an underage schoolgirl, befriended her, employed her at my company on graduation, then began an affair with her while she was in my employ, using company expenses to pay for jollies and using company resources to advance her career, then covered it up and lied to HR when asked about it, I would be looking at a sacking and I wouldn't rate my chances of future employment very highly.
Everything about this, from the age and power gap to the misuse of company resources and lying about it when confronted screams wrong, even if you want to hang onto the threadbare excuse that it was an affair that took place between two consenting adults.
It's simply not acceptable in a modern workplace.
On a related note, who remembers this corker of an ad from We Buy any Car on how to create the perfect modern workplace?
Maybe, but even if you did all that why should anyone outside your company give a toss? This story has obsessed the media for weeks now. It is fantastically picayune. Move on
If I, as a middle aged senior manager within my company, met an underage schoolgirl, befriended her, employed her at my company on graduation, then began an affair with her while she was in my employ, using company expenses to pay for jollies and using company resources to advance her career, then covered it up and lied to HR when asked about it, I would be looking at a sacking and I wouldn't rate my chances of future employment very highly.
Everything about this, from the age and power gap to the misuse of company resources and lying about it when confronted screams wrong, even if you want to hang onto the threadbare excuse that it was an affair that took place between two consenting adults.
It's simply not acceptable in a modern workplace.
On a related note, who remembers this corker of an ad from We Buy any Car on how to create the perfect modern workplace?
If I, as a middle aged senior manager within my company, met an underage schoolgirl, befriended her, employed her at my company on graduation, then began an affair with her while she was in my employ, using company expenses to pay for jollies and using company resources to advance her career, then covered it up and lied to HR when asked about it, I would be looking at a sacking and I wouldn't rate my chances of future employment very highly.
Everything about this, from the age and power gap to the misuse of company resources and lying about it when confronted screams wrong, even if you want to hang onto the threadbare excuse that it was an affair that took place between two consenting adults.
It's simply not acceptable in a modern workplace.
On a related note, who remembers this corker of an ad from We Buy any Car on how to create the perfect modern workplace?
But Schofield has been (effectively) sacked and doesn't rate his chances of future employment very highly. Would you also expect to be pursued by the media for an extended period after your sacking?
I've got a US road trip coming up for the Gazette, and I want to explore Virginia, Maryland maybe Kentucky, especially Civil War sites. Anyone got any recommendations? What are the most resonant battlefields? Gettysburg? Atietam?
Gettysburg is the classic, but of course swamped by Americans on trips or paying their homage. Giant flag, giant car park, lots of coaches, etc.
In Virginia down by Richmond yacht basin there is a wealth of under-visited civil war sites that will give you a good feel for how the war played out away from the big battles.
In Kentucky, not so much by way of battle sites, but the people are mighty friendly and the Kentucky Lakes region is worth exploring (if you ignore the dead fish floating about due pollution).
Maryland, get yourself down to St Michael’s. There’s no civil war stuff down there, but if you ask for oysters they will bring you a menu with ten different types to choose from. The Maritime museum there is supposed to be worth a visit; when I was there it was underwater, which was taking being a maritime museum a tad too seriously.
Not much of a detour, check out Chattanooga and the hills just to the south, where a ferocious civil war encounter took place. The trenches are still there to see, if you take a walk in the woods.
Oooh, really useful. Ta
Here’s the dog, amid what’s left of the Chattanooga and Chickamauga trenches
I love me an actual trench
You can see them at Gallipoli as well. Indeed at Gallipoli you can easily find pieces of shrapnel and old bullets and stuff. Haunting
The whole Schofield thing is bizarre. Who gives a tiny fuckticle?
As far as I can see he hasn't even done anything illegal. Illadvised or inethical, sure, but he has done no more than what Mrs Macron did to young Emannuel, and he is President of France and not a breakfast TV presenter
Absurd
I think part of it is that newspapers can see where the clicks are going by the minute these days. Just like the Harry & Megan debacle, the tabloids are locked in a vicious cycle with their readership where they each amplify the worst aspects of the other, with whoever gets caught up in the current news cycle just a token to be chewed up and eventually spat out by the maelstrom.
If I, as a middle aged senior manager within my company, met an underage schoolgirl, befriended her, employed her at my company on graduation, then began an affair with her while she was in my employ, using company expenses to pay for jollies and using company resources to advance her career, then covered it up and lied to HR when asked about it, I would be looking at a sacking and I wouldn't rate my chances of future employment very highly.
Everything about this, from the age and power gap to the misuse of company resources and lying about it when confronted screams wrong, even if you want to hang onto the threadbare excuse that it was an affair that took place between two consenting adults.
It's simply not acceptable in a modern workplace.
On a related note, who remembers this corker of an ad from We Buy any Car on how to create the perfect modern workplace?
Maybe, but even if you did all that why should anyone outside your company give a toss? This story has obsessed the media for weeks now. It is fantastically picayune. Move on
The media are obsessed with the media, and it does appear that this particular individual has managed to upset a lot of people in his industry.
Those 50% of voters are quite correct. It's a very badly designed tax, which falls capriciously on some estates and not others for no good reason. It's easy for the wealthy to get around, but not for the modestly well-off. The rate is too high, the allowances too arbitrary.
It shouldn't be abolished, but it should certainly be reformed.
If I, as a middle aged senior manager within my company, met an underage schoolgirl, befriended her, employed her at my company on graduation, then began an affair with her while she was in my employ, using company expenses to pay for jollies and using company resources to advance her career, then covered it up and lied to HR when asked about it, I would be looking at a sacking and I wouldn't rate my chances of future employment very highly.
Everything about this, from the age and power gap to the misuse of company resources and lying about it when confronted screams wrong, even if you want to hang onto the threadbare excuse that it was an affair that took place between two consenting adults.
It's simply not acceptable in a modern workplace.
On a related note, who remembers this corker of an ad from We Buy any Car on how to create the perfect modern workplace?
Maybe, but even if you did all that why should anyone outside your company give a toss? This story has obsessed the media for weeks now. It is fantastically picayune. Move on
That is true.
However, I'm a dreary grey middle manager, not a national celebrity.
My affairs are not national news, and if I behaved in such a manner I would expect to be sacked and quickly forgotten about.
Finding out that one of the most famous people on daytime TV has (allegedly) been abusing his position for years, is most definitely national news.
Those 50% of voters are quite correct. It's a very badly designed tax, which falls capriciously on some estates and not others for no good reason. It's easy for the wealthy to get around, but not for the modestly well-off. The rate is too high, the allowances too arbitrary.
It shouldn't be abolished, but it should certainly be reformed.
It might be because your posts are a bit less frequent these days, or because the moderate Tory MPs seem to be so marginalised, but your comments now have the air of a lone voice of sane Conservatism, spoken into a howling maelstrom of Conservative discourse ever more separated from reality.
The trans activist who disrupted a talk by Prof Kathleen Stock is the daughter of a council boss who introduced a four-day working week.
Riz Possnett’s mother Liz Watts was working on a PhD thesis on the topic when South Cambridgeshire District Council last year became the first to implement a trial to cut hours while staff remain on the same pay.
So much for just being a poor he/her/they, from a poor family. Mum and dad extremely well connected people, no wonder they can afford the swimming pool and hot tub.
I've got a US road trip coming up for the Gazette, and I want to explore Virginia, Maryland maybe Kentucky, especially Civil War sites. Anyone got any recommendations? What are the most resonant battlefields? Gettysburg? Atietam?
The island is in today's West Virginia, but battle took place in Ohio; VERY peaceful spot nowadays.
BUT conveniently located near Blennerhasset Island, which played a key role in Burr's Conspiracy (whatever the heck THAT was). Visit to reconstructed manor house and grounds features a fun boat ride.
> Gettysburg well worth visit, chock full of tourists and ticky-tacky, but also much of genuine interest; just seeing the majestic lay of the land gives you a feel for the epic nature of the 3-day battle. Beautiful in its own right.
> Harpers Ferry and Antietam (close to each other) and both well worth visiting.
> Fredericksburg by contrast is NOT spread across the landscape, but rather small in scope. Again, easy to visualize what hell was like there back in the day; also famous for the assault of Union's Irish Brigade (and number of other units) against Confederates entrenched on Marye's Heights;
"Wherever there's Kellys there's trouble, " said Burke. "Wherever fighting's the game, Or a spice of danger in grown man's work," Said Kelly, " you'll find my name." "And do we fall short, " said Burke, getting mad, "When it's touch and go for life?" Said Shea, "It's thirty-odd years, bedad, Since I charged to drum and fife Up Marye's Heights, and my old canteen Stopped a rebel ball on its way; There were blossoms of blood on our sprigs of green — Kelly and Burke and Shea — And the dead didn't brag." "Well, here's to the flag!" Said Kelly and Burke and Shea.
Those 50% of voters are quite correct. It's a very badly designed tax, which falls capriciously on some estates and not others for no good reason. It's easy for the wealthy to get around, but not for the modestly well-off. The rate is too high, the allowances too arbitrary.
It shouldn't be abolished, but it should certainly be reformed.
That’s not the point.
The point is that the campaign simply perpetuates the now deeply entrenched view of this government as only interested in the very wealthy.
Those 50% of voters are quite correct. It's a very badly designed tax, which falls capriciously on some estates and not others for no good reason. It's easy for the wealthy to get around, but not for the modestly well-off. The rate is too high, the allowances too arbitrary.
It shouldn't be abolished, but it should certainly be reformed.
Unfortunately, a reformed IHT would undoubtedly hit the very wealthy more and the merely well off less. And I very much doubt that is what the campaign is about.
In the meantime, is abolition really the best use of X billion pounds?
If I, as a middle aged senior manager within my company, met an underage schoolgirl, befriended her, employed her at my company on graduation, then began an affair with her while she was in my employ, using company expenses to pay for jollies and using company resources to advance her career, then covered it up and lied to HR when asked about it, I would be looking at a sacking and I wouldn't rate my chances of future employment very highly.
Everything about this, from the age and power gap to the misuse of company resources and lying about it when confronted screams wrong, even if you want to hang onto the threadbare excuse that it was an affair that took place between two consenting adults.
It's simply not acceptable in a modern workplace.
On a related note, who remembers this corker of an ad from We Buy any Car on how to create the perfect modern workplace?
Maybe, but even if you did all that why should anyone outside your company give a toss? This story has obsessed the media for weeks now. It is fantastically picayune. Move on
That is true.
However, I'm a dreary grey middle manager, not a national celebrity.
My affairs are not national news, and if I behaved in such a manner I would expect to be sacked and quickly forgotten about.
Finding out that one of the most famous people on daytime TV has (allegedly) been abusing his position for years, is most definitely national news.
For a few weeks, though?
I think Leon is broadly right on this. A man has acted inappropriately, he's been sacked, and his career is over. He's a famous man, so it gets reported.
But this has been rolling on for ages and drowning out far more significant stories, such as the original subject of this thread.
There's also a non-negligible risk that said famous bloke will be hounded to an early grave over it. I don't think much of him either, but it's hardly proportionate.
If I, as a middle aged senior manager within my company, met an underage schoolgirl, befriended her, employed her at my company on graduation, then began an affair with her while she was in my employ, using company expenses to pay for jollies and using company resources to advance her career, then covered it up and lied to HR when asked about it, I would be looking at a sacking and I wouldn't rate my chances of future employment very highly.
Everything about this, from the age and power gap to the misuse of company resources and lying about it when confronted screams wrong, even if you want to hang onto the threadbare excuse that it was an affair that took place between two consenting adults.
It's simply not acceptable in a modern workplace.
On a related note, who remembers this corker of an ad from We Buy any Car on how to create the perfect modern workplace?
Maybe, but even if you did all that why should anyone outside your company give a toss? This story has obsessed the media for weeks now. It is fantastically picayune. Move on
The media are obsessed with the media, and it does appear that this particular individual has managed to upset a lot of people in his industry.
Media obsessed by the media & twitter.....
I think it is also a lot the holier than thou tone ITV has taken on so many occasions, which means a lot of people in the biz are pissed off at the hyprocrisy / have experienced double standards.
Why is Inheritance Tax levied on estates and not recipients? It seems it would be much more logical for the recipients of inheritance to be taxed, rather than the estates themselves.
And why not simply have a lifetime gift allowance, that includes pre-inheritance gifts?
The trans activist who disrupted a talk by Prof Kathleen Stock is the daughter of a council boss who introduced a four-day working week.
Riz Possnett’s mother Liz Watts was working on a PhD thesis on the topic when South Cambridgeshire District Council last year became the first to implement a trial to cut hours while staff remain on the same pay.
So much for just being a poor he/her/they, from a poor family. Mum and dad extremely well connected people, no wonder they can afford the swimming pool and hot tub.
Poor people can’t afford to have luxury beliefs. They get fired if they get arrested and miss a shift. They’re almost all very upper-middle-class.
Section 21(4)(b) does not, and cannot, take away the right of the government (or anyone else being asked to produce evidence for an inquiry) to take the matter to court. That is particularly so where, as here, the fundamental question is whether the chair is acting ultra vires. The chair does not have the power to decide the limits of her own jurisdiction or powers.
I suspect that Cyclefree may have taken a different view about this if she was one of the named individuals and the chair was attempting to force her to hand over WhatsApp messages about private family matters on the off chance that they may, at some undefined point in the future, become relevant to the inquiry.
My tentative view is that the inquiry chair has drawn her order far too widely. As it stands, it clearly requires the production of irrelevant material. Section 21 of the Act does not give her that power. If her order was more tightly drawn, specifying, for example, that she wanted communications that were about the government's response to Covid-19 (as specified in the original Rule 9 request), there would be no problem. But she is demanding everything without any consideration as to whether or not it is relevant, on the basis that it might be relevant, either now or in the future. Such a request requires, on pain of criminal sanctions, production of communications that are plainly not relevant and could never be relevant to the inquiry. I doubt that such a request would be allowed in a civil case as the courts don't like litigants going on fishing expeditions. The legislation clearly says that the chair cannot require individuals to produce anything they would not be ordered to produce in a civil case. However, that is only a tentative view based on limited information.
I will be interested to see what the courts decide on this one.
Which civil case has a scope comparable to that granted to this inquiry ?
Those 50% of voters are quite correct. It's a very badly designed tax, which falls capriciously on some estates and not others for no good reason. It's easy for the wealthy to get around, but not for the modestly well-off. The rate is too high, the allowances too arbitrary.
It shouldn't be abolished, but it should certainly be reformed.
That’s not the point.
The point is that the campaign simply perpetuates the now deeply entrenched view of this government as only interested in the very wealthy.
True, although of course it's not the government which is proposing to abolish it.
I've got a US road trip coming up for the Gazette, and I want to explore Virginia, Maryland maybe Kentucky, especially Civil War sites. Anyone got any recommendations? What are the most resonant battlefields? Gettysburg? Atietam?
The island is in today's West Virginia, but battle took place in Ohio; VERY peaceful spot nowadays.
BUT conveniently located near Blennerhasset Island, which played a key role in Burr's Conspiracy (whatever the heck THAT was). Visit to reconstructed manor house and grounds features a fun boat ride.
> Gettysburg well worth visit, chock full of tourists and ticky-tacky, but also much of genuine interest; just seeing the majestic lay of the land gives you a feel for the epic nature of the 3-day battle. Beautiful in its own right.
> Harpers Ferry and Antietam (close to each other) and both well worth visiting.
> Fredericksburg by contrast is NOT spread across the landscape, but rather small in scope. Again, easy to visualize what hell was like there back in the day; also famous for the assault of Union's Irish Brigade (and number of other units) against Confederates entrenched on Marye's Heights;
"Wherever there's Kellys there's trouble, " said Burke. "Wherever fighting's the game, Or a spice of danger in grown man's work," Said Kelly, " you'll find my name." "And do we fall short, " said Burke, getting mad, "When it's touch and go for life?" Said Shea, "It's thirty-odd years, bedad, Since I charged to drum and fife Up Marye's Heights, and my old canteen Stopped a rebel ball on its way; There were blossoms of blood on our sprigs of green — Kelly and Burke and Shea — And the dead didn't brag." "Well, here's to the flag!" Said Kelly and Burke and Shea.
Thanks!
Anything else in the area while I am tootling around? I've got 8 or 9 days (tho I also want a couple of days in DC - never been)
If I, as a middle aged senior manager within my company, met an underage schoolgirl, befriended her, employed her at my company on graduation, then began an affair with her while she was in my employ, using company expenses to pay for jollies and using company resources to advance her career, then covered it up and lied to HR when asked about it, I would be looking at a sacking and I wouldn't rate my chances of future employment very highly.
Everything about this, from the age and power gap to the misuse of company resources and lying about it when confronted screams wrong, even if you want to hang onto the threadbare excuse that it was an affair that took place between two consenting adults.
It's simply not acceptable in a modern workplace.
On a related note, who remembers this corker of an ad from We Buy any Car on how to create the perfect modern workplace?
Perhaps it's not the fairest thing in the world to write a piece of imaginative fiction like that, and just imply that Schofield did the equivalent.
If you want to make accusations against Schofield, probably better to state them explicitly and then cite chapter and verse to back them up. Though admittedly that would be a lot harder than what you did.
Talking of chapter and verse, funnily enough the BBC carried a clip of one of Schofield's former colleagues quoting John, chapter 8, verse 7. Not a popular verse on social media, for obvious reasons.
Excellent question. I don't think it's the "keep things open, save the economy, who cares if a few oldies die" thing. That's pretty common knowledge and Rishi has presented it as a virtue.
Didn't Lord Someoneorother resign because the government was not taking Covid-related fraud seriously? That could prove troublesome if he had Whatsapped hard evidence rather than a vague sense of good practice.
The trans activist who disrupted a talk by Prof Kathleen Stock is the daughter of a council boss who introduced a four-day working week.
Riz Possnett’s mother Liz Watts was working on a PhD thesis on the topic when South Cambridgeshire District Council last year became the first to implement a trial to cut hours while staff remain on the same pay.
So much for just being a poor he/her/they, from a poor family. Mum and dad extremely well connected people, no wonder they can afford the swimming pool and hot tub.
Poor people can’t afford to have luxury beliefs. They get fired if they get arrested and miss a shift. They’re almost all very upper-middle-class.
The fact Greta parents are also super well connected wealthy people in Sweden is something rarely mentioned.
Those 50% of voters are quite correct. It's a very badly designed tax, which falls capriciously on some estates and not others for no good reason. It's easy for the wealthy to get around, but not for the modestly well-off. The rate is too high, the allowances too arbitrary.
It shouldn't be abolished, but it should certainly be reformed.
It might be because your posts are a bit less frequent these days, or because the moderate Tory MPs seem to be so marginalised, but your comments now have the air of a lone voice of sane Conservatism, spoken into a howling maelstrom of Conservative discourse ever more separated from reality.
That's certainly how it feels to me!
(Of course there are many sane Conservatives, but most of them are no longer supporters of the current party).
If I, as a middle aged senior manager within my company, met an underage schoolgirl, befriended her, employed her at my company on graduation, then began an affair with her while she was in my employ, using company expenses to pay for jollies and using company resources to advance her career, then covered it up and lied to HR when asked about it, I would be looking at a sacking and I wouldn't rate my chances of future employment very highly.
Everything about this, from the age and power gap to the misuse of company resources and lying about it when confronted screams wrong, even if you want to hang onto the threadbare excuse that it was an affair that took place between two consenting adults.
It's simply not acceptable in a modern workplace.
On a related note, who remembers this corker of an ad from We Buy any Car on how to create the perfect modern workplace?
Maybe, but even if you did all that why should anyone outside your company give a toss? This story has obsessed the media for weeks now. It is fantastically picayune. Move on
That is true.
However, I'm a dreary grey middle manager, not a national celebrity.
My affairs are not national news, and if I behaved in such a manner I would expect to be sacked and quickly forgotten about.
Finding out that one of the most famous people on daytime TV has (allegedly) been abusing his position for years, is most definitely national news.
It is not national news in terms of front page headlines. It's not even something truly grotesque and troubling like Jimmy Savile
It is seriously inappropriate but probably not illegal behaviour by a quite well known TV dude, it should be page 10 and no more in the old News of the World, for one weekend
Yet we are treating it like a 2nd front in the Ukraine War. Ridiculous. And boring
Those 50% of voters are quite correct. It's a very badly designed tax, which falls capriciously on some estates and not others for no good reason. It's easy for the wealthy to get around, but not for the modestly well-off. The rate is too high, the allowances too arbitrary.
It shouldn't be abolished, but it should certainly be reformed.
That’s not the point.
The point is that the campaign simply perpetuates the now deeply entrenched view of this government as only interested in the very wealthy.
True, although of course it's not the government which is proposing to abolish it.
Also true, but it’s a kind of government-in-exile who are, and they have important media support, so it gets picked up into general view of “the Tories”.
Have we ever seen anything like this? There is a reasonably well organised grouping inside the ruling party that devoutly wishes the PM to stand down, and they have money and media support.
I've got a US road trip coming up for the Gazette, and I want to explore Virginia, Maryland maybe Kentucky, especially Civil War sites. Anyone got any recommendations? What are the most resonant battlefields? Gettysburg? Atietam?
Gettysburg is the classic, but of course swamped by Americans on trips or paying their homage. Giant flag, giant car park, lots of coaches, etc.
In Virginia down by Richmond yacht basin there is a wealth of under-visited civil war sites that will give you a good feel for how the war played out away from the big battles.
In Kentucky, not so much by way of battle sites, but the people are mighty friendly and the Kentucky Lakes region is worth exploring (if you ignore the dead fish floating about due pollution).
Maryland, get yourself down to St Michael’s. There’s no civil war stuff down there, but if you ask for oysters they will bring you a menu with ten different types to choose from. The Maritime museum there is supposed to be worth a visit; when I was there it was underwater, which was taking being a maritime museum a tad too seriously.
Not much of a detour, check out Chattanooga and the hills just to the south, where a ferocious civil war encounter took place. The trenches are still there to see, if you take a walk in the woods.
Oooh, really useful. Ta
Don't know if you read much fiction, but I can recommend Bernard Cornwell's Starbuck series. Only four books and didn't get much past the middle of the war as his character was fighting for the South, and things didn't go so well for them after '63, but provide a good 'history' in an accessible way.
The Civil War section of Chernow's Grant biography is probably more succinct.
Vicksburg (which remains quite a small town) might be an interesting visit. A turning point of the war.
Also, Leon might well take the Disraeli line - “When I want to read a good book, I write one.”
I see America has woken up, the "What is a Woman" video on the Daily Wire tweet has now had over 10 million views.....
10 million views does not mean 10 million people watched a 90 minute documentary.
I remember back in the old days when people used to get excited by how many views (and rate of increase) a hit piece video on Corbyn or Boris was getting....
If I, as a middle aged senior manager within my company, met an underage schoolgirl, befriended her, employed her at my company on graduation, then began an affair with her while she was in my employ, using company expenses to pay for jollies and using company resources to advance her career, then covered it up and lied to HR when asked about it, I would be looking at a sacking and I wouldn't rate my chances of future employment very highly.
Everything about this, from the age and power gap to the misuse of company resources and lying about it when confronted screams wrong, even if you want to hang onto the threadbare excuse that it was an affair that took place between two consenting adults.
It's simply not acceptable in a modern workplace.
On a related note, who remembers this corker of an ad from We Buy any Car on how to create the perfect modern workplace?
Maybe, but even if you did all that why should anyone outside your company give a toss? This story has obsessed the media for weeks now. It is fantastically picayune. Move on
The media are obsessed with the media, and it does appear that this particular individual has managed to upset a lot of people in his industry.
Media obsessed by the media & twitter.....
I think it is also a lot the holier than thou tone ITV has taken on so many occasions, which means a lot of people in the biz are pissed off at the hyprocrisy / have experienced double standards.
Yes. Way too many ‘journalists’ at national publications, are very online and spend their entire working lives looking for ‘stories’ on Twitter. The sad thing is that this clickbait works, and generates income much more than does serious journalism.
Talking of Twitter, 23m views now for the Matt Walsh transgender documentary.
If I, as a middle aged senior manager within my company, met an underage schoolgirl, befriended her, employed her at my company on graduation, then began an affair with her while she was in my employ, using company expenses to pay for jollies and using company resources to advance her career, then covered it up and lied to HR when asked about it, I would be looking at a sacking and I wouldn't rate my chances of future employment very highly...
As that's pretty well how it's turned out, what more is to be said ?
Why is Inheritance Tax levied on estates and not recipients? It seems it would be much more logical for the recipients of inheritance to be taxed, rather than the estates themselves.
And why not simply have a lifetime gift allowance, that includes pre-inheritance gifts?
You're absolutely right.
But, of course, the people who complain most loudly about Inheritance Tax aren't really complaining because of their deep sympathy for poor old grandma, whose dearest last wish is to pass on her earned estate (which definitely didn't result from house price rises since 1970 but the sweat of her dear old brow) to her nearest and dearest.
No, they just want a fat cheque when the old coffin dodger croaks at last. The complainants, to a large extent, ARE the recipients, and they don't want gran spreading her inheritence to a load of great-grand-nephews and whatever, as would be the incentive in your proposal.
I accept that is a generalisation, and people oppose IHT for various reasons. But there's quite a bit of truth in it.
The trans activist who disrupted a talk by Prof Kathleen Stock is the daughter of a council boss who introduced a four-day working week.
Riz Possnett’s mother Liz Watts was working on a PhD thesis on the topic when South Cambridgeshire District Council last year became the first to implement a trial to cut hours while staff remain on the same pay.
So much for just being a poor he/her/they, from a poor family. Mum and dad extremely well connected people, no wonder they can afford the swimming pool and hot tub.
God, I hate these posh/upper middle class people who pretend to be soil of the earth working class plebs.
I've got a US road trip coming up for the Gazette, and I want to explore Virginia, Maryland maybe Kentucky, especially Civil War sites. Anyone got any recommendations? What are the most resonant battlefields? Gettysburg? Atietam?
The island is in today's West Virginia, but battle took place in Ohio; VERY peaceful spot nowadays.
BUT conveniently located near Blennerhasset Island, which played a key role in Burr's Conspiracy (whatever the heck THAT was). Visit to reconstructed manor house and grounds features a fun boat ride.
> Gettysburg well worth visit, chock full of tourists and ticky-tacky, but also much of genuine interest; just seeing the majestic lay of the land gives you a feel for the epic nature of the 3-day battle. Beautiful in its own right.
> Harpers Ferry and Antietam (close to each other) and both well worth visiting.
> Fredericksburg by contrast is NOT spread across the landscape, but rather small in scope. Again, easy to visualize what hell was like there back in the day; also famous for the assault of Union's Irish Brigade (and number of other units) against Confederates entrenched on Marye's Heights;
"Wherever there's Kellys there's trouble, " said Burke. "Wherever fighting's the game, Or a spice of danger in grown man's work," Said Kelly, " you'll find my name." "And do we fall short, " said Burke, getting mad, "When it's touch and go for life?" Said Shea, "It's thirty-odd years, bedad, Since I charged to drum and fife Up Marye's Heights, and my old canteen Stopped a rebel ball on its way; There were blossoms of blood on our sprigs of green — Kelly and Burke and Shea — And the dead didn't brag." "Well, here's to the flag!" Said Kelly and Burke and Shea.
Thanks!
Anything else in the area while I am tootling around? I've got 8 or 9 days (tho I also want a couple of days in DC - never been)
The Vietnam war memorial in DC ispossibly the most moving of its type. Don't miss it.
Those 50% of voters are quite correct. It's a very badly designed tax, which falls capriciously on some estates and not others for no good reason. It's easy for the wealthy to get around, but not for the modestly well-off. The rate is too high, the allowances too arbitrary.
It shouldn't be abolished, but it should certainly be reformed.
That’s not the point.
The point is that the campaign simply perpetuates the now deeply entrenched view of this government as only interested in the very wealthy.
True, although of course it's not the government which is proposing to abolish it.
Also true, but it’s a kind of government-in-exile who are, and they have important media support, so it gets picked up into general view of “the Tories”.
Have we ever seen anything like this? There is a reasonably well organised grouping inside the ruling party that devoutly wishes the PM to stand down, and they have money and media support.
Are we counting the ERG during May's agonies as a separate phenomenon, or an earlier manifestation of the same clique?
Comments
Why are tech billionaires pretending to be scared?
Timandra Harkness"
https://unherd.com/2023/06/the-cynical-hysteria-around-ai/
- Labour are too woke for some traditional supporters, even if they have a farily coherent soft-left economic agenda (some traditional supporters would prefer harder left economics)
- Conservatives are too gammon for some traditional supporters (the higher educated)
The successful people have mainly ridden fine lines. Blair, socially liberal, but not too woke (civil partnerships, but gay marriage a step too far - that seems quaint now) and lots of bluster about law and order etc. Brown 'that bigoted woman' unable or unwilling to play that game. Cameron 'hug a hoodie' being soft-right on economics and clearly socially liberal - successful coalitions of the elites and the oldies by catering to them with triple lock etc.
Johnson tore that up, with the Brexit opportunity. Get Brexit done and don't be Corbyn gave him a new coalition and a big win. But, having torn it up, it can't be easily put back together. The Tories are stuck, they have to be anti-woke to keep some of their converts, but the economics and failure to level up and the fact he Brexit is now done makes that coalition fall apart. Pivoting to social liberalism again doesn't work that well as the elites are still pissed over Brexit and Sunak would in any case have to sack half his cabinet (and their appointment in the first place makes the social liberal suspicious of him). Labour have a route through not being too far left economically, not being too woke, not openly threatening Brexit and - after 13-14 years - not being the Tories.
In any PR system, we'd have at least four parties for the big two - left economics with social conservatism; left economics with social liberalism; right economics with social conservatism; right economics with social liberalism. The LD coalition would split between the socially liberal parties (having their own internal tensions over interventionist or laissez faire economics) and possibly some 'centre' parties that tried to sit between the four described).
Labour can win the next election by not being Tory, not owning Brexit and not being too scary to anyone. For the GE after that, who are their best challengers? It's not really yet clear and depends in part on how Starmer governs. How long before another Cameron could rebuild a socially liberal soft-right economic coalition, given Brexit? Can a soft-right socially conservative party win enough social conservatives from Labour? Is Goodwin right and there's a real opportunity for a more old Labour economic left, socially conservative party?
TLDR: There's also an opportunity for a soft-right socially liberal party, like Cameroon Tories, but the same challenges remain under FPTP and the Conservative brand is pretty badly tainted to be the brand of that, for now at least.
What a sound.
In comes Root, 52 runs short of 11,000 in Tests.
Afterall, our liberal (some might say woke) culture/identity is one of our great strengths.
(Is the quoted number 3 missing commas: 'Promoting, not attacking, Britains...' or is it supposed to be a campaign to not attack Britain's identity, history and culture. It's a hideously ugly turn of phrase if so.)
You should vote Labour!
Who are they?
Not Tories!
What are they like?
[the old] Tories!
Oh, what the hell. I guess that's all I really wanted.
In Virginia down by Richmond yacht basin there is a wealth of under-visited civil war sites that will give you a good feel for how the war played out away from the big battles.
In Kentucky, not so much by way of battle sites, but the people are mighty friendly and the Kentucky Lakes region is worth exploring (if you ignore the dead fish floating about due pollution).
Maryland, get yourself down to St Michael’s. There’s no civil war stuff down there, but if you ask for oysters they will bring you a menu with ten different types to choose from. The Maritime museum there is supposed to be worth a visit; when I was there it was underwater, which was taking being a maritime museum a tad too seriously.
Not much of a detour, check out Chattanooga and the hills just to the south, where a ferocious civil war encounter took place. The trenches are still there to see, if you take a walk in the woods.
He evidently tripped, got back up again very quickly.
I fell up the stairs yesterday, does that mean I have got dementia?
has backed the Daily Telegraph’s campaign for Rishi Sunak to scrap inheritance tax which she believes penalises those who “work hard to earn money”
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1664360407295832065?s=20
'The Chancellor has also come under pressure from senior figures in other parties. The leader of Reform UK backed The Telegraph’s campaign, describing the tax as an “attack on the grieving”.
Richard Tice said: “Reform UK is the only party that would scrap inheritance tax.
“It is a tax on the already taxed, is an attack on the grieving, and fuels a tax avoidance industry. We fund this by cutting the vast wasteful government spending.”
Former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said: “This tax is wholly unfair and is not paid by the very rich. It needs to go and I am right behind the campaign.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tax/inheritance/liz-truss-telegraph-campaign-abolish-inheritance-tax/
Obtaining it requires collaboration with some shady characters
It's expensive
It can give a short-lived feeling of euphoria to some
The come down is a bitch
It can leave you much worse off and a pathetic shadow of your former self in the eyes of others
Parallels, parallels
You don't pay inheritance tax on money you have earned.
Chris Patten went viral for saying that our per capita GDP is lower than Lithuania "for heaven's sake". Even if it were true it's such a revealing comment about his de haut en bas view of the rest of Europe.
It looks very likely that we are doomed to have a Labour government who will soak "the rich" to further bolster public sector final salary pension schemes, so I guess the best idea is to move as much as possible to business interests outside UK
This hysrerical bleating about intrusion into family life and finances is nonsense anyway as paperwork is all necessary to get probate, place the will and account on public register, and authorise payments to the beneficiaries, even if zero IHT is payable.
The IHT bit is an add on - annoying to fill in, but not in itself qualitatively different.
So plenty of SNP and Scottish Labour and LD voting pensioners and their heirs hit by it too now
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-house-price-index-for-august-2022/uk-house-price-index-scotland-august-2022
I do have to admire the work of the Tory Press and politicians in convincing so many people that IHT is the more objectionable tax. A successful opinion-forming campaign on their part.
Better by far to talk about "groups". I could easily vote for a candidate who supported my favourite policies and was prepared to team up with like-minded MPs to get those policies through.
The particular party label he was wearing would cease to be important. He would not support policiesthat I positively disliked.
And in that way we get the government (more exactly, policies) that we, as a people, want to see.
Nobody wants to hear about more tax cuts for the wealthy from a tax dodger and the lady that nearly broke the gilt markets.
Everything about this, from the age and power gap to the misuse of company resources and lying about it when confronted screams wrong, even if you want to hang onto the threadbare excuse that it was an affair that took place between two consenting adults.
It's simply not acceptable in a modern workplace.
On a related note, who remembers this corker of an ad from We Buy any Car on how to create the perfect modern workplace?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ9MQS-pDTI
As far as I can see he hasn't even done anything illegal. Was he illadvised or inethical, sure, probs, but he has done no more than what Mrs Macron did to young Emannuel, and he is President of France and not a breakfast TV presenter
Absurd
The vast majority of Conservative voters think IHT is unfair or very unfair.
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/how-fair-is-inheritance-tax
You can see them at Gallipoli as well. Indeed at Gallipoli you can easily find pieces of shrapnel and old bullets and stuff. Haunting
It shouldn't be abolished, but it should certainly be reformed.
However, I'm a dreary grey middle manager, not a national celebrity.
My affairs are not national news, and if I behaved in such a manner I would expect to be sacked and quickly forgotten about.
Finding out that one of the most famous people on daytime TV has (allegedly) been abusing his position for years, is most definitely national news.
The trans activist who disrupted a talk by Prof Kathleen Stock is the daughter of a council boss who introduced a four-day working week.
Riz Possnett’s mother Liz Watts was working on a PhD thesis on the topic when South Cambridgeshire District Council last year became the first to implement a trial to cut hours while staff remain on the same pay.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/02/trans-activist-riz-possnett-kathleen-stock-daughter-council/
So much for just being a poor he/her/they, from a poor family. Mum and dad extremely well connected people, no wonder they can afford the swimming pool and hot tub.
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2015/01/07/public-attitudes-inheritance-tax
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Buffington_Island
The island is in today's West Virginia, but battle took place in Ohio; VERY peaceful spot nowadays.
BUT conveniently located near Blennerhasset Island, which played a key role in Burr's Conspiracy (whatever the heck THAT was). Visit to reconstructed manor house and grounds features a fun boat ride.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blennerhassett_Island_Historical_State_Park
Honorable mention:
> Gettysburg well worth visit, chock full of tourists and ticky-tacky, but also much of genuine interest; just seeing the majestic lay of the land gives you a feel for the epic nature of the 3-day battle. Beautiful in its own right.
> Harpers Ferry and Antietam (close to each other) and both well worth visiting.
> Fredericksburg by contrast is NOT spread across the landscape, but rather small in scope. Again, easy to visualize what hell was like there back in the day; also famous for the assault of Union's Irish Brigade (and number of other units) against Confederates entrenched on Marye's Heights;
"Wherever there's Kellys there's trouble, " said Burke.
"Wherever fighting's the game,
Or a spice of danger in grown man's work,"
Said Kelly, " you'll find my name."
"And do we fall short, " said Burke, getting mad,
"When it's touch and go for life?"
Said Shea, "It's thirty-odd years, bedad,
Since I charged to drum and fife
Up Marye's Heights, and my old canteen
Stopped a rebel ball on its way;
There were blossoms of blood on our sprigs of green —
Kelly and Burke and Shea —
And the dead didn't brag." "Well, here's to the flag!"
Said Kelly and Burke and Shea.
The point is that the campaign simply perpetuates the now deeply entrenched view of this government as only interested in the very wealthy.
In the meantime, is abolition really the best use of X billion pounds?
I think Leon is broadly right on this. A man has acted inappropriately, he's been sacked, and his career is over. He's a famous man, so it gets reported.
But this has been rolling on for ages and drowning out far more significant stories, such as the original subject of this thread.
There's also a non-negligible risk that said famous bloke will be hounded to an early grave over it. I don't think much of him either, but it's hardly proportionate.
I think it is also a lot the holier than thou tone ITV has taken on so many occasions, which means a lot of people in the biz are pissed off at the hyprocrisy / have experienced double standards.
And why not simply have a lifetime gift allowance, that includes pre-inheritance gifts?
The economy is incredibly robust.
No sign of wage-price spiral.
Recession, what recession.
Anything else in the area while I am tootling around? I've got 8 or 9 days (tho I also want a couple of days in DC - never been)
If you want to make accusations against Schofield, probably better to state them explicitly and then cite chapter and verse to back them up. Though admittedly that would be a lot harder than what you did.
Talking of chapter and verse, funnily enough the BBC carried a clip of one of Schofield's former colleagues quoting John, chapter 8, verse 7. Not a popular verse on social media, for obvious reasons.
(Of course there are many sane Conservatives, but most of them are no longer supporters of the current party).
It is seriously inappropriate but probably not illegal behaviour by a quite well known TV dude, it should be page 10 and no more in the old News of the World, for one weekend
Yet we are treating it like a 2nd front in the Ukraine War. Ridiculous. And boring
Have we ever seen anything like this?
There is a reasonably well organised grouping inside the ruling party that devoutly wishes the PM to stand down, and they have money and media support.
Vicksburg (which remains quite a small town) might be an interesting visit. A turning point of the war.
Also, Leon might well take the Disraeli line - “When I want to read a good book, I write one.”
Talking of Twitter, 23m views now for the Matt Walsh transgender documentary.
But, of course, the people who complain most loudly about Inheritance Tax aren't really complaining because of their deep sympathy for poor old grandma, whose dearest last wish is to pass on her earned estate (which definitely didn't result from house price rises since 1970 but the sweat of her dear old brow) to her nearest and dearest.
No, they just want a fat cheque when the old coffin dodger croaks at last. The complainants, to a large extent, ARE the recipients, and they don't want gran spreading her inheritence to a load of great-grand-nephews and whatever, as would be the incentive in your proposal.
I accept that is a generalisation, and people oppose IHT for various reasons. But there's quite a bit of truth in it.
Then, do they declare?