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Sunak’s hypocrisy laid bare – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 12,213
edited March 12 in General
Sunak’s hypocrisy laid bare – politicalbetting.com

STORYLast night Rishi Sunak vowed "leadership" to "face down extremists."An hour later Brendan Clarke-Smith and Liz Truss welcomed Lee Anderson to an event raising money for Tory campaign coffers.Today, the party says neither MP will be suspended.https://t.co/vgaIzF0Miw

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Comments

  • Stark_DawningStark_Dawning Posts: 9,709
    When will Liz Truss just go away?
  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,639
    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,805
    Third, like the Tories in the GE
  • eekeek Posts: 28,586

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    We live in hope but it's just as likely some date in January because someone at CCHQ thinks that campaigning over Christmas will help the Tory party.

    Reality is the people voting Labour will be voting Labour no matter when the election is because the Tory party are spent (and utterly useless) at the moment...
  • AverageNinjaAverageNinja Posts: 1,169
    Rishi can’t unite the country. He can’t unite his own party.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,121
    eek said:

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    We live in hope but it's just as likely some date in January because someone at CCHQ thinks that campaigning over Christmas will help the Tory party.

    Reality is the people voting Labour will be voting Labour no matter when the election is because the Tory party are spent (and utterly useless) at the moment...
    I will vote on xmas day to get this clown show out if I have to.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,568
    OMFG this is terrible what can we do (cont pages 994-978)


    “Trump now has a commanding lead. Beating Biden with Hispanics, scoring very well with Blacks and young voters x.com/patrickruffini…”

    https://x.com/macaesbruno/status/1763927741483663674?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,457
    After listening to the first forty minutes of the new F1 season, there seems little reason to listen any more. Same old, same old. :(
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,693
    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,277
    Leon said:

    OMFG this is terrible what can we do (cont pages 994-978)


    “Trump now has a commanding lead. Beating Biden with Hispanics, scoring very well with Blacks and young voters x.com/patrickruffini…”

    https://x.com/macaesbruno/status/1763927741483663674?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    No one cares anymore . The US is a failed state. The sooner the rest of the world realizes this the better .
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,721

    After listening to the first forty minutes of the new F1 season, there seems little reason to listen any more. Same old, same old. :(

    Unless somebody sabotages the Red Bulls it's going to be excruciatingly dull.

    Wouldn't have put it past Ecclestone to do it. Not sure about Domenicali.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,861

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    If he does it has to be called in just over three weeks from now. (I don't think he will).
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,821
    I detest the word 'extremist' for much the same reason I'm offended by centrism. It is a completely arbitrary designation without meaning, except that you've offended someone (the state presumably) by being 'a bit too much' of something. I don't really see anything wrong with being an 'extreme' of something providing that thing is not wrong in the first place. Is a monk or a nun not an extremist Christian?
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,614
    edited March 2
    I would just refer to @MoonRabbit who made exactly this point yesterday

    Sunak does not have control over his chaotic party but his speech was well made and to be fair endorsed by Starmer

    The other unknown question is just how much toxicity Galloway may cause Starmer who still has his own issues coming down the line

    Anyway the conservatives will lose office this year and they need to to decide just who they are and whether they go to the right and win over Reform but lose a lot of one nation conservatives
  • AverageNinjaAverageNinja Posts: 1,169

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    I would look forward to reading something from you that puts across the other perspective?
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,121
    Leon said:

    OMFG this is terrible what can we do (cont pages 994-978)


    “Trump now has a commanding lead. Beating Biden with Hispanics, scoring very well with Blacks and young voters x.com/patrickruffini…”

    https://x.com/macaesbruno/status/1763927741483663674?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw


    Frank Luntz
    @FrankLuntz
    ·
    18s
    “Joe Biden should be expected to win this election. He’s an incumbent president running for re-election with a reasonably healthy economy against an unpopular opponent accused of multiple federal crimes.

    And yet President Biden is not winning.”

    https://twitter.com/FrankLuntz
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,805

    I detest the word 'extremist' for much the same reason I'm offended by centrism. It is a completely arbitrary designation without meaning, except that you've offended someone (the state presumably) by being 'a bit too much' of something. I don't really see anything wrong with being an 'extreme' of something providing that thing is not wrong in the first place. Is a monk or a nun not an extremist Christian?

    No, Torquemada was an extremist Christian.
  • AverageNinjaAverageNinja Posts: 1,169

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    On the special sauce but agree.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,645
    algarkirk said:

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    If he does it has to be called in just over three weeks from now. (I don't think he will).
    Sunak is announcing it in 9 days time, Monday week, sometime between 1035 and 1150
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,390

    I detest the word 'extremist' for much the same reason I'm offended by centrism. It is a completely arbitrary designation without meaning, except that you've offended someone (the state presumably) by being 'a bit too much' of something. I don't really see anything wrong with being an 'extreme' of something providing that thing is not wrong in the first place. Is a monk or a nun not an extremist Christian?

    “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.” - Barry Goldwater (apocryphally)
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,121

    Bill Kristol
    @BillKristol
    ·
    2m
    Re the 2024 presidential race:

    "If you don't like how the table is set, turn over the table."
    -- Frank Underwood.

    One person can turn over the table: Joe Biden.

    https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1763955356533928027
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,449

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    Feel free to write a header supporting him Casino.
    It would be an interesting intellectual exercise... If you were advising Rishi, and the aim was the best outcome for the British centre-right, what would you say to him?

    I can't get beyond "learn to play 'Nearer, My God to Thee' really well and call the election ASAP."
  • AverageNinjaAverageNinja Posts: 1,169
    Senior govt figures say OBR is ‘killing’ Tory plans; one suggests they are ‘group of left wing economists’ intent on ‘screwing’ Tories

    https://x.com/steven_swinford/status/1763887319663149071

    The conspiracy nuts are back I see.
  • AverageNinjaAverageNinja Posts: 1,169

    Leon said:

    OMFG this is terrible what can we do (cont pages 994-978)


    “Trump now has a commanding lead. Beating Biden with Hispanics, scoring very well with Blacks and young voters x.com/patrickruffini…”

    https://x.com/macaesbruno/status/1763927741483663674?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw


    Frank Luntz
    @FrankLuntz
    ·
    18s
    “Joe Biden should be expected to win this election. He’s an incumbent president running for re-election with a reasonably healthy economy against an unpopular opponent accused of multiple federal crimes.

    And yet President Biden is not winning.”

    https://twitter.com/FrankLuntz
    Isn't it still a bit of a way away? I just don't see how Trump gets more voters than last time.
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 4,840

    Nineteen councils allowed to sell assets to pay for services
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68439624

    Councils forced to sell the family silver, often following failed property investments. Older PBers will remember when the City had to unwind interest rate swap contracts involving local authorities who were in far over their heads. There should be a similar review of what falls within councils' competence.

    What we're seeing at the moment is the immolation of local authorities that were badly mismanaged and/or dabbled in property speculation out of desperation. But they're only the vanguard, of course. Unless local government finance is reformed to reflect the reality of councils' awful predicament (in short, they need bags of cash to deal with the torrent of demand for social care and homelessness support) then almost the whole lot will go tits up.

    The only councils with a fighting chance of avoiding bankruptcy are lower-tier authorities in two-tier areas that don't have loads of homeless families to deal with. As things stand, all the rest of them are doomed, irrespective of how well managed they are and how much non-statutory spending they cull. It's simply a matter of time.
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,778
    It's sheer hypocrisy. His rabble rousing stuff about extremism is a dog whistle for the Right.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,890

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    Surely as the site's definitive non-partisan you don't mind a little party political give and take from the thread header writers.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,861

    I detest the word 'extremist' for much the same reason I'm offended by centrism. It is a completely arbitrary designation without meaning, except that you've offended someone (the state presumably) by being 'a bit too much' of something. I don't really see anything wrong with being an 'extreme' of something providing that thing is not wrong in the first place. Is a monk or a nun not an extremist Christian?

    A suggestion as to what centrism is in modern UK politics (FPT):

    It seems to me to have three elements, whose contents can change. There has to be an underlying philosophy, maybe liberalism is the best word, though in its Victorian moral and not party politics sense.

    It is also Burkean and anti-Napoleonic in the sense that it takes for granted that we start the present moment from where we actually are and not from any sort of ideal or idea. There are no 'Year Noughts' no revolutions and no change for the sake of change.

    Thirdly it is open to gradualist revolutions both through governance intervention and from the operation, under the rule of law, of a free market in a free society. In particular it aspires to maximising the (impossible to complete) aim of equality of opportunity.

    BTW, blame Aristotle. One of his ideas is that all good stuff lies at the 'mean between two extremes' and this has found its way even as far distant as our own, anti Aristotelian, culture.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,821

    I detest the word 'extremist' for much the same reason I'm offended by centrism. It is a completely arbitrary designation without meaning, except that you've offended someone (the state presumably) by being 'a bit too much' of something. I don't really see anything wrong with being an 'extreme' of something providing that thing is not wrong in the first place. Is a monk or a nun not an extremist Christian?

    No, Torquemada was an extremist Christian.
    I don't know much about the person you describe, but I suspect he was a wicked person who was also a Christian? That's not covered by the meaning of the word 'extremist', which just implies 'more'. Taking a maximalist approach to conventional Christianity would result in you forsaking all worldly goods and entering holy orders of some kind.

    I also have some sympathy for Muslims in this - is Islam some form of mild disease that results in you being a loony suicide bomber if you catch an 'extreme' case? Or is it actually an issue of Wahabbism, a particularly harmful doctrine, being pushed in Mosques by Saudi Arabia?

    Part of the extremism thing is a form of not wishing to offend I think. But in its attempt not to offend, it is offensive. If something is bad, let's describe and proscribe the actual thing.

  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,121
    US voters are just completely out of touch with reality:


    "Only one in four voters think the country is moving in the right direction. More than twice as many voters believe Mr. Biden’s policies have personally hurt them as believe his policies have helped them. A majority of voters think the economy is in poor condition. And the share of voters who strongly disapprove of Mr. Biden’s handling of his job has reached 47 percent, higher than in Times/Siena polls at any point in his presidency."

    NY Times report on their poll.

    The economy is in poor condition? Jeez! Wait until they see an economy that actually is in poor condition. They are gonna freak.
  • AverageNinjaAverageNinja Posts: 1,169

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    Surely as the site's definitive non-partisan you don't mind a little party political give and take from the thread header writers.
    Pot. Meet. Kettle.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,390

    algarkirk said:

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    If he does it has to be called in just over three weeks from now. (I don't think he will).
    Sunak is announcing it in 9 days time, Monday week, sometime between 1035 and 1150
    If this turns out to be true, I will send a £5 note to any charity of your choosing, provided it accepts cash donations. Remind me on the day.

    (Monday week is presumably Monday May 11th)
  • WillGWillG Posts: 2,366

    US voters are just completely out of touch with reality:


    "Only one in four voters think the country is moving in the right direction. More than twice as many voters believe Mr. Biden’s policies have personally hurt them as believe his policies have helped them. A majority of voters think the economy is in poor condition. And the share of voters who strongly disapprove of Mr. Biden’s handling of his job has reached 47 percent, higher than in Times/Siena polls at any point in his presidency."

    NY Times report on their poll.

    The economy is in poor condition? Jeez! Wait until they see an economy that actually is in poor condition. They are gonna freak.

    For most people, the question "is the economy good" just means "can I afford my monthly bills". Inflation has calmed but the price level is still far closer to their monthly income than it was 5 years ago.
  • WillGWillG Posts: 2,366

    I detest the word 'extremist' for much the same reason I'm offended by centrism. It is a completely arbitrary designation without meaning, except that you've offended someone (the state presumably) by being 'a bit too much' of something. I don't really see anything wrong with being an 'extreme' of something providing that thing is not wrong in the first place. Is a monk or a nun not an extremist Christian?

    No, Torquemada was an extremist Christian.
    I don't know much about the person you describe, but I suspect he was a wicked person who was also a Christian? That's not covered by the meaning of the word 'extremist', which just implies 'more'. Taking a maximalist approach to conventional Christianity would result in you forsaking all worldly goods and entering holy orders of some kind.

    I also have some sympathy for Muslims in this - is Islam some form of mild disease that results in you being a loony suicide bomber if you catch an 'extreme' case? Or is it actually an issue of Wahabbism, a particularly harmful doctrine, being pushed in Mosques by Saudi Arabia?

    Part of the extremism thing is a form of not wishing to offend I think. But in its attempt not to offend, it is offensive. If something is bad, let's describe and proscribe the actual thing.

    Islam, in its maximalist sense, means emulating Mohammed as much as possible. So that means following strict rules, looking after your family, being a dedicated part of the Muslim community, but also going to war for Islam and taking sex slaves.

    Christianity is an odd one as it is really three religions bolted together. The central, most important bit, is giving up world possessions and forgiving folks Christ-like. But the other two bits, of the Old Testament and the Pauline letters, are much more ugly.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,650
    nico679 said:

    Leon said:

    OMFG this is terrible what can we do (cont pages 994-978)


    “Trump now has a commanding lead. Beating Biden with Hispanics, scoring very well with Blacks and young voters x.com/patrickruffini…”

    https://x.com/macaesbruno/status/1763927741483663674?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    No one cares anymore . The US is a failed state. The sooner the rest of the world realizes this the better .
    I still care. But if they reelect Trump, I will cease to. They'll be welcome to each other.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,390

    Leon said:

    OMFG this is terrible what can we do (cont pages 994-978)


    “Trump now has a commanding lead. Beating Biden with Hispanics, scoring very well with Blacks and young voters x.com/patrickruffini…”

    https://x.com/macaesbruno/status/1763927741483663674?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw


    Frank Luntz
    @FrankLuntz
    ·
    18s
    “Joe Biden should be expected to win this election. He’s an incumbent president running for re-election with a reasonably healthy economy against an unpopular opponent accused of multiple federal crimes.

    And yet President Biden is not winning.”

    https://twitter.com/FrankLuntz
    Isn't it still a bit of a way away? I just don't see how Trump gets more voters than last time.
    Eight months and a bit. At this point in the movie Ripley is rushing back to cancel the self-destruct. As sombody once said (Lynton Crosby?), you can't fatten a pig on market day. If Biden is going to win he should start to see a pick-up soon, and it isn't happening. I hope that it does, but it's standing on the pad going pffffssst.
  • WillGWillG Posts: 2,366

    Leon said:

    OMFG this is terrible what can we do (cont pages 994-978)


    “Trump now has a commanding lead. Beating Biden with Hispanics, scoring very well with Blacks and young voters x.com/patrickruffini…”

    https://x.com/macaesbruno/status/1763927741483663674?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw


    Frank Luntz
    @FrankLuntz
    ·
    18s
    “Joe Biden should be expected to win this election. He’s an incumbent president running for re-election with a reasonably healthy economy against an unpopular opponent accused of multiple federal crimes.

    And yet President Biden is not winning.”

    https://twitter.com/FrankLuntz
    Isn't it still a bit of a way away? I just don't see how Trump gets more voters than last time.
    Trump has a far more professional campaign than last time, which could logistically get out more voters. But that is balanced against those who he has turned off.

    The problem is Biden might be losing a fair number.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,177

    I detest the word 'extremist' for much the same reason I'm offended by centrism.

    That you enjoy insulting your political opponents, but dislike it when the favour is returned ?
  • WillGWillG Posts: 2,366
    nico679 said:

    Leon said:

    OMFG this is terrible what can we do (cont pages 994-978)


    “Trump now has a commanding lead. Beating Biden with Hispanics, scoring very well with Blacks and young voters x.com/patrickruffini…”

    https://x.com/macaesbruno/status/1763927741483663674?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    No one cares anymore . The US is a failed state. The sooner the rest of the world realizes this the better .
    Yet somehow has higher median income than virtually all of Europe.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,568

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    I would look forward to reading something from you that puts across the other perspective?
    Why? The site doesn’t pay. They are lucky we comment
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 4,840

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    Feel free to write a header supporting him Casino.
    It would be an interesting intellectual exercise... If you were advising Rishi, and the aim was the best outcome for the British centre-right, what would you say to him?

    I can't get beyond "learn to play 'Nearer, My God to Thee' really well and call the election ASAP."
    Not before Hunt has used his budget to steal all of Reeves' paltry collection of revenue raising measures, used the money to cut a penny off income tax and given away anything that's left in pensioner benefits. The Tories then call an election and force Labour to re-invent its economic policy on the hoof, or redirect the funds back to where they wanted them to go (in which case the Tories scream about Labour hiking taxes on hard working people and stealing from poor, vulnerable, helpless little old ladies.)

    It's completely ruthless and cynical, and stands an excellent chance of working.

    The support for Labour evident in the polls is a mile wide and an inch deep. Labour aren't popular at all, offer nothing to the young, and the grey vote will gratefully grasp any reason to just stick with what they know and pray for the whole tedious business of politics to go away for another five years.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,942

    algarkirk said:

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    If he does it has to be called in just over three weeks from now. (I don't think he will).
    Sunak is announcing it in 9 days time, Monday week, sometime between 1035 and 1150
    Do you know what colour socks he will be wearing?
  • AverageNinjaAverageNinja Posts: 1,169
    Leon said:

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    I would look forward to reading something from you that puts across the other perspective?
    Why? The site doesn’t pay. They are lucky we comment
    I'd look forward to reading something from you that is readable too.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,568
    WillG said:

    nico679 said:

    Leon said:

    OMFG this is terrible what can we do (cont pages 994-978)


    “Trump now has a commanding lead. Beating Biden with Hispanics, scoring very well with Blacks and young voters x.com/patrickruffini…”

    https://x.com/macaesbruno/status/1763927741483663674?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    No one cares anymore . The US is a failed state. The sooner the rest of the world realizes this the better .
    Yet somehow has higher median income than virtually all of Europe.
    Large chunks of urban America are a crime ridden drug addled toilet, tho

    In a way we don’t really comprehend in Europe

    Now, most of America doesn’t live there. They live in generally nice suburbs. But enough of them encounter it, or pay for it with their taxes, for it to make an electoral difference

    And Biden’s abject inability to control the border is not helping
  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,639
    I think there will be a 1% cut to employees NI in the Budget. At the basic level, not the bit beyond £50,000pa.

    And a large increase in tax on tobacco
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,890

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    Surely as the site's definitive non-partisan you don't mind a little party political give and take from the thread header writers.
    Pot. Meet. Kettle.
    Is that your current location?
  • AverageNinjaAverageNinja Posts: 1,169

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    Surely as the site's definitive non-partisan you don't mind a little party political give and take from the thread header writers.
    Pot. Meet. Kettle.
    Is that your current location?
    Yes. It. Is.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,942

    I think there will be a 1% cut to employees NI in the Budget. At the basic level, not the bit beyond £50,000pa.

    And a large increase in tax on tobacco

    I hope if he is going to make tax cuts it will be to raise the Personal Allowance. I think that will go down well as well.
  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,639
    kjh said:

    algarkirk said:

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    If he does it has to be called in just over three weeks from now. (I don't think he will).
    Sunak is announcing it in 9 days time, Monday week, sometime between 1035 and 1150
    Do you know what colour socks he will be wearing?
    Blue. To match the tie
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,390
    edited March 2

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    Feel free to write a header supporting him Casino.
    It would be an interesting intellectual exercise... If you were advising Rishi, and the aim was the best outcome for the British centre-right, what would you say to him?

    I can't get beyond "learn to play 'Nearer, My God to Thee' really well and call the election ASAP."
    "...Rishi Sunak was a PM of the UK from 2022-24. Seen as a transitional figure between the Thatcherite Conservatives (1979-2019) and the National Conservatives (2030-present), he had the thankless task of repairing the reputation of the party after the debacle of the Truss Administration. A technocrat managerialist, he found it difficult to articulate the mood of the time and his public announcements, increasingly shrill, gathered increasing derision in return. His proponents argue that his achievements steadied the boat and he is well thought of by a wing of the party, but overall he is thought to be neither a disaster nor an opportunity. He currently enjoys his retirement in Malibu, California, having taken out American citizenship in 2030..."

    - Foreword to "The Prime Minsters", edited by Iain Dale, ninth edition 2031,
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,861

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    Editorial line of this site? The only one I can see is that punters should lose their money as slowly as possible by backing sufficient winners to enable this sub optimal, but not maximally sub optimal, outcome.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,942

    kjh said:

    algarkirk said:

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    If he does it has to be called in just over three weeks from now. (I don't think he will).
    Sunak is announcing it in 9 days time, Monday week, sometime between 1035 and 1150
    Do you know what colour socks he will be wearing?
    Blue. To match the tie
    If this prediction comes off @MoonRabbit is due some serious kudos.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,417
    algarkirk said:

    Senior govt figures say OBR is ‘killing’ Tory plans; one suggests they are ‘group of left wing economists’ intent on ‘screwing’ Tories

    https://x.com/steven_swinford/status/1763887319663149071

    The conspiracy nuts are back I see.

    Couldn't make it up. The Budget Responsibility Committee of the OBR is appointed by none other than the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

    They have executive responsibility for carrying out the core functions of the OBR, including responsibility for the judgements reached in its forecasts.

    Galloway, Corbyn and Burgon are not on it.
    This is a Trussite complaint, the OBR being part of the deep state. The irony is the Conservatives set up the OBR to screw Labour.
  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,639
    kjh said:

    kjh said:

    algarkirk said:

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    If he does it has to be called in just over three weeks from now. (I don't think he will).
    Sunak is announcing it in 9 days time, Monday week, sometime between 1035 and 1150
    Do you know what colour socks he will be wearing?
    Blue. To match the tie
    If this prediction comes off @MoonRabbit is due some serious kudos.
    Agreed. I was expecting Rishi to make the announcement on the Monday afternoon
  • AverageNinjaAverageNinja Posts: 1,169
    Every day that goes by, the more I think it's possibly not a bad hypothesis that the Tories are going to visit Labour's greatest hits of 2007-2020.
  • AverageNinjaAverageNinja Posts: 1,169

    algarkirk said:

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    If he does it has to be called in just over three weeks from now. (I don't think he will).
    Sunak is announcing it in 9 days time, Monday week, sometime between 1035 and 1150
    What is the hypothesis here?
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,453

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    TSE is a “good Muslim boy” of Indian heritage.

    Sunak is Hindu.

    Sadly there is a deep engrained prejudice that TSE may not even be aware of himself but it’s been evident since day 1.

  • rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 8,360
    US are now airdropping aid into Gaza because their 'ally' Israel refuses to let trucks in... really weird situation.

  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,639
    kjh said:

    I think there will be a 1% cut to employees NI in the Budget. At the basic level, not the bit beyond £50,000pa.

    And a large increase in tax on tobacco

    I hope if he is going to make tax cuts it will be to raise the Personal Allowance. I think that will go down well as well.
    Increasing the Personal Allowance is better than reducing the income tax rate as it will enable potential greater benefit to be targeted on those with lower incomes 👍👍

    But I don't think it's happening 😡
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,890

    algarkirk said:

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    If he does it has to be called in just over three weeks from now. (I don't think he will).
    Sunak is announcing it in 9 days time, Monday week, sometime between 1035 and 1150
    Don't be silly.

    Everyone knows the next General Election is three days after Trump's inauguration.
  • WillGWillG Posts: 2,366
    Leon said:

    WillG said:

    nico679 said:

    Leon said:

    OMFG this is terrible what can we do (cont pages 994-978)


    “Trump now has a commanding lead. Beating Biden with Hispanics, scoring very well with Blacks and young voters x.com/patrickruffini…”

    https://x.com/macaesbruno/status/1763927741483663674?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    No one cares anymore . The US is a failed state. The sooner the rest of the world realizes this the better .
    Yet somehow has higher median income than virtually all of Europe.
    Large chunks of urban America are a crime ridden drug addled toilet, tho

    In a way we don’t really comprehend in Europe

    Now, most of America doesn’t live there. They live in generally nice suburbs. But enough of them encounter it, or pay for it with their taxes, for it to make an electoral difference

    And Biden’s abject inability to control the border is not helping
    It is true that the US has urban ghettos that are significantly worse than Europe. But this isn't even a majority of urban areas.

    Over the last year I have been to the city centres of New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte, Miami, Virginia Beach and San Francisco. All seemed nice places, sometimes a bit dirty but no worse than the grimmer areas of central London. Of course, worse areas exist, but most Americans don't encounter them because most people don't travel to ghettos.

    What they do have is a constant inundation of images of the ghettos on social media and cable news, due to a highly effective right wing media network. That is why people think it is worse now than during the 1980s of sunny Reaganism, despite crime and poverty at the time being substantially worse.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,453

    I detest the word 'extremist' for much the same reason I'm offended by centrism. It is a completely arbitrary designation without meaning, except that you've offended someone (the state presumably) by being 'a bit too much' of something. I don't really see anything wrong with being an 'extreme' of something providing that thing is not wrong in the first place. Is a monk or a nun not an extremist Christian?

    No, Torquemada was an extremist Christian.
    I don't know much about the person you describe, but I suspect he was a wicked person who was also a Christian? That's not covered by the meaning of the word 'extremist', which just implies 'more'. Taking a maximalist approach to conventional Christianity would result in you forsaking all worldly goods and entering holy orders of some kind.

    I also have some sympathy for Muslims in this - is Islam some form of mild disease that results in you being a loony suicide bomber if you catch an 'extreme' case? Or is it actually an issue of Wahabbism, a particularly harmful doctrine, being pushed in Mosques by Saudi Arabia?

    Part of the extremism thing is a form of not wishing to offend I think. But in its attempt not to offend, it is offensive. If something is bad, let's describe and proscribe the actual thing.


    He was the leader of the Inquisition and a rather unpleasant religious fanatic.

    His only redeeming feature was that he genuinely believed that what he was doing was in his victims’ best interests
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,890

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    TSE is a “good Muslim boy” of Indian heritage.

    Sunak is Hindu.

    Sadly there is a deep engrained prejudice that TSE may not even be aware of himself but it’s been evident since day 1.

    Oh don't be a dickhead.

    Is that the time?
  • AlsoLeiAlsoLei Posts: 1,500

    Every day that goes by, the more I think it's possibly not a bad hypothesis that the Tories are going to visit Labour's greatest hits of 2007-2020.

    Is there a good, concise history of the Brown years that Sunak might be able to flick through one evening instead of browsing alt-right Twitter?

    He's already tried 'British Homes for British Workers', and yesterday evening he had a go at implying that Rochdale voters were bigoted, so what could be next?

    I reckon he'd might be up for riffing on Brown's infamous Gulags for Slags policy...
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,669
    kjh said:

    algarkirk said:

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    If he does it has to be called in just over three weeks from now. (I don't think he will).
    Sunak is announcing it in 9 days time, Monday week, sometime between 1035 and 1150
    Do you know what colour socks he will be wearing?
    It will be one Hey Duggee and one Bluey.

    Or maybe that's me.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,457

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    Yes. Perhaps Sunk and the current generation of Conservative leadership have lost the likes of TSE for the simple reason that they're not very good, and their policies and rhetoric aren't very... well, Conservative?
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,669
    WillG said:

    Leon said:

    WillG said:

    nico679 said:

    Leon said:

    OMFG this is terrible what can we do (cont pages 994-978)


    “Trump now has a commanding lead. Beating Biden with Hispanics, scoring very well with Blacks and young voters x.com/patrickruffini…”

    https://x.com/macaesbruno/status/1763927741483663674?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    No one cares anymore . The US is a failed state. The sooner the rest of the world realizes this the better .
    Yet somehow has higher median income than virtually all of Europe.
    Large chunks of urban America are a crime ridden drug addled toilet, tho

    In a way we don’t really comprehend in Europe

    Now, most of America doesn’t live there. They live in generally nice suburbs. But enough of them encounter it, or pay for it with their taxes, for it to make an electoral difference

    And Biden’s abject inability to control the border is not helping
    It is true that the US has urban ghettos that are significantly worse than Europe. But this isn't even a majority of urban areas.

    Over the last year I have been to the city centres of New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte, Miami, Virginia Beach and San Francisco. All seemed nice places, sometimes a bit dirty but no worse than the grimmer areas of central London. Of course, worse areas exist, but most Americans don't encounter them because most people don't travel to ghettos.

    What they do have is a constant inundation of images of the ghettos on social media and cable news, due to a highly effective right wing media network. That is why people think it is worse now than during the 1980s of sunny Reaganism, despite crime and poverty at the time being substantially worse.
    You found the city centre of San Francisco quite nice? My experience is that the streets are covered in human excrement , drug casualties, middle class people desperately trying to ignore what is going on around them by staring into their phones and coffee shops full of unemployed tech people desperately interviewing for jobs over zoom.

    It used to be one of my favourite places in America.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 52,282
    AlsoLei said:

    Every day that goes by, the more I think it's possibly not a bad hypothesis that the Tories are going to visit Labour's greatest hits of 2007-2020.

    Is there a good, concise history of the Brown years that Sunak might be able to flick through one evening instead of browsing alt-right Twitter?

    He's already tried 'British Homes for British Workers', and yesterday evening he had a go at implying that Rochdale voters were bigoted, so what could be next?

    I reckon he'd might be up for riffing on Brown's infamous Gulags for Slags policy...
    Compulsory volunteer work for immigrants?

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6399457.stm
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,721
    That race was reminiscent of Australia 1998.

    But there is no driver with the combined talent and equipment of a Schumacher to make it interesting.

    Alonso may have the talent, and Leclerc the equipment. But not the package.
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,669
    ydoethur said:

    That race was reminiscent of Australia 1998.

    But there is no driver with the combined talent and equipment of a Schumacher to make it interesting.

    Alonso may have the talent, and Leclerc the equipment. But not the package.

    Are you casting aspersions on the gentlemen's undercarriage?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,177
    Leon said:

    WillG said:

    nico679 said:

    Leon said:

    OMFG this is terrible what can we do (cont pages 994-978)


    “Trump now has a commanding lead. Beating Biden with Hispanics, scoring very well with Blacks and young voters x.com/patrickruffini…”

    https://x.com/macaesbruno/status/1763927741483663674?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    No one cares anymore . The US is a failed state. The sooner the rest of the world realizes this the better .
    Yet somehow has higher median income than virtually all of Europe.
    Large chunks of urban America are a crime ridden drug addled toilet, tho

    In a way we don’t really comprehend in Europe

    Now, most of America doesn’t live there. They live in generally nice suburbs. But enough of them encounter it, or pay for it with their taxes, for it to make an electoral difference

    And Biden’s abject inability to control the border is not helping
    Nor is the Republican Congress refusing - at Trump’s behest - to let him do anything about it.
  • northern_monkeynorthern_monkey Posts: 1,640
    One for @Leon: ‘AI’s craving for data is matched only by a runaway thirst for water and energy’ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/02/ais-craving-for-data-is-matched-only-by-a-runaway-thirst-for-water-and-energy

    ‘… you can see why the AI industry is, er, reluctant about coming clean on its probable energy and cooling requirements. After all, there’s a bubble on, and awkward facts can cause punctures. So it’s nice to be able to report that soon they may be obliged to open up. Over in the US, a group of senators and representatives have introduced a bill to require the federal government to assess AI’s current environmental footprint and develop a standardised system for reporting future impacts. And over in Europe, the EU’s AI Act is about to become law. Among other things, it requires “high-risk AI systems” (which include the powerful “foundation models” that power ChatGPT and similar AIs) to report their energy consumption, use of resources and other impacts throughout their lifespan.‘

    Bloody good job we’ve dodged some more of that pesky EU red tape. Buccaneering Britain, cut loose of the sclerotic EU, can use our world class energy generation and unrivalled water infrastructure to steal a march on those shifty, backstabbing, woke, effete continentals. Rule Britannia! God Save the King! Stop the boats!
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    algarkirk said:

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    If he does it has to be called in just over three weeks from now. (I don't think he will).
    Sunak is announcing it in 9 days time, Monday week, sometime between 1035 and 1150
    viewcode said:

    I detest the word 'extremist' for much the same reason I'm offended by centrism. It is a completely arbitrary designation without meaning, except that you've offended someone (the state presumably) by being 'a bit too much' of something. I don't really see anything wrong with being an 'extreme' of something providing that thing is not wrong in the first place. Is a monk or a nun not an extremist Christian?

    “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.” - Barry Goldwater (apocryphally)
    NOT apocryphally but really . . . from his nomination acceptance speech to the 1964 Republican National Convention:

    "Extremism in the defense of liberty," Senator Goldwater declared, "is no vice . . . moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue" - New York Times, front page, July 7, 1964

    from another source:

    To my mind the single essential element on which all discoveries will be dependent is human freedom. I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue! - Barry Goldwater
    https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barry_Goldwater#

    SSI - The instant BEFORE AuH2O uttered his most famous soundbite, was the apogee of his presidential campaign. All downhill from there.

    Perhaps worth noting, that in 1964 the most well-known extremists associated with Goldwater, were the John Birch Society AND the activist wing of Southern segregationists; while he never officially welcomed the former, and did sorta, kinda "bar" the Klan from his campaign that did NOT curb their enthusiasm. (Very similar to Trump re: today's White supremacists).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society

    AND with respect to segregation, etc. which was very much a thing in 1964, further note AuH2O was expressly opposed to even "moderation in the pursuit of justice".

    Perhaps one reason WHY only states he carried versus LBJ that November, besides his own Arizona, were Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi Burning and South Carolina.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,177
    ydoethur said:

    That race was reminiscent of Australia 1998.

    But there is no driver with the combined talent and equipment of a Schumacher to make it interesting.

    Alonso may have the talent, and Leclerc the equipment. But not the package.

    “ Max Verstappen says he had a lot of fun…”

    I’m glad one person did.
  • darkagedarkage Posts: 5,398
    edited March 2
    Lee Anderson is not an extremist. If anything he is an example of the 'woke right' - a similar political style to the 'woke left'.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 3,944

    kjh said:

    I think there will be a 1% cut to employees NI in the Budget. At the basic level, not the bit beyond £50,000pa.

    And a large increase in tax on tobacco

    I hope if he is going to make tax cuts it will be to raise the Personal Allowance. I think that will go down well as well.
    Increasing the Personal Allowance is better than reducing the income tax rate as it will enable potential greater benefit to be targeted on those with lower incomes 👍👍

    But I don't think it's happening 😡
    Unless you don't earn enough to pay tax.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 42,146
    Rishi still knows who the real extremist, anti democracy enemy is.








    .
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,959
    Darwin fucking Nunez.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,890

    How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    TSE is a “good Muslim boy” of Indian heritage.

    Sunak is Hindu.

    Sadly there is a deep engrained prejudice that TSE may not even be aware of himself but it’s been evident since day 1.

    There is so much wrong with that I am not sure where to start.

    So first of all, I'm not of Indian heritage.

    I praise where praise is due, such as the appointment of The Lord Cameron.

    But tell me about the prejudices I had when I criticised Truss and Johnson. I can be dispassionate when I said Johnson would win a majority of 40 to 70 plus Scotland.

    My robust views on Truss allowed me to trouser £500 when PBers were saying I was wrong.
    Good on you!

    A measured and polite post when unparliamentary, profane, invective would have sufficed.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,890
    darkage said:

    Lee Anderson is not an extremist. If anything he is an example of the 'woke right' - a similar political style to the 'woke left'.

    Why don't we simply agree he's a ****!
  • sbjme19sbjme19 Posts: 194
    On topic, knowing about the three people concerned, I 'm not in the least surprised by this event.
  • AverageNinjaAverageNinja Posts: 1,169
    I would like to write a header on why I think 10 years of Labour is possible and becoming more likely, who would I send it to or do I just write it here.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,457
    "The M/V Rubymar, a Belize-Flagged and U.K-Owned Cargo Ship which was Struck by a Houthi Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile last month while off the Coast of Yemen in the Southern Red Sea and eventually Evacuated, has now Fully Sunk; the Ships 41,000 Tons of Fertilizer will now likely cause a Ecological Disaster for the Western Coast of Yemen."

    https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1763954930388238449

    One PBer will be celebrating...
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,669

    Darwin fucking Nunez.

    That just about sums up our season
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,890

    I would like to write a header on why I think 10 years of Labour is possible and becoming more likely, who would I send it to or do I just write it here.

    Rt. Hon. Rishi Sunak
    10 Downing Street,
    London,
    SW1A 2AA
  • AbandonedHopeAbandonedHope Posts: 144

    algarkirk said:

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    If he does it has to be called in just over three weeks from now. (I don't think he will).
    Sunak is announcing it in 9 days time, Monday week, sometime between 1035 and 1150
    If only it were true. Unfortunately, it’s the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey at 3pm and I can’t see Sunak being allowed to announce the election against that backdrop.

    More likely the next day and go to the Palace after PMQs.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,624
    mwadams said:

    WillG said:

    Leon said:

    WillG said:

    nico679 said:

    Leon said:

    OMFG this is terrible what can we do (cont pages 994-978)


    “Trump now has a commanding lead. Beating Biden with Hispanics, scoring very well with Blacks and young voters x.com/patrickruffini…”

    https://x.com/macaesbruno/status/1763927741483663674?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    No one cares anymore . The US is a failed state. The sooner the rest of the world realizes this the better .
    Yet somehow has higher median income than virtually all of Europe.
    Large chunks of urban America are a crime ridden drug addled toilet, tho

    In a way we don’t really comprehend in Europe

    Now, most of America doesn’t live there. They live in generally nice suburbs. But enough of them encounter it, or pay for it with their taxes, for it to make an electoral difference

    And Biden’s abject inability to control the border is not helping
    It is true that the US has urban ghettos that are significantly worse than Europe. But this isn't even a majority of urban areas.

    Over the last year I have been to the city centres of New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte, Miami, Virginia Beach and San Francisco. All seemed nice places, sometimes a bit dirty but no worse than the grimmer areas of central London. Of course, worse areas exist, but most Americans don't encounter them because most people don't travel to ghettos.

    What they do have is a constant inundation of images of the ghettos on social media and cable news, due to a highly effective right wing media network. That is why people think it is worse now than during the 1980s of sunny Reaganism, despite crime and poverty at the time being substantially worse.
    You found the city centre of San Francisco quite nice? My experience is that the streets are covered in human excrement , drug casualties, middle class people desperately trying to ignore what is going on around them by staring into their phones and coffee shops full of unemployed tech people desperately interviewing for jobs over zoom.

    It used to be one of my favourite places in America.
    I've been to San Francisco on and off since the late 1990s, and it's always been an absolute shithole, with hollow eyed homeless drug addicts with schizophrenia wandering from SoMa up into Union Square and beyond.

    Of course, there are some very nice parts. But the center and SoMa are - and have always been - utterly horrendous.

    Central Seattle, which I haven't visited for twenty years was the same: an urban hell hole filled with ragged clothed people with few teeth begging for money for whatever the drug de jour for the mentally ill is.

    Los Angeles is a little different, because there's a lot more "temporary" homelessness of people living in RVs, having jobs, but not being able to afford the local housing market.

    But we also - of course - have the crystal meth-heads wandering around.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,861

    algarkirk said:

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    If he does it has to be called in just over three weeks from now. (I don't think he will).
    Sunak is announcing it in 9 days time, Monday week, sometime between 1035 and 1150
    If only it were true. Unfortunately, it’s the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey at 3pm and I can’t see Sunak being allowed to announce the election against that backdrop.

    More likely the next day and go to the Palace after PMQs.
    No. He will go for late September or possibly July.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,959

    I would like to write a header on why I think 10 years of Labour is possible and becoming more likely, who would I send it to or do I just write it here.

    Send me a Vanilla message once you have written it.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 13,214

    I would like to write a header on why I think 10 years of Labour is possible and becoming more likely, who would I send it to or do I just write it here.

    Rt. Hon. Rishi Sunak
    10 Downing Street,
    London,
    SW1A 2AA
    Funnily enough I was going through my old emails yesterday and there was a chain entitled “contact details” which started with Rishi Sunak, little known backbench MP for Richmond (this was an old old email) sharing these with one of my ex colleagues for the purposes of AML checks.

    In the middle of the thread there was some quibbling over proposed fees.

    It ended with my colleague, never the promptest in these situations but long since departed for pastures new, finally sending a promised draft paper which Mr Sunak had been chasing repeatedly with an increasing note of mild frustration.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,721
    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    That race was reminiscent of Australia 1998.

    But there is no driver with the combined talent and equipment of a Schumacher to make it interesting.

    Alonso may have the talent, and Leclerc the equipment. But not the package.

    “ Max Verstappen says he had a lot of fun…”

    I’m glad one person did.
    Not just one. Christian Hornier seems to have been having lots of fun too.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,721
    mwadams said:

    ydoethur said:

    That race was reminiscent of Australia 1998.

    But there is no driver with the combined talent and equipment of a Schumacher to make it interesting.

    Alonso may have the talent, and Leclerc the equipment. But not the package.

    Are you casting aspersions on the gentlemen's undercarriage?
    Nah, I just made a cock up.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,898
    rcs1000 said:

    mwadams said:

    WillG said:

    Leon said:

    WillG said:

    nico679 said:

    Leon said:

    OMFG this is terrible what can we do (cont pages 994-978)


    “Trump now has a commanding lead. Beating Biden with Hispanics, scoring very well with Blacks and young voters x.com/patrickruffini…”

    https://x.com/macaesbruno/status/1763927741483663674?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    No one cares anymore . The US is a failed state. The sooner the rest of the world realizes this the better .
    Yet somehow has higher median income than virtually all of Europe.
    Large chunks of urban America are a crime ridden drug addled toilet, tho

    In a way we don’t really comprehend in Europe

    Now, most of America doesn’t live there. They live in generally nice suburbs. But enough of them encounter it, or pay for it with their taxes, for it to make an electoral difference

    And Biden’s abject inability to control the border is not helping
    It is true that the US has urban ghettos that are significantly worse than Europe. But this isn't even a majority of urban areas.

    Over the last year I have been to the city centres of New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte, Miami, Virginia Beach and San Francisco. All seemed nice places, sometimes a bit dirty but no worse than the grimmer areas of central London. Of course, worse areas exist, but most Americans don't encounter them because most people don't travel to ghettos.

    What they do have is a constant inundation of images of the ghettos on social media and cable news, due to a highly effective right wing media network. That is why people think it is worse now than during the 1980s of sunny Reaganism, despite crime and poverty at the time being substantially worse.
    You found the city centre of San Francisco quite nice? My experience is that the streets are covered in human excrement , drug casualties, middle class people desperately trying to ignore what is going on around them by staring into their phones and coffee shops full of unemployed tech people desperately interviewing for jobs over zoom.

    It used to be one of my favourite places in America.
    I've been to San Francisco on and off since the late 1990s, and it's always been an absolute shithole, with hollow eyed homeless drug addicts with schizophrenia wandering from SoMa up into Union Square and beyond.

    Of course, there are some very nice parts. But the center and SoMa are - and have always been - utterly horrendous.

    Central Seattle, which I haven't visited for twenty years was the same: an urban hell hole filled with ragged clothed people with few teeth begging for money for whatever the drug de jour for the mentally ill is.

    Los Angeles is a little different, because there's a lot more "temporary" homelessness of people living in RVs, having jobs, but not being able to afford the local housing market.

    But we also - of course - have the crystal meth-heads wandering around.
    I visited San Francisco in 2007 and it seemed quite nice. I don't think I've been to any US city that didn't have a substantial population of street homeless, addicts and the mentally ill, but at that time it didn't seem any worse than the others. From what I've heard it's now a lot worse, but I've not seen it first hand. The US is an incredible country but not a good one to be unlucky in.
  • When will Liz Truss just go away?

    She won't. She has a boundless belief in her own genius and destiny that is matched only by her total ineptitude. Its no coincidence that she became once (and future?*) leader of the post-Johnson Con party

    *In a Neil Hamilton became leader of UKIP sort of comeback
  • How depressing that the editorial line of this site is now to constantly attack the PM.

    By someone who's a self-professed Tory.

    Reality bites
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,805

    algarkirk said:

    Time for Rishi to call the GE

    GE = 2 May 👍

    If he does it has to be called in just over three weeks from now. (I don't think he will).
    Sunak is announcing it in 9 days time, Monday week, sometime between 1035 and 1150
    If only it were true. Unfortunately, it’s the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey at 3pm and I can’t see Sunak being allowed to announce the election against that backdrop.

    More likely the next day and go to the Palace after PMQs.
    I'm liking the idea of announcing the 2nd May GE before PMQs on Wednesday week - those are one's I have public gallery tickets for!
This discussion has been closed.