Not saying much at the moment. None of them are too popular.
How often are top level politicians ever that popular? I suppose Sturgeon probably was for quite a while, and Blair at the start, but even those who are net positive often aren't by much.
It's on the same level we can accurately say that the Tories were and have been the most popular political party over the whole UK for more than a decade (regionally others have done been more so). Not necessarily that popular, but the most popular, however much that upset those they defeated.
Trump: Look at Paris. Look at London. They're no longer recognizable. I'm going to get myself into a lot of trouble, but you know what? That's the fact, they are no longer recognizable. We can't let that happen here
He's entirely right. The demographic shift in London is incredible. It was 80-90% native white British within living memory, just two or three decades? Now native whites are a minority. You can, of course, argue whether this is good or bad, or a mix, but has it happened? Yes
Trying to deny it will make Dems looks stupid. Don't do it
There's a slight difference between London and Paris though, which Trump wouldn't know or care about, which is that hardly anyone in London cares about race because most people get along fine 99% of the time. That isn't the impression one gets in Paris.
London is a great city . With different cultures mixing and very little problems on that front . I love going up for the day , it has a great buzz and I love the diversity . Sadly the same can’t be said for Paris . I love France generally and have spent lots of time there , months at a time but I tend to avoid Paris now.
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
What they need is stop being so self serving, get off the fat arse of their sitting, and help the charities helping war torn people everywhere - not just Palestinians they see on their news, but the Sudanese and others they don’t.
Where's the Jew-hating angle in Sudan? They're not going to waste their energy.
Perhaps least unpopular would be slightly more accurate.
I see plenty think Starmer will swiftly plumb Sunakian levels of unpopularity once elected. Perhaps even Trussite or Johnsonian marks of unfavourability or it may just be because @isam doesn't like him.
MY feeling is after the election and presuming Starmer wins big, the vast majority will switch off from politics and just let him get on with it. There are plenty on the Conservative side who said in 1997 people would soon see through "phoney Tony" and the Conservatives would be back - didn't quite work out like that, did it?
I think Starmer will be a decent Prime Minister certainly by contrast with the no-marks of the last 15 years. He's no Blair and he's no Thatcher of course but that won't stop him doing a decent job and his most serious issues are likely to be internal Labour discipline but if he wins big and takes Labour back to power he'll be afforded plenty of slack.
Well we don't need another war criminal as PM - nor do most people wish to see a return of the Anti-Christ
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
What monkey sees monkey does.
What an asinine comment. If you knew anything about social psychology, you'd know that good Samaritanism can spread fast once the first person does some. Doesn't apply much to pickpocketing.
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
I thought that these Hamas apologists already had a slogan. Something about a river and the sea.
Trump: Look at Paris. Look at London. They're no longer recognizable. I'm going to get myself into a lot of trouble, but you know what? That's the fact, they are no longer recognizable. We can't let that happen here
He's entirely right. The demographic shift in London is incredible. It was 80-90% native white British within living memory, just two or three decades? Now native whites are a minority. You can, of course, argue whether this is good or bad, or a mix, but has it happened? Yes
Trying to deny it will make Dems looks stupid. Don't do it
Historically, looking at London since 1066 (at least) it’s been mostly migrant.
Turn again, Whittington!
London is now 15-20% Muslim, and that has happened in a couple of decades. The idea this isn't a massive cultural revolution is insane, of course it is
It is probably the biggest, quickest cultural change since London was refounded by the Normans in 1066
And I'd love to believe London is some harmonious cultural melting pot leading the way - I adore my home town - I just don't think it is true. Sadly. I feel about immigration the way I felt about Brexit in, say, 2006. The powers-that-be are ignoring all the massive warning signs (this is true across the West, this isn't a British thing) and they are powering on with their great immigration experiment, and I feel it will end in the same tragic rupture as Brexit. We will see hard right governments elected across Europe and they will be brutal and cruel
Of course this could still be averted with a total clampdown on migration, and some serious attempts at assimilation, but it won't happen, the elite is too invested in the Project. It grieves me
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
Bliss was it in that dawn...Part of the charm of being young is that you can effortlessly moralise about distant events exactly one discrete item at a time, ignore all counter arguments, shift the subject at will, know that you are absolutely right, take no responsibility for consequences and still get a decent job in financial services at the end of it.
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
What monkey sees monkey does.
It is cringeworthy. Our students can't even come up with a homegrown cause to get their knickers in a twist about.
I'm not as worried generally as I believe you are about our underling status viz a viz the USA, but the copy cat stuff that goes on at the protest level is often just sad. Sure, they could be spontaneously interested in the issue, students be students, butcall me skeptical.
Maybe they need to have copies of This is not America airdropped in.
Just voted. Kim McGuiness with no great enthusiasm.
I was quite pleased to vote Kim as she was the only one who had the decency to come around and ask for my vote. Plus the other options were a Corbynite, 3 guys who looked like sex offenders, and 1 guy who seemed like the type of person to get up early on a Sunday to have a run. So even if she hadn't I'd still have been on team MILF.
Not for lack of trying, my postal vote (which I usually deliver in person) got lost in all my travels
For the record I would have voted against the awful Khan, dunno who for tho. Possibly binface
I didn't vote either . First time ever in 52 yrs. I wonder how the non voters will affect the GE when it comes.
A 2001 result vs a 1997 result - just as bad in terms of seats for the Tories, but they will hope further along the road to recovery as the incoming government is not carried in on a high turnout.
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
What monkey sees monkey does.
It is cringeworthy. Our students can't even come up with a homegrown cause to get their knickers in a twist about.
I'm not as worried generally as I believe you are about our underling status viz a viz the USA, but the copy cat stuff that goes on at the protest level is often just sad. Sure, they could be spontaneously interested in the issue, students be students, butcall me skeptical.
Maybe they need to have copies of This is not America airdropped in.
They're just plain stupid. And these are the ones going to university.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
1970 had Northern Ireland heading towards civil war.
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
What monkey sees monkey does.
What an asinine comment. If you knew anything about social psychology, you'd know that good Samaritanism can spread fast once the first person does some. Doesn't apply much to pickpocketing.
I got an email from one of the universities I'm an alumnus of telling me about the tent protest there. This is clearly expected to spread.
Just voted. Kim McGuiness with no great enthusiasm.
I was quite pleased to vote Kim as she was the only one who had the decency to come around and ask for my vote. Plus the other options were a Corbynite, 3 guys who looked like sex offenders, and 1 guy who seemed like the type of person to get up early on a Sunday to have a run. So even if she hadn't I'd still have been on team MILF.
So now I've broken my Labour virginity.
Bless you . Your bit about the guy re the run on Sunday is so funny .
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted Heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
Trump: Look at Paris. Look at London. They're no longer recognizable. I'm going to get myself into a lot of trouble, but you know what? That's the fact, they are no longer recognizable. We can't let that happen here
He's entirely right. The demographic shift in London is incredible. It was 80-90% native white British within living memory, just two or three decades? Now native whites are a minority. You can, of course, argue whether this is good or bad, or a mix, but has it happened? Yes
Trying to deny it will make Dems looks stupid. Don't do it
Historically, looking at London since 1066 (at least) it’s been mostly migrant.
Turn again, Whittington!
London is now 15-20% Muslim, and that has happened in a couple of decades. The idea this isn't a massive cultural revolution is insane, of course it is
It is probably the biggest, quickest cultural change since London was refounded by the Normans in 1066
And I'd love to believe London is some harmonious cultural melting pot leading the way - I adore my home town - I just don't think it is true. Sadly. I feel about immigration the way I felt about Brexit in, say, 2006. The powers-that-be are ignoring all the massive warning signs (this is true across the West, this isn't a British thing) and they are powering on with their great immigration experiment, and I feel it will end in the same tragic rupture as Brexit. We will see hard right governments elected across Europe and they will be brutal and cruel
Of course this could still be averted with a total clampdown on migration, and some serious attempts at assimilation, but it won't happen, the elite is too invested in the Project. It grieves me
This Government are having a go with Rwanda.
But they need to tighten up on legal migration too.
The dependent visas take the absolute piss. It's a backdoor in via joker courses and it shouldn't be allowed.
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
What monkey sees monkey does.
It is cringeworthy. Our students can't even come up with a homegrown cause to get their knickers in a twist about.
. POaI'm not as worried generally as I believe you are about our underling status viz a viz the USA, but the copy cat stuff that goes on at the protest level is often just sad. Sure, they could be spontaneously interested in the issue, students be students, butcall me skeptical.
Maybe they need to have copies of This is not America airdropped in.
They're just plain stupid. And these are the ones going to university.
Reverse Flynn Effect in action. The young really ARE stupider, and here we see that evidenced. Part of this can be blamed on migration from less cognitively blessed areas of the world, and of course by the multiple impacts of Covid and lockdown - but not all of it
"Overall, on average, the PISA 2022 assessment saw an unprecedented drop in performance across the OECD. Compared to 2018, mean performance fell by 10 score points in reading and by almost 15 score points in maths"
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
1970 had Northern Ireland heading towards civil war.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
1970 had Northern Ireland heading towards civil war.
The height of the cold war.
Inflation problems and about to get much worse.
Strike problems and about to get much worse.
Unemployment was circa 600,000 and the economy was growing at a reasonable rate. Inflation was circa 5%.
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
What monkey sees monkey does.
It is cringeworthy. Our students can't even come up with a homegrown cause to get their knickers in a twist about.
. POaI'm not as worried generally as I believe you are about our underling status viz a viz the USA, but the copy cat stuff that goes on at the protest level is often just sad. Sure, they could be spontaneously interested in the issue, students be students, butcall me skeptical.
Maybe they need to have copies of This is not America airdropped in.
They're just plain stupid. And these are the ones going to university.
Reverse Flynn Effect in action. The young really ARE stupider, and here we see that evidenced. Part of this can be blamed on migration from less cognitively blessed areas of the world, and of course by the multiple impacts of Covid and lockdown - but not all of it
"Overall, on average, the PISA 2022 assessment saw an unprecedented drop in performance across the OECD. Compared to 2018, mean performance fell by 10 score points in reading and by almost 15 score points in maths"
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
What monkey sees monkey does.
It is cringeworthy. Our students can't even come up with a homegrown cause to get their knickers in a twist about.
Back in v. late 50’s I got my knickers in EVER such a twist about apartheid! Our Students Union was resolutely non-political but I got it to object about apartheid. I was, and am, quite proud of that.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted Heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
Ted Heath was fantastically shit.
Plumbed the depths of Truss and May. Easily.
Oh it might well be argued that Heath wasted the inheritance bequeathed by the outgoing Wilson government.
Trump: Look at Paris. Look at London. They're no longer recognizable. I'm going to get myself into a lot of trouble, but you know what? That's the fact, they are no longer recognizable. We can't let that happen here
He's entirely right. The demographic shift in London is incredible. It was 80-90% native white British within living memory, just two or three decades? Now native whites are a minority. You can, of course, argue whether this is good or bad, or a mix, but has it happened? Yes
Trying to deny it will make Dems looks stupid. Don't do it
Historically, looking at London since 1066 (at least) it’s been mostly migrant.
Turn again, Whittington!
London is now 15-20% Muslim, and that has happened in a couple of decades. The idea this isn't a massive cultural revolution is insane, of course it is
It is probably the biggest, quickest cultural change since London was refounded by the Normans in 1066
And I'd love to believe London is some harmonious cultural melting pot leading the way - I adore my home town - I just don't think it is true. Sadly. I feel about immigration the way I felt about Brexit in, say, 2006. The powers-that-be are ignoring all the massive warning signs (this is true across the West, this isn't a British thing) and they are powering on with their great immigration experiment, and I feel it will end in the same tragic rupture as Brexit. We will see hard right governments elected across Europe and they will be brutal and cruel
Of course this could still be averted with a total clampdown on migration, and some serious attempts at assimilation, but it won't happen, the elite is too invested in the Project. It grieves me
This Government are having a go with Rwanda.
But they need to tighten up on legal migration too.
The dependent visas take the absolute piss. It's a backdoor in via joker courses and it shouldn't be allowed.
We've had 14 years of Tory government and they have done fuck all. Fuck them. They got a stern ticking off with the Brexit vote, and what did they do? Increase immigration by extraordinary amounts, unprecedented in our history. They are useless and despicable, I hope they die
As I read French history, the comparisons with the end of the Ancien Regime are quite stunning. The tin-eared stupidity, the embedded hypocrisy, the frenetic emphasis on status amongst a tiny elite, even as the lower orders mutiny and prepare the guiillotine. The role of the church is replaced by the role of the Woke, paying obeisance to an insane God only they can see
We are headed for civil strife and terrible turmoil, in Europe
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
1970 had Northern Ireland heading towards civil war.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
1970 had Northern Ireland heading towards civil war.
The height of the cold war.
Inflation problems and about to get much worse.
Strike problems and about to get much worse.
Unemployment was circa 600,000 and the economy was growing at a reasonable rate. Inflation was circa 5%.
Yet despite all these miracles the 66-70 Labour government ranked as one of the most unpopular.
And that's without having to deal with all the 'events' that happened during the 1970s which steadily crippled Heath's government and then steadily crippled the subsequent Wilson/Callaghan government.
Voted Lib Dems in the locals. The only ones who leafleted were Lib Dem and Tory and both candidates seemed like decent people. Met and been canvassed by both in the past 12 months which has never happened before either, if it wasn't for party I'd happily vote for either on an individual basis.
Not heard diddly squat from Labour who simply haven't bothered.
On a party basis I won't vote for Sunak's Tories while he stands in the way of getting enough construction done to solve the crisis we have as a country of a housing shortage. Had the LDs been NIMBY then I wouldn't have voted for them either, but there's been no NIMBYism so they got my vote.
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
What monkey sees monkey does.
What an asinine comment. If you knew anything about social psychology, you'd know that good Samaritanism can spread fast once the first person does some. Doesn't apply much to pickpocketing.
I got an email from one of the universities I'm an alumnus of telling me about the tent protest there. This is clearly expected to spread.
I can't tell if this is satire or not but my recollection is the good Samaritan got stuck in and actually did stuff, not stand on the other side protesting. There's no shortage of very poor and deeply f___ked up people in Los Angeles. Let's think for a moment how many of the UCLA protesters are giving time and money to outreach programs for those people? I'm a seller without even knowing the spread.
I don't believe the young are more stupid than they used to be, purely judging on my anecdotal experiences. But one thing that does seem weird is people I know with kids talking about how bad their attention spans are now - cannot even watch a movie or tv show sort of thing without getting distracted kind of comment - as though it is something inevitable or impossible to amend. It just seems pretty implausble that even if kids are indeed now mostly watching youtube or tiktok (I'm mostly the former myself) that its impossible to get them to concentrate, that's so infantilising (even for kids).
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
What monkey sees monkey does.
It is cringeworthy. Our students can't even come up with a homegrown cause to get their knickers in a twist about.
. POaI'm not as worried generally as I believe you are about our underling status viz a viz the USA, but the copy cat stuff that goes on at the protest level is often just sad. Sure, they could be spontaneously interested in the issue, students be students, butcall me skeptical.
Maybe they need to have copies of This is not America airdropped in.
They're just plain stupid. And these are the ones going to university.
Reverse Flynn Effect in action. The young really ARE stupider, and here we see that evidenced. Part of this can be blamed on migration from less cognitively blessed areas of the world, and of course by the multiple impacts of Covid and lockdown - but not all of it
"Overall, on average, the PISA 2022 assessment saw an unprecedented drop in performance across the OECD. Compared to 2018, mean performance fell by 10 score points in reading and by almost 15 score points in maths"
The number of Muslims in London has more than doubled since 2001 - the only group with a similar rate of increase is those with No Religion (now at 27%). Christians have fallen numerically from 58% to 41%.
I'm not sure London "is a Muslim city". It's not a Christian city any longer - arguably it's becoming more secular and less religious.
Voted Lib Dems in the locals. The only ones who leafleted were Lib Dem and Tory and both candidates seemed like decent people. Met and been canvassed by both in the past 12 months which has never happened before either, if it wasn't for party I'd happily vote for either on an individual basis.
Not heard diddly squat from Labour who simply haven't bothered.
On a party basis I won't vote for Sunak's Tories while he stands in the way of getting enough construction done to solve the crisis we have as a country of a housing shortage. Had the LDs been NIMBY then I wouldn't have voted for them either, but there's been no NIMBYism so they got my vote.
A local LD not being NIMBY? A local any party not being NIMBY? I wish to move to this utopia you apparently reside in!
The number of Muslims in London has more than doubled since 2001 - the only group with a similar rate of increase is those with No Religion (now at 27%). Christians have fallen numerically from 58% to 41%.
I'm not sure London "is a Muslim city". It's not a Christian city any longer - arguably it's becoming more secular and less religious.
Has anyone said London is "a Muslim city"? No. I look again down the thread, and.... Nope. No one said that. So why erect this straw man?
I don't believe the young are more stupid than they used to be, purely judging on my anecdotal experiences. But one thing that does seem weird is people I know with kids talking about how bad their attention spans are now - cannot even watch a movie or tv show sort of thing without getting distracted kind of comment - as though it is something inevitable or impossible to amend. It just seems pretty implausble that even if kids are indeed now mostly watching youtube or tiktok (I'm mostly the former myself) that its impossible to get them to concentrate, that's so infantilising (even for kids).
That's why smartphones should be banned for kids, as Jonathan Haidt argued on Newsnight a couple of evenings ago.
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
What monkey sees monkey does.
It is cringeworthy. Our students can't even come up with a homegrown cause to get their knickers in a twist about.
Back in v. late 50’s I got my knickers in EVER such a twist about apartheid! Our Students Union was resolutely non-political but I got it to object about apartheid. I was, and am, quite proud of that.
Many a student in the 2000s has lamented lacking such causes to rally against.
I don't believe the young are more stupid than they used to be, purely judging on my anecdotal experiences. But one thing that does seem weird is people I know with kids talking about how bad their attention spans are now - cannot even watch a movie or tv show sort of thing without getting distracted kind of comment - as though it is something inevitable or impossible to amend. It just seems pretty implausble that even if kids are indeed now mostly watching youtube or tiktok (I'm mostly the former myself) that its impossible to get them to concentrate, that's so infantilising (even for kids).
That's why smartphones should be banned for kids, as Jonathan Haidt argued on Newsnight a couple of evenings ago.
And I keep asking how to enforce that, and what punishment for parents who don't keep their kids off them?
Trump: Look at Paris. Look at London. They're no longer recognizable. I'm going to get myself into a lot of trouble, but you know what? That's the fact, they are no longer recognizable. We can't let that happen here
He's entirely right. The demographic shift in London is incredible. It was 80-90% native white British within living memory, just two or three decades? Now native whites are a minority. You can, of course, argue whether this is good or bad, or a mix, but has it happened? Yes
Trying to deny it will make Dems looks stupid. Don't do it
Historically, looking at London since 1066 (at least) it’s been mostly migrant.
Turn again, Whittington!
London is now 15-20% Muslim, and that has happened in a couple of decades. The idea this isn't a massive cultural revolution is insane, of course it is
It is probably the biggest, quickest cultural change since London was refounded by the Normans in 1066
And I'd love to believe London is some harmonious cultural melting pot leading the way - I adore my home town - I just don't think it is true. Sadly. I feel about immigration the way I felt about Brexit in, say, 2006. The powers-that-be are ignoring all the massive warning signs (this is true across the West, this isn't a British thing) and they are powering on with their great immigration experiment, and I feel it will end in the same tragic rupture as Brexit. We will see hard right governments elected across Europe and they will be brutal and cruel
Of course this could still be averted with a total clampdown on migration, and some serious attempts at assimilation, but it won't happen, the elite is too invested in the Project. It grieves me
This Government are having a go with Rwanda.
But they need to tighten up on legal migration too.
The dependent visas take the absolute piss. It's a backdoor in via joker courses and it shouldn't be allowed.
We've had 14 years of Tory government and they have done fuck all. Fuck them. They got a stern ticking off with the Brexit vote, and what did they do? Increase immigration by extraordinary amounts, unprecedented in our history. They are useless and despicable, I hope they die
As I read French history, the comparisons with the end of the Ancien Regime are quite stunning. The tin-eared stupidity, the embedded hypocrisy, the frenetic emphasis on status amongst a tiny elite, even as the lower orders mutiny and prepare the guiillotine. The role of the church is replaced by the role of the Woke, paying obeisance to an insane God only they can see
We are headed for civil strife and terrible turmoil, in Europe
Weren't you calling for the return of free movement from the EU recently ?
The mistake the government made on immigration was not enforcing a high enough minimum earnings for migrants.
High earning migrants are good because that means they're high skilled.
Voted Lib Dems in the locals. The only ones who leafleted were Lib Dem and Tory and both candidates seemed like decent people. Met and been canvassed by both in the past 12 months which has never happened before either, if it wasn't for party I'd happily vote for either on an individual basis.
Not heard diddly squat from Labour who simply haven't bothered.
On a party basis I won't vote for Sunak's Tories while he stands in the way of getting enough construction done to solve the crisis we have as a country of a housing shortage. Had the LDs been NIMBY then I wouldn't have voted for them either, but there's been no NIMBYism so they got my vote.
A local LD not being NIMBY? A local any party not being NIMBY? I wish to move to this utopia you apparently reside in!
Probably because of where I am, the candidates have probably determined it might not be popular. Not only is mine a new estate still under construction, but mine is a new town, most of the houses here didn't exist in 2010. If this was common up and down the country, as it should be, then we wouldn't have a housing shortage. Sadly its too rare.
Schooling and roads have been the two biggest issues on the leaflets. I thoroughly approve.
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Voted Lib Dems in the locals. The only ones who leafleted were Lib Dem and Tory and both candidates seemed like decent people. Met and been canvassed by both in the past 12 months which has never happened before either, if it wasn't for party I'd happily vote for either on an individual basis.
Not heard diddly squat from Labour who simply haven't bothered.
On a party basis I won't vote for Sunak's Tories while he stands in the way of getting enough construction done to solve the crisis we have as a country of a housing shortage. Had the LDs been NIMBY then I wouldn't have voted for them either, but there's been no NIMBYism so they got my vote.
Damn! I voted the same as Barty for very similar reasons. That can't be right surely?
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
What monkey sees monkey does.
It is cringeworthy. Our students can't even come up with a homegrown cause to get their knickers in a twist about.
Back in v. late 50’s I got my knickers in EVER such a twist about apartheid! Our Students Union was resolutely non-political but I got it to object about apartheid. I was, and am, quite proud of that.
Did you get much 'Apartheid isn't very nice and I'm no fan of Verwoerd, BUT THE ANC ARE MARXIST TERRORISTS!'?
Boris Johnson turned away from polling station as he forgot his ID.
"Sky News understands polling station staff were forced to turn the former prime minister away after he initially failed to comply with legislation he introduced while he was in Downing Street.
Mr Johnson, who introduced the Elections Act requiring photo ID in 2022, was attempting to cast his ballot in South Oxfordshire, where a police and crime commissioner for the Thames Valley is being selected."
Voted Lib Dems in the locals. The only ones who leafleted were Lib Dem and Tory and both candidates seemed like decent people. Met and been canvassed by both in the past 12 months which has never happened before either, if it wasn't for party I'd happily vote for either on an individual basis.
Not heard diddly squat from Labour who simply haven't bothered.
On a party basis I won't vote for Sunak's Tories while he stands in the way of getting enough construction done to solve the crisis we have as a country of a housing shortage. Had the LDs been NIMBY then I wouldn't have voted for them either, but there's been no NIMBYism so they got my vote.
A local LD not being NIMBY? A local any party not being NIMBY? I wish to move to this utopia you apparently reside in!
my local LD councillors are pro-building, so not that unusual. They just want the developments to be well designed for transport and include low cost housing. The NIMBYS are pretty much apolitical, at least in a party sense.
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
What monkey sees monkey does.
It is cringeworthy. Our students can't even come up with a homegrown cause to get their knickers in a twist about.
Back in v. late 50’s I got my knickers in EVER such a twist about apartheid! Our Students Union was resolutely non-political but I got it to object about apartheid. I was, and am, quite proud of that.
Many a student in the 2000s has lamented lacking such causes to rally against.
"The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament."
She deserves to be struck off for eating at a Harvester.
A “dine and dash” solicitor has been struck off after ordering a £43 takeaway from Just Eat and shutting the door on the delivery driver without paying.
Kerry Ann Stevens insisted she had already paid for the food online but this was untrue and the cost of the meal was subsequently deducted from the driver’s wages, a professional tribunal heard.
The solicitor, who specialised in criminal law, had also been arrested for another offence in which she left a Harvester restaurant without paying a bill of £60, the panel was told.
Stevens was found guilty of two counts of fraud at a magistrates’ court and has now been thrown out of the profession after the tribunal found her guilty of misconduct for her “premeditated and deliberate” acts.
Trump: Look at Paris. Look at London. They're no longer recognizable. I'm going to get myself into a lot of trouble, but you know what? That's the fact, they are no longer recognizable. We can't let that happen here
He's entirely right. The demographic shift in London is incredible. It was 80-90% native white British within living memory, just two or three decades? Now native whites are a minority. You can, of course, argue whether this is good or bad, or a mix, but has it happened? Yes
Trying to deny it will make Dems looks stupid. Don't do it
Historically, looking at London since 1066 (at least) it’s been mostly migrant.
Turn again, Whittington!
London is now 15-20% Muslim, and that has happened in a couple of decades. The idea this isn't a massive cultural revolution is insane, of course it is
It is probably the biggest, quickest cultural change since London was refounded by the Normans in 1066
And I'd love to believe London is some harmonious cultural melting pot leading the way - I adore my home town - I just don't think it is true. Sadly. I feel about immigration the way I felt about Brexit in, say, 2006. The powers-that-be are ignoring all the massive warning signs (this is true across the West, this isn't a British thing) and they are powering on with their great immigration experiment, and I feel it will end in the same tragic rupture as Brexit. We will see hard right governments elected across Europe and they will be brutal and cruel
Of course this could still be averted with a total clampdown on migration, and some serious attempts at assimilation, but it won't happen, the elite is too invested in the Project. It grieves me
This Government are having a go with Rwanda.
But they need to tighten up on legal migration too.
The dependent visas take the absolute piss. It's a backdoor in via joker courses and it shouldn't be allowed.
We've had 14 years of Tory government and they have done fuck all. Fuck them. They got a stern ticking off with the Brexit vote, and what did they do? Increase immigration by extraordinary amounts, unprecedented in our history. They are useless and despicable, I hope they die
Nice to see you remaining calm and understated as always...
Trump: Look at Paris. Look at London. They're no longer recognizable. I'm going to get myself into a lot of trouble, but you know what? That's the fact, they are no longer recognizable. We can't let that happen here
He's entirely right. The demographic shift in London is incredible. It was 80-90% native white British within living memory, just two or three decades? Now native whites are a minority. You can, of course, argue whether this is good or bad, or a mix, but has it happened? Yes
Trying to deny it will make Dems looks stupid. Don't do it
There's a slight difference between London and Paris though, which Trump wouldn't know or care about, which is that hardly anyone in London cares about race because most people get along fine 99% of the time. That isn't the impression one gets in Paris.
Worth noting that Trump's native city has been dominated demographically by immigrants for nearly 200 years.
Trump’s mum was an immigrant. Trump’s paternal grandparents were immigrants. 2/3 of Trump’s wives are immigrants. Trump doesn’t mind immigrants… if they’re white.
Trump: Look at Paris. Look at London. They're no longer recognizable. I'm going to get myself into a lot of trouble, but you know what? That's the fact, they are no longer recognizable. We can't let that happen here
Trump: Look at Paris. Look at London. They're no longer recognizable. I'm going to get myself into a lot of trouble, but you know what? That's the fact, they are no longer recognizable. We can't let that happen here
He's entirely right. The demographic shift in London is incredible. It was 80-90% native white British within living memory, just two or three decades? Now native whites are a minority. You can, of course, argue whether this is good or bad, or a mix, but has it happened? Yes
Trying to deny it will make Dems looks stupid. Don't do it
There's a slight difference between London and Paris though, which Trump wouldn't know or care about, which is that hardly anyone in London cares about race because most people get along fine 99% of the time. That isn't the impression one gets in Paris.
London is a great city . With different cultures mixing and very little problems on that front . I love going up for the day , it has a great buzz and I love the diversity . Sadly the same can’t be said for Paris . I love France generally and have spent lots of time there , months at a time but I tend to avoid Paris now.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
1970 had Northern Ireland heading towards civil war.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
1970 had Northern Ireland heading towards civil war.
The height of the cold war.
Inflation problems and about to get much worse.
Strike problems and about to get much worse.
Unemployment was circa 600,000 and the economy was growing at a reasonable rate. Inflation was circa 5%.
Yet despite all these miracles the 66-70 Labour government ranked as one of the most unpopular.
And that's without having to deal with all the 'events' that happened during the 1970s which steadily crippled Heath's government and then steadily crippled the subsequent Wilson/Callaghan government.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
1970 had Northern Ireland heading towards civil war.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
1970 had Northern Ireland heading towards civil war.
The height of the cold war.
Inflation problems and about to get much worse.
Strike problems and about to get much worse.
Unemployment was circa 600,000 and the economy was growing at a reasonable rate. Inflation was circa 5%.
Yet despite all these miracles the 66-70 Labour government ranked as one of the most unpopular.
And that's without having to deal with all the 'events' that happened during the 1970s which steadily crippled Heath's government and then steadily crippled the subsequent Wilson/Callaghan government.
It was very unpopular from Spring 1967 until mid- 1969 and suffered very heavy defeats at by elections and Local Elections. The May 68 results were disastrous for Labour- far worse than today's results are likely to prove for the Tories. The Tories captured virtually all the London Boroughs including Hackney, Islington and Lambeth. Despite that, Labour did recover strongly from Autumn 1969 and its defeat - in defiance of the polls - in June 1970 came as a great shock.
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
I don't think asking a mild question would be being a dick, but I also don't see why you would have a right to see their ID either - they are following the law requiring to see your ID for a specific purpose, what purpose would you or anyone have to see their ID? As long as they have been trained and authorised to do the job it doesn't matter who they are.
They probably did have something on them, but they wouldn't necessarily need one on them so maybe they didn't - after all, they probably were not voting (as would have postal voted).
I too voted for the Wilts PCC, so we've probably accounted for a significant sample sized of the miserably low turnout.
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
Well I suspect they go through a lot of checks before being allowed to work at the polling stations so I wouldn’t have been worried and I wouldn’t ask them for ID but it’s not like you shot Bambi !
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
You were probably being a bit of a dick but good for you. TPTB are being dicks for making everyone bring their IDs.
I was asked for my ID, even though I have been going to the same polling station since 1996 and the people who give out the ballot papers know me (and one was even friends with my mother)
There are now tent protests at many British universities, calling for divestment from Israel and an end to arming it. What they need is a unifying slogan. "BDS" (boycott, divestment, sanctions) would be one.
Protests are bound to spread and be stepped up if the Israeli army assaults Rafah as seems likely.
What monkey sees monkey does.
It is cringeworthy. Our students can't even come up with a homegrown cause to get their knickers in a twist about.
Back in v. late 50’s I got my knickers in EVER such a twist about apartheid! Our Students Union was resolutely non-political but I got it to object about apartheid. I was, and am, quite proud of that.
Did you get much 'Apartheid isn't very nice and I'm no fan of Verwoerd, BUT THE ANC ARE MARXIST TERRORISTS!'?
I don’t recall, but it was the North East so Marxism wasn’t the dirty word it might have been further South.
She deserves to be struck off for eating at a Harvester.
A “dine and dash” solicitor has been struck off after ordering a £43 takeaway from Just Eat and shutting the door on the delivery driver without paying.
Kerry Ann Stevens insisted she had already paid for the food online but this was untrue and the cost of the meal was subsequently deducted from the driver’s wages, a professional tribunal heard.
The solicitor, who specialised in criminal law, had also been arrested for another offence in which she left a Harvester restaurant without paying a bill of £60, the panel was told.
Stevens was found guilty of two counts of fraud at a magistrates’ court and has now been thrown out of the profession after the tribunal found her guilty of misconduct for her “premeditated and deliberate” acts.
The fact it was not a one off is the most eye opening thing there.
Never trust a lawyer.
Though apparently it is a lot easier to get struck off here than in the USA, judging by the hoops that had to be taken to get Giuliani struck off from practising.
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
I don't think asking a mild question would be being a dick, but I also don't see why you would have a right to see their ID either - they are following the law requiring to see your ID for a specific purpose, what purpose would you or anyone have to see their ID? As long as they have been trained and authorised to do the job it doesn't matter who they are.
They probably did have something on them, but they wouldn't necessarily need one on them so maybe they didn't - after all, they probably were not voting (as would have postal voted).
I too voted for the Wilts PCC, so we've probably accounted for a significant sample sized of the miserably low turnout.
I found it an uninspiring election. Four candidates, the three main parties and an independent who I assume has done his 30 years in the force and wants some more. In the end I went with the lady from Labour as (a) not the dickish Tory and (b) the only female. Not sure when the count is.
Boris Johnson turned away from polling station as he forgot his ID.
"Sky News understands polling station staff were forced to turn the former prime minister away after he initially failed to comply with legislation he introduced while he was in Downing Street.
Mr Johnson, who introduced the Elections Act requiring photo ID in 2022, was attempting to cast his ballot in South Oxfordshire, where a police and crime commissioner for the Thames Valley is being selected."
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
I had a girlfriend who was a nurse. She had a patient who, when she asked "have you moved your bowels this morning?" would reply "have *you* moved your bowels this morning?"
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
Well I suspect they go through a lot of checks before being allowed to work at the polling stations so I wouldn’t have been worried and I wouldn’t ask them for ID but it’s not like you shot Bambi !
I think it’s an interesting one. I think you have the right to ask a police officer for ID, for instance. I would have thought there was something for the polling station officers. It’s not a big thing, but just struck me as I voted.
I mentioned this morning my astonishment at my Surrey tory friend’s newfound love-in for Keir Starmer. She thinks he’s great and ‘the next Boris Johnson’ by which she apparently means ‘a man of the people.’
I’m really surprised but maybe Starmer is cutting through.
I find him a lot less phoney than Tony. And I’m sure he will make a very good, solid, PM who will probably lead Labour to two election victories before stepping down.
She deserves to be struck off for eating at a Harvester.
A “dine and dash” solicitor has been struck off after ordering a £43 takeaway from Just Eat and shutting the door on the delivery driver without paying.
Kerry Ann Stevens insisted she had already paid for the food online but this was untrue and the cost of the meal was subsequently deducted from the driver’s wages, a professional tribunal heard.
The solicitor, who specialised in criminal law, had also been arrested for another offence in which she left a Harvester restaurant without paying a bill of £60, the panel was told.
Stevens was found guilty of two counts of fraud at a magistrates’ court and has now been thrown out of the profession after the tribunal found her guilty of misconduct for her “premeditated and deliberate” acts.
The fact it was not a one off is the most eye opening thing there.
Never trust a lawyer.
Though apparently it is a lot easier to get struck off here than in the USA, judging by the hoops that had to be taken to get Giuliani struck off from practising.
Seriously never trust a lawyer. The Post Office enquiry gets more jaw-dropping every day.
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
I don't think asking a mild question would be being a dick, but I also don't see why you would have a right to see their ID either - they are following the law requiring to see your ID for a specific purpose, what purpose would you or anyone have to see their ID? As long as they have been trained and authorised to do the job it doesn't matter who they are.
They probably did have something on them, but they wouldn't necessarily need one on them so maybe they didn't - after all, they probably were not voting (as would have postal voted).
I too voted for the Wilts PCC, so we've probably accounted for a significant sample sized of the miserably low turnout.
I found it an uninspiring election. Four candidates, the three main parties and an independent who I assume has done his 30 years in the force and wants some more. In the end I went with the lady from Labour as (a) not the dickish Tory and (b) the only female. Not sure when the count is.
Saturday. Blame Swindon, who have a 1/3 election to count tomorrow.
For those looking for wider implications, Swindon has been pretty swingy over the years, and last year the Tories got annihilated and lost nearly all the seats that were up and Labour gained control for the first time in about 20 years. With another dozen and more Tory seats up this time, expect a big shift to Labour again.
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
You were probably being a bit of a dick but good for you. TPTB are being dicks for making everyone bring their IDs.
I was asked for my ID, even though I have been going to the same polling station since 1996 and the people who give out the ballot papers know me (and one was even friends with my mother)
It's crazy!
For a second there, I thought you were demanding that the returning officer show you their dick.
Which would be rather rude, and of fairly tangential relevance to the election.
Perhaps least unpopular would be slightly more accurate.
I see plenty think Starmer will swiftly plumb Sunakian levels of unpopularity once elected. Perhaps even Trussite or Johnsonian marks of unfavourability or it may just be because @isam doesn't like him.
MY feeling is after the election and presuming Starmer wins big, the vast majority will switch off from politics and just let him get on with it. There are plenty on the Conservative side who said in 1997 people would soon see through "phoney Tony" and the Conservatives would be back - didn't quite work out like that, did it?
I think Starmer will be a decent Prime Minister certainly by contrast with the no-marks of the last 15 years. He's no Blair and he's no Thatcher of course but that won't stop him doing a decent job and his most serious issues are likely to be internal Labour discipline but if he wins big and takes Labour back to power he'll be afforded plenty of slack.
Or, he could just be a competent administrator like Sunak that fails to heed the zeitgeist or deliver on expectations and rapidly plumbs the same depths.
Where's the evidence for Sunak being a competent administrator? Better than Truss, better than Johnson, but there's still an awful lot of space between that and competence.
These things seem pretty competent - either as policies or administration - and based on compromises in difficult situations:
The NI reductions funded by income tax allowance freezes.
The Northern Ireland political administration and trade solution.
The level of financial help for energy bills.
Agreeing the last round of public sector pay claims.
The change to migrants minimum earnings.
Sunak’s energy support (as BJ's Chancellor) could have been classified as a discount on fuel, so would have been counterinflationary, but was classified as a benefit (or similar) driving inflation upward. That's an example of basic incompetence in delivering that support, that you wouldn't expect from someone who understood the issues.
Giving it as a benefit allowed people to spend it as they thought best.
The amount of support was about right in helping people generally, helping the vulnerable more and also encouraging energy efficiency.
Now doubtless I'm in a minority but the changes to my energy usage I've made will allow permanent improved energy efficiency and overall cost savings.
This is absolutely spot on.
For markets to work, people need to react to price signals. A reduction in the price if petrol would have meant there were no price signals.
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
You were probably being a bit of a dick but good for you. TPTB are being dicks for making everyone bring their IDs.
I was asked for my ID, even though I have been going to the same polling station since 1996 and the people who give out the ballot papers know me (and one was even friends with my mother)
It's crazy!
For a second there, I thought you were demanding that the returning officer show you their dick.
Which would be rather rude, and of fairly tangential relevance to the election.
Oh you said fairly tangential relevance to the election
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
Well I suspect they go through a lot of checks before being allowed to work at the polling stations so I wouldn’t have been worried and I wouldn’t ask them for ID but it’s not like you shot Bambi !
I think it’s an interesting one. I think you have the right to ask a police officer for ID, for instance. I would have thought there was something for the polling station officers. It’s not a big thing, but just struck me as I voted.
I think it reasonable to ask them to prove that they are a police constable or a polling officer, but I wouldn't expect to see personal ID. That would potentially open people up to interference.
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
You were probably being a bit of a dick but good for you. TPTB are being dicks for making everyone bring their IDs.
I was asked for my ID, even though I have been going to the same polling station since 1996 and the people who give out the ballot papers know me (and one was even friends with my mother)
It's crazy!
For a second there, I thought you were demanding that the returning officer show you their dick.
Which would be rather rude, and of fairly tangential relevance to the election.
Trump: Look at Paris. Look at London. They're no longer recognizable. I'm going to get myself into a lot of trouble, but you know what? That's the fact, they are no longer recognizable. We can't let that happen here
He's entirely right. The demographic shift in London is incredible. It was 80-90% native white British within living memory, just two or three decades? Now native whites are a minority. You can, of course, argue whether this is good or bad, or a mix, but has it happened? Yes
Trying to deny it will make Dems looks stupid. Don't do it
There's a slight difference between London and Paris though, which Trump wouldn't know or care about, which is that hardly anyone in London cares about race because most people get along fine 99% of the time. That isn't the impression one gets in Paris.
London is a great city . With different cultures mixing and very little problems on that front . I love going up for the day , it has a great buzz and I love the diversity . Sadly the same can’t be said for Paris . I love France generally and have spent lots of time there , months at a time but I tend to avoid Paris now.
Why do you "avoid Paris now"?
I can’t be arsed with it. Too much drama to get into , the Metro is a total dump and nothing like the London Underground where I’ve never felt unsafe . From afar Paris looks beautiful and there will be some iconic settings for the Olympic events . The Parisians though are generally stuck up and no one outside of Paris likes them .
I had a place close to the Pyrenees not far from Lourdes and the people were just lovely . I also had many French friends when I lived in London and they said it was far superior and much more laid back than Paris .
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
Well I suspect they go through a lot of checks before being allowed to work at the polling stations so I wouldn’t have been worried and I wouldn’t ask them for ID but it’s not like you shot Bambi !
I think it’s an interesting one. I think you have the right to ask a police officer for ID, for instance. I would have thought there was something for the polling station officers. It’s not a big thing, but just struck me as I voted.
They usually have lanyards identifying them as election staff, that's the identifier.
One of the tellers said she was 'dead chuffed' it was that high.
Our democracy is stuffed.
That's PCC solo I assume? Which would be about what it was in 2012. You can usually get to around 1/3 on average for locals, though I've seen as low as 18 and as high as 60 in individual seats.
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
You were probably being a bit of a dick but good for you. TPTB are being dicks for making everyone bring their IDs.
I was asked for my ID, even though I have been going to the same polling station since 1996 and the people who give out the ballot papers know me (and one was even friends with my mother)
It's crazy!
TPTB may be being dicks in requiring it, but no need to inconvenience the people at the coalface for a policy they had nothing to do with and may disagree with,many simply being volunteers.
Boris Johnson turned away from polling station as he forgot his ID.
"Sky News understands polling station staff were forced to turn the former prime minister away after he initially failed to comply with legislation he introduced while he was in Downing Street.
Mr Johnson, who introduced the Elections Act requiring photo ID in 2022, was attempting to cast his ballot in South Oxfordshire, where a police and crime commissioner for the Thames Valley is being selected."
Made my day.
I assume this is a joke. It can't be real.
I don't put it past Johnson to have done it as a deliberate stunt, in part to disarm criticism of the move as a vote suppression tactic. It hardly looks like the work of an evil mastermind when he's caught out by it himself.
Just covered myself on the Khan 40-45% band so am now all green for any voteshare he clocks beneath 45%.
I assess him getting >45% as rather unlikely, but a £42.50 hit if he does.
The highest first round vote share a candidate has ever got in London is 44.2%, which was Khan in his first election. The switch to FPTP does change things, but if no mayoral candidate has ever gotten >45%, I think you’ll be safe.
The Co-Op Live Arena has had a hell of an opening week.
Postponing Peter Kay, postponing Olivia Rodrigo, then having to cancel last night's show 10 minutes after doors had opened.
The venue said the problem last night was with a component of the air conditioning system, which was found to be "defective". That's true. But what they didn't say is that it was also found to be "on the floor" – after a chunk of it came crashing down from the ceiling.
Falling machinery is far from the venue's only problem. The place is apparently still a building site, with backstage toilets yet to be installed. So these postponements are probably for the best. We can't imagine Olivia Rodrigo would have been too pleased having to take her pre-show piss front of house.
Boris Johnson turned away from polling station as he forgot his ID.
"Sky News understands polling station staff were forced to turn the former prime minister away after he initially failed to comply with legislation he introduced while he was in Downing Street.
Mr Johnson, who introduced the Elections Act requiring photo ID in 2022, was attempting to cast his ballot in South Oxfordshire, where a police and crime commissioner for the Thames Valley is being selected."
Made my day.
I assume this is a joke. It can't be real.
I don't put it past Johnson to have done it as a deliberate stunt, in part to disarm criticism of the move as a vote suppression tactic. It hardly looks like the work of an evil mastermind when he's caught out by it himself.
Nobody has ever thought of Johnson as an evil Mastermind.
So just voted for the Wilts PCC. Hope my vote helps.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”. Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
You were probably being a bit of a dick but good for you. TPTB are being dicks for making everyone bring their IDs.
I was asked for my ID, even though I have been going to the same polling station since 1996 and the people who give out the ballot papers know me (and one was even friends with my mother)
It's crazy!
For a second there, I thought you were demanding that the returning officer show you their dick.
Which would be rather rude, and of fairly tangential relevance to the election.
I remind people all the time that penises can count as valid votes, I've seen it many times and I've never seen a candidate/agent object to them being counted.
Perhaps I should introduce more context for how I bring it up though.
Trump: Look at Paris. Look at London. They're no longer recognizable. I'm going to get myself into a lot of trouble, but you know what? That's the fact, they are no longer recognizable. We can't let that happen here
He's entirely right. The demographic shift in London is incredible. It was 80-90% native white British within living memory, just two or three decades? Now native whites are a minority. You can, of course, argue whether this is good or bad, or a mix, but has it happened? Yes
Trying to deny it will make Dems looks stupid. Don't do it
Historically, looking at London since 1066 (at least) it’s been mostly migrant.
Turn again, Whittington!
London is now 15-20% Muslim, and that has happened in a couple of decades. The idea this isn't a massive cultural revolution is insane, of course it is
It is probably the biggest, quickest cultural change since London was refounded by the Normans in 1066
And I'd love to believe London is some harmonious cultural melting pot leading the way - I adore my home town - I just don't think it is true. Sadly. I feel about immigration the way I felt about Brexit in, say, 2006. The powers-that-be are ignoring all the massive warning signs (this is true across the West, this isn't a British thing) and they are powering on with their great immigration experiment, and I feel it will end in the same tragic rupture as Brexit. We will see hard right governments elected across Europe and they will be brutal and cruel
Of course this could still be averted with a total clampdown on migration, and some serious attempts at assimilation, but it won't happen, the elite is too invested in the Project. It grieves me
This Government are having a go with Rwanda.
But they need to tighten up on legal migration too.
The dependent visas take the absolute piss. It's a backdoor in via joker courses and it shouldn't be allowed.
We've had 14 years of Tory government and they have done fuck all. Fuck them. They got a stern ticking off with the Brexit vote, and what did they do? Increase immigration by extraordinary amounts, unprecedented in our history. They are useless and despicable, I hope they die
As I read French history, the comparisons with the end of the Ancien Regime are quite stunning. The tin-eared stupidity, the embedded hypocrisy, the frenetic emphasis on status amongst a tiny elite, even as the lower orders mutiny and prepare the guiillotine. The role of the church is replaced by the role of the Woke, paying obeisance to an insane God only they can see
We are headed for civil strife and terrible turmoil, in Europe
Weren't you calling for the return of free movement from the EU recently ?
The mistake the government made on immigration was not enforcing a high enough minimum earnings for migrants.
High earning migrants are good because that means they're high skilled.
What about low-earning but highly skilled migrants? We have Phd's who graduate and are being made to leave as they haven't found a high-paid job in time.
"John Cleese cut N-word from Fawlty Towers revival because people ‘don’t understand irony’ Speaking at launch for West End adaptation, Cleese complains about literal-minded viewers ‘not playing with a full deck’"
Perhaps least unpopular would be slightly more accurate.
I see plenty think Starmer will swiftly plumb Sunakian levels of unpopularity once elected. Perhaps even Trussite or Johnsonian marks of unfavourability or it may just be because @isam doesn't like him.
MY feeling is after the election and presuming Starmer wins big, the vast majority will switch off from politics and just let him get on with it. There are plenty on the Conservative side who said in 1997 people would soon see through "phoney Tony" and the Conservatives would be back - didn't quite work out like that, did it?
I think Starmer will be a decent Prime Minister certainly by contrast with the no-marks of the last 15 years. He's no Blair and he's no Thatcher of course but that won't stop him doing a decent job and his most serious issues are likely to be internal Labour discipline but if he wins big and takes Labour back to power he'll be afforded plenty of slack.
Or, he could just be a competent administrator like Sunak that fails to heed the zeitgeist or deliver on expectations and rapidly plumbs the same depths.
Where's the evidence for Sunak being a competent administrator? Better than Truss, better than Johnson, but there's still an awful lot of space between that and competence.
These things seem pretty competent - either as policies or administration - and based on compromises in difficult situations:
The NI reductions funded by income tax allowance freezes.
The Northern Ireland political administration and trade solution.
The level of financial help for energy bills.
Agreeing the last round of public sector pay claims.
The change to migrants minimum earnings.
Sunak’s energy support (as BJ's Chancellor) could have been classified as a discount on fuel, so would have been counterinflationary, but was classified as a benefit (or similar) driving inflation upward. That's an example of basic incompetence in delivering that support, that you wouldn't expect from someone who understood the issues.
Giving it as a benefit allowed people to spend it as they thought best.
The amount of support was about right in helping people generally, helping the vulnerable more and also encouraging energy efficiency.
Now doubtless I'm in a minority but the changes to my energy usage I've made will allow permanent improved energy efficiency and overall cost savings.
This is absolutely spot on.
For markets to work, people need to react to price signals. A reduction in the price if petrol would have meant there were no price signals.
But when you have rapidly fluctuating energy prices due to unpredictable events (covid, Ukraine war) such as we have seen in the past 5 years, how are markets to work? We'd have been switching away from oil, back to oil, away from oil, back to oil... What benefit does that achieve?
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
1970 had Northern Ireland heading towards civil war.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
1970 had Northern Ireland heading towards civil war.
The height of the cold war.
Inflation problems and about to get much worse.
Strike problems and about to get much worse.
Unemployment was circa 600,000 and the economy was growing at a reasonable rate. Inflation was circa 5%.
Yet despite all these miracles the 66-70 Labour government ranked as one of the most unpopular.
And that's without having to deal with all the 'events' that happened during the 1970s which steadily crippled Heath's government and then steadily crippled the subsequent Wilson/Callaghan government.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
1970 had Northern Ireland heading towards civil war.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
SKS personal ratings are still pretty poor, given the circumstances, IMO.
This certainly isn't 1997 and he's not being swept into Downing St on a wave of goodwill like Blair was. There will be no years-long honeymoon and I think he'll be a very unpopular Prime Minister within a couple of years, personally.
Not to mention that Blair became PM at about the easiest time during the entire 20th century.
Starmer will have a much harder job in a much more dangerous and unpredictable world.
I disagree. Ted heath had a better inheritance in June 1970. He was bequeathed both a Balance of Payments surplus and a Fiscal surplus. No departing Tory government since World War 2 has managed either!
1970 had Northern Ireland heading towards civil war.
The height of the cold war.
Inflation problems and about to get much worse.
Strike problems and about to get much worse.
Unemployment was circa 600,000 and the economy was growing at a reasonable rate. Inflation was circa 5%.
Yet despite all these miracles the 66-70 Labour government ranked as one of the most unpopular.
And that's without having to deal with all the 'events' that happened during the 1970s which steadily crippled Heath's government and then steadily crippled the subsequent Wilson/Callaghan government.
It was very unpopular from Spring 1967 until mid- 1969 and suffered very heavy defeats at by elections and Local Elections. The May 68 results were disastrous for Labour- far worse than today's results are likely to prove for the Tories. The Tories captured virtually all the London Boroughs including Hackney, Islington and Lambeth. Despite that, Labour did recover strongly from Autumn 1969 and its defeat - in defiance of the polls - in June 1970 came as a great shock.
I have wondered about why that should have been a shock.
The London local elections only a few weeks earlier still showed an 11% Conservative lead over Labour.
The Co-Op Live Arena has had a hell of an opening week.
Postponing Peter Kay, postponing Olivia Rodrigo, then having to cancel last night's show 10 minutes after doors had opened.
The venue said the problem last night was with a component of the air conditioning system, which was found to be "defective". That's true. But what they didn't say is that it was also found to be "on the floor" – after a chunk of it came crashing down from the ceiling.
Falling machinery is far from the venue's only problem. The place is apparently still a building site, with backstage toilets yet to be installed. So these postponements are probably for the best. We can't imagine Olivia Rodrigo would have been too pleased having to take her pre-show piss front of house.
It sounds like the place is far from being ready to be opened, so instead of cancelling shows one day at a time, they should just call everything off for the next 3 months?
For sure that's bad but no where near the PR balls up they've turned this week into for themselves.
"John Cleese cut N-word from Fawlty Towers revival because people ‘don’t understand irony’ Speaking at launch for West End adaptation, Cleese complains about literal-minded viewers ‘not playing with a full deck’"
I mentioned this morning my astonishment at my Surrey tory friend’s newfound love-in for Keir Starmer. She thinks he’s great and ‘the next Boris Johnson’ by which she apparently means ‘a man of the people.’
I’m really surprised but maybe Starmer is cutting through.
I find him a lot less phoney than Tony. And I’m sure he will make a very good, solid, PM who will probably lead Labour to two election victories before stepping down.
Hubris. Poll leads can turn very quickly when the new government has the harsh spotlight of responsibility on them. They will blame the Tories for everything for as long as they can (both parties do this of course). But we are not very far on from Labour being on the ropes and talk (crazy talk, but talk none the less) of Labour never gaining power again. Labour will smash the next election but the problems the UK faces won’t be gone and the public will want answers, just as with Brexit. We voted for Brexit to make things better, they are not better, it’s your fault…
I mentioned this morning my astonishment at my Surrey tory friend’s newfound love-in for Keir Starmer. She thinks he’s great and ‘the next Boris Johnson’ by which she apparently means ‘a man of the people.’
I’m really surprised but maybe Starmer is cutting through.
I find him a lot less phoney than Tony. And I’m sure he will make a very good, solid, PM who will probably lead Labour to two election victories before stepping down.
Hubris. Poll leads can turn very quickly when the new government has the harsh spotlight of responsibility on them. They will blame the Tories for everything for as long as they can (both parties do this of course). But we are not very far on from Labour being on the ropes and talk (crazy talk, but talk none the less) of Labour never gaining power again. Labour will smash the next election but the problems the UK faces won’t be gone and the public will want answers, just as with Brexit. We voted for Brexit to make things better, they are not better, it’s your fault…
The 'last government' excuse can usually be made to work for a good 2 terms I think. Brown trying it after 13 years was a step too far, and Tories will have no luck if they try it after 14.
Comments
It's on the same level we can accurately say that the Tories were and have been the most popular political party over the whole UK for more than a decade (regionally others have done been more so). Not necessarily that popular, but the most popular, however much that upset those they defeated.
It is probably the biggest, quickest cultural change since London was refounded by the Normans in 1066
And I'd love to believe London is some harmonious cultural melting pot leading the way - I adore my home town - I just don't think it is true. Sadly. I feel about immigration the way I felt about Brexit in, say, 2006. The powers-that-be are ignoring all the massive warning signs (this is true across the West, this isn't a British thing) and they are powering on with their great immigration experiment, and I feel it will end in the same tragic rupture as Brexit. We will see hard right governments elected across Europe and they will be brutal and cruel
Of course this could still be averted with a total clampdown on migration, and some serious attempts at assimilation, but it won't happen, the elite is too invested in the Project. It grieves me
Maybe they need to have copies of This is not America airdropped in.
So now I've broken my Labour virginity.
The height of the cold war.
Inflation problems and about to get much worse.
Strike problems and about to get much worse.
I'll try a sinine comment next time.
Plumbed the depths of Truss and May. Easily.
But they need to tighten up on legal migration too.
The dependent visas take the absolute piss. It's a backdoor in via joker courses and it shouldn't be allowed.
"Overall, on average, the PISA 2022 assessment saw an unprecedented drop in performance across the OECD. Compared to 2018, mean performance fell by 10 score points in reading and by almost 15 score points in maths"
https://www.oecd.org/newsroom/decline-in-educational-performance-only-partly-attributable-to-the-covid-19-pandemic.htm
As I read French history, the comparisons with the end of the Ancien Regime are quite stunning. The tin-eared stupidity, the embedded hypocrisy, the frenetic emphasis on status amongst a tiny elite, even as the lower orders mutiny and prepare the guiillotine. The role of the church is replaced by the role of the Woke, paying obeisance to an insane God only they can see
We are headed for civil strife and terrible turmoil, in Europe
And that's without having to deal with all the 'events' that happened during the 1970s which steadily crippled Heath's government and then steadily crippled the subsequent Wilson/Callaghan government.
Not heard diddly squat from Labour who simply haven't bothered.
On a party basis I won't vote for Sunak's Tories while he stands in the way of getting enough construction done to solve the crisis we have as a country of a housing shortage. Had the LDs been NIMBY then I wouldn't have voted for them either, but there's been no NIMBYism so they got my vote.
I'm not sure London "is a Muslim city". It's not a Christian city any longer - arguably it's becoming more secular and less religious.
The mistake the government made on immigration was not enforcing a high enough minimum earnings for migrants.
High earning migrants are good because that means they're high skilled.
Schooling and roads have been the two biggest issues on the leaflets. I thoroughly approve.
Quick question for the hive mind. I was asked for my ID, which I provided, no issue. I asked if I could see the officers ID and was refused “you don’t need to see that”.
Do I have a right to see their ID? Shouldn’t they have something on them? Or was I just being a dick? (I was polite about it)
Thoughts?
We all must be in the handcart to Hell.
Turnout jitters, I imagine.
A “dine and dash” solicitor has been struck off after ordering a £43 takeaway from Just Eat and shutting the door on the delivery driver without paying.
Kerry Ann Stevens insisted she had already paid for the food online but this was untrue and the cost of the meal was subsequently deducted from the driver’s wages, a professional tribunal heard.
The solicitor, who specialised in criminal law, had also been arrested for another offence in which she left a Harvester restaurant without paying a bill of £60, the panel was told.
Stevens was found guilty of two counts of fraud at a magistrates’ court and has now been thrown out of the profession after the tribunal found her guilty of misconduct for her “premeditated and deliberate” acts.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/02/solicitor-struck-off-after-refusing-to-pay-for-takeaway/
They probably did have something on them, but they wouldn't necessarily need one on them so maybe they didn't - after all, they probably were not voting (as would have postal voted).
I too voted for the Wilts PCC, so we've probably accounted for a significant sample sized of the miserably low turnout.
I assess him getting >45% as rather unlikely, but a £42.50 hit if he does.
I was asked for my ID, even though I have been going to the same polling station since 1996 and the people who give out the ballot papers know me (and one was even friends with my mother)
It's crazy!
Never trust a lawyer.
Though apparently it is a lot easier to get struck off here than in the USA, judging by the hoops that had to be taken to get Giuliani struck off from practising.
Lab --- / 1.01
Con 500 / ---
Ref 400 / ---
LD 110 / ---
https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/politics/market/1.227702821
Not all relationships are symmetrical.
It’s not a big thing, but just struck me as I voted.
I’m really surprised but maybe Starmer is cutting through.
I find him a lot less phoney than Tony. And I’m sure he will make a very good, solid, PM who will probably lead Labour to two election victories before stepping down.
For those looking for wider implications, Swindon has been pretty swingy over the years, and last year the Tories got annihilated and lost nearly all the seats that were up and Labour gained control for the first time in about 20 years. With another dozen and more Tory seats up this time, expect a big shift to Labour again.
Which would be rather rude, and of fairly tangential relevance to the election.
Turnout around the 16% mark.
One of the tellers said she was 'dead chuffed' it was that high.
Our democracy is stuffed.
For markets to work, people need to react to price signals. A reduction in the price if petrol would have meant there were no price signals.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-32658907
I had a place close to the Pyrenees not far from Lourdes and the people were just lovely . I also had many French friends when I lived in London and they said it was far superior and much more laid back than Paris .
Khan 40%, Hall 30%, the rest 30% doesn't look impossible.
'Could we have house lights please?
House lights.
Ok. Would the guys in charge of house lights, who are smoking weed, please turn on some fucking lights?'
Whoever is in charge of this project needs to be fired.
The Co-Op Live Arena has had a hell of an opening week.
Postponing Peter Kay, postponing Olivia Rodrigo, then having to cancel last night's show 10 minutes after doors had opened.
The venue said the problem last night was with a component of the air conditioning system, which was found to be "defective". That's true. But what they didn't say is that it was also found to be "on the floor" – after a chunk of it came crashing down from the ceiling.
Falling machinery is far from the venue's only problem. The place is apparently still a building site, with backstage toilets yet to be installed. So these postponements are probably for the best. We can't imagine Olivia Rodrigo would have been too pleased having to take her pre-show piss front of house.
At best, an evil early exiter on 15 to 1.
Perhaps I should introduce more context for how I bring it up though.
Speaking at launch for West End adaptation, Cleese complains about literal-minded viewers ‘not playing with a full deck’"
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/may/02/john-cleese-cut-n-word-from-fawlty-towers-revival-because-people-dont-understand-irony
Untrammelled markets are not the answer.
The London local elections only a few weeks earlier still showed an 11% Conservative lead over Labour.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_Greater_London_Council_election
For sure that's bad but no where near the PR balls up they've turned this week into for themselves.