@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Wrong, it is brilliant, it has screwed Manchester United for the last twenty years.
It only took Clayton Dubilier & Rice three years to trash Morrisons though.
The original private owners (presumably the family?) sold to the highest bidder. CD&R have proved so wildly incompetent that they took a profitable business that was subject to a bidding war to near bankruptcy.
To judge whether incompetence, one first needs to look at how the financial situation of CD&R has been affected by their ownership of Morrisons.
I'm not sure how it would be drafted, but there does seem to be a need to be able to penalise thosewho strip money from a business which then fails, without penalising those who are unlucky (or even just honestly incompetent). We've seen a lot of 'failures' where the business owners have done very nicely, thank you.
I would start with the German system of compulsory workers’ boards being involved in governance, who can act as a brake on rapacious owners.
That is the type of reform I think Mr Starmer could get away with implementing.
I think he will lose. I don't think PMQ's will have any bearing on it but PMQ's does reveal his real lack of abilities in effective communication and debate.
PMQs rarely breaks through into public discourse. But there are occasionally exceptions, and that pithy Starmer quote could be one of them. "He's afraid of his party; I've changed mine". It's in the same league (not quite so poetic but more brutal) as "he was the future once", or "from Stalin to Mr Bean".
I have not seen the exchange but you may well be right there. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.
O/T: does anyone understand what is happening in Haiti? I get that gangs have forced out the Prime Minister, but what is their desired outcome? Do the gang leaders want to form a Government, or are they demanding a new Government with gang-friendly legislation, or what?
I think the gang leaders were mostly opposed to the status quo - they didn't like the idea of the state putting some of their members in prison, for example - and so they have overthrown the state to free themselves from its interference.
I doubt they have a well-worked out prospectus for the aftermath. There wasn't one for Iraq in 2003, or for Brexit in 2016. Why would the Haitian gang leaders have one?
I don’t think we can really compare the Haitian gangs to the Brexiteers after the referendum!
I mean, the Haitian gangs are clearly way more effective…
There's a relevant comparison with the discussions we've had over election timing too. A lot of the time we're making the implicit assumption that Sunak is a rational actor making logical decisions to maximise his desired outcome, whether that is time in office, number of Tory MPs in the next Parliament, or probability of being PM after the election.
But what if his decision-making is governed by less rational concerns? He might do something unexpected and seemingly irrational because we've missed the basis on which he is making the decision.
Yes, I think there is a small chance of the following sequence of events unfolding at the beginning of May:
Friday May 3rd - worst local election results for the Tories since the Stone Age - airwaves filled with defeated candidates - and the usual suspects on the backbenches - blaming Sunak
Tuesday May 7th - after a weekend of plotting, counter- plotting, formation of circular firing squads etc Graham Brady asks for a meeting with Sunak to inform him that 53 NC letters have been received
Wednesday May 8th - Sunak announces that Parliament will be dissolved immediately and a general election will be called for late June.
Sunak is still no longer Conservative Party leader in this scenario. It’s just that the leadership contest will take place at the same time as the election campaign.
Sorry, that’s wrong. There’d still be a vote of confidence in Sunak, at the same time as the election campaign begins. The result of that could see Sunak out as leader.
That's not necessarily so. The confidence vote is held among MPs and as soon as parliament is dissolved, there are no MPs.
And the PM is the PM until he resigns. MPs cease to be MPs but ministers remain ministers until they are not. Tory party internal rules about how to depose the party leader (who is also PM) are entirely trumped by our constitutional conventions.
If there were a row about how Tory rules worked in the case of enough letters being followed by a dissolution, the courts would adjudicate the Tory party issue; the UK constitution would march along in its stately way.
Sunak could try to remain as PM regardless of Conservative Party decisions, but equally the King could kick him out. If the Conservative Party says they now back Steve Baker partway through an election campaign, it would be within the monarch’s power to make Baker PM.
Bet Sunak is bloody seething about Hunt's wild promise to get rid of NI.
Labour can hammer this all the way until Jan 2025.
The irony of this is that it’s a good policy: NI & income tax should be merged.
The fact that neither party can advocate for this without people going nuts is the real problem.
This is one of several areas where radical change is only possible if both main parties agree on it.
Or it’s done after an election when the incoming Government has a large majority.
Imagine if Labour got 480 seats they could do what they want and nothing could stop them
The Lords could still delay anything not in the manifesto.
Only for a year and not even that when it comes to finance bills - and we are talking year one of a 4-5 year Government
They probably won’t use the Parliament Act much - it’s only been used a handful of times. The Lords generally back down, sometimes after a few common-sense-y drafting amendments etc. it’s very rare for the Lords to hold things up dramatically.
On a positive note, my new Axon Rides e-folder bike arrived this morning. High quality and half price in the Decathlon sale.
For an example of brand influence, it carries a Brompton-alike tri-logo on the box, . "When I grow up I want to be a Brompton, but my owner is a bargain hunter".
Equally interestingly, yesterday I met at the pharmacy a 70 year old very-"Ashfield" bloke who was there on his e-Brompton to collect a prescription. I explained that I was a cheapskake with a Brompton-quality but cheaper single-speeder, and he explained that his e-Brompton was "just under" when I mentioned £3k.
He had come about 3km each way mainly on cycling infra, and explained that he had it for pottering around for errands, social club etc. Quite like OGH and OGH-minor, but not what I expected at this end of Ashfield.
No, I do not want Trump to win the election to “save the west” - I was entertaining myself with the Colombian/UK time difference - an experiment to see if PB is so attuned to me, so over-sensitive to everything I say, that you would actually notice a single stray two line remark by me at 3am, and get outraged by it
Gratifyingly, you did. So, thanks. It really is the sincerest form of flattery
Will you be issuing one of these after every stupid comment from now on?
Could become quite an overhead.
If I changed my mind and wanted Trump to win I wouldn’t slip it out at 3am UK time, I’d say it loud and proud, and go on about it for day after day until everyone told me to shut up
That’s my shtick - you might have noticed. Also, I am shameless, see the next Gazette for proof
Bet Sunak is bloody seething about Hunt's wild promise to get rid of NI.
Labour can hammer this all the way until Jan 2025.
The irony of this is that it’s a good policy: NI & income tax should be merged.
The fact that neither party can advocate for this without people going nuts is the real problem.
This is one of several areas where radical change is only possible if both main parties agree on it.
Hunt isn't talking about merging it. He is talking, or was, about getting rid of it all together via cuts and savings and efficiencies iirc.
I think the powerful National Union of Pensioners will soon put paid to that idea.
I was doing a panel this morning with people from PE, and a former minister. It's interesting how much expectation there is of Labour coming in and immediately announcing "that things are much worse than we thought" and raising taxes. There's also a widespread assumption the Tories will cut taxes again before the election but that this won't be sustainable. For Labour ears that's excellent expectation management.
Interestingly the former minister, who shall remain nameless, made multiple references to Ladbrokes odds on various political markets including the UK and US general elections, which did make wonder if they're a poster or lurker on here.
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Indeed totally unacceptable and immoral. This sort of thing turns people against capitalism as it is practiced in the west and looking for a better system.
Its not just Private Equity, Governments have been doing the same thing.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Wrong, it is brilliant, it has screwed Manchester United for the last twenty years.
It only took Clayton Dubilier & Rice three years to trash Morrisons though.
The original private owners (presumably the family?) sold to the highest bidder. CD&R have proved so wildly incompetent that they took a profitable business that was subject to a bidding war to near bankruptcy.
To judge whether incompetence, one first needs to look at how the financial situation of CD&R has been affected by their ownership of Morrisons.
I'm not sure how it would be drafted, but there does seem to be a need to be able to penalise thosewho strip money from a business which then fails, without penalising those who are unlucky (or even just honestly incompetent). We've seen a lot of 'failures' where the business owners have done very nicely, thank you.
The thing that confuses me about these is that a lot of bad debt seems to be created. The model seems to be to walk away from massive amounts of debt when the business goes bankrupt. So you would think that the lenders would cotton on and stop lending to these outfits. Why isn't that happening?
My pet theory, based on no high finance experience or knowledge in particular is that v the need for much of the world to move ever larger amounts of long terms savings through decades of time, i.e. pensions for people living longer globally, means a glut of spreadsheet cash that needs to be invested and a relative lack of good investments to absorb all this cash.
I could be wildly out on this because that's not how finance works, but I'd love to know how the ever expanding need for global pension funding influences the markets.
After 2007, does anyone even now know where all the money is??
Indeed, it's called the global savings glut hypothesis, and has been mooted as an explanation for the period of relatively low interest rates we've experienced this century, even as government debt has continued to rise. I find it quite plausible, as the share of safe assets as a share of global GDP remains quite low despite the US and other governments issuing so many bonds. That means these safe assets can command a relatively high price, ie have a low yield. Meanwhile low investment (also demographics related) means there are fewer productive places to park the money. Your thinking is definitely along the right lines.
This is related to Varoufakis's global low-investnent theory, too, as I remember from his Minotaur book many years ago.
A lot of capital is not performiing any useful function, and Britain is also helping with our vast array of tax-havens on the islands and Gibraltar.
Bet Sunak is bloody seething about Hunt's wild promise to get rid of NI.
Labour can hammer this all the way until Jan 2025.
The irony of this is that it’s a good policy: NI & income tax should be merged.
The fact that neither party can advocate for this without people going nuts is the real problem.
This is one of several areas where radical change is only possible if both main parties agree on it.
Hunt isn't talking about merging it. He is talking, or was, about getting rid of it all together via cuts and savings and efficiencies iirc.
Sunak said in PMQs that it is a double tax on workers which it is
Hunt said the process would take years and of course that will eventually mean a higher rate of income tax but that rate will be less than the combined rate and of course an increase in the tax allowance would shield poorer pensioners
Sadly Labour are politicising something that frankly no political party should be against as it is progressive and fair
It's time has come even if it takes a parliament to put in place, and I think @BartholomewRoberts has been a very strong voice on this forum in favour
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Wrong, it is brilliant, it has screwed Manchester United for the last twenty years.
It only took Clayton Dubilier & Rice three years to trash Morrisons though.
The original private owners (presumably the family?) sold to the highest bidder. CD&R have proved so wildly incompetent that they took a profitable business that was subject to a bidding war to near bankruptcy.
To judge whether incompetence, one first needs to look at how the financial situation of CD&R has been affected by their ownership of Morrisons.
I'm not sure how it would be drafted, but there does seem to be a need to be able to penalise thosewho strip money from a business which then fails, without penalising those who are unlucky (or even just honestly incompetent). We've seen a lot of 'failures' where the business owners have done very nicely, thank you.
The thing that confuses me about these is that a lot of bad debt seems to be created. The model seems to be to walk away from massive amounts of debt when the business goes bankrupt. So you would think that the lenders would cotton on and stop lending to these outfits. Why isn't that happening?
My pet theory, based on no high finance experience or knowledge in particular is that v the need for much of the world to move ever larger amounts of long terms savings through decades of time, i.e. pensions for people living longer globally, means a glut of spreadsheet cash that needs to be invested and a relative lack of good investments to absorb all this cash.
I could be wildly out on this because that's not how finance works, but I'd love to know how the ever expanding need for global pension funding influences the markets.
After 2007, does anyone even now know where all the money is??
Sitting uselessly in the accounts of billionaires or used to fund one of bill gates madcap schemes.
The Gates Foundation is a force for good in the world.
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Indeed totally unacceptable and immoral. This sort of thing turns people against capitalism as it is practiced in the west and looking for a better system.
Its not just Private Equity, Governments have been doing the same thing.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
They also ruined the BBC..
McKinsey/Birt 1994, after which BBC TV was never the same again.
No, I do not want Trump to win the election to “save the west” - I was entertaining myself with the Colombian/UK time difference - an experiment to see if PB is so attuned to me, so over-sensitive to everything I say, that you would actually notice a single stray two line remark by me at 3am, and get outraged by it
Gratifyingly, you did. So, thanks. It really is the sincerest form of flattery
Will you be issuing one of these after every stupid comment from now on?
Could become quite an overhead.
If I changed my mind and wanted Trump to win I wouldn’t slip it out at 3am UK time, I’d say it loud and proud, and go on about it for day after day until everyone told me to shut up
That’s my shtick - you might have noticed. Also, I am shameless, see the next Gazette for proof
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Wrong, it is brilliant, it has screwed Manchester United for the last twenty years.
It only took Clayton Dubilier & Rice three years to trash Morrisons though.
The original private owners (presumably the family?) sold to the highest bidder. CD&R have proved so wildly incompetent that they took a profitable business that was subject to a bidding war to near bankruptcy.
To judge whether incompetence, one first needs to look at how the financial situation of CD&R has been affected by their ownership of Morrisons.
I'm not sure how it would be drafted, but there does seem to be a need to be able to penalise thosewho strip money from a business which then fails, without penalising those who are unlucky (or even just honestly incompetent). We've seen a lot of 'failures' where the business owners have done very nicely, thank you.
The thing that confuses me about these is that a lot of bad debt seems to be created. The model seems to be to walk away from massive amounts of debt when the business goes bankrupt. So you would think that the lenders would cotton on and stop lending to these outfits. Why isn't that happening?
My pet theory, based on no high finance experience or knowledge in particular is that v the need for much of the world to move ever larger amounts of long terms savings through decades of time, i.e. pensions for people living longer globally, means a glut of spreadsheet cash that needs to be invested and a relative lack of good investments to absorb all this cash.
I could be wildly out on this because that's not how finance works, but I'd love to know how the ever expanding need for global pension funding influences the markets.
After 2007, does anyone even now know where all the money is??
Indeed, it's called the global savings glut hypothesis, and has been mooted as an explanation for the period of relatively low interest rates we've experienced this century, even as government debt has continued to rise. I find it quite plausible, as the share of safe assets as a share of global GDP remains quite low despite the US and other governments issuing so many bonds. That means these safe assets can command a relatively high price, ie have a low yield. Meanwhile low investment (also demographics related) means there are fewer productive places to park the money. Your thinking is definitely along the right lines.
This related to Varoufakis's global low-investnent theory, too, as I remember from his Minotaur book many years ago.
A lot of capital is not performiing any useful function, and Britain is helping with our vast array of tax-havens on the islands and Gibraltar.
The warped near-zero interest rate environment was also a factor in the crash - as huge amounts of professional money chased a decent yield and in the process forgot about risk management and due diligence.
Bet Sunak is bloody seething about Hunt's wild promise to get rid of NI.
Labour can hammer this all the way until Jan 2025.
The irony of this is that it’s a good policy: NI & income tax should be merged.
The fact that neither party can advocate for this without people going nuts is the real problem.
This is one of several areas where radical change is only possible if both main parties agree on it.
Hunt isn't talking about merging it. He is talking, or was, about getting rid of it all together via cuts and savings and efficiencies iirc.
Sunak said in PMQs that it is a double tax on workers which it is
Hunt said the process would take years and of course that will eventually mean a higher rate of income tax but that rate will be less than the combined rate and of course an increase in the tax allowance would shield poorer pensioners
Sadly Labour are politicising something that frankly no political party should be against as it is progressive and fair
It's time has come even if it takes a parliament to put in place, and I think @BartholomewRoberts has been a very strong voice on this forum in favour
What they're politicising is - rightly - the one sided approach being proposed by Hunt. There is a strong argument to merge the systems, but we are also scraping the barrel on public investment at the moment and in a high interest rate environment, so abolishing NI without increasing IT is the essence of an unfunded tax cut.
On a positive note, my new Axon Rides e-folder bike arrived this morning. High quality and half price in the Decathlon sale.
For an example of brand influence, it carries a Brompton-alike tri-logo on the box, . "When I grow up I want to be a Brompton, but my owner is a bargain hunter".
Equally interestingly, yesterday I met at the pharmacy a 70 year old very-"Ashfield" bloke who was there on his e-Brompton to collect a prescription. I explained that I was a cheapskake with a Brompton-quality but cheaper single-speeder, and he explained that his e-Brompton was "just under" when I mentioned £3k.
He had come about 3km each way mainly on cycling infra, and explained that he had it for pottering around for errands, social club etc. Quite like OGH and OGH-minor, but not what I expected at this end of Ashfield.
Rishi was rather wrong-footed by Starmer's shift to asking about the Chancellor's unfunded NI promise, causing him to gabble about Labour's £28bn green pledge.
"You've got a £46bn black hole in your plans" "Oh, yeah? Well, you've got a smaller one in yours!"
No, I do not want Trump to win the election to “save the west” - I was entertaining myself with the Colombian/UK time difference - an experiment to see if PB is so attuned to me, so over-sensitive to everything I say, that you would actually notice a single stray two line remark by me at 3am, and get outraged by it
Gratifyingly, you did. So, thanks. It really is the sincerest form of flattery
Will you be issuing one of these after every stupid comment from now on?
Could become quite an overhead.
If I changed my mind and wanted Trump to win I wouldn’t slip it out at 3am UK time, I’d say it loud and proud, and go on about it for day after day until everyone told me to shut up
That’s my shtick - you might have noticed. Also, I am shameless, see the next Gazette for proof
Bet Sunak is bloody seething about Hunt's wild promise to get rid of NI.
Labour can hammer this all the way until Jan 2025.
The irony of this is that it’s a good policy: NI & income tax should be merged.
The fact that neither party can advocate for this without people going nuts is the real problem.
This is one of several areas where radical change is only possible if both main parties agree on it.
Hunt isn't talking about merging it. He is talking, or was, about getting rid of it all together via cuts and savings and efficiencies iirc.
Sunak said in PMQs that it is a double tax on workers which it is
Hunt said the process would take years and of course that will eventually mean a higher rate of income tax but that rate will be less than the combined rate and of course an increase in the tax allowance would shield poorer pensioners
Sadly Labour are politicising something that frankly no political party should be against as it is progressive and fair
It's time has come even if it takes a parliament to put in place, and I think @BartholomewRoberts has been a very strong voice on this forum in favour
What they're politicising is - rightly - the one sided approach being proposed by Hunt. There is a strong argument to merge the systems, but we are also scraping the barrel on public investment at the moment and in a high interest rate environment, so abolishing NI without increasing IT is the essence of an unfunded tax cut.
Bet Sunak is bloody seething about Hunt's wild promise to get rid of NI.
Labour can hammer this all the way until Jan 2025.
The irony of this is that it’s a good policy: NI & income tax should be merged.
The fact that neither party can advocate for this without people going nuts is the real problem.
This is one of several areas where radical change is only possible if both main parties agree on it.
Hunt isn't talking about merging it. He is talking, or was, about getting rid of it all together via cuts and savings and efficiencies iirc.
Sunak said in PMQs that it is a double tax on workers which it is
Hunt said the process would take years and of course that will eventually mean a higher rate of income tax but that rate will be less than the combined rate and of course an increase in the tax allowance would shield poorer pensioners
Sadly Labour are politicising something that frankly no political party should be against as it is progressive and fair
It's time has come even if it takes a parliament to put in place, and I think @BartholomewRoberts has been a very strong voice on this forum in favour
What they're politicising is - rightly - the one sided approach being proposed by Hunt. There is a strong argument to merge the systems, but we are also scraping the barrel on public investment at the moment and in a high interest rate environment, so abolishing NI without increasing IT is the essence of an unfunded tax cut.
But IT is being increased via fiscal drag.
I opposed fiscal drag previously, but using fiscal drag to eliminate NI is entirely reasonable.
No, I do not want Trump to win the election to “save the west” - I was entertaining myself with the Colombian/UK time difference - an experiment to see if PB is so attuned to me, so over-sensitive to everything I say, that you would actually notice a single stray two line remark by me at 3am, and get outraged by it
Gratifyingly, you did. So, thanks. It really is the sincerest form of flattery
Will you be issuing one of these after every stupid comment from now on?
Could become quite an overhead.
If I changed my mind and wanted Trump to win I wouldn’t slip it out at 3am UK time, I’d say it loud and proud, and go on about it for day after day until everyone told me to shut up
That’s my shtick - you might have noticed. Also, I am shameless, see the next Gazette for proof
Columbia TV?
Colombian TV would be fine. My daughters don’t get to see that
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Wrong, it is brilliant, it has screwed Manchester United for the last twenty years.
It only took Clayton Dubilier & Rice three years to trash Morrisons though.
The original private owners (presumably the family?) sold to the highest bidder. CD&R have proved so wildly incompetent that they took a profitable business that was subject to a bidding war to near bankruptcy.
To judge whether incompetence, one first needs to look at how the financial situation of CD&R has been affected by their ownership of Morrisons.
I'm not sure how it would be drafted, but there does seem to be a need to be able to penalise thosewho strip money from a business which then fails, without penalising those who are unlucky (or even just honestly incompetent). We've seen a lot of 'failures' where the business owners have done very nicely, thank you.
The thing that confuses me about these is that a lot of bad debt seems to be created. The model seems to be to walk away from massive amounts of debt when the business goes bankrupt. So you would think that the lenders would cotton on and stop lending to these outfits. Why isn't that happening?
My pet theory, based on no high finance experience or knowledge in particular is that v the need for much of the world to move ever larger amounts of long terms savings through decades of time, i.e. pensions for people living longer globally, means a glut of spreadsheet cash that needs to be invested and a relative lack of good investments to absorb all this cash.
I could be wildly out on this because that's not how finance works, but I'd love to know how the ever expanding need for global pension funding influences the markets.
After 2007, does anyone even now know where all the money is??
Indeed, it's called the global savings glut hypothesis, and has been mooted as an explanation for the period of relatively low interest rates we've experienced this century, even as government debt has continued to rise. I find it quite plausible, as the share of safe assets as a share of global GDP remains quite low despite the US and other governments issuing so many bonds. That means these safe assets can command a relatively high price, ie have a low yield. Meanwhile low investment (also demographics related) means there are fewer productive places to park the money. Your thinking is definitely along the right lines.
I agree with this hypothesis - it also accounts for wild valuations of successful companies. See Apple, Tesla etc
Though it doesn't account for the undervaluation (as often claimed) of sound blue chip UK outfits.
Apple will probably be able to buy the entire FTSE100 with cash in 20 years time.
Iphone sales in china very poor now. Apple has been a one trick pony for a long time.
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Indeed totally unacceptable and immoral. This sort of thing turns people against capitalism as it is practiced in the west and looking for a better system.
Its not just Private Equity, Governments have been doing the same thing.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
..who also ruined the BBC.
McKinsey/Birt 1994,after which BBC TV was never the same again.
Especially the news side. Although TV Drama on the BBC was arguably far better in the early 2000's - 2010 than it was in the early nineties.
No, I do not want Trump to win the election to “save the west” - I was entertaining myself with the Colombian/UK time difference - an experiment to see if PB is so attuned to me, so over-sensitive to everything I say, that you would actually notice a single stray two line remark by me at 3am, and get outraged by it
Gratifyingly, you did. So, thanks. It really is the sincerest form of flattery
Will you be issuing one of these after every stupid comment from now on?
Could become quite an overhead.
If I changed my mind and wanted Trump to win I wouldn’t slip it out at 3am UK time, I’d say it loud and proud, and go on about it for day after day until everyone told me to shut up
That’s my shtick - you might have noticed. Also, I am shameless, see the next Gazette for proof
I think you do want Trump to win but you (sensibly) don't go 'loud and proud' about it because the better part of you realizes it's akin to rooting for a natural disaster.
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Indeed totally unacceptable and immoral. This sort of thing turns people against capitalism as it is practiced in the west and looking for a better system.
Its not just Private Equity, Governments have been doing the same thing.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
..who also ruined the BBC.
McKinsey/Birt 1994,after which BBC TV was never the same again.
Especially the news side. Although TV Drama on the BBC was arguably far better in the early 2000's - 2010 than it was in the early nineties.
Whatever happened to comedy on the bbc after its 70s 80s heyday.
Bet Sunak is bloody seething about Hunt's wild promise to get rid of NI.
Labour can hammer this all the way until Jan 2025.
The irony of this is that it’s a good policy: NI & income tax should be merged.
The fact that neither party can advocate for this without people going nuts is the real problem.
This is one of several areas where radical change is only possible if both main parties agree on it.
Hunt isn't talking about merging it. He is talking, or was, about getting rid of it all together via cuts and savings and efficiencies iirc.
Sunak said in PMQs that it is a double tax on workers which it is
Hunt said the process would take years and of course that will eventually mean a higher rate of income tax but that rate will be less than the combined rate and of course an increase in the tax allowance would shield poorer pensioners
Sadly Labour are politicising something that frankly no political party should be against as it is progressive and fair
It's time has come even if it takes a parliament to put in place, and I think @BartholomewRoberts has been a very strong voice on this forum in favour
What they're politicising is - rightly - the one sided approach being proposed by Hunt. There is a strong argument to merge the systems, but we are also scraping the barrel on public investment at the moment and in a high interest rate environment, so abolishing NI without increasing IT is the essence of an unfunded tax cut.
I do agree with you and it is why I said an increase in standard rate tax would be needed whilst shielding poorer pensioners with an increase in the tax allowance
I would just add it will be interesting if equalisation of IT and NI is in the conservative manifesto
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Wrong, it is brilliant, it has screwed Manchester United for the last twenty years.
It only took Clayton Dubilier & Rice three years to trash Morrisons though.
The original private owners (presumably the family?) sold to the highest bidder. CD&R have proved so wildly incompetent that they took a profitable business that was subject to a bidding war to near bankruptcy.
To judge whether incompetence, one first needs to look at how the financial situation of CD&R has been affected by their ownership of Morrisons.
I'm not sure how it would be drafted, but there does seem to be a need to be able to penalise thosewho strip money from a business which then fails, without penalising those who are unlucky (or even just honestly incompetent). We've seen a lot of 'failures' where the business owners have done very nicely, thank you.
The thing that confuses me about these is that a lot of bad debt seems to be created. The model seems to be to walk away from massive amounts of debt when the business goes bankrupt. So you would think that the lenders would cotton on and stop lending to these outfits. Why isn't that happening?
My pet theory, based on no high finance experience or knowledge in particular is that v the need for much of the world to move ever larger amounts of long terms savings through decades of time, i.e. pensions for people living longer globally, means a glut of spreadsheet cash that needs to be invested and a relative lack of good investments to absorb all this cash.
I could be wildly out on this because that's not how finance works, but I'd love to know how the ever expanding need for global pension funding influences the markets.
After 2007, does anyone even now know where all the money is??
Sitting uselessly in the accounts of billionaires or used to fund one of bill gates madcap schemes.
The Gates Foundation is a force for good in the world.
How’s the weather in St Petersburg?
Is that the one where gates wants to block out the sun or create insects that deliver vaccines.
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Indeed totally unacceptable and immoral. This sort of thing turns people against capitalism as it is practiced in the west and looking for a better system.
Its not just Private Equity, Governments have been doing the same thing.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
..who also ruined the BBC.
McKinsey/Birt 1994,after which BBC TV was never the same again.
Especially the news side. Although TV Drama on the BBC was arguably far better in the early 2000's - 2010 than it was in the early nineties.
Whatever happened to comedy on the bbc after its 70s 80s heyday.
One Foot in the Grave, VIcar of Dibley, Outnumbered, Not Going Out, Lead Balloon, The Office, Life's Too Short. Plenty of good stuff. Little of the vintage of their heyday.
Sure they had tat like Big Top but, until recently their offering was fine. It is mainly panel shows now. Mind you the seventies and eighties had its clunkers like Come Back Mrs Noah and Wyatt's Watchdogs.
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Indeed totally unacceptable and immoral. This sort of thing turns people against capitalism as it is practiced in the west and looking for a better system.
Its not just Private Equity, Governments have been doing the same thing.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
..who also ruined the BBC.
McKinsey/Birt 1994,after which BBC TV was never the same again.
Especially the news side. Although TV Drama on the BBC was arguably far better in the early 2000's - 2010 than it was in the early nineties.
Documentary-making suffered terribly, though, which was part of Britain's global reputation.
In the late '80s early '90s, as we've dscussed often on here, you could find documentaries on literally anything on BBC2, and Channel 4, also, before its deliberately commercial advertising restructuring fed through on its own side, also.
No, I do not want Trump to win the election to “save the west” - I was entertaining myself with the Colombian/UK time difference - an experiment to see if PB is so attuned to me, so over-sensitive to everything I say, that you would actually notice a single stray two line remark by me at 3am, and get outraged by it
Gratifyingly, you did. So, thanks. It really is the sincerest form of flattery
Will you be issuing one of these after every stupid comment from now on?
Could become quite an overhead.
If I changed my mind and wanted Trump to win I wouldn’t slip it out at 3am UK time, I’d say it loud and proud, and go on about it for day after day until everyone told me to shut up
That’s my shtick - you might have noticed. Also, I am shameless, see the next Gazette for proof
I think you do want Trump to win but you (sensibly) don't go 'loud and proud' about it because the better part of you realizes it's akin to rooting for a natural disaster.
Ok it’s true I WANT TRUMP TO WIN
COME ON, THE DONALD
Thank God I can say it now. All these years of bottling it up in case @kinabalu off of PB felt less of me
Has there ever been a Presidential election in which a strong possibility is that it will be decided by one of the candidates proving manifestly unable to serve?
O/T: does anyone understand what is happening in Haiti? I get that gangs have forced out the Prime Minister, but what is their desired outcome? Do the gang leaders want to form a Government, or are they demanding a new Government with gang-friendly legislation, or what?
There was a charity worker in Haiti on PM yesterday. He had recently come from the Ukraine (I hope he doesn't waste any money on lottery tickets) and said that Haiti was far more dangerous. According to him some of the gangs are interested in political objectives and some are more interested in looting, giving a random element to the violence which is genuinely scary.
The more political gangs had seized the airport and the port to make sure that the President was unable to return to the island. Whether they have the power to hold onto these longer term wasn't clear but it appeared that the police and army had pretty much fallen apart. I think that the last thing Biden needs right now is another international conflict with a serious risk of body bags but other than the US it is difficult to see who could hope to restore order.
No, I do not want Trump to win the election to “save the west” - I was entertaining myself with the Colombian/UK time difference - an experiment to see if PB is so attuned to me, so over-sensitive to everything I say, that you would actually notice a single stray two line remark by me at 3am, and get outraged by it
Gratifyingly, you did. So, thanks. It really is the sincerest form of flattery
Will you be issuing one of these after every stupid comment from now on?
Could become quite an overhead.
If I changed my mind and wanted Trump to win I wouldn’t slip it out at 3am UK time, I’d say it loud and proud, and go on about it for day after day until everyone told me to shut up
That’s my shtick - you might have noticed. Also, I am shameless, see the next Gazette for proof
I think you do want Trump to win but you (sensibly) don't go 'loud and proud' about it because the better part of you realizes it's akin to rooting for a natural disaster.
Biden is hardly an inspired pick either. It is the least worse choice.
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Indeed totally unacceptable and immoral. This sort of thing turns people against capitalism as it is practiced in the west and looking for a better system.
Its not just Private Equity, Governments have been doing the same thing.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
..who also ruined the BBC.
McKinsey/Birt 1994,after which BBC TV was never the same again.
Especially the news side. Although TV Drama on the BBC was arguably far better in the early 2000's - 2010 than it was in the early nineties.
Documentary-making suffered terribly, though, which was part of Britain's global reputation.
In the late '80s early '90s, as we've dscussed often on here, you could find documentaries on literally anything on BBC2, and Channel 4, also, before its deliberately commercial advertising restructuring fed through, on its own side.
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Indeed totally unacceptable and immoral. This sort of thing turns people against capitalism as it is practiced in the west and looking for a better system.
Its not just Private Equity, Governments have been doing the same thing.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
..who also ruined the BBC.
McKinsey/Birt 1994,after which BBC TV was never the same again.
Especially the news side. Although TV Drama on the BBC was arguably far better in the early 2000's - 2010 than it was in the early nineties.
Documentary-making suffered terribly, though, which was part of Britain's global reputation.
In the late '80s early '90s, as we've dscussed often on here, you could find documentaries on literally anything on BBC2, and Channel 4, also, before its deliberately commercial advertising restructuring fed through, on its own side.
No, I do not want Trump to win the election to “save the west” - I was entertaining myself with the Colombian/UK time difference - an experiment to see if PB is so attuned to me, so over-sensitive to everything I say, that you would actually notice a single stray two line remark by me at 3am, and get outraged by it
Gratifyingly, you did. So, thanks. It really is the sincerest form of flattery
Will you be issuing one of these after every stupid comment from now on?
Could become quite an overhead.
If I changed my mind and wanted Trump to win I wouldn’t slip it out at 3am UK time, I’d say it loud and proud, and go on about it for day after day until everyone told me to shut up
That’s my shtick - you might have noticed. Also, I am shameless, see the next Gazette for proof
I think you do want Trump to win but you (sensibly) don't go 'loud and proud' about it because the better part of you realizes it's akin to rooting for a natural disaster.
Ok it’s true I WANT TRUMP TO WIN
COME ON, THE DONALD
Thank God I can say it now. All these years of bottling it up in case @kinabalu off of PB felt less of me
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Indeed totally unacceptable and immoral. This sort of thing turns people against capitalism as it is practiced in the west and looking for a better system.
Its not just Private Equity, Governments have been doing the same thing.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
..who also ruined the BBC.
McKinsey/Birt 1994,after which BBC TV was never the same again.
Especially the news side. Although TV Drama on the BBC was arguably far better in the early 2000's - 2010 than it was in the early nineties.
Documentary-making suffered terribly, though, which was part of Britain's global reputation.
In the late '80s early '90s, as we've dscussed often on here, you could find documentaries on literally anything on BBC2, and Channel 4, also, before its deliberately commercial advertising restructuring fed through, on its own side.
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Indeed totally unacceptable and immoral. This sort of thing turns people against capitalism as it is practiced in the west and looking for a better system.
Its not just Private Equity, Governments have been doing the same thing.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
..who also ruined the BBC.
McKinsey/Birt 1994,after which BBC TV was never the same again.
Especially the news side. Although TV Drama on the BBC was arguably far better in the early 2000's - 2010 than it was in the early nineties.
Documentary-making suffered terribly, though, which was part of Britain's global reputation.
In the late '80s early '90s, as we've dscussed often on here, you could find documentaries on literally anything on BBC2, and Channel 4, also, before its deliberately commercial advertising restructuring fed through, on its own side.
“Voters, donors, and staff alike are either fleeing the MAGA-fied Republican party or being chaotically forced out in a mass purge, casting a troubling shadow on the committee’s balance sheet and their prospects at the ballot box leading into a critical election year,” wrote DNC executive director Sam Cornale
I think the down ballot point is quite interesting. The combination of Trump and the chaos in the House as the result of the GOPs utter incompetence could lead to big problems for the Republicans across the ticket.
I have many rock-ribbed Republican friends who openly call Trump as fascist and will not come out for MAGA candidates. Could it be that, despite the apparently close polls, in fact the Republicans are facing the same debilitating disease as Tories in the UK? "I may be a conservative, but I am not with this Tory Party".
Squeezed for cash, chaotically managed, with a Presidential nominee who is a proven liar and a crook, one could easily see decent Republicans walking away, as they seem to have done in Georgia.
In which case, shouldn´t we be thinking more about a Dem landslide, rather than the return of Trump?
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Indeed totally unacceptable and immoral. This sort of thing turns people against capitalism as it is practiced in the west and looking for a better system.
Its not just Private Equity, Governments have been doing the same thing.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
..who also ruined the BBC.
McKinsey/Birt 1994,after which BBC TV was never the same again.
Especially the news side. Although TV Drama on the BBC was arguably far better in the early 2000's - 2010 than it was in the early nineties.
Documentary-making suffered terribly, though, which was part of Britain's global reputation.
In the late '80s early '90s, as we've dscussed often on here, you could find documentaries on literally anything on BBC2, and Channel 4, also, before its deliberately commercial advertising restructuring fed through, on its own side.
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Wrong, it is brilliant, it has screwed Manchester United for the last twenty years.
It only took Clayton Dubilier & Rice three years to trash Morrisons though.
The original private owners (presumably the family?) sold to the highest bidder. CD&R have proved so wildly incompetent that they took a profitable business that was subject to a bidding war to near bankruptcy.
To judge whether incompetence, one first needs to look at how the financial situation of CD&R has been affected by their ownership of Morrisons.
I'm not sure how it would be drafted, but there does seem to be a need to be able to penalise thosewho strip money from a business which then fails, without penalising those who are unlucky (or even just honestly incompetent). We've seen a lot of 'failures' where the business owners have done very nicely, thank you.
The thing that confuses me about these is that a lot of bad debt seems to be created. The model seems to be to walk away from massive amounts of debt when the business goes bankrupt. So you would think that the lenders would cotton on and stop lending to these outfits. Why isn't that happening?
My pet theory, based on no high finance experience or knowledge in particular is that v the need for much of the world to move ever larger amounts of long terms savings through decades of time, i.e. pensions for people living longer globally, means a glut of spreadsheet cash that needs to be invested and a relative lack of good investments to absorb all this cash.
I could be wildly out on this because that's not how finance works, but I'd love to know how the ever expanding need for global pension funding influences the markets.
After 2007, does anyone even now know where all the money is??
Indeed, it's called the global savings glut hypothesis, and has been mooted as an explanation for the period of relatively low interest rates we've experienced this century, even as government debt has continued to rise. I find it quite plausible, as the share of safe assets as a share of global GDP remains quite low despite the US and other governments issuing so many bonds. That means these safe assets can command a relatively high price, ie have a low yield. Meanwhile low investment (also demographics related) means there are fewer productive places to park the money. Your thinking is definitely along the right lines.
I agree with this hypothesis - it also accounts for wild valuations of successful companies. See Apple, Tesla etc
Sounds like it would make sense to tax these savings and spend them on productive investments in national infrastructure - transport, energy, maybe even a space program.
Better that than having £bns being used to bankrupt a major supermarket.
This is a bit off-centre for here, but I'm rather interested in the fact that Trump himself is rather interested in UFO's.
He's made various threats to release various kinds of information, at various times, which might be possibly the only interesting thing about an another upcoming disastrous Trump Presidency, if that happens.
Just got out from watching PMQs from the public gallery. Interesting experience - good robust knockabout stuff. Sunak did as well as could be expected given he seems determined to hang on to Hester’s £10m. Diane Abbot was clearly desperate to speak - jumping up at every pause - but surprisingly not called by the Speaker.
Survation have just put out a survey in the field focusing on tactical voting - strikingly, they ask the same thing in different ways, presumably to tease out any leaning to vote tactically, and specifically ask for constituency, so possibly paid by a party to judge where the "only we can win here" line might be effective.
With a much more advanced (I think almost completed) count, Trump has in fact won every county in Georgia including DeKalb (he's currently ahead by around 16% there).
No, I do not want Trump to win the election to “save the west” - I was entertaining myself with the Colombian/UK time difference - an experiment to see if PB is so attuned to me, so over-sensitive to everything I say, that you would actually notice a single stray two line remark by me at 3am, and get outraged by it
Gratifyingly, you did. So, thanks. It really is the sincerest form of flattery
Will you be issuing one of these after every stupid comment from now on?
Could become quite an overhead.
If I changed my mind and wanted Trump to win I wouldn’t slip it out at 3am UK time, I’d say it loud and proud, and go on about it for day after day until everyone told me to shut up
That’s my shtick - you might have noticed. Also, I am shameless, see the next Gazette for proof
I think you do want Trump to win but you (sensibly) don't go 'loud and proud' about it because the better part of you realizes it's akin to rooting for a natural disaster.
Ok it’s true I WANT TRUMP TO WIN t COME ON, THE DONALD
Thank God I can say it now. All these years of bottling it up in case @kinabalu off of PB felt less of me
Just got out from watching PMQs from the public gallery. Interesting experience - good robust knockabout stuff. Sunak did as well as could be expected given he seems determined to hang on to Hester’s £10m. Diane Abbot was clearly desperate to speak - jumping up at every pause - but surprisingly not called by the Speaker.
Oh, so that explains the shocked noises when the speaker called the final question - the cameras had cut to her a couple of times during earlier questions, but she seemed to be sitting pretty impassively on both occasions. One of the benefits of being in the chamber!
Judging from the live feed, it was another generally subdued performance from the Speaker - I wouldn't at all be surprised if he were to announce that he was stepping down at the end of the parliament.
No, I do not want Trump to win the election to “save the west” - I was entertaining myself with the Colombian/UK time difference - an experiment to see if PB is so attuned to me, so over-sensitive to everything I say, that you would actually notice a single stray two line remark by me at 3am, and get outraged by it
Gratifyingly, you did. So, thanks. It really is the sincerest form of flattery
Will you be issuing one of these after every stupid comment from now on?
Could become quite an overhead.
If I changed my mind and wanted Trump to win I wouldn’t slip it out at 3am UK time, I’d say it loud and proud, and go on about it for day after day until everyone told me to shut up
That’s my shtick - you might have noticed. Also, I am shameless, see the next Gazette for proof
I think you do want Trump to win but you (sensibly) don't go 'loud and proud' about it because the better part of you realizes it's akin to rooting for a natural disaster.
Ok it’s true I WANT TRUMP TO WIN t COME ON, THE DONALD
Thank God I can say it now. All these years of bottling it up in case @kinabalu off of PB felt less of me
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Indeed totally unacceptable and immoral. This sort of thing turns people against capitalism as it is practiced in the west and looking for a better system.
Its not just Private Equity, Governments have been doing the same thing.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
..who also ruined the BBC.
McKinsey/Birt 1994,after which BBC TV was never the same again.
Especially the news side. Although TV Drama on the BBC was arguably far better in the early 2000's - 2010 than it was in the early nineties.
Documentary-making suffered terribly, though, which was part of Britain's global reputation.
In the late '80s early '90s, as we've dscussed often on here, you could find documentaries on literally anything on BBC2, and Channel 4, also, before its deliberately commercial advertising restructuring fed through, on its own side.
No, I do not want Trump to win the election to “save the west” - I was entertaining myself with the Colombian/UK time difference - an experiment to see if PB is so attuned to me, so over-sensitive to everything I say, that you would actually notice a single stray two line remark by me at 3am, and get outraged by it
Gratifyingly, you did. So, thanks. It really is the sincerest form of flattery
Will you be issuing one of these after every stupid comment from now on?
Could become quite an overhead.
If I changed my mind and wanted Trump to win I wouldn’t slip it out at 3am UK time, I’d say it loud and proud, and go on about it for day after day until everyone told me to shut up
That’s my shtick - you might have noticed. Also, I am shameless, see the next Gazette for proof
I think you do want Trump to win but you (sensibly) don't go 'loud and proud' about it because the better part of you realizes it's akin to rooting for a natural disaster.
Ok it’s true I WANT TRUMP TO WIN t COME ON, THE DONALD
Thank God I can say it now. All these years of bottling it up in case @kinabalu off of PB felt less of me
“Voters, donors, and staff alike are either fleeing the MAGA-fied Republican party or being chaotically forced out in a mass purge, casting a troubling shadow on the committee’s balance sheet and their prospects at the ballot box leading into a critical election year,” wrote DNC executive director Sam Cornale
I think the down ballot point is quite interesting. The combination of Trump and the chaos in the House as the result of the GOPs utter incompetence could lead to big problems for the Republicans across the ticket.
I have many rock-ribbed Republican friends who openly call Trump as fascist and will not come out for MAGA candidates. Could it be that, despite the apparently close polls, in fact the Republicans are facing the same debilitating disease as Tories in the UK? "I may be a conservative, but I am not with this Tory Party".
Squeezed for cash, chaotically managed, with a Presidential nominee who is a proven liar and a crook, one could easily see decent Republicans walking away, as they seem to have done in Georgia.
In which case, shouldn´t we be thinking more about a Dem landslide, rather than the return of Trump?
In the UK the unpopularity of the Tories is rejected in the opinion polls - they're averaging ~25%. If your hypothesis was true we would see it in the opinion polls. But we don't. Why?
Either because Biden is sufficiently unpopular to put potential switchers off, or most Republican voters are committed to Trump.
Just got out from watching PMQs from the public gallery. Interesting experience - good robust knockabout stuff. Sunak did as well as could be expected given he seems determined to hang on to Hester’s £10m. Diane Abbot was clearly desperate to speak - jumping up at every pause - but surprisingly not called by the Speaker.
Is it civilised in the gallery, or are you dragged down to the antics on the floor - cheering, jeering, rude hand gestures, ‘basic instinct’ distractions?
Pretty pish that despite Abbott being the main subject of PMQs and evidently wanting to have a say, she wasn't called. Was the flabby old Lancashire hotpot in charge of proceedings?
Just got out from watching PMQs from the public gallery. Interesting experience - good robust knockabout stuff. Sunak did as well as could be expected given he seems determined to hang on to Hester’s £10m. Diane Abbot was clearly desperate to speak - jumping up at every pause - but surprisingly not called by the Speaker.
That in a nutshell is why Hoyle is a poor Speaker, he's followed the rules to the letter (alternate between opposition and government side). Trouble was today Tories only had 4 spaces on the order of questions so Q8 Miriam Cates got called before Q2 Janet Daby and he had to find six Tories to speak to make up for the gaps between Opposition questions. Hoyle would have had to go six more questions before he would have felt able to call Diane Abbott to speak. A good Speaker would have known that today would be a good point to break the rules or failing that to allow Diane Abbott to make a brief statement to the House immediately after PMQs.
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Indeed totally unacceptable and immoral. This sort of thing turns people against capitalism as it is practiced in the west and looking for a better system.
Its not just Private Equity, Governments have been doing the same thing.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
..who also ruined the BBC.
McKinsey/Birt 1994,after which BBC TV was never the same again.
Especially the news side. Although TV Drama on the BBC was arguably far better in the early 2000's - 2010 than it was in the early nineties.
Documentary-making suffered terribly, though, which was part of Britain's global reputation.
In the late '80s early '90s, as we've dscussed often on here, you could find documentaries on literally anything on BBC2, and Channel 4, also, before its deliberately commercial advertising restructuring fed through, on its own side.
Just got out from watching PMQs from the public gallery. Interesting experience - good robust knockabout stuff. Sunak did as well as could be expected given he seems determined to hang on to Hester’s £10m. Diane Abbot was clearly desperate to speak - jumping up at every pause - but surprisingly not called by the Speaker.
That in a nutshell is why Hoyle is a poor Speaker, he's followed the rules to the letter (alternate between opposition and government side). Trouble was today Tories only had 4 spaces on the order of questions so Q8 Miriam Cates got called before Q2 Janet Daby and he had to find six Tories to speak to make up for the gaps between Opposition questions. Hoyle would have had to go six more questions before he would have felt able to call Diane Abbott to speak. A good Speaker would have known that today would be a good point to break the rules or failing that to allow Diane Abbott to make a brief statement to the House immediately after PMQs.
@foxinsoxuk It's a feature of the modern era, from Manchester United, to Spire Hospitals to Morrisons. Its also an issue behind the inflated Vets fees in the news this week, contracts for children's institutional care, General Practice etc.
The common factor is Private Equity taking over and looting the system with financial engineering and charges delivered by a casualised and dumbed down workforce. There is little or no attempt at improving the quality or competitiveness of the business. Its how we end up increasing spending and getting a shit service.
As i say unacceptable face of Capitalism
Indeed totally unacceptable and immoral. This sort of thing turns people against capitalism as it is practiced in the west and looking for a better system.
Its not just Private Equity, Governments have been doing the same thing.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
..who also ruined the BBC.
McKinsey/Birt 1994,after which BBC TV was never the same again.
Especially the news side. Although TV Drama on the BBC was arguably far better in the early 2000's - 2010 than it was in the early nineties.
Documentary-making suffered terribly, though, which was part of Britain's global reputation.
In the late '80s early '90s, as we've dscussed often on here, you could find documentaries on literally anything on BBC2, and Channel 4, also, before its deliberately commercial advertising restructuring fed through, on its own side.
Just got out from watching PMQs from the public gallery. Interesting experience - good robust knockabout stuff. Sunak did as well as could be expected given he seems determined to hang on to Hester’s £10m. Diane Abbot was clearly desperate to speak - jumping up at every pause - but surprisingly not called by the Speaker.
Oh, so that explains the shocked noises when the speaker called the final question - the cameras had cut to her a couple of times during earlier questions, but she seemed to be sitting pretty impassively on both occasions. One of the benefits of being in the chamber!
Judging from the live feed, it was another generally subdued performance from the Speaker - I wouldn't at all be surprised if he were to announce that he was stepping down at the end of the parliament.
“Judging from the live feed, it was another generally subdued performance from the Speaker - I wouldn't at all be surprised if he were to announce that he was stepping down at the end of the parliament.”
Strangely enough I think having his pomposity punctured has made him better at PMQs, he lets the game flow without blowing up every other second.
This is a bit off-centre for here, but I'm rather interested in the fact that Trump himself is rather interested in UFO's.
He's made various threats to release various kinds of information, at various times, which might be possibly the only interesting thing about an another upcoming disastrous Trump Presidency, if that happens.
In that case Leon might explode which would also be marginally interesting.
“Voters, donors, and staff alike are either fleeing the MAGA-fied Republican party or being chaotically forced out in a mass purge, casting a troubling shadow on the committee’s balance sheet and their prospects at the ballot box leading into a critical election year,” wrote DNC executive director Sam Cornale
I think the down ballot point is quite interesting. The combination of Trump and the chaos in the House as the result of the GOPs utter incompetence could lead to big problems for the Republicans across the ticket.
I have many rock-ribbed Republican friends who openly call Trump as fascist and will not come out for MAGA candidates. Could it be that, despite the apparently close polls, in fact the Republicans are facing the same debilitating disease as Tories in the UK? "I may be a conservative, but I am not with this Tory Party".
Squeezed for cash, chaotically managed, with a Presidential nominee who is a proven liar and a crook, one could easily see decent Republicans walking away, as they seem to have done in Georgia.
In which case, shouldn´t we be thinking more about a Dem landslide, rather than the return of Trump?
In the UK the unpopularity of the Tories is rejected in the opinion polls - they're averaging ~25%. If your hypothesis was true we would see it in the opinion polls. But we don't. Why?
Either because Biden is sufficiently unpopular to put potential switchers off, or most Republican voters are committed to Trump.
What may have an effect is the RNC machine being turned over to the MAGA types. They have a skills in fucking up.
American elections are quite dependent on the party machines for energising and getting their vote out.
Just got out from watching PMQs from the public gallery. Interesting experience - good robust knockabout stuff. Sunak did as well as could be expected given he seems determined to hang on to Hester’s £10m. Diane Abbot was clearly desperate to speak - jumping up at every pause - but surprisingly not called by the Speaker.
Starmer must have told the Speaker not to call her.
This is a bit off-centre for here, but I'm rather interested in the fact that Trump himself is rather interested in UFO's.
He's made various threats to release various kinds of information, at various times, which might be possibly the only interesting thing about an another upcoming disastrous Trump Presidency, if that happens.
In that case Leon might explode which would also be marginally interesting.
Listening to Sunak, summarised by the BBC: PM says race row donor has shown 'remorse' as he resists calls to return cash.
He won't admit or do anything until the hole below the waterline has already been made.
Is there a word for "haplessness magnet"?
The trouble with saying he has shown "remorse" is that (as far as I know) he is still denying anything other than rudeness.
Racism is what people are complaining about, not rudeness. Obviously rudeness is par for the course in politics.
Quite so. Seeing Diane Abbott on the TV makes me want to hate all black women. She should be shot. Sorry, that was a bit rude of me, I wish I hadn't said it.
Just got out from watching PMQs from the public gallery. Interesting experience - good robust knockabout stuff. Sunak did as well as could be expected given he seems determined to hang on to Hester’s £10m. Diane Abbot was clearly desperate to speak - jumping up at every pause - but surprisingly not called by the Speaker.
That in a nutshell is why Hoyle is a poor Speaker, he's followed the rules to the letter (alternate between opposition and government side). Trouble was today Tories only had 4 spaces on the order of questions so Q8 Miriam Cates got called before Q2 Janet Daby and he had to find six Tories to speak to make up for the gaps between Opposition questions. Hoyle would have had to go six more questions before he would have felt able to call Diane Abbott to speak. A good Speaker would have known that today would be a good point to break the rules or failing that to allow Diane Abbott to make a brief statement to the House immediately after PMQs.
Starmer has approached Diane Abbott as she sits on the back benches in the chamber. They pair had a short chat. SNP leader also did the same and a number of labour MPs also sitting with her now. Clear frustration that she wasn’t called for a Q today. https://twitter.com/KateEMcCann/status/1767892593914818660
“Voters, donors, and staff alike are either fleeing the MAGA-fied Republican party or being chaotically forced out in a mass purge, casting a troubling shadow on the committee’s balance sheet and their prospects at the ballot box leading into a critical election year,” wrote DNC executive director Sam Cornale
I think the down ballot point is quite interesting. The combination of Trump and the chaos in the House as the result of the GOPs utter incompetence could lead to big problems for the Republicans across the ticket.
I have many rock-ribbed Republican friends who openly call Trump as fascist and will not come out for MAGA candidates. Could it be that, despite the apparently close polls, in fact the Republicans are facing the same debilitating disease as Tories in the UK? "I may be a conservative, but I am not with this Tory Party".
Squeezed for cash, chaotically managed, with a Presidential nominee who is a proven liar and a crook, one could easily see decent Republicans walking away, as they seem to have done in Georgia.
In which case, shouldn´t we be thinking more about a Dem landslide, rather than the return of Trump?
In the UK the unpopularity of the Tories is rejected in the opinion polls - they're averaging ~25%. If your hypothesis was true we would see it in the opinion polls. But we don't. Why?
Either because Biden is sufficiently unpopular to put potential switchers off, or most Republican voters are committed to Trump.
What may have an effect is the RNC machine being turned over to the MAGA types. They have a skills in fucking up.
American elections are quite dependent on the party machines for energising and getting their vote out.
Double disastrous for the Republicans, as Covid in 2020 held the Democrats back in their usual GOTV operations.
“Voters, donors, and staff alike are either fleeing the MAGA-fied Republican party or being chaotically forced out in a mass purge, casting a troubling shadow on the committee’s balance sheet and their prospects at the ballot box leading into a critical election year,” wrote DNC executive director Sam Cornale
I think the down ballot point is quite interesting. The combination of Trump and the chaos in the House as the result of the GOPs utter incompetence could lead to big problems for the Republicans across the ticket.
I have many rock-ribbed Republican friends who openly call Trump as fascist and will not come out for MAGA candidates. Could it be that, despite the apparently close polls, in fact the Republicans are facing the same debilitating disease as Tories in the UK? "I may be a conservative, but I am not with this Tory Party".
Squeezed for cash, chaotically managed, with a Presidential nominee who is a proven liar and a crook, one could easily see decent Republicans walking away, as they seem to have done in Georgia.
In which case, shouldn´t we be thinking more about a Dem landslide, rather than the return of Trump?
In the UK the unpopularity of the Tories is rejected in the opinion polls - they're averaging ~25%. If your hypothesis was true we would see it in the opinion polls. But we don't. Why?
Either because Biden is sufficiently unpopular to put potential switchers off, or most Republican voters are committed to Trump.
What may have an effect is the RNC machine being turned over to the MAGA types. They have a skills in fucking up.
American elections are quite dependent on the party machines for energising and getting their vote out.
Double disastrous for the Republicans, as Covid in 2020 held the Democrats back in their usual GOTV operations.
But it also allowed voting for what seemed like months beforehand.....
Progressive record for the combined ages of the two leading US presidential candidates (since stable 2-party system emerged):
1848 - Taylor (63) v Cass (66) - 130 years 1984 - Reagan (73) v Mondale (56) - 130 years 7 months 2016 - Trump (70) v H Clinton (69) - 139 years 5 months 2020 - Biden (77) v Trump (74) - 152 years 4 months 2024 - Trump (78) v Biden (81) - 160 years 4 months
Though Bob Dole in 1996 was older than all of them against Biden and Trump this year
No, I do not want Trump to win the election to “save the west” - I was entertaining myself with the Colombian/UK time difference - an experiment to see if PB is so attuned to me, so over-sensitive to everything I say, that you would actually notice a single stray two line remark by me at 3am, and get outraged by it
Gratifyingly, you did. So, thanks. It really is the sincerest form of flattery
Will you be issuing one of these after every stupid comment from now on?
Could become quite an overhead.
If I changed my mind and wanted Trump to win I wouldn’t slip it out at 3am UK time, I’d say it loud and proud, and go on about it for day after day until everyone told me to shut up
That’s my shtick - you might have noticed. Also, I am shameless, see the next Gazette for proof
I think you do want Trump to win but you (sensibly) don't go 'loud and proud' about it because the better part of you realizes it's akin to rooting for a natural disaster.
Ok it’s true I WANT TRUMP TO WIN t COME ON, THE DONALD
Thank God I can say it now. All these years of bottling it up in case @kinabalu off of PB felt less of me
Pretty pish that despite Abbott being the main subject of PMQs and evidently wanting to have a say, she wasn't called. Was the flabby old Lancashire hotpot in charge of proceedings?
Yes, Hoyle is really starting to look a bit hopeless.
Progressive record for the combined ages of the two leading US presidential candidates (since stable 2-party system emerged):
1848 - Taylor (63) v Cass (66) - 130 years 1984 - Reagan (73) v Mondale (56) - 130 years 7 months 2016 - Trump (70) v H Clinton (69) - 139 years 5 months 2020 - Biden (77) v Trump (74) - 152 years 4 months 2024 - Trump (78) v Biden (81) - 160 years 4 months
Though Bob Dole in 1996 was older than all of them against Biden and Trump this year
“Voters, donors, and staff alike are either fleeing the MAGA-fied Republican party or being chaotically forced out in a mass purge, casting a troubling shadow on the committee’s balance sheet and their prospects at the ballot box leading into a critical election year,” wrote DNC executive director Sam Cornale
I think the down ballot point is quite interesting. The combination of Trump and the chaos in the House as the result of the GOPs utter incompetence could lead to big problems for the Republicans across the ticket.
I have many rock-ribbed Republican friends who openly call Trump as fascist and will not come out for MAGA candidates. Could it be that, despite the apparently close polls, in fact the Republicans are facing the same debilitating disease as Tories in the UK? "I may be a conservative, but I am not with this Tory Party".
Squeezed for cash, chaotically managed, with a Presidential nominee who is a proven liar and a crook, one could easily see decent Republicans walking away, as they seem to have done in Georgia.
In which case, shouldn´t we be thinking more about a Dem landslide, rather than the return of Trump?
In the UK the unpopularity of the Tories is rejected in the opinion polls - they're averaging ~25%. If your hypothesis was true we would see it in the opinion polls. But we don't. Why?
Either because Biden is sufficiently unpopular to put potential switchers off, or most Republican voters are committed to Trump.
What may have an effect is the RNC machine being turned over to the MAGA types. They have a skills in fucking up.
American elections are quite dependent on the party machines for energising and getting their vote out.
Double disastrous for the Republicans, as Covid in 2020 held the Democrats back in their usual GOTV operations.
But it also allowed voting for what seemed like months beforehand.....
American voting policies seem bonkers to us Brits.
Can you imagine being at a count in the UK and the returning officer tells us this is a provisional result as votes can be received weeks after election day.
This is a bit off-centre for here, but I'm rather interested in the fact that Trump himself is rather interested in UFO's.
He's made various threats to release various kinds of information, at various times, which might be possibly the only interesting thing about an another upcoming disastrous Trump Presidency, if that happens.
In that case Leon might explode which would also be marginally interesting.
Trouble is, it’s not true
Bizarrely, as far as I can tell from my research, Trump is the only living President who has NOT made suggestive or ambiguous remarks about UFOs
He came right out and said “it’s all a load of bollocks”
Comments
Most of the time.
For an example of brand influence, it carries a Brompton-alike tri-logo on the box, . "When I grow up I want to be a Brompton, but my owner is a bargain hunter".
Equally interestingly, yesterday I met at the pharmacy a 70 year old very-"Ashfield" bloke who was there on his e-Brompton to collect a prescription. I explained that I was a cheapskake with a Brompton-quality but cheaper single-speeder, and he explained that his e-Brompton was "just under" when I mentioned £3k.
He had come about 3km each way mainly on cycling infra, and explained that he had it for pottering around for errands, social club etc. Quite like OGH and OGH-minor, but not what I expected at this end of Ashfield.
….. to discuss my drug taking.
That is the epitome of a double edged sword If I changed my mind and wanted Trump to win I wouldn’t slip it out at 3am UK time, I’d say it loud and proud, and go on about it for day after day until everyone told me to shut up
That’s my shtick - you might have noticed. Also, I am shameless, see the next Gazette for proof
I was doing a panel this morning with people from PE, and a former minister. It's interesting how much expectation there is of Labour coming in and immediately announcing "that things are much worse than we thought" and raising taxes. There's also a widespread assumption the Tories will cut taxes again before the election but that this won't be sustainable. For Labour ears that's excellent expectation management.
Interestingly the former minister, who shall remain nameless, made multiple references to Ladbrokes odds on various political markets including the UK and US general elections, which did make wonder if they're a poster or lurker on here.
The common thread is management consultants.. Government by McKinsey, of McKinsey and for Mckinsey... (or Boston Consulting, or Bain or...)
A lot of capital is not performiing any useful function, and Britain is also helping with our vast array of tax-havens on the islands and Gibraltar.
Hunt said the process would take years and of course that will eventually mean a higher rate of income tax but that rate will be less than the combined rate and of course an increase in the tax allowance would shield poorer pensioners
Sadly Labour are politicising something that frankly no political party should be against as it is progressive and fair
It's time has come even if it takes a parliament to put in place, and I think @BartholomewRoberts has been a very strong voice on this forum in favour
How’s the weather in St Petersburg?
McKinsey/Birt 1994, after which BBC TV was never the same again.
Which is a merger, in effect. If a protracted and somewhat clumsy one.
"You've got a £46bn black hole in your plans"
"Oh, yeah? Well, you've got a smaller one in yours!"
I opposed fiscal drag previously, but using fiscal drag to eliminate NI is entirely reasonable.
PM says race row donor has shown 'remorse' as he resists calls to return cash.
He won't admit or do anything until the hole below the waterline has already been made.
Is there a word for "haplessness magnet"?
I would just add it will be interesting if equalisation of IT and NI is in the conservative manifesto
Sure they had tat like Big Top but, until recently their offering was fine. It is mainly panel shows now. Mind you the seventies and eighties had its clunkers like Come Back Mrs Noah and Wyatt's Watchdogs.
In the late '80s early '90s, as we've dscussed often on here, you could find documentaries on literally anything on BBC2, and Channel 4, also, before its deliberately commercial advertising restructuring fed through on its own side, also.
COME ON, THE DONALD
Thank God I can say it now. All these years of bottling it up in case @kinabalu off of PB felt less of me
TRUMP MUST WIN
TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP
TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP
pause
TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP
TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP
The more political gangs had seized the airport and the port to make sure that the President was unable to return to the island. Whether they have the power to hold onto these longer term wasn't clear but it appeared that the police and army had pretty much fallen apart. I think that the last thing Biden needs right now is another international conflict with a serious risk of body bags but other than the US it is difficult to see who could hope to restore order.
TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP
TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP
TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP
TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP
Stop Trumping!
Boeing whistle-blower found dead on his way to testify against the company in a hearing.
I'll just say what the Boeing workers are saying.
Boeing aircraft are extremely dangerous since they got involved with McDonnell Douglas...
https://x.com/AvonandsomerRob/status/1767582881772151088?s=20
“Voters, donors, and staff alike are either fleeing the MAGA-fied Republican party or being chaotically forced out in a mass purge, casting a troubling shadow on the committee’s balance sheet and their prospects at the ballot box leading into a critical election year,” wrote DNC executive director Sam Cornale
I think the down ballot point is quite interesting. The combination of Trump and the chaos in the House as the result of the GOPs utter incompetence could lead to big problems for the Republicans across the ticket.
I have many rock-ribbed Republican friends who openly call Trump as fascist and will not come out for MAGA candidates. Could it be that, despite the apparently close polls, in fact the Republicans are facing the same debilitating disease as Tories in the UK? "I may be a conservative, but I am not with this Tory Party".
Squeezed for cash, chaotically managed, with a Presidential nominee who is a proven liar and a crook, one could easily see decent Republicans walking away, as they seem to have done in Georgia.
In which case, shouldn´t we be thinking more about a Dem landslide, rather than the return of Trump?
Thankyou
Better that than having £bns being used to bankrupt a major supermarket.
He's made various threats to release various kinds of information, at various times, which might be possibly the only interesting thing about an another upcoming disastrous Trump Presidency, if that happens.
The taxi will be here soon, unless you want to wait for the ambulance.
Judging from the live feed, it was another generally subdued performance from the Speaker - I wouldn't at all be surprised if he were to announce that he was stepping down at the end of the parliament.
He's the most brainwashed person here.
Either because Biden is sufficiently unpopular to put potential switchers off, or most Republican voters are committed to Trump.
When do we want it - Now.
As long as it does not cost us any money, of course
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/waspi-and-women-s-pensions-the-key-facts-you-need-to-know/ar-BB1jOSyT?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=1d4ad46434c54856beddc52e6fa46070&ei=11
BREXIT
GAZA
usually sets most people off here
Strangely enough I think having his pomposity punctured has made him better at PMQs, he lets the game flow without blowing up every other second.
Has he run out of teabags 😈
Racism is what people are complaining about, not rudeness. Obviously rudeness is par for the course in politics.
American elections are quite dependent on the party machines for energising and getting their vote out.
The Tories are making it much worse for themselves.
How can this line hold, it is patently absurd.
Seeing Diane Abbott on the TV makes me want to hate all black women.
She should be shot.
Sorry, that was a bit rude of me, I wish I hadn't said it.
Not good enough.
https://twitter.com/KateEMcCann/status/1767892593914818660
That completely shags my plans to ge to BOLIVAR’S DEATH PLACE and I miss my bus
We are trying an experimental new route
Can you imagine being at a count in the UK and the returning officer tells us this is a provisional result as votes can be received weeks after election day.
(My coat awaits.)
Bizarrely, as far as I can tell from my research, Trump is the only living President who has NOT made suggestive or ambiguous remarks about UFOs
He came right out and said “it’s all a load of bollocks”
Make of that what you will
https://twitter.com/Conservatives/status/1767894853902377351?t=GkeMMCBRCsjSVOZ4sDiEqg&s=19