It occurs to me that the views people bring to PB are dependent on how they primarily access the Internet. I spend time working on my laptops and usually have a YouTube on one screen and work on the other, so all my stuff is YouTubes. Others spend time on the phone and so use Twitter. Others read newspaper articles and so we have links to them. People who use Reddit or Instagram or TikTok or Discord tend to be younger and hence absent from PB. Nobody's posted a link from Facebook for a long while...
And some of us social media refusniks just think stu...
Farage must be loving the attention he is getting for all this.*
*note I agree in principle that no one should be “de-banked” for their views
In politics we always say 'events' and who could have seen this coming and Farage elevated by the media to his cause and apparently the left taking it very badly
Farage single handily has seen the resignation of Alison Rose and now the head of Coutts and has barely started his crusade
I have no idea where this goes politically but suddenly he is attracting all the headlines
The Tories are terrified of Farage so jump whenever he appears. I am not sure he is that widely liked in the country, though.
I see no reason to be terrified of Farage as he is widely disliked
It does seem the ones most agitated by him over this are on the left
Farage is widely disliked, sure. But there is a meaningful slice of the current Conservative vote who seem to find him attractive. Nowt so queer as folk, as they say up north.
Hence Rishi's dilemma. Cut him loose or hug him close? Both come at a cost, including reminding lefties that they don't like Nigel.
Business before pleasure, remember.
There is no electoral advantage, let alone a path to victory, in Sunak being the 'Starmer-lite' that you'd like him to be.
There is no electoral advantage, let alone a path to victory, in Sunak being the Farage-lite' that you'd like him to be.
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
And yet there's nothing behind the curtain. It is bizarre.
I wonder how much of this is our generally posh media thinking (wrongly) that Nige is a voice of 'the working clahs' with their awful flags and their chips and whatnot and so giving him a constant platform that vastly outweighs his actual political achievements is an easy shortcut to giving a voice to that group?
They are in absolute thrall to the guy, and I just don't get it.
Yep, it's similar to Lee Anderson. There is a general media assumption that the salt of the earth white working class in England are very right wing. Obviously, you can only hold such an opinion if you don't get out much! More seriously, Farage and Anderson are on the Boomer/Gen X dividing line. The same generation as many senior media decision makers and newspaper columnists (and hard copy readers). They are a very recognisable type that probably existed much more widely 20 years ago. Their passing into serious minority status in the normal world has not been noticed because most senior media folk and newspaper columnists do not live in the normal world.
Farage must be loving the attention he is getting for all this.*
*note I agree in principle that no one should be “de-banked” for their views
In politics we always say 'events' and who could have seen this coming and Farage elevated by the media to his cause and apparently the left taking it very badly
Farage single handily has seen the resignation of Alison Rose and now the head of Coutts and has barely started his crusade
I have no idea where this goes politically but suddenly he is attracting all the headlines
The Tories are terrified of Farage so jump whenever he appears. I am not sure he is that widely liked in the country, though.
I see no reason to be terrified of Farage as he is widely disliked
It does seem the ones most agitated by him over this are on the left
The concern for Conservatives over Farage isn't that he's got good net favourable ratings, because he clearly hasn't. RefUK almost certainly wouldn't win seats at the next General Election. But if they were to stand in 500 seats and get 5-10% in each, that will cost the Conservatives quite a few MPs because a minority of people on the right like Farage a lot.
Similarly, Corbyn doesn't have good net favourable ratings but, if he set up a socialist movement standing in 500 seats, that would hurt Labour.
I don't think either is likely to transpire, by the way. Farage is more likely than Corbyn to weigh in on a broad scale (as RefUK exists whereas Corbyn hasn't gone down that road). But I suspect Farage will flirt with it but ultimately not stand in places where they would seriously impede the Conservatives and help Labour or the Lib Dems.
GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, a Trump supporter, politely criticizes new Florida curriculum teaching the benefits of slavery. Aides to Governor Ron DeSantis respond by accusing him of pushing Biden White House talking points and comparing him to Kamala Harris. https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1684562173241303042
The DeSantis crew is every bit as vile as Trump's gang.
DeSantis has got a real problem with his staffers and activists. They spend all day online sh!tposting and screaming at people.
Farage must be loving the attention he is getting for all this.*
*note I agree in principle that no one should be “de-banked” for their views
In politics we always say 'events' and who could have seen this coming and Farage elevated by the media to his cause and apparently the left taking it very badly
Farage single handily has seen the resignation of Alison Rose and now the head of Coutts and has barely started his crusade
I have no idea where this goes politically but suddenly he is attracting all the headlines
The Tories are terrified of Farage so jump whenever he appears. I am not sure he is that widely liked in the country, though.
I see no reason to be terrified of Farage as he is widely disliked
It does seem the ones most agitated by him over this are on the left
Farage is widely disliked, sure. But there is a meaningful slice of the current Conservative vote who seem to find him attractive. Nowt so queer as folk, as they say up north.
Hence Rishi's dilemma. Cut him loose or hug him close? Both come at a cost, including reminding lefties that they don't like Nigel.
Business before pleasure, remember.
There is no electoral advantage, let alone a path to victory, in Sunak being the 'Starmer-lite' that you'd like him to be.
There is no electoral advantage, let alone a path to victory, in Sunak being the Farage-lite' that you'd like him to be.
I disagree - there's a landslide-winning coalition there. Whether Sunak himself can seal that deal remains to be seen.
The idea “this will all turn out well for Coutts” is refreshingly original. I can imagine there must be loads of billionaires applying for accounts right now, in the hope they can be morally audited by 19 year olds, and get their entire social media histories combed over, to see if they ever retweeted anything possibly transphobic, and if they fail, this will all be leaked to the BBC
Really rich people LOVE that kind of attention
Is Coutts a bank for really rich people, or for status seekers? There's v little that actually sets their service apart from other premier brands. Yer billionaires and whatnot will be keeping things much more complex and low key, and generally won't give a shit about the posh name on the bank card.
It's like Hyacinth Bucket wanting her removal van to park the other way round so her neighbours could see the 'By Royal Appointment' on the side.
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
Really ? In what other circumstances would he have such an effect ?
Had he not been treated with obvious unfairness, on something that quite a lot of people could imagine happening to them (albeit rather differently), would more than a handful of people have cared ?
I think Coutts has probably destroyed it's reputation forever with those who need a bit of discernment in their banking.
Does nobody in Coutts understand what an audit trail is? Do Not Put It In Writing.
The Nigel lost his account because his wealth fell below the eligibility criteria. That is all they had to say. Instead we get all this guff about who he is with cut and paste web searches. None of which have any relevance because his wealth fell below their eligibility criteria. So why say it?
All they needed to do was transfer him to NatWest - same they do to people every week.
Oh, and not leak a mix of confidential information and horseshit to journalists.
Instead they have presented themselves as bigger liars and twats than Nigel Farage.
The idea “this will all turn out well for Coutts” is refreshingly original. I can imagine there must be loads of billionaires applying for accounts right now, in the hope they can be morally audited by 19 year olds, and get their entire social media histories combed over, to see if they ever retweeted anything possibly transphobic, and if they fail, this will all be leaked to the BBC
Really rich people LOVE that kind of attention
I'd be surprised if many fantastically rich people use Coutts in the first place. But those who do will already have had their personal account managers on the phone talking through any issues they may have and soothing any concerns. It's a real pain switching these kinds of accounts - and it can cost a fair amount of money to do it. But you are right, discretion really matters. If people are genuinely concerned their names are going to get into the papers, they'll be off like a shot.
Yes I doubt that many people will switch accounts from Coutts if they already have one. It’s a hassle as you say. But who knows
What it will do is deter anyone from OPENING an account there. Why take the risk?
It is potentially a True Ratner Moment. A few monumentally stupid, indiscreet remarks, said to the wrong audience, have terminally damaged an entire business. Insanely dumb
Also what kind of arrogant fuckwit does this in the first place? Isn’t Alison rose meant to be some experienced person? A safe pair of hands? 30 years with the firm?
I wonder if she was really drunk and trying to impress a BBC journo she fancied. Didn’t this happen at some banquet?
Yep, it was being seen with the BBC journalist and that being reported that was the problem. If she had sat somewhere else and then given him a call she'd still be in a job.
GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, a Trump supporter, politely criticizes new Florida curriculum teaching the benefits of slavery. Aides to Governor Ron DeSantis respond by accusing him of pushing Biden White House talking points and comparing him to Kamala Harris. https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1684562173241303042
The DeSantis crew is every bit as vile as Trump's gang.
We sometimes get the wrong impression of DeSantis from a distance, I think.
He isn't by any means more moderate than Trump - indeed, he is less moderate in several respects. He is, however, more predictable. That's quite useful in terms of working effectively with someone... it's not that he isn't an arsehole, just that he'll be the same arsehole tomorrow as he was today.
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
Really ? In what other circumstances would he have such an effect ?
Had he not been treated with obvious unfairness, on something that quite a lot of people could imagine happening to them (albeit rather differently), would more than a handful of people have cared ?
Only a handful of people care about this.
Farage saying he has been denied such and such a service by anti-Brexit woke what-have-you's is clearly a headline generator. That is power.
The idea “this will all turn out well for Coutts” is refreshingly original. I can imagine there must be loads of billionaires applying for accounts right now, in the hope they can be morally audited by 19 year olds, and get their entire social media histories combed over, to see if they ever retweeted anything possibly transphobic, and if they fail, this will all be leaked to the BBC
Really rich people LOVE that kind of attention
Is Coutts a bank for really rich people, or for status seekers? There's v little that actually sets their service apart from other premier brands. Yer billionaires and whatnot will be keeping things much more complex and low key, and generally won't give a shit about the posh name on the bank card.
It's like Hyacinth Bucket wanting her removal van to park the other way round so her neighbours could see the 'By Royal Appointment' on the side.
Farage must be loving the attention he is getting for all this.*
*note I agree in principle that no one should be “de-banked” for their views
In politics we always say 'events' and who could have seen this coming and Farage elevated by the media to his cause and apparently the left taking it very badly
Farage single handily has seen the resignation of Alison Rose and now the head of Coutts and has barely started his crusade
I have no idea where this goes politically but suddenly he is attracting all the headlines
The Tories are terrified of Farage so jump whenever he appears. I am not sure he is that widely liked in the country, though.
I see no reason to be terrified of Farage as he is widely disliked
It does seem the ones most agitated by him over this are on the left
Farage is widely disliked, sure. But there is a meaningful slice of the current Conservative vote who seem to find him attractive. Nowt so queer as folk, as they say up north.
Hence Rishi's dilemma. Cut him loose or hug him close? Both come at a cost, including reminding lefties that they don't like Nigel.
Business before pleasure, remember.
There is no electoral advantage, let alone a path to victory, in Sunak being the 'Starmer-lite' that you'd like him to be.
There is no electoral advantage, let alone a path to victory, in Sunak being the Farage-lite' that you'd like him to be.
I disagree - there's a landslide-winning coalition there. Whether Sunak himself can seal that deal remains to be seen.
Farage must be loving the attention he is getting for all this.*
*note I agree in principle that no one should be “de-banked” for their views
In politics we always say 'events' and who could have seen this coming and Farage elevated by the media to his cause and apparently the left taking it very badly
Farage single handily has seen the resignation of Alison Rose and now the head of Coutts and has barely started his crusade
I have no idea where this goes politically but suddenly he is attracting all the headlines
The Tories are terrified of Farage so jump whenever he appears. I am not sure he is that widely liked in the country, though.
I see no reason to be terrified of Farage as he is widely disliked
It does seem the ones most agitated by him over this are on the left
The concern for Conservatives over Farage isn't that he's got good net favourable ratings, because he clearly hasn't. RefUK almost certainly wouldn't win seats at the next General Election. But if they were to stand in 500 seats and get 5-10% in each, that will cost the Conservatives quite a few MPs because a minority of people on the right like Farage a lot.
Similarly, Corbyn doesn't have good net favourable ratings but, if he set up a socialist movement standing in 500 seats, that would hurt Labour.
I don't think either is likely to transpire, by the way. Farage is more likely than Corbyn to weigh in on a broad scale (as RefUK exists whereas Corbyn hasn't gone down that road). But I suspect Farage will flirt with it but ultimately not stand in places where they would seriously impede the Conservatives and help Labour or the Lib Dems.
Until recently I thought RefUK would be an irrelevance in the next election, of interest to nerds only, but I've reassessed and now think they may be quite a factor.
If you look at the early period of the entity that now mostly takes the form of RefUK, it was once called UKIP and it mostly took votes from Labour. As we all know, that changed in 2019. But that doesn't mean it can't change back again.
Anti-banker, anti-green, anti-waiting lists in the state health service - with some Stop Schools Telling Children That Whether You're A Boy or a Girl is A Choice added in - this has nothing to do with the Bre-something or other that half the media are talking about in connection with Nigel Farage's banking affairs. The message is Cut The Crap. (In fact that could work beautifully as an actual slogan.) Where this message could get a lot of traction is among the parts of the population who are feeling an ever more urgent need in their everyday lives for precisely that - for the crap to be cut. As in "JFC!, the crap needs to be cut soon or else I'm going down that plughole." These include some voters who belong to the private sector petty bourgeoisie (kinda Faragiste ~ Poujadiste), but that's not a huge class and the attractiveness of the message in much of the working class could be considerable.
The idea “this will all turn out well for Coutts” is refreshingly original. I can imagine there must be loads of billionaires applying for accounts right now, in the hope they can be morally audited by 19 year olds, and get their entire social media histories combed over, to see if they ever retweeted anything possibly transphobic, and if they fail, this will all be leaked to the BBC
Really rich people LOVE that kind of attention
I'd be surprised if many fantastically rich people use Coutts in the first place. But those who do will already have had their personal account managers on the phone talking through any issues they may have and soothing any concerns. It's a real pain switching these kinds of accounts - and it can cost a fair amount of money to do it. But you are right, discretion really matters. If people are genuinely concerned their names are going to get into the papers, they'll be off like a shot.
Yes I doubt that many people will switch accounts from Coutts if they already have one. It’s a hassle as you say. But who knows
What it will do is deter anyone from OPENING an account there. Why take the risk?
It is potentially a True Ratner Moment. A few monumentally stupid, indiscreet remarks, said to the wrong audience, have terminally damaged an entire business. Insanely dumb
Also what kind of arrogant fuckwit does this in the first place? Isn’t Alison rose meant to be some experienced person? A safe pair of hands? 30 years with the firm?
I wonder if she was really drunk and trying to impress a BBC journo she fancied. Didn’t this happen at some banquet?
I do kind of agree with on this - it's potentially very damaging indeed for an outfit like Coutts to be seen as indiscreet.
It's rather like a high class escort... the most valuable service the client is paying for isn't sex, but silence.
The idea “this will all turn out well for Coutts” is refreshingly original. I can imagine there must be loads of billionaires applying for accounts right now, in the hope they can be morally audited by 19 year olds, and get their entire social media histories combed over, to see if they ever retweeted anything possibly transphobic, and if they fail, this will all be leaked to the BBC
Really rich people LOVE that kind of attention
I'd be surprised if many fantastically rich people use Coutts in the first place. But those who do will already have had their personal account managers on the phone talking through any issues they may have and soothing any concerns. It's a real pain switching these kinds of accounts - and it can cost a fair amount of money to do it. But you are right, discretion really matters. If people are genuinely concerned their names are going to get into the papers, they'll be off like a shot.
Yes I doubt that many people will switch accounts from Coutts if they already have one. It’s a hassle as you say. But who knows
What it will do is deter anyone from OPENING an account there. Why take the risk?
It is potentially a True Ratner Moment. A few monumentally stupid, indiscreet remarks, said to the wrong audience, have terminally damaged an entire business. Insanely dumb
Also what kind of arrogant fuckwit does this in the first place? Isn’t Alison rose meant to be some experienced person? A safe pair of hands? 30 years with the firm?
I wonder if she was really drunk and trying to impress a BBC journo she fancied. Didn’t this happen at some banquet?
I do kind of agree with on this - it's potentially very damaging indeed for an outfit like Coutts to be seen as indiscreet.
It's rather like a high class escort... the most valuable service the client is paying for isn't sex, but silence.
“I don’t pay them for sex. I pay them to leave.” - Charlie Sheen.
The government today lost a case in the High Court where it was arguing that it's fine for unaccompanied refugee children to be accommodated in "hotels" - buildings from which many children have "disappeared", including from a hotel in the Brighton area connected with fascist slumlord slavery-lover Nicholas van Hoogstraten.
Is Labour going to say anything? I thought they were supposed to be the "opposition".
Obviously the greens can't, given how they did nothing about it in Brighton.
GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, a Trump supporter, politely criticizes new Florida curriculum teaching the benefits of slavery. Aides to Governor Ron DeSantis respond by accusing him of pushing Biden White House talking points and comparing him to Kamala Harris. https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1684562173241303042
The DeSantis crew is every bit as vile as Trump's gang.
I would not put it past Trump to now present himself as the 'moderate' GOP candidate to De Santis' 'extremism' and the only Republican who can win Independents (as he did in 2016) and beat Biden
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
And yet there's nothing behind the curtain. It is bizarre.
I wonder how much of this is our generally posh media thinking (wrongly) that Nige is a voice of 'the working clahs' with their awful flags and their chips and whatnot and so giving him a constant platform that vastly outweighs his actual political achievements is an easy shortcut to giving a voice to that group?
They are in absolute thrall to the guy, and I just don't get it.
Yep, it's similar to Lee Anderson. There is a general media assumption that the salt of the earth white working class in England are very right wing. Obviously, you can only hold such an opinion if you don't get out much! More seriously, Farage and Anderson are on the Boomer/Gen X dividing line. The same generation as many senior media decision makers and newspaper columnists (and hard copy readers). They are a very recognisable type that probably existed much more widely 20 years ago. Their passing into serious minority status in the normal world has not been noticed because most senior media folk and newspaper columnists do not live in the normal world.
Private Eye now call him Lee Anderthal. Mildly amusing and quite apt, I thought.
Farage must be loving the attention he is getting for all this.*
*note I agree in principle that no one should be “de-banked” for their views
In politics we always say 'events' and who could have seen this coming and Farage elevated by the media to his cause and apparently the left taking it very badly
Farage single handily has seen the resignation of Alison Rose and now the head of Coutts and has barely started his crusade
I have no idea where this goes politically but suddenly he is attracting all the headlines
The Tories are terrified of Farage so jump whenever he appears. I am not sure he is that widely liked in the country, though.
I see no reason to be terrified of Farage as he is widely disliked
It does seem the ones most agitated by him over this are on the left
The concern for Conservatives over Farage isn't that he's got good net favourable ratings, because he clearly hasn't. RefUK almost certainly wouldn't win seats at the next General Election. But if they were to stand in 500 seats and get 5-10% in each, that will cost the Conservatives quite a few MPs because a minority of people on the right like Farage a lot.
Similarly, Corbyn doesn't have good net favourable ratings but, if he set up a socialist movement standing in 500 seats, that would hurt Labour.
I don't think either is likely to transpire, by the way. Farage is more likely than Corbyn to weigh in on a broad scale (as RefUK exists whereas Corbyn hasn't gone down that road). But I suspect Farage will flirt with it but ultimately not stand in places where they would seriously impede the Conservatives and help Labour or the Lib Dems.
Until recently I thought RefUK would be an irrelevance in the next election, of interest to nerds only, but I've reassessed and now think they may be quite a factor.
If you look at the early period of the entity that now mostly takes the form of RefUK, it was once called UKIP and it mostly took votes from Labour. As we all know, that changed in 2019. But that doesn't mean it can't change back again.
Anti-banker, anti-green, anti-waiting lists in the state health service - with some Stop Schools Telling Children That Whether You're A Boy or a Girl is A Choice added in - this has nothing to do with the Bre-something or other that half the media are talking about in connection with Nigel Farage's banking affairs. The message is Cut The Crap. (In fact that could work beautifully as an actual slogan.) Where this message could get a lot of traction is among the parts of the population who are feeling an ever more urgent need in their everyday lives for precisely that - for the crap to be cut. As in "JFC!, the crap needs to be cut soon or else I'm going down that plughole." These include some voters who belong to the private sector petty bourgeoisie (kinda Faragiste ~ Poujadiste), but that's not a huge class and the attractiveness of the message in much of the working class could be considerable.
Good post.
Brexit was about sticking it to The Man if you pushed the red button. People pushed that button in their millions but turns out The Man is still there so they need another red button.
There will always be a red button, because there will always be The Man, and there will always be millions of people ready to push it.
Farage must be loving the attention he is getting for all this.*
*note I agree in principle that no one should be “de-banked” for their views
In politics we always say 'events' and who could have seen this coming and Farage elevated by the media to his cause and apparently the left taking it very badly
Farage single handily has seen the resignation of Alison Rose and now the head of Coutts and has barely started his crusade
I have no idea where this goes politically but suddenly he is attracting all the headlines
The Tories are terrified of Farage so jump whenever he appears. I am not sure he is that widely liked in the country, though.
I see no reason to be terrified of Farage as he is widely disliked
It does seem the ones most agitated by him over this are on the left
Farage is widely disliked, sure. But there is a meaningful slice of the current Conservative vote who seem to find him attractive. Nowt so queer as folk, as they say up north.
Hence Rishi's dilemma. Cut him loose or hug him close? Both come at a cost, including reminding lefties that they don't like Nigel.
Business before pleasure, remember.
There is no electoral advantage, let alone a path to victory, in Sunak being the 'Starmer-lite' that you'd like him to be.
There is no electoral advantage, let alone a path to victory, in Sunak being the Farage-lite' that you'd like him to be.
I disagree - there's a landslide-winning coalition there. Whether Sunak himself can seal that deal remains to be seen.
A landslide winning coalition for someone, sure.
Lest we forget,
At peak Boris maybe, at low Boris not much different to Rishi now. Both however even at their lowest did better than Liz at her lowest which she swiftly collapsed to
The idea “this will all turn out well for Coutts” is refreshingly original. I can imagine there must be loads of billionaires applying for accounts right now, in the hope they can be morally audited by 19 year olds, and get their entire social media histories combed over, to see if they ever retweeted anything possibly transphobic, and if they fail, this will all be leaked to the BBC
Really rich people LOVE that kind of attention
Is Coutts a bank for really rich people, or for status seekers? There's v little that actually sets their service apart from other premier brands. Yer billionaires and whatnot will be keeping things much more complex and low key, and generally won't give a shit about the posh name on the bank card.
It's like Hyacinth Bucket wanting her removal van to park the other way round so her neighbours could see the 'By Royal Appointment' on the side.
The queen was pretty rich, and valued discretion. She's the only Coutts customer I know of.
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
And yet there's nothing behind the curtain. It is bizarre.
I wonder how much of this is our generally posh media thinking (wrongly) that Nige is a voice of 'the working clahs' with their awful flags and their chips and whatnot and so giving him a constant platform that vastly outweighs his actual political achievements is an easy shortcut to giving a voice to that group?
They are in absolute thrall to the guy, and I just don't get it.
Yep, it's similar to Lee Anderson. There is a general media assumption that the salt of the earth white working class in England are very right wing. Obviously, you can only hold such an opinion if you don't get out much! More seriously, Farage and Anderson are on the Boomer/Gen X dividing line. The same generation as many senior media decision makers and newspaper columnists (and hard copy readers). They are a very recognisable type that probably existed much more widely 20 years ago. Their passing into serious minority status in the normal world has not been noticed because most senior media folk and newspaper columnists do not live in the normal world.
Private Eye now call him Lee Anderthal. Mildly amusing and quite apt, I thought.
Some poll wrangling on the subject:
Farage's appeal to 'the ordinary public' has always been overstated. There is no doubt he is a good politician and that his plain speaking appeals to some. But I think what is often missed is that his strength lies in shifting *elite*, rather than popular opinion.
It occurs to me that the views people bring to PB are dependent on how they primarily access the Internet. I spend time working on my laptops and usually have a YouTube on one screen and work on the other, so all my stuff is YouTubes. Others spend time on the phone and so use Twitter. Others read newspaper articles and so we have links to them. People who use Reddit or Instagram or TikTok or Discord tend to be younger and hence absent from PB. Nobody's posted a link from Facebook for a long while...
And some of us social media refusniks just think stu...
Were you interrupted, or is "stu" a word?
Was in the process of discarding that when interrupted - need more coffee...
The idea “this will all turn out well for Coutts” is refreshingly original. I can imagine there must be loads of billionaires applying for accounts right now, in the hope they can be morally audited by 19 year olds, and get their entire social media histories combed over, to see if they ever retweeted anything possibly transphobic, and if they fail, this will all be leaked to the BBC
Really rich people LOVE that kind of attention
Is Coutts a bank for really rich people, or for status seekers? There's v little that actually sets their service apart from other premier brands. Yer billionaires and whatnot will be keeping things much more complex and low key, and generally won't give a shit about the posh name on the bank card.
It's like Hyacinth Bucket wanting her removal van to park the other way round so her neighbours could see the 'By Royal Appointment' on the side.
The queen was pretty rich, and valued discretion. She's the only Coutts customer I know of.
They have a tranche of old money - families that have banked there since the year dot.
They were trying to clear out the status seekers and restore the brand.
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
And yet there's nothing behind the curtain. It is bizarre.
I wonder how much of this is our generally posh media thinking (wrongly) that Nige is a voice of 'the working clahs' with their awful flags and their chips and whatnot and so giving him a constant platform that vastly outweighs his actual political achievements is an easy shortcut to giving a voice to that group?
They are in absolute thrall to the guy, and I just don't get it.
Yep, it's similar to Lee Anderson. There is a general media assumption that the salt of the earth white working class in England are very right wing. Obviously, you can only hold such an opinion if you don't get out much! More seriously, Farage and Anderson are on the Boomer/Gen X dividing line. The same generation as many senior media decision makers and newspaper columnists (and hard copy readers). They are a very recognisable type that probably existed much more widely 20 years ago. Their passing into serious minority status in the normal world has not been noticed because most senior media folk and newspaper columnists do not live in the normal world.
Private Eye now call him Lee Anderthal. Mildly amusing and quite apt, I thought.
Bit unfair. Neanderthals had enlarged ideas on diet. Evverything from mammoth to crab to nuts. You won't get that for 30p.
The government today lost a case in the High Court where it was arguing that it's fine for unaccompanied refugee children to be accommodated in "hotels" - buildings from which many children have "disappeared", including from a hotel in the Brighton area connected with fascist slumlord slavery-lover Nicholas van Hoogstraten.
Is Labour going to say anything? I thought they were supposed to be the "opposition".
Obviously the greens can't, given how they did nothing about it in Brighton.
"Pressed why he wanted to ditch passports that were blue, the dominant colour on the Scottish flag, Mr Yousaf claimed the switch to “burgundy red” could help a separate Scotland gain speedier EU membership."
The government today lost a case in the High Court where it was arguing that it's fine for unaccompanied refugee children to be accommodated in "hotels" - buildings from which many children have "disappeared", including from a hotel in the Brighton area connected with fascist slumlord slavery-lover Nicholas van Hoogstraten.
Is Labour going to say anything? I thought they were supposed to be the "opposition".
Obviously the greens can't, given how they did nothing about it in Brighton.
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
And yet there's nothing behind the curtain. It is bizarre.
I wonder how much of this is our generally posh media thinking (wrongly) that Nige is a voice of 'the working clahs' with their awful flags and their chips and whatnot and so giving him a constant platform that vastly outweighs his actual political achievements is an easy shortcut to giving a voice to that group?
They are in absolute thrall to the guy, and I just don't get it.
Yep, it's similar to Lee Anderson. There is a general media assumption that the salt of the earth white working class in England are very right wing. Obviously, you can only hold such an opinion if you don't get out much! More seriously, Farage and Anderson are on the Boomer/Gen X dividing line. The same generation as many senior media decision makers and newspaper columnists (and hard copy readers). They are a very recognisable type that probably existed much more widely 20 years ago. Their passing into serious minority status in the normal world has not been noticed because most senior media folk and newspaper columnists do not live in the normal world.
Private Eye now call him Lee Anderthal. Mildly amusing and quite apt, I thought.
Some poll wrangling on the subject:
Farage's appeal to 'the ordinary public' has always been overstated. There is no doubt he is a good politician and that his plain speaking appeals to some. But I think what is often missed is that his strength lies in shifting *elite*, rather than popular opinion.
The government today lost a case in the High Court where it was arguing that it's fine for unaccompanied refugee children to be accommodated in "hotels" - buildings from which many children have "disappeared", including from a hotel in the Brighton area connected with fascist slumlord slavery-lover Nicholas van Hoogstraten.
Is Labour going to say anything? I thought they were supposed to be the "opposition".
Obviously the greens can't, given how they did nothing about it in Brighton.
It's weirdly 25C in the Midlands today (and 22C down here). Unexpected and very humid warmth on an otherwise dark and overcast day. Dewpoints in the high teens. My washing isn't drying outside. No wonder the batting at the Oval is fragile.
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
Really ? In what other circumstances would he have such an effect ?
Had he not been treated with obvious unfairness, on something that quite a lot of people could imagine happening to them (albeit rather differently), would more than a handful of people have cared ?
No, I think they wouldn't
But the financial pages are full of stories, and have been for a while, like this one which on the face of it is utterly appalling. I posted a link to it earlier today.
It also strikes a chord with people concerned at the closure of banks on the high street. It all feeds into the perception of service.
Alot of commentators are taking a view based on their distaste of Farage rather than what is currently happening up and down to country to ordinary people.
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
And yet there's nothing behind the curtain. It is bizarre.
I wonder how much of this is our generally posh media thinking (wrongly) that Nige is a voice of 'the working clahs' with their awful flags and their chips and whatnot and so giving him a constant platform that vastly outweighs his actual political achievements is an easy shortcut to giving a voice to that group?
They are in absolute thrall to the guy, and I just don't get it.
Yep, it's similar to Lee Anderson. There is a general media assumption that the salt of the earth white working class in England are very right wing. Obviously, you can only hold such an opinion if you don't get out much! More seriously, Farage and Anderson are on the Boomer/Gen X dividing line. The same generation as many senior media decision makers and newspaper columnists (and hard copy readers). They are a very recognisable type that probably existed much more widely 20 years ago. Their passing into serious minority status in the normal world has not been noticed because most senior media folk and newspaper columnists do not live in the normal world.
Private Eye now call him Lee Anderthal. Mildly amusing and quite apt, I thought.
Some poll wrangling on the subject:
Farage's appeal to 'the ordinary public' has always been overstated. There is no doubt he is a good politician and that his plain speaking appeals to some. But I think what is often missed is that his strength lies in shifting *elite*, rather than popular opinion.
"Pressed why he wanted to ditch passports that were blue, the dominant colour on the Scottish flag, Mr Yousaf claimed the switch to “burgundy red” could help a separate Scotland gain speedier EU membership."
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
And yet there's nothing behind the curtain. It is bizarre.
I wonder how much of this is our generally posh media thinking (wrongly) that Nige is a voice of 'the working clahs' with their awful flags and their chips and whatnot and so giving him a constant platform that vastly outweighs his actual political achievements is an easy shortcut to giving a voice to that group?
They are in absolute thrall to the guy, and I just don't get it.
Yep, it's similar to Lee Anderson. There is a general media assumption that the salt of the earth white working class in England are very right wing. Obviously, you can only hold such an opinion if you don't get out much! More seriously, Farage and Anderson are on the Boomer/Gen X dividing line. The same generation as many senior media decision makers and newspaper columnists (and hard copy readers). They are a very recognisable type that probably existed much more widely 20 years ago. Their passing into serious minority status in the normal world has not been noticed because most senior media folk and newspaper columnists do not live in the normal world.
Private Eye now call him Lee Anderthal. Mildly amusing and quite apt, I thought.
Bit unfair. Neanderthals had enlarged ideas on diet. Evverything from mammoth to crab to nuts. You won't get that for 30p.
Yes you would. It was a cashless society back then.
It's weirdly 25C in the Midlands today (and 22C down here). Unexpected and very humid warmth on an otherwise dark and overcast day. Dewpoints in the high teens. My washing isn't drying outside. No wonder the batting at the Oval is fragile.
19 Degrees in South Durham, wet and very very muggy.
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
Really ? In what other circumstances would he have such an effect ?
Had he not been treated with obvious unfairness, on something that quite a lot of people could imagine happening to them (albeit rather differently), would more than a handful of people have cared ?
No, I think they wouldn't
But the financial pages are full of stories, and have been for a while, like this one which on the face of it is utterly appalling. I posted a link to it earlier today.
It also strikes a chord with people concerned at the closure of banks on the high street. It all feeds into the perception of service.
Alot of commentators are taking a view based on their distaste of Farage rather than what is currently happening up and down to country to ordinary people.
Frankly speaking I'd far rather Farage spends his time as a champion of consumer rights, a kind of anti-woke Martin Lewis, than on sinking migrant boats in the channel or extolling the virtues of Putin. I'm all for his new-found focus. And Coutts really seem to have only themselves to blame for ending up in this pickle.
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
And yet there's nothing behind the curtain. It is bizarre.
I wonder how much of this is our generally posh media thinking (wrongly) that Nige is a voice of 'the working clahs' with their awful flags and their chips and whatnot and so giving him a constant platform that vastly outweighs his actual political achievements is an easy shortcut to giving a voice to that group?
They are in absolute thrall to the guy, and I just don't get it.
Yep, it's similar to Lee Anderson. There is a general media assumption that the salt of the earth white working class in England are very right wing. Obviously, you can only hold such an opinion if you don't get out much! More seriously, Farage and Anderson are on the Boomer/Gen X dividing line. The same generation as many senior media decision makers and newspaper columnists (and hard copy readers). They are a very recognisable type that probably existed much more widely 20 years ago. Their passing into serious minority status in the normal world has not been noticed because most senior media folk and newspaper columnists do not live in the normal world.
Private Eye now call him Lee Anderthal. Mildly amusing and quite apt, I thought.
Bit unfair. Neanderthals had enlarged ideas on diet. Evverything from mammoth to crab to nuts. You won't get that for 30p.
Yes you would. It was a cashless society back then.
How do you know? They could have traded in Common Cowries or mammoth prepuces for all any archaeologist can tell. Either way, an electronic 30p on a mobile wouldn't hack it then and sure won't now.
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
And yet there's nothing behind the curtain. It is bizarre.
I wonder how much of this is our generally posh media thinking (wrongly) that Nige is a voice of 'the working clahs' with their awful flags and their chips and whatnot and so giving him a constant platform that vastly outweighs his actual political achievements is an easy shortcut to giving a voice to that group?
They are in absolute thrall to the guy, and I just don't get it.
Yep, it's similar to Lee Anderson. There is a general media assumption that the salt of the earth white working class in England are very right wing. Obviously, you can only hold such an opinion if you don't get out much! More seriously, Farage and Anderson are on the Boomer/Gen X dividing line. The same generation as many senior media decision makers and newspaper columnists (and hard copy readers). They are a very recognisable type that probably existed much more widely 20 years ago. Their passing into serious minority status in the normal world has not been noticed because most senior media folk and newspaper columnists do not live in the normal world.
Private Eye now call him Lee Anderthal. Mildly amusing and quite apt, I thought.
Some poll wrangling on the subject:
Farage's appeal to 'the ordinary public' has always been overstated. There is no doubt he is a good politician and that his plain speaking appeals to some. But I think what is often missed is that his strength lies in shifting *elite*, rather than popular opinion.
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
Really ? In what other circumstances would he have such an effect ?
Had he not been treated with obvious unfairness, on something that quite a lot of people could imagine happening to them (albeit rather differently), would more than a handful of people have cared ?
No, I think they wouldn't
But the financial pages are full of stories, and have been for a while, like this one which on the face of it is utterly appalling. I posted a link to it earlier today.
It also strikes a chord with people concerned at the closure of banks on the high street. It all feeds into the perception of service.
Alot of commentators are taking a view based on their distaste of Farage rather than what is currently happening up and down to country to ordinary people.
Frankly speaking I'd far rather Farage spends his time as a champion of consumer rights, a kind of anti-woke Martin Lewis, than on sinking migrant boats in the channel or extolling the virtues of Putin. I'm all for his new-found focus. And Coutts really seem to have only themselves to blame for ending up in this pickle.
I agree with this completely however when this fuss dies down he will move onto something else in due course.
There are some people who do campaign on anti woke business/consumer issues. No hoper US Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is one.
The government today lost a case in the High Court where it was arguing that it's fine for unaccompanied refugee children to be accommodated in "hotels" - buildings from which many children have "disappeared", including from a hotel in the Brighton area connected with fascist slumlord slavery-lover Nicholas van Hoogstraten.
Is Labour going to say anything? I thought they were supposed to be the "opposition".
Obviously the greens can't, given how they did nothing about it in Brighton.
Just as well the government moving migrants to be accomodated offshore rather than in hotels then
I'm sure you don't mean it but on the face of it, first impressions, etc, that sounds like a fucking nasty comment.
Why? The courts don't like them being accomodated in hotels on this ruling, so the government is housing refugees offshore instead (and ideally as one family unit)
The government today lost a case in the High Court where it was arguing that it's fine for unaccompanied refugee children to be accommodated in "hotels" - buildings from which many children have "disappeared", including from a hotel in the Brighton area connected with fascist slumlord slavery-lover Nicholas van Hoogstraten.
Is Labour going to say anything? I thought they were supposed to be the "opposition".
Obviously the greens can't, given how they did nothing about it in Brighton.
The idea “this will all turn out well for Coutts” is refreshingly original. I can imagine there must be loads of billionaires applying for accounts right now, in the hope they can be morally audited by 19 year olds, and get their entire social media histories combed over, to see if they ever retweeted anything possibly transphobic, and if they fail, this will all be leaked to the BBC
Really rich people LOVE that kind of attention
I'd be surprised if many fantastically rich people use Coutts in the first place. But those who do will already have had their personal account managers on the phone talking through any issues they may have and soothing any concerns. It's a real pain switching these kinds of accounts - and it can cost a fair amount of money to do it. But you are right, discretion really matters. If people are genuinely concerned their names are going to get into the papers, they'll be off like a shot.
Yes I doubt that many people will switch accounts from Coutts if they already have one. It’s a hassle as you say. But who knows
What it will do is deter anyone from OPENING an account there. Why take the risk?
It is potentially a True Ratner Moment. A few monumentally stupid, indiscreet remarks, said to the wrong audience, have terminally damaged an entire business. Insanely dumb
Also what kind of arrogant fuckwit does this in the first place? Isn’t Alison rose meant to be some experienced person? A safe pair of hands? 30 years with the firm?
I wonder if she was really drunk and trying to impress a BBC journo she fancied. Didn’t this happen at some banquet?
I do kind of agree with on this - it's potentially very damaging indeed for an outfit like Coutts to be seen as indiscreet.
It's rather like a high class escort... the most valuable service the client is paying for isn't sex, but silence.
“I don’t pay them for sex. I pay them to leave.” - Charlie Sheen.
But unless you are Elton John you aren't interesting enough to require extra helpings of discretion Even if you are very rich you are probably only a couple of sds out to the right along with 100000 other customers. In fact the biggest single thing you can do to increase the number of people with more information than they need about your finances is to open an account with coutts. Paradox innit
Off topic, but important: "Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression has revealed something astonishing to him — the myriad defects of his conventional armed forces. It has, however, awakened the United States to something alarming: Europe’s largest conflict since World War II has shown that the U.S. defense industrial base, which manufactured the materiel that produced victory in 1945, is inadequate for the world almost eight decades later.
The U.S. defense workforce is one-third what it was in 1985, during the Reagan-era buildup, when defense spending was 5.7 percent of gross domestic product. It is 3.1 percent today. The National Defense Industrial Association says that in the past five years, the “defense ecosystem” has lost a net 17,045 companies. This is partly because many small businesses recoil from the unpredictable cash flows from a government that cannot budget: The government has operated under continuing resolutions in parts of 13 of the past 14 years." source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/07/26/defense-spending-budget-military-ready/
These US problems are, in principle, fixable. But I see no sign that the leaders getting media attention in both parties are doing anything to fix them.
(It would be interesting to know whether there are similar problems in other NATO nations.)
GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, a Trump supporter, politely criticizes new Florida curriculum teaching the benefits of slavery. Aides to Governor Ron DeSantis respond by accusing him of pushing Biden White House talking points and comparing him to Kamala Harris. https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1684562173241303042
The DeSantis crew is every bit as vile as Trump's gang.
I would not put it past Trump to now present himself as the 'moderate' GOP candidate to De Santis' 'extremism' and the only Republican who can win Independents (as he did in 2016) and beat Biden
And in turn DeSantis will be the one not under criminal indictment. (Announcement expected very shortly.)
"Pressed why he wanted to ditch passports that were blue, the dominant colour on the Scottish flag, Mr Yousaf claimed the switch to “burgundy red” could help a separate Scotland gain speedier EU membership."
Farage must be loving the attention he is getting for all this.*
*note I agree in principle that no one should be “de-banked” for their views
In politics we always say 'events' and who could have seen this coming and Farage elevated by the media to his cause and apparently the left taking it very badly
Farage single handily has seen the resignation of Alison Rose and now the head of Coutts and has barely started his crusade
I have no idea where this goes politically but suddenly he is attracting all the headlines
The Tories are terrified of Farage so jump whenever he appears. I am not sure he is that widely liked in the country, though.
I see no reason to be terrified of Farage as he is widely disliked
It does seem the ones most agitated by him over this are on the left
Farage is widely disliked, sure. But there is a meaningful slice of the current Conservative vote who seem to find him attractive. Nowt so queer as folk, as they say up north.
Hence Rishi's dilemma. Cut him loose or hug him close? Both come at a cost, including reminding lefties that they don't like Nigel.
Business before pleasure, remember.
There is no electoral advantage, let alone a path to victory, in Sunak being the 'Starmer-lite' that you'd like him to be.
There is no electoral advantage, let alone a path to victory, in Sunak being the Farage-lite' that you'd like him to be.
I disagree - there's a landslide-winning coalition there. Whether Sunak himself can seal that deal remains to be seen.
You can be sure that strong government action on this is influenced by how their base sees it.
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
And yet there's nothing behind the curtain. It is bizarre.
I wonder how much of this is our generally posh media thinking (wrongly) that Nige is a voice of 'the working clahs' with their awful flags and their chips and whatnot and so giving him a constant platform that vastly outweighs his actual political achievements is an easy shortcut to giving a voice to that group?
They are in absolute thrall to the guy, and I just don't get it.
Yep, it's similar to Lee Anderson. There is a general media assumption that the salt of the earth white working class in England are very right wing. Obviously, you can only hold such an opinion if you don't get out much! More seriously, Farage and Anderson are on the Boomer/Gen X dividing line. The same generation as many senior media decision makers and newspaper columnists (and hard copy readers). They are a very recognisable type that probably existed much more widely 20 years ago. Their passing into serious minority status in the normal world has not been noticed because most senior media folk and newspaper columnists do not live in the normal world.
Private Eye now call him Lee Anderthal. Mildly amusing and quite apt, I thought.
Some poll wrangling on the subject:
Farage's appeal to 'the ordinary public' has always been overstated. There is no doubt he is a good politician and that his plain speaking appeals to some. But I think what is often missed is that his strength lies in shifting *elite*, rather than popular opinion.
Farage is a one man shorting machine. He can clearly get massive media coverage, generate action from the current UK government and so move markets. If he targets a publicly-quoted business, then that business has a serious problem. It’s like shareholder activism, but without the shares. That is serious power.
Really ? In what other circumstances would he have such an effect ?
Had he not been treated with obvious unfairness, on something that quite a lot of people could imagine happening to them (albeit rather differently), would more than a handful of people have cared ?
No, I think they wouldn't
But the financial pages are full of stories, and have been for a while, like this one which on the face of it is utterly appalling. I posted a link to it earlier today.
It also strikes a chord with people concerned at the closure of banks on the high street. It all feeds into the perception of service.
Alot of commentators are taking a view based on their distaste of Farage rather than what is currently happening up and down to country to ordinary people.
Frankly speaking I'd far rather Farage spends his time as a champion of consumer rights, a kind of anti-woke Martin Lewis, than on sinking migrant boats in the channel or extolling the virtues of Putin. I'm all for his new-found focus. And Coutts really seem to have only themselves to blame for ending up in this pickle.
I agree with this completely however when this fuss dies down he will move onto something else in due course.
There are some people who do campaign on anti woke business/consumer issues. No hoper US Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is one.
Vivek is an interesting candidate, he’s been doing lots of long-form podcast interviews and does have a lot of good ideas.
He’s very young and politically inexperienced, but he’s the sort of person who might do well a couple of elections down the line.
"Pressed why he wanted to ditch passports that were blue, the dominant colour on the Scottish flag, Mr Yousaf claimed the switch to “burgundy red” could help a separate Scotland gain speedier EU membership."
"Pressed why he wanted to ditch passports that were blue, the dominant colour on the Scottish flag, Mr Yousaf claimed the switch to “burgundy red” could help a separate Scotland gain speedier EU membership."
Surely only an idiot would consider this to be the colour of the Scottish flag.
It's a heck of a lot closer than Burgundy - and pretty close to the original Saltire blue until the Scottish Parliament opted for a lighter shade:
But it will speed up Scotland's entry to the EU.....so that's OK.....
No, the blue was always the lighter blue, long ago. The UK flag blue is quite different and much darker.
Fun fact: the blue background on EU flags on number plates is not part of the flag. The blue background is an international standard, and it is mere coincidence. (It's also the wrong blue).
In March, we wrote that one of the keys for any Trump alternative was to “consolidate the ‘wine track’ (college-educated) vote at least as well as Trump consolidates the ‘beer track’ (non-college) vote.” No one is coming even close to doing that at the moment — and there are signs that Trump is improving among the college-educated Republican vote.
It's quite funny watching the deeply-confused Commentariat desperately trying to comprehend how Farage is still on the scene at all and has befuddled them all - yet again.
It's much easier to dial-up the insults or accuse his admirers of false consciousness, that engage with that, and sometimes both, so lo and behold that's what we're seeing.
The government today lost a case in the High Court where it was arguing that it's fine for unaccompanied refugee children to be accommodated in "hotels" - buildings from which many children have "disappeared", including from a hotel in the Brighton area connected with fascist slumlord slavery-lover Nicholas van Hoogstraten.
Is Labour going to say anything? I thought they were supposed to be the "opposition".
Obviously the greens can't, given how they did nothing about it in Brighton.
Just as well the government moving migrants to be accomodated offshore rather than in hotels then
I'm sure you don't mean it but on the face of it, first impressions, etc, that sounds like a fucking nasty comment.
Why? The courts don't like them being accomodated in hotels on this ruling, so the government is housing refugees offshore instead (and ideally as one family unit)
Missing the point. It's lone children that are the issue. And putting them in flotels won't do any good as it doesn't solve the issues.
(It would be interesting to know whether there are similar problems in other NATO nations.)
As I understand it, and I may well be wrong, the UK's capacity to manufacture shells relies on one company - which can make all sorts of calibres, but only one type at a time, and with a significant re-tooling time when moving from one to another. I hope that someone on PB can reassure me and tell me that I am mistaken.
Farage must be loving the attention he is getting for all this.*
*note I agree in principle that no one should be “de-banked” for their views
In politics we always say 'events' and who could have seen this coming and Farage elevated by the media to his cause and apparently the left taking it very badly
Farage single handily has seen the resignation of Alison Rose and now the head of Coutts and has barely started his crusade
I have no idea where this goes politically but suddenly he is attracting all the headlines
The Tories are terrified of Farage so jump whenever he appears. I am not sure he is that widely liked in the country, though.
I see no reason to be terrified of Farage as he is widely disliked
It does seem the ones most agitated by him over this are on the left
Farage is widely disliked, sure. But there is a meaningful slice of the current Conservative vote who seem to find him attractive. Nowt so queer as folk, as they say up north.
Hence Rishi's dilemma. Cut him loose or hug him close? Both come at a cost, including reminding lefties that they don't like Nigel.
Business before pleasure, remember.
There is no electoral advantage, let alone a path to victory, in Sunak being the 'Starmer-lite' that you'd like him to be.
There is no electoral advantage, let alone a path to victory, in Sunak being the Farage-lite' that you'd like him to be.
I disagree - there's a landslide-winning coalition there. Whether Sunak himself can seal that deal remains to be seen.
Tories+Farage a landslide-winning coalition? Are you taking the p*ss?
What on earth could possible lead you to believe that? Con + RefUK are averaging 34% in the polls; the only landslide that will deliver is a Labour one.
The government today lost a case in the High Court where it was arguing that it's fine for unaccompanied refugee children to be accommodated in "hotels" - buildings from which many children have "disappeared", including from a hotel in the Brighton area connected with fascist slumlord slavery-lover Nicholas van Hoogstraten.
Is Labour going to say anything? I thought they were supposed to be the "opposition".
Obviously the greens can't, given how they did nothing about it in Brighton.
It's quite funny watching the deeply-confused Commentariat desperately trying to comprehend how Farage is still on the scene at all and has befuddled them all - yet again.
It's much easier to dial-up the insults or accuse his admirers of false consciousness, that engage with that, and sometimes both, so lo and behold that's what we're seeing.
It shouldn't befuddle them. Farage is really the only highly skilled politician that we have in this country. Our tragedy is that he is fundamentally wrong about everything.
But it will speed up Scotland's entry to the EU.....so that's OK.....
Even if all the deck chairs were perfectly aligned I really struggle to see Scotland becoming part of the EU. That changes of course if the UK, or a devolved England does.
Realistically though I think its almost impossible.
It's a very apt description that he is good at shifting elite opinion. Trump and Johnson had some of the same strengths.
Has anyone on the populist left had the same effect, striking fear into more mainstream politicians? Nobody obvious springs to mind.
Arthur Scargill. Tony Benn. Clement Attlee. Aneurin Bevan. (technically, Oswald Mosely?) Keir Hardie.
mutters to self PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....)
It's quite funny watching the deeply-confused Commentariat desperately trying to comprehend how Farage is still on the scene at all and has befuddled them all - yet again.
It's much easier to dial-up the insults or accuse his admirers of false consciousness, that engage with that, and sometimes both, so lo and behold that's what we're seeing.
A sober claim:
Living in today's Brexitland is living in a cesspit of corruption & cryptofacism. And this is a sober claim, not hyperbole: the agents of this are acting undisguisedly in broad daylight. Take a short position on a bank then engineer a fall in its share price? Anarcho-capitalism.
In March, we wrote that one of the keys for any Trump alternative was to “consolidate the ‘wine track’ (college-educated) vote at least as well as Trump consolidates the ‘beer track’ (non-college) vote.” No one is coming even close to doing that at the moment — and there are signs that Trump is improving among the college-educated Republican vote.
It's a very apt description that he is good at shifting elite opinion. Trump and Johnson had some of the same strengths.
Has anyone on the populist left had the same effect, striking fear into more mainstream politicians? Nobody obvious springs to mind.
Arthur Scargill. Tony Benn. Clement Attlee. Aneurin Bevan. (technically, Oswald Mosely?) Keir Hardie.
mutters to self PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....)
In March, we wrote that one of the keys for any Trump alternative was to “consolidate the ‘wine track’ (college-educated) vote at least as well as Trump consolidates the ‘beer track’ (non-college) vote.” No one is coming even close to doing that at the moment — and there are signs that Trump is improving among the college-educated Republican vote.
It's quite funny watching the deeply-confused Commentariat desperately trying to comprehend how Farage is still on the scene at all and has befuddled them all - yet again.
It's much easier to dial-up the insults or accuse his admirers of false consciousness, that engage with that, and sometimes both, so lo and behold that's what we're seeing.
It shouldn't befuddle them. Farage is really the only highly skilled politician that we have in this country. Our tragedy is that he is fundamentally wrong about everything.
I disagree with him on much but on many things but he really isn't - he's filling a vacuum that no-one else dare enter, and that's why he gets traction.
To stop him getting traction you should ask why mainstream politicians can't engage with the issues he raises and come up with better solutions, because they seem to prefer to wrinkling up their noses, clothes-pegging themselves and condemning him and his supporters.
So he keeps coming back and disorientating them time after time after time. And they never learn.
In March, we wrote that one of the keys for any Trump alternative was to “consolidate the ‘wine track’ (college-educated) vote at least as well as Trump consolidates the ‘beer track’ (non-college) vote.” No one is coming even close to doing that at the moment — and there are signs that Trump is improving among the college-educated Republican vote.
It's quite funny watching the deeply-confused Commentariat desperately trying to comprehend how Farage is still on the scene at all and has befuddled them all - yet again.
It's much easier to dial-up the insults or accuse his admirers of false consciousness, that engage with that, and sometimes both, so lo and behold that's what we're seeing.
It shouldn't befuddle them. Farage is really the only highly skilled politician that we have in this country. Our tragedy is that he is fundamentally wrong about everything.
Not highly skilled enough to get elected to Parliament. Indeed he once came behind someone dressed as a dolphin.
It's quite funny watching the deeply-confused Commentariat desperately trying to comprehend how Farage is still on the scene at all and has befuddled them all - yet again.
It's much easier to dial-up the insults or accuse his admirers of false consciousness, that engage with that, and sometimes both, so lo and behold that's what we're seeing.
A sober claim:
Living in today's Brexitland is living in a cesspit of corruption & cryptofacism. And this is a sober claim, not hyperbole: the agents of this are acting undisguisedly in broad daylight. Take a short position on a bank then engineer a fall in its share price? Anarcho-capitalism.
In March, we wrote that one of the keys for any Trump alternative was to “consolidate the ‘wine track’ (college-educated) vote at least as well as Trump consolidates the ‘beer track’ (non-college) vote.” No one is coming even close to doing that at the moment — and there are signs that Trump is improving among the college-educated Republican vote.
It's a very apt description that he is good at shifting elite opinion. Trump and Johnson had some of the same strengths.
Has anyone on the populist left had the same effect, striking fear into more mainstream politicians? Nobody obvious springs to mind.
Arthur Scargill. Tony Benn. Clement Attlee. Aneurin Bevan. (technically, Oswald Mosely?) Keir Hardie.
mutters to self PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....)
It's quite funny watching the deeply-confused Commentariat desperately trying to comprehend how Farage is still on the scene at all and has befuddled them all - yet again.
It's much easier to dial-up the insults or accuse his admirers of false consciousness, that engage with that, and sometimes both, so lo and behold that's what we're seeing.
It shouldn't befuddle them. Farage is really the only highly skilled politician that we have in this country. Our tragedy is that he is fundamentally wrong about everything.
I disagree with him on much but on many things but he really isn't - he's filling a vacuum that no-one else dare enter, and that's why he gets traction.
To stop him getting traction you should ask why mainstream politicians can't engage with the issues he raises and come up with better solutions, because they seem to prefer to wrinkling up their noses, clothes-pegging themselves and condemning him and his supporters.
So he keeps coming back and disorientating them time after time after time. And they never learn.
How do you come up with a solution to something you don't think is a problem?
It's quite funny watching the deeply-confused Commentariat desperately trying to comprehend how Farage is still on the scene at all and has befuddled them all - yet again.
It's much easier to dial-up the insults or accuse his admirers of false consciousness, that engage with that, and sometimes both, so lo and behold that's what we're seeing.
It shouldn't befuddle them. Farage is really the only highly skilled politician that we have in this country. Our tragedy is that he is fundamentally wrong about everything.
I disagree with him on much but on many things but he really isn't - he's filling a vacuum that no-one else dare enter, and that's why he gets traction.
To stop him getting traction you should ask why mainstream politicians can't engage with the issues he raises and come up with better solutions, because they seem to prefer to wrinkling up their noses, clothes-pegging themselves and condemning him and his supporters.
So he keeps coming back and disorientating them time after time after time. And they never learn.
What does he engage with that no other mainstream lpolitician doesn't? We have a government constantly banging on about migrants etc.
They though are in the more difficult position of actually having to do something, rather than sounding off like a saloon room bore.
What policy has Farage ever delivered in his years in politics? Even Brexit wasn't delivered by him, and increasingly that is the Tory Party's concrete overshoes.
It's quite funny watching the deeply-confused Commentariat desperately trying to comprehend how Farage is still on the scene at all and has befuddled them all - yet again.
It's much easier to dial-up the insults or accuse his admirers of false consciousness, that engage with that, and sometimes both, so lo and behold that's what we're seeing.
It shouldn't befuddle them. Farage is really the only highly skilled politician that we have in this country. Our tragedy is that he is fundamentally wrong about everything.
Not highly skilled enough to get elected to Parliament. Indeed he once came behind someone dressed as a dolphin.
It's a very apt description that he is good at shifting elite opinion. Trump and Johnson had some of the same strengths.
Has anyone on the populist left had the same effect, striking fear into more mainstream politicians? Nobody obvious springs to mind.
Arthur Scargill. Tony Benn. Clement Attlee. Aneurin Bevan. (technically, Oswald Mosely?) Keir Hardie.
mutters to self PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....)
Jeremy Corbyn!
Some of you may remember @Ishmael_Z , who for two-thirds of the time could be a reasonably pleasant commentator who made interesting points. He asked one day if there had ever been an elected political party with "fascist" in the title. I damn nearly cried. PB beats on, borne back ceaselessly into the present...
It's a very apt description that he is good at shifting elite opinion. Trump and Johnson had some of the same strengths.
Has anyone on the populist left had the same effect, striking fear into more mainstream politicians? Nobody obvious springs to mind.
Arthur Scargill. Tony Benn. Clement Attlee. Aneurin Bevan. (technically, Oswald Mosely?) Keir Hardie.
mutters to self PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....) PB has no memory (punches wall....)
Scargill I'll grant. Benn, Attlee, Bevan and Hardie all succeeded as mainstream politicians in a major political party, not as outsiders shaking up the mainstream (unless I suppose we count the Liberal Party as the mainstream and early Labour as the insurgents).
But did even Scargill scare the Labour leadership of the day into changing their approach? I don't think so. Certainly not in the way Farage puts the shits up the Tories and gets them playing his tune. Arguably the opposite in fact, once Kinnock took the leadership.
Comments
Similarly, Corbyn doesn't have good net favourable ratings but, if he set up a socialist movement standing in 500 seats, that would hurt Labour.
I don't think either is likely to transpire, by the way. Farage is more likely than Corbyn to weigh in on a broad scale (as RefUK exists whereas Corbyn hasn't gone down that road). But I suspect Farage will flirt with it but ultimately not stand in places where they would seriously impede the Conservatives and help Labour or the Lib Dems.
One staffer got fired a couple of days ago, for making a video featuring Nazi imagery.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/ron-desantis-fires-staffer-retweeted-video-nazi-imagery-rcna96285
Have I mentioned that on here? No, you say? Well here it is again -
https://www.privatebankerinternational.com/news/coutts-launches-first-ever-advertising-campaign/
In what other circumstances would he have such an effect ?
Had he not been treated with obvious unfairness, on something that quite a lot of people could imagine happening to them (albeit rather differently), would more than a handful of people have cared ?
Oh, and not leak a mix of confidential information and horseshit to journalists.
Instead they have presented themselves as bigger liars and twats than Nigel Farage.
He isn't by any means more moderate than Trump - indeed, he is less moderate in several respects. He is, however, more predictable. That's quite useful in terms of working effectively with someone... it's not that he isn't an arsehole, just that he'll be the same arsehole tomorrow as he was today.
Farage saying he has been denied such and such a service by anti-Brexit woke what-have-you's is clearly a headline generator. That is power.
Perhaps da yoof are (a) woke and (b) using their phones with their prehensile thumbs all the time.
Lest we forget,
If you look at the early period of the entity that now mostly takes the form of RefUK, it was once called UKIP and it mostly took votes from Labour. As we all know, that changed in 2019. But that doesn't mean it can't change back again.
Anti-banker, anti-green, anti-waiting lists in the state health service - with some Stop Schools Telling Children That Whether You're A Boy or a Girl is A Choice added in - this has nothing to do with the Bre-something or other that half the media are talking about in connection with Nigel Farage's banking affairs. The message is Cut The Crap. (In fact that could work beautifully as an actual slogan.) Where this message could get a lot of traction is among the parts of the population who are feeling an ever more urgent need in their everyday lives for precisely that - for the crap to be cut. As in "JFC!, the crap needs to be cut soon or else I'm going down that plughole." These include some voters who belong to the private sector petty bourgeoisie (kinda Faragiste ~ Poujadiste), but that's not a huge class and the attractiveness of the message in much of the working class could be considerable.
It's rather like a high class escort... the most valuable service the client is paying for isn't sex, but silence.
https://freakonomics.com/2009/02/i-pay-them-to-leave/
Is Labour going to say anything? I thought they were supposed to be the "opposition".
Obviously the greens can't, given how they did nothing about it in Brighton.
https://www.itv.com/news/2023-07-27/unlawful-housing-of-lone-child-migrants-in-hotels-condemned-by-high-court
The judgment is here:
https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2023/1953.html
Mildly amusing and quite apt, I thought.
Brexit was about sticking it to The Man if you pushed the red button. People pushed that button in their millions but turns out The Man is still there so they need another red button.
There will always be a red button, because there will always be The Man, and there will always be millions of people ready to push it.
Farage's appeal to 'the ordinary public' has always been overstated. There is no doubt he is a good politician and that his plain speaking appeals to some. But I think what is often missed is that his strength lies in shifting *elite*, rather than popular opinion.
https://twitter.com/LukeTryl/status/1684503488477163522
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66328666
They were trying to clear out the status seekers and restore the brand.
They’ve fucked that up now.
Bet the phones at Hoare’s are melting.
Followed by more poor fielding from the visitors.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/fencing/66322668
"Pressed why he wanted to ditch passports that were blue, the dominant colour on the Scottish flag, Mr Yousaf claimed the switch to “burgundy red” could help a separate Scotland gain speedier EU membership."
He really is the idiot's idiot.
https://twitter.com/AgentP22/status/1684566490379591680?s=20
In admittedly a crowded field.....
All action!
https://twitter.com/GrizeldaG
But the financial pages are full of stories, and have been for a while, like this one which on the face of it is utterly appalling. I posted a link to it earlier today.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-12340459/CRANE-CASE-vulnerable-laws-got-debanked-HSBC.html
It also strikes a chord with people concerned at the closure of banks on the high street. It all feeds into the perception of service.
Alot of commentators are taking a view based on their distaste of Farage rather than what is currently happening up and down to country to ordinary people.
Has anyone on the populist left had the same effect, striking fear into more mainstream politicians? Nobody obvious springs to mind.
Yes.
There are some people who do campaign on anti woke business/consumer issues. No hoper US Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is one.
Even if you are very rich you are probably only a couple of sds out to the right along with 100000 other customers. In fact the biggest single thing you can do to increase the number of people with more information than they need about your finances is to open an account with coutts. Paradox innit
The U.S. defense workforce is one-third what it was in 1985, during the Reagan-era buildup, when defense spending was 5.7 percent of gross domestic product. It is 3.1 percent today. The National Defense Industrial Association says that in the past five years, the “defense ecosystem” has lost a net 17,045 companies. This is partly because many small businesses recoil from the unpredictable cash flows from a government that cannot budget: The government has operated under continuing resolutions in parts of 13 of the past 14 years."
source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/07/26/defense-spending-budget-military-ready/
These US problems are, in principle, fixable. But I see no sign that the leaders getting media attention in both parties are doing anything to fix them.
(It would be interesting to know whether there are similar problems in other NATO nations.)
But it will speed up Scotland's entry to the EU.....so that's OK.....
He’s very young and politically inexperienced, but he’s the sort of person who might do well a couple of elections down the line.
https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/notes-on-the-state-of-politics-july-27-2023/
It's much easier to dial-up the insults or accuse his admirers of false consciousness, that engage with that, and sometimes both, so lo and behold that's what we're seeing.
O/T but about nature conservation around White's pad in Selborne.
I hope that someone on PB can reassure me and tell me that I am mistaken.
What on earth could possible lead you to believe that? Con + RefUK are averaging 34% in the polls; the only landslide that will deliver is a Labour one.
https://popehat.substack.com/p/hunter-biden-and-the-fog-of-war
Basically really bad drafting all round - likely to be resolved.
Realistically though I think its almost impossible.
mutters to self
PB has no memory (punches wall....)
PB has no memory (punches wall....)
PB has no memory (punches wall....)
PB has no memory (punches wall....)
PB has no memory (punches wall....)
Living in today's Brexitland is living in a cesspit of corruption & cryptofacism. And this is a sober claim, not hyperbole: the agents of this are acting undisguisedly in broad daylight.
Take a short position on a bank then engineer a fall in its share price? Anarcho-capitalism.
https://twitter.com/acgrayling/status/1684516047393619968
To stop him getting traction you should ask why mainstream politicians can't engage with the issues he raises and come up with better solutions, because they seem to prefer to wrinkling up their noses, clothes-pegging themselves and condemning him and his supporters.
So he keeps coming back and disorientating them time after time after time. And they never learn.
They though are in the more difficult position of actually having to do something, rather than sounding off like a saloon room bore.
What policy has Farage ever delivered in his years in politics? Even Brexit wasn't delivered by him, and increasingly that is the Tory Party's concrete overshoes.
But did even Scargill scare the Labour leadership of the day into changing their approach? I don't think so. Certainly not in the way Farage puts the shits up the Tories and gets them playing his tune. Arguably the opposite in fact, once Kinnock took the leadership.