Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
No. The disaster was what preceded the reshuffle. However Sunak shuffled the deckchairs it was going to be a mess.
I don't share TSE's enthusiasm for Cameron, but I don't think that coup de theatre made a huge difference. No doubt you think if he'd left Cleverly where he was, and installed scofflaw Lee as Home Secretary they'd be riding high in the polls ?
You should cut down on the ants.
Why can you guys never just say Yeah, got that wrong
When I’m clearly wrong I admit it. Liz Truss definitely didn’t “surprise on the upside”
It helps debate if you simply fess up to an error of judgment. We all do it
Go on then, admit you got it wrong about UAPs. Nothing came out beyond the usual bullshit from the usual people.
Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
No. The disaster was what preceded the reshuffle. However Sunak shuffled the deckchairs it was going to be a mess.
I don't share TSE's enthusiasm for Cameron, but I don't think that coup de theatre made a huge difference. No doubt you think if he'd left Cleverly where he was, and installed scofflaw Lee as Home Secretary they'd be riding high in the polls ?
You should cut down on the ants.
Why can you guys never just say Yeah, got that wrong
When I’m clearly wrong I admit it. Liz Truss definitely didn’t “surprise on the upside”
It helps debate if you simply fess up to an error of judgment. We all do it
Not me, Guv (this time).
Whilst I was glad to see the back of Braverman, my first comment on Cameron (responding to TSE "Fucking Yes!!!") was "Yes? Yesterday's man more like."
Yes. I’m not accusing you
Indeed the PB lefties generally called this right. Yourself, @Heathener and others. I’ve reread the comments
You all said “not going to do anything good, probably bad, Cameron is hated”. And you were quite right
It’s the pb centrists and cameroons who got it calamitously wrong
Tbf to the proper PB Conservatives they are clutching at any straw going. I was not on PB in 2009/10 (was it a thing then?) but had I been I'd have been looking for any sign Labour could prevent a Tory landslide at the coming GE (which tbf they did).
(Edit: Tbf, I am getting a bit carried away with my tbfs there.)
By far the best thing a centrist Tory can do at the moment is vote them into opposition so decisively that they have to go back and read Edmund Burke, Robert Peel and Kenneth Clarke and Rory Stewart from the opposition back benches.
Yougov now also has ReformUK hitting 10% with 20% of 2019 Conservative voters now supporting the party. That is even more than the 18% of 2019 Conservative voters now supporting Starmer Labour.
23% of Leave voters now back Reform too with only 38% supporting Sunak's Tories.
SNP up a bit in Scotland to 37% on the Scottish subsample after Yousaf's call for a Gaza ceasefire but still below the 45% they got in 2019.
A tiny bit of good news for Sunak in that after sacking Braverman and appointing Cameron FS the Tories have now gained 5% of 2019 LDs while only losing 4% of 2019 Tories to the LDs. So at least Cameron has brought a net gain for the Tories from the Liberals. Even though the 21% overall Tory voteshare would still be the lowest Tory general election voteshare in history, even lower than the 30% Major got in 1997 or the 29% Wellington got in 1832
So YouGov has the Cons on 21%. In the last three polls that’s 19%, 19%, 21%.
The People Polling one for GB News was clearly neither an outlier nor a rogue.
A question will be whether Labour also take a sustained dent after yesterday or if that proves more ephemeral than the recent tory civil war. My guess is that it will be, based mainly on nous but it could also be bias on my part.
ReformUK in double digits in all three polls. Will that hold?
People seem not to be positively voting for Labour as much as voting Labour against the Tories.
I have seem some gnarly map projections based on these polls - one showing only 6 Tory seats (all in Scotland) and the LDs as the Official Opposition.
They'll be celebrating in the streets of North Aberdeen come election night.
Lets hope for some LibDem gains north of Aberdeen...
I'm sure it must have been discussed here in the past, in which case I have missed it, but please can someone explain the consistently high ReFUK figures in recent polls? They've got no press coverage, no campaigning that I have seen - are those numbers genuine? Or are the pollsters sampling only from retired men of a certain age who sit around all day watching GB News?
Ite the right-whinge protest vote. And they are on TV - the Nigel has just gone into the jungle.
Their campaigning is done for them by the Tories. Nobody votes FUKUK for positive reasons or thinking they will even win a seat. Its a performative vote for racists, bigots and xenophobes.
Nah. It's people who've never heard of them but think "reform" sounds nice, in a pox-on-all-their-houses way.
I reckon that's right. If somebody could do a poll asking who the leader of Reform was, I reckon the % naming Tice would be in the low single figures.
And if the same poll asked respondents to name any other politician in Reform than Tice, I reckon the % would be 0.
Indeed, I'd challenge the cognoscenti of PB to name anybody in Reform other than Tice.
Tice, who reminds me of an English Patrick Bateman in personal style, is fucking useless at getting media attention. Nobody gives a fuck about his boring drivel, even when he finally does manage to say something, so the whole Refuk project is going nowhere.
Their citadel of power in Hartlepool is top kek though. That bald bloke is their top economic advisor nipping out to get his vape refilled.
They need to rip that woke ramp out sharpish. Bloody diversity!
You jest, but one of the reasons why I don't like Toby Young is his objection to ramps.
Sorry if this has been pointed out previously but I've missed it:
Camo as Foreign Sec means one fewer senior cabinet minister to run for the leadership next year. Rishi Rich giving a helping hand to Cleverley as his chosen successor.
Cleverley makes the run-off. But there is a phalanx of swivel-eyed women (The Truss, Sue-Ellen, Priti, Esther) battling to make it to the final two and be the members' preference.
So YouGov has the Cons on 21%. In the last three polls that’s 19%, 19%, 21%.
The People Polling one for GB News was clearly neither an outlier nor a rogue.
A question will be whether Labour also take a sustained dent after yesterday or if that proves more ephemeral than the recent tory civil war. My guess is that it will be, based mainly on nous but it could also be bias on my part.
ReformUK in double digits in all three polls. Will that hold?
People seem not to be positively voting for Labour as much as voting Labour against the Tories.
I have seem some gnarly map projections based on these polls - one showing only 6 Tory seats (all in Scotland) and the LDs as the Official Opposition.
They'll be celebrating in the streets of North Aberdeen come election night.
Lets hope for some LibDem gains north of Aberdeen...
I'm sure it must have been discussed here in the past, in which case I have missed it, but please can someone explain the consistently high ReFUK figures in recent polls? They've got no press coverage, no campaigning that I have seen - are those numbers genuine? Or are the pollsters sampling only from retired men of a certain age who sit around all day watching GB News?
Ite the right-whinge protest vote. And they are on TV - the Nigel has just gone into the jungle.
Their campaigning is done for them by the Tories. Nobody votes FUKUK for positive reasons or thinking they will even win a seat. Its a performative vote for racists, bigots and xenophobes.
Nah. It's people who've never heard of them but think "reform" sounds nice, in a pox-on-all-their-houses way.
I reckon that's right. If somebody could do a poll asking who the leader of Reform was, I reckon the % naming Tice would be in the low single figures.
And if the same poll asked respondents to name any other politician in Reform than Tice, I reckon the % would be 0.
Indeed, I'd challenge the cognoscenti of PB to name anybody in Reform other than Tice.
That strange journalist woman who claimed Dave indulged in necrozoophilia?
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
80% of muslims believing homosexuality is morally wrong isn't the biggest problem - it's that 50% think it should be illegal.
And STILL the multiculti left won’t admit we might just have a problem
The suggestion online seems to be that the Tweet / X you are referring to is from a gay Muslim (who, whilst his Tweets are protected, has a rainbow and trans flag in his bio). So it's probably someone tweeting jokingly / about something that is a topic of discussion within his specific community and has now been thrust into the "real world" and taken out of that context.
Edit: Indeed, that entire thread seems to be a lot of queer muslim people discussing this. This is the kind of shitposting I would do with friends in Whatsapp when talking about celebrity queer people who help pinkwash stuff - not a real manifestation of homophobia.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
This is why it would be good if there was a specific Muslim party - as I say upthread
The social beliefs of most Muslims are far too conservative to sit comfortably in the Labour Party. And this is now threatening core beliefs of the Labour Party (gay rights etc)
Yes this would make it harder for Labour to win some constituencies but that’s better than Labour abandoning central beliefs so they can cling on to Bradford North etc
Lots of people have conservative social views coupled with more left wing views on tax and spend. You're not identifying a uniquely Muslim thing there, or one that would really benefit from a party based on religion.
So YouGov has the Cons on 21%. In the last three polls that’s 19%, 19%, 21%.
The People Polling one for GB News was clearly neither an outlier nor a rogue.
A question will be whether Labour also take a sustained dent after yesterday or if that proves more ephemeral than the recent tory civil war. My guess is that it will be, based mainly on nous but it could also be bias on my part.
ReformUK in double digits in all three polls. Will that hold?
People seem not to be positively voting for Labour as much as voting Labour against the Tories.
I have seem some gnarly map projections based on these polls - one showing only 6 Tory seats (all in Scotland) and the LDs as the Official Opposition.
They'll be celebrating in the streets of North Aberdeen come election night.
Lets hope for some LibDem gains north of Aberdeen...
I'm sure it must have been discussed here in the past, in which case I have missed it, but please can someone explain the consistently high ReFUK figures in recent polls? They've got no press coverage, no campaigning that I have seen - are those numbers genuine? Or are the pollsters sampling only from retired men of a certain age who sit around all day watching GB News?
Ite the right-whinge protest vote. And they are on TV - the Nigel has just gone into the jungle.
Their campaigning is done for them by the Tories. Nobody votes FUKUK for positive reasons or thinking they will even win a seat. Its a performative vote for racists, bigots and xenophobes.
Nah. It's people who've never heard of them but think "reform" sounds nice, in a pox-on-all-their-houses way.
I reckon that's right. If somebody could do a poll asking who the leader of Reform was, I reckon the % naming Tice would be in the low single figures.
And if the same poll asked respondents to name any other politician in Reform than Tice, I reckon the % would be 0.
Indeed, I'd challenge the cognoscenti of PB to name anybody in Reform other than Tice.
Tice, who reminds me of an English Patrick Bateman in personal style, is fucking useless at getting media attention. Nobody gives a fuck about his boring drivel, even when he finally does manage to say something, so the whole Refuk project is going nowhere.
Their citadel of power in Hartlepool is top kek though. That bald bloke is their top economic advisor nipping out to get his vape refilled.
They need to rip that woke ramp out sharpish. Bloody diversity!
You just, but one of the reasons why I don't like Toby Young is his objection to ramps.
No way? I'd like to meet the f*cker and run over his toes. (At my weight that 3-4 broken toes.)
So YouGov has the Cons on 21%. In the last three polls that’s 19%, 19%, 21%.
The People Polling one for GB News was clearly neither an outlier nor a rogue.
A question will be whether Labour also take a sustained dent after yesterday or if that proves more ephemeral than the recent tory civil war. My guess is that it will be, based mainly on nous but it could also be bias on my part.
ReformUK in double digits in all three polls. Will that hold?
People seem not to be positively voting for Labour as much as voting Labour against the Tories.
I have seem some gnarly map projections based on these polls - one showing only 6 Tory seats (all in Scotland) and the LDs as the Official Opposition.
They'll be celebrating in the streets of North Aberdeen come election night.
Lets hope for some LibDem gains north of Aberdeen...
I'm sure it must have been discussed here in the past, in which case I have missed it, but please can someone explain the consistently high ReFUK figures in recent polls? They've got no press coverage, no campaigning that I have seen - are those numbers genuine? Or are the pollsters sampling only from retired men of a certain age who sit around all day watching GB News?
Ite the right-whinge protest vote. And they are on TV - the Nigel has just gone into the jungle.
Their campaigning is done for them by the Tories. Nobody votes FUKUK for positive reasons or thinking they will even win a seat. Its a performative vote for racists, bigots and xenophobes.
Nah. It's people who've never heard of them but think "reform" sounds nice, in a pox-on-all-their-houses way.
I reckon that's right. If somebody could do a poll asking who the leader of Reform was, I reckon the % naming Tice would be in the low single figures.
And if the same poll asked respondents to name any other politician in Reform than Tice, I reckon the % would be 0.
Indeed, I'd challenge the cognoscenti of PB to name anybody in Reform other than Tice.
Tice, who reminds me of an English Patrick Bateman in personal style, is fucking useless at getting media attention. Nobody gives a fuck about his boring drivel, even when he finally does manage to say something, so the whole Refuk project is going nowhere.
Their citadel of power in Hartlepool is top kek though. That bald bloke is their top economic advisor nipping out to get his vape refilled.
They need to rip that woke ramp out sharpish. Bloody diversity!
Also not UJ British blue. Very odd choice. It's even too pale to be the proper Saltire blue.
As he reflects on the past week Rishi will think it could have been worse:
The repellent Suella out of his hair with only a fleeting day of hysteria from the right-wing media. Rwanda - messy but has been given time to deal with it. Inflation down. Labour in a right old state over Gaza and the spectre of Corbyn flickers through voters' minds. Dave back to soothe shire hearts.
For sure, Rishi's still in a massive fix, but what could have been an appalling week for him is probably just about neutral.
@estwebber Tory strategist tells @danbloom1 “It’s now clear flights won’t happen, so there is no plan for small boats. Which means they’re in serious trouble for the election.”
Lets look at the alternative - the SC said yes. We would have had a brief press frenzy as the first flight left. But then all of the upstream issues - boats arriving, lack of places to intern them, lack of BF staff or courts capacity etc etc - would have continued. The places to intern them issue is massive. Can't keep using hotels (too expensive), can't use barges (not enough, too expensive, massive protests), can't use army bases (not enough, massive protests).
Either way they are stuffed.
Well, indeed.
All the huffing and puffing about Foreign Courts and emergency laws is displacement activity to avoid confronting the brutal fact that even if the planes take off they won't STOP THE BOATS.
Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
I think @Nigelb is right. It is cause and effect and there are too many variables to know what is what. The idea that you can deduce this is because of Cameron and none of the other crap that is going on in the Tory party at present is daft.
This reminds me of hyufd who is convinced that if Boris was still PM the Tories would be doing a lot better because they were when he was still PM. It is impossible to deduce that and it also seems exceedingly improbable.
I think we can at least be sure if Boris was still PM Reform would not be on 10% and the Tories on just 21%, even if the LDs might be fractionally higher
Yougov now also has ReformUK hitting 10% with 20% of 2019 Conservative voters now supporting the party. That is even more than the 18% of 2019 Conservative voters now supporting Starmer Labour.
23% of Leave voters now back Reform too with only 38% supporting Sunak's Tories.
SNP up a bit in Scotland to 37% on the Scottish subsample but still below the 45% they got in 2019.
A tiny bit of good news for Sunak in that after sacking Braverman and appointing Cameron FS the Tories have now gained 5% of 2019 LDs while only losing 4% of 2019 Tories to the LDs. So at least Cameron has brought a net gain for the Tories from the Liberals. Even though the 21% overall Tory voteshare would still be the lowest Tory general election voteshare in history, even lower than the 30% Major got in 1997 or the 29% Wellington got in 1832
Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
No. The disaster was what preceded the reshuffle. However Sunak shuffled the deckchairs it was going to be a mess.
I don't share TSE's enthusiasm for Cameron, but I don't think that coup de theatre made a huge difference. No doubt you think if he'd left Cleverly where he was, and installed scofflaw Lee as Home Secretary they'd be riding high in the polls ?
You should cut down on the ants.
Why can you guys never just say Yeah, got that wrong
When I’m clearly wrong I admit it. Liz Truss definitely didn’t “surprise on the upside”
It helps debate if you simply fess up to an error of judgment. We all do it
Go on then, admit you got it wrong about UAPs. Nothing came out beyond the usual bullshit from the usual people.
I’ve never claimed “there are UFOs and they are aliens” - I’ve always said “something weird is happening in the American establishment surrounding the subject of UFOs - and it is not easy to explain”
And this goes on. There are new bizarre developments. I just don’t have time to collate them and inform PB - I’ll try soon. Maybe when I’m out of the Cambodian jungle
David Cameron managing some nice words about Boris Johnson!
Speaking to Zelensky in Kiev - “I had some disagreements with my friend Boris Johnson - we’ve known eachother for 40 years - and his support for you is the finest thing that he and his government did.”
Yougov now also has ReformUK hitting 10% with 20% of 2019 Conservative voters now supporting the party. That is even more than the 18% of 2019 Conservative voters now supporting Starmer Labour.
23% of Leave voters now back Reform too with only 38% supporting Sunak's Tories.
SNP up a bit in Scotland to 37% on the Scottish subsample but still below the 45% they got in 2019.
A tiny bit of good news for Sunak in that after sacking Braverman and appointing Cameron FS the Tories have now gained 5% of 2019 LDs while only losing 4% of 2019 Tories to the LDs. So at least Cameron has brought a net gain for the Tories from the Liberals. Even though the 21% overall Tory voteshare would still be the lowest Tory general election voteshare in history, even lower than the 30% Major got in 1997 or the 29% Wellington got in 1832
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
80% of muslims believing homosexuality is morally wrong isn't the biggest problem - it's that 50% think it should be illegal.
And STILL the multiculti left won’t admit we might just have a problem
The suggestion online seems to be that the Tweet / X you are referring to is from a gay Muslim (who, whilst his Tweets are protected, has a rainbow and trans flag in his bio). So it's probably someone tweeting jokingly / about something that is a topic of discussion within his specific community and has now been thrust into the "real world" and taken out of that context.
Edit: Indeed, that entire thread seems to be a lot of queer muslim people discussing this. This is the kind of shitposting I would do with friends in Whatsapp when talking about celebrity queer people who help pinkwash stuff - not a real manifestation of homophobia.
Are you now trying to claim there is no more homophobia in the Muslim community than in, say, the white British community?
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
This is why it would be good if there was a specific Muslim party - as I say upthread
The social beliefs of most Muslims are far too conservative to sit comfortably in the Labour Party. And this is now threatening core beliefs of the Labour Party (gay rights etc)
Yes this would make it harder for Labour to win some constituencies but that’s better than Labour abandoning central beliefs so they can cling on to Bradford North etc
Lots of people have conservative social views coupled with more left wing views on tax and spend. You're not identifying a uniquely Muslim thing there, or one that would really benefit from a party based on religion.
Many conservative Roman Catholics and some evangelicals too have similar views to conservative Muslims as above
To come to Leon’s point - the Tories aren’t doing sh*t in my view because they aren’t right wing enough.
They are inconsistent and incompetent. That’s why they are doing sh*t.
We can make all the arguments about positioning until we are blue in the face but it doesn’t matter a jot because nobody trusts the Tories to deliver anything they say.
So YouGov has the Cons on 21%. In the last three polls that’s 19%, 19%, 21%.
The People Polling one for GB News was clearly neither an outlier nor a rogue.
A question will be whether Labour also take a sustained dent after yesterday or if that proves more ephemeral than the recent tory civil war. My guess is that it will be, based mainly on nous but it could also be bias on my part.
ReformUK in double digits in all three polls. Will that hold?
People seem not to be positively voting for Labour as much as voting Labour against the Tories.
I have seem some gnarly map projections based on these polls - one showing only 6 Tory seats (all in Scotland) and the LDs as the Official Opposition.
They'll be celebrating in the streets of North Aberdeen come election night.
Lets hope for some LibDem gains north of Aberdeen...
I'm sure it must have been discussed here in the past, in which case I have missed it, but please can someone explain the consistently high ReFUK figures in recent polls? They've got no press coverage, no campaigning that I have seen - are those numbers genuine? Or are the pollsters sampling only from retired men of a certain age who sit around all day watching GB News?
Nigel Farage has been all over the news re IACGMOOH. (eta And there was some sort of march in London recently.) We know there are disaffected small-c conservative voters. Many DKs, some RefUKs. Come the election, RefUK probably won't stand in many seats and that alone will mean polls overstate their likely votes.
OK, that's a "Yes, I generally agree" from me. But I thought Mr Tice said he was determined to stand everywhere in GB, following the problems caused by them standing down in numerous seats last time. Also, I would have thought that the re-appointment of Lord Dave would be a red rag to the bullshitters.....
Party leaders have to say they will stand everywhere, it is in the job description. It is unlikely they will have either enough candidates or the money to pay for lost deposits.
Don’t their candidates have to pay their own deposits
It always surprises me more people don't stand for Parliament in that the value of the free delivery of an election address to every household in the constituency is easily worth the £500 lost deposit (you need to pay printing of course but simply for physical delivery it is extremely cheap).
Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
No. The disaster was what preceded the reshuffle. However Sunak shuffled the deckchairs it was going to be a mess.
I don't share TSE's enthusiasm for Cameron, but I don't think that coup de theatre made a huge difference. No doubt you think if he'd left Cleverly where he was, and installed scofflaw Lee as Home Secretary they'd be riding high in the polls ?
You should cut down on the ants.
Why can you guys never just say Yeah, got that wrong
When I’m clearly wrong I admit it. Liz Truss definitely didn’t “surprise on the upside”
It helps debate if you simply fess up to an error of judgment. We all do it
Go on then, admit you got it wrong about UAPs. Nothing came out beyond the usual bullshit from the usual people.
I’ve never claimed “there are UFOs and they are aliens” - I’ve always said “something weird is happening in the American establishment surrounding the subject of UFOs - and it is not easy to explain”
And this goes on. There are new bizarre developments. I just don’t have time to collate them and inform PB - I’ll try soon. Maybe when I’m out of the Cambodian jungle
You spent ages saying something weird is going on and essentially saying it HAD to be aliens.
Labour's revolt against Starmer was rat her larger than the impression given on the news. Unless I've got it wrong over a quarter of the party revolted. That does not bode well.
Theyre all red Tories Roger thats what youre voting for.
I've given up on them. I want to join the Jess Phillips Party or better still the Sanna Marin Party
I've just seen Sanna Marin in person and am a little bit in love. About twice as smart and articulate as anyone in British politics and ten times as attractive.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
This is why it would be good if there was a specific Muslim party - as I say upthread
The social beliefs of most Muslims are far too conservative to sit comfortably in the Labour Party. And this is now threatening core beliefs of the Labour Party (gay rights etc)
Yes this would make it harder for Labour to win some constituencies but that’s better than Labour abandoning central beliefs so they can cling on to Bradford North etc
I agree about this - though it would likely mean Labour also embracing PR. Not a problem for me - what's you thought on that ?
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
This is why it would be good if there was a specific Muslim party - as I say upthread
The social beliefs of most Muslims are far too conservative to sit comfortably in the Labour Party. And this is now threatening core beliefs of the Labour Party (gay rights etc)
Yes this would make it harder for Labour to win some constituencies but that’s better than Labour abandoning central beliefs so they can cling on to Bradford North etc
Lots of people have conservative social views coupled with more left wing views on tax and spend. You're not identifying a uniquely Muslim thing there, or one that would really benefit from a party based on religion.
Many conservative Roman Catholics and some evangelicals too have similar views to conservative Muslims as above
Yet nobody accuses them of importing alien values or tells them to f off and make their own party.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
80% of muslims believing homosexuality is morally wrong isn't the biggest problem - it's that 50% think it should be illegal.
And STILL the multiculti left won’t admit we might just have a problem
The suggestion online seems to be that the Tweet / X you are referring to is from a gay Muslim (who, whilst his Tweets are protected, has a rainbow and trans flag in his bio). So it's probably someone tweeting jokingly / about something that is a topic of discussion within his specific community and has now been thrust into the "real world" and taken out of that context.
Edit: Indeed, that entire thread seems to be a lot of queer muslim people discussing this. This is the kind of shitposting I would do with friends in Whatsapp when talking about celebrity queer people who help pinkwash stuff - not a real manifestation of homophobia.
Are you now trying to claim there is no more homophobia in the Muslim community than in, say, the white British community?
How different is it to regular church goers? Anyway, Northern Ireland has parties based on religion, and manage to make Westminster look like a place of sanity.
Labour are not going to regress on gay rights because a small if significant minority are religious and hold archaic views. Might the odd council become independent rather than Labour sure, does it impact national politics, not particularly.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
This is why it would be good if there was a specific Muslim party - as I say upthread
The social beliefs of most Muslims are far too conservative to sit comfortably in the Labour Party. And this is now threatening core beliefs of the Labour Party (gay rights etc)
Yes this would make it harder for Labour to win some constituencies but that’s better than Labour abandoning central beliefs so they can cling on to Bradford North etc
Lots of people have conservative social views coupled with more left wing views on tax and spend. You're not identifying a uniquely Muslim thing there, or one that would really benefit from a party based on religion.
Many conservative Roman Catholics and some evangelicals too have similar views to conservative Muslims as above
Yet nobody accuses them of importing alien values or tells them to f off and make their own party.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
This is why it would be good if there was a specific Muslim party - as I say upthread
The social beliefs of most Muslims are far too conservative to sit comfortably in the Labour Party. And this is now threatening core beliefs of the Labour Party (gay rights etc)
Yes this would make it harder for Labour to win some constituencies but that’s better than Labour abandoning central beliefs so they can cling on to Bradford North etc
I agree about this - though it would likely mean Labour also embracing PR. Not a problem for me - what's you thought on that ?
I’ve belatedly reached the conclusion that we do need PR. I was always pro FPTP but the two main parties are now so incoherent and jumbled it’s not working any more. Eg the Tory party is no longer a “broad church” - you’ve got evangelicals and actual atheists, in the same pews,as it were
Enough. It is time for PR
I’d also turn the Lords into a Federal chamber for the UK
So YouGov has the Cons on 21%. In the last three polls that’s 19%, 19%, 21%.
The People Polling one for GB News was clearly neither an outlier nor a rogue.
A question will be whether Labour also take a sustained dent after yesterday or if that proves more ephemeral than the recent tory civil war. My guess is that it will be, based mainly on nous but it could also be bias on my part.
ReformUK in double digits in all three polls. Will that hold?
People seem not to be positively voting for Labour as much as voting Labour against the Tories.
I have seem some gnarly map projections based on these polls - one showing only 6 Tory seats (all in Scotland) and the LDs as the Official Opposition.
They'll be celebrating in the streets of North Aberdeen come election night.
Lets hope for some LibDem gains north of Aberdeen...
I'm sure it must have been discussed here in the past, in which case I have missed it, but please can someone explain the consistently high ReFUK figures in recent polls? They've got no press coverage, no campaigning that I have seen - are those numbers genuine? Or are the pollsters sampling only from retired men of a certain age who sit around all day watching GB News?
Ite the right-whinge protest vote. And they are on TV - the Nigel has just gone into the jungle.
Their campaigning is done for them by the Tories. Nobody votes FUKUK for positive reasons or thinking they will even win a seat. Its a performative vote for racists, bigots and xenophobes.
Nah. It's people who've never heard of them but think "reform" sounds nice, in a pox-on-all-their-houses way.
I reckon that's right. If somebody could do a poll asking who the leader of Reform was, I reckon the % naming Tice would be in the low single figures.
And if the same poll asked respondents to name any other politician in Reform than Tice, I reckon the % would be 0.
Indeed, I'd challenge the cognoscenti of PB to name anybody in Reform other than Tice.
Tice, who reminds me of an English Patrick Bateman in personal style, is fucking useless at getting media attention. Nobody gives a fuck about his boring drivel, even when he finally does manage to say something, so the whole Refuk project is going nowhere.
Their citadel of power in Hartlepool is top kek though. That bald bloke is their top economic advisor nipping out to get his vape refilled.
They need to rip that woke ramp out sharpish. Bloody diversity!
You just, but one of the reasons why I don't like Toby Young is his objection to ramps.
No way? I'd like to meet the f*cker and run over his toes. (At my weight that 3-4 broken toes.)
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
This is why it would be good if there was a specific Muslim party - as I say upthread
The social beliefs of most Muslims are far too conservative to sit comfortably in the Labour Party. And this is now threatening core beliefs of the Labour Party (gay rights etc)
Yes this would make it harder for Labour to win some constituencies but that’s better than Labour abandoning central beliefs so they can cling on to Bradford North etc
I agree about this - though it would likely mean Labour also embracing PR. Not a problem for me - what's you thought on that ?
I’ve belatedly reached the conclusion that we do need PR. I was always pro FPTP but the two main parties are now so incoherent and jumbled it’s not working any more. Eg the Tory party is no longer a “broad church” - you’ve got evangelicals and actual atheists, in the same pews,as it were
Enough. It is time for PR
I’d also turn the Lords into a Federal chamber for the UK
Now that both you and I have opined, what can stop it ?
Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
No. The disaster was what preceded the reshuffle. However Sunak shuffled the deckchairs it was going to be a mess.
I don't share TSE's enthusiasm for Cameron, but I don't think that coup de theatre made a huge difference. No doubt you think if he'd left Cleverly where he was, and installed scofflaw Lee as Home Secretary they'd be riding high in the polls ?
You should cut down on the ants.
Why can you guys never just say Yeah, got that wrong
When I’m clearly wrong I admit it. Liz Truss definitely didn’t “surprise on the upside”
It helps debate if you simply fess up to an error of judgment. We all do it
Go on then, admit you got it wrong about UAPs. Nothing came out beyond the usual bullshit from the usual people.
I’ve never claimed “there are UFOs and they are aliens” - I’ve always said “something weird is happening in the American establishment surrounding the subject of UFOs - and it is not easy to explain”
And this goes on. There are new bizarre developments. I just don’t have time to collate them and inform PB - I’ll try soon. Maybe when I’m out of the Cambodian jungle
You spent ages saying something weird is going on and essentially saying it HAD to be aliens.
No I really fucking didn’t. Here. This guy on the spectator summarises my feelings
“To my mind, there are five main possible explanations, in descending order of probability.
1. The US establishment – Pentagon to press – is engaged in a complex cross-party conspiracy of psyops to unnerve and mystify America’s adversaries, especially the Chinese. Perhaps they want to convince them America possesses advanced alien technology, and America has been reverse engineering it for decades.
2. The US establishment has some incredible new military tech – something truly astonishing, like anti-gravity aircraft – and they’ve had it for ages, and they want to hide it from everyone: Americans as much as the Chinese.
3. The US establishment has gone collectively mad, or is suffering some mass hallucination, stemming from a few credulous individuals (a process known in psychology as ‘contagion’).
4. The US military/elite sincerely believes we are being visited by non human intelligence – but they’re wrong.
5. The US military/elite sincerely believes we are being visited by non human intelligence – and they are right.”
Yes, the Tories may have lost the redwall and lots of working class and lower middle class voters to Reform and Labour but at least it has won back a few upper middle class toffs from the LDs like TSE who are able to vote for a government containing their hero Dave for the first time since 2015, and have a son in law of a billionaire and ex Goldman Sachs banker as PM too!
Just been for a swim in a green jungle river as a mighty storm broiled overheard. In the fading twilight tropical kingfishers flashed above me, absurdly garish, like miniature flying Elton Johns from the mid 70s
I'm glad you don't write for a living.
Though one of his insertable lithic implements is called the miniature flying Elton John.
Braverman viewed by the undecideds as being sacked for "speaking the truth" on immigration and "sometimes you have to upset the apple cart to get things done"; in the absence of an alternative, it fed into perceptions of Sunak as weak ("he's scared of upsetting people") (4/6) https://x.com/jamesjohnson252/status/1725096432674152600?s=20
No love for Keir Starmer either: - "All fur coat no knickers" - "Slimy, underhanded" - "Much of a muchness" - "Flip flops" - "Can't be trusted" - "Mild"
Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
No. The disaster was what preceded the reshuffle. However Sunak shuffled the deckchairs it was going to be a mess.
I don't share TSE's enthusiasm for Cameron, but I don't think that coup de theatre made a huge difference. No doubt you think if he'd left Cleverly where he was, and installed scofflaw Lee as Home Secretary they'd be riding high in the polls ?
You should cut down on the ants.
Why can you guys never just say Yeah, got that wrong
When I’m clearly wrong I admit it. Liz Truss definitely didn’t “surprise on the upside”
It helps debate if you simply fess up to an error of judgment. We all do it
Go on then, admit you got it wrong about UAPs. Nothing came out beyond the usual bullshit from the usual people.
I’ve never claimed “there are UFOs and they are aliens” - I’ve always said “something weird is happening in the American establishment surrounding the subject of UFOs - and it is not easy to explain”
And this goes on. There are new bizarre developments. I just don’t have time to collate them and inform PB - I’ll try soon. Maybe when I’m out of the Cambodian jungle
You spent ages saying something weird is going on and essentially saying it HAD to be aliens.
No I really fucking didn’t. Here. This guy on the spectator summarises my feelings
“To my mind, there are five main possible explanations, in descending order of probability.
1. The US establishment – Pentagon to press – is engaged in a complex cross-party conspiracy of psyops to unnerve and mystify America’s adversaries, especially the Chinese. Perhaps they want to convince them America possesses advanced alien technology, and America has been reverse engineering it for decades.
2. The US establishment has some incredible new military tech – something truly astonishing, like anti-gravity aircraft – and they’ve had it for ages, and they want to hide it from everyone: Americans as much as the Chinese.
3. The US establishment has gone collectively mad, or is suffering some mass hallucination, stemming from a few credulous individuals (a process known in psychology as ‘contagion’).
4. The US military/elite sincerely believes we are being visited by non human intelligence – but they’re wrong.
5. The US military/elite sincerely believes we are being visited by non human intelligence – and they are right.”
Yes, the Tories may have lost the redwall and lots of working class and lower middle class voters to Reform and Labour but at least it has won back a few upper middle class toffs from the LDs like TSE who are able to vote for a government containing their hero Dave for the first time since 2015, and have a son in law of a billionaire and ex Goldman Sachs banker as PM too!
Are you feeling OK comrade? Sounds like you've joined the SWP!
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
This is why it would be good if there was a specific Muslim party - as I say upthread
The social beliefs of most Muslims are far too conservative to sit comfortably in the Labour Party. And this is now threatening core beliefs of the Labour Party (gay rights etc)
Yes this would make it harder for Labour to win some constituencies but that’s better than Labour abandoning central beliefs so they can cling on to Bradford North etc
I agree about this - though it would likely mean Labour also embracing PR. Not a problem for me - what's you thought on that ?
I’ve belatedly reached the conclusion that we do need PR. I was always pro FPTP but the two main parties are now so incoherent and jumbled it’s not working any more. Eg the Tory party is no longer a “broad church” - you’ve got evangelicals and actual atheists, in the same pews,as it were
Enough. It is time for PR
I’d also turn the Lords into a Federal chamber for the UK
Now that both you and I have opined, what can stop it ?
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
80% of muslims believing homosexuality is morally wrong isn't the biggest problem - it's that 50% think it should be illegal.
And STILL the multiculti left won’t admit we might just have a problem
The suggestion online seems to be that the Tweet / X you are referring to is from a gay Muslim (who, whilst his Tweets are protected, has a rainbow and trans flag in his bio). So it's probably someone tweeting jokingly / about something that is a topic of discussion within his specific community and has now been thrust into the "real world" and taken out of that context.
Edit: Indeed, that entire thread seems to be a lot of queer muslim people discussing this. This is the kind of shitposting I would do with friends in Whatsapp when talking about celebrity queer people who help pinkwash stuff - not a real manifestation of homophobia.
Are you now trying to claim there is no more homophobia in the Muslim community than in, say, the white British community?
Yes, the Tories may have lost the redwall and lots of working class and lower middle class voters to Reform and Labour but at least it has won back a few upper middle class toffs from the LDs like TSE who are able to vote for a government containing their hero Dave for the first time since 2015, and have a son in law of a billionaire and ex Goldman Sachs banker as PM too!
Is this an indicator that the Tories will be taking the ex-Clegg constituency whatever it is called, which is close to Chez TSE but may not be quite in the same place?
Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
No. The disaster was what preceded the reshuffle. However Sunak shuffled the deckchairs it was going to be a mess.
I don't share TSE's enthusiasm for Cameron, but I don't think that coup de theatre made a huge difference. No doubt you think if he'd left Cleverly where he was, and installed scofflaw Lee as Home Secretary they'd be riding high in the polls ?
You should cut down on the ants.
Why can you guys never just say Yeah, got that wrong
When I’m clearly wrong I admit it. Liz Truss definitely didn’t “surprise on the upside”
It helps debate if you simply fess up to an error of judgment. We all do it
Go on then, admit you got it wrong about UAPs. Nothing came out beyond the usual bullshit from the usual people.
I’ve never claimed “there are UFOs and they are aliens” - I’ve always said “something weird is happening in the American establishment surrounding the subject of UFOs - and it is not easy to explain”
And this goes on. There are new bizarre developments. I just don’t have time to collate them and inform PB - I’ll try soon. Maybe when I’m out of the Cambodian jungle
You spent ages saying something weird is going on and essentially saying it HAD to be aliens.
No I really fucking didn’t. Here. This guy on the spectator summarises my feelings
Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
No. The disaster was what preceded the reshuffle. However Sunak shuffled the deckchairs it was going to be a mess.
I don't share TSE's enthusiasm for Cameron, but I don't think that coup de theatre made a huge difference. No doubt you think if he'd left Cleverly where he was, and installed scofflaw Lee as Home Secretary they'd be riding high in the polls ?
You should cut down on the ants.
Why can you guys never just say Yeah, got that wrong
When I’m clearly wrong I admit it. Liz Truss definitely didn’t “surprise on the upside”
It helps debate if you simply fess up to an error of judgment. We all do it
Go on then, admit you got it wrong about UAPs. Nothing came out beyond the usual bullshit from the usual people.
I’ve never claimed “there are UFOs and they are aliens” - I’ve always said “something weird is happening in the American establishment surrounding the subject of UFOs - and it is not easy to explain”
And this goes on. There are new bizarre developments. I just don’t have time to collate them and inform PB - I’ll try soon. Maybe when I’m out of the Cambodian jungle
You spent ages saying something weird is going on and essentially saying it HAD to be aliens.
No I really fucking didn’t. Here. This guy on the spectator summarises my feelings
“To my mind, there are five main possible explanations, in descending order of probability.
1. The US establishment – Pentagon to press – is engaged in a complex cross-party conspiracy of psyops to unnerve and mystify America’s adversaries, especially the Chinese. Perhaps they want to convince them America possesses advanced alien technology, and America has been reverse engineering it for decades.
2. The US establishment has some incredible new military tech – something truly astonishing, like anti-gravity aircraft – and they’ve had it for ages, and they want to hide it from everyone: Americans as much as the Chinese.
3. The US establishment has gone collectively mad, or is suffering some mass hallucination, stemming from a few credulous individuals (a process known in psychology as ‘contagion’).
4. The US military/elite sincerely believes we are being visited by non human intelligence – but they’re wrong.
5. The US military/elite sincerely believes we are being visited by non human intelligence – and they are right.”
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
This is why it would be good if there was a specific Muslim party - as I say upthread
The social beliefs of most Muslims are far too conservative to sit comfortably in the Labour Party. And this is now threatening core beliefs of the Labour Party (gay rights etc)
Yes this would make it harder for Labour to win some constituencies but that’s better than Labour abandoning central beliefs so they can cling on to Bradford North etc
I agree about this - though it would likely mean Labour also embracing PR. Not a problem for me - what's you thought on that ?
I’ve belatedly reached the conclusion that we do need PR. I was always pro FPTP but the two main parties are now so incoherent and jumbled it’s not working any more. Eg the Tory party is no longer a “broad church” - you’ve got evangelicals and actual atheists, in the same pews,as it were
Enough. It is time for PR
I’d also turn the Lords into a Federal chamber for the UK
If you only have minorities and pluralities then you either have incoherent parties (FPTP) or incoherent parliaments (PR) or of course, as at the moment, both.
PR more or less guarantees incoherent parliaments.
There is probably a majority of people who are basically centrists - Christian/Liberal/Social Democrats in European terms. The old system was there were so many of those that they could split into two and take turns while pretending to hate each other. They were called Labour and Conservative.
This is better than only one centrist party, because power corrupts.
We are needing a revolt from the centrists saying 'Down with this sort of thing' 'We support good and dull people on all sides, especially in the middle east' 'Murdering babies is sub-optimal on the whole' 'Please play nicely' 'Don't hold elections while I am knitting woolly hats for oppressed seafarers and organising the Nativity play' 'Only talk about sex in the bedroom, and remember to close the door'.
Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
No. The disaster was what preceded the reshuffle. However Sunak shuffled the deckchairs it was going to be a mess.
I don't share TSE's enthusiasm for Cameron, but I don't think that coup de theatre made a huge difference. No doubt you think if he'd left Cleverly where he was, and installed scofflaw Lee as Home Secretary they'd be riding high in the polls ?
You should cut down on the ants.
Why can you guys never just say Yeah, got that wrong
When I’m clearly wrong I admit it. Liz Truss definitely didn’t “surprise on the upside”
It helps debate if you simply fess up to an error of judgment. We all do it
Go on then, admit you got it wrong about UAPs. Nothing came out beyond the usual bullshit from the usual people.
I’ve never claimed “there are UFOs and they are aliens” - I’ve always said “something weird is happening in the American establishment surrounding the subject of UFOs - and it is not easy to explain”
And this goes on. There are new bizarre developments. I just don’t have time to collate them and inform PB - I’ll try soon. Maybe when I’m out of the Cambodian jungle
You spent ages saying something weird is going on and essentially saying it HAD to be aliens.
No I really fucking didn’t. Here. This guy on the spectator summarises my feelings
Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
No. The disaster was what preceded the reshuffle. However Sunak shuffled the deckchairs it was going to be a mess.
I don't share TSE's enthusiasm for Cameron, but I don't think that coup de theatre made a huge difference. No doubt you think if he'd left Cleverly where he was, and installed scofflaw Lee as Home Secretary they'd be riding high in the polls ?
You should cut down on the ants.
Why can you guys never just say Yeah, got that wrong
When I’m clearly wrong I admit it. Liz Truss definitely didn’t “surprise on the upside”
It helps debate if you simply fess up to an error of judgment. We all do it
Go on then, admit you got it wrong about UAPs. Nothing came out beyond the usual bullshit from the usual people.
I’ve never claimed “there are UFOs and they are aliens” - I’ve always said “something weird is happening in the American establishment surrounding the subject of UFOs - and it is not easy to explain”
And this goes on. There are new bizarre developments. I just don’t have time to collate them and inform PB - I’ll try soon. Maybe when I’m out of the Cambodian jungle
You spent ages saying something weird is going on and essentially saying it HAD to be aliens.
No I really fucking didn’t. Here. This guy on the spectator summarises my feelings
“To my mind, there are five main possible explanations, in descending order of probability.
1. The US establishment – Pentagon to press – is engaged in a complex cross-party conspiracy of psyops to unnerve and mystify America’s adversaries, especially the Chinese. Perhaps they want to convince them America possesses advanced alien technology, and America has been reverse engineering it for decades.
2. The US establishment has some incredible new military tech – something truly astonishing, like anti-gravity aircraft – and they’ve had it for ages, and they want to hide it from everyone: Americans as much as the Chinese.
3. The US establishment has gone collectively mad, or is suffering some mass hallucination, stemming from a few credulous individuals (a process known in psychology as ‘contagion’).
4. The US military/elite sincerely believes we are being visited by non human intelligence – but they’re wrong.
5. The US military/elite sincerely believes we are being visited by non human intelligence – and they are right.”
Which completely misses 'bad faith actors' lying and people miss-identifying stuff, which is by far the most likely explanations.
Fine. We disagree. Just don’t mischaracterise my position. Thanks
OK - you didn't say it HAD to be aliens, I'll withdraw that, yet your posts leaned heavily on the 'something odd is happening' and I contend that it simply isn't, its just more of the same MJ-12, Majestic, Blue Book, Grudge etc. I believe you say that you have knapped for Fortean Times, so I am a little surprised at your level of credulity for the latest crop of people making money out of saps. See 'Curse of Skinwalker Ranch' for more info...
Have to admit when I saw "letter to America" trending this morning I had visions that Alistair Cooke had been brought back from the dead to reprise his old Radio 4 show.
Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
No. The disaster was what preceded the reshuffle. However Sunak shuffled the deckchairs it was going to be a mess.
I don't share TSE's enthusiasm for Cameron, but I don't think that coup de theatre made a huge difference. No doubt you think if he'd left Cleverly where he was, and installed scofflaw Lee as Home Secretary they'd be riding high in the polls ?
You should cut down on the ants.
Why can you guys never just say Yeah, got that wrong
When I’m clearly wrong I admit it. Liz Truss definitely didn’t “surprise on the upside”
It helps debate if you simply fess up to an error of judgment. We all do it
Go on then, admit you got it wrong about UAPs. Nothing came out beyond the usual bullshit from the usual people.
I’ve never claimed “there are UFOs and they are aliens” - I’ve always said “something weird is happening in the American establishment surrounding the subject of UFOs - and it is not easy to explain”
And this goes on. There are new bizarre developments. I just don’t have time to collate them and inform PB - I’ll try soon. Maybe when I’m out of the Cambodian jungle
You spent ages saying something weird is going on and essentially saying it HAD to be aliens.
No I really fucking didn’t. Here. This guy on the spectator summarises my feelings
“To my mind, there are five main possible explanations, in descending order of probability.
1. The US establishment – Pentagon to press – is engaged in a complex cross-party conspiracy of psyops to unnerve and mystify America’s adversaries, especially the Chinese. Perhaps they want to convince them America possesses advanced alien technology, and America has been reverse engineering it for decades.
2. The US establishment has some incredible new military tech – something truly astonishing, like anti-gravity aircraft – and they’ve had it for ages, and they want to hide it from everyone: Americans as much as the Chinese.
3. The US establishment has gone collectively mad, or is suffering some mass hallucination, stemming from a few credulous individuals (a process known in psychology as ‘contagion’).
4. The US military/elite sincerely believes we are being visited by non human intelligence – but they’re wrong.
5. The US military/elite sincerely believes we are being visited by non human intelligence – and they are right.”
So YouGov has the Cons on 21%. In the last three polls that’s 19%, 19%, 21%.
The People Polling one for GB News was clearly neither an outlier nor a rogue.
A question will be whether Labour also take a sustained dent after yesterday or if that proves more ephemeral than the recent tory civil war. My guess is that it will be, based mainly on nous but it could also be bias on my part.
ReformUK in double digits in all three polls. Will that hold?
People seem not to be positively voting for Labour as much as voting Labour against the Tories.
I have seem some gnarly map projections based on these polls - one showing only 6 Tory seats (all in Scotland) and the LDs as the Official Opposition.
They'll be celebrating in the streets of North Aberdeen come election night.
Lets hope for some LibDem gains north of Aberdeen...
I'm sure it must have been discussed here in the past, in which case I have missed it, but please can someone explain the consistently high ReFUK figures in recent polls? They've got no press coverage, no campaigning that I have seen - are those numbers genuine? Or are the pollsters sampling only from retired men of a certain age who sit around all day watching GB News?
Ite the right-whinge protest vote. And they are on TV - the Nigel has just gone into the jungle.
Their campaigning is done for them by the Tories. Nobody votes FUKUK for positive reasons or thinking they will even win a seat. Its a performative vote for racists, bigots and xenophobes.
Nah. It's people who've never heard of them but think "reform" sounds nice, in a pox-on-all-their-houses way.
I reckon that's right. If somebody could do a poll asking who the leader of Reform was, I reckon the % naming Tice would be in the low single figures.
And if the same poll asked respondents to name any other politician in Reform than Tice, I reckon the % would be 0.
Indeed, I'd challenge the cognoscenti of PB to name anybody in Reform other than Tice.
That strange journalist woman who claimed Dave indulged in necrozoophilia?
Yes, the Tories may have lost the redwall and lots of working class and lower middle class voters to Reform and Labour but at least it has won back a few upper middle class toffs from the LDs like TSE who are able to vote for a government containing their hero Dave for the first time since 2015, and have a son in law of a billionaire and ex Goldman Sachs banker as PM too!
Are you feeling OK comrade? Sounds like you've joined the SWP!
Yes, the Tories may have lost the redwall and lots of working class and lower middle class voters to Reform and Labour but at least it has won back a few upper middle class toffs from the LDs like TSE who are able to vote for a government containing their hero Dave for the first time since 2015, and have a son in law of a billionaire and ex Goldman Sachs banker as PM too!
Is this an indicator that the Tories will be taking the ex-Clegg constituency whatever it is called, which is close to Chez TSE but may not be quite in the same place?
Another British firm sold but perhaps the interesting thing here, as the Chancellor is said to be looking at tweaking ISAs to increase investment in British companies, is that its share price doubled on that news. Efficient market, anyone?
The underperformance of the FTSE and its various subsections is a significant problem for UK businesses since it makes them very cheap and vulnerable to take over. It also makes obtaining fresh investment via the market more expensive than it is elsewhere and discourages indigenous growth. We need policies that encourage investment in the UK markets by domestic savers but selling them in a time of austerity and poor government finances is going to be challenging.
In a slightly related note, I'd make the energy windfall taxes deductable against investment in UK capacity. Companies like Shell are being positively discouraged by their investors from building new capacity because they prefer to keep energy prices high which increases profits and dividends.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
This is why it would be good if there was a specific Muslim party - as I say upthread
The social beliefs of most Muslims are far too conservative to sit comfortably in the Labour Party. And this is now threatening core beliefs of the Labour Party (gay rights etc)
Yes this would make it harder for Labour to win some constituencies but that’s better than Labour abandoning central beliefs so they can cling on to Bradford North etc
I agree about this - though it would likely mean Labour also embracing PR. Not a problem for me - what's you thought on that ?
I’ve belatedly reached the conclusion that we do need PR. I was always pro FPTP but the two main parties are now so incoherent and jumbled it’s not working any more. Eg the Tory party is no longer a “broad church” - you’ve got evangelicals and actual atheists, in the same pews,as it were
Enough. It is time for PR
I’d also turn the Lords into a Federal chamber for the UK
Same. I was always pro FPTP but the current set up isn’t working. Too divisive, undemocratic and bloated
Surprised at the double use of ‘great’, where’s the elegant variation Boris?
Good to see Johnson and Cameron with good words about each other. Very diplomatic of them both, and good to see unity towards Ukraine.
Their disagreements are only those of two born-to-rule Eton products playing the game of politics. I find it hard to take their 'positions' on things seriously.
sraeli occupation forces built a bunker under al-Shifa Hospital in 1983.
Remember this when they "discover" it soon.
They've already found guns and grenades in the hospital.
I wouldn't expect that in the Royal United Hospital in Bath, say, or Foxy's place of work.
I understand that people want the killing to stop. We all want that. But the key players are Hamas. They initiated this, they still hold hostages and they care not one bit for the people of Gaza.
I have said before, Hamas are the same as Nazi's in Berlin in 1945. Its the everyday Gazans (Germans) that are paying the price for the Hamas (Nazi) crimes.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
You make a good point, although I am not sure what the left could have done about it.
This is one of the issues with our electoral system. Not so much now, but in the past a candidate invariably needed to be white, male, married with 2 children and a protestant.
OK that is the past and generally (although you raise an important issue) none of that applies anymore, but in a multi ward system it is beneficial to have a range of candidates.
This is why it would be good if there was a specific Muslim party - as I say upthread
The social beliefs of most Muslims are far too conservative to sit comfortably in the Labour Party. And this is now threatening core beliefs of the Labour Party (gay rights etc)
Yes this would make it harder for Labour to win some constituencies but that’s better than Labour abandoning central beliefs so they can cling on to Bradford North etc
I agree about this - though it would likely mean Labour also embracing PR. Not a problem for me - what's you thought on that ?
I’ve belatedly reached the conclusion that we do need PR. I was always pro FPTP but the two main parties are now so incoherent and jumbled it’s not working any more. Eg the Tory party is no longer a “broad church” - you’ve got evangelicals and actual atheists, in the same pews,as it were
Enough. It is time for PR
I’d also turn the Lords into a Federal chamber for the UK
If you only have minorities and pluralities then you either have incoherent parties (FPTP) or incoherent parliaments (PR) or of course, as at the moment, both.
PR more or less guarantees incoherent parliaments.
There is probably a majority of people who are basically centrists - Christian/Liberal/Social Democrats in European terms. The old system was there were so many of those that they could split into two and take turns while pretending to hate each other. They were called Labour and Conservative.
This is better than only one centrist party, because power corrupts.
We are needing a revolt from the centrists saying 'Down with this sort of thing' 'We support good and dull people on all sides, especially in the middle east' 'Murdering babies is sub-optimal on the whole' 'Please play nicely' 'Don't hold elections while I am knitting woolly hats for oppressed seafarers and organising the Nativity play' 'Only talk about sex in the bedroom, and remember to close the door'.
People need to read Arend Lijphart on this stuff ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Patterns-Democracy-Government-Performance-Thirty-Six/dp/0300172028/ ). What causes a system of coalition governments is having multiple main parties. You can have multiple main parties under FPTP (e.g. India). You can have multiple main parties under PR. If you have a 2-party system, then you get majority governments. You can have a 2-party system under PR (e.g. Malta, South Africa, Ireland until recently).
PR tends to encourage the development of more main parties, but it's only a limited effect. PR doesn't mean parties instantly split into smaller parts. FPTP doesn't mean they never do. The relationship between electoral system and what parties do is indirect.
You also need to consider ordinality, not just proportionality. Ordinality can solve many of the criticisms of PR without necessarily making the system more proportional.
If you really want to avoid coalition government and have "coherent" executives, then pick a presidential system. A president can only be from one party!
Labour's revolt against Starmer was rat her larger than the impression given on the news. Unless I've got it wrong over a quarter of the party revolted. That does not bode well.
Theyre all red Tories Roger thats what youre voting for.
I've given up on them. I want to join the Jess Phillips Party or better still the Sanna Marin Party
I'd join any party that Sanna Marin was invited to.
The last Starship test ended up with one of the world’s biggest explosions, and they’ve spent the last few months cleaning up the mess as well as building another rocket.
sraeli occupation forces built a bunker under al-Shifa Hospital in 1983.
Remember this when they "discover" it soon.
I mentioned this the other day. They built basements under the main hospital for services. Your local hospital probably has some. By their nature, these are often bunker-like. Whether they were built as 'bunkers' is another matter. And the allegation is that Hamas have extended this.
Is this an unrealistic allegation?
Hamas admit to having built tunnels; there are alleged to be hundreds of KMs of them, and one was found by the UNRWA under a school. (1) Do you believe it is impossible that Hamas built them under hospitals? And how can someone who supports the average Palestinian condone that much resource being put into building tunnels that are meant for war? How much would the money and material invested in that have helped the average Gazan?
Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
No. The disaster was what preceded the reshuffle. However Sunak shuffled the deckchairs it was going to be a mess.
I don't share TSE's enthusiasm for Cameron, but I don't think that coup de theatre made a huge difference. No doubt you think if he'd left Cleverly where he was, and installed scofflaw Lee as Home Secretary they'd be riding high in the polls ?
You should cut down on the ants.
Why can you guys never just say Yeah, got that wrong
When I’m clearly wrong I admit it. Liz Truss definitely didn’t “surprise on the upside”
It helps debate if you simply fess up to an error of judgment. We all do it
Go on then, admit you got it wrong about UAPs. Nothing came out beyond the usual bullshit from the usual people.
I’ve never claimed “there are UFOs and they are aliens” - I’ve always said “something weird is happening in the American establishment surrounding the subject of UFOs - and it is not easy to explain”
And this goes on. There are new bizarre developments. I just don’t have time to collate them and inform PB - I’ll try soon. Maybe when I’m out of the Cambodian jungle
You spent ages saying something weird is going on and essentially saying it HAD to be aliens.
No I really fucking didn’t. Here. This guy on the spectator summarises my feelings
Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
No. The disaster was what preceded the reshuffle. However Sunak shuffled the deckchairs it was going to be a mess.
I don't share TSE's enthusiasm for Cameron, but I don't think that coup de theatre made a huge difference. No doubt you think if he'd left Cleverly where he was, and installed scofflaw Lee as Home Secretary they'd be riding high in the polls ?
You should cut down on the ants.
Why can you guys never just say Yeah, got that wrong
When I’m clearly wrong I admit it. Liz Truss definitely didn’t “surprise on the upside”
It helps debate if you simply fess up to an error of judgment. We all do it
Go on then, admit you got it wrong about UAPs. Nothing came out beyond the usual bullshit from the usual people.
I’ve never claimed “there are UFOs and they are aliens” - I’ve always said “something weird is happening in the American establishment surrounding the subject of UFOs - and it is not easy to explain”
And this goes on. There are new bizarre developments. I just don’t have time to collate them and inform PB - I’ll try soon. Maybe when I’m out of the Cambodian jungle
You spent ages saying something weird is going on and essentially saying it HAD to be aliens.
No I really fucking didn’t. Here. This guy on the spectator summarises my feelings
Another brilliant result for the “World’s Greatest Reshuffle”
Can PB now admit I was right? It was a catastrophic mistake in every way
Not really. The counterfactuals would probably be equally dire, just in a different way.
The Tories' problems are rather more fundamental than the choice of a Foreign Secretary.
So I was completely right, but in a weirdly wrong way that only PB centrists can understand and can never be explained
Got it
No. The disaster was what preceded the reshuffle. However Sunak shuffled the deckchairs it was going to be a mess.
I don't share TSE's enthusiasm for Cameron, but I don't think that coup de theatre made a huge difference. No doubt you think if he'd left Cleverly where he was, and installed scofflaw Lee as Home Secretary they'd be riding high in the polls ?
You should cut down on the ants.
Why can you guys never just say Yeah, got that wrong
When I’m clearly wrong I admit it. Liz Truss definitely didn’t “surprise on the upside”
It helps debate if you simply fess up to an error of judgment. We all do it
Go on then, admit you got it wrong about UAPs. Nothing came out beyond the usual bullshit from the usual people.
I’ve never claimed “there are UFOs and they are aliens” - I’ve always said “something weird is happening in the American establishment surrounding the subject of UFOs - and it is not easy to explain”
And this goes on. There are new bizarre developments. I just don’t have time to collate them and inform PB - I’ll try soon. Maybe when I’m out of the Cambodian jungle
You spent ages saying something weird is going on and essentially saying it HAD to be aliens.
No I really fucking didn’t. Here. This guy on the spectator summarises my feelings
“To my mind, there are five main possible explanations, in descending order of probability.
1. The US establishment – Pentagon to press – is engaged in a complex cross-party conspiracy of psyops to unnerve and mystify America’s adversaries, especially the Chinese. Perhaps they want to convince them America possesses advanced alien technology, and America has been reverse engineering it for decades.
2. The US establishment has some incredible new military tech – something truly astonishing, like anti-gravity aircraft – and they’ve had it for ages, and they want to hide it from everyone: Americans as much as the Chinese.
3. The US establishment has gone collectively mad, or is suffering some mass hallucination, stemming from a few credulous individuals (a process known in psychology as ‘contagion’).
4. The US military/elite sincerely believes we are being visited by non human intelligence – but they’re wrong.
5. The US military/elite sincerely believes we are being visited by non human intelligence – and they are right.”
Which completely misses 'bad faith actors' lying and people miss-identifying stuff, which is by far the most likely explanations.
Fine. We disagree. Just don’t mischaracterise my position. Thanks
OK - you didn't say it HAD to be aliens, I'll withdraw that, yet your posts leaned heavily on the 'something odd is happening' and I contend that it simply isn't, its just more of the same MJ-12, Majestic, Blue Book, Grudge etc. I believe you say that you have knapped for Fortean Times, so I am a little surprised at your level of credulity for the latest crop of people making money out of saps. See 'Curse of Skinwalker Ranch' for more info...
Fair. Thankyou for withdrawing that
There is a fascinating debate to be had on this - I’m just distracted by other things ATM
The last Starship test ended up with one of the world’s biggest explosions, and they’ve spent the last few months cleaning up the mess as well as building another rocket.
"...one of the world’s biggest explosions"
That sounds absolute and utter rubbish, and the sort of rubbish spread by SpaceX fanbois.
Well done, the British left. You utter utter morons
80% of muslims believing homosexuality is morally wrong isn't the biggest problem - it's that 50% think it should be illegal.
And STILL the multiculti left won’t admit we might just have a problem
The suggestion online seems to be that the Tweet / X you are referring to is from a gay Muslim (who, whilst his Tweets are protected, has a rainbow and trans flag in his bio). So it's probably someone tweeting jokingly / about something that is a topic of discussion within his specific community and has now been thrust into the "real world" and taken out of that context.
Edit: Indeed, that entire thread seems to be a lot of queer muslim people discussing this. This is the kind of shitposting I would do with friends in Whatsapp when talking about celebrity queer people who help pinkwash stuff - not a real manifestation of homophobia.
Are you now trying to claim there is no more homophobia in the Muslim community than in, say, the white British community?
No, that isn't what I said, nor is it even related to what I said. I wish people would address what I say and not what they wish / think I say.
I was noting that the totemic, viral tweets that are leading to this discussion is, seemingly, a group of queer muslims discussing their own communities homophobia. That is very different to just muslim people being homophobic. For example, it makes me less concerned about the use of slurs (the reclamation of slurs is a thorny topic and, whilst I don't typically use them, understand that some people do). It also explains the kind of jokey tone - again, this is shitposting both about a gay politician - who they relate to through their queerness - and their homophobic community - that they relate to through their religion and cultural background.
I tend to think that most homophobia has similar routes - patriarchy. The data suggests that religious muslims are more homophobic than white British culture as a whole, sure. But that isn't like for like - I would also like data comparing muslims to other religions and non-religious people. It is still possible, maybe even likely, that British muslims are more homophobic then other religious groups - but the specific thing you are pointing to is not as simple as "muslim people talking about weaponizing homophobia to deselect gay MP" when you realise those muslim people themselves seem to be queer.
Labour's revolt against Starmer was rat her larger than the impression given on the news. Unless I've got it wrong over a quarter of the party revolted. That does not bode well.
Theyre all red Tories Roger thats what youre voting for.
I've given up on them. I want to join the Jess Phillips Party or better still the Sanna Marin Party
I've just seen Sanna Marin in person and am a little bit in love. About twice as smart and articulate as anyone in British politics and ten times as attractive.
About par for the course forn a European politician.
The last Starship test ended up with one of the world’s biggest explosions, and they’ve spent the last few months cleaning up the mess as well as building another rocket.
Whatever happens it's guaranteed to be spectacular (Unless there's a pre-launch scrub)
YouGov this morning has the Tories on their lowest percentage since Truss
CON 21% LAB 44% LD 10% REF 10% GREEN 8%
O! sing unto my roundelay, O! drop the briny tear with me, Dance no more at holy-day, Like a running river be: My love is dead, Gone to his death-bed All under the willow-tree.
Surprised at the double use of ‘great’, where’s the elegant variation Boris?
Good to see Johnson and Cameron with good words about each other. Very diplomatic of them both, and good to see unity towards Ukraine.
Their disagreements are only those of two born-to-rule Eton products playing the game of politics. I find it hard to take their 'positions' on things seriously.
So long as they can put aside their domestic political and personal differences, to show a united front on Ukraine and to Zelensky, then it’s all good in my book.
The Palestinian Authority and Hamas in the West Bank should be treated the same as the Hamas in Gaza, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has said.
Mr Ben Gvir was responding to this morning’s terror attack at a checkpoint in south Jerusalem.
“We need to deal with Hamas in the West Bank, and the Palestinian Authority which has similar views to Hamas and its heads identified with Hamas’s massacre, exactly like we are dealing with Gaza,” he said.
The last Starship test ended up with one of the world’s biggest explosions, and they’ve spent the last few months cleaning up the mess as well as building another rocket.
Whatever happens it's guaranteed to be spectacular (Unless there's a pre-launch scrub)
Yes, once they light that candle it’s going to be spectacular either way. Either a successful launch, or big rocket makes big boom, will be worth watching.
The last one destroyed its own pad as it departed, so they’ve had to upgrade it and add a water system for noise suppression.
I can show Owen some TikToks of people who match that labelling praising Osama Bin Ladans Letter to America if he wants....
The such and such community can't contain bigots because they have suffered oppression was tackled by Chris Rock 20+ years ago with his infamous (and very funny) rountine about n#### vs black people.
Perhaps the Offshore wind people have looked at the rest of large scale civil British engineering projects sold to the Gov't and realised that whatever they were providing for the money should clearly be twice as expensive.
Comments
I think I might know someone in Monaco who could be interested in taking a whole boatful They might even throw in a years membership to Jimmy'z.....
23% of Leave voters now back Reform too with only 38% supporting Sunak's Tories.
SNP up a bit in Scotland to 37% on the Scottish subsample after Yousaf's call for a Gaza ceasefire but still below the 45% they got in 2019.
A tiny bit of good news for Sunak in that after sacking Braverman and appointing Cameron FS the Tories have now gained 5% of 2019 LDs while only losing 4% of 2019 Tories to the LDs. So at least Cameron has brought a net gain for the Tories from the Liberals. Even though the 21% overall Tory voteshare would still be the lowest Tory general election voteshare in history, even lower than the 30% Major got in 1997 or the 29% Wellington got in 1832
https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/TheTimes_VI_231115_W.pdf
Camo as Foreign Sec means one fewer senior cabinet minister to run for the leadership next year. Rishi Rich giving a helping hand to Cleverley as his chosen successor.
Cleverley makes the run-off. But there is a phalanx of swivel-eyed women (The Truss, Sue-Ellen, Priti, Esther) battling to make it to the final two and be the members' preference.
Must have been Johnson, no?
https://twitter.com/jasebyjason/status/1725084568074522867
Edit: Indeed, that entire thread seems to be a lot of queer muslim people discussing this. This is the kind of shitposting I would do with friends in Whatsapp when talking about celebrity queer people who help pinkwash stuff - not a real manifestation of homophobia.
The headline is a rare TSE innuendo copout.
What happened to "conversations"?
All the huffing and puffing about Foreign Courts and emergency laws is displacement activity to avoid confronting the brutal fact that even if the planes take off they won't STOP THE BOATS.
But seriously, "Tories have now gained 5% of 2019 LDs while only losing 4% of 2019 Tories to the LDs."
5% of 2019 LDs = 0.58% of the total vote.
4% of 2019 Tories = 1.77% of the total vote.
So a net swing to the LDs.
And this goes on. There are new bizarre developments. I just don’t have time to collate them and inform PB - I’ll try soon. Maybe when I’m out of the Cambodian jungle
Speaking to Zelensky in Kiev - “I had some disagreements with my friend Boris Johnson - we’ve known eachother for 40 years - and his support for you is the finest thing that he and his government did.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/11/16/russia-ukraine-war-live-news-us-funding-running-out-latest/
They are inconsistent and incompetent. That’s why they are doing sh*t.
We can make all the arguments about positioning until we are blue in the face but it doesn’t matter a jot because nobody trusts the Tories to deliver anything they say.
I'm surprised DFS haven't thought of it
Only been open 5 years. Has a Michelin star. Very sad
Labour 496
Tories 77
LDs 36
SNP 19
https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/usercode.py?scotcontrol=Y&CON=21&LAB=44&LIB=10&Reform=10&Green=8&UKIP=&TVCON=&TVLAB=&TVLIB=&TVReform=&TVGreen=&TVUKIP=&SCOTCON=19.5&SCOTLAB=33.5&SCOTLIB=5.5&SCOTReform=1&SCOTGreen=2.5&SCOTUKIP=&SCOTNAT=34&display=AllChanged&regorseat=(none)&boundary=2019nbbase
Labour are not going to regress on gay rights because a small if significant minority are religious and hold archaic views. Might the odd council become independent rather than Labour sure, does it impact national politics, not particularly.
Ugandan discussions.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recurring_jokes_in_Private_Eye
NEW 🇬🇧 focus group for @timesradio with swing voters (half undecided, half Con-to-Lab switchers)
*Worst focus group for the Conservatives since we started this series in 2020.*
💥 Views of PM Rishi Sunak:
- "Failed"
- "Meek, no real presence"
- "Money, upper class" ... (1/6)
https://x.com/jamesjohnson252/status/1725096429532700793?s=20
Enough. It is time for PR
I’d also turn the Lords into a Federal chamber for the UK
Pulling an all nighter?
https://leftfootforward.org/2012/07/toby-young-spectator-attacks-equalities-act-and-wheelchair-ramps/
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/03/toby-young-quotes-on-breasts-eugenics-and-working-class-people
That’s my take.
https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/usercode.py?scotcontrol=Y&tvcontrol=Y&CON=21&LAB=44&LIB=10&Reform=10&Green=8&UKIP=&TVCON=10&TVLAB=20&TVLIB=40&TVReform=30&TVGreen=50&TVUKIP=&SCOTCON=19.5&SCOTLAB=33.5&SCOTLIB=5.5&SCOTReform=1&SCOTGreen=2.5&SCOTUKIP=&SCOTNAT=34&display=AllChanged&regorseat=(none)&boundary=2019nbbase
Give the Tories 6% uplift (4% from Labour, 2% from Reform) for regression and the mid term effect gives around my current expectations:
Labour 394
Tories 189
LD 28
SNP 17
https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/usercode.py?scotcontrol=Y&tvcontrol=Y&CON=27&LAB=40&LIB=10&Reform=8&Green=8&UKIP=&TVCON=10&TVLAB=20&TVLIB=40&TVReform=30&TVGreen=50&TVUKIP=&SCOTCON=19.5&SCOTLAB=33.5&SCOTLIB=5.5&SCOTReform=1&SCOTGreen=2.5&SCOTUKIP=&SCOTNAT=34&display=AllChanged&regorseat=(none)&boundary=2019nbbase
TSE ought to do a header.
“To my mind, there are five main possible explanations, in descending order of probability.
1. The US establishment – Pentagon to press – is engaged in a complex cross-party conspiracy of psyops to unnerve and mystify America’s adversaries, especially the Chinese. Perhaps they want to convince them America possesses advanced alien technology, and America has been reverse engineering it for decades.
2. The US establishment has some incredible new military tech – something truly astonishing, like anti-gravity aircraft – and they’ve had it for ages, and they want to hide it from everyone: Americans as much as the Chinese.
3. The US establishment has gone collectively mad, or is suffering some mass hallucination, stemming from a few credulous individuals (a process known in psychology as ‘contagion’).
4. The US military/elite sincerely believes we are being visited by non human intelligence – but they’re wrong.
5. The US military/elite sincerely believes we are being visited by non human intelligence – and they are right.”
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/ufos-or-not-something-is-up/
💥 BRAVERMAN: The Con to Lab switchers had not engaged with her sacking and some thought her homelessness comments went too far, but every undecided voter backed her (3/6)
https://x.com/jamesjohnson252/status/1725096431634014367?s=20
Braverman viewed by the undecideds as being sacked for "speaking the truth" on immigration and "sometimes you have to upset the apple cart to get things done"; in the absence of an alternative, it fed into perceptions of Sunak as weak ("he's scared of upsetting people") (4/6)
https://x.com/jamesjohnson252/status/1725096432674152600?s=20
No love for Keir Starmer either:
- "All fur coat no knickers"
- "Slimy, underhanded"
- "Much of a muchness"
- "Flip flops"
- "Can't be trusted"
- "Mild"
💥 But the huge loss of faith in Sunak + the strength of Labour's brand meant most would vote Lab anyway - or Reform (5/6)
https://x.com/jamesjohnson252/status/1725096433756299462?s=20
https://www.channel4.com/press/news/c4-survey-and-documentary-reveals-what-british-muslims-really-think
The world is wrong on this one, I assert
PR more or less guarantees incoherent parliaments.
There is probably a majority of people who are basically centrists - Christian/Liberal/Social Democrats in European terms. The old system was there were so many of those that they could split into two and take turns while pretending to hate each other. They were called Labour and Conservative.
This is better than only one centrist party, because power corrupts.
We are needing a revolt from the centrists saying 'Down with this sort of thing' 'We support good and dull people on all sides, especially in the middle east' 'Murdering babies is sub-optimal on the whole' 'Please play nicely' 'Don't hold elections while I am knitting woolly hats for oppressed seafarers and organising the Nativity play' 'Only talk about sex in the bedroom, and remember to close the door'.
https://x.com/borisjohnson/status/1725109680949559598?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
Surprised at the double use of ‘great’, where’s the elegant variation Boris?
Hancock should have seen what would be coming.
Remember this when they "discover" it soon.
I wouldn't expect that in the Royal United Hospital in Bath, say, or Foxy's place of work.
I understand that people want the killing to stop. We all want that. But the key players are Hamas. They initiated this, they still hold hostages and they care not one bit for the people of Gaza.
I have said before, Hamas are the same as Nazi's in Berlin in 1945. Its the everyday Gazans (Germans) that are paying the price for the Hamas (Nazi) crimes.
YouGov this morning has the Tories on their lowest percentage since Truss
CON 21%
LAB 44%
LD 10%
REF 10%
GREEN 8%
PR tends to encourage the development of more main parties, but it's only a limited effect. PR doesn't mean parties instantly split into smaller parts. FPTP doesn't mean they never do. The relationship between electoral system and what parties do is indirect.
You also need to consider ordinality, not just proportionality. Ordinality can solve many of the criticisms of PR without necessarily making the system more proportional.
If you really want to avoid coalition government and have "coherent" executives, then pick a presidential system. A president can only be from one party!
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/15/faa-clears-spacex-to-launch-second-starship-flight.html
The last Starship test ended up with one of the world’s biggest explosions, and they’ve spent the last few months cleaning up the mess as well as building another rocket.
Is this an unrealistic allegation?
Hamas admit to having built tunnels; there are alleged to be hundreds of KMs of them, and one was found by the UNRWA under a school. (1) Do you believe it is impossible that Hamas built them under hospitals? And how can someone who supports the average Palestinian condone that much resource being put into building tunnels that are meant for war? How much would the money and material invested in that have helped the average Gazan?
(1): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_tunnel_warfare_in_the_Gaza_Strip
There is a fascinating debate to be had on this - I’m just distracted by other things ATM
We shall return to it soon, I hope
That sounds absolute and utter rubbish, and the sort of rubbish spread by SpaceX fanbois.
I was noting that the totemic, viral tweets that are leading to this discussion is, seemingly, a group of queer muslims discussing their own communities homophobia. That is very different to just muslim people being homophobic. For example, it makes me less concerned about the use of slurs (the reclamation of slurs is a thorny topic and, whilst I don't typically use them, understand that some people do). It also explains the kind of jokey tone - again, this is shitposting both about a gay politician - who they relate to through their queerness - and their homophobic community - that they relate to through their religion and cultural background.
I tend to think that most homophobia has similar routes - patriarchy. The data suggests that religious muslims are more homophobic than white British culture as a whole, sure. But that isn't like for like - I would also like data comparing muslims to other religions and non-religious people. It is still possible, maybe even likely, that British muslims are more homophobic then other religious groups - but the specific thing you are pointing to is not as simple as "muslim people talking about weaponizing homophobia to deselect gay MP" when you realise those muslim people themselves seem to be queer.
O! sing unto my roundelay,
O! drop the briny tear with me,
Dance no more at holy-day,
Like a running river be:
My love is dead,
Gone to his death-bed
All under the willow-tree.
Mr Ben Gvir was responding to this morning’s terror attack at a checkpoint in south Jerusalem.
“We need to deal with Hamas in the West Bank, and the Palestinian Authority which has similar views to Hamas and its heads identified with Hamas’s massacre, exactly like we are dealing with Gaza,” he said.
Apologies to @LostPassword - I unfairly included him/her in the crowd gushing over the reshuffle. I was wrong
👍🙏
🥴🙄
The last one destroyed its own pad as it departed, so they’ve had to upgrade it and add a water system for noise suppression.
The such and such community can't contain bigots because they have suffered oppression was tackled by Chris Rock 20+ years ago with his infamous (and very funny) rountine about n#### vs black people.
Edit: would be better to repeat "great to see" rather than have great in two grammatical contexts, though. You may be right on this one.
The cost of debt has recently increased by a large amount. This makes wind relatively more expensive than it was previously.
I'm pretty confident that the technology will continue to develop and drive costs down.