He’s living in his own head now. The country that’s producing more oil than anywhere on the globe is apparently ‘not even drilling’, and ‘buying its oil from Venezuela’. https://x.com/atrupar/status/1834654052715577466
Raw polling average of Harris +2.8 in all post-debate national polls, which would reflect an improvement, but no traditional phone polls yet and it's a bit early to say anything, or at least that's what the model thinks.
Apple are in my bad books today, I have to wait until the middle of October to receive my new iPhone 16 Pro Max.
What is an apple watch?
@ClippP, an Apple watch is a watch made by the Apple company, which also makes computers and phones. The Apple watch has a screen that can display the time and various biological data about you. Some people like them but I find them too pricey.
2 Springfield schools evacuated, another closed for the day
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4878462-springfield-bomb-threat-schools-closed-eating-pets-trump-vance/ The Springfield City School District in Ohio closed one middle school and evacuated two elementary schools Friday as the city grapples with the fallout of unfounded conspiracy theories about immigrants that have been amplified by former President Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance (R). Elementary school students were evacuated from their buildings and moved to a different location after receiving direction from the Springfield Police Division. Students are being released to their parents, the Springfield News-Sun reported. Roosevelt Middle School was closed before the school day began in relation to information the school district received from law enforcement, the outlet said. It’s not clear if the school evacuations were linked to a bomb threat Thursday against the Springfield City Hall, but explosive-detecting K-9 helped police clear areas Thursday, Springfield Police Chief Allison Elliott said, according to ABC News. On Thursday, City Hall was evacuated after a bomb threat was issued to “multiple facilities” in the area. Two elementary schools were also listed in the threat. It was later revealed the bomb threat used hateful language against the city’s immigrant population...
2 Springfield schools evacuated, another closed for the day
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4878462-springfield-bomb-threat-schools-closed-eating-pets-trump-vance/ The Springfield City School District in Ohio closed one middle school and evacuated two elementary schools Friday as the city grapples with the fallout of unfounded conspiracy theories about immigrants that have been amplified by former President Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance (R). Elementary school students were evacuated from their buildings and moved to a different location after receiving direction from the Springfield Police Division. Students are being released to their parents, the Springfield News-Sun reported. Roosevelt Middle School was closed before the school day began in relation to information the school district received from law enforcement, the outlet said. It’s not clear if the school evacuations were linked to a bomb threat Thursday against the Springfield City Hall, but explosive-detecting K-9 helped police clear areas Thursday, Springfield Police Chief Allison Elliott said, according to ABC News. On Thursday, City Hall was evacuated after a bomb threat was issued to “multiple facilities” in the area. Two elementary schools were also listed in the threat. It was later revealed the bomb threat used hateful language against the city’s immigrant population...
JD's mawmaw must be so proud of her grandson up there in heaven.
Cash won't become obsolete as the result of a bottom-up, grass roots decision / set of decisions. The only way it would happen is due to a top-down "you must stop using cash" edict from on high.
Can't get over these pictures of David Lammy at the White House. With all his years of silliness. Holding on to the fact that someone here (rcs?) knows him and rates him.
The latest attempt to sow doubt about the elections and an effort by the GOP to ensure voters eligible to vote end up not being able to . It just so happens that the SAVE act will effect minorities and students disproportionately.
If there’s any justice the GOP deserve to be destroyed but sadly they won’t .
I haven’t been to the ATM. I’ve paid for everything with card or phone. I’ve not got any Canadian money anyway. Nor have I seen anyone else paying in cash for anything, even really old people (and the Okanagan valley has lots of retirees soaking up the relatively abundant sun)
Cash is indeed dying - worldwide
Okanagan valley is a great place to visit. Have you been on the ice wines yet?
It’s a fascinating part of the world. Not entirely beautiful. Lots of tat and tourist crap. Suburban sprawl
But endlessly interesting. I’ve just been up anarchist mountain and now I’m down in the valley at the tribal winery where I’ve bought some Nk-mip Syrah and now I’m off down the lakes to Kelowna and Quails winery for a proper tasting. Should get some ice wine there
Also, it really really really is desert. It’s hot in September. In Canada
Apparently it’s a weird “pocket desert” northern outlier of the great Arizonan deserts. And it does feel like Arizona but everyone says “eh” and “sorry” all the time
Arizona but with Northern Lights?
Yukon might be better for that but there might well be some there tonight (and here in the UK).
"Lord Brady, the former MP for Altrincham and Sale who resigned from Lord Cameron’s shadow Cabinet in 2007 over his opposition to grammar schools, accuses the former prime minister of an “act of petulance” in resigning the day after the EU referendum in 2016.
He argues that the behaviour of Lord Cameron and Mr Osborne, his chancellor, was “unprincipled, both in the run-up to the campaign, and during it…”.
During a series of scandals in 2014, he reveals that the Old Etonian once told him: “The fact is, a lot of politics is just s---: it’s choosing the least bad option… Life would be easier if colleagues paid their expenses on time [sic] and didn’t snort coke and sodomise each other.”"
Can't get over these pictures of David Lammy at the White House. With all his years of silliness. Holding on to the fact that someone here (rcs?) knows him and rates him.
Cash won't become obsolete as the result of a bottom-up, grass roots decision / set of decisions. The only way it would happen is due to a top-down "you must stop using cash" edict from on high.
Maybe true but the edict doesn't have to be explicit. Any shop using cash needs its bank to work with cash. Bank regulation is far-reaching and deliberately opaque, so regulators can impose obscure requirements on banks that will result in the bank making it impractical for the shop to handle cash for you.
$NVDA US Approved Sale of Nvidia Chips to UAE’s G42 - Semafor
- The US has approved the sale of cutting-edge Nvidia chips to G42, the company at the center of the United Arab Emirates’ efforts to become a global leader in artificial intelligence.
- The approval, which came earlier this year but has not been reported.
Apple are in my bad books today, I have to wait until the middle of October to receive my new iPhone 16 Pro Max.
What is an apple watch?
@ClippP, an Apple watch is a watch made by the Apple company, which also makes computers and phones. The Apple watch has a screen that can display the time and various biological data about you. Some people like them but I find them too pricey.
Some have suggested Apple watches are taking over the posh watch market, at least for wearing if not for collecting, because the sort of people who wear expensive watches are interested in how many steps they've walked, their pulse and so on.
He’s living in his own head now. The country that’s producing more oil than anywhere on the globe is apparently ‘not even drilling’, and ‘buying its oil from Venezuela’. https://x.com/atrupar/status/1834654052715577466
There might be a scintilla of truth there insofar as different grades of oil come from different countries. Venezuela's is particularly heavy crude, iirc. PB's oil industry experts will be along later, no doubt.
Whether the United States imports (and refines and re-exports) Venezuelan oil might depend on whether sanctions are in place at any given time. They've been yoyoing lately. It could be that Trump is responding to reports of lifted sanctions but that's a guess.
I think we already have a post school apprenticeship route ?
How many current students have just started thinking about voting for the MAGA chap following Kamala's announcement that they've wasted their time and money?
He’s living in his own head now. The country that’s producing more oil than anywhere on the globe is apparently ‘not even drilling’, and ‘buying its oil from Venezuela’. https://x.com/atrupar/status/1834654052715577466
There might be a scintilla of truth there insofar as different grades of oil come from different countries. Venezuela's is particularly heavy crude, iirc. PB's oil industry experts will be along later, no doubt.
Whether the United States imports (and refines and re-exports) Venezuelan oil might depend on whether sanctions are in place at any given time. They've been yoyoing lately. It could be that Trump is responding to reports of lifted sanctions but that's a guess.
I think it’s more likely given his track record that he’s just making total shit up in his underpowered brain.
Mr. Doethur, oh, I'd imagined he wasn't working on the car anyway, so he couldn't learn anything extra (ahem) to take to Aston Martin. But yeah, development has been, unusually, their Achilles Heel this year. If they'd kept pace Verstappen would already have the title, like as not.
"Lord Brady, the former MP for Altrincham and Sale who resigned from Lord Cameron’s shadow Cabinet in 2007 over his opposition to grammar schools, accuses the former prime minister of an “act of petulance” in resigning the day after the EU referendum in 2016.
He argues that the behaviour of Lord Cameron and Mr Osborne, his chancellor, was “unprincipled, both in the run-up to the campaign, and during it…”.
During a series of scandals in 2014, he reveals that the Old Etonian once told him: “The fact is, a lot of politics is just s---: it’s choosing the least bad option… Life would be easier if colleagues paid their expenses on time [sic] and didn’t snort coke and sodomise each other.”"
"Lord Brady, the former MP for Altrincham and Sale who resigned from Lord Cameron’s shadow Cabinet in 2007 over his opposition to grammar schools, accuses the former prime minister of an “act of petulance” in resigning the day after the EU referendum in 2016.
He argues that the behaviour of Lord Cameron and Mr Osborne, his chancellor, was “unprincipled, both in the run-up to the campaign, and during it…”.
During a series of scandals in 2014, he reveals that the Old Etonian once told him: “The fact is, a lot of politics is just s---: it’s choosing the least bad option… Life would be easier if colleagues paid their expenses on time [sic] and didn’t snort coke and sodomise each other.”"
"Lord Brady, the former MP for Altrincham and Sale who resigned from Lord Cameron’s shadow Cabinet in 2007 over his opposition to grammar schools, accuses the former prime minister of an “act of petulance” in resigning the day after the EU referendum in 2016.
He argues that the behaviour of Lord Cameron and Mr Osborne, his chancellor, was “unprincipled, both in the run-up to the campaign, and during it…”.
During a series of scandals in 2014, he reveals that the Old Etonian once told him: “The fact is, a lot of politics is just s---: it’s choosing the least bad option… Life would be easier if colleagues paid their expenses on time [sic] and didn’t snort coke and sodomise each other.”"
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
I'm not sure what in particular AN is referring to but sandpit is right imo to be sceptical of Kamala's debate performance. In truth, it was Trump that imploded. Take that away and Kamala said nothing of any moment.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
Presumably the conspiracy theory will morph into "Sunak believed that there was about to be a VONC" or "a huge pile of letters were on the verge of being sent". Didn't JRM cheerlead a campaign against May that fizzled out at some point in the Brexit wars?
But yeah, the simplest explanation was that the time bombs Sunak and Hunt set ticking were going to explode before the next plausible election date. (Had it not been July 4, it would have to have been mid October?)
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
I'm not sure what in particular AN is referring to but sandpit is right imo to be sceptical of Kamala's debate performance. In truth, it was Trump that imploded. Take that away and Kamala said nothing of any moment.
The way she replies to the question about prices in that exchange with just some bollocks about coming from a middle class household.
Sandpit is right about her performance. He’s unfairly labelled pro Trump for simply highlighting Harris’s deficiencies.
She’s getting away with it at the moment as Trump is combusting. She needs more scrutiny and more probing questions,
"Lord Brady, the former MP for Altrincham and Sale who resigned from Lord Cameron’s shadow Cabinet in 2007 over his opposition to grammar schools, accuses the former prime minister of an “act of petulance” in resigning the day after the EU referendum in 2016.
He argues that the behaviour of Lord Cameron and Mr Osborne, his chancellor, was “unprincipled, both in the run-up to the campaign, and during it…”.
During a series of scandals in 2014, he reveals that the Old Etonian once told him: “The fact is, a lot of politics is just s---: it’s choosing the least bad option… Life would be easier if colleagues paid their expenses on time [sic] and didn’t snort coke and sodomise each other.”"
I'm not sure what in particular AN is referring to but sandpit is right imo to be sceptical of Kamala's debate performance. In truth, it was Trump that imploded. Take that away and Kamala said nothing of any moment.
The way she replies to the question about prices in that exchange with just some bollocks about coming from a middle class household.
Sandpit is right about her performance. He’s unfairly labelled pro Trump for simply highlighting Harris’s deficiencies.
She’s getting away with it at the moment as Trump is combusting. She needs more scrutiny and more probing questions,
That's the last thing she needs. Or America. In truth, it's a 2-horse race and Kamala just needs to be better than the other guy, which she is. Labour's Ming vase strategy has crossed the Atlantic.
Same for Trump really. Look at his non-denial denials of Project 2025.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
Rishi’s hope was for a budget that allowed more tax cuts, and the recommended pay increases made that impossible. Heck Hunt would have last week had to do something to balance the budget by the looks of things
You then have the riots and the need to release people from prison.
Add on the boat migrants and you can see why the election was called it was all downhill from there
I'm not sure what in particular AN is referring to but sandpit is right imo to be sceptical of Kamala's debate performance. In truth, it was Trump that imploded. Take that away and Kamala said nothing of any moment.
Difference between "ought to win" and "(currently) on track to win".
If you have a certain view of politics, then a leading candidate ought to say things that are of moment, ought to describe in reasonable detail what they plan to do.
Practical politics is that winning candidates don't do that, they say as little as possible. There's no need and you risk upsetting people.
I'm not sure what in particular AN is referring to but sandpit is right imo to be sceptical of Kamala's debate performance. In truth, it was Trump that imploded. Take that away and Kamala said nothing of any moment.
The way she replies to the question about prices in that exchange with just some bollocks about coming from a middle class household.
Sandpit is right about her performance. He’s unfairly labelled pro Trump for simply highlighting Harris’s deficiencies.
She’s getting away with it at the moment as Trump is combusting. She needs more scrutiny and more probing questions,
Sure, Harris is a bit vague on a lot of issues, particularly economics, but it's a two horse race and a vague approach is often electorally successful. Voters very often choose emotionally on what feels right and chimes with them, rather than rational policy analysis.
It accounts for a lot of Trump support too. He has a "concept of a plan" on health care for example.
I always travel with cash and credit cards . You never know when there will be some technical issue as we saw just a while back . And I always tip in cash as I don’t trust restaurants to pass that onto staff if you add it to your card . Call me old fashioned but I don’t have cards on my phone , again what if there’s some drama with that.
My town gets some vast proportion of its GDP from the two annual pottery festivals where pottery buyers come from all over and the people who have been making pots all year sell them directly. They were nearly all set up to take an e-cash system like PayPay [sic]. Luckily Japanese people mostly still carry cash, because when we had the first pottery festival after covid and hundreds of thousands of people showed up in a town built for 20,000, all the mobile networks fell over...
A few years ago I went to a craft fair and one of the stallholders was real "old school". I paid by card, but he used one of those old carbon copy swipe machines.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
Rishi’s hope was for a budget that allowed more tax cuts, and the recommended pay increases made that impossible. Heck Hunt would have last week had to do something to balance the budget by the looks of things
You then have the riots and the need to release people from prison.
Add on the boat migrants and you can see why the election was called it was all downhill from there
Hunt had been digging the fiscal black hole with unfunded NI cuts among others, so that was known in advance, as was the usual increase in small boats during summer's calm waters. The government had been ignoring the junior hospital doctors' pay dispute for years. No, it must have been something new to spook Rishi into calling an election when his own party was least prepared.
I'm not sure what in particular AN is referring to but sandpit is right imo to be sceptical of Kamala's debate performance. In truth, it was Trump that imploded. Take that away and Kamala said nothing of any moment.
The way she replies to the question about prices in that exchange with just some bollocks about coming from a middle class household.
Sandpit is right about her performance. He’s unfairly labelled pro Trump for simply highlighting Harris’s deficiencies.
She’s getting away with it at the moment as Trump is combusting. She needs more scrutiny and more probing questions,
Sure, Harris is a bit vague on a lot of issues, particularly economics, but it's a two horse race and a vague approach is often electorally successful. Voters very often choose emotionally on what feels right and chimes with them, rather than rational policy analysis.
It accounts for a lot of Trump support too. He has a "concept of a plan" on health care for example.
And the voters aren't silly to do so. Fate has a habit of looking at manifesto plans and laughing at them. Maybe we are right to just look at the candidates and think "which one looks like they would do a better job?"
Coming up with a full policy programme is often the characteristic of a party a long way from office. Emotionally satisfying but not much point otherwise.
(See also the Conservative Leadership Election. A clear-headed party wouldn't think about policy so much as personality. Who is actually made of the right stuff? Because it's not Jenrick, is it?)
Cash won't become obsolete as the result of a bottom-up, grass roots decision / set of decisions. The only way it would happen is due to a top-down "you must stop using cash" edict from on high.
Maybe true but the edict doesn't have to be explicit. Any shop using cash needs its bank to work with cash. Bank regulation is far-reaching and deliberately opaque, so regulators can impose obscure requirements on banks that will result in the bank making it impractical for the shop to handle cash for you.
Yes, there's probably a direct relationship between the availability of high-street banks and the practicality of cash.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
Sunak probably had heard good generals catch the enemy by surprise. Unfortunately he caught his own troops by even more surprise.
Sadly Sunak's time in politics was littered with decisions dressed up as tough decisions or smart decisions but which were actually just bad decisions. cf Eat Out to Help Out, HS2 etc.
Sadly because he was so much more serious and ethical than Johnson and Truss. I would have liked him to be more successful.
I'm not sure what in particular AN is referring to but sandpit is right imo to be sceptical of Kamala's debate performance. In truth, it was Trump that imploded. Take that away and Kamala said nothing of any moment.
The way she replies to the question about prices in that exchange with just some bollocks about coming from a middle class household.
Sandpit is right about her performance. He’s unfairly labelled pro Trump for simply highlighting Harris’s deficiencies.
She’s getting away with it at the moment as Trump is combusting. She needs more scrutiny and more probing questions,
It's odd, too. She was clearly very well prepared to step into Biden's seat once he stepped down (the campaign was packaged up and ready to go). So why so vague on policy? She must have some economists within her team that can feed her a good answer to this.
It's a bit like Brexit, the Iraq War etc. Why not have some of your team look beyond the immediate thing (getting the nomination) and consider the absolute glaring poll-topping concern of the American people (the economy)?
She is not-Trump, and not-senile. That might be enough to win. But it's not that hard to be a bit more than that.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
Rishi’s hope was for a budget that allowed more tax cuts, and the recommended pay increases made that impossible. Heck Hunt would have last week had to do something to balance the budget by the looks of things
You then have the riots and the need to release people from prison.
Add on the boat migrants and you can see why the election was called it was all downhill from there
Hunt had been digging the fiscal black hole with unfunded NI cuts among others, so that was known in advance, as was the usual increase in small boats during summer's calm waters. The government had been ignoring the junior hospital doctors' pay dispute for years. No, it must have been something new to spook Rishi into calling an election when his own party was least prepared.
FWIW my understanding is that it wasn't so much external events, more that Sunak finally won the argument inside the Tory party machine that had been playing out since early spring - he'd always wanted to go early, and had managed to convince some key people by July.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
I think the little shit was just fucking sick of it all. As were most of the country.
Well, we can chalk off the double statty-funes theory, which several were advocating on here back then.
Including you.
People die like Hemingway went bankrupt - gradually, then suddenly. I hope I am wrong but I would not be amazed if we were saying come November that, phew, at least we aren't in the middle of an election.
Cash won't become obsolete as the result of a bottom-up, grass roots decision / set of decisions. The only way it would happen is due to a top-down "you must stop using cash" edict from on high.
Maybe true but the edict doesn't have to be explicit. Any shop using cash needs its bank to work with cash. Bank regulation is far-reaching and deliberately opaque, so regulators can impose obscure requirements on banks that will result in the bank making it impractical for the shop to handle cash for you.
Yes, there's probably a direct relationship between the availability of high-street banks and the practicality of cash.
How much is the closure of High Street banks about regulation, though? Is there some rule change underpinning the problem, or is it just than banks don't want to afford them any more?
And if it is about the cost of the branch network, how (if at all) should the nation change the rules to keep unprofitable bank branches open?
I'm not sure what in particular AN is referring to but sandpit is right imo to be sceptical of Kamala's debate performance. In truth, it was Trump that imploded. Take that away and Kamala said nothing of any moment.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
Sunak probably had heard good generals catch the enemy by surprise. Unfortunately he caught his own troops by even more surprise.
Sadly Sunak's time in politics was littered with decisions dressed up as tough decisions or smart decisions but which were actually just bad decisions. cf Eat Out to Help Out, HS2 etc.
Sadly because he was so much more serious and ethical than Johnson and Truss. I would have liked him to be more successful.
He was promoted too soon, both as Chancellor and PM. Remember, he only got the job as part of a bungled power grab by Cummings.
He may have had the intellect, but lacking experience meant he never had a chance to develop sound judgement.
Which, unfortunately, is needed in a PM at any time, but particularly during the rather intense crises he was facing.
On top of that, he only had a weak cabinet under him due partly to Johnson's purges and partly due to his own lack of judgement in choosing ministers. He had Hunt, and recalled Cameron belatedly, but he should by hook or by crook have persuaded May to return. On top of that, his leading civil servants were all nodding donkeys left in place by Cummings and by all accounts he continued to talk to Cummings himself.
So there wasn't really any proper guidance from somebody capable to lean on.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
Rishi’s hope was for a budget that allowed more tax cuts, and the recommended pay increases made that impossible. Heck Hunt would have last week had to do something to balance the budget by the looks of things
You then have the riots and the need to release people from prison.
Add on the boat migrants and you can see why the election was called it was all downhill from there
Hunt had been digging the fiscal black hole with unfunded NI cuts among others, so that was known in advance, as was the usual increase in small boats during summer's calm waters. The government had been ignoring the junior hospital doctors' pay dispute for years. No, it must have been something new to spook Rishi into calling an election when his own party was least prepared.
FWIW my understanding is that it wasn't so much external events, more that Sunak finally won the argument inside the Tory party machine that had been playing out since early spring - he'd always wanted to go early, and had managed to convince some key people by July.
Even that does not explain why the Conservative Party was the least prepared for the general election. If there had been an internal debate raging, they'd at least have got a full slate of candidates in place.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
Rishi’s hope was for a budget that allowed more tax cuts, and the recommended pay increases made that impossible. Heck Hunt would have last week had to do something to balance the budget by the looks of things
You then have the riots and the need to release people from prison.
Add on the boat migrants and you can see why the election was called it was all downhill from there
Hunt had been digging the fiscal black hole with unfunded NI cuts among others, so that was known in advance, as was the usual increase in small boats during summer's calm waters. The government had been ignoring the junior hospital doctors' pay dispute for years. No, it must have been something new to spook Rishi into calling an election when his own party was least prepared.
FWIW my understanding is that it wasn't so much external events, more that Sunak finally won the argument inside the Tory party machine that had been playing out since early spring - he'd always wanted to go early, and had managed to convince some key people by July.
Why did he need to 'convince' them? It was his decision. He could just announce it and go to the Palace.
Cash won't become obsolete as the result of a bottom-up, grass roots decision / set of decisions. The only way it would happen is due to a top-down "you must stop using cash" edict from on high.
Maybe true but the edict doesn't have to be explicit. Any shop using cash needs its bank to work with cash. Bank regulation is far-reaching and deliberately opaque, so regulators can impose obscure requirements on banks that will result in the bank making it impractical for the shop to handle cash for you.
Yes, there's probably a direct relationship between the availability of high-street banks and the practicality of cash.
How much is the closure of High Street banks about regulation, though? Is there some rule change underpinning the problem, or is it just than banks don't want to afford them any more?
And if it is about the cost of the branch network, how (if at all) should the nation change the rules to keep unprofitable bank branches open?
Cost of keeping them open
Plus they were getting silly because everyone astute and organised had gone online, so anyone still banking in person tended to have comprehension deficits which took a looong time to sort out while the queue waited. I believe there are now no banks in the whole county of Rutland.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
Rishi’s hope was for a budget that allowed more tax cuts, and the recommended pay increases made that impossible. Heck Hunt would have last week had to do something to balance the budget by the looks of things
You then have the riots and the need to release people from prison.
Add on the boat migrants and you can see why the election was called it was all downhill from there
Hunt had been digging the fiscal black hole with unfunded NI cuts among others, so that was known in advance, as was the usual increase in small boats during summer's calm waters. The government had been ignoring the junior hospital doctors' pay dispute for years. No, it must have been something new to spook Rishi into calling an election when his own party was least prepared.
The other one is Rwanda, where the government had finally got to the point where it could put people on a plane without their consent.
The moment they did that, the thing falls apart because the capacity wasn't there. On day one, it's possible that more people would have arrived on a boat than left on a plane. And the backlog of unprocessed people is of the order of a hundred thousand.
Rwanda had to remain a wedge-shaped talking point, not an actual thing the government did.
I'm not sure what in particular AN is referring to but sandpit is right imo to be sceptical of Kamala's debate performance. In truth, it was Trump that imploded. Take that away and Kamala said nothing of any moment.
Difference between "ought to win" and "(currently) on track to win".
If you have a certain view of politics, then a leading candidate ought to say things that are of moment, ought to describe in reasonable detail what they plan to do.
Practical politics is that winning candidates don't do that, they say as little as possible. There's no need and you risk upsetting people.
Contrast May in 2017 and Johnson in 2019.
Agreed but there is a difference between the Johnsonian nice-sounding-but-meaningless soundbite, and the utter vagueness of talking about people's pride in their lawns.
I'm not sure what in particular AN is referring to but sandpit is right imo to be sceptical of Kamala's debate performance. In truth, it was Trump that imploded. Take that away and Kamala said nothing of any moment.
The way she replies to the question about prices in that exchange with just some bollocks about coming from a middle class household.
Sandpit is right about her performance. He’s unfairly labelled pro Trump for simply highlighting Harris’s deficiencies.
She’s getting away with it at the moment as Trump is combusting. She needs more scrutiny and more probing questions,
No, @Sandpit is labelled as 'pro-Trump' for parroting a load of Pro-Trump propaganda from sources thoroughly discredited by Russian funding.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
Rishi’s hope was for a budget that allowed more tax cuts, and the recommended pay increases made that impossible. Heck Hunt would have last week had to do something to balance the budget by the looks of things
You then have the riots and the need to release people from prison.
Add on the boat migrants and you can see why the election was called it was all downhill from there
Hunt had been digging the fiscal black hole with unfunded NI cuts among others, so that was known in advance, as was the usual increase in small boats during summer's calm waters. The government had been ignoring the junior hospital doctors' pay dispute for years. No, it must have been something new to spook Rishi into calling an election when his own party was least prepared.
FWIW my understanding is that it wasn't so much external events, more that Sunak finally won the argument inside the Tory party machine that had been playing out since early spring - he'd always wanted to go early, and had managed to convince some key people by July.
Why did he need to 'convince' them? It was his decision. He could just announce it and go to the Palace.
Not a 'convincing' argument.
Because he couldn't/didn't trust himself to make his own decisions perhaps?
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
Rishi’s hope was for a budget that allowed more tax cuts, and the recommended pay increases made that impossible. Heck Hunt would have last week had to do something to balance the budget by the looks of things
You then have the riots and the need to release people from prison.
Add on the boat migrants and you can see why the election was called it was all downhill from there
Hunt had been digging the fiscal black hole with unfunded NI cuts among others, so that was known in advance, as was the usual increase in small boats during summer's calm waters. The government had been ignoring the junior hospital doctors' pay dispute for years. No, it must have been something new to spook Rishi into calling an election when his own party was least prepared.
FWIW my understanding is that it wasn't so much external events, more that Sunak finally won the argument inside the Tory party machine that had been playing out since early spring - he'd always wanted to go early, and had managed to convince some key people by July.
Why did he need to 'convince' them? It was his decision. He could just announce it and go to the Palace.
Not a 'convincing' argument.
Because the general principle is primus inter pares even if the prerogative overrides that and he wanted a happy and consensual cabinet for the duration of the campaign and possibly - no laughing - on return to government.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
Rishi’s hope was for a budget that allowed more tax cuts, and the recommended pay increases made that impossible. Heck Hunt would have last week had to do something to balance the budget by the looks of things
You then have the riots and the need to release people from prison.
Add on the boat migrants and you can see why the election was called it was all downhill from there
Hunt had been digging the fiscal black hole with unfunded NI cuts among others, so that was known in advance, as was the usual increase in small boats during summer's calm waters. The government had been ignoring the junior hospital doctors' pay dispute for years. No, it must have been something new to spook Rishi into calling an election when his own party was least prepared.
FWIW my understanding is that it wasn't so much external events, more that Sunak finally won the argument inside the Tory party machine that had been playing out since early spring - he'd always wanted to go early, and had managed to convince some key people by July.
Why did he need to 'convince' them? It was his decision. He could just announce it and go to the Palace.
Not a 'convincing' argument.
Because he couldn't/didn't trust himself to make his own decisions perhaps?
Possibly, which would link to my earlier point on his lack of readiness to be PM and the stupidity of those around him.
But it's still a bad argument. If it is true, it demonstrates why his premiership was a failure. Even allowing for the daunting mess he inherited from Massive and Lettuce Lady.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
Rishi’s hope was for a budget that allowed more tax cuts, and the recommended pay increases made that impossible. Heck Hunt would have last week had to do something to balance the budget by the looks of things
You then have the riots and the need to release people from prison.
Add on the boat migrants and you can see why the election was called it was all downhill from there
Hunt had been digging the fiscal black hole with unfunded NI cuts among others, so that was known in advance, as was the usual increase in small boats during summer's calm waters. The government had been ignoring the junior hospital doctors' pay dispute for years. No, it must have been something new to spook Rishi into calling an election when his own party was least prepared.
FWIW my understanding is that it wasn't so much external events, more that Sunak finally won the argument inside the Tory party machine that had been playing out since early spring - he'd always wanted to go early, and had managed to convince some key people by July.
Why did he need to 'convince' them? It was his decision. He could just announce it and go to the Palace.
Not a 'convincing' argument.
Which, by all accounts, is pretty much what he ended up doing.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
Rishi’s hope was for a budget that allowed more tax cuts, and the recommended pay increases made that impossible. Heck Hunt would have last week had to do something to balance the budget by the looks of things
You then have the riots and the need to release people from prison.
Add on the boat migrants and you can see why the election was called it was all downhill from there
Hunt had been digging the fiscal black hole with unfunded NI cuts among others, so that was known in advance, as was the usual increase in small boats during summer's calm waters. The government had been ignoring the junior hospital doctors' pay dispute for years. No, it must have been something new to spook Rishi into calling an election when his own party was least prepared.
FWIW my understanding is that it wasn't so much external events, more that Sunak finally won the argument inside the Tory party machine that had been playing out since early spring - he'd always wanted to go early, and had managed to convince some key people by July.
Why did he need to 'convince' them? It was his decision. He could just announce it and go to the Palace.
Not a 'convincing' argument.
Because the general principle is primus inter pares even if the prerogative overrides that and he wanted a happy and consensual cabinet for the duration of the campaign and possibly - no laughing - on return to government.
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
It really is a mystery why Sunak called a surprise July election.
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
That does not really explain Rishi's sudden election call in July when his own party was not ready. He'd have known they were laying traps for Labour. Hanging on made sense; going early made sense, probably in May along with the locals; what made no apparent sense was July. Clearly something must have spooked Rishi.
Rishi’s hope was for a budget that allowed more tax cuts, and the recommended pay increases made that impossible. Heck Hunt would have last week had to do something to balance the budget by the looks of things
You then have the riots and the need to release people from prison.
Add on the boat migrants and you can see why the election was called it was all downhill from there
Hunt had been digging the fiscal black hole with unfunded NI cuts among others, so that was known in advance, as was the usual increase in small boats during summer's calm waters. The government had been ignoring the junior hospital doctors' pay dispute for years. No, it must have been something new to spook Rishi into calling an election when his own party was least prepared.
FWIW my understanding is that it wasn't so much external events, more that Sunak finally won the argument inside the Tory party machine that had been playing out since early spring - he'd always wanted to go early, and had managed to convince some key people by July.
Why did he need to 'convince' them? It was his decision. He could just announce it and go to the Palace.
Not a 'convincing' argument.
Because the general principle is primus inter pares even if the prerogative overrides that and he wanted a happy and consensual cabinet for the duration of the campaign and possibly - no laughing - on return to government.
Sorry, couldn't meet that request....
I don't know how you do it- it needs a flight of radioactive zombie butterflies- but it would be interesting to see how a victorious Sunak handled a 2024-9 government.
As long as you were watching from a long way away.
I'm not sure what in particular AN is referring to but sandpit is right imo to be sceptical of Kamala's debate performance. In truth, it was Trump that imploded. Take that away and Kamala said nothing of any moment.
The way she replies to the question about prices in that exchange with just some bollocks about coming from a middle class household.
Sandpit is right about her performance. He’s unfairly labelled pro Trump for simply highlighting Harris’s deficiencies.
She’s getting away with it at the moment as Trump is combusting. She needs more scrutiny and more probing questions,
Trump has always been a freak show. There are indications that he is getting worse. His vote is sustained by the fact that his voters are voting for the myth, not the man. See General Boulanger.
Harris is a standard B- politician on the national scale. She was lucky to make the VP slot. Part of the reason was that Biden didn’t want someone overshadowing him, I reckon. Her vote is sustained by the Never Trump coalition. And hopefully appealing to enough independents to win.
I'm not sure what in particular AN is referring to but sandpit is right imo to be sceptical of Kamala's debate performance. In truth, it was Trump that imploded. Take that away and Kamala said nothing of any moment.
The way she replies to the question about prices in that exchange with just some bollocks about coming from a middle class household.
Sandpit is right about her performance. He’s unfairly labelled pro Trump for simply highlighting Harris’s deficiencies.
She’s getting away with it at the moment as Trump is combusting. She needs more scrutiny and more probing questions,
No, @Sandpit is labelled as 'pro-Trump' for parroting a load of Pro-Trump propaganda from sources thoroughly discredited by Russian funding.
If Trumpite shit stirrers like Pool and Rubin were innocent dupes of naughty Putin, does that mean Sandpit is also a victim of nefarious practices? Through if one is proposing oneself as a hard-hitting, contrarian truth-teller, being revealed as a naive diddy is probably not a great look.
Cash won't become obsolete as the result of a bottom-up, grass roots decision / set of decisions. The only way it would happen is due to a top-down "you must stop using cash" edict from on high.
Maybe true but the edict doesn't have to be explicit. Any shop using cash needs its bank to work with cash. Bank regulation is far-reaching and deliberately opaque, so regulators can impose obscure requirements on banks that will result in the bank making it impractical for the shop to handle cash for you.
Yes, there's probably a direct relationship between the availability of high-street banks and the practicality of cash.
How much is the closure of High Street banks about regulation, though? Is there some rule change underpinning the problem, or is it just than banks don't want to afford them any more?
And if it is about the cost of the branch network, how (if at all) should the nation change the rules to keep unprofitable bank branches open?
This is one option Set up by Cash Access UK, the organisation established to protect nationwide access to cash the Banking Hub will offer a counter service operated by the Post Office, where customers of all major banks and building societies can carry out regular cash transactions, Monday to Friday.
The hub will also offers a Community Banker service where customers can talk to their own banking provider about more complicated issues. The facility will be open Monday to Friday between 9am-5pm and the Community Bankers will work on rotation, with a different bank or building society available on each day of the week as follows: Monday - TSB, Tuesday - Royal Bank of Scotland, Wednesday - Santander, Thursday - Bank of Scotland; Friday: No community banker present.
Brechin was chosen for a hub after LINK, the UK’s cash access and cash machine network, identified the need for enhanced cash deposit services following bank branch closures in the town.
All the finalists are from the South group, so have played each other in the competition before.
Surrey and Somerset in the first semi-final, their two matches both went with home advantage.
Sussex beat Gloucestershire both times in their group matches, although the one at Hove was tight and Gloucestershire could and should have won if they'd kept their heads.
Sussex only played Somerset once, losing at Taunton. Oddly, when at Hove Sussex lost to Surrey but absolutely thrashed them in the return fixture at the Oval.
Sussex, Somerset and Surrey are strong all-round sides having excellent seasons. Somerset beat Surrey earlier this week, so Surrey will be anxious to get their own back. None of them have any obvious weakness, although Sussex have dropped a few catches they shouldn't have.
Gloucestershire are capable on their day of beating absolutely anyone, having beaten Somerset handily in both matches they had, and played out a sensational tie with Surrey. Bowling is their stronger suit but Hammond is one of the best white ball batsmen in England (and would probably do a much better job for England than Will Jacks). If he gets going they could do well. But they are mercurial and prone to sudden collapses.
I wouldn't like to pick a favourite, although I suppose the sheer quality of Surrey justifies the 10/11 joint favourites with defending champions Somerset. They also have the advantage of playing first giving them a little more time to recover.
The value is probably in one of Sussex or Gloucestershire given that there's no one side that's been clearly dominant. Gloucestershire will be considered the outsiders and have I think the narrowest path to victory. But this could be an excellent day of cricket.
Comments
Damn glad I've never worked for one. Never will.
This guy is just raving now. Section him.
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1834653128068616336
The country that’s producing more oil than anywhere on the globe is apparently ‘not even drilling’, and ‘buying its oil from Venezuela’.
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1834654052715577466
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1834654533097558273
Is it gold ?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/22/san-francisco-public-toilet-bathroom-opens
And redundancy.
Nate Silver
@NateSilver538
·
3h
Today's update.
Raw polling average of Harris +2.8 in all post-debate national polls, which would reflect an improvement, but no traditional phone polls yet and it's a bit early to say anything, or at least that's what the model thinks.
Trump just said he wants to deport Haitian migrants — who are in the country legally — from Springfield, Ohio to Venezuela. Deporting legal migrants…
https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1834673915165393356
https://www.apple.com/uk/watch/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Watch
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4878462-springfield-bomb-threat-schools-closed-eating-pets-trump-vance/
The Springfield City School District in Ohio closed one middle school and evacuated two elementary schools Friday as the city grapples with the fallout of unfounded conspiracy theories about immigrants that have been amplified by former President Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance (R).
Elementary school students were evacuated from their buildings and moved to a different location after receiving direction from the Springfield Police Division. Students are being released to their parents, the Springfield News-Sun reported.
Roosevelt Middle School was closed before the school day began in relation to information the school district received from law enforcement, the outlet said.
It’s not clear if the school evacuations were linked to a bomb threat Thursday against the Springfield City Hall, but explosive-detecting K-9 helped police clear areas Thursday, Springfield Police Chief Allison Elliott said, according to ABC News.
On Thursday, City Hall was evacuated after a bomb threat was issued to “multiple facilities” in the area. Two elementary schools were also listed in the threat.
It was later revealed the bomb threat used hateful language against the city’s immigrant population...
Cash won't become obsolete as the result of a bottom-up, grass roots decision / set of decisions. The only way it would happen is due to a top-down "you must stop using cash" edict from on high.
The latest attempt to sow doubt about the elections and an effort by the GOP to ensure voters eligible to vote end up not being able to . It just so happens that the SAVE act will effect minorities and students disproportionately.
If there’s any justice the GOP deserve to be destroyed but sadly they won’t .
Yukon might be better for that but there might well be some there tonight (and here in the UK).
He argues that the behaviour of Lord Cameron and Mr Osborne, his chancellor, was “unprincipled, both in the run-up to the campaign, and during it…”.
During a series of scandals in 2014, he reveals that the Old Etonian once told him: “The fact is, a lot of politics is just s---: it’s choosing the least bad option… Life would be easier if colleagues paid their expenses on time [sic] and didn’t snort coke and sodomise each other.”"
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/09/13/graham-brady-reveals-secrets-how-five-tory-pms-ousted/
Highest fried doughnuts in the world
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-64321892
This startup is building the core of an orbital solution that will be an order of magnitude cheaper than SpaceX for launches.
https://x.com/k2pilot/status/1763007610993991722
- The US has approved the sale of cutting-edge Nvidia chips to G42, the company at the center of the United Arab Emirates’ efforts to become a global leader in artificial intelligence.
- The approval, which came earlier this year but has not been reported.
- G42 is only just beginning to deploy the chips, including a sizable order of Nvidia H100 models
https://x.com/BigBullCap/status/1834642467842662437
-
As president, I will get rid of the unnecessary degree requirement for federal jobs.
https://x.com/KamalaHarris/status/1834738329624916348
I think we already have a post school apprenticeship route ?
Boo and hiss to the wretched dystopian title!
Whether the United States imports (and refines and re-exports) Venezuelan oil might depend on whether sanctions are in place at any given time. They've been yoyoing lately. It could be that Trump is responding to reports of lifted sanctions but that's a guess.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/12/ill-have-them-with-hot-sauce-should-vegans-eat-oysters
I do get cheques a couple of times per week in payment of private accounts, but even amongst the oldies most settle electronically.
Words to live by.
Graham Brady autobiography:
When Sunak called the GE, only 10 letters of no confidence in him had been submitted.
https://x.com/afneil/status/1834823387274756326?s=61
Most likely he wanted to avoid responsibility for the various crises brought on by the run down of government services and black hole in the finances. He didn't want to fall in the heffalump trap set for Starmer and Reeves.
But yeah, the simplest explanation was that the time bombs Sunak and Hunt set ticking were going to explode before the next plausible election date. (Had it not been July 4, it would have to have been mid October?)
Given that, why the hell didn't they go in May?
Sandpit is right about her performance. He’s unfairly labelled pro Trump for simply highlighting Harris’s deficiencies.
She’s getting away with it at the moment as Trump is combusting. She needs more scrutiny and more probing questions,
Same for Trump really. Look at his non-denial denials of Project 2025.
You then have the riots and the need to release people from prison.
Add on the boat migrants and you can see why the election was called it was all downhill from there
If you have a certain view of politics, then a leading candidate ought to say things that are of moment, ought to describe in reasonable detail what they plan to do.
Practical politics is that winning candidates don't do that, they say as little as possible. There's no need and you risk upsetting people.
Contrast May in 2017 and Johnson in 2019.
It accounts for a lot of Trump support too. He has a "concept of a plan" on health care for example.
Coming up with a full policy programme is often the characteristic of a party a long way from office. Emotionally satisfying but not much point otherwise.
(See also the Conservative Leadership Election. A clear-headed party wouldn't think about policy so much as personality. Who is actually made of the right stuff? Because it's not Jenrick, is it?)
Sadly Sunak's time in politics was littered with decisions dressed up as tough decisions or smart decisions but which were actually just bad decisions. cf Eat Out to Help Out, HS2 etc.
Sadly because he was so much more serious and ethical than Johnson and Truss. I would have liked him to be more successful.
Including you.
It's a bit like Brexit, the Iraq War etc. Why not have some of your team look beyond the immediate thing (getting the nomination) and consider the absolute glaring poll-topping concern of the American people (the economy)?
She is not-Trump, and not-senile. That might be enough to win. But it's not that hard to be a bit more than that.
And if it is about the cost of the branch network, how (if at all) should the nation change the rules to keep unprofitable bank branches open?
And my wife had to rely on me when hers died the other day. Thankfully, I still carry a wallet with notes, coins and cards.
He may have had the intellect, but lacking experience meant he never had a chance to develop sound judgement.
Which, unfortunately, is needed in a PM at any time, but particularly during the rather intense crises he was facing.
On top of that, he only had a weak cabinet under him due partly to Johnson's purges and partly due to his own lack of judgement in choosing ministers. He had Hunt, and recalled Cameron belatedly, but he should by hook or by crook have persuaded May to return. On top of that, his leading civil servants were all nodding donkeys left in place by Cummings and by all accounts he continued to talk to Cummings himself.
So there wasn't really any proper guidance from somebody capable to lean on.
Not a 'convincing' argument.
Plus they were getting silly because everyone astute and organised had gone online, so anyone still banking in person tended to have comprehension deficits which took a looong time to sort out while the queue waited. I believe there are now no banks in the whole county of Rutland.
The moment they did that, the thing falls apart because the capacity wasn't there. On day one, it's possible that more people would have arrived on a boat than left on a plane. And the backlog of unprocessed people is of the order of a hundred thousand.
Rwanda had to remain a wedge-shaped talking point, not an actual thing the government did.
But it's still a bad argument. If it is true, it demonstrates why his premiership was a failure. Even allowing for the daunting mess he inherited from Massive and Lettuce Lady.
As long as you were watching from a long way away.
Harris is a standard B- politician on the national scale. She was lucky to make the VP slot. Part of the reason was that Biden didn’t want someone overshadowing him, I reckon. Her vote is sustained by the Never Trump coalition. And hopefully appealing to enough independents to win.
Set up by Cash Access UK, the organisation established to protect nationwide access to cash the Banking Hub will offer a counter service operated by the Post Office, where customers of all major banks and building societies can carry out regular cash transactions, Monday to Friday.
The hub will also offers a Community Banker service where customers can talk to their own banking provider about more complicated issues. The facility will be open Monday to Friday between 9am-5pm and the Community Bankers will work on rotation, with a different bank or building society available on each day of the week as follows: Monday - TSB, Tuesday - Royal Bank of Scotland, Wednesday - Santander, Thursday - Bank of Scotland; Friday: No community banker present.
Brechin was chosen for a hub after LINK, the UK’s cash access and cash machine network, identified the need for enhanced cash deposit services following bank branch closures in the town.
https://www.anguscountyworld.co.uk/news/people/brechins-new-banking-hub-will-be-open-for-business-this-week-4390991
Hit and giggle finals today.
All the finalists are from the South group, so have played each other in the competition before.
Surrey and Somerset in the first semi-final, their two matches both went with home advantage.
Sussex beat Gloucestershire both times in their group matches, although the one at Hove was tight and Gloucestershire could and should have won if they'd kept their heads.
Sussex only played Somerset once, losing at Taunton. Oddly, when at Hove Sussex lost to Surrey but absolutely thrashed them in the return fixture at the Oval.
Sussex, Somerset and Surrey are strong all-round sides having excellent seasons. Somerset beat Surrey earlier this week, so Surrey will be anxious to get their own back. None of them have any obvious weakness, although Sussex have dropped a few catches they shouldn't have.
Gloucestershire are capable on their day of beating absolutely anyone, having beaten Somerset handily in both matches they had, and played out a sensational tie with Surrey. Bowling is their stronger suit but Hammond is one of the best white ball batsmen in England (and would probably do a much better job for England than Will Jacks). If he gets going they could do well. But they are mercurial and prone to sudden collapses.
I wouldn't like to pick a favourite, although I suppose the sheer quality of Surrey justifies the 10/11 joint favourites with defending champions Somerset. They also have the advantage of playing first giving them a little more time to recover.
The value is probably in one of Sussex or Gloucestershire given that there's no one side that's been clearly dominant. Gloucestershire will be considered the outsiders and have I think the narrowest path to victory. But this could be an excellent day of cricket.