Labour Party write to PM and call for him to remove whip from former PM Liz Truss for “spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories about a ‘deep state’ that is to blame for the downfall of her premiership”
“spreading such blatant conspiracy theories is incredibly damaging to our democracy, our institutions and social cohesion.”
Meanwhile, and I think more seriously in the current climate, Lee Anderson and Suella Braverman have been engaging in anti-Islamist tirades today, with Anderson claiming Islamists have got control of Sadiq Khan, and Braverman alleging that Islamists are 'bullying Britain into submission'. Language hardly conducive to healing divisions - the far right keyboard warriors will be cheering them on with online threats against prominent Muslims, no doubt. Totally irresponsible (as well as inaccurate, of course).
Yes, it's not just the Gaza protestors who have threatened MPs with violence. For years Diane Abbott was number one for online threats,
Listening on radio 5 this morning someone who used to be parliamentary protection pointed out that those who abuse online rarely if ever carry out attacks. They are the (horrible) equivalent of drivers mouthing of and flicking hand gestures from the comfort of their cars. They have no intention of following through. The dangers of physical harm comes from the extremes (extreme right, islamists etc). So while online abuse is horrible, it’s possible to separate it from the actual dangers of physical harm.
Labour Party write to PM and call for him to remove whip from former PM Liz Truss for “spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories about a ‘deep state’ that is to blame for the downfall of her premiership”
“spreading such blatant conspiracy theories is incredibly damaging to our democracy, our institutions and social cohesion.”
Meanwhile, and I think more seriously in the current climate, Lee Anderson and Suella Braverman have been engaging in anti-Islamist tirades today, with Anderson claiming Islamists have got control of Sadiq Khan, and Braverman alleging that Islamists are 'bullying Britain into submission'. Language hardly conducive to healing divisions - the far right keyboard warriors will be cheering them on with online threats against prominent Muslims, no doubt. Totally irresponsible (as well as inaccurate, of course).
Yes, it's not just the Gaza protestors who have threatened MPs with violence. For years Diane Abbott was number one for online threats,
Listening on radio 5 this morning someone who used to be parliamentary protection pointed out that those who abuse online rarely if ever carry out attacks. They are the (horrible) equivalent of drivers mouthing of and flicking hand gestures from the comfort of their cars. They have no intention of following through. The dangers of physical harm comes from the extremes (extreme right, islamists etc). So while online abuse is horrible, it’s possible to separate it from the actual dangers of physical harm.
Doesn't one lead to the other? I thought that had been well established? Begin by hurling a bit of abuse on social media, spend more and more time in your underpants swapping abuse with other whackos on social media and generally getting worked up, start dipping into the dark web to find even worse stuff etc etc and then after a few months or years of this snapping and starting to plan a real attack.
Labour Party write to PM and call for him to remove whip from former PM Liz Truss for “spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories about a ‘deep state’ that is to blame for the downfall of her premiership”
“spreading such blatant conspiracy theories is incredibly damaging to our democracy, our institutions and social cohesion.”
Meanwhile, and I think more seriously in the current climate, Lee Anderson and Suella Braverman have been engaging in anti-Islamist tirades today, with Anderson claiming Islamists have got control of Sadiq Khan, and Braverman alleging that Islamists are 'bullying Britain into submission'. Language hardly conducive to healing divisions - the far right keyboard warriors will be cheering them on with online threats against prominent Muslims, no doubt. Totally irresponsible (as well as inaccurate, of course).
Yes, it's not just the Gaza protestors who have threatened MPs with violence. For years Diane Abbott was number one for online threats,
Listening on radio 5 this morning someone who used to be parliamentary protection pointed out that those who abuse online rarely if ever carry out attacks. They are the (horrible) equivalent of drivers mouthing of and flicking hand gestures from the comfort of their cars. They have no intention of following through. The dangers of physical harm comes from the extremes (extreme right, islamists etc). So while online abuse is horrible, it’s possible to separate it from the actual dangers of physical harm.
Doesn't one lead to the other? I thought that had been well established? Begin by hurling a bit of abuse on social media, spend more and more time in your underpants swapping abuse with other whackos on social media and generally getting worked up, start dipping into the dark web to find even worse stuff etc etc and then after a few months or years of this snapping and starting to plan a real attack.
I think it may do for a tiny percentage, but the point is 99.99 % is just dickheads being idiots online. Just the same as those who go to football to moan and shout at their own side.
I'm getting a bit tired of the cyberbullying on here of @williamglenn - I hope the moronic sniping "WELL, WOULD YOU VOTE FOR TRUMP? *WOULD* YOU?!" doesn't push him off.
I really value the way he offers a completely different perspective on American and European nationalism, and intelligently so, and forces you to think harder.
He's a real asset to this site.
It is quite amusing watching people go in to Trump derangement syndrome. They insist that, whilst Trump is the overwhelming favourite in the US election, and Europe 'lurches to the far right', any similar political movement in the UK is doomed to failure, because the centre in the UK has shifted to the left, and the conservatives need to 'modernise' and go along with it, ignoring overwhelming evidence that things like their policy on stopping small boats is very popular with the public.
The whole thing with the "PB Consensus" reminds me a bit of dealing with Corbynites in the labour party - people have difficulties facing up to reality.
I would agree that Trump is symptomatic of the decline of the USA, but would say that the democrats are just as much to blame for this, and that Trump offers voters a meaningful alternative.
Who are these “deranged people” insisting that Trump is the overwhelming favourite for anything other than the GOP nomination ?
Labour Party write to PM and call for him to remove whip from former PM Liz Truss for “spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories about a ‘deep state’ that is to blame for the downfall of her premiership”
“spreading such blatant conspiracy theories is incredibly damaging to our democracy, our institutions and social cohesion.”
Meanwhile, and I think more seriously in the current climate, Lee Anderson and Suella Braverman have been engaging in anti-Islamist tirades today, with Anderson claiming Islamists have got control of Sadiq Khan, and Braverman alleging that Islamists are 'bullying Britain into submission'. Language hardly conducive to healing divisions - the far right keyboard warriors will be cheering them on with online threats against prominent Muslims, no doubt. Totally irresponsible (as well as inaccurate, of course).
Yes, it's not just the Gaza protestors who have threatened MPs with violence. For years Diane Abbott was number one for online threats,
Listening on radio 5 this morning someone who used to be parliamentary protection pointed out that those who abuse online rarely if ever carry out attacks. They are the (horrible) equivalent of drivers mouthing of and flicking hand gestures from the comfort of their cars. They have no intention of following through. The dangers of physical harm comes from the extremes (extreme right, islamists etc). So while online abuse is horrible, it’s possible to separate it from the actual dangers of physical harm.
Doesn't one lead to the other? I thought that had been well established? Begin by hurling a bit of abuse on social media, spend more and more time in your underpants swapping abuse with other whackos on social media and generally getting worked up, start dipping into the dark web to find even worse stuff etc etc and then after a few months or years of this snapping and starting to plan a real attack.
I think it may do for a tiny percentage, but the point is 99.99 % is just dickheads being idiots online. Just the same as those who go to football to moan and shout at their own side.
I think that a very complacent attitude.
You might as well just point out that Gaza protesters have not attacked any MP, therefore nothing to worry about.
The sewer of online hate is where these things start.
I'm getting a bit tired of the cyberbullying on here of @williamglenn - I hope the moronic sniping "WELL, WOULD YOU VOTE FOR TRUMP? *WOULD* YOU?!" doesn't push him off.
I really value the way he offers a completely different perspective on American and European nationalism, and intelligently so, and forces you to think harder.
He's a real asset to this site.
It is quite amusing watching people go in to Trump derangement syndrome. They insist that, whilst Trump is the overwhelming favourite in the US election, and Europe 'lurches to the far right', any similar political movement in the UK is doomed to failure, because the centre in the UK has shifted to the left, and the conservatives need to 'modernise' and go along with it, ignoring overwhelming evidence that things like their policy on stopping small boats is very popular with the public.
The whole thing with the "PB Consensus" reminds me a bit of dealing with Corbynites in the labour party - people have difficulties facing up to reality.
I would agree that Trump is symptomatic of the decline of the USA, but would say that the democrats are just as much to blame for this, and that Trump offers voters a meaningful alternative.
Who are these “deranged people” insisting that Trump is the overwhelming favourite for anything other than the GOP nomination ?
I don't think anyone is deranged because they think there is a reasonably high probability of him being POTUS in a year, nor for saying that is a bad thing.
It would be good to hear a rational case for his election, but that isn't what we see.
Labour Party write to PM and call for him to remove whip from former PM Liz Truss for “spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories about a ‘deep state’ that is to blame for the downfall of her premiership”
“spreading such blatant conspiracy theories is incredibly damaging to our democracy, our institutions and social cohesion.”
Meanwhile, and I think more seriously in the current climate, Lee Anderson and Suella Braverman have been engaging in anti-Islamist tirades today, with Anderson claiming Islamists have got control of Sadiq Khan, and Braverman alleging that Islamists are 'bullying Britain into submission'. Language hardly conducive to healing divisions - the far right keyboard warriors will be cheering them on with online threats against prominent Muslims, no doubt. Totally irresponsible (as well as inaccurate, of course).
Yes, it's not just the Gaza protestors who have threatened MPs with violence. For years Diane Abbott was number one for online threats,
Listening on radio 5 this morning someone who used to be parliamentary protection pointed out that those who abuse online rarely if ever carry out attacks. They are the (horrible) equivalent of drivers mouthing of and flicking hand gestures from the comfort of their cars. They have no intention of following through. The dangers of physical harm comes from the extremes (extreme right, islamists etc). So while online abuse is horrible, it’s possible to separate it from the actual dangers of physical harm.
Doesn't one lead to the other? I thought that had been well established? Begin by hurling a bit of abuse on social media, spend more and more time in your underpants swapping abuse with other whackos on social media and generally getting worked up, start dipping into the dark web to find even worse stuff etc etc and then after a few months or years of this snapping and starting to plan a real attack.
I think it may do for a tiny percentage, but the point is 99.99 % is just dickheads being idiots online. Just the same as those who go to football to moan and shout at their own side.
I think that a very complacent attitude.
You might as well just point out that Gaza protesters have not attacked any MP, therefore nothing to worry about.
The sewer of online hate is where these things start.
Just reporting what I heard, tbh, from someone who supposedly knows. And before PB gets too high and mighty there is a ton of pretty nasty stuff posted on here about the whole range of political figures, some of which is definitely hate.
I'm getting a bit tired of the cyberbullying on here of @williamglenn - I hope the moronic sniping "WELL, WOULD YOU VOTE FOR TRUMP? *WOULD* YOU?!" doesn't push him off.
I really value the way he offers a completely different perspective on American and European nationalism, and intelligently so, and forces you to think harder.
He's a real asset to this site.
It is quite amusing watching people go in to Trump derangement syndrome. They insist that, whilst Trump is the overwhelming favourite in the US election, and Europe 'lurches to the far right', any similar political movement in the UK is doomed to failure, because the centre in the UK has shifted to the left, and the conservatives need to 'modernise' and go along with it, ignoring overwhelming evidence that things like their policy on stopping small boats is very popular with the public.
The whole thing with the "PB Consensus" reminds me a bit of dealing with Corbynites in the labour party - people have difficulties facing up to reality.
I would agree that Trump is symptomatic of the decline of the USA, but would say that the democrats are just as much to blame for this, and that Trump offers voters a meaningful alternative.
Who are these “deranged people” insisting that Trump is the overwhelming favourite for anything other than the GOP nomination ?
I don't think anyone is deranged because they think there is a reasonably high probability of him being POTUS in a year, nor for saying that is a bad thing.
It would be good to hear a rational case for his election, but that isn't what we see.
It was darkage who was calling them that. I was just wondering who he had in mind.
What's the evidence for this upcoming dramatic swing to the right in the UK? We are experiencing record migration yet Labour remain miles ahead in the polls.
Public opinion is in favour of better public services rather than tax cuts. Young people are not swinging to the right as they age as they used to.
I just don't see a gap for the Truss/Farage wing of the Tory party, other than to take control of a decimated Tory party after the election and guarantee Labour two or three administrations.
They are, most voters over 39 voted Tory at the last election.
If Labour muck up the economy even a Truss/Farage/Braverman/Badenoch/Rees Mogg Conservative Party could win.
Remember in 1975 most commentators considered Thatcher an unelectable rightwinger and centrist Callaghan was seen as likely to be re elected for some time
Your problem is that millennials are actually becoming more leftwing with age:
That is just mainly a factor of Brexit, Cameron even won 25-35 year olds in 2010.
However Brexit is now done and if Labour win the next election they will be responsible for the economy, if they fail to deliver then young people will shift more to the right again, as they are did in Italy and are now doing in the Canada and the US and even to Le Pen in France who is now competitive with Macron's party even amongst the youngest.
The US chart is already outdated, although Biden won under 35s comfortably in 2020 Trump is now near level with him amongst the youngest voters
No, it's not just Brexit. The current Tory party is toxic to the young, and by the young I mean anyone of working age. Just look at the polling.
I wouldn't count on an electorate not liking Labour austerity turning Tory for a further dose of Tory austerity.
Cameron won the young in 2010 by moving his party to the centre, and by being more socially and environmentally progressive. There is zero chance of any Tory leadership contender winning with that agenda.
Yet as I stated in France Le Pen is now ahead with under 40s against candidates from Macron's party, in Canada Poilievre's Conservatives are neck and neck with Trudeau's Liberals amongst under 40s and in the US while Biden won under 40s comfortably in 2020 Trump now is also level pegging with that age group. In Italy too Meloni's party did best with 35-49 year olds not pensioners in 2022.
Not one of those rightwing or conservative leaders is especially socially liberal and none of them are very pro net zero. So if young people in Europe and North America can turn to the right over high inflation and high living costs and too high immigration and high taxes then no reason they cannot do so here too if a Labour government becomes unpopular.
Though it helps to offer to build new homes as well as Polievre is proposing
Clearly our politics is different, but if the Tories think that Braverman, Badenoch or Farage as leader is the way to win back the young then they are writing their own epitaph.
You may well be right. But it is sad to me to lump everyone together. Some years ago my wife and I had a very long chat with Kemi and her daughter in her kitchen (her husband was with more important visitors in the living room) and she seemed a lovely and genuine person. On the other hand some years ago another family member had occasion to deal with Suella in a private capacity and she was extremely rude and unpleasant.
What's the evidence for this upcoming dramatic swing to the right in the UK? We are experiencing record migration yet Labour remain miles ahead in the polls.
Public opinion is in favour of better public services rather than tax cuts. Young people are not swinging to the right as they age as they used to.
I just don't see a gap for the Truss/Farage wing of the Tory party, other than to take control of a decimated Tory party after the election and guarantee Labour two or three administrations.
They are, most voters over 39 voted Tory at the last election.
If Labour muck up the economy even a Truss/Farage/Braverman/Badenoch/Rees Mogg Conservative Party could win.
Remember in 1975 most commentators considered Thatcher an unelectable rightwinger and centrist Callaghan was seen as likely to be re elected for some time
I think you should always remember that things can change. But you also have to remember that things can also stay the same, even if you really, really want them to change.
Labour Party write to PM and call for him to remove whip from former PM Liz Truss for “spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories about a ‘deep state’ that is to blame for the downfall of her premiership”
“spreading such blatant conspiracy theories is incredibly damaging to our democracy, our institutions and social cohesion.”
Labour need to be careful with this, given they have their own fair share of odd balls and fruitcakes knocking around...
I think Labour should be more concerned that they are embracing, and being embraced by, the establishment, just when public sentiment on the establishment (across the continent if not yet noticeably in the UK) is souring. They seem dated. They think winning power is still about getting standing ovations at Davos and hugging Emanuel Macron. They seem to care far more about the good opinion of the state than the do about the welfare of the electorate, which doesn't bode well if they're faced with anyone except Sunak.
They are doing so because in the UK that's where the electorate is. Britain and Labour itself has had its populist revolts, and they're widely seen as failures outside dwindling groups of very loud true believers. Hence why Labour aren't just ahead in the polls, but ahead on every issue - even ones they used to trail on when in government like immigration.
That's of course open to change. No one in Labour should be under any illusions that they'll have an easy time. Just there's quite a big prize - becoming the natural party of government - available for them if can turn the volume down and makes even limited progress on the problems that are leading to such discontent.
Even on something like immigration - outside Labour's natural wheelhouse, if numbers come down a bit while making the Home Office less obviously dysfunctional, there's a story to tell there.
Of course that could go wrong - they could screw up badly. There might be another crisis that knocks them for 6. But that won't be because Labour is seen as too close to the establishment. After a lost decade tilting at anti-establishment windmills, for the quiet majority of people, rather than the very noisy minorities, a quiet return to normalcy while fixing the worst messes would do quite nicely.
Not many dental solutions here for those who can't afford to fly abroad/take several weeks off, nor pay a sizeable monetary fee each month. It's all right for some. Meanwhile everyone else is ending up in hospital. While the group who can afford it moan about their taxes.
Not everyone who pulls out their own tooth ends up in hospital. Not all of them. Not the ones who get lucky or can just order antibiotics of the web anyway. So much quicker than going through your GP if you can though...
From John Gray. "If he returns to front-line British politics, Farage will focus on challenging policies that cannot be democratically legitimated. Uncontrolled immigration and environmentalist nostrums that accelerate the decline in living standards by raising the cost of energy will be his principal targets. Populism at present is the return to politics of questions a progressive consensus has proscribed as irrational or immoral. Voters who pose these questions are dismissed as simpletons blindly obeying demagogic “dog-whistles”. As in Europe, the effect of treating one’s fellow citizens with patronising contempt is to secure the political space in which populists operate"
I don't think there is any real 'centrist consensus', you just have governments who cannot really govern and a lot of volatility.
“ – the destructive impact of free trade and mass immigration on the economic security of workers”
What I struggled with, and I still don’t really feel I’ve heard a satisfactory answer, is how left wingers who deride a free market agenda were ok, to put it mildly, with Freedom of Movement, when they are seemingly part of the same thing.
Immigration has doubled since Freedom of Movement was ended. FoM was a red herring.
That doesn’t really have anything to do with my bafflement at people being anti free market but pro FOM
Who in particular? Personally, I am generally pro free market and anti (global free movement); with the EU though I am pro the single market including FoM.
There are plenty of left wingers who decry free marketeers whilst being appalled at the loss of Free Movement
Please just name a few on here. Must be easy if there are so many.
There is no logic by which abortion is bad because embryos are people, but IVF is fine because they’re just embryos. Not that logic matters to Trump or much of the Republican Party any more. I hope the illogic will weaken the opposition to abortion, and weaken support for the GOP.
They are inexplicably far on the backfoot on AI and I think it is because, at Google, ad revenue is king.
In the last 18 months, the amount of search people do in sectors where AI copilots/assistants have already taken off (e.g. software dev) has fallen off a cliff (maybe down 20% already). This is bad long term for Google unless they can figure out how to counter it.
Doubling down on YouTube certainly seems like one approach.
YouTube is the top streaming service on TVs in the US now ahead of Netflix. When I read that the other day I thought there must be a mistake, but it is apparently true. The very idea of watching YouTube on a big screen still feels odd to me, but it is now the market leader.
Globally more than 1 billion hours of YouTube are watched on TVs every day.
They are inexplicably far on the backfoot on AI and I think it is because, at Google, ad revenue is king.
In the last 18 months, the amount of search people do in sectors where AI copilots/assistants have already taken off (e.g. software dev) has fallen off a cliff (maybe down 20% already). This is bad long term for Google unless they can figure out how to counter it.
Doubling down on YouTube certainly seems like one approach.
YouTube is the top streaming service on TVs in the US now ahead of Netflix. When I read that the other day I thought there must be a mistake, but it is apparently true. The very idea of watching YouTube on a big screen still feels odd to me, but it is now the market leader.
Globally more than 1 billion hours of YouTube are watched on TVs every day.
Youtube's recommendation algorithm seems to have been tweaked for the worse recently, and the change to its web interface in the past couple of days is disconcerting.
Labour Party write to PM and call for him to remove whip from former PM Liz Truss for “spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories about a ‘deep state’ that is to blame for the downfall of her premiership”
“spreading such blatant conspiracy theories is incredibly damaging to our democracy, our institutions and social cohesion.”
Labour need to be careful with this, given they have their own fair share of odd balls and fruitcakes knocking around...
I think Labour should be more concerned that they are embracing, and being embraced by, the establishment, just when public sentiment on the establishment (across the continent if not yet noticeably in the UK) is souring. They seem dated. They think winning power is still about getting standing ovations at Davos and hugging Emanuel Macron. They seem to care far more about the good opinion of the state than the do about the welfare of the electorate, which doesn't bode well if they're faced with anyone except Sunak.
They are doing so because in the UK that's where the electorate is. Britain and Labour itself has had its populist revolts, and they're widely seen as failures outside dwindling groups of very loud true believers. Hence why Labour aren't just ahead in the polls, but ahead on every issue - even ones they used to trail on when in government like immigration.
That's of course open to change. No one in Labour should be under any illusions that they'll have an easy time. Just there's quite a big prize - becoming the natural party of government - available for them if can turn the volume down and makes even limited progress on the problems that are leading to such discontent.
Even on something like immigration - outside Labour's natural wheelhouse, if numbers come down a bit while making the Home Office less obviously dysfunctional, there's a story to tell there.
Of course that could go wrong - they could screw up badly. There might be another crisis that knocks them for 6. But that won't be because Labour is seen as too close to the establishment. After a lost decade tilting at anti-establishment windmills, for the quiet majority of people, rather than the very noisy minorities, a quiet return to normalcy while fixing the worst messes would do quite nicely.
Indeed. For example, this site will go back to its natural state/happy place of unrelenting Labour criticism. Can't wait.
They are inexplicably far on the backfoot on AI and I think it is because, at Google, ad revenue is king.
In the last 18 months, the amount of search people do in sectors where AI copilots/assistants have already taken off (e.g. software dev) has fallen off a cliff (maybe down 20% already). This is bad long term for Google unless they can figure out how to counter it.
Doubling down on YouTube certainly seems like one approach.
YouTube is the top streaming service on TVs in the US now ahead of Netflix. When I read that the other day I thought there must be a mistake, but it is apparently true. The very idea of watching YouTube on a big screen still feels odd to me, but it is now the market leader.
Globally more than 1 billion hours of YouTube are watched on TVs every day.
I watch a lot of YouTube (mostly Time Team!) on the big screen. Since we cancelled Sky and only watch through the assorted channel apps, it became "equally viable".
There is no logic by which abortion is bad because embryos are people, but IVF is fine because they’re just embryos. Not that logic matters to Trump or much of the Republican Party any more. I hope the illogic will weaken the opposition to abortion, and weaken support for the GOP.
It is not IVF the Alabama court ruled against but destroying frozen embryos. Thus Trump can still back efforts to restrict abortion and still support IVF too
What's the evidence for this upcoming dramatic swing to the right in the UK? We are experiencing record migration yet Labour remain miles ahead in the polls.
Public opinion is in favour of better public services rather than tax cuts. Young people are not swinging to the right as they age as they used to.
I just don't see a gap for the Truss/Farage wing of the Tory party, other than to take control of a decimated Tory party after the election and guarantee Labour two or three administrations.
Moving to the right as you get older is, in general, fine. There is nothing wrong with concluding things like your family is protected by rock solid defence, a nuclear deterrent and top quality armed forces; nothing wrong with believing in sound money, saving, prudent fiscal policies, broadest shoulders bear the heaviest burden; nothing wrong with coming to feel that history is part of an organic process from which the present and future is an oak tree like development; nothing wrong with realising that equality of outcome is meaningless but moving towards equality of opportunity is a fantastic and humane endeavour.
Not long ago such thoughts were the backbone of Tory voters and members. But who do I vote for now?
Scottish person goes what is the problem with mass migration though never having experienced it as no one wants to live in scotland
If Sunak cares one jot for the Conservative Party he would change the leadership rules so that only MPs elect the leader before it is too late.
Well when MPs alone had the final say it produced him, May, Howard and Hague. You have to go back to John Major to find a Tory leader elected by Tory MPs alone who won a general election majority.
Conservative members picked Cameron and Boris even if they also picked IDS and Truss
Where is the mercy in the treatment of Shamima Begum? Do we have no judges left who understand that justice is tempered with mercy? She was 15. Were none of them ever 15?"
From John Gray. "If he returns to front-line British politics, Farage will focus on challenging policies that cannot be democratically legitimated. Uncontrolled immigration and environmentalist nostrums that accelerate the decline in living standards by raising the cost of energy will be his principal targets. Populism at present is the return to politics of questions a progressive consensus has proscribed as irrational or immoral. Voters who pose these questions are dismissed as simpletons blindly obeying demagogic “dog-whistles”. As in Europe, the effect of treating one’s fellow citizens with patronising contempt is to secure the political space in which populists operate"
I don't think there is any real 'centrist consensus', you just have governments who cannot really govern and a lot of volatility.
“ – the destructive impact of free trade and mass immigration on the economic security of workers”
What I struggled with, and I still don’t really feel I’ve heard a satisfactory answer, is how left wingers who deride a free market agenda were ok, to put it mildly, with Freedom of Movement, when they are seemingly part of the same thing.
Immigration has doubled since Freedom of Movement was ended. FoM was a red herring.
That doesn’t really have anything to do with my bafflement at people being anti free market but pro FOM
Who in particular? Personally, I am generally pro free market and anti (global free movement); with the EU though I am pro the single market including FoM.
There are plenty of left wingers who decry free marketeers whilst being appalled at the loss of Free Movement
Please just name a few on here. Must be easy if there are so many.
I don’t see why I should call out anyone on here personally, or that it should be about anyone on here anyway. It’s just a position many centre left people hold
You’re clucking for an argument because you got the opening comment arse about face, no need to keep digging
Where is the mercy in the treatment of Shamima Begum? Do we have no judges left who understand that justice is tempered with mercy? She was 15. Were none of them ever 15?"
If Sunak cares one jot for the Conservative Party he would change the leadership rules so that only MPs elect the leader before it is too late.
As I understand it that is a matter for the 1922 committee
it's in the constitution of the Conservative Party that the membership elect the leader from candidates put forward to them by the 1922 committee. The 1922 committee have control of that process. Now, it's possible that the 1922 committee could ensure that they only put forward one candidate to the party, and thereby dodge the need for a membership vote, but a lot of people would see that as subverting the constitution of the party, and there might be consequences.
They are inexplicably far on the backfoot on AI and I think it is because, at Google, ad revenue is king.
In the last 18 months, the amount of search people do in sectors where AI copilots/assistants have already taken off (e.g. software dev) has fallen off a cliff (maybe down 20% already). This is bad long term for Google unless they can figure out how to counter it.
Doubling down on YouTube certainly seems like one approach.
YouTube is the top streaming service on TVs in the US now ahead of Netflix. When I read that the other day I thought there must be a mistake, but it is apparently true. The very idea of watching YouTube on a big screen still feels odd to me, but it is now the market leader.
Globally more than 1 billion hours of YouTube are watched on TVs every day.
Youtube's recommendation algorithm seems to have been tweaked for the worse recently, and the change to its web interface in the past couple of days is disconcerting.
YouTube premium is a revelation. No more ads. Transforms the experience. And you get YouTube music which is better than Spotify.
Labour Party write to PM and call for him to remove whip from former PM Liz Truss for “spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories about a ‘deep state’ that is to blame for the downfall of her premiership”
“spreading such blatant conspiracy theories is incredibly damaging to our democracy, our institutions and social cohesion.”
Labour need to be careful with this, given they have their own fair share of odd balls and fruitcakes knocking around...
I think Labour should be more concerned that they are embracing, and being embraced by, the establishment, just when public sentiment on the establishment (across the continent if not yet noticeably in the UK) is souring. They seem dated. They think winning power is still about getting standing ovations at Davos and hugging Emanuel Macron. They seem to care far more about the good opinion of the state than the do about the welfare of the electorate, which doesn't bode well if they're faced with anyone except Sunak.
They are doing so because in the UK that's where the electorate is. Britain and Labour itself has had its populist revolts, and they're widely seen as failures outside dwindling groups of very loud true believers. Hence why Labour aren't just ahead in the polls, but ahead on every issue - even ones they used to trail on when in government like immigration.
That's of course open to change. No one in Labour should be under any illusions that they'll have an easy time. Just there's quite a big prize - becoming the natural party of government - available for them if can turn the volume down and makes even limited progress on the problems that are leading to such discontent.
Even on something like immigration - outside Labour's natural wheelhouse, if numbers come down a bit while making the Home Office less obviously dysfunctional, there's a story to tell there.
Of course that could go wrong - they could screw up badly. There might be another crisis that knocks them for 6. But that won't be because Labour is seen as too close to the establishment. After a lost decade tilting at anti-establishment windmills, for the quiet majority of people, rather than the very noisy minorities, a quiet return to normalcy while fixing the worst messes would do quite nicely.
The underlying malaise which can be felt everywhere has it's rootes in leaving the EU. The country was part of a grand union which despite grumbles was something we enjoyed and embraced. All the great capitals of Europe were part of us and we them.
The country now feels unhinged. Everything feels slightly out of kilter...... nothing quite feels right and they hold the government responsible. Not many talk about it any more but they resent it. We've been robbed in broad daylight and the robbers are still on the loose. I can't see the country forgiving them for a long time if at all.
Tory MP Lee Anderson discussing Sadiq Khan on GB News:
“He’s given our capital city away to his mates”:
“I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan, and they’ve got control of London."
Not many dental solutions here for those who can't afford to fly abroad/take several weeks off, nor pay a sizeable monetary fee each month. It's all right for some. Meanwhile everyone else is ending up in hospital. While the group who can afford it moan about their taxes.
There is a fairly free market in private dentistry. Registered dental practitioners in good standing with the GDC can charge what they like, and what the market can bear. Like all private healthcare it isn't a very price sensitive market, and personal recommendation counts for a lot.
Sure, you can undercut the local market by going abroad, circumventing all those pesky rules from the CQC and indemnity insurance, and of course most of the time people are happy. Just don't expect any back up if things do go wrong and you are unhappy with the result. There are plenty of horror stories out there of medical and dental tourism gone wrong.
British dentists are not overpaid, it's just that British people are too used to free healthcare to comprehend the costs of doing quality work. It's the same with vets bills.
Overseas it is cheaper because staff costs are lower, indemnity nsurance lower (if it exists at all!), costs of inspections lower, rents lower etc.
The problem of NHS dentistry is that the government reimbursement for costs of materials and staff doesn't cover the cost of doing the work. Hence dentists leave the NHS, and we have the paradoxical underspend of the NHS dental budget, while no one can access NHS dentistry.
If the NHS reimbursement rates were to double, then the NHS dentistry issue would evaporate fairly quickly. It seems though that this government doesn't believe in market forces.
I'm getting a bit tired of the cyberbullying on here of @williamglenn - I hope the moronic sniping "WELL, WOULD YOU VOTE FOR TRUMP? *WOULD* YOU?!" doesn't push him off.
I really value the way he offers a completely different perspective on American and European nationalism, and intelligently so, and forces you to think harder.
He's a real asset to this site.
It is quite amusing watching people go in to Trump derangement syndrome. They insist that, whilst Trump is the overwhelming favourite in the US election, and Europe 'lurches to the far right', any similar political movement in the UK is doomed to failure, because the centre in the UK has shifted to the left, and the conservatives need to 'modernise' and go along with it, ignoring overwhelming evidence that things like their policy on stopping small boats is very popular with the public.
The whole thing with the "PB Consensus" reminds me a bit of dealing with Corbynites in the labour party - people have difficulties facing up to reality.
I would agree that Trump is symptomatic of the decline of the USA, but would say that the democrats are just as much to blame for this, and that Trump offers voters a meaningful alternative.
Who are these “deranged people” insisting that Trump is the overwhelming favourite for anything other than the GOP nomination ?
I don't think anyone is deranged because they think there is a reasonably high probability of him being POTUS in a year, nor for saying that is a bad thing.
It would be good to hear a rational case for his election, but that isn't what we see.
If I had to try to make a rational case to elect Trump I'd say:
- During Trump's term not many bad foreign policy things happened, whereas various bad things happened during Biden's. (Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Russian invasion of Ukraine, Gazan invasion of Israel and subsequent Israeli genocide in Gaza) You can say Trump got lucky and/or pushed problems into the next term but also he seems to have a fair bit of low cunning and there are some genuine game-theoretical benefits to people thinking you're vindictive and irrational. - He tried to steal the last election, and it's bad if people do that, but he's term-limited and he's never tried to steal an election that he won so nothing bad will happen as a result. - The 10% tariffs he's promising would be ruinous if done as described but he'll make lots of exceptions in exchange for other trade policy things the US wants and/or bribes for himself. - He's great for news media sales and sometimes funny in a Ricky Gervais kind of way ("Cause at 7 it's marginal, right?") - Biden followed the bad habit of previous Dems and brought in the staff of his defeated rivals and implemented their stupid ideas. His administration is full of Elizabeth Warren picks who are tying the whole place up in red tape in the name of a kind of wonkish left-wing economic populism. For example see Matt Levine on how the SEC is going from bank to bank fining everybody whose staff sent each other text messages during Covid without preserving them (ie everyone), and now they're done with the banks they're going to start on brokers. Trump would do standard right-wing economic deregulation which is generally pretty good for the economy (aside from the occasional Lehman Shock or whatever).
Where is the mercy in the treatment of Shamima Begum? Do we have no judges left who understand that justice is tempered with mercy? She was 15. Were none of them ever 15?"
Where is the mercy in the treatment of Shamima Begum? Do we have no judges left who understand that justice is tempered with mercy? She was 15. Were none of them ever 15?"
Where was her mercy for those beheaded or for the sex slaves?
We all know justice is to punish the guilty and deter others from doing similar actions. This instance requires deterrence.
Does it?
I would have thought that the best way to deter similar young girls being groomed into Islamism overseas is for Ms Begum to return to the UK and to publicly repudiate ISIS, and to help police and security services with their enquiries.
She may not be willing to return on those conditions of course.
If you ask Google Gemini to write an op-ed in the style of GOP FCC Chair Ajit Pai, it won't do that "as it would require me to impersonate a real person with potentially controversial and divisive views." What about Dem FCC Chairs Wheeler and Rosenworcel? That's not a problem. https://twitter.com/MatthewBerryDC/status/1761107244068819169
Gemini is a reputational catastrophe for Google
Also, it's a reputational catastrophe for private models, their gatekeepers and the image of 'silicon valley overlords'. It's remarkable that the guardrail people managed to make it so bad and still get released.
Btw, the 'SVIC' youtube channel (two ex-googlers) is worth digging into for some backchat & research into all this. You may need to wade through a bit of SV chat however.
I genuinely wonder if Google could go under
Huge companies do collapse. AI is the future and they have nothing - apart from DeepMind, based in London
They rely on search. Google gets progressively worse at this, and AI could render their search unprofitable overnight. Meanwhile they are clearly so infested with a corrosive Wokeness they released the worst AI in history, which can only show black female trans Popes, thinking that would be fine
Ominous signs for them
Yeah. Google will go under, and be replaced as *the* Internet Titan by What3Words...
Fair. It does seem quite unlikely. They are SO huge
However nothing is forever and all companies fail eventually. Until recently, if I had to choose the first tech titan to fall it would have been Meta (Facebook). Yet recently they are showing signs of life - and new thinking
Meanwhile my other choice, Microsoft, now owns the best AI in the world and could take over the galaxy
What does Google have, apart from DeepMind in london and an increasingly questionably search engine? Gmail? Its not a unique proposition
Deep pockets; huge cash flow; infrastructure; market position. It's not easy to dislodge the market leaders, as you note (which doesn't mean it won't happen).
Gemini is a disquietingly major mistake by them
It’s especially disquieting as it means they are so complacent/arrogant/woke/dumb - or all four - they didn’t red-team their own AI model. They didn’t properly test it or they don’t allow dissenting mindsets which might suggest flaws (“er, our model won’t ever show white people and appears to be racist against whites”)
That is a proper red alert moment. It’s like the guy at Kodak who said “uhm, maybe this digital image stuff is an issue?” and everyone ignored him. Or they sacked him
Google have always released new things that don't quite work. It's not going to break them.
Their whole business model is "release early and fix things quickly."
Where is the mercy in the treatment of Shamima Begum? Do we have no judges left who understand that justice is tempered with mercy? She was 15. Were none of them ever 15?"
I have sympathy with the fact she was 15. We all accept that 15 year olds do not have the same mental capacity as 20 year olds. Hence the fact that they can't join the army or buy alcohol or whatever. My own daughter just turned 16. So I get it.
But she is not 15 any more.
I would be a hell of a lot more sympathetic if she was now vocal about how evil the ISIS death cult is.
Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht has 10 members of the German parliament at present. The party is averaging about 5% in the polls atm compared to 3% for The Left. The latter still has 28 members in parliament.
Tory MP Lee Anderson discussing Sadiq Khan on GB News:
“He’s given our capital city away to his mates”:
“I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan, and they’ve got control of London."
If you ask Google Gemini to write an op-ed in the style of GOP FCC Chair Ajit Pai, it won't do that "as it would require me to impersonate a real person with potentially controversial and divisive views." What about Dem FCC Chairs Wheeler and Rosenworcel? That's not a problem. https://twitter.com/MatthewBerryDC/status/1761107244068819169
Gemini is a reputational catastrophe for Google
Also, it's a reputational catastrophe for private models, their gatekeepers and the image of 'silicon valley overlords'. It's remarkable that the guardrail people managed to make it so bad and still get released.
Btw, the 'SVIC' youtube channel (two ex-googlers) is worth digging into for some backchat & research into all this. You may need to wade through a bit of SV chat however.
I genuinely wonder if Google could go under
Huge companies do collapse. AI is the future and they have nothing - apart from DeepMind, based in London
They rely on search. Google gets progressively worse at this, and AI could render their search unprofitable overnight. Meanwhile they are clearly so infested with a corrosive Wokeness they released the worst AI in history, which can only show black female trans Popes, thinking that would be fine
Ominous signs for them
Yeah. Google will go under, and be replaced as *the* Internet Titan by What3Words...
Fair. It does seem quite unlikely. They are SO huge
However nothing is forever and all companies fail eventually. Until recently, if I had to choose the first tech titan to fall it would have been Meta (Facebook). Yet recently they are showing signs of life - and new thinking
Meanwhile my other choice, Microsoft, now owns the best AI in the world and could take over the galaxy
What does Google have, apart from DeepMind in london and an increasingly questionably search engine? Gmail? Its not a unique proposition
Deep pockets; huge cash flow; infrastructure; market position. It's not easy to dislodge the market leaders, as you note (which doesn't mean it won't happen).
Gemini is a disquietingly major mistake by them
It’s especially disquieting as it means they are so complacent/arrogant/woke/dumb - or all four - they didn’t red-team their own AI model. They didn’t properly test it or they don’t allow dissenting mindsets which might suggest flaws (“er, our model won’t ever show white people and appears to be racist against whites”)
That is a proper red alert moment. It’s like the guy at Kodak who said “uhm, maybe this digital image stuff is an issue?” and everyone ignored him. Or they sacked him
Google have always released new things that don't quite work. It's not going to break them.
Their whole business model is "release early and fix things quickly."
What this debate lacks when discussing which tech titan will fall next, is any discussion of money. The reason Meta and Google are still around is that until recently they had an effective duopoly of online advertising (directly on their platforms and via Adsense). Whether that is still true, I do not know, but look to Google's advertising revenue and not the quality of its AI. Microsoft and Amazon are raking it in from their cloud hosting divisions which do not compete for advertising.
If you ask Google Gemini to write an op-ed in the style of GOP FCC Chair Ajit Pai, it won't do that "as it would require me to impersonate a real person with potentially controversial and divisive views." What about Dem FCC Chairs Wheeler and Rosenworcel? That's not a problem. https://twitter.com/MatthewBerryDC/status/1761107244068819169
Gemini is a reputational catastrophe for Google
Also, it's a reputational catastrophe for private models, their gatekeepers and the image of 'silicon valley overlords'. It's remarkable that the guardrail people managed to make it so bad and still get released.
Btw, the 'SVIC' youtube channel (two ex-googlers) is worth digging into for some backchat & research into all this. You may need to wade through a bit of SV chat however.
I genuinely wonder if Google could go under
Huge companies do collapse. AI is the future and they have nothing - apart from DeepMind, based in London
They rely on search. Google gets progressively worse at this, and AI could render their search unprofitable overnight. Meanwhile they are clearly so infested with a corrosive Wokeness they released the worst AI in history, which can only show black female trans Popes, thinking that would be fine
Ominous signs for them
Yeah. Google will go under, and be replaced as *the* Internet Titan by What3Words...
Fair. It does seem quite unlikely. They are SO huge
However nothing is forever and all companies fail eventually. Until recently, if I had to choose the first tech titan to fall it would have been Meta (Facebook). Yet recently they are showing signs of life - and new thinking
Meanwhile my other choice, Microsoft, now owns the best AI in the world and could take over the galaxy
What does Google have, apart from DeepMind in london and an increasingly questionably search engine? Gmail? Its not a unique proposition
Deep pockets; huge cash flow; infrastructure; market position. It's not easy to dislodge the market leaders, as you note (which doesn't mean it won't happen).
Gemini is a disquietingly major mistake by them
It’s especially disquieting as it means they are so complacent/arrogant/woke/dumb - or all four - they didn’t red-team their own AI model. They didn’t properly test it or they don’t allow dissenting mindsets which might suggest flaws (“er, our model won’t ever show white people and appears to be racist against whites”)
That is a proper red alert moment. It’s like the guy at Kodak who said “uhm, maybe this digital image stuff is an issue?” and everyone ignored him. Or they sacked him
Google have always released new things that don't quite work. It's not going to break them.
Their whole business model is "release early and fix things quickly."
What this debate lacks when discussing which tech titan will fall next, is any discussion of money. The reason Meta and Google are still around is that until recently they had an effective duopoly of online advertising (directly on their platforms and via Adsense). Whether that is still true, I do not know, but look to Google's advertising revenue and not the quality of its AI. Microsoft and Amazon are raking it in from their cloud hosting divisions which do not compete for advertising.
There are two companies that know everything about you: Google and Facebook. Google knows every website you visit, every video you watch on YouTube, every email you send (and which you read), it knows where you go on holiday, and from where you buy your furniture.
That gives Google an incredible edge with advertising.
Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht has 10 members of the German parliament at present. The party is averaging about 5% in the polls atm compared to 3% for The Left. The latter still has 28 members in parliament.
Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht has 10 members of the German parliament at present. The party is averaging about 5% in the polls atm compared to 3% for The Left. The latter still has 28 members in parliament.
Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht has 10 members of the German parliament at present. The party is averaging about 5% in the polls atm compared to 3% for The Left. The latter still has 28 members in parliament.
Not many dental solutions here for those who can't afford to fly abroad/take several weeks off, nor pay a sizeable monetary fee each month. It's all right for some. Meanwhile everyone else is ending up in hospital. While the group who can afford it moan about their taxes.
There is a fairly free market in private dentistry. Registered dental practitioners in good standing with the GDC can charge what they like, and what the market can bear. Like all private healthcare it isn't a very price sensitive market, and personal recommendation counts for a lot.
Sure, you can undercut the local market by going abroad, circumventing all those pesky rules from the CQC and indemnity insurance, and of course most of the time people are happy. Just don't expect any back up if things do go wrong and you are unhappy with the result. There are plenty of horror stories out there of medical and dental tourism gone wrong.
British dentists are not overpaid, it's just that British people are too used to free healthcare to comprehend the costs of doing quality work. It's the same with vets bills.
Overseas it is cheaper because staff costs are lower, indemnity nsurance lower (if it exists at all!), costs of inspections lower, rents lower etc.
The problem of NHS dentistry is that the government reimbursement for costs of materials and staff doesn't cover the cost of doing the work. Hence dentists leave the NHS, and we have the paradoxical underspend of the NHS dental budget, while no one can access NHS dentistry.
If the NHS reimbursement rates were to double, then the NHS dentistry issue would evaporate fairly quickly. It seems though that this government doesn't believe in market forces.
Didn't sound so much like the rates were the issue, more the units structure really disincentives taking on certain types of patients. I was able to find an NHS dentist last year, think having a 1 year old helped tbh. He has some 1 star Google reviews mainly due to bluntness or the fact the practice could do with redecorating. I'm not going there for a chat or nice wallpaper though !
Just on the topic of 'milennials not switching to the right as they get older'. The effect of this may not be what you think because a) older people are living longer b) older people dominate political parties c) young people on the whole aren't very interested in politics.
Not many dental solutions here for those who can't afford to fly abroad/take several weeks off, nor pay a sizeable monetary fee each month. It's all right for some. Meanwhile everyone else is ending up in hospital. While the group who can afford it moan about their taxes.
There is a fairly free market in private dentistry. Registered dental practitioners in good standing with the GDC can charge what they like, and what the market can bear. Like all private healthcare it isn't a very price sensitive market, and personal recommendation counts for a lot.
Sure, you can undercut the local market by going abroad, circumventing all those pesky rules from the CQC and indemnity insurance, and of course most of the time people are happy. Just don't expect any back up if things do go wrong and you are unhappy with the result. There are plenty of horror stories out there of medical and dental tourism gone wrong.
British dentists are not overpaid, it's just that British people are too used to free healthcare to comprehend the costs of doing quality work. It's the same with vets bills.
Overseas it is cheaper because staff costs are lower, indemnity nsurance lower (if it exists at all!), costs of inspections lower, rents lower etc.
The problem of NHS dentistry is that the government reimbursement for costs of materials and staff doesn't cover the cost of doing the work. Hence dentists leave the NHS, and we have the paradoxical underspend of the NHS dental budget, while no one can access NHS dentistry.
If the NHS reimbursement rates were to double, then the NHS dentistry issue would evaporate fairly quickly. It seems though that this government doesn't believe in market forces.
Didn't sound so much like the rates were the issue, more the units structure really disincentives taking on certain types of patients. I was able to find an NHS dentist last year, think having a 1 year old helped tbh. He has some 1 star Google reviews mainly due to bluntness or the fact the practice could do with redecorating. I'm not going there for a chat or nice wallpaper though !
I had an NHS dentist, an east european woman who also did the local emergency dental service. The annual check ups lasted 5 minutes and every time I was told 'nothing wrong'. This was in contrast to previous experience of NHS dentists who always found a long list of minor issues requiring multiple visits and bills (presumably the bulk of which was paid by the NHS). She has now resigned so I have no dentist unfortunately.
Morning all! Back to my having vivid dreams and waking up tired idiocy again. It'll be a nice day when the sun comes up, so off to Applecross to film the Bealach na Ba road for YouTube.
Labour Party write to PM and call for him to remove whip from former PM Liz Truss for “spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories about a ‘deep state’ that is to blame for the downfall of her premiership”
“spreading such blatant conspiracy theories is incredibly damaging to our democracy, our institutions and social cohesion.”
Meanwhile, and I think more seriously in the current climate, Lee Anderson and Suella Braverman have been engaging in anti-Islamist tirades today, with Anderson claiming Islamists have got control of Sadiq Khan, and Braverman alleging that Islamists are 'bullying Britain into submission'. Language hardly conducive to healing divisions - the far right keyboard warriors will be cheering them on with online threats against prominent Muslims, no doubt. Totally irresponsible (as well as inaccurate, of course).
Yes, it's not just the Gaza protestors who have threatened MPs with violence. For years Diane Abbott was number one for online threats,
"For years Diane Abbott was number one for online threats, "
As I've said passim, this keeps on getting repeated, and as far as I can tell, it is not true. I haven't found a study where Diane Abbott gets more abuse than other MPs; the famous one headlined by the Guardian was actually amongst women MPs (there headline initially said all MPs), and seemed slightly odd for other reasons as well.
I don't want to downplay the abuse she gets: it's wrong. But by saying she was number one for online threats, you are downplaying the threats to MPs wo get more. Oddly, only abuse against female and Labour politicians seems to get commonly highlighted.
The scale is amazing: "Analysis of almost three million tweets mentioning MPs across a six week period found over 130,000 were considered 'toxic'."
And here's the results of the recent study. Note Abbott does not even feature in the list, and the top two are male: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63330885
"Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson received the largest number of tweets considered toxic at 19,000, around 4% of the total he received."
"Research undertaken by Buzzfeed News and the University of Sheffield looked at 840,000 tweets sent during the month before June 8.
It found that male Conservative MP candidates received the highest percentage of abuse on Twitter while male Ukip candidates were second with just over four per cent of their mentions deemed to be abusive."
Note Abbott was fifteenth amongst MPs for the number of abusive messages she got. Corbyn was first, with six times the amount, followed by Farron and Johnson.
The 'Diane Abbott was number one for online threats,' rubbish should be put to rest.
There is no logic by which abortion is bad because embryos are people, but IVF is fine because they’re just embryos. Not that logic matters to Trump or much of the Republican Party any more. I hope the illogic will weaken the opposition to abortion, and weaken support for the GOP.
It is not IVF the Alabama court ruled against but destroying frozen embryos. Thus Trump can still back efforts to restrict abortion and still support IVF too
Do you think fundamentalists in the U.S. listen to this and think "he's only joking" ?
“If I get in," Trump told a crowd of conservative evangelicals days after an Alabama justice cited "the wrath of a holy God" in his decision declaring that embryos are people, "you’re going to be using that power at a level that you’ve never used before.” https://twitter.com/Mike_Hixenbaugh/status/1761060141829349572
Where is the mercy in the treatment of Shamima Begum? Do we have no judges left who understand that justice is tempered with mercy? She was 15. Were none of them ever 15?"
Where was her mercy for those beheaded or for the sex slaves?
We all know justice is to punish the guilty and deter others from doing similar actions. This instance requires deterrence.
Does it?
I would have thought that the best way to deter similar young girls being groomed into Islamism overseas is for Ms Begum to return to the UK and to publicly repudiate ISIS, and to help police and security services with their enquiries.
She may not be willing to return on those conditions of course.
Where is the mercy in the treatment of Shamima Begum? Do we have no judges left who understand that justice is tempered with mercy? She was 15. Were none of them ever 15?"
Where was her mercy for those beheaded or for the sex slaves?
We all know justice is to punish the guilty and deter others from doing similar actions. This instance requires deterrence.
Does it?
I would have thought that the best way to deter similar young girls being groomed into Islamism overseas is for Ms Begum to return to the UK and to publicly repudiate ISIS, and to help police and security services with their enquiries.
She may not be willing to return on those conditions of course.
How sweet.
You are wrong.
I'm conflicted by the Begum story.
On one hand, as far as I've seen, she does not seem very contrite for her actions (though being in Syria might make it hard for her to criticise some people...). I also doubt she will add much to the UK if she came to live over here, and will be a rallying point for all sort of idiots.
But on the other hand, I don't like people being made stateless (if, indeed, she cannot get Bangladeshi citizenship).
Generally though, I veer towards the former. Hopefully her situation will act as a warning to other young people.
Avast made a number of products to improve your online privacy by stopping people collecting your data. It turns out they were collecting the data and selling it to more than 100 companies.
The gender gap in young voters is much greater in S Korea than it is in the US.
This comes a couple of months before the next election (and probably won't get through Parliament).
Proposal to abolish gender equality ministry reemerges as key issue ahead of elections https://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.asp?newsIdx=369380 The abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is once again emerging as an election issue, with politicians looking to exploit the deepening gender divide among young Koreans as the April 10 general elections approach.
President Yoon Suk Yeol's commitment to scrapping the gender equality ministry, a controversial pledge that significantly helped him gain votes from young men in the 2022 presidential election, is being thrust into the spotlight again as the ruling People Power Party (PPP) looks to uphold that promise...
There is no logic by which abortion is bad because embryos are people, but IVF is fine because they’re just embryos. Not that logic matters to Trump or much of the Republican Party any more. I hope the illogic will weaken the opposition to abortion, and weaken support for the GOP.
It is not IVF the Alabama court ruled against but destroying frozen embryos. Thus Trump can still back efforts to restrict abortion and still support IVF too
The Alabama court said embryos are people. If you say that, it’s impossible to do IVF.
Kevin Schofield @KevinASchofield · 11h Next time someone criticises the Westminster political system, just tell them it managed to get rid of Liz Truss in 49 days.
Kevin Schofield @KevinASchofield · 11h Next time someone criticises the Westminster political system, just tell them it managed to get rid of Liz Truss in 49 days.
There is no logic by which abortion is bad because embryos are people, but IVF is fine because they’re just embryos. Not that logic matters to Trump or much of the Republican Party any more. I hope the illogic will weaken the opposition to abortion, and weaken support for the GOP.
It is not IVF the Alabama court ruled against but destroying frozen embryos. Thus Trump can still back efforts to restrict abortion and still support IVF too
The Alabama court said embryos are people. If you say that, it’s impossible to do IVF.
If Biden wanted to troll Trump, he should release a statement saying he's delighted to see Trump agrees with him on the disastrous impact of Dobbs v Jackson and inviting him to co-operate with the Democrats on a constitutional amendment to overturn it.
Kevin Schofield @KevinASchofield · 11h Next time someone criticises the Westminster political system, just tell them it managed to get rid of Liz Truss in 49 days.
Kevin Schofield @KevinASchofield · 11h Next time someone criticises the Westminster political system, just tell them it managed to get rid of Liz Truss in 49 days.
Tory MP Lee Anderson discussing Sadiq Khan on GB News:
“He’s given our capital city away to his mates”:
“I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan, and they’ve got control of London."
Kevin Schofield @KevinASchofield · 11h Next time someone criticises the Westminster political system, just tell them it managed to get rid of Liz Truss in 49 days.
Kevin Schofield @KevinASchofield · 11h Next time someone criticises the Westminster political system, just tell them it managed to get rid of Liz Truss in 49 days.
Lettuce all be thankful for that.
That's a little gem of a pun.
Naturally, I am the Webbs Wonderful punner.
That Romaines to be seen.
I hope MPJr made Ashbourne safely, btw.
Thanks, yes he got to Ashbourne safely. Thanks for your local knowledge advice.
Not many dental solutions here for those who can't afford to fly abroad/take several weeks off, nor pay a sizeable monetary fee each month. It's all right for some. Meanwhile everyone else is ending up in hospital. While the group who can afford it moan about their taxes.
There is a fairly free market in private dentistry. Registered dental practitioners in good standing with the GDC can charge what they like, and what the market can bear. Like all private healthcare it isn't a very price sensitive market, and personal recommendation counts for a lot.
Sure, you can undercut the local market by going abroad, circumventing all those pesky rules from the CQC and indemnity insurance, and of course most of the time people are happy. Just don't expect any back up if things do go wrong and you are unhappy with the result. There are plenty of horror stories out there of medical and dental tourism gone wrong.
British dentists are not overpaid, it's just that British people are too used to free healthcare to comprehend the costs of doing quality work. It's the same with vets bills.
Overseas it is cheaper because staff costs are lower, indemnity nsurance lower (if it exists at all!), costs of inspections lower, rents lower etc.
The problem of NHS dentistry is that the government reimbursement for costs of materials and staff doesn't cover the cost of doing the work. Hence dentists leave the NHS, and we have the paradoxical underspend of the NHS dental budget, while no one can access NHS dentistry.
If the NHS reimbursement rates were to double, then the NHS dentistry issue would evaporate fairly quickly. It seems though that this government doesn't believe in market forces.
Didn't sound so much like the rates were the issue, more the units structure really disincentives taking on certain types of patients. I was able to find an NHS dentist last year, think having a 1 year old helped tbh. He has some 1 star Google reviews mainly due to bluntness or the fact the practice could do with redecorating. I'm not going there for a chat or nice wallpaper though !
I had an NHS dentist, an east european woman who also did the local emergency dental service. The annual check ups lasted 5 minutes and every time I was told 'nothing wrong'. This was in contrast to previous experience of NHS dentists who always found a long list of minor issues requiring multiple visits and bills (presumably the bulk of which was paid by the NHS). She has now resigned so I have no dentist unfortunately.
Like car MOTs you want dentists to find and fix what's necessary but not more than necessary.
However you get the impression the amount they fix is only slightly related to the state of your teeth.
Not many dental solutions here for those who can't afford to fly abroad/take several weeks off, nor pay a sizeable monetary fee each month. It's all right for some. Meanwhile everyone else is ending up in hospital. While the group who can afford it moan about their taxes.
There is a fairly free market in private dentistry. Registered dental practitioners in good standing with the GDC can charge what they like, and what the market can bear. Like all private healthcare it isn't a very price sensitive market, and personal recommendation counts for a lot.
Sure, you can undercut the local market by going abroad, circumventing all those pesky rules from the CQC and indemnity insurance, and of course most of the time people are happy. Just don't expect any back up if things do go wrong and you are unhappy with the result. There are plenty of horror stories out there of medical and dental tourism gone wrong.
British dentists are not overpaid, it's just that British people are too used to free healthcare to comprehend the costs of doing quality work. It's the same with vets bills.
Overseas it is cheaper because staff costs are lower, indemnity nsurance lower (if it exists at all!), costs of inspections lower, rents lower etc.
The problem of NHS dentistry is that the government reimbursement for costs of materials and staff doesn't cover the cost of doing the work. Hence dentists leave the NHS, and we have the paradoxical underspend of the NHS dental budget, while no one can access NHS dentistry.
If the NHS reimbursement rates were to double, then the NHS dentistry issue would evaporate fairly quickly. It seems though that this government doesn't believe in market forces.
Didn't sound so much like the rates were the issue, more the units structure really disincentives taking on certain types of patients. I was able to find an NHS dentist last year, think having a 1 year old helped tbh. He has some 1 star Google reviews mainly due to bluntness or the fact the practice could do with redecorating. I'm not going there for a chat or nice wallpaper though !
I had an NHS dentist, an east european woman who also did the local emergency dental service. The annual check ups lasted 5 minutes and every time I was told 'nothing wrong'. This was in contrast to previous experience of NHS dentists who always found a long list of minor issues requiring multiple visits and bills (presumably the bulk of which was paid by the NHS). She has now resigned so I have no dentist unfortunately.
Like car MOTs you want dentists to find and fix what's necessary but not more than necessary.
However you get the impression the amount they fix is only slightly related to the state of your teeth.
My wife has awful teeth but so much work was "done" between the age of 13 and 18 it's impossible to tell if her teeth are dire or if the dentist was a crook - my suspicion is the latter but he's been dead 20 years.
Comments
The dangers of physical harm comes from the extremes (extreme right, islamists etc).
So while online abuse is horrible, it’s possible to separate it from the actual dangers of physical harm.
Most Americans don’t agree with him.
Most Americans in new survey say US should defend NATO allies
https://thehill.com/policy/international/4485715-most-americans-say-us-should-defend-nato-allies-survey/
You might as well just point out that Gaza protesters have not attacked any MP, therefore nothing to worry about.
The sewer of online hate is where these things start.
It would be good to hear a rational case for his election, but that isn't what we see.
I was just wondering who he had in mind.
On the other hand some years ago another family member had occasion to deal with Suella in a private capacity and she was extremely rude and unpleasant.
That's of course open to change. No one in Labour should be under any illusions that they'll have an easy time. Just there's quite a big prize - becoming the natural party of government - available for them if can turn the volume down and makes even limited progress on the problems that are leading to such discontent.
Even on something like immigration - outside Labour's natural wheelhouse, if numbers come down a bit while making the Home Office less obviously dysfunctional, there's a story to tell there.
Of course that could go wrong - they could screw up badly. There might be another crisis that knocks them for 6. But that won't be because Labour is seen as too close to the establishment. After a lost decade tilting at anti-establishment windmills, for the quiet majority of people, rather than the very noisy minorities, a quiet return to normalcy while fixing the worst messes would do quite nicely.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68388232
Globally more than 1 billion hours of YouTube are watched on TVs every day.
Conservative members picked Cameron and Boris even if they also picked IDS and Truss
@ClarkeMicah
Where is the mercy in the treatment of Shamima Begum? Do we have no judges left who understand that justice is tempered with mercy? She was 15. Were none of them ever 15?"
https://twitter.com/ClarkeMicah/status/1761155150494753205
You’re clucking for an argument because you got the opening comment arse about face, no need to keep digging
The country now feels unhinged. Everything feels slightly out of kilter...... nothing quite feels right and they hold the government responsible. Not many talk about it any more but they resent it. We've been robbed in broad daylight and the robbers are still on the loose. I can't see the country forgiving them for a long time if at all.
“He’s given our capital city away to his mates”:
“I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan, and they’ve got control of London."
https://x.com/peterwalker99/status/1761096218640371752
What an arsehole.
Sure, you can undercut the local market by going abroad, circumventing all those pesky rules from the CQC and indemnity insurance, and of course most of the time people are happy. Just don't expect any back up if things do go wrong and you are unhappy with the result. There are plenty of horror stories out there of medical and dental tourism gone wrong.
British dentists are not overpaid, it's just that British people are too used to free healthcare to comprehend the costs of doing quality work. It's the same with vets bills.
Overseas it is cheaper because staff costs are lower, indemnity nsurance lower (if it exists at all!), costs of inspections lower, rents lower etc.
The problem of NHS dentistry is that the government reimbursement for costs of materials and staff doesn't cover the cost of doing the work. Hence dentists leave the NHS, and we have the paradoxical underspend of the NHS dental budget, while no one can access NHS dentistry.
If the NHS reimbursement rates were to double, then the NHS dentistry issue would evaporate fairly quickly. It seems though that this government doesn't believe in market forces.
- During Trump's term not many bad foreign policy things happened, whereas various bad things happened during Biden's. (Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Russian invasion of Ukraine, Gazan invasion of Israel and subsequent Israeli genocide in Gaza) You can say Trump got lucky and/or pushed problems into the next term but also he seems to have a fair bit of low cunning and there are some genuine game-theoretical benefits to people thinking you're vindictive and irrational.
- He tried to steal the last election, and it's bad if people do that, but he's term-limited and he's never tried to steal an election that he won so nothing bad will happen as a result.
- The 10% tariffs he's promising would be ruinous if done as described but he'll make lots of exceptions in exchange for other trade policy things the US wants and/or bribes for himself.
- He's great for news media sales and sometimes funny in a Ricky Gervais kind of way ("Cause at 7 it's marginal, right?")
- Biden followed the bad habit of previous Dems and brought in the staff of his defeated rivals and implemented their stupid ideas. His administration is full of Elizabeth Warren picks who are tying the whole place up in red tape in the name of a kind of wonkish left-wing economic populism. For example see Matt Levine on how the SEC is going from bank to bank fining everybody whose staff sent each other text messages during Covid without preserving them (ie everyone), and now they're done with the banks they're going to start on brokers. Trump would do standard right-wing economic deregulation which is generally pretty good for the economy (aside from the occasional Lehman Shock or whatever).
I would have thought that the best way to deter similar young girls being groomed into Islamism overseas is for Ms Begum to return to the UK and to publicly repudiate ISIS, and to help police and security services with their enquiries.
She may not be willing to return on those conditions of course.
But she is not 15 any more.
I would be a hell of a lot more sympathetic if she was now vocal about how evil the ISIS death cult is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bündnis_Sahra_Wagenknecht
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4PgqwNAXA0
That gives Google an incredible edge with advertising.
@CanadianPolling
Young people are simply leaving Ontario"
https://twitter.com/CanadianPolling/status/1761186213417959755
Rumoured rebels including Lord Frost and Will Dry, a former adviser to the PM, have been spotted around Golden Cross House near Trafalgar Square
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/peer-pollster-rumblings-plan-oust-rishi-sunak-7rcvbgbmf (£££)
I was able to find an NHS dentist last year, think having a 1 year old helped tbh. He has some 1 star Google reviews mainly due to bluntness or the fact the practice could do with redecorating. I'm not going there for a chat or nice wallpaper though !
The effect of this may not be what you think because
a) older people are living longer
b) older people dominate political parties
c) young people on the whole aren't very interested in politics.
As I've said passim, this keeps on getting repeated, and as far as I can tell, it is not true. I haven't found a study where Diane Abbott gets more abuse than other MPs; the famous one headlined by the Guardian was actually amongst women MPs (there headline initially said all MPs), and seemed slightly odd for other reasons as well.
I don't want to downplay the abuse she gets: it's wrong. But by saying she was number one for online threats, you are downplaying the threats to MPs wo get more. Oddly, only abuse against female and Labour politicians seems to get commonly highlighted.
The scale is amazing:
"Analysis of almost three million tweets mentioning MPs across a six week period found over 130,000 were considered 'toxic'."
https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2022-11-09/mp-considering-not-standing-for-re-election-due-to-levels-of-online-abuse
And here's the results of the recent study. Note Abbott does not even feature in the list, and the top two are male:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63330885
"Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson received the largest number of tweets considered toxic at 19,000, around 4% of the total he received."
"Research undertaken by Buzzfeed News and the University of Sheffield looked at 840,000 tweets sent during the month before June 8.
It found that male Conservative MP candidates received the highest percentage of abuse on Twitter while male Ukip candidates were second with just over four per cent of their mentions deemed to be abusive."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/24/male-tory-mp-candidates-received-highest-percentage-twitter/
The actual study is available here:
https://salford-repository.worktribe.com/OutputFile/1491225
Note Abbott was fifteenth amongst MPs for the number of abusive messages she got. Corbyn was first, with six times the amount, followed by Farron and Johnson.
The 'Diane Abbott was number one for online threats,' rubbish should be put to rest.
The Russians seem to have a problem with their air force...
The doctors won't, because they know that the one thing does not allow the other.
https://amp.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/23/fertility-doctors-reaction-alabama-embryo-ruling
Do you think fundamentalists in the U.S. listen to this and think "he's only joking" ?
“If I get in," Trump told a crowd of conservative evangelicals days after an Alabama justice cited "the wrath of a holy God" in his decision declaring that embryos are people, "you’re going to be using that power at a level that you’ve never used before.”
https://twitter.com/Mike_Hixenbaugh/status/1761060141829349572
You are wrong.
On one hand, as far as I've seen, she does not seem very contrite for her actions (though being in Syria might make it hard for her to criticise some people...). I also doubt she will add much to the UK if she came to live over here, and will be a rallying point for all sort of idiots.
But on the other hand, I don't like people being made stateless (if, indeed, she cannot get Bangladeshi citizenship).
Generally though, I veer towards the former. Hopefully her situation will act as a warning to other young people.
Avast made a number of products to improve your online privacy by stopping people collecting your data. It turns out they were collecting the data and selling it to more than 100 companies.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/02/avast-ordered-to-stop-selling-browsing-data-from-its-browsing-privacy-apps/
This is what amuses me about people using 'free' VPNs. Where are they making their money?
This comes a couple of months before the next election (and probably won't get through Parliament).
Proposal to abolish gender equality ministry reemerges as key issue ahead of elections
https://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.asp?newsIdx=369380
The abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is once again emerging as an election issue, with politicians looking to exploit the deepening gender divide among young Koreans as the April 10 general elections approach.
President Yoon Suk Yeol's commitment to scrapping the gender equality ministry, a controversial pledge that significantly helped him gain votes from young men in the 2022 presidential election, is being thrust into the spotlight again as the ruling People Power Party (PPP) looks to uphold that promise...
People can criticize him for policy areas but given the current heated atmosphere over Gaza, Anderson’s comments are appalling .
NEW THREAD
However you get the impression the amount they fix is only slightly related to the state of your teeth.
That’s two A-50s in as many months, and they have fewer than a dozen of them in total.