Everyone in Britain should just emigrate. Seriously. Whole place is a shithole now and the only tolerable bits are certain nice parts of london and the inner Hebrides
Just get out. It’s ruined. The lefties ruined it
Join me on my endless travels around the world. There is a lot of world out here and it’s fun!
Narrator: In 45 years, since 1979, the Tories have been in government for 32 years.
Britain today is a country made by right-wing politics. It's your failure. Own it. Have a think about where you went wrong.
Jeez. I know I’m quite influential on PB and have a lifelong tenancy in your brains but I didn’t realise I was personally running the country and have been doing so for 32 years!
I’m amazed I got it all done looking back. I must have done Brexit after a boozy lunch. Ah well. Shit happens
You've lost your teeth old man.
Perhaps you'll enjoy the simplicity of having a Labour government to rail against? Might give you some of your old oomph back.
Listening to Farage this morning on R4 Today, I noticed one tiny thing. He didn't want to dwell at all on the fact that his policy of Zero Net Migration = 500,000+ new arrivals every year (matching the departures). That's 5 million per decade. He minimally acknowledged and moved away immediately.
For the right there are two big issues about inward migration; the numbers causing housing/services problems, and secondly the 'cultural' issues.
Net Zero migration may address the Reform voter's problem with the first, but not the second. Has anyone noticed this? I don't think Farage wants it mentioned. Which of course means no-one in the political domain does.
I mean, it's also because nobody wants to make the argument for solving the first crisis without worrying about immigration - investment. We could invest in better infrastructure, more schools, doctors, houses etc. and still have immigration.
Farage is happy to push on those issues because that is what has been gifted to him by the neoliberal turn. People seem to forget that Corbyn's policies were still quite popular with a large portion of the population - he was just so unpopular that negative polarisation held together a coalition for the Tories. When Johnson said he'd turn on the spending spigot with Levelling Up, the Tories won in Labour heartlands. As long as the state keeps arguing it has no resources to care for average people, people will grow resentful.
Someone like Farage will aim that resentment towards the foreigner, people like Leon towards "wokeness". I would argue the left (correctly) turns that ire on capitalists - as they are the dragons of fable sitting on their hordes of wealth. The immigrant doing what humans have always done, move around the world when they need to, is not in a position of power to affect the poor state of our country. The "woke" who are just asking for historic injustice to be recognised, acknowledged and no longer perpetuated don't hold the levers of power. Those who do have power and influence in our politic are those who are wealthy, who own companies, who demand less regulation etc. etc. They are the ones who have been catered to in the last 30-40 years, and that is the reason for our decline. And no one who benefits from that system is going to stand up and point that out. So Farage is a useful tool - because when he points at shadows and calls them phantoms people don't look at the real causes of the problem.
The 100,000+ white underage English girls raped by racist Muslim grooming gangs might have a claim they were *a tiny bit affected* by migration
The idea that there are 100s of thousands of young girls victimised by immigrants is another right wing fantasy -
We know who is actually the most likely perpetrator of sexual assault - someone within the close family or a family friend of the victim, followed by someone with a position of authority in their community (a priest, a teacher, etc.). Again - this is a projection of the right who look at patriarchal family structure as something that must be protected and, unwilling to accept that that structure leads to more sexual assault, says it must be the foreigner, the outsider, the Other who is really to blame. Is that to say there are literally 0 cases of immigrants committing sexual assault or rape? Of course not. But the idea that it is endemic, or even common, is preposterous. It's the same old "got to keep our white women safe" rhetoric of days gone by.
And even if it were true - this would still be an infrastructure problem because the justice system is part of the social infrastructure that has been destroyed by austerity. Do the police take sexual assault or rape seriously? No.
And then when it comes to getting a court date and a trial, of course, the massive backlog of serious crimes is largely due to massive underfunding by central government
Now the likes of you may want to save money by doing away with "lefty lawyers" and "fair trials" and just flog and hang anyone who looks shifty - I personally think it matters to have things like evidence and proof and due process. And those things take resources.
Except that the LABOUR MP for Rotherham thinks it may be as high as a million. And I have a tiny idea she might know more than you. Don’t you?
So 100,000 is actually and tragically conservative
So your citation is one MP in the Mirror from 2015 saying it "could be" as high as a million kids being sexually assaulted by Muslim grooming gangs; what I have cited is a summary of a Home Office report from 2020 that was directly aimed at investigating those claims which shows how that is not the case:
We can also see how some of the issue is straight up victim blaming by the cops, with reports from stories like this where "The inquiry into the Telford abuse scandal, which published its report in 2022, found police dismissive of claims of abuse, with one saying "these girls had chosen to go with, I don't know, 'bad boys'".https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65174096
Again, grooming gangs happen and sexual assault happens and it is awful - but none of this suggests it is a problem predominantly of immigrant populations nor would it be solved by stopping immigration, because if you did stop immigration you'd still have the issue of most people committing sexual assault against girls and women being white British, and the issue of the police not giving a shit because they are institutionally misogynistic.
I also find it very interesting how the man who cries about wokeness all the time is claiming to care about sexual assault of women - is feminism not woke? Was the movement to hold powerful men accountable for their sexual crimes not woke? Or is it just that when you can pin sexual crimes on black and brown skinned people you want to claim you care about women?
NEW: Labour's Barking candidate Darren Rodwell has been removed from the list of election candidates being approved by the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) this lunchtime.
The decision follows BBC reports into his conduct.
Red Wall Tory MP says Labour is on course for 'overwhelming' victory as he appeals to Nigel Farage to stand down Reform candidates in seats with right-wing Conservatives
Marco Longhi, Tory MP for Dudley North, says Farage is a 'hugely talented politician' who should have been given a peerage in recognition for his achievements
He says Farage will have no one left to partner with in the Commons if he wins Clacton but kills off all the Tory Brexiteers
'It feels like there is going to be an overwhelming win by Labour. Why target certain MPs who have a track record of Reform type politics?
'If you want to remove even those with traditional conservative views there will be absolutely no coalition left to have in Parliament. If he wins and becomes an MP they will have no-one to partner with'
Longhi insists he will not defect, saying he will fight 'tooth and nail' for the Tories. 'If I go down I go down'
Moon walking bollards arrive in the Strand. First installation of these I am aware of in the UK.
I'm sure some PBer knows of a prior-install.
I very much like the proximity sensor which stops them moving when anyone is close, and I want one fitted to all BMWs, Audis, Mercedes, and Land Rovers.
Banning foie gras today, they'll ban fish and chips next.
A slippery slope to licensing grouse moors.
Did you know that they employ tens of people in the Highlands?
Why not convert them to Goose Moors?
Or grousing moors, where tweed clad gammons can gather together for a good old moan. Oh, that's what happens already you say? At least there'd be fewer poisoned raptors without the shootin'.
You surely don’t really want to encourage Farage to come to Scotland?
Farage crapping himself while being chased down the Royal Mile again is just what the nation needs.
Everyone in Britain should just emigrate. Seriously. Whole place is a shithole now and the only tolerable bits are certain nice parts of london and the inner Hebrides
Just get out. It’s ruined. The lefties ruined it
Join me on my endless travels around the world. There is a lot of world out here and it’s fun!
England is mostly okay outside the crowded south-east.
I thought the only reason the South East was crowded was because it's swamped with people desperate to escape the decaying, crime-ridden, impoverished North.
Lmao, Guido trolling SKS. Keirs old private school is offering a pay in advance to avoid VAT wheeze. Lolz
You see, if the Tories were smart (don't laugh), they'd have Sunak mention this tonight. Now, it would be naughty as it would insinuate that Starmer was privately educated, but it is legitimate to point this out to Starmer as a "Reigatian":
Everyone in Britain should just emigrate. Seriously. Whole place is a shithole now and the only tolerable bits are certain nice parts of london and the inner Hebrides
Just get out. It’s ruined. The lefties ruined it
Join me on my endless travels around the world. There is a lot of world out here and it’s fun!
England is mostly okay outside the crowded south-east.
It's eye of the beholder stuff - a lot of leafy commuter belt is fine; most of London is fine; the outer belt of the south east is largely lovely. But if you don't like the south east it isn't going to appeal - I struggle with the gritty parts of Yorkshire but I recognise that lots of people love it, which is fine.
Moon walking bollards arrive in the Strand. First installation of these I am aware of in the UK.
I'm sure some PBer knows of a prior-install.
I very much like the proximity sensor which stops them moving when anyone is close, and I want one fitted to all BMWs, Audis, Mercedes, and Land Rovers.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
But I don't think they would predate on the deer enough. We need big predators that would not only cull numbers but change deer behaviour and make them more worried around open spaces and watering holes and such. The issue of deer is not just their numbers, but their grazing habits and the erosion they cause by not really acting in ways they would of when they did have predators. Their numbers alongside this behaviour change is what makes the impact so much worse.
I mean a wolf killing a deer would be a pretty long, drawn out, bloody, and painful affair do you really want to inflict that on a deer rather than a single bullet.
It's not like a pack of hounds killing a fox which was a super efficient means of pest control.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
But I don't think they would predate on the deer enough. We need big predators that would not only cull numbers but change deer behaviour and make them more worried around open spaces and watering holes and such. The issue of deer is not just their numbers, but their grazing habits and the erosion they cause by not really acting in ways they would of when they did have predators. Their numbers alongside this behaviour change is what makes the impact so much worse.
I've read things from people in the know who think that Lynx would do the job.
The way I'd view it use that Lynx would be the best way to start, and sort out issues to do with livestock predation, and confidence-building with farmers. And then it's easier to make the case for other predators later.
That would make sense - wolves and bears are just a lot cooler than lynx, and just as native to the country. I do dislike living in a country where the largest native carnivore that isn't extinct is the badger. And there is an unnecessary cull on them!
Lmao, Guido trolling SKS. Keirs old private school is offering a pay in advance to avoid VAT wheeze. Lolz
Worst thing is that a lot of schools are making a complete pigs ear of it - about half we've seen are likely to not work according to a session I had at work a few weeks ago - we've placed a complete ban on giving our opinion on them due to the risk involved. The impact is potentially catastrophic if they get it wrong. Personally I don't think it will end up happening though.
Listening to Farage this morning on R4 Today, I noticed one tiny thing. He didn't want to dwell at all on the fact that his policy of Zero Net Migration = 500,000+ new arrivals every year (matching the departures). That's 5 million per decade. He minimally acknowledged and moved away immediately.
For the right there are two big issues about inward migration; the numbers causing housing/services problems, and secondly the 'cultural' issues.
Net Zero migration may address the Reform voter's problem with the first, but not the second. Has anyone noticed this? I don't think Farage wants it mentioned. Which of course means no-one in the political domain does.
I mean, it's also because nobody wants to make the argument for solving the first crisis without worrying about immigration - investment. We could invest in better infrastructure, more schools, doctors, houses etc. and still have immigration.
Farage is happy to push on those issues because that is what has been gifted to him by the neoliberal turn. People seem to forget that Corbyn's policies were still quite popular with a large portion of the population - he was just so unpopular that negative polarisation held together a coalition for the Tories. When Johnson said he'd turn on the spending spigot with Levelling Up, the Tories won in Labour heartlands. As long as the state keeps arguing it has no resources to care for average people, people will grow resentful.
Someone like Farage will aim that resentment towards the foreigner, people like Leon towards "wokeness". I would argue the left (correctly) turns that ire on capitalists - as they are the dragons of fable sitting on their hordes of wealth. The immigrant doing what humans have always done, move around the world when they need to, is not in a position of power to affect the poor state of our country. The "woke" who are just asking for historic injustice to be recognised, acknowledged and no longer perpetuated don't hold the levers of power. Those who do have power and influence in our politic are those who are wealthy, who own companies, who demand less regulation etc. etc. They are the ones who have been catered to in the last 30-40 years, and that is the reason for our decline. And no one who benefits from that system is going to stand up and point that out. So Farage is a useful tool - because when he points at shadows and calls them phantoms people don't look at the real causes of the problem.
The 100,000+ white underage English girls raped by racist Muslim grooming gangs might have a claim they were *a tiny bit affected* by migration
The idea that there are 100s of thousands of young girls victimised by immigrants is another right wing fantasy -
We know who is actually the most likely perpetrator of sexual assault - someone within the close family or a family friend of the victim, followed by someone with a position of authority in their community (a priest, a teacher, etc.). Again - this is a projection of the right who look at patriarchal family structure as something that must be protected and, unwilling to accept that that structure leads to more sexual assault, says it must be the foreigner, the outsider, the Other who is really to blame. Is that to say there are literally 0 cases of immigrants committing sexual assault or rape? Of course not. But the idea that it is endemic, or even common, is preposterous. It's the same old "got to keep our white women safe" rhetoric of days gone by.
And even if it were true - this would still be an infrastructure problem because the justice system is part of the social infrastructure that has been destroyed by austerity. Do the police take sexual assault or rape seriously? No.
And then when it comes to getting a court date and a trial, of course, the massive backlog of serious crimes is largely due to massive underfunding by central government
Now the likes of you may want to save money by doing away with "lefty lawyers" and "fair trials" and just flog and hang anyone who looks shifty - I personally think it matters to have things like evidence and proof and due process. And those things take resources.
Except that the LABOUR MP for Rotherham thinks it may be as high as a million. And I have a tiny idea she might know more than you. Don’t you?
So 100,000 is actually and tragically conservative
So your citation is one MP in the Mirror from 2015 saying it "could be" as high as a million kids being sexually assaulted by Muslim grooming gangs; what I have cited is a summary of a Home Office report from 2020 that was directly aimed at investigating those claims which shows how that is not the case:
We can also see how some of the issue is straight up victim blaming by the cops, with reports from stories like this where "The inquiry into the Telford abuse scandal, which published its report in 2022, found police dismissive of claims of abuse, with one saying "these girls had chosen to go with, I don't know, 'bad boys'".https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65174096
Again, grooming gangs happen and sexual assault happens and it is awful - but none of this suggests it is a problem predominantly of immigrant populations nor would it be solved by stopping immigration, because if you did stop immigration you'd still have the issue of most people committing sexual assault against girls and women being white British, and the issue of the police not giving a shit because they are institutionally misogynistic.
I also find it very interesting how the man who cries about wokeness all the time is claiming to care about sexual assault of women - is feminism not woke? Was the movement to hold powerful men accountable for their sexual crimes not woke? Or is it just that when you can pin sexual crimes on black and brown skinned people you want to claim you care about women?
1400 girls were raped/abused/tortured in Rotherham according to the official report. Rotherham has a population of 260,000, about 0.3% of the UK. We know this pattern of rape and grooming has occurred all across the UK - basically wherever it is sought, it is found
300 x 1400 = 420,000
I’ve reduced it by 75% so you don’t have conniptions; you can thank me later
Moon walking bollards arrive in the Strand. First installation of these I am aware of in the UK.
I'm sure some PBer knows of a prior-install.
I very much like the proximity sensor which stops them moving when anyone is close, and I want one fitted to all BMWs, Audis, Mercedes, and Land Rovers.
Everyone in Britain should just emigrate. Seriously. Whole place is a shithole now and the only tolerable bits are certain nice parts of london and the inner Hebrides
Just get out. It’s ruined. The lefties ruined it
Join me on my endless travels around the world. There is a lot of world out here and it’s fun!
Aberdeenshire. Mild and dry climate with plenty of sunshine (genuinely, ask the Met Office). Fresh air, mountains, cliffs, castles, whisky, long sandy beaches. Farming, fishing, energy, tourism. My own village has a fantastic community spirit, food, shops, events - and easy access to Aberdeen city and the airport.
Despite being there for 15 years I never felt like Teesside was home - it was just where I lived. Aberdeenshire is home. Genuinely love the place.
What about Rochdale? Did that feel like home?
I'm fascinated by the concept of home. I lived in the suburbs of Nottingham for 9 years - it was pleasant, I had good friends there, but it never felt like home. It seems churlish to complain about living too far south when you are only 50 miles south of where you are born, but there you are. But I've also lived in Sheffield and that DID feel like home. My own gwlad - the land which stirs my soul - is quite large. It encompasses almost all of the North West (with the exception of Cumbria west of Scafell, and Crewe), and about two thirds of Yorkshire (with the boundary roughly being the M1 up as far as Tadcaster, and some vague line somewhere in the North York Moors north of that). It doesn't include much of the North East, but does include the western fringes of County Durham and the south western bit of Northumberland (the Pennines, basically). Oh, and the northern half of the Peak District.
I'd then add a tier-2 homeland which I don't feel I'm entitled to but which elictis the same sort of feelings: Western Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Devon, Somerset, the Scottish Borders, the Lothians, Stirlingshire, Perthshire. (I could claim ancestral connections to those areas of Scotland but I could also claim ancestral connections to South East London, and that doesn't feel the same).
There is a danger of course in just saying that places which are nice are those which feel like home. But obviously as @RochdalePioneers points out it's much easier for somewhere to feel like home if it's nice!
Listening to Farage this morning on R4 Today, I noticed one tiny thing. He didn't want to dwell at all on the fact that his policy of Zero Net Migration = 500,000+ new arrivals every year (matching the departures). That's 5 million per decade. He minimally acknowledged and moved away immediately.
For the right there are two big issues about inward migration; the numbers causing housing/services problems, and secondly the 'cultural' issues.
Net Zero migration may address the Reform voter's problem with the first, but not the second. Has anyone noticed this? I don't think Farage wants it mentioned. Which of course means no-one in the political domain does.
I mean, it's also because nobody wants to make the argument for solving the first crisis without worrying about immigration - investment. We could invest in better infrastructure, more schools, doctors, houses etc. and still have immigration.
Farage is happy to push on those issues because that is what has been gifted to him by the neoliberal turn. People seem to forget that Corbyn's policies were still quite popular with a large portion of the population - he was just so unpopular that negative polarisation held together a coalition for the Tories. When Johnson said he'd turn on the spending spigot with Levelling Up, the Tories won in Labour heartlands. As long as the state keeps arguing it has no resources to care for average people, people will grow resentful.
Someone like Farage will aim that resentment towards the foreigner, people like Leon towards "wokeness". I would argue the left (correctly) turns that ire on capitalists - as they are the dragons of fable sitting on their hordes of wealth. The immigrant doing what humans have always done, move around the world when they need to, is not in a position of power to affect the poor state of our country. The "woke" who are just asking for historic injustice to be recognised, acknowledged and no longer perpetuated don't hold the levers of power. Those who do have power and influence in our politic are those who are wealthy, who own companies, who demand less regulation etc. etc. They are the ones who have been catered to in the last 30-40 years, and that is the reason for our decline. And no one who benefits from that system is going to stand up and point that out. So Farage is a useful tool - because when he points at shadows and calls them phantoms people don't look at the real causes of the problem.
The 100,000+ white underage English girls raped by racist Muslim grooming gangs might have a claim they were *a tiny bit affected* by migration
The idea that there are 100s of thousands of young girls victimised by immigrants is another right wing fantasy -
We know who is actually the most likely perpetrator of sexual assault - someone within the close family or a family friend of the victim, followed by someone with a position of authority in their community (a priest, a teacher, etc.). Again - this is a projection of the right who look at patriarchal family structure as something that must be protected and, unwilling to accept that that structure leads to more sexual assault, says it must be the foreigner, the outsider, the Other who is really to blame. Is that to say there are literally 0 cases of immigrants committing sexual assault or rape? Of course not. But the idea that it is endemic, or even common, is preposterous. It's the same old "got to keep our white women safe" rhetoric of days gone by.
And even if it were true - this would still be an infrastructure problem because the justice system is part of the social infrastructure that has been destroyed by austerity. Do the police take sexual assault or rape seriously? No.
And then when it comes to getting a court date and a trial, of course, the massive backlog of serious crimes is largely due to massive underfunding by central government
Now the likes of you may want to save money by doing away with "lefty lawyers" and "fair trials" and just flog and hang anyone who looks shifty - I personally think it matters to have things like evidence and proof and due process. And those things take resources.
Except that the LABOUR MP for Rotherham thinks it may be as high as a million. And I have a tiny idea she might know more than you. Don’t you?
So 100,000 is actually and tragically conservative
So your citation is one MP in the Mirror from 2015 saying it "could be" as high as a million kids being sexually assaulted by Muslim grooming gangs; what I have cited is a summary of a Home Office report from 2020 that was directly aimed at investigating those claims which shows how that is not the case:
We can also see how some of the issue is straight up victim blaming by the cops, with reports from stories like this where "The inquiry into the Telford abuse scandal, which published its report in 2022, found police dismissive of claims of abuse, with one saying "these girls had chosen to go with, I don't know, 'bad boys'".https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65174096
Again, grooming gangs happen and sexual assault happens and it is awful - but none of this suggests it is a problem predominantly of immigrant populations nor would it be solved by stopping immigration, because if you did stop immigration you'd still have the issue of most people committing sexual assault against girls and women being white British, and the issue of the police not giving a shit because they are institutionally misogynistic.
I also find it very interesting how the man who cries about wokeness all the time is claiming to care about sexual assault of women - is feminism not woke? Was the movement to hold powerful men accountable for their sexual crimes not woke? Or is it just that when you can pin sexual crimes on black and brown skinned people you want to claim you care about women?
1400 girls were raped/abused/tortured in Rotherham according to the official report. Rotherham has a population of 260,000, about 0.3% of the UK. We know this pattern of rape and grooming has occurred all across the UK - basically wherever it is sought, it is found
300 x 1400 = 420,000
I’ve reduced it by 75% so you don’t have conniptions; you can thank me later
When you calculated your IQ as 145 or whatever, was that achieved by adding up the IQ for each of your many identities?
Marco Longhi, Tory MP for Dudley North, says Farage is a 'hugely talented politician' who should have been given a peerage in recognition for his achievements ...
"a man who you may rightly think should have become Prime Minister of his country or President of the world"
Everyone in Britain should just emigrate. Seriously. Whole place is a shithole now and the only tolerable bits are certain nice parts of london and the inner Hebrides
Just get out. It’s ruined. The lefties ruined it
Join me on my endless travels around the world. There is a lot of world out here and it’s fun!
Narrator: In 45 years, since 1979, the Tories have been in government for 32 years.
Britain today is a country made by right-wing politics. It's your failure. Own it. Have a think about where you went wrong.
Jeez. I know I’m quite influential on PB and have a lifelong tenancy in your brains but I didn’t realise I was personally running the country and have been doing so for 32 years!
I’m amazed I got it all done looking back. I must have done Brexit after a boozy lunch. Ah well. Shit happens
You've lost your teeth old man.
Perhaps you'll enjoy the simplicity of having a Labour government to rail against? Might give you some of your old oomph back.
I’ve been “losing my oomph” on PB for at least a decade. Strangely you all still bang on and on and on about me even when I’m not here. Imagine how mad you’ll be when my “oomph” returns!
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
But I don't think they would predate on the deer enough. We need big predators that would not only cull numbers but change deer behaviour and make them more worried around open spaces and watering holes and such. The issue of deer is not just their numbers, but their grazing habits and the erosion they cause by not really acting in ways they would of when they did have predators. Their numbers alongside this behaviour change is what makes the impact so much worse.
I mean a wolf killing a deer would be a pretty long, drawn out, bloody, and painful affair do you really want to include that one deer rather than a single bullet.
It's not like a pack of hounds killing a fox which was a super efficient means of pest control.
But like I said, this isn't just about culling, it's about changing deer behaviour to be less damaging. Human hunting isn't something that keeps deer on edge and anxious like having natural predators does. Anxiety reduces breeding, reduces congregating in certain spots, makes spooking behaviour more pronounced. Short of sending out people tasked with guns to mow deer down, even if we increase hunting licenses for deer, I don't see human action making enough of a dent.
And the issue with animal suffering and efficiency and such is less to do with the existence of it; nature is, as Darwin noted, cruel and painful and inefficient. But as humans we have created an understanding of morality where we want to reduce unnecessary pain and suffering. To me that includes eating factory farmed meat or the tearing apart of a fox by dogs for the amusement of some toffs. That doesn't preclude me from wanting to bring back extinct predators (to potential benefit of the environment and biodiversity as a whole) if it also helps deal with other man made problems.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
But I don't think they would predate on the deer enough. We need big predators that would not only cull numbers but change deer behaviour and make them more worried around open spaces and watering holes and such. The issue of deer is not just their numbers, but their grazing habits and the erosion they cause by not really acting in ways they would of when they did have predators. Their numbers alongside this behaviour change is what makes the impact so much worse.
I mean a wolf killing a deer would be a pretty long, drawn out, bloody, and painful affair do you really want to inflict that on a deer rather than a single bullet.
It's not like a pack of hounds killing a fox which was a super efficient means of pest control.
It's a complicated subject. But in 148grss's favour, I vaguely speculated on the subject of reintroducing large predators on here a year or so back, and was labelled (politely) a wolf-introducer. Which is quite a fun label to have. On the basis that nothing we say on here will sway the argument one way or the other, you may as well go with the one which gives you the best label.
It's alleged conduct not conduct. That's important.
Labour have done the right thing suspending, as they have time to appoint a new candidate.
Some corners of UK politics are filthy enough that such allegations can be faked up and used to knock people out of the game. That happened to Jason Zadrozny in 2015, when he was a real possibility for Ashfield MP for the Lib Dems. I'm very critical of his current behaviour, but he has my sympathy for 2015.
Old sexual rumours miraculously reappeared shortly before the Election in the press and he had to stand down.
The CPS / Police kept him hanging for 2 years under investigation then collapsed their case at the door of the Court.
Moon walking bollards arrive in the Strand. First installation of these I am aware of in the UK.
I'm sure some PBer knows of a prior-install.
I very much like the proximity sensor which stops them moving when anyone is close, and I want one fitted to all BMWs, Audis, Mercedes, and Land Rovers.
I just spoke to someone about the election. He has "voted Conservative many times." This was not campaigning. I may even be voting LibDem rather than Labour as I’m in a three-way marginal.
Anyway, the chap I spoke to said of the Conservatives, and I quote him verbatim:
“Good riddance to them. They are fucking bastards.”
Congratulations on posting yet another anecdote of someone taking to you about politics, posted on an anonymous forum. Who are all these people you meet up with talk about politics? I just had coffee with two colleagues for 45 minutes. We talked about my extension roof, Bath rugby and the new ground, the A303, pubs I used to work in, Nigel Owens... The election and politics didn't come up.
Real world people are excited about Love Island, Britains Got (no) Talent, their summer holidaysbobs...
"Real people" encompasses both types. And also just because they don't chat about politics doesn't mean they lack string feeling about it.
I have no idea if this is indicative of anything to do with the Ukrainian war but the train from krakow to Lviv was rammed last year. As was the bus from chernivtsi OUT of Ukraine
On this large bus there are 7 people going to Odesa. Four oldsters, one stunning young woman and her baby. And me
And I have just been told by a photographer friend who did this exact journey last summer that HIS bus was rammed too. Something has changed
That’s what happens in sw France . I have tried the pate , and delicious it is with a sweet wine , lots of crusty bread and a nice onion chutney .
It’s quite rich and I wouldn’t lose any sleep if I didn’t have it again but if you eat meat I don’t think you can moralize too much about people eating it.
Bar Boulud at the Madarin Oriental used to do a burger with a layer of foie gras within. It was exceptional.
I dislike animal cruelty and usually buy higher welfare products, but on foie gras I am a massive hypocrite because it’s so damn tasty.
I’ve never eaten the liver cooked only had the pate but I can imagine it would be lovely on a burger. I wouldn’t worry about the hypocrite bit , we’re all guilty of that at times with the things we eat, or where we shop etc .
I think this tends to be the missing bit in political messaging about stuff like climate change. People respond much more to “do your best but no one is perfect”.
The problem is that what people think is their best is nowhere near good enough to be effective. People respond considerably better in terms of actual behaviour when bad stuff is taxed sufficiently to make it an occasional luxury, but good luck getting elected on that platform.
It's alleged conduct not conduct. That's important.
Labour have done the right thing suspending, as they have time to appoint a new candidate.
Some corners of UK politics are filthy enough that such allegations can be faked up and used to knock people out of the game. That happened to Jason Zadrozny in 2015, when he was a real possibility for Ashfield MP for the Lib Dems. I'm very critical of his current behaviour, but he has my sympathy for 2015.
Old sexual rumours miraculously reappeared shortly before the Election in the press and he had to stand down.
The CPS / Police kept him hanging for 2 years under investigation then collapsed their case at the door of the Court.
I make no comment on the Barking case.
Yes, add the word allegations to the end of my post. Conduct allegations
NEW: Labour's Barking candidate Darren Rodwell has been removed from the list of election candidates being approved by the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) this lunchtime.
The decision follows BBC reports into his conduct.
Given that Barking's last MP was Margaret Hodge, who was in no way responsible for Islington's children's home scandal even though she ran the council, and previously Tom Driberg, I'd say the good people of Barking have suffered enough.
I have no idea if this is indicative of anything to do with the Ukrainian war but the train from krakow to Lviv was rammed last year. As was the bus from chernivtsi OUT of Ukraine
On this large bus there are 7 people going to Odesa. Four oldsters, one stunning young woman and her baby. And me
And I have just been told by a photographer friend who did this exact journey last summer that HIS bus was rammed too. Something has changed
It’s Nazis, as Frederick Forsyth predicted, they will do anything to stop Odessaphiles.
That’s what happens in sw France . I have tried the pate , and delicious it is with a sweet wine , lots of crusty bread and a nice onion chutney .
It’s quite rich and I wouldn’t lose any sleep if I didn’t have it again but if you eat meat I don’t think you can moralize too much about people eating it.
Bar Boulud at the Madarin Oriental used to do a burger with a layer of foie gras within. It was exceptional.
I dislike animal cruelty and usually buy higher welfare products, but on foie gras I am a massive hypocrite because it’s so damn tasty.
I’ve never eaten the liver cooked only had the pate but I can imagine it would be lovely on a burger. I wouldn’t worry about the hypocrite bit , we’re all guilty of that at times with the things we eat, or where we shop etc .
I think this tends to be the missing bit in political messaging about stuff like climate change. People respond much more to “do your best but no one is perfect”.
The problem is that what people think is their best is nowhere near good enough to be effective. People respond considerably better in terms of actual behaviour when bad stuff is taxed sufficiently to make it an occasional luxury, but good luck getting elected on that platform.
Well yes, exactly. I have this argument with younger relatives all the time. It’s all very well to take a full on “Thunberg” position, but you’ll never get elected; and if you do then you won’t get reelected and it’ll be reversed.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
But I don't think they would predate on the deer enough. We need big predators that would not only cull numbers but change deer behaviour and make them more worried around open spaces and watering holes and such. The issue of deer is not just their numbers, but their grazing habits and the erosion they cause by not really acting in ways they would of when they did have predators. Their numbers alongside this behaviour change is what makes the impact so much worse.
I mean a wolf killing a deer would be a pretty long, drawn out, bloody, and painful affair do you really want to include that one deer rather than a single bullet.
It's not like a pack of hounds killing a fox which was a super efficient means of pest control.
But like I said, this isn't just about culling, it's about changing deer behaviour to be less damaging. Human hunting isn't something that keeps deer on edge and anxious like having natural predators does. Anxiety reduces breeding, reduces congregating in certain spots, makes spooking behaviour more pronounced. Short of sending out people tasked with guns to mow deer down, even if we increase hunting licenses for deer, I don't see human action making enough of a dent.
And the issue with animal suffering and efficiency and such is less to do with the existence of it; nature is, as Darwin noted, cruel and painful and inefficient. But as humans we have created an understanding of morality where we want to reduce unnecessary pain and suffering. To me that includes eating factory farmed meat or the tearing apart of a fox by dogs for the amusement of some toffs. That doesn't preclude me from wanting to bring back extinct predators (to potential benefit of the environment and biodiversity as a whole) if it also helps deal with other man made problems.
I rather like the idea of wolves on the Ashridge estate (which is teeming with deer), but I expect I'm in a very small minority.
It's alleged conduct not conduct. That's important.
Labour have done the right thing suspending, as they have time to appoint a new candidate.
Some corners of UK politics are filthy enough that such allegations can be faked up and used to knock people out of the game. That happened to Jason Zadrozny in 2015, when he was a real possibility for Ashfield MP for the Lib Dems. I'm very critical of his current behaviour, but he has my sympathy for 2015.
Old sexual rumours miraculously reappeared shortly before the Election in the press and he had to stand down.
The CPS / Police kept him hanging for 2 years under investigation then collapsed their case at the door of the Court.
I make no comment on the Barking case.
Didn't something similar happen to Lloyd Russell-Moyle, an old accusation brought to light at a convenient time. The specifics of which we do not know and I am not implying anything in that respect, just drawing a parallel. Also raised at a time where the candidate has no time to really defend themselves.
That’s what happens in sw France . I have tried the pate , and delicious it is with a sweet wine , lots of crusty bread and a nice onion chutney .
It’s quite rich and I wouldn’t lose any sleep if I didn’t have it again but if you eat meat I don’t think you can moralize too much about people eating it.
Bar Boulud at the Madarin Oriental used to do a burger with a layer of foie gras within. It was exceptional.
I dislike animal cruelty and usually buy higher welfare products, but on foie gras I am a massive hypocrite because it’s so damn tasty.
I’ve never eaten the liver cooked only had the pate but I can imagine it would be lovely on a burger. I wouldn’t worry about the hypocrite bit , we’re all guilty of that at times with the things we eat, or where we shop etc .
I think this tends to be the missing bit in political messaging about stuff like climate change. People respond much more to “do your best but no one is perfect”.
The problem is that what people think is their best is nowhere near good enough to be effective. People respond considerably better in terms of actual behaviour when bad stuff is taxed sufficiently to make it an occasional luxury, but good luck getting elected on that platform.
Climate change is a huge global problem that involves replacing just about every piece of energy-related infrastructure in our economy over a period of a few decades.
Why would anyone think that this was something that could be achieved by asking the public to follow the prescriptions in a, "ten things you can do to stop global warming," article from The Guardian?
It's a category error. In most respects it shouldn't involve any change of individual behaviour.
Edit: And where it does involve change in behaviour it should be possible that this is mostly in the form of encouragement with a carrot, for something better, rather than making the status quo worse to force that change.
Listening to Farage this morning on R4 Today, I noticed one tiny thing. He didn't want to dwell at all on the fact that his policy of Zero Net Migration = 500,000+ new arrivals every year (matching the departures). That's 5 million per decade. He minimally acknowledged and moved away immediately.
For the right there are two big issues about inward migration; the numbers causing housing/services problems, and secondly the 'cultural' issues.
Net Zero migration may address the Reform voter's problem with the first, but not the second. Has anyone noticed this? I don't think Farage wants it mentioned. Which of course means no-one in the political domain does.
I mean, it's also because nobody wants to make the argument for solving the first crisis without worrying about immigration - investment. We could invest in better infrastructure, more schools, doctors, houses etc. and still have immigration.
Farage is happy to push on those issues because that is what has been gifted to him by the neoliberal turn. People seem to forget that Corbyn's policies were still quite popular with a large portion of the population - he was just so unpopular that negative polarisation held together a coalition for the Tories. When Johnson said he'd turn on the spending spigot with Levelling Up, the Tories won in Labour heartlands. As long as the state keeps arguing it has no resources to care for average people, people will grow resentful.
Someone like Farage will aim that resentment towards the foreigner, people like Leon towards "wokeness". I would argue the left (correctly) turns that ire on capitalists - as they are the dragons of fable sitting on their hordes of wealth. The immigrant doing what humans have always done, move around the world when they need to, is not in a position of power to affect the poor state of our country. The "woke" who are just asking for historic injustice to be recognised, acknowledged and no longer perpetuated don't hold the levers of power. Those who do have power and influence in our politic are those who are wealthy, who own companies, who demand less regulation etc. etc. They are the ones who have been catered to in the last 30-40 years, and that is the reason for our decline. And no one who benefits from that system is going to stand up and point that out. So Farage is a useful tool - because when he points at shadows and calls them phantoms people don't look at the real causes of the problem.
The 100,000+ white underage English girls raped by racist Muslim grooming gangs might have a claim they were *a tiny bit affected* by migration
The idea that there are 100s of thousands of young girls victimised by immigrants is another right wing fantasy -
We know who is actually the most likely perpetrator of sexual assault - someone within the close family or a family friend of the victim, followed by someone with a position of authority in their community (a priest, a teacher, etc.). Again - this is a projection of the right who look at patriarchal family structure as something that must be protected and, unwilling to accept that that structure leads to more sexual assault, says it must be the foreigner, the outsider, the Other who is really to blame. Is that to say there are literally 0 cases of immigrants committing sexual assault or rape? Of course not. But the idea that it is endemic, or even common, is preposterous. It's the same old "got to keep our white women safe" rhetoric of days gone by.
And even if it were true - this would still be an infrastructure problem because the justice system is part of the social infrastructure that has been destroyed by austerity. Do the police take sexual assault or rape seriously? No.
And then when it comes to getting a court date and a trial, of course, the massive backlog of serious crimes is largely due to massive underfunding by central government
Now the likes of you may want to save money by doing away with "lefty lawyers" and "fair trials" and just flog and hang anyone who looks shifty - I personally think it matters to have things like evidence and proof and due process. And those things take resources.
Except that the LABOUR MP for Rotherham thinks it may be as high as a million. And I have a tiny idea she might know more than you. Don’t you?
So 100,000 is actually and tragically conservative
So your citation is one MP in the Mirror from 2015 saying it "could be" as high as a million kids being sexually assaulted by Muslim grooming gangs; what I have cited is a summary of a Home Office report from 2020 that was directly aimed at investigating those claims which shows how that is not the case:
We can also see how some of the issue is straight up victim blaming by the cops, with reports from stories like this where "The inquiry into the Telford abuse scandal, which published its report in 2022, found police dismissive of claims of abuse, with one saying "these girls had chosen to go with, I don't know, 'bad boys'".https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65174096
Again, grooming gangs happen and sexual assault happens and it is awful - but none of this suggests it is a problem predominantly of immigrant populations nor would it be solved by stopping immigration, because if you did stop immigration you'd still have the issue of most people committing sexual assault against girls and women being white British, and the issue of the police not giving a shit because they are institutionally misogynistic.
I also find it very interesting how the man who cries about wokeness all the time is claiming to care about sexual assault of women - is feminism not woke? Was the movement to hold powerful men accountable for their sexual crimes not woke? Or is it just that when you can pin sexual crimes on black and brown skinned people you want to claim you care about women?
1400 girls were raped/abused/tortured in Rotherham according to the official report. Rotherham has a population of 260,000, about 0.3% of the UK. We know this pattern of rape and grooming has occurred all across the UK - basically wherever it is sought, it is found
300 x 1400 = 420,000
I’ve reduced it by 75% so you don’t have conniptions; you can thank me later
These are arse numbers - these are numbers you pull out of your arse. Because that's the only way to make any of your positions make sense.
And it still doesn't tackle the underlying issue - even in the world where your numbers are correct: immigrants are not the majority of perpetrators. So how do we deal with that? We would need to... increase infrastructure spending on criminal justice, community building, outreach and education (including sex education to kids, as it is the best proven method of kids being able to talk about being assaulted), empowering women and children, etc. etc. all of these things you would call the woke nanny state intervening in the business of the family, no?
Look, you just want to go "I'm out here protecting the innocence of my white women". I know you do. You have to make arse numbers up to try and justify it but really, at the end of the day, we both not what you're saying.
I have no idea if this is indicative of anything to do with the Ukrainian war but the train from krakow to Lviv was rammed last year. As was the bus from chernivtsi OUT of Ukraine
On this large bus there are 7 people going to Odesa. Four oldsters, one stunning young woman and her baby. And me
And I have just been told by a photographer friend who did this exact journey last summer that HIS bus was rammed too. Something has changed
It’s Nazis, as Frederick Forsyth predicted, they will do anything to stop Odessaphiles.
Could be nothing. Could be random
Alternatively perhaps those that needed to come and go from Ukraine have come and gone. Now the border is quiet. The men that wanted to flee the draft have fled. The volunteers who wanted to return have returned
This is it. Feels much more like Ukraine is on its own
This young woman on the bus looks like a Hollywood actress from the 1950s. She’s so beautiful it’s unnerving. She’s notably beautiful even by Ukrainian standards
She keeps looking at me and I’d like to think it’s fierce sexual interest but sadly I reckon she’s just intrigued. I’m the only male on the bus. Who am I and what am I doing going to Odesa?
That’s what happens in sw France . I have tried the pate , and delicious it is with a sweet wine , lots of crusty bread and a nice onion chutney .
It’s quite rich and I wouldn’t lose any sleep if I didn’t have it again but if you eat meat I don’t think you can moralize too much about people eating it.
Bar Boulud at the Madarin Oriental used to do a burger with a layer of foie gras within. It was exceptional.
I dislike animal cruelty and usually buy higher welfare products, but on foie gras I am a massive hypocrite because it’s so damn tasty.
I’ve never eaten the liver cooked only had the pate but I can imagine it would be lovely on a burger. I wouldn’t worry about the hypocrite bit , we’re all guilty of that at times with the things we eat, or where we shop etc .
I think this tends to be the missing bit in political messaging about stuff like climate change. People respond much more to “do your best but no one is perfect”.
The problem is that what people think is their best is nowhere near good enough to be effective. People respond considerably better in terms of actual behaviour when bad stuff is taxed sufficiently to make it an occasional luxury, but good luck getting elected on that platform.
Well yes, exactly. I have this argument with younger relatives all the time. It’s all very well to take a full on “Thunberg” position, but you’ll never get elected; and if you do then you won’t get reelected and it’ll be reversed.
Democracy = pragmatism.
Which means we're probably fucked unless some sort of global eco-dictatorship can be established.
I just spoke to someone about the election. He has "voted Conservative many times." This was not campaigning. I may even be voting LibDem rather than Labour as I’m in a three-way marginal.
Anyway, the chap I spoke to said of the Conservatives, and I quote him verbatim:
“Good riddance to them. They are fucking bastards.”
Congratulations on posting yet another anecdote of someone taking to you about politics, posted on an anonymous forum. Who are all these people you meet up with talk about politics? I just had coffee with two colleagues for 45 minutes. We talked about my extension roof, Bath rugby and the new ground, the A303, pubs I used to work in, Nigel Owens... The election and politics didn't come up.
Real world people are excited about Love Island, Britains Got (no) Talent, their summer holidaysbobs...
"Real people" encompasses both types. And also just because they don't chat about politics doesn't mean they lack string feeling about it.
Face to face my views would be both heavily moderated and if presented with someone elses strong opinions a mix of agreement and gently challenging them, whether I agreed or not. On the latter point not sure why I do that, but it feels right.
Everyone in Britain should just emigrate. Seriously. Whole place is a shithole now and the only tolerable bits are certain nice parts of london and the inner Hebrides
Just get out. It’s ruined. The lefties ruined it
Join me on my endless travels around the world. There is a lot of world out here and it’s fun!
England is mostly okay outside the crowded south-east.
I thought the only reason the South East was crowded was because it's swamped with people desperate to escape the decaying, crime-ridden, impoverished North.
I don't think I'm being overly parochial to say that the North of England is the most beautiful part not only of England, but of the world. Around 40% of our geography (too keen to make a point to check exact figure) is made up of our four and a half national parks, with a good chunk more being any one of the multiple AONBs.
Without wanting to deride the countryside around the southern half of the M1 and M6, it's not terribly exciting. But it's most northerners idea of what the south looks like (also a noisy traffic jam across Bromford Viaduct.)
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
But I don't think they would predate on the deer enough. We need big predators that would not only cull numbers but change deer behaviour and make them more worried around open spaces and watering holes and such. The issue of deer is not just their numbers, but their grazing habits and the erosion they cause by not really acting in ways they would of when they did have predators. Their numbers alongside this behaviour change is what makes the impact so much worse.
I mean a wolf killing a deer would be a pretty long, drawn out, bloody, and painful affair do you really want to include that one deer rather than a single bullet.
It's not like a pack of hounds killing a fox which was a super efficient means of pest control.
But like I said, this isn't just about culling, it's about changing deer behaviour to be less damaging. Human hunting isn't something that keeps deer on edge and anxious like having natural predators does. Anxiety reduces breeding, reduces congregating in certain spots, makes spooking behaviour more pronounced. Short of sending out people tasked with guns to mow deer down, even if we increase hunting licenses for deer, I don't see human action making enough of a dent.
And the issue with animal suffering and efficiency and such is less to do with the existence of it; nature is, as Darwin noted, cruel and painful and inefficient. But as humans we have created an understanding of morality where we want to reduce unnecessary pain and suffering. To me that includes eating factory farmed meat or the tearing apart of a fox by dogs for the amusement of some toffs. That doesn't preclude me from wanting to bring back extinct predators (to potential benefit of the environment and biodiversity as a whole) if it also helps deal with other man made problems.
Keeping deer in a state of fear and anxiety does not seem very humane, even if it is done by natural predators.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
But I don't think they would predate on the deer enough. We need big predators that would not only cull numbers but change deer behaviour and make them more worried around open spaces and watering holes and such. The issue of deer is not just their numbers, but their grazing habits and the erosion they cause by not really acting in ways they would of when they did have predators. Their numbers alongside this behaviour change is what makes the impact so much worse.
I mean a wolf killing a deer would be a pretty long, drawn out, bloody, and painful affair do you really want to include that one deer rather than a single bullet.
It's not like a pack of hounds killing a fox which was a super efficient means of pest control.
But like I said, this isn't just about culling, it's about changing deer behaviour to be less damaging. Human hunting isn't something that keeps deer on edge and anxious like having natural predators does. Anxiety reduces breeding, reduces congregating in certain spots, makes spooking behaviour more pronounced. Short of sending out people tasked with guns to mow deer down, even if we increase hunting licenses for deer, I don't see human action making enough of a dent.
And the issue with animal suffering and efficiency and such is less to do with the existence of it; nature is, as Darwin noted, cruel and painful and inefficient. But as humans we have created an understanding of morality where we want to reduce unnecessary pain and suffering. To me that includes eating factory farmed meat or the tearing apart of a fox by dogs for the amusement of some toffs. That doesn't preclude me from wanting to bring back extinct predators (to potential benefit of the environment and biodiversity as a whole) if it also helps deal with other man made problems.
If only animals understood irony.
As it was being eaten alive - because that's how it works - the deer could ponder that such a death inflicted upon it was to satisfy your social ethical imperative while dreaming of being killed near-instantly by a pack of hounds or marksman's bullet.
It's alleged conduct not conduct. That's important.
Labour have done the right thing suspending, as they have time to appoint a new candidate.
Some corners of UK politics are filthy enough that such allegations can be faked up and used to knock people out of the game. That happened to Jason Zadrozny in 2015, when he was a real possibility for Ashfield MP for the Lib Dems. I'm very critical of his current behaviour, but he has my sympathy for 2015.
Old sexual rumours miraculously reappeared shortly before the Election in the press and he had to stand down.
The CPS / Police kept him hanging for 2 years under investigation then collapsed their case at the door of the Court.
I make no comment on the Barking case.
Didn't something similar happen to Lloyd Russell-Moyle, an old accusation brought to light at a convenient time. The specifics of which we do not know and I am not implying anything in that respect, just drawing a parallel. Also raised at a time where the candidate has no time to really defend themselves.
The mad thing about this election is that the tories at the top of the party are more left wing than the current Labour Party. When Blair came into power Labour spent fortunes increasing people's benefits, there is no way SKS will do that. UC is a very very generous benefit especially if you got children and there are other benefits which exist now which are incredible. My friend is recovering from bowel cancer and has had a PiP assessment. He is entitled to a payment of £2000 per month for 3 years. This money is not taken into account if you work or receive other benefits. Its completely tax free. He was suffering for 3-4 months following his operation due to Chemo etc but is fine now. How many other countries have a benefit system that generous?
Moon walking bollards arrive in the Strand. First installation of these I am aware of in the UK.
I'm sure some PBer knows of a prior-install.
I very much like the proximity sensor which stops them moving when anyone is close, and I want one fitted to all BMWs, Audis, Mercedes, and Land Rovers.
They move like they are powered by indentured toddlers.
Careful. Rishi is still looking for policies he can announce, and toddler indenture sounds right up his street.
Solid Victorian values and as The Great Lady herself said “Victorian values were the values when our country was great”. 😉
Of course, a lot of them were stolen from the Nonconformists/Presbyterians (depending on location) and their work ethic. Including the Society of Friends, Independents, and other unspeakable republican anti-establishment types. Chapel rather than Church in Wales, and so on and so forth.
Never forgotten reading the eponymous book published by the British Academy back in 1992, though the details grow dim. Now free on line., bless their collective little cotton socks.
Fort instance, R. Samuel on Mrs T and those values:
' But it is a sad irony of our time that Mrs Thatcher, though espousing the work ethic, presided over a decade which saw more job losses than at any other time in twentieth-century British history, and which witnessed (or confirmed) a decisive shift from a manufacturing to a service economy. There is no reason to doubt the sincerity of Mrs Thatcher’s professions of faith, but if one were to look for those who, during her period of office, most obstinately stood out for Victorian Values generally, whether one interpreted them in terms of family solidarity, the dignity of work, the security of the home, or simply the right of the Free-born Englishman to stay put, it would be not the Prime Minister, but the miners defeated in the strike of 1984-5 - her 'enemy within' - who would have the stronger claim.'
That’s what happens in sw France . I have tried the pate , and delicious it is with a sweet wine , lots of crusty bread and a nice onion chutney .
It’s quite rich and I wouldn’t lose any sleep if I didn’t have it again but if you eat meat I don’t think you can moralize too much about people eating it.
Bar Boulud at the Madarin Oriental used to do a burger with a layer of foie gras within. It was exceptional.
I dislike animal cruelty and usually buy higher welfare products, but on foie gras I am a massive hypocrite because it’s so damn tasty.
I’ve never eaten the liver cooked only had the pate but I can imagine it would be lovely on a burger. I wouldn’t worry about the hypocrite bit , we’re all guilty of that at times with the things we eat, or where we shop etc .
I think this tends to be the missing bit in political messaging about stuff like climate change. People respond much more to “do your best but no one is perfect”.
The problem is that what people think is their best is nowhere near good enough to be effective. People respond considerably better in terms of actual behaviour when bad stuff is taxed sufficiently to make it an occasional luxury, but good luck getting elected on that platform.
Well yes, exactly. I have this argument with younger relatives all the time. It’s all very well to take a full on “Thunberg” position, but you’ll never get elected; and if you do then you won’t get reelected and it’ll be reversed.
Democracy = pragmatism.
Which means we're probably fucked unless some sort of global eco-dictatorship can be established.
Nah, on that subject we just accept 2-2.5 degrees of warming based on current policies plus improved technology. Which is fine, unless you live in the Maldives or similar places, and we can help them.
Everyone in Britain should just emigrate. Seriously. Whole place is a shithole now and the only tolerable bits are certain nice parts of london and the inner Hebrides
Just get out. It’s ruined. The lefties ruined it
Join me on my endless travels around the world. There is a lot of world out here and it’s fun!
Aberdeenshire. Mild and dry climate with plenty of sunshine (genuinely, ask the Met Office). Fresh air, mountains, cliffs, castles, whisky, long sandy beaches. Farming, fishing, energy, tourism. My own village has a fantastic community spirit, food, shops, events - and easy access to Aberdeen city and the airport.
Despite being there for 15 years I never felt like Teesside was home - it was just where I lived. Aberdeenshire is home. Genuinely love the place.
What about Rochdale? Did that feel like home?
I'm fascinated by the concept of home. I lived in the suburbs of Nottingham for 9 years - it was pleasant, I had good friends there, but it never felt like home. It seems churlish to complain about living too far south when you are only 50 miles south of where you are born, but there you are. But I've also lived in Sheffield and that DID feel like home. My own gwlad - the land which stirs my soul - is quite large. It encompasses almost all of the North West (with the exception of Cumbria west of Scafell, and Crewe), and about two thirds of Yorkshire (with the boundary roughly being the M1 up as far as Tadcaster, and some vague line somewhere in the North York Moors north of that). It doesn't include much of the North East, but does include the western fringes of County Durham and the south western bit of Northumberland (the Pennines, basically). Oh, and the northern half of the Peak District.
I'd then add a tier-2 homeland which I don't feel I'm entitled to but which elictis the same sort of feelings: Western Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Devon, Somerset, the Scottish Borders, the Lothians, Stirlingshire, Perthshire. (I could claim ancestral connections to those areas of Scotland but I could also claim ancestral connections to South East London, and that doesn't feel the same).
There is a danger of course in just saying that places which are nice are those which feel like home. But obviously as @RochdalePioneers points out it's much easier for somewhere to feel like home if it's nice!
I don't remember the date, but I do remember where I was when I decided I would leave Rochdale and never return. In the back of my dad's car on the A680 dropping off the moors past 'Owd Betts pub with Rochdale visible in its entirety through the windscreen.
Listening to Farage this morning on R4 Today, I noticed one tiny thing. He didn't want to dwell at all on the fact that his policy of Zero Net Migration = 500,000+ new arrivals every year (matching the departures). That's 5 million per decade. He minimally acknowledged and moved away immediately.
For the right there are two big issues about inward migration; the numbers causing housing/services problems, and secondly the 'cultural' issues.
Net Zero migration may address the Reform voter's problem with the first, but not the second. Has anyone noticed this? I don't think Farage wants it mentioned. Which of course means no-one in the political domain does.
I mean, it's also because nobody wants to make the argument for solving the first crisis without worrying about immigration - investment. We could invest in better infrastructure, more schools, doctors, houses etc. and still have immigration.
Farage is happy to push on those issues because that is what has been gifted to him by the neoliberal turn. People seem to forget that Corbyn's policies were still quite popular with a large portion of the population - he was just so unpopular that negative polarisation held together a coalition for the Tories. When Johnson said he'd turn on the spending spigot with Levelling Up, the Tories won in Labour heartlands. As long as the state keeps arguing it has no resources to care for average people, people will grow resentful.
Someone like Farage will aim that resentment towards the foreigner, people like Leon towards "wokeness". I would argue the left (correctly) turns that ire on capitalists - as they are the dragons of fable sitting on their hordes of wealth. The immigrant doing what humans have always done, move around the world when they need to, is not in a position of power to affect the poor state of our country. The "woke" who are just asking for historic injustice to be recognised, acknowledged and no longer perpetuated don't hold the levers of power. Those who do have power and influence in our politic are those who are wealthy, who own companies, who demand less regulation etc. etc. They are the ones who have been catered to in the last 30-40 years, and that is the reason for our decline. And no one who benefits from that system is going to stand up and point that out. So Farage is a useful tool - because when he points at shadows and calls them phantoms people don't look at the real causes of the problem.
The 100,000+ white underage English girls raped by racist Muslim grooming gangs might have a claim they were *a tiny bit affected* by migration
The idea that there are 100s of thousands of young girls victimised by immigrants is another right wing fantasy -
We know who is actually the most likely perpetrator of sexual assault - someone within the close family or a family friend of the victim, followed by someone with a position of authority in their community (a priest, a teacher, etc.). Again - this is a projection of the right who look at patriarchal family structure as something that must be protected and, unwilling to accept that that structure leads to more sexual assault, says it must be the foreigner, the outsider, the Other who is really to blame. Is that to say there are literally 0 cases of immigrants committing sexual assault or rape? Of course not. But the idea that it is endemic, or even common, is preposterous. It's the same old "got to keep our white women safe" rhetoric of days gone by.
And even if it were true - this would still be an infrastructure problem because the justice system is part of the social infrastructure that has been destroyed by austerity. Do the police take sexual assault or rape seriously? No.
And then when it comes to getting a court date and a trial, of course, the massive backlog of serious crimes is largely due to massive underfunding by central government
Now the likes of you may want to save money by doing away with "lefty lawyers" and "fair trials" and just flog and hang anyone who looks shifty - I personally think it matters to have things like evidence and proof and due process. And those things take resources.
Except that the LABOUR MP for Rotherham thinks it may be as high as a million. And I have a tiny idea she might know more than you. Don’t you?
So 100,000 is actually and tragically conservative
So your citation is one MP in the Mirror from 2015 saying it "could be" as high as a million kids being sexually assaulted by Muslim grooming gangs; what I have cited is a summary of a Home Office report from 2020 that was directly aimed at investigating those claims which shows how that is not the case:
We can also see how some of the issue is straight up victim blaming by the cops, with reports from stories like this where "The inquiry into the Telford abuse scandal, which published its report in 2022, found police dismissive of claims of abuse, with one saying "these girls had chosen to go with, I don't know, 'bad boys'".https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65174096
Again, grooming gangs happen and sexual assault happens and it is awful - but none of this suggests it is a problem predominantly of immigrant populations nor would it be solved by stopping immigration, because if you did stop immigration you'd still have the issue of most people committing sexual assault against girls and women being white British, and the issue of the police not giving a shit because they are institutionally misogynistic.
I also find it very interesting how the man who cries about wokeness all the time is claiming to care about sexual assault of women - is feminism not woke? Was the movement to hold powerful men accountable for their sexual crimes not woke? Or is it just that when you can pin sexual crimes on black and brown skinned people you want to claim you care about women?
1400 girls were raped/abused/tortured in Rotherham according to the official report. Rotherham has a population of 260,000, about 0.3% of the UK. We know this pattern of rape and grooming has occurred all across the UK - basically wherever it is sought, it is found
300 x 1400 = 420,000
I’ve reduced it by 75% so you don’t have conniptions; you can thank me later
These are arse numbers - these are numbers you pull out of your arse. Because that's the only way to make any of your positions make sense.
And it still doesn't tackle the underlying issue - even in the world where your numbers are correct: immigrants are not the majority of perpetrators. So how do we deal with that? We would need to... increase infrastructure spending on criminal justice, community building, outreach and education (including sex education to kids, as it is the best proven method of kids being able to talk about being assaulted), empowering women and children, etc. etc. all of these things you would call the woke nanny state intervening in the business of the family, no?
Look, you just want to go "I'm out here protecting the innocence of my white women". I know you do. You have to make arse numbers up to try and justify it but really, at the end of the day, we both not what you're saying.
Do you think it's important to look at per capita rates of offending rather than just raw numbers?
Interesting guest list at Farage’s event yesterday, including plumbing entrepreneur Charlie Mullins and property developer Nick Candy. The Mail, being the Mail, is more interested in the actress wife of the latter, than in those who might be funding Farage and Reform UK.
Interesting guest list at Farage’s event yesterday, including plumbing entrepreneur Charlie Mullins and property developer Nick Candy. The Mail, being the Mail, is more interested in the actress wife of the latter, than in those who might be funding Farage and Reform UK.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
But I don't think they would predate on the deer enough. We need big predators that would not only cull numbers but change deer behaviour and make them more worried around open spaces and watering holes and such. The issue of deer is not just their numbers, but their grazing habits and the erosion they cause by not really acting in ways they would of when they did have predators. Their numbers alongside this behaviour change is what makes the impact so much worse.
I mean a wolf killing a deer would be a pretty long, drawn out, bloody, and painful affair do you really want to inflict that on a deer rather than a single bullet.
It's not like a pack of hounds killing a fox which was a super efficient means of pest control.
They used to get 10,000 people watching the public beheadings in Riyadh after Friday prayers. Families were encouraged to come. No one was too young. A super efficient way to entertain the population.
Whilst I think that Farage is also flailing a bit in his media appearances so far in this campaign, the people who are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt will and he has higher approval ratings amongst Tory voters than Rishi does. Could be an interesting case where between the two of them they poll 30-35% but, because it's split, representation in Parliament is near flatline...
Reform are closer with Yougov non mrp and Redfield but for crossover with most pollsters and the YouGov and MiC MRPs they require between a quarter and a third of all remaining Tories jumping ship. Seems unlikely. And vanishingly unlikely in actual votes at the GE.
I am of the opinion that conservatives attracted to Reform have already left and the remaining 20-25% in the polls are probably similar to myself who reject Farage and the right totally, and hope that after the carnage on July 4th there will be sufficient conservatives in the country to start the long round back to sanity
What happens next is down to the scale of the post rejection tantrum on the part of the party membership. What the country wants don't come into it, and hasn't for some time.
Listening to Farage this morning on R4 Today, I noticed one tiny thing. He didn't want to dwell at all on the fact that his policy of Zero Net Migration = 500,000+ new arrivals every year (matching the departures). That's 5 million per decade. He minimally acknowledged and moved away immediately.
For the right there are two big issues about inward migration; the numbers causing housing/services problems, and secondly the 'cultural' issues.
Net Zero migration may address the Reform voter's problem with the first, but not the second. Has anyone noticed this? I don't think Farage wants it mentioned. Which of course means no-one in the political domain does.
I mean, it's also because nobody wants to make the argument for solving the first crisis without worrying about immigration - investment. We could invest in better infrastructure, more schools, doctors, houses etc. and still have immigration.
Farage is happy to push on those issues because that is what has been gifted to him by the neoliberal turn. People seem to forget that Corbyn's policies were still quite popular with a large portion of the population - he was just so unpopular that negative polarisation held together a coalition for the Tories. When Johnson said he'd turn on the spending spigot with Levelling Up, the Tories won in Labour heartlands. As long as the state keeps arguing it has no resources to care for average people, people will grow resentful.
Someone like Farage will aim that resentment towards the foreigner, people like Leon towards "wokeness". I would argue the left (correctly) turns that ire on capitalists - as they are the dragons of fable sitting on their hordes of wealth. The immigrant doing what humans have always done, move around the world when they need to, is not in a position of power to affect the poor state of our country. The "woke" who are just asking for historic injustice to be recognised, acknowledged and no longer perpetuated don't hold the levers of power. Those who do have power and influence in our politic are those who are wealthy, who own companies, who demand less regulation etc. etc. They are the ones who have been catered to in the last 30-40 years, and that is the reason for our decline. And no one who benefits from that system is going to stand up and point that out. So Farage is a useful tool - because when he points at shadows and calls them phantoms people don't look at the real causes of the problem.
The 100,000+ white underage English girls raped by racist Muslim grooming gangs might have a claim they were *a tiny bit affected* by migration
The idea that there are 100s of thousands of young girls victimised by immigrants is another right wing fantasy -
We know who is actually the most likely perpetrator of sexual assault - someone within the close family or a family friend of the victim, followed by someone with a position of authority in their community (a priest, a teacher, etc.). Again - this is a projection of the right who look at patriarchal family structure as something that must be protected and, unwilling to accept that that structure leads to more sexual assault, says it must be the foreigner, the outsider, the Other who is really to blame. Is that to say there are literally 0 cases of immigrants committing sexual assault or rape? Of course not. But the idea that it is endemic, or even common, is preposterous. It's the same old "got to keep our white women safe" rhetoric of days gone by.
And even if it were true - this would still be an infrastructure problem because the justice system is part of the social infrastructure that has been destroyed by austerity. Do the police take sexual assault or rape seriously? No.
And then when it comes to getting a court date and a trial, of course, the massive backlog of serious crimes is largely due to massive underfunding by central government
Now the likes of you may want to save money by doing away with "lefty lawyers" and "fair trials" and just flog and hang anyone who looks shifty - I personally think it matters to have things like evidence and proof and due process. And those things take resources.
Except that the LABOUR MP for Rotherham thinks it may be as high as a million. And I have a tiny idea she might know more than you. Don’t you?
So 100,000 is actually and tragically conservative
So your citation is one MP in the Mirror from 2015 saying it "could be" as high as a million kids being sexually assaulted by Muslim grooming gangs; what I have cited is a summary of a Home Office report from 2020 that was directly aimed at investigating those claims which shows how that is not the case:
We can also see how some of the issue is straight up victim blaming by the cops, with reports from stories like this where "The inquiry into the Telford abuse scandal, which published its report in 2022, found police dismissive of claims of abuse, with one saying "these girls had chosen to go with, I don't know, 'bad boys'".https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65174096
Again, grooming gangs happen and sexual assault happens and it is awful - but none of this suggests it is a problem predominantly of immigrant populations nor would it be solved by stopping immigration, because if you did stop immigration you'd still have the issue of most people committing sexual assault against girls and women being white British, and the issue of the police not giving a shit because they are institutionally misogynistic.
I also find it very interesting how the man who cries about wokeness all the time is claiming to care about sexual assault of women - is feminism not woke? Was the movement to hold powerful men accountable for their sexual crimes not woke? Or is it just that when you can pin sexual crimes on black and brown skinned people you want to claim you care about women?
1400 girls were raped/abused/tortured in Rotherham according to the official report. Rotherham has a population of 260,000, about 0.3% of the UK. We know this pattern of rape and grooming has occurred all across the UK - basically wherever it is sought, it is found
300 x 1400 = 420,000
I’ve reduced it by 75% so you don’t have conniptions; you can thank me later
These are arse numbers - these are numbers you pull out of your arse. Because that's the only way to make any of your positions make sense.
And it still doesn't tackle the underlying issue - even in the world where your numbers are correct: immigrants are not the majority of perpetrators. So how do we deal with that? We would need to... increase infrastructure spending on criminal justice, community building, outreach and education (including sex education to kids, as it is the best proven method of kids being able to talk about being assaulted), empowering women and children, etc. etc. all of these things you would call the woke nanny state intervening in the business of the family, no?
Look, you just want to go "I'm out here protecting the innocence of my white women". I know you do. You have to make arse numbers up to try and justify it but really, at the end of the day, we both not what you're saying.
You’re quite insane yet reasonably well educated and not totally dumb. You probably have an IQ of about 115? - which is actually the same as the average Ashkenazi Jewish IQ
Interesting guest list at Farage’s event yesterday, including plumbing entrepreneur Charlie Mullins and property developer Nick Candy. The Mail, being the Mail, is more interested in the actress wife of the latter, than in those who might be funding Farage and Reform UK.
Interesting guest list at Farage’s event yesterday, including plumbing entrepreneur Charlie Mullins and property developer Nick Candy. The Mail, being the Mail, is more interested in the actress wife of the latter, than in those who might be funding Farage and Reform UK.
Interesting guest list at Farage’s event yesterday, including plumbing entrepreneur Charlie Mullins and property developer Nick Candy. The Mail, being the Mail, is more interested in the actress wife of the latter, than in those who might be funding Farage and Reform UK.
I have no idea if this is indicative of anything to do with the Ukrainian war but the train from krakow to Lviv was rammed last year. As was the bus from chernivtsi OUT of Ukraine
On this large bus there are 7 people going to Odesa. Four oldsters, one stunning young woman and her baby. And me
And I have just been told by a photographer friend who did this exact journey last summer that HIS bus was rammed too. Something has changed
It’s Nazis, as Frederick Forsyth predicted, they will do anything to stop Odessaphiles.
Could be nothing. Could be random
Alternatively perhaps those that needed to come and go from Ukraine have come and gone. Now the border is quiet. The men that wanted to flee the draft have fled. The volunteers who wanted to return have returned
This is it. Feels much more like Ukraine is on its own
This young woman on the bus looks like a Hollywood actress from the 1950s. She’s so beautiful it’s unnerving. She’s notably beautiful even by Ukrainian standards
She keeps looking at me and I’d like to think it’s fierce sexual interest but sadly I reckon she’s just intrigued. I’m the only male on the bus. Who am I and what am I doing going to Odesa?
If you think you’ll get funny looks on a bus going to Ukraine, wait until you see the looks you’ll get as a man leaving Ukraine.
It's alleged conduct not conduct. That's important.
Labour have done the right thing suspending, as they have time to appoint a new candidate.
Some corners of UK politics are filthy enough that such allegations can be faked up and used to knock people out of the game. That happened to Jason Zadrozny in 2015, when he was a real possibility for Ashfield MP for the Lib Dems. I'm very critical of his current behaviour, but he has my sympathy for 2015.
Old sexual rumours miraculously reappeared shortly before the Election in the press and he had to stand down.
The CPS / Police kept him hanging for 2 years under investigation then collapsed their case at the door of the Court.
Listening to Farage this morning on R4 Today, I noticed one tiny thing. He didn't want to dwell at all on the fact that his policy of Zero Net Migration = 500,000+ new arrivals every year (matching the departures). That's 5 million per decade. He minimally acknowledged and moved away immediately.
For the right there are two big issues about inward migration; the numbers causing housing/services problems, and secondly the 'cultural' issues.
Net Zero migration may address the Reform voter's problem with the first, but not the second. Has anyone noticed this? I don't think Farage wants it mentioned. Which of course means no-one in the political domain does.
I mean, it's also because nobody wants to make the argument for solving the first crisis without worrying about immigration - investment. We could invest in better infrastructure, more schools, doctors, houses etc. and still have immigration.
Farage is happy to push on those issues because that is what has been gifted to him by the neoliberal turn. People seem to forget that Corbyn's policies were still quite popular with a large portion of the population - he was just so unpopular that negative polarisation held together a coalition for the Tories. When Johnson said he'd turn on the spending spigot with Levelling Up, the Tories won in Labour heartlands. As long as the state keeps arguing it has no resources to care for average people, people will grow resentful.
Someone like Farage will aim that resentment towards the foreigner, people like Leon towards "wokeness". I would argue the left (correctly) turns that ire on capitalists - as they are the dragons of fable sitting on their hordes of wealth. The immigrant doing what humans have always done, move around the world when they need to, is not in a position of power to affect the poor state of our country. The "woke" who are just asking for historic injustice to be recognised, acknowledged and no longer perpetuated don't hold the levers of power. Those who do have power and influence in our politic are those who are wealthy, who own companies, who demand less regulation etc. etc. They are the ones who have been catered to in the last 30-40 years, and that is the reason for our decline. And no one who benefits from that system is going to stand up and point that out. So Farage is a useful tool - because when he points at shadows and calls them phantoms people don't look at the real causes of the problem.
The 100,000+ white underage English girls raped by racist Muslim grooming gangs might have a claim they were *a tiny bit affected* by migration
The idea that there are 100s of thousands of young girls victimised by immigrants is another right wing fantasy -
We know who is actually the most likely perpetrator of sexual assault - someone within the close family or a family friend of the victim, followed by someone with a position of authority in their community (a priest, a teacher, etc.). Again - this is a projection of the right who look at patriarchal family structure as something that must be protected and, unwilling to accept that that structure leads to more sexual assault, says it must be the foreigner, the outsider, the Other who is really to blame. Is that to say there are literally 0 cases of immigrants committing sexual assault or rape? Of course not. But the idea that it is endemic, or even common, is preposterous. It's the same old "got to keep our white women safe" rhetoric of days gone by.
And even if it were true - this would still be an infrastructure problem because the justice system is part of the social infrastructure that has been destroyed by austerity. Do the police take sexual assault or rape seriously? No.
And then when it comes to getting a court date and a trial, of course, the massive backlog of serious crimes is largely due to massive underfunding by central government
Now the likes of you may want to save money by doing away with "lefty lawyers" and "fair trials" and just flog and hang anyone who looks shifty - I personally think it matters to have things like evidence and proof and due process. And those things take resources.
Except that the LABOUR MP for Rotherham thinks it may be as high as a million. And I have a tiny idea she might know more than you. Don’t you?
So 100,000 is actually and tragically conservative
So your citation is one MP in the Mirror from 2015 saying it "could be" as high as a million kids being sexually assaulted by Muslim grooming gangs; what I have cited is a summary of a Home Office report from 2020 that was directly aimed at investigating those claims which shows how that is not the case:
We can also see how some of the issue is straight up victim blaming by the cops, with reports from stories like this where "The inquiry into the Telford abuse scandal, which published its report in 2022, found police dismissive of claims of abuse, with one saying "these girls had chosen to go with, I don't know, 'bad boys'".https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65174096
Again, grooming gangs happen and sexual assault happens and it is awful - but none of this suggests it is a problem predominantly of immigrant populations nor would it be solved by stopping immigration, because if you did stop immigration you'd still have the issue of most people committing sexual assault against girls and women being white British, and the issue of the police not giving a shit because they are institutionally misogynistic.
I also find it very interesting how the man who cries about wokeness all the time is claiming to care about sexual assault of women - is feminism not woke? Was the movement to hold powerful men accountable for their sexual crimes not woke? Or is it just that when you can pin sexual crimes on black and brown skinned people you want to claim you care about women?
1400 girls were raped/abused/tortured in Rotherham according to the official report. Rotherham has a population of 260,000, about 0.3% of the UK. We know this pattern of rape and grooming has occurred all across the UK - basically wherever it is sought, it is found
300 x 1400 = 420,000
I’ve reduced it by 75% so you don’t have conniptions; you can thank me later
These are arse numbers - these are numbers you pull out of your arse. Because that's the only way to make any of your positions make sense.
And it still doesn't tackle the underlying issue - even in the world where your numbers are correct: immigrants are not the majority of perpetrators. So how do we deal with that? We would need to... increase infrastructure spending on criminal justice, community building, outreach and education (including sex education to kids, as it is the best proven method of kids being able to talk about being assaulted), empowering women and children, etc. etc. all of these things you would call the woke nanny state intervening in the business of the family, no?
Look, you just want to go "I'm out here protecting the innocence of my white women". I know you do. You have to make arse numbers up to try and justify it but really, at the end of the day, we both not what you're saying.
Do you think it's important to look at per capita rates of offending rather than just raw numbers?
It can be, but as was pointed out by one of the summaries and the criticism that this issue is under policed - the demographics who are over represented are also the demographics who are over policed and were indeed targeted specifically for this kind of policing after these allegations. But, again, even if they are over represented in the statistics based on their representation in population it doesn't change the underlying point - the one that started this whole conversation.
Blocking immigrants from coming in the country does not solve the issue - it is just a good scapegoat for the problem. To deal with sexual abuse properly would require campaigning and resources - things that are not provided for under the ideology of cuts cuts cuts to anything, especially if it can be construed as "woke", which I'm sure these things would be.
Interesting guest list at Farage’s event yesterday, including plumbing entrepreneur Charlie Mullins and property developer Nick Candy. The Mail, being the Mail, is more interested in the actress wife of the latter, than in those who might be funding Farage and Reform UK.
Interesting guest list at Farage’s event yesterday, including plumbing entrepreneur Charlie Mullins and property developer Nick Candy. The Mail, being the Mail, is more interested in the actress wife of the latter, than in those who might be funding Farage and Reform UK.
What's the deal with Mullins? He was anti-Brexit six years ago.
I was thinking the same! He was understandably against leaving the EU, given how many plumbers he recruited from there, but he appears to be a somewhat unlikely, and therefore interesting, character to now turn up at a Farage rally. IIRC a former Conservative donor from the Cameron years.
Interesting guest list at Farage’s event yesterday, including plumbing entrepreneur Charlie Mullins and property developer Nick Candy. The Mail, being the Mail, is more interested in the actress wife of the latter, than in those who might be funding Farage and Reform UK.
That’s what happens in sw France . I have tried the pate , and delicious it is with a sweet wine , lots of crusty bread and a nice onion chutney .
It’s quite rich and I wouldn’t lose any sleep if I didn’t have it again but if you eat meat I don’t think you can moralize too much about people eating it.
Bar Boulud at the Madarin Oriental used to do a burger with a layer of foie gras within. It was exceptional.
I dislike animal cruelty and usually buy higher welfare products, but on foie gras I am a massive hypocrite because it’s so damn tasty.
I’ve never eaten the liver cooked only had the pate but I can imagine it would be lovely on a burger. I wouldn’t worry about the hypocrite bit , we’re all guilty of that at times with the things we eat, or where we shop etc .
I think this tends to be the missing bit in political messaging about stuff like climate change. People respond much more to “do your best but no one is perfect”.
The problem is that what people think is their best is nowhere near good enough to be effective. People respond considerably better in terms of actual behaviour when bad stuff is taxed sufficiently to make it an occasional luxury, but good luck getting elected on that platform.
Well yes, exactly. I have this argument with younger relatives all the time. It’s all very well to take a full on “Thunberg” position, but you’ll never get elected; and if you do then you won’t get reelected and it’ll be reversed.
Democracy = pragmatism.
Which means we're probably fucked unless some sort of global eco-dictatorship can be established.
Nah, on that subject we just accept 2-2.5 degrees of warming based on current policies plus improved technology. Which is fine, unless you live in the Maldives or similar places, and we can help them.
We’ve fixed global warming.
Er, no, we really haven't. Thus far we have made virtually no impact whatsoever on the rate of increase of CO2 in the atmosphere and are currently heading for at least 3 degrees of warming. The Maldives are already doomed, but so too are large areas of coastal plains around the world, not to mention those areas that will be made uninhabitable by heat and shifts in weather patterns. None of this will be fixed by imploring people to "do their best".
Listening to Farage this morning on R4 Today, I noticed one tiny thing. He didn't want to dwell at all on the fact that his policy of Zero Net Migration = 500,000+ new arrivals every year (matching the departures). That's 5 million per decade. He minimally acknowledged and moved away immediately.
For the right there are two big issues about inward migration; the numbers causing housing/services problems, and secondly the 'cultural' issues.
Net Zero migration may address the Reform voter's problem with the first, but not the second. Has anyone noticed this? I don't think Farage wants it mentioned. Which of course means no-one in the political domain does.
I mean, it's also because nobody wants to make the argument for solving the first crisis without worrying about immigration - investment. We could invest in better infrastructure, more schools, doctors, houses etc. and still have immigration.
Farage is happy to push on those issues because that is what has been gifted to him by the neoliberal turn. People seem to forget that Corbyn's policies were still quite popular with a large portion of the population - he was just so unpopular that negative polarisation held together a coalition for the Tories. When Johnson said he'd turn on the spending spigot with Levelling Up, the Tories won in Labour heartlands. As long as the state keeps arguing it has no resources to care for average people, people will grow resentful.
Someone like Farage will aim that resentment towards the foreigner, people like Leon towards "wokeness". I would argue the left (correctly) turns that ire on capitalists - as they are the dragons of fable sitting on their hordes of wealth. The immigrant doing what humans have always done, move around the world when they need to, is not in a position of power to affect the poor state of our country. The "woke" who are just asking for historic injustice to be recognised, acknowledged and no longer perpetuated don't hold the levers of power. Those who do have power and influence in our politic are those who are wealthy, who own companies, who demand less regulation etc. etc. They are the ones who have been catered to in the last 30-40 years, and that is the reason for our decline. And no one who benefits from that system is going to stand up and point that out. So Farage is a useful tool - because when he points at shadows and calls them phantoms people don't look at the real causes of the problem.
The 100,000+ white underage English girls raped by racist Muslim grooming gangs might have a claim they were *a tiny bit affected* by migration
The idea that there are 100s of thousands of young girls victimised by immigrants is another right wing fantasy -
We know who is actually the most likely perpetrator of sexual assault - someone within the close family or a family friend of the victim, followed by someone with a position of authority in their community (a priest, a teacher, etc.). Again - this is a projection of the right who look at patriarchal family structure as something that must be protected and, unwilling to accept that that structure leads to more sexual assault, says it must be the foreigner, the outsider, the Other who is really to blame. Is that to say there are literally 0 cases of immigrants committing sexual assault or rape? Of course not. But the idea that it is endemic, or even common, is preposterous. It's the same old "got to keep our white women safe" rhetoric of days gone by.
And even if it were true - this would still be an infrastructure problem because the justice system is part of the social infrastructure that has been destroyed by austerity. Do the police take sexual assault or rape seriously? No.
And then when it comes to getting a court date and a trial, of course, the massive backlog of serious crimes is largely due to massive underfunding by central government
Now the likes of you may want to save money by doing away with "lefty lawyers" and "fair trials" and just flog and hang anyone who looks shifty - I personally think it matters to have things like evidence and proof and due process. And those things take resources.
Except that the LABOUR MP for Rotherham thinks it may be as high as a million. And I have a tiny idea she might know more than you. Don’t you?
So 100,000 is actually and tragically conservative
So your citation is one MP in the Mirror from 2015 saying it "could be" as high as a million kids being sexually assaulted by Muslim grooming gangs; what I have cited is a summary of a Home Office report from 2020 that was directly aimed at investigating those claims which shows how that is not the case:
We can also see how some of the issue is straight up victim blaming by the cops, with reports from stories like this where "The inquiry into the Telford abuse scandal, which published its report in 2022, found police dismissive of claims of abuse, with one saying "these girls had chosen to go with, I don't know, 'bad boys'".https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65174096
Again, grooming gangs happen and sexual assault happens and it is awful - but none of this suggests it is a problem predominantly of immigrant populations nor would it be solved by stopping immigration, because if you did stop immigration you'd still have the issue of most people committing sexual assault against girls and women being white British, and the issue of the police not giving a shit because they are institutionally misogynistic.
I also find it very interesting how the man who cries about wokeness all the time is claiming to care about sexual assault of women - is feminism not woke? Was the movement to hold powerful men accountable for their sexual crimes not woke? Or is it just that when you can pin sexual crimes on black and brown skinned people you want to claim you care about women?
1400 girls were raped/abused/tortured in Rotherham according to the official report. Rotherham has a population of 260,000, about 0.3% of the UK. We know this pattern of rape and grooming has occurred all across the UK - basically wherever it is sought, it is found
300 x 1400 = 420,000
I’ve reduced it by 75% so you don’t have conniptions; you can thank me later
These are arse numbers - these are numbers you pull out of your arse. Because that's the only way to make any of your positions make sense.
And it still doesn't tackle the underlying issue - even in the world where your numbers are correct: immigrants are not the majority of perpetrators. So how do we deal with that? We would need to... increase infrastructure spending on criminal justice, community building, outreach and education (including sex education to kids, as it is the best proven method of kids being able to talk about being assaulted), empowering women and children, etc. etc. all of these things you would call the woke nanny state intervening in the business of the family, no?
Look, you just want to go "I'm out here protecting the innocence of my white women". I know you do. You have to make arse numbers up to try and justify it but really, at the end of the day, we both not what you're saying.
You’re quite insane yet reasonably well educated and not totally dumb. You probably have an IQ of about 115? - which is actually the same as the average Ashkenazi Jewish IQ
Is that right? 115? I’m usually good at this
Okay, is this where I learn that Leon has been a Poe this entire time, right? Come on, the man who screeches about the end of the West due to wokeness is insinuating I'm an insane overeducated left wing Jew. Is Jeremey Beadle going to come up behind me and tell me this entire forum has been a specifically designed honey pot for me?
Wow. Quite a lot of Dark Noom in southeast Moldova as we approach Ukraine
Thick forests. Driving rain. Abandoned buidings abutting lush green vineyards
A beautiful young woman stares silently ahead; her toddler gurgles happily in the empty seats, as the bus trundles slowly towards an appalling war, which has murdered half a million people
Listening to Farage this morning on R4 Today, I noticed one tiny thing. He didn't want to dwell at all on the fact that his policy of Zero Net Migration = 500,000+ new arrivals every year (matching the departures). That's 5 million per decade. He minimally acknowledged and moved away immediately.
For the right there are two big issues about inward migration; the numbers causing housing/services problems, and secondly the 'cultural' issues.
Net Zero migration may address the Reform voter's problem with the first, but not the second. Has anyone noticed this? I don't think Farage wants it mentioned. Which of course means no-one in the political domain does.
I mean, it's also because nobody wants to make the argument for solving the first crisis without worrying about immigration - investment. We could invest in better infrastructure, more schools, doctors, houses etc. and still have immigration.
Farage is happy to push on those issues because that is what has been gifted to him by the neoliberal turn. People seem to forget that Corbyn's policies were still quite popular with a large portion of the population - he was just so unpopular that negative polarisation held together a coalition for the Tories. When Johnson said he'd turn on the spending spigot with Levelling Up, the Tories won in Labour heartlands. As long as the state keeps arguing it has no resources to care for average people, people will grow resentful.
Someone like Farage will aim that resentment towards the foreigner, people like Leon towards "wokeness". I would argue the left (correctly) turns that ire on capitalists - as they are the dragons of fable sitting on their hordes of wealth. The immigrant doing what humans have always done, move around the world when they need to, is not in a position of power to affect the poor state of our country. The "woke" who are just asking for historic injustice to be recognised, acknowledged and no longer perpetuated don't hold the levers of power. Those who do have power and influence in our politic are those who are wealthy, who own companies, who demand less regulation etc. etc. They are the ones who have been catered to in the last 30-40 years, and that is the reason for our decline. And no one who benefits from that system is going to stand up and point that out. So Farage is a useful tool - because when he points at shadows and calls them phantoms people don't look at the real causes of the problem.
The 100,000+ white underage English girls raped by racist Muslim grooming gangs might have a claim they were *a tiny bit affected* by migration
The idea that there are 100s of thousands of young girls victimised by immigrants is another right wing fantasy -
We know who is actually the most likely perpetrator of sexual assault - someone within the close family or a family friend of the victim, followed by someone with a position of authority in their community (a priest, a teacher, etc.). Again - this is a projection of the right who look at patriarchal family structure as something that must be protected and, unwilling to accept that that structure leads to more sexual assault, says it must be the foreigner, the outsider, the Other who is really to blame. Is that to say there are literally 0 cases of immigrants committing sexual assault or rape? Of course not. But the idea that it is endemic, or even common, is preposterous. It's the same old "got to keep our white women safe" rhetoric of days gone by.
And even if it were true - this would still be an infrastructure problem because the justice system is part of the social infrastructure that has been destroyed by austerity. Do the police take sexual assault or rape seriously? No.
And then when it comes to getting a court date and a trial, of course, the massive backlog of serious crimes is largely due to massive underfunding by central government
Now the likes of you may want to save money by doing away with "lefty lawyers" and "fair trials" and just flog and hang anyone who looks shifty - I personally think it matters to have things like evidence and proof and due process. And those things take resources.
Except that the LABOUR MP for Rotherham thinks it may be as high as a million. And I have a tiny idea she might know more than you. Don’t you?
So 100,000 is actually and tragically conservative
So your citation is one MP in the Mirror from 2015 saying it "could be" as high as a million kids being sexually assaulted by Muslim grooming gangs; what I have cited is a summary of a Home Office report from 2020 that was directly aimed at investigating those claims which shows how that is not the case:
We can also see how some of the issue is straight up victim blaming by the cops, with reports from stories like this where "The inquiry into the Telford abuse scandal, which published its report in 2022, found police dismissive of claims of abuse, with one saying "these girls had chosen to go with, I don't know, 'bad boys'".https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65174096
Again, grooming gangs happen and sexual assault happens and it is awful - but none of this suggests it is a problem predominantly of immigrant populations nor would it be solved by stopping immigration, because if you did stop immigration you'd still have the issue of most people committing sexual assault against girls and women being white British, and the issue of the police not giving a shit because they are institutionally misogynistic.
I also find it very interesting how the man who cries about wokeness all the time is claiming to care about sexual assault of women - is feminism not woke? Was the movement to hold powerful men accountable for their sexual crimes not woke? Or is it just that when you can pin sexual crimes on black and brown skinned people you want to claim you care about women?
1400 girls were raped/abused/tortured in Rotherham according to the official report. Rotherham has a population of 260,000, about 0.3% of the UK. We know this pattern of rape and grooming has occurred all across the UK - basically wherever it is sought, it is found
300 x 1400 = 420,000
I’ve reduced it by 75% so you don’t have conniptions; you can thank me later
These are arse numbers - these are numbers you pull out of your arse. Because that's the only way to make any of your positions make sense.
And it still doesn't tackle the underlying issue - even in the world where your numbers are correct: immigrants are not the majority of perpetrators. So how do we deal with that? We would need to... increase infrastructure spending on criminal justice, community building, outreach and education (including sex education to kids, as it is the best proven method of kids being able to talk about being assaulted), empowering women and children, etc. etc. all of these things you would call the woke nanny state intervening in the business of the family, no?
Look, you just want to go "I'm out here protecting the innocence of my white women". I know you do. You have to make arse numbers up to try and justify it but really, at the end of the day, we both not what you're saying.
Do you think it's important to look at per capita rates of offending rather than just raw numbers?
It can be, but as was pointed out by one of the summaries and the criticism that this issue is under policed - the demographics who are over represented are also the demographics who are over policed and were indeed targeted specifically for this kind of policing after these allegations. But, again, even if they are over represented in the statistics based on their representation in population it doesn't change the underlying point - the one that started this whole conversation.
Blocking immigrants from coming in the country does not solve the issue - it is just a good scapegoat for the problem. To deal with sexual abuse properly would require campaigning and resources - things that are not provided for under the ideology of cuts cuts cuts to anything, especially if it can be construed as "woke", which I'm sure these things would be.
When looking at crimes against the person, you can't ignore the aspect of who is targetting whom and why.
Now looking like the BJP won't get a majority. Quite a turnup for the books. And I suppose a reason to remain cautious about any polls projecting landslides, as consistently happened ahead of the Indian election.
Has there ever been a month like this for global participation in elections? We had Mexico (pop. 130 million), now India (pop 1.42bn), then the EU elections later this week (pop 448 million) and finally the UK on the 4th (pop 67 million). Any I've missed?
That's 2.07 billion people affected by (admittedly not all voting in) elections in the space of 5 weeks, over a quarter of the world.
EDIT: I forgot South Africa (60 million) and there are a few other smaller ones.
Listening to Farage this morning on R4 Today, I noticed one tiny thing. He didn't want to dwell at all on the fact that his policy of Zero Net Migration = 500,000+ new arrivals every year (matching the departures). That's 5 million per decade. He minimally acknowledged and moved away immediately.
For the right there are two big issues about inward migration; the numbers causing housing/services problems, and secondly the 'cultural' issues.
Net Zero migration may address the Reform voter's problem with the first, but not the second. Has anyone noticed this? I don't think Farage wants it mentioned. Which of course means no-one in the political domain does.
I mean, it's also because nobody wants to make the argument for solving the first crisis without worrying about immigration - investment. We could invest in better infrastructure, more schools, doctors, houses etc. and still have immigration.
Farage is happy to push on those issues because that is what has been gifted to him by the neoliberal turn. People seem to forget that Corbyn's policies were still quite popular with a large portion of the population - he was just so unpopular that negative polarisation held together a coalition for the Tories. When Johnson said he'd turn on the spending spigot with Levelling Up, the Tories won in Labour heartlands. As long as the state keeps arguing it has no resources to care for average people, people will grow resentful.
Someone like Farage will aim that resentment towards the foreigner, people like Leon towards "wokeness". I would argue the left (correctly) turns that ire on capitalists - as they are the dragons of fable sitting on their hordes of wealth. The immigrant doing what humans have always done, move around the world when they need to, is not in a position of power to affect the poor state of our country. The "woke" who are just asking for historic injustice to be recognised, acknowledged and no longer perpetuated don't hold the levers of power. Those who do have power and influence in our politic are those who are wealthy, who own companies, who demand less regulation etc. etc. They are the ones who have been catered to in the last 30-40 years, and that is the reason for our decline. And no one who benefits from that system is going to stand up and point that out. So Farage is a useful tool - because when he points at shadows and calls them phantoms people don't look at the real causes of the problem.
The 100,000+ white underage English girls raped by racist Muslim grooming gangs might have a claim they were *a tiny bit affected* by migration
The idea that there are 100s of thousands of young girls victimised by immigrants is another right wing fantasy -
We know who is actually the most likely perpetrator of sexual assault - someone within the close family or a family friend of the victim, followed by someone with a position of authority in their community (a priest, a teacher, etc.). Again - this is a projection of the right who look at patriarchal family structure as something that must be protected and, unwilling to accept that that structure leads to more sexual assault, says it must be the foreigner, the outsider, the Other who is really to blame. Is that to say there are literally 0 cases of immigrants committing sexual assault or rape? Of course not. But the idea that it is endemic, or even common, is preposterous. It's the same old "got to keep our white women safe" rhetoric of days gone by.
And even if it were true - this would still be an infrastructure problem because the justice system is part of the social infrastructure that has been destroyed by austerity. Do the police take sexual assault or rape seriously? No.
And then when it comes to getting a court date and a trial, of course, the massive backlog of serious crimes is largely due to massive underfunding by central government
Now the likes of you may want to save money by doing away with "lefty lawyers" and "fair trials" and just flog and hang anyone who looks shifty - I personally think it matters to have things like evidence and proof and due process. And those things take resources.
Except that the LABOUR MP for Rotherham thinks it may be as high as a million. And I have a tiny idea she might know more than you. Don’t you?
So 100,000 is actually and tragically conservative
So your citation is one MP in the Mirror from 2015 saying it "could be" as high as a million kids being sexually assaulted by Muslim grooming gangs; what I have cited is a summary of a Home Office report from 2020 that was directly aimed at investigating those claims which shows how that is not the case:
We can also see how some of the issue is straight up victim blaming by the cops, with reports from stories like this where "The inquiry into the Telford abuse scandal, which published its report in 2022, found police dismissive of claims of abuse, with one saying "these girls had chosen to go with, I don't know, 'bad boys'".https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65174096
Again, grooming gangs happen and sexual assault happens and it is awful - but none of this suggests it is a problem predominantly of immigrant populations nor would it be solved by stopping immigration, because if you did stop immigration you'd still have the issue of most people committing sexual assault against girls and women being white British, and the issue of the police not giving a shit because they are institutionally misogynistic.
I also find it very interesting how the man who cries about wokeness all the time is claiming to care about sexual assault of women - is feminism not woke? Was the movement to hold powerful men accountable for their sexual crimes not woke? Or is it just that when you can pin sexual crimes on black and brown skinned people you want to claim you care about women?
1400 girls were raped/abused/tortured in Rotherham according to the official report. Rotherham has a population of 260,000, about 0.3% of the UK. We know this pattern of rape and grooming has occurred all across the UK - basically wherever it is sought, it is found
300 x 1400 = 420,000
I’ve reduced it by 75% so you don’t have conniptions; you can thank me later
These are arse numbers - these are numbers you pull out of your arse. Because that's the only way to make any of your positions make sense.
And it still doesn't tackle the underlying issue - even in the world where your numbers are correct: immigrants are not the majority of perpetrators. So how do we deal with that? We would need to... increase infrastructure spending on criminal justice, community building, outreach and education (including sex education to kids, as it is the best proven method of kids being able to talk about being assaulted), empowering women and children, etc. etc. all of these things you would call the woke nanny state intervening in the business of the family, no?
Look, you just want to go "I'm out here protecting the innocence of my white women". I know you do. You have to make arse numbers up to try and justify it but really, at the end of the day, we both not what you're saying.
Do you think it's important to look at per capita rates of offending rather than just raw numbers?
It can be, but as was pointed out by one of the summaries and the criticism that this issue is under policed - the demographics who are over represented are also the demographics who are over policed and were indeed targeted specifically for this kind of policing after these allegations. But, again, even if they are over represented in the statistics based on their representation in population it doesn't change the underlying point - the one that started this whole conversation.
Blocking immigrants from coming in the country does not solve the issue - it is just a good scapegoat for the problem. To deal with sexual abuse properly would require campaigning and resources - things that are not provided for under the ideology of cuts cuts cuts to anything, especially if it can be construed as "woke", which I'm sure these things would be.
I thought the whole point of Rotherham, Rochdale etc was that the perpetrators had been under-policed - i.e. largely left to their own devices, and the victims told to go away?
Just spent over an hour trying to buy a train ticket at the station (good job it was for tomorrow). I seem to have broken the system. It is not like it was complicated. A to B with 2 senior railcards.
Use the Trainline app – far easier than paper tickets.
Trainline charge and both Journey Planner and Trainline got it wrong as well. None could decide what to charge me. The problem was repeated at the station, but the guy made a very very very long phone call.
((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 22m Told Tory MPs phoning senior Reform officials pleading with them to withdraw candidates in their seats. Meanwhile Red Wall MPs outraged at "wet" Tory candidates being parachuted into safe seats. It's starting to come apart.
The fact that Biden is not miles ahead against this apology for a human being shows how god awful he is.
I pity the US - they are being asked to choose between two flavours of turd.
I don’t think it does. I think it shows how there is a section of the US media that will tell people Biden is that awful and Trump is great.
Yes, Biden has one big drawback, too old. His opponent shares that and has a hundred other larger negatives. I remain confident that when it comes to the actual binary choice the US will not make the catastrophically wrong one.
Biden has dozens of big drawbacks, not just one. He can barely remember the name of the person he's talking to. He's been an awful president. And yet he's still not as bad as his opponent.
The Donald too has had senior moments, seeming to freeze on occasion (although we should note that in many incidents where his opponents claim he misspeaks, Trump is clearly joking).
When Dr Owen was Foreign Secretary, MI6 would debrief him after he met foreign leaders for his assessment as a neurologist of their health. It would be interesting to know MI6's current view of Biden and Trump's marbles.
Marbles, plural? Sounds rather optimistic!
Not sure there’s a single marble left between the pair of them.
Biden is deftly applying pressure to Israel to move forward a peace plan. Trump is denying he ever said “Lock her up”. I think Biden has more marbles than Trump.
Interesting guest list at Farage’s event yesterday, including plumbing entrepreneur Charlie Mullins and property developer Nick Candy. The Mail, being the Mail, is more interested in the actress wife of the latter, than in those who might be funding Farage and Reform UK.
What's the deal with Mullins? He was anti-Brexit six years ago.
I don't think he's changed his mind on Brexit. You need to compare Reform with populist right parties on the continent who were always more ambivalent about EU membership.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
But I don't think they would predate on the deer enough. We need big predators that would not only cull numbers but change deer behaviour and make them more worried around open spaces and watering holes and such. The issue of deer is not just their numbers, but their grazing habits and the erosion they cause by not really acting in ways they would of when they did have predators. Their numbers alongside this behaviour change is what makes the impact so much worse.
I mean a wolf killing a deer would be a pretty long, drawn out, bloody, and painful affair do you really want to inflict that on a deer rather than a single bullet.
It's not like a pack of hounds killing a fox which was a super efficient means of pest control.
They used to get 10,000 people watching the public beheadings in Riyadh after Friday prayers. Families were encouraged to come. No one was too young. A super efficient way to entertain the population.
((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 22m Told Tory MPs phoning senior Reform officials pleading with them to withdraw candidates in their seats. Meanwhile Red Wall MPs outraged at "wet" Tory candidates being parachuted into safe seats. It's starting to come apart.
Err - there is no difference. She wants the world to have no nuclear weapons. The policy is for the UK to have nuclear weapons because other countries, including realistic potential enemies, have them. She agrees with the policy, her desire on something that is not going to happen in our lifetimes is irrelevant.
Angela Rayner is the hero of Labour's campaign so far. She's Labour's heart and Sir Keir's it's head. I doubt that was planned by their ad agency but it could hardly have worked out better
That’s what happens in sw France . I have tried the pate , and delicious it is with a sweet wine , lots of crusty bread and a nice onion chutney .
It’s quite rich and I wouldn’t lose any sleep if I didn’t have it again but if you eat meat I don’t think you can moralize too much about people eating it.
Bar Boulud at the Madarin Oriental used to do a burger with a layer of foie gras within. It was exceptional.
I dislike animal cruelty and usually buy higher welfare products, but on foie gras I am a massive hypocrite because it’s so damn tasty.
I’ve never eaten the liver cooked only had the pate but I can imagine it would be lovely on a burger. I wouldn’t worry about the hypocrite bit , we’re all guilty of that at times with the things we eat, or where we shop etc .
I think this tends to be the missing bit in political messaging about stuff like climate change. People respond much more to “do your best but no one is perfect”.
The problem is that what people think is their best is nowhere near good enough to be effective. People respond considerably better in terms of actual behaviour when bad stuff is taxed sufficiently to make it an occasional luxury, but good luck getting elected on that platform.
Well yes, exactly. I have this argument with younger relatives all the time. It’s all very well to take a full on “Thunberg” position, but you’ll never get elected; and if you do then you won’t get reelected and it’ll be reversed.
Democracy = pragmatism.
Which means we're probably fucked unless some sort of global eco-dictatorship can be established.
Nah, on that subject we just accept 2-2.5 degrees of warming based on current policies plus improved technology. Which is fine, unless you live in the Maldives or similar places, and we can help them.
We’ve fixed global warming.
Er, no, we really haven't. Thus far we have made virtually no impact whatsoever on the rate of increase of CO2 in the atmosphere and are currently heading for at least 3 degrees of warming. The Maldives are already doomed, but so too are large areas of coastal plains around the world, not to mention those areas that will be made uninhabitable by heat and shifts in weather patterns. None of this will be fixed by imploring people to "do their best".
What is the timing for the demise of the Maldives out of interest.
Angela Rayner is the hero of Labour's campaign so far. She's Labour's heart and Sir Keir's it's head. I doubt that was planned by their ad agency but it could hardly have worked out better
I quite like Rayner, she'll provide endless amusement as SKS tries to make it look as he's in charge,
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
But I don't think they would predate on the deer enough. We need big predators that would not only cull numbers but change deer behaviour and make them more worried around open spaces and watering holes and such. The issue of deer is not just their numbers, but their grazing habits and the erosion they cause by not really acting in ways they would of when they did have predators. Their numbers alongside this behaviour change is what makes the impact so much worse.
I mean a wolf killing a deer would be a pretty long, drawn out, bloody, and painful affair do you really want to include that one deer rather than a single bullet.
It's not like a pack of hounds killing a fox which was a super efficient means of pest control.
But like I said, this isn't just about culling, it's about changing deer behaviour to be less damaging. Human hunting isn't something that keeps deer on edge and anxious like having natural predators does. Anxiety reduces breeding, reduces congregating in certain spots, makes spooking behaviour more pronounced. Short of sending out people tasked with guns to mow deer down, even if we increase hunting licenses for deer, I don't see human action making enough of a dent.
And the issue with animal suffering and efficiency and such is less to do with the existence of it; nature is, as Darwin noted, cruel and painful and inefficient. But as humans we have created an understanding of morality where we want to reduce unnecessary pain and suffering. To me that includes eating factory farmed meat or the tearing apart of a fox by dogs for the amusement of some toffs. That doesn't preclude me from wanting to bring back extinct predators (to potential benefit of the environment and biodiversity as a whole) if it also helps deal with other man made problems.
If only animals understood irony.
As it was being eaten alive - because that's how it works - the deer could ponder that such a death inflicted upon it was to satisfy your social ethical imperative while dreaming of being killed near-instantly by a pack of hounds or marksman's bullet.
The deer is suffering from false consciousness of its place in the socio-economic-environmental matrix.
It’s better to be eaten alive by working class wolves than it is to die a quick death at the hands of an upper middle class stalker.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
Yes, it's another step in the process of civilisation. Once upon a time animal torture was regarded as acceptable, but nowadays people aren't so keen. Long may the trend continue.
Except for deer.
Yeah - I'm a veggie but we do need to cull wild deer in this country. Personally I'd like to see this happen by bringing back predator species, because wolves and bears are cool, but failing that letting people eat deer is reasonable.
Moggies first. The medium-sized cat predators are much less scary and threatening than wolves and bears.
But I don't think they would predate on the deer enough. We need big predators that would not only cull numbers but change deer behaviour and make them more worried around open spaces and watering holes and such. The issue of deer is not just their numbers, but their grazing habits and the erosion they cause by not really acting in ways they would of when they did have predators. Their numbers alongside this behaviour change is what makes the impact so much worse.
I mean a wolf killing a deer would be a pretty long, drawn out, bloody, and painful affair do you really want to include that one deer rather than a single bullet.
It's not like a pack of hounds killing a fox which was a super efficient means of pest control.
But like I said, this isn't just about culling, it's about changing deer behaviour to be less damaging. Human hunting isn't something that keeps deer on edge and anxious like having natural predators does. Anxiety reduces breeding, reduces congregating in certain spots, makes spooking behaviour more pronounced. Short of sending out people tasked with guns to mow deer down, even if we increase hunting licenses for deer, I don't see human action making enough of a dent.
And the issue with animal suffering and efficiency and such is less to do with the existence of it; nature is, as Darwin noted, cruel and painful and inefficient. But as humans we have created an understanding of morality where we want to reduce unnecessary pain and suffering. To me that includes eating factory farmed meat or the tearing apart of a fox by dogs for the amusement of some toffs. That doesn't preclude me from wanting to bring back extinct predators (to potential benefit of the environment and biodiversity as a whole) if it also helps deal with other man made problems.
If only animals understood irony.
As it was being eaten alive - because that's how it works - the deer could ponder that such a death inflicted upon it was to satisfy your social ethical imperative while dreaming of being killed near-instantly by a pack of hounds or marksman's bullet.
Look, nature tooth and claw. I don't think meat eating is inherently morally wrong as a human - I just think when we can sustain ourselves without harming animals and the method by which we do mass meat farming is contributing to massive deforestation and ecological destruction that it's a bad idea. If you keep chickens in your back garden and decide to eat them when they start getting old, or if you're poor and have no other choice, that's fine.
I'm not an Auditor from the Discworld, demanding that all life stop to preserve order or my idea of what is moral. The natural world is immoral. Humans are able to stand against the pressures of nature in ways basically all other animals cannot, and we have the luxury and capability of developing and acting in moral ways.
Just spent over an hour trying to buy a train ticket at the station (good job it was for tomorrow). I seem to have broken the system. It is not like it was complicated. A to B with 2 senior railcards.
Use the Trainline app – far easier than paper tickets.
Trainline charge and both Journey Planner and Trainline got it wrong as well. None could decide what to charge me. The problem was repeated at the station, but the guy made a very very very long phone call.
All too complicated.
Trainline charged me £2.49 extra fee recently for 2 tickets purchased online. How much do you value an hour of your time?
Everyone in Britain should just emigrate. Seriously. Whole place is a shithole now and the only tolerable bits are certain nice parts of london and the inner Hebrides
Just get out. It’s ruined. The lefties ruined it
Join me on my endless travels around the world. There is a lot of world out here and it’s fun!
Aberdeenshire. Mild and dry climate with plenty of sunshine (genuinely, ask the Met Office). Fresh air, mountains, cliffs, castles, whisky, long sandy beaches. Farming, fishing, energy, tourism. My own village has a fantastic community spirit, food, shops, events - and easy access to Aberdeen city and the airport.
Despite being there for 15 years I never felt like Teesside was home - it was just where I lived. Aberdeenshire is home. Genuinely love the place.
What about Rochdale? Did that feel like home?
I'm fascinated by the concept of home. I lived in the suburbs of Nottingham for 9 years - it was pleasant, I had good friends there, but it never felt like home. It seems churlish to complain about living too far south when you are only 50 miles south of where you are born, but there you are. But I've also lived in Sheffield and that DID feel like home. My own gwlad - the land which stirs my soul - is quite large. It encompasses almost all of the North West (with the exception of Cumbria west of Scafell, and Crewe), and about two thirds of Yorkshire (with the boundary roughly being the M1 up as far as Tadcaster, and some vague line somewhere in the North York Moors north of that). It doesn't include much of the North East, but does include the western fringes of County Durham and the south western bit of Northumberland (the Pennines, basically). Oh, and the northern half of the Peak District.
I'd then add a tier-2 homeland which I don't feel I'm entitled to but which elictis the same sort of feelings: Western Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Devon, Somerset, the Scottish Borders, the Lothians, Stirlingshire, Perthshire. (I could claim ancestral connections to those areas of Scotland but I could also claim ancestral connections to South East London, and that doesn't feel the same).
There is a danger of course in just saying that places which are nice are those which feel like home. But obviously as @RochdalePioneers points out it's much easier for somewhere to feel like home if it's nice!
I don't remember the date, but I do remember where I was when I decided I would leave Rochdale and never return. In the back of my dad's car on the A680 dropping off the moors past 'Owd Betts pub with Rochdale visible in its entirety through the windscreen.
A nice little vignette. Poetic. But raises many more question than it answers! How old were you? Why? Was Owd Betts pub significant? What prompted this? I'm fascinated. Not least because I feel so strongly about home. Feel free to cheerfully ignore. But you have piqued my interest. This is like the first line to a great novel.
Have to confess though, while I sketched out the sea of my homeland earlier, the island within that of Oldham, Rochdale, Bacup and Burnley is one I can't find too much enthusiasm for. So I can perhaps sympathise.
It’s not a good sign if candidates are abandoning the fight whatever the reasons. Suggests that not everything will be plain sailing on the good ship Starmer.
((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 22m Told Tory MPs phoning senior Reform officials pleading with them to withdraw candidates in their seats. Meanwhile Red Wall MPs outraged at "wet" Tory candidates being parachuted into safe seats. It's starting to come apart.
Everyone in Britain should just emigrate. Seriously. Whole place is a shithole now and the only tolerable bits are certain nice parts of london and the inner Hebrides
Just get out. It’s ruined. The lefties ruined it
Join me on my endless travels around the world. There is a lot of world out here and it’s fun!
England is mostly okay outside the crowded south-east.
I thought the only reason the South East was crowded was because it's swamped with people desperate to escape the decaying, crime-ridden, impoverished North.
I don't think I'm being overly parochial to say that the North of England is the most beautiful part not only of England, but of the world. Around 40% of our geography (too keen to make a point to check exact figure) is made up of our four and a half national parks, with a good chunk more being any one of the multiple AONBs.
Without wanting to deride the countryside around the southern half of the M1 and M6, it's not terribly exciting. But it's most northerners idea of what the south looks like (also a noisy traffic jam across Bromford Viaduct.)
You are very balanced and quite right. And there is more. In Cumbria there is huge joy to be had entirely outside the national park areas, and it is mostly empty. Visited Long Meg (not in a national park) recently with no-one there at all, one of the great numinous neolithic sites. Free. Almost no signposts. No fences. No barriers. No-one cares. It's part of a real working farm.
M1 and M6 not the greatest approach to London. Go A1 instead, and then you can stop off in Lincolnshire, no national park, a bit of AONB, have it completely to yourself (more noom than the whole of France) and change your mind about going to London.
Comments
Perhaps you'll enjoy the simplicity of having a Labour government to rail against? Might give you some of your old oomph back.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/944206/Group-based_CSE_Paper.pdf
We can also see how some of the issue is straight up victim blaming by the cops, with reports from stories like this where "The inquiry into the Telford abuse scandal, which published its report in 2022, found police dismissive of claims of abuse, with one saying "these girls had chosen to go with, I don't know, 'bad boys'". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65174096
Again, grooming gangs happen and sexual assault happens and it is awful - but none of this suggests it is a problem predominantly of immigrant populations nor would it be solved by stopping immigration, because if you did stop immigration you'd still have the issue of most people committing sexual assault against girls and women being white British, and the issue of the police not giving a shit because they are institutionally misogynistic.
I also find it very interesting how the man who cries about wokeness all the time is claiming to care about sexual assault of women - is feminism not woke? Was the movement to hold powerful men accountable for their sexual crimes not woke? Or is it just that when you can pin sexual crimes on black and brown skinned people you want to claim you care about women?
EXCLUSIVE:
Red Wall Tory MP says Labour is on course for 'overwhelming' victory as he appeals to Nigel Farage to stand down Reform candidates in seats with right-wing Conservatives
Marco Longhi, Tory MP for Dudley North, says Farage is a 'hugely talented politician' who should have been given a peerage in recognition for his achievements
He says Farage will have no one left to partner with in the Commons if he wins Clacton but kills off all the Tory Brexiteers
'It feels like there is going to be an overwhelming win by Labour. Why target certain MPs who have a track record of Reform type politics?
'If you want to remove even those with traditional conservative views there will be absolutely no coalition left to have in Parliament. If he wins and becomes an MP they will have no-one to partner with'
Longhi insists he will not defect, saying he will fight 'tooth and nail' for the Tories. 'If I go down I go down'
Moon walking bollards arrive in the Strand. First installation of these I am aware of in the UK.
I'm sure some PBer knows of a prior-install.
I very much like the proximity sensor which stops them moving when anyone is close, and I want one fitted to all BMWs, Audis, Mercedes, and Land Rovers.
https://x.com/RantyHighwayman/status/1797630674431889717
https://www.rgs.foundation/2020/04/04/breaking-news-congratulations-sir-kier-starmer/
It's not like a pack of hounds killing a fox which was a super efficient means of pest control.
Rotherham according to the official report. Rotherham has a population of 260,000, about 0.3% of the UK. We know this pattern of rape and grooming has occurred all across the UK - basically wherever it is sought, it is found
300 x 1400 = 420,000
I’ve reduced it by 75% so you don’t have conniptions; you can thank me later
Yes, Guido is also an idiot.
I'm fascinated by the concept of home. I lived in the suburbs of Nottingham for 9 years - it was pleasant, I had good friends there, but it never felt like home. It seems churlish to complain about living too far south when you are only 50 miles south of where you are born, but there you are.
But I've also lived in Sheffield and that DID feel like home.
My own gwlad - the land which stirs my soul - is quite large. It encompasses almost all of the North West (with the exception of Cumbria west of Scafell, and Crewe), and about two thirds of Yorkshire (with the boundary roughly being the M1 up as far as Tadcaster, and some vague line somewhere in the North York Moors north of that). It doesn't include much of the North East, but does include the western fringes of County Durham and the south western bit of Northumberland (the Pennines, basically). Oh, and the northern half of the Peak District.
I'd then add a tier-2 homeland which I don't feel I'm entitled to but which elictis the same sort of feelings: Western Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Devon, Somerset, the Scottish Borders, the Lothians, Stirlingshire, Perthshire. (I could claim ancestral connections to those areas of Scotland but I could also claim ancestral connections to South East London, and that doesn't feel the same).
There is a danger of course in just saying that places which are nice are those which feel like home. But obviously as @RochdalePioneers points out it's much easier for somewhere to feel like home if it's nice!
And the issue with animal suffering and efficiency and such is less to do with the existence of it; nature is, as Darwin noted, cruel and painful and inefficient. But as humans we have created an understanding of morality where we want to reduce unnecessary pain and suffering. To me that includes eating factory farmed meat or the tearing apart of a fox by dogs for the amusement of some toffs. That doesn't preclude me from wanting to bring back extinct predators (to potential benefit of the environment and biodiversity as a whole) if it also helps deal with other man made problems.
On the basis that nothing we say on here will sway the argument one way or the other, you may as well go with the one which gives you the best label.
Labour have done the right thing suspending, as they have time to appoint a new candidate.
Some corners of UK politics are filthy enough that such allegations can be faked up and used to knock people out of the game. That happened to Jason Zadrozny in 2015, when he was a real possibility for Ashfield MP for the Lib Dems. I'm very critical of his current behaviour, but he has my sympathy for 2015.
Old sexual rumours miraculously reappeared shortly before the Election in the press and he had to stand down.
The CPS / Police kept him hanging for 2 years under investigation then collapsed their case at the door of the Court.
I make no comment on the Barking case.
And also just because they don't chat about politics doesn't mean they lack string feeling about it.
On this large bus there are 7 people going to Odesa. Four oldsters, one stunning young woman and her baby. And me
And I have just been told by a photographer friend who did this exact journey last summer that HIS bus was rammed too. Something has changed
Sharon Graham of Unite. Critical of Labour who will not rebalance in favour of
her demandsthe workers.Zero hours contracts are useful for some people. My wife has one and it is great for her.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/will-labour-rebalance-the-country-in-favour-of-working-people-i-don-t-think-so/ar-BB1nB1t4?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=6a53ea6388f94e748c04b7df37122fda&ei=12
Democracy = pragmatism.
I think he was poorly treated and stitched up.
This election does have an air of "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" about it.
Why would anyone think that this was something that could be achieved by asking the public to follow the prescriptions in a, "ten things you can do to stop global warming," article from The Guardian?
It's a category error. In most respects it shouldn't involve any change of individual behaviour.
Edit: And where it does involve change in behaviour it should be possible that this is mostly in the form of encouragement with a carrot, for something better, rather than making the status quo worse to force that change.
And it still doesn't tackle the underlying issue - even in the world where your numbers are correct: immigrants are not the majority of perpetrators. So how do we deal with that? We would need to... increase infrastructure spending on criminal justice, community building, outreach and education (including sex education to kids, as it is the best proven method of kids being able to talk about being assaulted), empowering women and children, etc. etc. all of these things you would call the woke nanny state intervening in the business of the family, no?
Look, you just want to go "I'm out here protecting the innocence of my white women". I know you do. You have to make arse numbers up to try and justify it but really, at the end of the day, we both not what you're saying.
Alternatively perhaps those that needed to come and go from Ukraine have come and gone. Now the border is quiet. The men that wanted to flee the draft have fled. The volunteers who wanted to return have returned
This is it. Feels much more like Ukraine is on its own
This young woman on the bus looks like a Hollywood actress from the 1950s. She’s so beautiful it’s unnerving. She’s notably beautiful even by Ukrainian standards
She keeps looking at me and I’d like to think it’s fierce sexual interest but sadly I reckon she’s just intrigued. I’m the only male on the bus. Who am I and what am I doing going to Odesa?
But I think northerners also have a slightly jaded impression of the South. London forms a disproportionate part of our idea of the south, and the route to London from the North is through the least remarkable bit of the country. Look at this map:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/image_data/file/51423/nat-parks-map-960x640.jpg
Without wanting to deride the countryside around the southern half of the M1 and M6, it's not terribly exciting. But it's most northerners idea of what the south looks like (also a noisy traffic jam across Bromford Viaduct.)
As it was being eaten alive - because that's how it works - the deer could ponder that such a death inflicted upon it was to satisfy your social ethical imperative while dreaming of being killed near-instantly by a pack of hounds or marksman's bullet.
I am not aware of the details of that one.
Never forgotten reading the eponymous book published by the British Academy back in 1992, though the details grow dim. Now free on line., bless their collective little cotton socks.
https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publishing/proceedings-british-academy/78/
Fort instance, R. Samuel on Mrs T and those values:
' But it is a sad irony of our time that
Mrs Thatcher, though espousing the work ethic, presided over a decade
which saw more job losses than at any other time in twentieth-century
British history, and which witnessed (or confirmed) a decisive shift from
a manufacturing to a service economy. There is no reason to doubt the
sincerity of Mrs Thatcher’s professions of faith, but if one were to look
for those who, during her period of office, most obstinately stood out for
Victorian Values generally, whether one interpreted them in terms of family
solidarity, the dignity of work, the security of the home, or simply the right
of the Free-born Englishman to stay put, it would be not the Prime Minister,
but the miners defeated in the strike of 1984-5 - her 'enemy within' - who would have the stronger claim.'
We’ve fixed global warming.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13492107/Holly-Valance-Nigel-Farage-General-Election-Reform-UK-Clacton.html
Matter of opinion I suppose
Is that right? 115? I’m usually good at this
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c722dzpmrl0o
Blocking immigrants from coming in the country does not solve the issue - it is just a good scapegoat for the problem. To deal with sexual abuse properly would require campaigning and resources - things that are not provided for under the ideology of cuts cuts cuts to anything, especially if it can be construed as "woke", which I'm sure these things would be.
https://x.com/UB1UB2/status/1797594347405480219
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/angela-rayner-said-she-wants-to-scrap-nuclear-weapons-hours-after-starmer-said-shadow-cabinet-backs-him/ar-BB1nAJeG?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=5728ef3d25bb4a18a570861ca8166f83&ei=14
Thick forests. Driving rain. Abandoned buidings abutting lush green vineyards
A beautiful young woman stares silently ahead; her toddler gurgles happily in the empty seats, as the bus trundles slowly towards an appalling war, which has murdered half a million people
A boost for the SNP if Scotland pull off a surprise.
Has there ever been a month like this for global participation in elections? We had Mexico (pop. 130 million), now India (pop 1.42bn), then the EU elections later this week (pop 448 million) and finally the UK on the 4th (pop 67 million). Any I've missed?
That's 2.07 billion people affected by (admittedly not all voting in) elections in the space of 5 weeks, over a quarter of the world.
EDIT: I forgot South Africa (60 million) and there are a few other smaller ones.
All too complicated.
@DPJHodges
·
22m
Told Tory MPs phoning senior Reform officials pleading with them to withdraw candidates in their seats. Meanwhile Red Wall MPs outraged at "wet" Tory candidates being parachuted into safe seats. It's starting to come apart.
https://x.com/DPJHodges/status/1797945342937506035
Dark Noom dispelled. First impressions entirely wrong
It’s better to be eaten alive by working class wolves than it is to die a quick death at the hands of an upper middle class stalker.
I'm not an Auditor from the Discworld, demanding that all life stop to preserve order or my idea of what is moral. The natural world is immoral. Humans are able to stand against the pressures of nature in ways basically all other animals cannot, and we have the luxury and capability of developing and acting in moral ways.
Feel free to cheerfully ignore. But you have piqued my interest. This is like the first line to a great novel.
Have to confess though, while I sketched out the sea of my homeland earlier, the island within that of Oldham, Rochdale, Bacup and Burnley is one I can't find too much enthusiasm for. So I can perhaps sympathise.
https://x.com/tomorrowsmps/status/1797952000061284693?s=61
It’s not a good sign if candidates are abandoning the fight whatever the reasons. Suggests that not everything will be plain sailing on the good ship Starmer.
Tom Peck
@tompeck
He’s gonna win by miles
https://x.com/tompeck/status/1797948238575870365
And if his info is even halfway right then that’s fascinating
M1 and M6 not the greatest approach to London. Go A1 instead, and then you can stop off in Lincolnshire, no national park, a bit of AONB, have it completely to yourself (more noom than the whole of France) and change your mind about going to London.