Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

Holidays can be cancelled of course – politicalbetting.com

1246789

Comments

  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,274
    edited March 12

    Totally agree.

    The Duchess of Sussex would “never” make a photograph editing mistake like the Princess of Wales, sources close to Meghan have claimed.

    They also alleged that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would have been “annihilated” by the press if they had released a doctored family portrait.

    “This isn’t a mistake Meghan would ever make,” a source told the New York Post’s Page Six column. “She has a keen eye and freakish attention to detail.”

    It came after the Princess apologised for editing a photograph of herself and her children that had been released to mark Mother’s Day.

    The image was taken by the Prince of Wales during a 40-minute window last Friday, at the family’s home in Windsor.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2024/03/12/meghan-never-make-photo-editing-mistake-princess-wales/

    Talk about kicking someone when their down (and potentially seriously ill)

    Stay classy Megs 👌
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,412
    boulay said:

    Totally agree.

    The Duchess of Sussex would “never” make a photograph editing mistake like the Princess of Wales, sources close to Meghan have claimed.

    They also alleged that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would have been “annihilated” by the press if they had released a doctored family portrait.

    “This isn’t a mistake Meghan would ever make,” a source told the New York Post’s Page Six column. “She has a keen eye and freakish attention to detail.”

    It came after the Princess apologised for editing a photograph of herself and her children that had been released to mark Mother’s Day.

    The image was taken by the Prince of Wales during a 40-minute window last Friday, at the family’s home in Windsor.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2024/03/12/meghan-never-make-photo-editing-mistake-princess-wales/

    Editing a photo is amateur hour compared to making up a high speed car chase through New York though.
    Quite. Though I am heartened by this bitchy briefing - I don't think even the Sussex's would be letting their opinions on this be known if Kate's prognosis was that grim.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,128
    For @Carnyx , a vid about Bennerley Viaduct done by a local who grew up playing on it.

    This was the one that made me look up recent developments.

    There is drone footage at just before 5 minutes.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plk_en2_3a4
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,407
    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,214
    First rule of scandal management:
    Assume that there's a second salvo, at least as bad as the first.

    New w/ @rowenamason + @matthew_weaver -
    Frank Hester asked if there was “no room for the Indians” and suggested staff climb on a train roof during a crowded meeting, before saying he made “a lot of jokes about racism”.


    https://twitter.com/Direthoughts/status/1767636008143626697
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,812

    First rule of scandal management:
    Assume that there's a second salvo, at least as bad as the first.

    New w/ @rowenamason + @matthew_weaver -
    Frank Hester asked if there was “no room for the Indians” and suggested staff climb on a train roof during a crowded meeting, before saying he made “a lot of jokes about racism”.


    https://twitter.com/Direthoughts/status/1767636008143626697

    Its the way he tells em.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,782
    MattW said:

    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Pagan2 said:

    Leon said:

    kjh said:

    kjh said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    OK, PB Tropical Fruit Quiz, again

    On the left, crisp fresh green mango. On the right crisp light beer

    Is that a custard apple in the middle? If so, why is it orangey yellow, not green?


    Call that a beer. This a beer.
    Well clearly it wasn't. I seem to have forgotten how to post a picture, but it was a pint of Broadside. A proper pint.
    The lack of proper ale outside England is a genuine problem. Why don’t other countries do beer properly? That can of crap Leon is supping looks shit.
    Yes I agree. I like Belgium beers and New England beers but they are still cold and fizzy which beer shouldn't be. Broadside in Southwold and Shere Drop anywhere around Dorking beat anything from anywhere. I'm sure others from around the UK will have their favourites. Nothing better than a proper UK real ale from a hand pump.
    It’s total bollocks. American beer is brilliant
    But then you drink lager so your opinion is suspect
    Actually my preferred beer is a craft IPA

    But in a really really hot climate I will definitely have a light lager

    Don’t like stout. Can’t stand Guinness. No idea why

    Stout goes well with fish, and shellfish in particular. The smokiness sets off the seafood nicely and is a classic combination with oysters.
    Don't be a twat. You need a decent white wine with that stuff.
    Yes on that we have a rare agreement

    Oysters and Guinness? Ugh. That’s a recipe for vomiting

    And I adore oysters
    It really is a well known combination, with several oyster and stout festivals in Ireland.

    One here in the Midwest USA too:

    https://explorestlouis.com/event/schlafly-stout-and-oyster-festival/2024-03-08/

    That may well be so, but I am with @TOPPING here

    Cold dry white wine with oysters (not champagne) - nothing else. Probably Alvarinho

    Stout is a ridiculous idea from people who don’t have any wine

    Stout is amazing with fruit cake, a mature cheese and apple.
    That sounds heavenly. I enjoy the left over stout and barley wine with cheese when I make the Christmas pudding in November.
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 4,837
    HYUFD said:

    Yes, I expect the general election to be in October rather than May

    Depends how appalling the situation is by that point. If your party fears total obliteration then they have nothing left to lose by waiting until January.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,213

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    The US is in the explosion phase of quality beer. After a long long time of low quality mass market crap.

    They are trying everything and much of it is a mistake. However, there is some talent and very good beer in there.

    It will be very interesting to see where it leads.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,274
    Letters going in again?


    Politics UK
    @PolitlcsUK
    ·
    39m
    🚨 NEW: Rishi Sunak has met with 1922 chairman Sir Graham Brady amid a "flurry" of no confidence letters being submitted

    [
    @theipaper
    ]
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,588

    MattW said:

    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    OK, PB Tropical Fruit Quiz, again

    On the left, crisp fresh green mango. On the right crisp light beer

    Is that a custard apple in the middle? If so, why is it orangey yellow, not green?


    African Custard Apple is yellow.
    Also known as a pitahaya. That’s what Sainsbury’s calls them.
    Or Waitrose (dragon fruit there).

    £3.60 each at our Waitrose, outrageous!

    I mean, it's got to be cheaper to get someone to fly you to South America hasn't it?
    On Sunday PM I was out for a couple of hours visiting Bennerley Viaduct ("The Iron Giant !!") and auditing anti-wheelchair barriers on part of the towpath of the Erewash Canal to see why it can't be reached by everyone who has a right to do so *, with a view to getting them removed.

    I ran across a big Marks and Spencer food hall in ILKESTON of all places, where BREL used to have a big base !! Less up-itself than other self-styled high end places, and some quite good value items.

    * Delightful route, high quality surface at least for the several miles I walked both ways, some mobility aids unlawfully excluded for at least 3 decades by the look of it by squeeze plate barriers with about 75-80cm width gaps.

    I know of Ilkeston. You’d think it might come up a bit since they reopened the railway (ten minutes to central Nottingham from there). But the M&S surprises me!
    My dad used to work in Ilkeston in the 1970s. We lived in Risley at the time.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,984

    First rule of scandal management:
    Assume that there's a second salvo, at least as bad as the first.

    New w/ @rowenamason + @matthew_weaver -
    Frank Hester asked if there was “no room for the Indians” and suggested staff climb on a train roof during a crowded meeting, before saying he made “a lot of jokes about racism”.


    https://twitter.com/Direthoughts/status/1767636008143626697

    Its the way he tells em.
    £10 million heading its way to Reform UK soon?
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,588

    boulay said:

    Totally agree.

    The Duchess of Sussex would “never” make a photograph editing mistake like the Princess of Wales, sources close to Meghan have claimed.

    They also alleged that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would have been “annihilated” by the press if they had released a doctored family portrait.

    “This isn’t a mistake Meghan would ever make,” a source told the New York Post’s Page Six column. “She has a keen eye and freakish attention to detail.”

    It came after the Princess apologised for editing a photograph of herself and her children that had been released to mark Mother’s Day.

    The image was taken by the Prince of Wales during a 40-minute window last Friday, at the family’s home in Windsor.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2024/03/12/meghan-never-make-photo-editing-mistake-princess-wales/

    Editing a photo is amateur hour compared to making up a high speed car chase through New York though.
    Quite. Though I am heartened by this bitchy briefing - I don't think even the Sussex's would be letting their opinions on this be known if Kate's prognosis was that grim.
    I assume the "source" is the hack at the next desk along.

    Angry response: "It was *not" the next desk along. I'll have you know they both work from home."

  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,627
    edited March 12

    boulay said:

    Totally agree.

    The Duchess of Sussex would “never” make a photograph editing mistake like the Princess of Wales, sources close to Meghan have claimed.

    They also alleged that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would have been “annihilated” by the press if they had released a doctored family portrait.

    “This isn’t a mistake Meghan would ever make,” a source told the New York Post’s Page Six column. “She has a keen eye and freakish attention to detail.”

    It came after the Princess apologised for editing a photograph of herself and her children that had been released to mark Mother’s Day.

    The image was taken by the Prince of Wales during a 40-minute window last Friday, at the family’s home in Windsor.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2024/03/12/meghan-never-make-photo-editing-mistake-princess-wales/

    Editing a photo is amateur hour compared to making up a high speed car chase through New York though.
    Quite. Though I am heartened by this bitchy briefing - I don't think even the Sussex's would be letting their opinions on this be known if Kate's prognosis was that grim.
    Quite obviously Kate is in California drinking Prosecco and scoffing chocolates with Meghan, and tearfully saying "Sis, you were right about that family all along, I never should have doubted you!"
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,812
    TimS said:

    First rule of scandal management:
    Assume that there's a second salvo, at least as bad as the first.

    New w/ @rowenamason + @matthew_weaver -
    Frank Hester asked if there was “no room for the Indians” and suggested staff climb on a train roof during a crowded meeting, before saying he made “a lot of jokes about racism”.


    https://twitter.com/Direthoughts/status/1767636008143626697

    Its the way he tells em.
    £10 million heading its way to Reform UK soon?
    Not convinced it works for the donor (presumably wanted something from a govt rather than a pressure group) or Farage. So I doubt it but wouldn't be particularly surprising.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,984
    edited March 12
    GIN1138 said:

    Letters going in again?


    Politics UK
    @PolitlcsUK
    ·
    39m
    🚨 NEW: Rishi Sunak has met with 1922 chairman Sir Graham Brady amid a "flurry" of no confidence letters being submitted

    [
    @theipaper
    ]

    If there is another leadership challenge that will sink Tory fortunes further. Because they’ll all be slagging each other off on the telly for at least a week.

    It’s probably fair to say though that their best chance of avoiding a landslide defeat is a quick leadership coup, new semi-presentable PM in very rapidly and an immediate election. An extended leadership election by contrast would bury them further.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,889
    GIN1138 said:

    Letters going in again?


    Politics UK
    @PolitlcsUK
    ·
    39m
    🚨 NEW: Rishi Sunak has met with 1922 chairman Sir Graham Brady amid a "flurry" of no confidence letters being submitted

    [
    @theipaper
    ]

    Even if they do and there is a VONC he still has enough support to win it amongst Tory MPs and there will still be a general election in the autumn not May
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,984
    mwadams said:

    boulay said:

    Totally agree.

    The Duchess of Sussex would “never” make a photograph editing mistake like the Princess of Wales, sources close to Meghan have claimed.

    They also alleged that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would have been “annihilated” by the press if they had released a doctored family portrait.

    “This isn’t a mistake Meghan would ever make,” a source told the New York Post’s Page Six column. “She has a keen eye and freakish attention to detail.”

    It came after the Princess apologised for editing a photograph of herself and her children that had been released to mark Mother’s Day.

    The image was taken by the Prince of Wales during a 40-minute window last Friday, at the family’s home in Windsor.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2024/03/12/meghan-never-make-photo-editing-mistake-princess-wales/

    Editing a photo is amateur hour compared to making up a high speed car chase through New York though.
    Quite. Though I am heartened by this bitchy briefing - I don't think even the Sussex's would be letting their opinions on this be known if Kate's prognosis was that grim.
    I assume the "source" is the hack at the next desk along.

    Angry response: "It was *not" the next desk along. I'll have you know they both work from home."

    Writing articles about how terribly “woke” working from home is.
  • glwglw Posts: 9,906
    GIN1138 said:

    Letters going in again?


    Politics UK
    @PolitlcsUK
    ·
    39m
    🚨 NEW: Rishi Sunak has met with 1922 chairman Sir Graham Brady amid a "flurry" of no confidence letters being submitted

    [
    @theipaper
    ]

    Just for laughs the Tories should have one last leadership election before calling a general election. Won't the public love it?
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 22,812
    glw said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Letters going in again?


    Politics UK
    @PolitlcsUK
    ·
    39m
    🚨 NEW: Rishi Sunak has met with 1922 chairman Sir Graham Brady amid a "flurry" of no confidence letters being submitted

    [
    @theipaper
    ]

    Just for laughs the Tories should have one last leadership election before calling a general election. Won't the public love it?
    My Betfair book certainly will!
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,407

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    The US is in the explosion phase of quality beer. After a long long time of low quality mass market crap.

    They are trying everything and much of it is a mistake. However, there is some talent and very good beer in there.

    It will be very interesting to see where it leads.
    Nothing matches the variety, quality and depth of proper real ale you get here.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,814

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    "My God, it's warm!"
  • DonkeysDonkeys Posts: 723
    edited March 12
    Rishi Sunak on Frank Hester: "Where money remorse is offered shown it should be accepted.
"
    First he didn't want to "characterise" the comments further, meaning he refused to say whether they were racist. Seriously, how difficult can that be? Realising his position was untenable, he eventually called them racist. Next job: give the c*** his money back. This is what the opposition parties are rightly demanding. The answer is? I guess he doesn't want to look weak, at least not in the eyes of the large proportion of potential Tory voters who think Hester's just a brave man telling the common sense truth.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,603
    GIN1138 said:

    Letters going in again?

    Politics UK
    @PolitlcsUK
    ·
    39m
    🚨 NEW: Rishi Sunak has met with 1922 chairman Sir Graham Brady amid a "flurry" of no confidence letters being submitted

    He's asked Mr. Whippy to deal with it.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,549
    edited March 12
    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    Carnyx said:

    MattW said:

    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    OK, PB Tropical Fruit Quiz, again

    On the left, crisp fresh green mango. On the right crisp light beer

    Is that a custard apple in the middle? If so, why is it orangey yellow, not green?


    African Custard Apple is yellow.
    Also known as a pitahaya. That’s what Sainsbury’s calls them.
    Or Waitrose (dragon fruit there).

    £3.60 each at our Waitrose, outrageous!

    I mean, it's got to be cheaper to get someone to fly you to South America hasn't it?
    On Sunday PM I was out for a couple of hours visiting Bennerley Viaduct ("The Iron Giant !!") and auditing anti-wheelchair barriers on part of the towpath of the Erewash Canal to see why it can't be reached by everyone who has a right to do so *, with a view to getting them removed.

    I ran across a big Marks and Spencer food hall in ILKESTON of all places, where BREL used to have a big base !! Less up-itself than other self-styled high end places, and some quite good value items. But dead easy to run up a £40 bill seemingly by osmosis.

    * Delightful route, high quality surface at least for the several miles I walked both ways, some mobility aids unlawfully excluded for at least 3 decades by the look of it by squeeze plate barriers with about 75-80cm width gaps.

    Ooh, proper wrought iron too on checking, not mild steel. Think of the amount of hammering and rolling to make that lot. I've been to the Meldon Viaduct on Dartmoor but never knew about this one. Nice treat.
    It's 400+m long. This year they are building a Visitor Centre, a ramp access at the other end, and bits and pieces.

    The area has quite the tradition - remember the Butterley Company, which only closed in 2009. One of their last projects was the Falkirk Wheel.
    They were only 10 miles away.

    Also the former Stanton Works & Staveley Ironworks which were also close by.

    I think from a heritage point of view it is all viewed locally as an extension the World Heritage site for Derwent Valley MIlls. That's big in Derbyshire, and for example a walking / cycling route is being developed along the length of the Derwent.
    I have a great fondness for the old Butterley works.

    A story: when I was younger, my dad sent me to get a load of wet (unfired) bricks from Butterley brickworks. I couldn't find the blooming place!

    (Unfired bricks are a really useful thing for certain arcane purposes.)
    Looking at the wiki list, there are a lot of iron bridges and viaducts, and a couple of aquaducts.

    I love that there is one called the Crumblin' Viaduct (Ok: Crumlin).

    Not very many in Scotland afaics. Have they all been made into Irn Bru?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_railway_bridges_and_viaducts_in_the_United_Kingdom
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_canal_aqueducts_in_the_United_Kingdom

    They all need to be made into walking, wheeling and cycling routes. Obviously.
    The first iron aqueduct in the world was built by Outram, founder of Butterley. It was demolished as recently as the 1960s, was saved, allegedly for preservation, and the council then scrapped it!
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/99112770@N00/5612472057
    http://scihi.org/benjamin-outram/

    edit: it was right in the centre of Derby, near where the bus station now is. The course of the Derby Canal arm down to Swarkestone can all be walked; the other arm east can be walked in part.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,213

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    The US is in the explosion phase of quality beer. After a long long time of low quality mass market crap.

    They are trying everything and much of it is a mistake. However, there is some talent and very good beer in there.

    It will be very interesting to see where it leads.
    Nothing matches the variety, quality and depth of proper real ale you get here.
    I am reminded of the decades of sneering at Japanese whisky.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,128

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    "My God, it's warm!"
    Surely:

    "My God, it's full of jars,"
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,814
    MattW said:

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    "My God, it's warm!"
    Surely:

    "My God, it's full of jars,"
    [sigh] Dad's Army reference...
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 41,950
    Leon said:

    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    Leon said:

    OK, PB Tropical Fruit Quiz, again

    On the left, crisp fresh green mango. On the right crisp light beer

    Is that a custard apple in the middle? If so, why is it orangey yellow, not green?


    Carotene.
    That's an unusual edge carving on that Spyderco knife you have there.

    What is the grinding called?
    I’ve no idea sorry

    I just know it’s my trusty Spyderco Tenacious - fully serrated. Had it for a decade and as solid and sharp as ever
    No problems at customs or do you distract them with extravagant flinty dildos?
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,068

    MattW said:

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    "My God, it's warm!"
    Surely:

    "My God, it's full of jars,"
    [sigh] Dad's Army reference...
    2001 reference (and 2010)
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,984
    edited March 12
    Donkeys said:

    Rishi Sunak on Frank Hester: "Where money remorse is offered shown it should be accepted.
"
    First he didn't want to "characterise" the comments further, meaning he refused to say whether they were racist. Seriously, how difficult can that be? Realising his position was untenable, he eventually called them racist. Next job: give the c*** his money back. This is what the opposition parties are rightly demanding. The answer is?

    Question is whether there’s a third quote about to drop. I don’t think so.

    The latest allegations aren’t as bad as the original one, so I’m not sure they will have that much effect. They’re ill advised jokes of the sort one’s racist uncle might make at Christmas lunch. The Diane Abbott comments by contrast were rather nastier.

    Interesting journalistic tactics: do you release the less toxic quotes first so that you have the coup de grace in reserve later but at the risk of the story not taking off, or do you go for the most egregious example first and then aim to keep the story going with a drip drip of slightly milder revelations?
  • DonkeysDonkeys Posts: 723
    edited March 12
    glw said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Letters going in again?


    Politics UK
    @PolitlcsUK
    ·
    39m
    🚨 NEW: Rishi Sunak has met with 1922 chairman Sir Graham Brady amid a "flurry" of no confidence letters being submitted

    [
    @theipaper
    ]

    Just for laughs the Tories should have one last leadership election before calling a general election. Won't the public love it?
    Careful - they might. All things considered, including the powers of the 1922 committee leadership to alter the rules if they have such powers, how fast can a ballot of the membership be conducted? I was assuming the new leader, i.e. Mordaunt, would be chosen by MPs just as Sunak was.

    The Haitian solution 😀 : lock the leader out and ... it's goodbye from him. Does make you wonder what Boris Johnson may have discussed and with whom when he was on the other part of Hispaniola recently before flying to Venezuela.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,068
    I am on a train. It left on time and there is nobody being a prick. I will go see if there is something else I can complain about.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,627

    GIN1138 said:

    Letters going in again?

    Politics UK
    @PolitlcsUK
    ·
    39m
    🚨 NEW: Rishi Sunak has met with 1922 chairman Sir Graham Brady amid a "flurry" of no confidence letters being submitted

    He's asked Mr. Whippy to deal with it.
    Are you suggesting they have all gone flakey? Or just 99 of them?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,814
    MattW said:

    Carnyx said:

    MattW said:

    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    OK, PB Tropical Fruit Quiz, again

    On the left, crisp fresh green mango. On the right crisp light beer

    Is that a custard apple in the middle? If so, why is it orangey yellow, not green?


    African Custard Apple is yellow.
    Also known as a pitahaya. That’s what Sainsbury’s calls them.
    Or Waitrose (dragon fruit there).

    £3.60 each at our Waitrose, outrageous!

    I mean, it's got to be cheaper to get someone to fly you to South America hasn't it?
    On Sunday PM I was out for a couple of hours visiting Bennerley Viaduct ("The Iron Giant !!") and auditing anti-wheelchair barriers on part of the towpath of the Erewash Canal to see why it can't be reached by everyone who has a right to do so *, with a view to getting them removed.

    I ran across a big Marks and Spencer food hall in ILKESTON of all places, where BREL used to have a big base !! Less up-itself than other self-styled high end places, and some quite good value items. But dead easy to run up a £40 bill seemingly by osmosis.

    * Delightful route, high quality surface at least for the several miles I walked both ways, some mobility aids unlawfully excluded for at least 3 decades by the look of it by squeeze plate barriers with about 75-80cm width gaps.

    Ooh, proper wrought iron too on checking, not mild steel. Think of the amount of hammering and rolling to make that lot. I've been to the Meldon Viaduct on Dartmoor but never knew about this one. Nice treat.
    It's 400+m long. This year they are building a Visitor Centre, a ramp access at the other end, and bits and pieces.

    The area has quite the tradition - remember the Butterley Company, which only closed in 2009. One of their last projects was the Falkirk Wheel.
    And St Pancras, to name just another off the top of my head.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,068

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    The US is in the explosion phase of quality beer. After a long long time of low quality mass market crap.

    They are trying everything and much of it is a mistake. However, there is some talent and very good beer in there.

    It will be very interesting to see where it leads.
    Nothing matches the variety, quality and depth of proper real ale you get here.
    What, on PB? :)

    (Ducks)
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,814

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    I stopped being so rah rah Buy British in 1995 when I visited Seattle and tried the microbrewery products around Pioneer Square. I wonder what it's like now?
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368
    FPT
    WillG said:

    So it's tiny, tiny violin day on PB.

    A denial of random male to female violence, and a denial of white privilege makes my heart bleed for all these PB snowflakes. In my sixty two years no random stranger has ever told me to "f*** off home whitey".

    Yeah, those pathetic white snowflakes in Newcastle, who got systematically raped while the BBC broadcast a sob story documentary about their Syrian rapist.

    What disgusting views you have.
    You've made that connection, not me, which is some leap from my comment, and then you gaslight me.

    Classy!
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,068
    mwadams said:

    MattW said:

    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    OK, PB Tropical Fruit Quiz, again

    On the left, crisp fresh green mango. On the right crisp light beer

    Is that a custard apple in the middle? If so, why is it orangey yellow, not green?


    African Custard Apple is yellow.
    Also known as a pitahaya. That’s what Sainsbury’s calls them.
    Or Waitrose (dragon fruit there).

    £3.60 each at our Waitrose, outrageous!

    I mean, it's got to be cheaper to get someone to fly you to South America hasn't it?
    On Sunday PM I was out for a couple of hours visiting Bennerley Viaduct ("The Iron Giant !!" Known ) and auditing anti-wheelchair barriers on part of the towpath of the Erewash Canal to see why it can't be reached by everyone who has a right to do so *, with a view to getting them removed.

    I ran across a big Marks and Spencer food hall in ILKESTON of all places, where BREL used to have a big base !! Less up-itself than other self-styled high end places, and some quite good value items.

    * Delightful route, high quality surface at least for the several miles I walked both ways, some mobility aids unlawfully excluded for at least 3 decades by the look of it by squeeze plate barriers with about 75-80cm width gaps.

    I know of Ilkeston. You’d think it might come up a bit since they reopened the railway (ten minutes to central Nottingham from there). But the M&S surprises me!
    My dad used to work in Ilkeston in the 1970s. We lived in Risley at the time.
    Is it still known as "Grisley", or is that just the prison?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,814
    MattW said:

    For @Carnyx , a vid about Bennerley Viaduct done by a local who grew up playing on it.

    This was the one that made me look up recent developments.

    There is drone footage at just before 5 minutes.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plk_en2_3a4

    Ooh, thanks for that too.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,128

    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    Carnyx said:

    MattW said:

    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    OK, PB Tropical Fruit Quiz, again

    On the left, crisp fresh green mango. On the right crisp light beer

    Is that a custard apple in the middle? If so, why is it orangey yellow, not green?


    African Custard Apple is yellow.
    Also known as a pitahaya. That’s what Sainsbury’s calls them.
    Or Waitrose (dragon fruit there).

    £3.60 each at our Waitrose, outrageous!

    I mean, it's got to be cheaper to get someone to fly you to South America hasn't it?
    On Sunday PM I was out for a couple of hours visiting Bennerley Viaduct ("The Iron Giant !!") and auditing anti-wheelchair barriers on part of the towpath of the Erewash Canal to see why it can't be reached by everyone who has a right to do so *, with a view to getting them removed.

    I ran across a big Marks and Spencer food hall in ILKESTON of all places, where BREL used to have a big base !! Less up-itself than other self-styled high end places, and some quite good value items. But dead easy to run up a £40 bill seemingly by osmosis.

    * Delightful route, high quality surface at least for the several miles I walked both ways, some mobility aids unlawfully excluded for at least 3 decades by the look of it by squeeze plate barriers with about 75-80cm width gaps.

    Ooh, proper wrought iron too on checking, not mild steel. Think of the amount of hammering and rolling to make that lot. I've been to the Meldon Viaduct on Dartmoor but never knew about this one. Nice treat.
    It's 400+m long. This year they are building a Visitor Centre, a ramp access at the other end, and bits and pieces.

    The area has quite the tradition - remember the Butterley Company, which only closed in 2009. One of their last projects was the Falkirk Wheel.
    They were only 10 miles away.

    Also the former Stanton Works & Staveley Ironworks which were also close by.

    I think from a heritage point of view it is all viewed locally as an extension the World Heritage site for Derwent Valley MIlls. That's big in Derbyshire, and for example a walking / cycling route is being developed along the length of the Derwent.
    I have a great fondness for the old Butterley works.

    A story: when I was younger, my dad sent me to get a load of wet (unfired) bricks from Butterley brickworks. I couldn't find the blooming place!

    (Unfired bricks are a really useful thing for certain arcane purposes.)
    Looking at the wiki list, there are a lot of iron bridges and viaducts, and a couple of aquaducts.

    I love that there is one called the Crumblin' Viaduct (Ok: Crumlin).

    Not very many in Scotland afaics. Have they all been made into Irn Bru?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_railway_bridges_and_viaducts_in_the_United_Kingdom
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_canal_aqueducts_in_the_United_Kingdom

    They all need to be made into walking, wheeling and cycling routes. Obviously.
    The first iron aqueduct in the world was built by Outram, founder of Butterley. It was demolished as recently as the 1960s, was saved, allegedly for preservation, and the council then scrapped it!
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/99112770@N00/5612472057
    http://scihi.org/benjamin-outram/

    edit: it was right in the centre of Derby, near where the bus station now is. The course of the Derby Canal arm down to Swarkestone can all be walked; the other arm east can be walked in part.
    Derby City were also notorious for demolishing listed manor houses in their care.
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 3,779
    tyson said:

    So, Hester's terrible Racism is one thing. But, this guy has made 130 mill in the last four years from Govt NHS contracts and donated 10 mill back to the Tories.

    I mean wtf? Why isn't this the story?

    Do you mean 'why isn't this headline news?'. Which is a related but somewhat different question.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,068

    Off-topic:

    following a debate on here the other day, here's an interesting video from 'What's up with shipping' about the US/British Gaza Pier scheme. Interesting if you're into that sort of thing.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98_gzyt9N-Y

    I tried clicking on it but I am on a train. I'll try to watch later.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,814

    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    Carnyx said:

    MattW said:

    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    OK, PB Tropical Fruit Quiz, again

    On the left, crisp fresh green mango. On the right crisp light beer

    Is that a custard apple in the middle? If so, why is it orangey yellow, not green?


    African Custard Apple is yellow.
    Also known as a pitahaya. That’s what Sainsbury’s calls them.
    Or Waitrose (dragon fruit there).

    £3.60 each at our Waitrose, outrageous!

    I mean, it's got to be cheaper to get someone to fly you to South America hasn't it?
    On Sunday PM I was out for a couple of hours visiting Bennerley Viaduct ("The Iron Giant !!") and auditing anti-wheelchair barriers on part of the towpath of the Erewash Canal to see why it can't be reached by everyone who has a right to do so *, with a view to getting them removed.

    I ran across a big Marks and Spencer food hall in ILKESTON of all places, where BREL used to have a big base !! Less up-itself than other self-styled high end places, and some quite good value items. But dead easy to run up a £40 bill seemingly by osmosis.

    * Delightful route, high quality surface at least for the several miles I walked both ways, some mobility aids unlawfully excluded for at least 3 decades by the look of it by squeeze plate barriers with about 75-80cm width gaps.

    Ooh, proper wrought iron too on checking, not mild steel. Think of the amount of hammering and rolling to make that lot. I've been to the Meldon Viaduct on Dartmoor but never knew about this one. Nice treat.
    It's 400+m long. This year they are building a Visitor Centre, a ramp access at the other end, and bits and pieces.

    The area has quite the tradition - remember the Butterley Company, which only closed in 2009. One of their last projects was the Falkirk Wheel.
    They were only 10 miles away.

    Also the former Stanton Works & Staveley Ironworks which were also close by.

    I think from a heritage point of view it is all viewed locally as an extension the World Heritage site for Derwent Valley MIlls. That's big in Derbyshire, and for example a walking / cycling route is being developed along the length of the Derwent.
    I have a great fondness for the old Butterley works.

    A story: when I was younger, my dad sent me to get a load of wet (unfired) bricks from Butterley brickworks. I couldn't find the blooming place!

    (Unfired bricks are a really useful thing for certain arcane purposes.)
    Looking at the wiki list, there are a lot of iron bridges and viaducts, and a couple of aquaducts.

    I love that there is one called the Crumblin' Viaduct (Ok: Crumlin).

    Not very many in Scotland afaics. Have they all been made into Irn Bru?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_railway_bridges_and_viaducts_in_the_United_Kingdom
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_canal_aqueducts_in_the_United_Kingdom

    They all need to be made into walking, wheeling and cycling routes. Obviously.
    The first iron aqueduct in the world was built by Outram, founder of Butterley. It was demolished as recently as the 1960s, was saved, allegedly for preservation, and the council then scrapped it!
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/99112770@N00/5612472057
    http://scihi.org/benjamin-outram/

    edit: it was right in the centre of Derby, near where the bus station now is. The course of the Derby Canal arm down to Swarkestone can all be walked; the other arm east can be walked in part.
    The Tay Bridge did get redone in steel ...
  • tysontyson Posts: 6,117
    BTW Badenoch's comments asking for forgiveness? What? Seriously? The Guy has been profoundly racist, misogynist, incited violence against women in politics....

    I wonder if that 10 mill he's given pays for a spot of forgiveness.

  • eekeek Posts: 28,366
    So we are now going to pay migrants £x,000 to move to Rwanda

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/migrants-to-be-paid-thousands-to-move-to-rwanda-under-new-scheme-2z6km0m57

    That's going to do the exact opposite of the plan that was to use Rwanda as the reason why you wouldn't come to the UK..
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368

    GIN1138 said:

    Letters going in again?

    Politics UK
    @PolitlcsUK
    ·
    39m
    🚨 NEW: Rishi Sunak has met with 1922 chairman Sir Graham Brady amid a "flurry" of no confidence letters being submitted

    He's asked Mr. Whippy to deal with it.
    The Lyons Maid brand of soft whipped ice cream was Mr Softie.

    Has he coopted "Sir Softie" to deal with his confidence issue?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,814
    edited March 12
    eek said:

    So we are now going to pay migrants £x,000 to move to Rwanda

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/migrants-to-be-paid-thousands-to-move-to-rwanda-under-new-scheme-2z6km0m57

    That's going to do the exact opposite of the plan that was to use Rwanda as the reason why you wouldn't come to the UK..

    So they can afford to fly back to Paris-Orly and try again. And Mr Sunak gets lots more boat people stats.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,392
    viewcode said:

    I am on a train. It left on time and there is nobody being a prick. I will go see if there is something else I can complain about.

    Time for you to step up and take the role?
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 3,779

    GIN1138 said:

    Letters going in again?

    Politics UK
    @PolitlcsUK
    ·
    39m
    🚨 NEW: Rishi Sunak has met with 1922 chairman Sir Graham Brady amid a "flurry" of no confidence letters being submitted

    He's asked Mr. Whippy to deal with it.
    This is the new, modern Conservative Party in action. In the sleazy days of old it was just "Mrs Whiplash" we spread across the tabloids - now we are more inclusive of the gay bdsm community.

    And have shunned Mrs Whiplash as she is a harlot. And the trans bdsm people can obviously jump off a cliff.

    Ohno!

    Shun them both! Or ... maybe we accept them both? Do they sell 2nd-rate PPE at a premium? That's really our fetish...
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    Have you tried Samuel Adams?
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,984
    ohnotnow said:

    tyson said:

    So, Hester's terrible Racism is one thing. But, this guy has made 130 mill in the last four years from Govt NHS contracts and donated 10 mill back to the Tories.

    I mean wtf? Why isn't this the story?

    Do you mean 'why isn't this headline news?'. Which is a related but somewhat different question.
    It’s a bit dog bites man to be honest.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,814
    viewcode said:

    MattW said:

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    "My God, it's warm!"
    Surely:

    "My God, it's full of jars,"
    [sigh] Dad's Army reference...
    2001 reference (and 2010)
    "My God, it's warm!" relates to the US Army colonel in the Dad's Army episode "My British Buddy" who is introduced to the delights of UK beer by Capt. Mainwaring.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_British_Buddy
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,814
    viewcode said:

    Off-topic:

    following a debate on here the other day, here's an interesting video from 'What's up with shipping' about the US/British Gaza Pier scheme. Interesting if you're into that sort of thing.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98_gzyt9N-Y

    I tried clicking on it but I am on a train. I'll try to watch later.
    If you hate trains so much, have you considered driving?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,128
    edited March 12

    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    MattW said:

    Carnyx said:

    MattW said:

    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    OK, PB Tropical Fruit Quiz, again

    On the left, crisp fresh green mango. On the right crisp light beer

    Is that a custard apple in the middle? If so, why is it orangey yellow, not green?


    African Custard Apple is yellow.
    Also known as a pitahaya. That’s what Sainsbury’s calls them.
    Or Waitrose (dragon fruit there).

    £3.60 each at our Waitrose, outrageous!

    I mean, it's got to be cheaper to get someone to fly you to South America hasn't it?
    On Sunday PM I was out for a couple of hours visiting Bennerley Viaduct ("The Iron Giant !!") and auditing anti-wheelchair barriers on part of the towpath of the Erewash Canal to see why it can't be reached by everyone who has a right to do so *, with a view to getting them removed.

    I ran across a big Marks and Spencer food hall in ILKESTON of all places, where BREL used to have a big base !! Less up-itself than other self-styled high end places, and some quite good value items. But dead easy to run up a £40 bill seemingly by osmosis.

    * Delightful route, high quality surface at least for the several miles I walked both ways, some mobility aids unlawfully excluded for at least 3 decades by the look of it by squeeze plate barriers with about 75-80cm width gaps.

    Ooh, proper wrought iron too on checking, not mild steel. Think of the amount of hammering and rolling to make that lot. I've been to the Meldon Viaduct on Dartmoor but never knew about this one. Nice treat.
    It's 400+m long. This year they are building a Visitor Centre, a ramp access at the other end, and bits and pieces.

    The area has quite the tradition - remember the Butterley Company, which only closed in 2009. One of their last projects was the Falkirk Wheel.
    They were only 10 miles away.

    Also the former Stanton Works & Staveley Ironworks which were also close by.

    I think from a heritage point of view it is all viewed locally as an extension the World Heritage site for Derwent Valley MIlls. That's big in Derbyshire, and for example a walking / cycling route is being developed along the length of the Derwent.
    I have a great fondness for the old Butterley works.

    A story: when I was younger, my dad sent me to get a load of wet (unfired) bricks from Butterley brickworks. I couldn't find the blooming place!

    (Unfired bricks are a really useful thing for certain arcane purposes.)
    Looking at the wiki list, there are a lot of iron bridges and viaducts, and a couple of aquaducts.

    I love that there is one called the Crumblin' Viaduct (Ok: Crumlin).

    Not very many in Scotland afaics. Have they all been made into Irn Bru?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_railway_bridges_and_viaducts_in_the_United_Kingdom
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_canal_aqueducts_in_the_United_Kingdom

    They all need to be made into walking, wheeling and cycling routes. Obviously.
    The first iron aqueduct in the world was built by Outram, founder of Butterley. It was demolished as recently as the 1960s, was saved, allegedly for preservation, and the council then scrapped it!
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/99112770@N00/5612472057
    http://scihi.org/benjamin-outram/

    edit: it was right in the centre of Derby, near where the bus station now is. The course of the Derby Canal arm down to Swarkestone can all be walked; the other arm east can be walked in part.
    Since we are talking Derbyshire heritage, the work on restoring the link between the Cromford Canal and the Erewash Canal -> River Trent has started. Video here:

    https://www.cromfordcanal.org/restoration/
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 3,779
    mwadams said:

    boulay said:

    Totally agree.

    The Duchess of Sussex would “never” make a photograph editing mistake like the Princess of Wales, sources close to Meghan have claimed.

    They also alleged that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would have been “annihilated” by the press if they had released a doctored family portrait.

    “This isn’t a mistake Meghan would ever make,” a source told the New York Post’s Page Six column. “She has a keen eye and freakish attention to detail.”

    It came after the Princess apologised for editing a photograph of herself and her children that had been released to mark Mother’s Day.

    The image was taken by the Prince of Wales during a 40-minute window last Friday, at the family’s home in Windsor.


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2024/03/12/meghan-never-make-photo-editing-mistake-princess-wales/

    Editing a photo is amateur hour compared to making up a high speed car chase through New York though.
    Quite. Though I am heartened by this bitchy briefing - I don't think even the Sussex's would be letting their opinions on this be known if Kate's prognosis was that grim.
    I assume the "source" is the hack at the next desk along.

    Angry response: "It was *not" the next desk along. I'll have you know they both work from home."

    As well all know (courtesy of The Gazette and Telegraph) - if they'd been working from home they'd never have bothered submitting the story and yet somehow still been paid.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,984

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    Have you tried Samuel Adams?
    I think it’s hard to judge national standards of beer in deregulated markets because they’re all pretty similarly diverse. Unlike wine or malt whisky beer is not really a product of its terroir. So as long as you can source good malt and hops from somewhere, and have decent water, you can make similarly good beer anywhere.

    The only things that really shift things nationally are regulation (stifling or encouraging experimentation and diversity, on which most Western countries are now pretty deregulated), and local tastes and tradition, where we’ve all converged somewhat in recent years. Craft beer in France tastes pretty similar to craft beer in the UK or US or Japan. But Belgian beers remain very distinct, as to a lesser extent does British real ale.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,214
    eek said:

    So we are now going to pay migrants £x,000 to move to Rwanda

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/migrants-to-be-paid-thousands-to-move-to-rwanda-under-new-scheme-2z6km0m57

    That's going to do the exact opposite of the plan that was to use Rwanda as the reason why you wouldn't come to the UK..

    Which takes us back to the best reason to call an election ASAP. (Have we done the "letting prisoners out because we have about twelve spare cells in the country" thing yet?)

    The government have reached the "Fr Dougal is doing a funeral" stage in their management of the country, and it's not fair on them or us.
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 3,779
    kjh said:

    MattW said:

    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    TOPPING said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Pagan2 said:

    Leon said:

    kjh said:

    kjh said:

    kjh said:

    Leon said:

    OK, PB Tropical Fruit Quiz, again

    On the left, crisp fresh green mango. On the right crisp light beer

    Is that a custard apple in the middle? If so, why is it orangey yellow, not green?


    Call that a beer. This a beer.
    Well clearly it wasn't. I seem to have forgotten how to post a picture, but it was a pint of Broadside. A proper pint.
    The lack of proper ale outside England is a genuine problem. Why don’t other countries do beer properly? That can of crap Leon is supping looks shit.
    Yes I agree. I like Belgium beers and New England beers but they are still cold and fizzy which beer shouldn't be. Broadside in Southwold and Shere Drop anywhere around Dorking beat anything from anywhere. I'm sure others from around the UK will have their favourites. Nothing better than a proper UK real ale from a hand pump.
    It’s total bollocks. American beer is brilliant
    But then you drink lager so your opinion is suspect
    Actually my preferred beer is a craft IPA

    But in a really really hot climate I will definitely have a light lager

    Don’t like stout. Can’t stand Guinness. No idea why

    Stout goes well with fish, and shellfish in particular. The smokiness sets off the seafood nicely and is a classic combination with oysters.
    Don't be a twat. You need a decent white wine with that stuff.
    Yes on that we have a rare agreement

    Oysters and Guinness? Ugh. That’s a recipe for vomiting

    And I adore oysters
    It really is a well known combination, with several oyster and stout festivals in Ireland.

    One here in the Midwest USA too:

    https://explorestlouis.com/event/schlafly-stout-and-oyster-festival/2024-03-08/

    That may well be so, but I am with @TOPPING here

    Cold dry white wine with oysters (not champagne) - nothing else. Probably Alvarinho

    Stout is a ridiculous idea from people who don’t have any wine

    Stout is amazing with fruit cake, a mature cheese and apple.
    That sounds heavenly. I enjoy the left over stout and barley wine with cheese when I make the Christmas pudding in November.
    'Drunken Beans' are worth looking into.
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,588
    viewcode said:

    mwadams said:

    MattW said:

    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    OK, PB Tropical Fruit Quiz, again

    On the left, crisp fresh green mango. On the right crisp light beer

    Is that a custard apple in the middle? If so, why is it orangey yellow, not green?


    African Custard Apple is yellow.
    Also known as a pitahaya. That’s what Sainsbury’s calls them.
    Or Waitrose (dragon fruit there).

    £3.60 each at our Waitrose, outrageous!

    I mean, it's got to be cheaper to get someone to fly you to South America hasn't it?
    On Sunday PM I was out for a couple of hours visiting Bennerley Viaduct ("The Iron Giant !!" Known ) and auditing anti-wheelchair barriers on part of the towpath of the Erewash Canal to see why it can't be reached by everyone who has a right to do so *, with a view to getting them removed.

    I ran across a big Marks and Spencer food hall in ILKESTON of all places, where BREL used to have a big base !! Less up-itself than other self-styled high end places, and some quite good value items.

    * Delightful route, high quality surface at least for the several miles I walked both ways, some mobility aids unlawfully excluded for at least 3 decades by the look of it by squeeze plate barriers with about 75-80cm width gaps.

    I know of Ilkeston. You’d think it might come up a bit since they reopened the railway (ten minutes to central Nottingham from there). But the M&S surprises me!
    My dad used to work in Ilkeston in the 1970s. We lived in Risley at the time.
    Is it still known as "Grisley", or is that just the prison?
    Different Risley!
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,986
    It's on, lads...

    @Steven_Swinford

    I'm told Sir Graham Brady and Rishi Sunak *did not* discuss resignation letters when they spoke on the fringes of the 1922 executive committee meeting yesterday

    It was a routine meeting ahead of a reception on the Terrace that takes place once a term
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,986
    @jamesrbuk

    I see Number 10 is going to do its usual routine of making as many ministers on the broadcast round defend the indefensible before it inevitably throws them under the bus.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,068

    AlsoLei said:

    algarkirk said:

    nico679 said:

    Apparently Badenoch says there should be space for forgiveness re Hester .

    I’m sure she’d be also saying this if a Labour donor was involved !

    Let’s be political about this, the Story was a Guardian exclusive. The timing is so obvious, spike the Extremism Action about to be announced - Gove defying legal advice to use Parliamentary Privilege to name and shame and get Labour wriggling and squirming and in trouble - possibly as the rabbit out the hat before calling an election on divisive anti extremism campaign.

    How long have the guardian - or Labour who slipped it to them - sat on this story in a safe?
    Not literally sitting in a safe on it, you know what I mean. It’s metaphor.
    Timing with exclusives is always difficult. The longer you wait, the greater the chance someone else, quite legitimately, also gets hold of the story, prints it, and you lose 100% of the kudos. These things matter to media and journos infinitely more than they do to the public.
    He made the remarks five years ago, interesting they come to light this week Gove goes into the commons and, against legal advice, paints a picture of the British Left and Union Movement as extremist, such as the union’s funding Labour also support and fund extremism, like solidarity with Palestine they have possibly given larger payments from union member subs to Hamas leadership, than even Netanyahu’s government siphoned off funds for the Hamas leadership. It’s at least possible timing of this news story is the British Left trying to soften the punches coming their way? 💁‍♀️

    Now, if I were a Stasi Bully, I would make a list of every PBer who picks up what Gove will tell Parliament and runs with it - like the fascist on Dads Army started a little list. 😈 Gove will certainly blow up PB into life. It’s possibly the Tories key theme for an April General Election campaign, smoking out Starmer as either on the governments side against extremism, or the side of the extremists who fund his political party.
    Culture war issues won't win the election, but Truss's private members bill on trans (biological males to be banned from ladies' loos (which I take to mean pre-reassignment surgery males, correct me if I'm wrong)) seems like a reasonable straw the Government should clutch. It's a very rare issue where Labour is on the wrong side of the public and the Tories are on the right side.
    Er, this bill: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-04/0035/230035.pdf ?

    It doesn't mention toilets?

    Just the usual creepy obsession with children and puberty.
    My understanding is that the tightening up of the definition of sex to mean biological sex gives the necessary legal framework to restrict access to womens' spaces to biological males (and vice versa I guess).
    Point 1: I assume you meant to say "restrict access to women's spaces FROM biological males" instead of "TO biological males", as the latter would mean that only biological males could use them.

    Point 2: This is why I don't like the phrase "biological males". It is ambiguous, including people born male who still have their dick and people born male who have chopped it off.

    Point 3: iiuc the bill in question would annihilate the concept of transsexuality and de jure reclassify all trans people as crossdressers, regardless of certificate or genitals or behaviour. The Gender Recognition Act allowed people to change the sex on their birth certificate and acquire the rights of that sex unless there was a proportionate reason to do so. It used (and may have introduced?) the concept of "legal sex" and provided a legal procedure (the gender recognition certificate) by which it could be changed. By ensuring that it is only "biological sex" and not "legal sex" that can be upheld in law, it would make the act a dead letter.

    The UK is incapable of a deliberated stance on trans, veering from "I'm a girl if I say I am" to "THEYRE ALL MEN REALLY" like a demented metronome.

  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,412
    TimS said:

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    Have you tried Samuel Adams?
    I think it’s hard to judge national standards of beer in deregulated markets because they’re all pretty similarly diverse. Unlike wine or malt whisky beer is not really a product of its terroir. So as long as you can source good malt and hops from somewhere, and have decent water, you can make similarly good beer anywhere.

    The only things that really shift things nationally are regulation (stifling or encouraging experimentation and diversity, on which most Western countries are now pretty deregulated), and local tastes and tradition, where we’ve all converged somewhat in recent years. Craft beer in France tastes pretty similar to craft beer in the UK or US or Japan. But Belgian beers remain very distinct, as to a lesser extent does British real ale.
    Whisky is pretty much the same as beer (because it's made by creating a basic beer, then distilling it and aging the resulting spirit) - regional differences are based on distilling traditions more than actual terroir. Smokiness from peat used in the malting process is common in Islay whiskies, but that's due to it being a plentiful fuel there traditionally. It can be used anywhere.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,068
    Scott_xP said:

    @jamesrbuk

    I see Number 10 is going to do its usual routine of making as many ministers on the broadcast round defend the indefensible before it inevitably throws them under the bus.

    And it worked so well before... 😃
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,068
    mwadams said:

    viewcode said:

    mwadams said:

    MattW said:

    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    OK, PB Tropical Fruit Quiz, again

    On the left, crisp fresh green mango. On the right crisp light beer

    Is that a custard apple in the middle? If so, why is it orangey yellow, not green?


    African Custard Apple is yellow.
    Also known as a pitahaya. That’s what Sainsbury’s calls them.
    Or Waitrose (dragon fruit there).

    £3.60 each at our Waitrose, outrageous!

    I mean, it's got to be cheaper to get someone to fly you to South America hasn't it?
    On Sunday PM I was out for a couple of hours visiting Bennerley Viaduct ("The Iron Giant !!" Known ) and auditing anti-wheelchair barriers on part of the towpath of the Erewash Canal to see why it can't be reached by everyone who has a right to do so *, with a view to getting them removed.

    I ran across a big Marks and Spencer food hall in ILKESTON of all places, where BREL used to have a big base !! Less up-itself than other self-styled high end places, and some quite good value items.

    * Delightful route, high quality surface at least for the several miles I walked both ways, some mobility aids unlawfully excluded for at least 3 decades by the look of it by squeeze plate barriers with about 75-80cm width gaps.

    I know of Ilkeston. You’d think it might come up a bit since they reopened the railway (ten minutes to central Nottingham from there). But the M&S surprises me!
    My dad used to work in Ilkeston in the 1970s. We lived in Risley at the time.
    Is it still known as "Grisley", or is that just the prison?
    Different Risley!
    Ah, thank you. My bad.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,984

    TimS said:

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    Have you tried Samuel Adams?
    I think it’s hard to judge national standards of beer in deregulated markets because they’re all pretty similarly diverse. Unlike wine or malt whisky beer is not really a product of its terroir. So as long as you can source good malt and hops from somewhere, and have decent water, you can make similarly good beer anywhere.

    The only things that really shift things nationally are regulation (stifling or encouraging experimentation and diversity, on which most Western countries are now pretty deregulated), and local tastes and tradition, where we’ve all converged somewhat in recent years. Craft beer in France tastes pretty similar to craft beer in the UK or US or Japan. But Belgian beers remain very distinct, as to a lesser extent does British real ale.
    Whisky is pretty much the same as beer (because it's made by creating a basic beer, then distilling it and aging the resulting spirit) - regional differences are based on distilling traditions more than actual terroir. Smokiness from peat used in the malting process is common in Islay whiskies, but that's due to it being a plentiful fuel there traditionally. It can be used anywhere.
    I did think after posting that yes, you could import peat from Scotland if you wanted to, but it doesn’t generally happen, and you could likewise do so with grapes (and some do) to make wine. But we have appellation contrôlée to deal with that and PDOs likewise for whisky.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,814
    viewcode said:



    Point 2: This is why I don't like the phrase "biological males". It is ambiguous, including people born male who still have their dick and people born male who have chopped it off.

    OK, how about "people with XY chromosomes", then?
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,068

    viewcode said:

    Off-topic:

    following a debate on here the other day, here's an interesting video from 'What's up with shipping' about the US/British Gaza Pier scheme. Interesting if you're into that sort of thing.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98_gzyt9N-Y

    I tried clicking on it but I am on a train. I'll try to watch later.
    If you hate trains so much, have you considered driving?
    Can't drive. Various reasons with which I shall not bore you.
  • Scott_xP said:

    It's on, lads...

    @Steven_Swinford

    I'm told Sir Graham Brady and Rishi Sunak *did not* discuss resignation letters when they spoke on the fringes of the 1922 executive committee meeting yesterday

    It was a routine meeting ahead of a reception on the Terrace that takes place once a term

    Resignation letters? Does he mean VONC letters?
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,747
    tyson said:

    BTW Badenoch's comments asking for forgiveness? What? Seriously? The Guy has been profoundly racist, misogynist, incited violence against women in politics....

    I wonder if that 10 mill he's given pays for a spot of forgiveness.

    Surely, like everything else Tory politicians do these days, this has nothing to do with right, wrong or common sense, and everything to do with jockeying for the succession.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,068

    viewcode said:

    MattW said:

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    "My God, it's warm!"
    Surely:

    "My God, it's full of jars,"
    [sigh] Dad's Army reference...
    2001 reference (and 2010)
    "My God, it's warm!" relates to the US Army colonel in the Dad's Army episode "My British Buddy" who is introduced to the delights of UK beer by Capt. Mainwaring.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_British_Buddy
    I did not know that. My apologies.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    AP (via Seattle Times) - Republican Rep. Ken Buck to leave Congress next week, narrowing GOP’s slim majority

    Republican Rep. Ken Buck said Tuesday that he’ll resign next week, narrowing his party’s razor-thin House majority and potentially throwing an obstacle in the way of Rep. Lauren Boebert’s effort to succeed him.

    Buck, a staunch conservative who already declined to run for reelection as he became increasingly critical of his party’s handling of former President Donald Trump, made his surprise announcement in the midst of the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing on Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents.

    During an appearance on CNN, Buck lamented that he hadn’t been able to ask a question in the hearing yet even though he is the third-ranking Republican on the committee.

    “A lot of this is personal. That’s the problem,” Buck said. “Instead of having decorum — instead of acting in a professional manner — this place has really devolved into this bickering and nonsense,” he said, adding that this was the worst of his nine years in Congress.

    Buck’s March 22 departure will trigger a special election to serve the remainder of his term. Under Colorado law, that must happen within 85 to 100 days — or right around the June 25 Republican primary to run in the November race to serve a full term.

    Several Republicans are already running to replace him in November, including Boebert, who moved across the state to run for Buck’s more Republican-friendly seat anchored in Colorado’s eastern plains. But political insiders were already noting Tuesday that Buck’s timing could block Boebert from taking over his seat.

    It all depends on the timing of the special election, which must be held between June 15 and June 30. A committee of Colorado Republicans will pick the party’s nominee to serve the remainder of Buck’s current term, and it’s unclear if they would choose the controversial Boebert, who has no prior ties to the district. That Republican nominee would likely easily win the special election in the overwhelmingly conservative district.

    If the special election happens before the primary or even the day of it, the likely Republican winner — now a member of Congress — will have an advantage in the primary, as GOP voters will have just backed them. This would make it harder for other primary contenders who hope to represent the party in November’s race. . . .
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,627
    tyson said:

    So, Hester's terrible Racism is one thing. But, this guy has made 130 mill in the last four years from Govt NHS contracts and donated 10 mill back to the Tories.

    I mean wtf? Why isn't this the story?

    We have the best politicians that money can buy.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,767
    tyson said:

    So, Hester's terrible Racism is one thing. But, this guy has made 130 mill in the last four years from Govt NHS contracts and donated 10 mill back to the Tories.

    I mean wtf? Why isn't this the story?

    Because we all know that we are a totally not corrupt country unlike those beasty places where Johnny Foreigner lives and this is absolutely above board.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,627

    Scott_xP said:

    It's on, lads...

    @Steven_Swinford

    I'm told Sir Graham Brady and Rishi Sunak *did not* discuss resignation letters when they spoke on the fringes of the 1922 executive committee meeting yesterday

    It was a routine meeting ahead of a reception on the Terrace that takes place once a term

    Resignation letters? Does he mean VONC letters?
    Same-same.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,068

    viewcode said:

    I am on a train. It left on time and there is nobody being a prick. I will go see if there is something else I can complain about.

    Time for you to step up and take the role?
    Unfortunately I shall continue to be polite to the overworked and underpaid rail staff and restrict my seething to internal screaming like an adult. That always works... :)
  • DonkeysDonkeys Posts: 723
    edited March 12

    Scott_xP said:

    It's on, lads...

    @Steven_Swinford

    I'm told Sir Graham Brady and Rishi Sunak *did not* discuss resignation letters when they spoke on the fringes of the 1922 executive committee meeting yesterday

    It was a routine meeting ahead of a reception on the Terrace that takes place once a term

    Resignation letters? Does he mean VONC letters?
    No. VONC letters may have been what they did discuss.
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,747
    viewcode said:

    AlsoLei said:

    algarkirk said:

    nico679 said:

    Apparently Badenoch says there should be space for forgiveness re Hester .

    I’m sure she’d be also saying this if a Labour donor was involved !

    Let’s be political about this, the Story was a Guardian exclusive. The timing is so obvious, spike the Extremism Action about to be announced - Gove defying legal advice to use Parliamentary Privilege to name and shame and get Labour wriggling and squirming and in trouble - possibly as the rabbit out the hat before calling an election on divisive anti extremism campaign.

    How long have the guardian - or Labour who slipped it to them - sat on this story in a safe?
    Not literally sitting in a safe on it, you know what I mean. It’s metaphor.
    Timing with exclusives is always difficult. The longer you wait, the greater the chance someone else, quite legitimately, also gets hold of the story, prints it, and you lose 100% of the kudos. These things matter to media and journos infinitely more than they do to the public.
    He made the remarks five years ago, interesting they come to light this week Gove goes into the commons and, against legal advice, paints a picture of the British Left and Union Movement as extremist, such as the union’s funding Labour also support and fund extremism, like solidarity with Palestine they have possibly given larger payments from union member subs to Hamas leadership, than even Netanyahu’s government siphoned off funds for the Hamas leadership. It’s at least possible timing of this news story is the British Left trying to soften the punches coming their way? 💁‍♀️

    Now, if I were a Stasi Bully, I would make a list of every PBer who picks up what Gove will tell Parliament and runs with it - like the fascist on Dads Army started a little list. 😈 Gove will certainly blow up PB into life. It’s possibly the Tories key theme for an April General Election campaign, smoking out Starmer as either on the governments side against extremism, or the side of the extremists who fund his political party.
    Culture war issues won't win the election, but Truss's private members bill on trans (biological males to be banned from ladies' loos (which I take to mean pre-reassignment surgery males, correct me if I'm wrong)) seems like a reasonable straw the Government should clutch. It's a very rare issue where Labour is on the wrong side of the public and the Tories are on the right side.
    Er, this bill: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-04/0035/230035.pdf ?

    It doesn't mention toilets?

    Just the usual creepy obsession with children and puberty.
    My understanding is that the tightening up of the definition of sex to mean biological sex gives the necessary legal framework to restrict access to womens' spaces to biological males (and vice versa I guess).
    Point 1: I assume you meant to say "restrict access to women's spaces FROM biological males" instead of "TO biological males", as the latter would mean that only biological males could use them.

    Point 2: This is why I don't like the phrase "biological males". It is ambiguous, including people born male who still have their dick and people born male who have chopped it off.

    Point 3: iiuc the bill in question would annihilate the concept of transsexuality and de jure reclassify all trans people as crossdressers, regardless of certificate or genitals or behaviour. The Gender Recognition Act allowed people to change the sex on their birth certificate and acquire the rights of that sex unless there was a proportionate reason to do so. It used (and may have introduced?) the concept of "legal sex" and provided a legal procedure (the gender recognition certificate) by which it could be changed. By ensuring that it is only "biological sex" and not "legal sex" that can be upheld in law, it would make the act a dead letter.

    The UK is incapable of a deliberated stance on trans, veering from "I'm a girl if I say I am" to "THEYRE ALL MEN REALLY" like a demented metronome.

    Of course it's not "tightening up" the definition of sex; it's altering it to make it impossible for anything to change their sex. It's trying to enshrine transphobia in law.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,721

    tyson said:

    So, Hester's terrible Racism is one thing. But, this guy has made 130 mill in the last four years from Govt NHS contracts and donated 10 mill back to the Tories.

    I mean wtf? Why isn't this the story?

    Because we all know that we are a totally not corrupt country unlike those beasty places where Johnny Foreigner lives and this is absolutely above board.
    Effing incompetent Tories. Isn't the going rate for agents ~15%? This is under 8% :wink:

    To be fair, the situation is a little more complicated. TPP's bread and butter is (or was) GP contracts, so it's more local choices rather than in government gift. But there has been aspiration to unify GP data more, which could either be a threat to TPP (interoperability making it easier to switch suppliers for example) or an opportunity, if they were to be the supplier of a single more unified system.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,412
    viewcode said:

    AlsoLei said:

    algarkirk said:

    nico679 said:

    Apparently Badenoch says there should be space for forgiveness re Hester .

    I’m sure she’d be also saying this if a Labour donor was involved !

    Let’s be political about this, the Story was a Guardian exclusive. The timing is so obvious, spike the Extremism Action about to be announced - Gove defying legal advice to use Parliamentary Privilege to name and shame and get Labour wriggling and squirming and in trouble - possibly as the rabbit out the hat before calling an election on divisive anti extremism campaign.

    How long have the guardian - or Labour who slipped it to them - sat on this story in a safe?
    Not literally sitting in a safe on it, you know what I mean. It’s metaphor.
    Timing with exclusives is always difficult. The longer you wait, the greater the chance someone else, quite legitimately, also gets hold of the story, prints it, and you lose 100% of the kudos. These things matter to media and journos infinitely more than they do to the public.
    He made the remarks five years ago, interesting they come to light this week Gove goes into the commons and, against legal advice, paints a picture of the British Left and Union Movement as extremist, such as the union’s funding Labour also support and fund extremism, like solidarity with Palestine they have possibly given larger payments from union member subs to Hamas leadership, than even Netanyahu’s government siphoned off funds for the Hamas leadership. It’s at least possible timing of this news story is the British Left trying to soften the punches coming their way? 💁‍♀️

    Now, if I were a Stasi Bully, I would make a list of every PBer who picks up what Gove will tell Parliament and runs with it - like the fascist on Dads Army started a little list. 😈 Gove will certainly blow up PB into life. It’s possibly the Tories key theme for an April General Election campaign, smoking out Starmer as either on the governments side against extremism, or the side of the extremists who fund his political party.
    Culture war issues won't win the election, but Truss's private members bill on trans (biological males to be banned from ladies' loos (which I take to mean pre-reassignment surgery males, correct me if I'm wrong)) seems like a reasonable straw the Government should clutch. It's a very rare issue where Labour is on the wrong side of the public and the Tories are on the right side.
    Er, this bill: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-04/0035/230035.pdf ?

    It doesn't mention toilets?

    Just the usual creepy obsession with children and puberty.
    My understanding is that the tightening up of the definition of sex to mean biological sex gives the necessary legal framework to restrict access to womens' spaces to biological males (and vice versa I guess).
    Point 1: I assume you meant to say "restrict access to women's spaces FROM biological males" instead of "TO biological males", as the latter would mean that only biological males could use them.

    Point 2: This is why I don't like the phrase "biological males". It is ambiguous, including people born male who still have their dick and people born male who have chopped it off.

    Point 3: iiuc the bill in question would annihilate the concept of transsexuality and de jure reclassify all trans people as crossdressers, regardless of certificate or genitals or behaviour. The Gender Recognition Act allowed people to change the sex on their birth certificate and acquire the rights of that sex unless there was a proportionate reason to do so. It used (and may have introduced?) the concept of "legal sex" and provided a legal procedure (the gender recognition certificate) by which it could be changed. By ensuring that it is only "biological sex" and not "legal sex" that can be upheld in law, it would make the act a dead letter.

    The UK is incapable of a deliberated stance on trans, veering from "I'm a girl if I say I am" to "THEYRE ALL MEN REALLY" like a demented metronome.

    No, I meant to construct the sentence the way I did. I agree that it can be interpreted the way you have, and therefore isn't the best choice of words.

    I agree with everything else you write. As I've said before, it is gender reassignment surgery that should be the final piece of the transition process and should carry the legal status with it. It doesn't solve the sports issue because a former man can still have unfair advantages even after reassignment surgery, but it goes a long way to solving everything else.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,814
    Selebian said:

    tyson said:

    So, Hester's terrible Racism is one thing. But, this guy has made 130 mill in the last four years from Govt NHS contracts and donated 10 mill back to the Tories.

    I mean wtf? Why isn't this the story?

    Because we all know that we are a totally not corrupt country unlike those beasty places where Johnny Foreigner lives and this is absolutely above board.
    Effing incompetent Tories. Isn't the going rate for agents ~15%? This is under 8% :wink:

    To be fair, the situation is a little more complicated. TPP's bread and butter is (or was) GP contracts, so it's more local choices rather than in government gift. But there has been aspiration to unify GP data more, which could either be a threat to TPP (interoperability making it easier to switch suppliers for example) or an opportunity, if they were to be the supplier of a single more unified system.
    And the bigger it gets, the question is who is telling whom to jump when instructed.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,354

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    Beer has gone downhill over the last 5 years or so, unfortunately. Too much poor quality IPAs that taste like crappy lagers have pushed out more interesting craft beers, and a lot of breweries have been lost.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368
    edited March 12
    ...

    Scott_xP said:

    It's on, lads...

    @Steven_Swinford

    I'm told Sir Graham Brady and Rishi Sunak *did not* discuss resignation letters when they spoke on the fringes of the 1922 executive committee meeting yesterday

    It was a routine meeting ahead of a reception on the Terrace that takes place once a term

    Resignation letters? Does he mean VONC letters?
    I think Scott with his tongue firmly in his cheek was referring to the nine rats (allegedly) jumping ship to HMS Tice.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,574
    edited March 12
    Carnyx said:

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    I stopped being so rah rah Buy British in 1995 when I visited Seattle and tried the microbrewery products around Pioneer Square. I wonder what it's like now?


    https://www.machinehousebrewery.com/

    They now make very decent English Ale, and serve it properly through beer engines. A lovely place to waste an afternoon.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,798
    Foxy said:

    tyson said:

    So, Hester's terrible Racism is one thing. But, this guy has made 130 mill in the last four years from Govt NHS contracts and donated 10 mill back to the Tories.

    I mean wtf? Why isn't this the story?

    We have the best politicians that money can buy.
    Is this the point where I bring up the cumulative consequences of more than 20 years of trade deficits again? We used to be able to afford better. Lloyd George, for example. No there was someone worth bribing. This lot? What's the point?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,814

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    Beer has gone downhill over the last 5 years or so, unfortunately. Too much poor quality IPAs that taste like crappy lagers have pushed out more interesting craft beers, and a lot of breweries have been lost.
    Definitely. Also too many IPAs with weird flavours. I've stopped ordering my doorstep deliveries from the previous supplier who put all sorts of weird stuff in the box, and gone back to dependable Black Isle who have a decent core selection and a small selection of varying extras.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,214
    Chris said:

    viewcode said:

    AlsoLei said:

    algarkirk said:

    nico679 said:

    Apparently Badenoch says there should be space for forgiveness re Hester .

    I’m sure she’d be also saying this if a Labour donor was involved !

    Let’s be political about this, the Story was a Guardian exclusive. The timing is so obvious, spike the Extremism Action about to be announced - Gove defying legal advice to use Parliamentary Privilege to name and shame and get Labour wriggling and squirming and in trouble - possibly as the rabbit out the hat before calling an election on divisive anti extremism campaign.

    How long have the guardian - or Labour who slipped it to them - sat on this story in a safe?
    Not literally sitting in a safe on it, you know what I mean. It’s metaphor.
    Timing with exclusives is always difficult. The longer you wait, the greater the chance someone else, quite legitimately, also gets hold of the story, prints it, and you lose 100% of the kudos. These things matter to media and journos infinitely more than they do to the public.
    He made the remarks five years ago, interesting they come to light this week Gove goes into the commons and, against legal advice, paints a picture of the British Left and Union Movement as extremist, such as the union’s funding Labour also support and fund extremism, like solidarity with Palestine they have possibly given larger payments from union member subs to Hamas leadership, than even Netanyahu’s government siphoned off funds for the Hamas leadership. It’s at least possible timing of this news story is the British Left trying to soften the punches coming their way? 💁‍♀️

    Now, if I were a Stasi Bully, I would make a list of every PBer who picks up what Gove will tell Parliament and runs with it - like the fascist on Dads Army started a little list. 😈 Gove will certainly blow up PB into life. It’s possibly the Tories key theme for an April General Election campaign, smoking out Starmer as either on the governments side against extremism, or the side of the extremists who fund his political party.
    Culture war issues won't win the election, but Truss's private members bill on trans (biological males to be banned from ladies' loos (which I take to mean pre-reassignment surgery males, correct me if I'm wrong)) seems like a reasonable straw the Government should clutch. It's a very rare issue where Labour is on the wrong side of the public and the Tories are on the right side.
    Er, this bill: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-04/0035/230035.pdf ?

    It doesn't mention toilets?

    Just the usual creepy obsession with children and puberty.
    My understanding is that the tightening up of the definition of sex to mean biological sex gives the necessary legal framework to restrict access to womens' spaces to biological males (and vice versa I guess).
    Point 1: I assume you meant to say "restrict access to women's spaces FROM biological males" instead of "TO biological males", as the latter would mean that only biological males could use them.

    Point 2: This is why I don't like the phrase "biological males". It is ambiguous, including people born male who still have their dick and people born male who have chopped it off.

    Point 3: iiuc the bill in question would annihilate the concept of transsexuality and de jure reclassify all trans people as crossdressers, regardless of certificate or genitals or behaviour. The Gender Recognition Act allowed people to change the sex on their birth certificate and acquire the rights of that sex unless there was a proportionate reason to do so. It used (and may have introduced?) the concept of "legal sex" and provided a legal procedure (the gender recognition certificate) by which it could be changed. By ensuring that it is only "biological sex" and not "legal sex" that can be upheld in law, it would make the act a dead letter.

    The UK is incapable of a deliberated stance on trans, veering from "I'm a girl if I say I am" to "THEYRE ALL MEN REALLY" like a demented metronome.

    Of course it's not "tightening up" the definition of sex; it's altering it to make it impossible for anything to change their sex. It's trying to enshrine transphobia in law.
    Given its chances of making it through the Private Members Bill process, it's not even that. It's pretty much pure virtue/vice signalling.

    It's one step up from the Early Day Motion thing, or even a 10 minute rule bill, but it's not serious.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,068

    viewcode said:



    Point 2: This is why I don't like the phrase "biological males". It is ambiguous, including people born male who still have their dick and people born male who have chopped it off.

    OK, how about "people with XY chromosomes", then?
    That would make sense and the old pre-2010s terminology "genetic male" would also suffice. Unfortunately they seem to have been have been abandoned in preference to "transfeminine" (the gender ideology term) or "biological male" (the gender critical term).

    Remember when I pointed out that you can track the popularity of a political stance by tracking the terms it uses? Examples in different contexts include "The Evil Empire" and "Sinn Fein/IRA" and "EUSSR" and "LibLabCon".
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,027
    edited March 12
    Seems to Labours Vaughan Gethin, candidate to replace Drakeford in Wales, has questions to answer on dodgy donations

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-68501256
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,814
    edited March 12

    Seems to Labours Vaughan Gethin, candidate to replace Drakeford in Wales, has questions to answer on dodgy donations

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-6850125

    Probably fibs. The BBC have pulled it already. You know, like Royal photos.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,814
    edited March 12
    carnforth said:

    Carnyx said:

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    I stopped being so rah rah Buy British in 1995 when I visited Seattle and tried the microbrewery products around Pioneer Square. I wonder what it's like now?


    https://www.machinehousebrewery.com/

    They now make very decent English Ale, and serve it properly through beer engines. A lovely place to waste an afternoon.
    Yum.

    *mild too*
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,889
    edited March 12

    eek said:

    So we are now going to pay migrants £x,000 to move to Rwanda

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/migrants-to-be-paid-thousands-to-move-to-rwanda-under-new-scheme-2z6km0m57

    That's going to do the exact opposite of the plan that was to use Rwanda as the reason why you wouldn't come to the UK..

    Which takes us back to the best reason to call an election ASAP. (Have we done the "letting prisoners out because we have about twelve spare cells in the country" thing yet?)

    The government have reached the "Fr Dougal is doing a funeral" stage in their management of the country, and it's not fair on them or us.
    Tories had to endure the Brown government until the last possible moment before it was put of its misery by the electorate after a full 5 year Labour term from May 2005-May 2010, so tough!
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,412
    edited March 12
    TimS said:

    TimS said:

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    Have you tried Samuel Adams?
    I think it’s hard to judge national standards of beer in deregulated markets because they’re all pretty similarly diverse. Unlike wine or malt whisky beer is not really a product of its terroir. So as long as you can source good malt and hops from somewhere, and have decent water, you can make similarly good beer anywhere.

    The only things that really shift things nationally are regulation (stifling or encouraging experimentation and diversity, on which most Western countries are now pretty deregulated), and local tastes and tradition, where we’ve all converged somewhat in recent years. Craft beer in France tastes pretty similar to craft beer in the UK or US or Japan. But Belgian beers remain very distinct, as to a lesser extent does British real ale.
    Whisky is pretty much the same as beer (because it's made by creating a basic beer, then distilling it and aging the resulting spirit) - regional differences are based on distilling traditions more than actual terroir. Smokiness from peat used in the malting process is common in Islay whiskies, but that's due to it being a plentiful fuel there traditionally. It can be used anywhere.
    I did think after posting that yes, you could import peat from Scotland if you wanted to, but it doesn’t generally happen, and you could likewise do so with grapes (and some do) to make wine. But we have appellation contrôlée to deal with that and PDOs likewise for whisky.
    Well, sort of. A lot of the barley for Scotch whisky comes from all over (Scotland, RoUK, even overseas) and it is usually malted at large central maltings, one of the biggest being in England. If a peated malt is specified, it can be done there, with the desired degree of 'peatiness'. There are more authentic examples of malting and kilning in or near specific distilleries within the industry, as well as whiskies that specifically use Scottish or region-specific barley, but it's not a legal requirement. A Scotch whisky needs to be aged for a minimum of 3 years in Scotland, in oak casks*. That is afaik the only requirement. I think a single malt has also to be bottled here, but not a blend.

    *edit: and distilled here of course
  • TimSTimS Posts: 12,984

    TimS said:

    TimS said:

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    Have you tried Samuel Adams?
    I think it’s hard to judge national standards of beer in deregulated markets because they’re all pretty similarly diverse. Unlike wine or malt whisky beer is not really a product of its terroir. So as long as you can source good malt and hops from somewhere, and have decent water, you can make similarly good beer anywhere.

    The only things that really shift things nationally are regulation (stifling or encouraging experimentation and diversity, on which most Western countries are now pretty deregulated), and local tastes and tradition, where we’ve all converged somewhat in recent years. Craft beer in France tastes pretty similar to craft beer in the UK or US or Japan. But Belgian beers remain very distinct, as to a lesser extent does British real ale.
    Whisky is pretty much the same as beer (because it's made by creating a basic beer, then distilling it and aging the resulting spirit) - regional differences are based on distilling traditions more than actual terroir. Smokiness from peat used in the malting process is common in Islay whiskies, but that's due to it being a plentiful fuel there traditionally. It can be used anywhere.
    I did think after posting that yes, you could import peat from Scotland if you wanted to, but it doesn’t generally happen, and you could likewise do so with grapes (and some do) to make wine. But we have appellation contrôlée to deal with that and PDOs likewise for whisky.
    Well, sort of. A lot of the barley for Scotch whisky comes from all over (Scotland, RoUK, even overseas) and it is usually malted at large central maltings, one of the biggest being in England. If a peated malt is specified, it can be done there, with the desired degree of 'peatiness'. There are more authentic examples of malting and kilning in or near specific distilleries within the industry, as well as whiskies that specifically use Scottish or region-specific barley, but it's not a legal requirement. A Scotch whisky needs to be aged for a minimum of 3 years in Scotland, in oak casks. That is afaik the only requirement. I think a single malt has also to be bottled here, but not a blend.
    Interesting, I stand corrected. In which case just wine (and PDO cider / perry I suppose) that at least on theory is fixed to terroir.
  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,639
    Let's have a GE soon folks. 2 May would be good 👍
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,627

    Absolute bollocks that the USA has better beer than here.

    Beer has gone downhill over the last 5 years or so, unfortunately. Too much poor quality IPAs that taste like crappy lagers have pushed out more interesting craft beers, and a lot of breweries have been lost.
    Yes, I agree. Weird acid fruit flavours do not an interesting beer make. I am quite keen to try new things but beer should taste of beer.
This discussion has been closed.