Last week was a smorgasboard of bad news for the Government, so I am now just catching up with the news that they did have an impact assessment for the Winter Fuel changes, despite Starmer outright denying that they did. This is a tough one in a number of ways. He now looks like a liar, or an incompetent. But we must assume that worse is on the way with the contents of the assessment bound to be made public. If the assessment found the change would have minimal impact, it seems unlikely that its existence would have been denied. If it contains a significant number of frozen grannies, in today's febrile and emotive political climate, that looks catastrophic for a Government that has been forced to defend its use of free designer clobber, penthouses in New York, and significant expense claims for energy.
I don't really support that outrage (about policies resulting in some deaths) because I think it leads to things like lockdown, where many more lives are blighted (and actually lost) in the cause of a few, but it is where we are, and it is the emotional landscape that Starmer and his team have been making hay with for the last 5 years.
Single Person Discount, Winter Fuel Payments, Bus passes for the elderly all seem to be for the chop or scaled back to those who are on existing means testing. So UC or PC. Many local councils have council tax discount schemes (put in place when council tax benefit was ended and responsibility handed to the local councils) these also seem likely for the chop. A lot of people currently not paying any council tax, or derisory amounts are going to start getting bills.
Gosh. How did you, and the Telegraph, get a copy of the budget so far in advance?
That's Mark 16:18 btw and golly there's some wacky stuff in the NT
The photo of the trumpies with ear dressings is why as UK commentators we should accept that our own gut feeling about any of this is of no predictive value whatever. This is just incomprehensible.
Last week was a smorgasboard of bad news for the Government, so I am now just catching up with the news that they did have an impact assessment for the Winter Fuel changes, despite Starmer outright denying that they did. This is a tough one in a number of ways. He now looks like a liar, or an incompetent. But we must assume that worse is on the way with the contents of the assessment bound to be made public. If the assessment found the change would have minimal impact, it seems unlikely that its existence would have been denied. If it contains a significant number of frozen grannies, in today's febrile and emotive political climate, that looks catastrophic for a Government that has been forced to defend its use of free designer clobber, penthouses in New York, and significant expense claims for energy.
I don't really support that outrage (about policies resulting in some deaths) because I think it leads to things like lockdown, where many more lives are blighted (and actually lost) in the cause of a few, but it is where we are, and it is the emotional landscape that Starmer and his team have been making hay with for the last 5 years.
Single Person Discount, Winter Fuel Payments, Bus passes for the elderly all seem to be for the chop or scaled back to those who are on existing means testing. So UC or PC. Many local councils have council tax discount schemes (put in place when council tax benefit was ended and responsibility handed to the local councils) these also seem likely for the chop. A lot of people currently not paying any council tax, or derisory amounts are going to start getting bills.
Council tax benefit was rolled into the universal benefit payment so I can see why that is going - the local council schemes are there for transition issues and with the final people shifting to universal credit in the next few months it shouldn't be necessary for much longer.
As for single person discount - it didn't exist before council tax and was only created because the poll tax meant you couldn't give single people an increase from £200 to £900...
Sir Keir was in Spurs hospitality box last weekend with Sue Gray and Katie Perrior, a lobbyist behind the Euro Super League breakaway. I wonder what she had to say to the PM and his advisor.
Amazing coincidence that a club might arrange for the PM and his advisor to be in the same place as those lobbying against the proposed football legislation.
Well, I've just watched the Kuenssberg-Rayner interview in its entirety. This will be a minority view in the prevailing PB zeitgeist, but I thought Rayner was pretty impressive given the context - coherent and unflustered. Apart from a reference to being 'overly transparent' (!), she dealt with the tricky stuff pretty well.
It's the sort of vibrancy which Welby and the CoE lack
Pentacostalist worship is certainly fun and celebrational, and in the UK drawing crowds too. There are a number of "Big Shed" churches near me, the retail park being the UK equivalent of the US shopping Mall. It isn't just the African diaspora either. There are fellow travellers too, with Holy Trinity in Leicester getting 500 on a Sunday, CoE though not always approved of by the hierarchy because of its informal liturgy.
Pentacostalism has moved a long way from the homespun Appalachian church in the video clip, to the razzmatazz of modern mega-churches. The key is that personal relationship with Jesus, and an acceptance of modern consumerist lifestyles.
I'm sure there are bits of the hierarchy that wince at what goes on, much like the Anglo-Catholic ordinands I saw the day after they had an educational trip somewhere similar.
But one of Welby's big ideas has been a hefty expansion in That Sort Of Thing, by getting Holy Trinity Brompton (and its children and their children) and others to plant new congregations into struggling parishes.
And one of the people behind that is Paul Marshall. Yes, that Paul Marshall.
Except that HTB and it's network of churches is now on its way out of the CofE sphere over the "Prayers of Love and Faith" (that's CofE speak for gay marriage in church). As are virtually all the evangelicals - which are the only bit of the CofE that isn't in free fall decline.
My CofE church is actually voting today* on whether the congregation agrees with the leadership that we should leave. We're a bit unusual, because we're an old congregation that's not a parish church, and own our own building, so we can pretty much tell the Bishop "so long and thanks for all the fish", but that is true of a lot of the new churches planted by outfits like HTB and St Helens Bishopsgate.
Incidentally, I've no real problem personally with gay people being gay. I think it's sinful, active homosexuals are called to repent like all sexual sinners, but ultimately it's God's job to make them give an account of their lives, at his judgment, not mine.
My problem with the CofE blessing gay marriages is that this is the leadership blessing something their doctrine teaches is sinful. I'd say the same if they wanted in church blessings for adultery, gluttony, lying or greed. It's just that in our context, homosexuality is a fashionable sin, unlike the others.
*actually, electronically, over the next two weeks, starting today
Why is "homosexuality" sinful? I can see arguments for "adultery, gluttony, lying or greed" being sinful, but I can't see how homosexuality can be added to the list?
Well, because God apparently says so. Sin isn't down to what humans think. IIRC, there's a plethora of apparently innocent things which God doesn't like. You might think there is nothing wrong with it, and that view seems entirely reasonable. But that, apparently, isn't the view of a mysteriois supernatural entity who exists outside the normal context of space and time. Though some of those who interpret his views think he might have changed his mind recently on this very particular point.
It's the more procedural type things I have more trouble understanding as sinful than behaviours and thoughts being so, even if I don't agree with the latter being wrong.
It just seems odd that God would sweat over the small stuff.
Well you or I would think that. But apparently God movesin mysterious ways. Remember, this is a guy who once flooded the entire world in a fit of pique. Who ruined a guy's life for a bet. Who demanded a guy kill his own son in order to show how much he liked him. Who - if we are to believe that God is all powerful - is responsible for pretty much every arbitrary little event which happens: the Putinbotswhich turn up on Saturday, my cat being sick in the spare bedroom, the inevitable death of the blameless snail stuck in the green bin. Arbitrary rules on where you can or can't stick your dick, what meats you can eat when, or what clothes can be made of seem perfectly in character.
“The largest organization representing the Christian faith in Ohio issued a scathing letter in defense of Haitian migrants in Springfield.
“The letter released Friday evening by the Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) decried the false statements from Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. JD Vance and running mate, former president Donald Trump, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets and wildlife.”
“The Catholic Conference of Ohio, which represents bishops from diocesan groups across the state, published a letter Thursday asking for the public to treat Haitian immigrants in Springfield with respect and dignity, warning against "unfounded gossip" and "scapegoating."”
We should be worried about the racist dog whistles against Haitian migrants
but why on earth would you put 20,000 migrants in to one small struggling Midwestern town in the first place, almost over night. I've seen many African Americans also complaining about the situation and not being able to get jobs in an area that was already struggling with job creation. How are the local resident people meant to compete?
There are legitimate concerns although the pet eating stuff is racist bs.
(also it is close to 20,000 because there are 7,500 children enrolled in the schools at the last count)
Last week was a smorgasboard of bad news for the Government, so I am now just catching up with the news that they did have an impact assessment for the Winter Fuel changes, despite Starmer outright denying that they did. This is a tough one in a number of ways. He now looks like a liar, or an incompetent. But we must assume that worse is on the way with the contents of the assessment bound to be made public. If the assessment found the change would have minimal impact, it seems unlikely that its existence would have been denied. If it contains a significant number of frozen grannies, in today's febrile and emotive political climate, that looks catastrophic for a Government that has been forced to defend its use of free designer clobber, penthouses in New York, and significant expense claims for energy.
I don't really support that outrage (about policies resulting in some deaths) because I think it leads to things like lockdown, where many more lives are blighted (and actually lost) in the cause of a few, but it is where we are, and it is the emotional landscape that Starmer and his team have been making hay with for the last 5 years.
Single Person Discount, Winter Fuel Payments, Bus passes for the elderly all seem to be for the chop or scaled back to those who are on existing means testing. So UC or PC. Many local councils have council tax discount schemes (put in place when council tax benefit was ended and responsibility handed to the local councils) these also seem likely for the chop. A lot of people currently not paying any council tax, or derisory amounts are going to start getting bills.
Council tax benefit was rolled into the universal benefit payment so I can see why that is going - the local council schemes are there for transition issues and with the final people shifting to universal credit in the next few months it shouldn't be necessary for much longer.
As for single person discount - it didn't exist before council tax and was only created because the poll tax meant you couldn't give single people an increase from £200 to £900...
Council tax benefit was not rolled into UC. It needs to be applied for separately. And they rarely inform anyone if its existence.
"Inside her department Reeves asked for her personal donor to be handed a senior Civil Service job. She compounded the error by failing to declare his donation. The Chancellor also seemingly asked for her former Parliamentary staffer to be promoted. Treasury eyebrows have been raised about her lack of judgement."
It's the sort of vibrancy which Welby and the CoE lack
Pentacostalist worship is certainly fun and celebrational, and in the UK drawing crowds too. There are a number of "Big Shed" churches near me, the retail park being the UK equivalent of the US shopping Mall. It isn't just the African diaspora either. There are fellow travellers too, with Holy Trinity in Leicester getting 500 on a Sunday, CoE though not always approved of by the hierarchy because of its informal liturgy.
Pentacostalism has moved a long way from the homespun Appalachian church in the video clip, to the razzmatazz of modern mega-churches. The key is that personal relationship with Jesus, and an acceptance of modern consumerist lifestyles.
I'm sure there are bits of the hierarchy that wince at what goes on, much like the Anglo-Catholic ordinands I saw the day after they had an educational trip somewhere similar.
But one of Welby's big ideas has been a hefty expansion in That Sort Of Thing, by getting Holy Trinity Brompton (and its children and their children) and others to plant new congregations into struggling parishes.
And one of the people behind that is Paul Marshall. Yes, that Paul Marshall.
Except that HTB and it's network of churches is now on its way out of the CofE sphere over the "Prayers of Love and Faith" (that's CofE speak for gay marriage in church). As are virtually all the evangelicals - which are the only bit of the CofE that isn't in free fall decline.
My CofE church is actually voting today* on whether the congregation agrees with the leadership that we should leave. We're a bit unusual, because we're an old congregation that's not a parish church, and own our own building, so we can pretty much tell the Bishop "so long and thanks for all the fish", but that is true of a lot of the new churches planted by outfits like HTB and St Helens Bishopsgate.
Incidentally, I've no real problem personally with gay people being gay. I think it's sinful, active homosexuals are called to repent like all sexual sinners, but ultimately it's God's job to make them give an account of their lives, at his judgment, not mine.
My problem with the CofE blessing gay marriages is that this is the leadership blessing something their doctrine teaches is sinful. I'd say the same if they wanted in church blessings for adultery, gluttony, lying or greed. It's just that in our context, homosexuality is a fashionable sin, unlike the others.
*actually, electronically, over the next two weeks, starting today
I'm not religious so have no dog in this fight. But in my view the gay marriage debate makes the church look very stupid indeed. Surely God doesn't change his mind about this sort of thing to fit the whims of whatever human view is fashionable? Alternatively, perhaps the whole "this is what God wants" is entirely made up. That would explain why what God wants has, coincidentally, coincided almost exactly with the views of the elite level of society for its entire history.
I would disagree. Our understanding of God changes over time, and we see this in the way God is discussed in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Most Churches value scripture, but that is not their sole source (a division with Evangelicals, who are very much scriptural) but also have structures that develop teaching over time. They are inspired by scripture but not restricted to it, and see revalation as a continuing phenomenon rather than ending 2000 years ago.
I don't wish to appear rude, but that would appear indistinguishable from the whole thing being made up by humans.
This is the fundamental belief in all religious systems - that it is something more than "made up by humans." If you cannot get past that belief, you don't have the religion thing.
As It happens, it is also a trap for lots of scientists. They shift from understanding that they are describing or modeling the observed universe to a belief that they have revealed some more fundamental 'truth'. This is independent of their religious beliefs. Mathematicians are particulary prone, largely because their abstractions continue to be "spookily" good at then being adapted into said models of observed phenomena and often indistinguishable from revealed truth. Peak experiences when everything falls into place tend to reinforce this sense of revelation.
Or, as Einstein put it, rather more succinctly, "God does not play dice." The elegance of E=MC2 led him to believe that there must be a higher power that created a universe where that was so.
It took Heisenberg to point out that God does indeed play dice and even He can't predict the outcome of the next roll.
Was Rayner challenged on the fact £250 / night doesn't get you much more than a crappy hotel in NYC? There is no way the real value of that accomodation was £1250 for 5 nights.
I have a suspicion this is a common tactic by MPs.
"Inside her department Reeves asked for her personal donor to be handed a senior Civil Service job. She compounded the error by failing to declare his donation. The Chancellor also seemingly asked for her former Parliamentary staffer to be promoted. Treasury eyebrows have been raised about her lack of judgement."
Was Rayner challenged on the fact £250 / night doesn't get you much more than a crappy hotel in NYC? There is no way the real value of that accomodation was £1250 for 5 nights.
been through that, if it was 5 ppl on the trip, she'd only need to declare a fifth of the total.
"Inside her department Reeves asked for her personal donor to be handed a senior Civil Service job. She compounded the error by failing to declare his donation. The Chancellor also seemingly asked for her former Parliamentary staffer to be promoted. Treasury eyebrows have been raised about her lack of judgement."
“The largest organization representing the Christian faith in Ohio issued a scathing letter in defense of Haitian migrants in Springfield.
“The letter released Friday evening by the Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) decried the false statements from Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. JD Vance and running mate, former president Donald Trump, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets and wildlife.”
“The Catholic Conference of Ohio, which represents bishops from diocesan groups across the state, published a letter Thursday asking for the public to treat Haitian immigrants in Springfield with respect and dignity, warning against "unfounded gossip" and "scapegoating."”
We should be worried about the racist dog whistles against Haitian migrants
but why on earth would you put 20,000 migrants in to one small struggling Midwestern town in the first place, almost over night. I've seen many African Americans also complaining about the situation and not being able to get jobs in an area that was already struggling with job creation. How are the local resident people meant to compete?
There are legitimate concerns although the pet eating stuff is racist bs.
(also it is close to 20,000 because there are 7,500 children enrolled in the schools at the last count)
The 7,500 is all children enrolled in schools not migrant children.
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
He almost injured himself trying not to say "white"...
Is that fair though? The interviewer hostilely suggests there’s no such thing as English identity, or that the very idea of it is somehow racist.
I think Jenrick acquits himself pretty well.
I have watched the clip linked to above again, carefully. The interviewer at no point says anything remotely like @Gardenwalker ’s claim. He does not say there is no such thing as English identity. He does not say the word “racist” or anything like it.
Gardenwalker, could you explain yourself? Why are you making things up?
Nope Gardenwalker is right on this one. Watch the full 8 minute interview and you will see that, although he may not say it directly, the interviewer clearly indicates that he believes it doesn't exist. I bow to no one in my dislike for Jenrick but this interviewer is being a typical gotcha fuckwit.
That doesn't mean I actually agree with Jenrick and hs claims about migration. In this instance they are both being fuckwits.
I have watched the clip linked to. If there's a longer version I can watch, can you point me to it?
Thank you for that longer clip. I watched it with interest. It proves Gardenwalker’s claims are fabrications. The journalist never calls Jenrick or anyone else or any idea racist or anything similar. At no point does the journalist evince any hostility to the idea that English identity exists. The journalist gives Jenrick plenty of time to put forward his views.
Jenrick, notably, at one point seeks to suggest that the journalist has an antipathy to the idea of English identity. You and Gardenwalker appear to be swallowing Jenrick’s rhetoric. But nothing the journalist says backs this up. Point me to a specific time point where you think the journalist “hostilely suggests there’s no such thing as English identity, or that the very idea of it is somehow racist”.
It is impossible to imagine an interviewer attempting such a hostile line of questioning about American identity, or - as Jenrick actually suggests himself - Scottish or Welsh identity.
Why?
Because there is a subtext here from the interviewer that English identity either doesn’t exist, or if it does, is some kind of code for whiteness. About half way through the interviewer attempts directly to expose Jenrick with a supposed gotcha, asking whether immigrants have contributed to English history.
Stop gaslighting the thread, @bondegezou, it’s quite obvious how the interviewer feels about English identity.
People can watch the full interview. (Thanks, Richard, for supplying that.) You claimed the interviewer “hostilely suggests there’s no such thing as English identity, or that the very idea of it is somehow racist.” Yet you can’t point to any specific words the interviewer said. You have to fall back on “subtext”, which is just you projecting your (Jenrickian) fears on the situation.
Jenrick has made his stance on immigration very clear. It is central to his vision. It is appropriate therefore to ask Jenrick about how he sees immigration fitting into his vision of an English identity. The interviewer gives Jenrick plenty of time to lay out his position. The interviewer never suggests English identity doesn’t exist.
Was Rayner challenged on the fact £250 / night doesn't get you much more than a crappy hotel in NYC? There is no way the real value of that accomodation was £1250 for 5 nights.
been through that, if it was 5 ppl on the trip, she'd only need to declare a fifth of the total.
Were there 5 on the trip? Seems the report is she took her ex-boyfriend, which wasn't propely declared.
Sam Tarry is no longer an MP. He was deselected prior to the election in favour of Jas Athwal (who was in the news regarding the properties he lets out)
Was Rayner challenged on the fact £250 / night doesn't get you much more than a crappy hotel in NYC? There is no way the real value of that accomodation was £1250 for 5 nights.
been through that, if it was 5 ppl on the trip, she'd only need to declare a fifth of the total.
Were there 5 on the trip? Seems the report is she took her ex-boyfriend, which wasn't propely declared.
who knows, just pointing out the limitations of your assumptions before you stock up on tar and feathers
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
Was Rayner challenged on the fact £250 / night doesn't get you much more than a crappy hotel in NYC? There is no way the real value of that accomodation was £1250 for 5 nights.
been through that, if it was 5 ppl on the trip, she'd only need to declare a fifth of the total.
Were there 5 on the trip? Seems the report is she took her ex-boyfriend, which wasn't propely declared.
who knows, just pointing out the limitations of your assumptions before you stock up on tar and feathers
Hence a good interviewer would ask such a question. The briefing to the papers was it was the right amount because the rent is about that on a per night basis for the year, which is a nonsense take.
Was Rayner challenged on the fact £250 / night doesn't get you much more than a crappy hotel in NYC? There is no way the real value of that accomodation was £1250 for 5 nights.
been through that, if it was 5 ppl on the trip, she'd only need to declare a fifth of the total.
Were there 5 on the trip? Seems the report is she took her ex-boyfriend, which wasn't propely declared.
who knows, just pointing out the limitations of your assumptions before you stock up on tar and feathers
Hence a good interviewer would ask such a question.
well, maybe we'll get Victoria Derbyshire back one day
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
Something else more newsworthy takes its place.
Although we must remember that newsworthiness isn't an objective metric, but a subjective one as decided by a small number of journalists and editors.
So the next story could be even less consequential.
“The largest organization representing the Christian faith in Ohio issued a scathing letter in defense of Haitian migrants in Springfield.
“The letter released Friday evening by the Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) decried the false statements from Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. JD Vance and running mate, former president Donald Trump, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets and wildlife.”
“The Catholic Conference of Ohio, which represents bishops from diocesan groups across the state, published a letter Thursday asking for the public to treat Haitian immigrants in Springfield with respect and dignity, warning against "unfounded gossip" and "scapegoating."”
Setting the bar for scathing a bit low.
These guys have a biological imperative to eat protein, a religious imperative to sacrifice small animals, and no money. How do *you* think they might solve these problems?
Mercator, the claims of pet-eating Haitians have been thoroughly debunked. It never happened. Republican politicians took someone repeating an urban myth on Facebook and just invented a new blood libel. Why are you holding on to the idea? It is pure racism.
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
Saying "they're not as bad as the other lot" just doesn't cut it. Starmer's Labour got in largely because they're not the Tories and Starmer is supposed to be boringly competent and steady and the Labour government a serious one. Turns out Labour loves a freebie as much as the clownshow they've just replaced. It's not pearl clutching to be disappointed by the way Starmer has trashed the idea that he's better than the Tories.
“The largest organization representing the Christian faith in Ohio issued a scathing letter in defense of Haitian migrants in Springfield.
“The letter released Friday evening by the Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) decried the false statements from Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. JD Vance and running mate, former president Donald Trump, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets and wildlife.”
“The Catholic Conference of Ohio, which represents bishops from diocesan groups across the state, published a letter Thursday asking for the public to treat Haitian immigrants in Springfield with respect and dignity, warning against "unfounded gossip" and "scapegoating."”
Setting the bar for scathing a bit low.
These guys have a biological imperative to eat protein, a religious imperative to sacrifice small animals, and no money. How do *you* think they might solve these problems?
Mercator, the claims of pet-eating Haitians have been thoroughly debunked. It never happened. Republican politicians took someone repeating an urban myth on Facebook and just invented a new blood libel. Why are you holding on to the idea? It is pure racism.
Vance is now reduced to saying that there's no evidence that the pet-eating didn't happen, to which the only possible response is that there's no evidence that the Republican nominee for vice President didn't have coitus with a settee.
In Vance's book though he makes the point that in his community, and across the fly over states in general, there were a lot of people who would talk proudly about their church going and their religiousness - but didn't actually go near the church in reality. Makes me a bit sceptical of this kind of polling.
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
Saying "they're not as bad as the other lot" just doesn't cut it. Starmer's Labour got in largely because they're not the Tories and Starmer is supposed to be boringly competent and steady and the Labour government a serious one. Turns out Labour loves a freebie as much as the clownshow they've just replaced. It's not pearl clutching to be disappointed by the way Starmer has trashed the idea that he's better than the Tories.
The problem for Lab is that regardless of the morality aspects, they were trying to build a media narrative that the problems in the country are all the Tories fault, and this story has disrupted that. It's an unforced error as they can't blame the Tories for taking freebies. The Sue Gray story is the same.
Sam Tarry is no longer an MP. He was deselected prior to the election in favour of Jas Athwal (who was in the news regarding the properties he lets out)
He really does seem like a piece of work, total Rachmanism.
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
Saying "they're not as bad as the other lot" just doesn't cut it. Starmer's Labour got in largely because they're not the Tories and Starmer is supposed to be boringly competent and steady and the Labour government a serious one. Turns out Labour loves a freebie as much as the clownshow they've just replaced. It's not pearl clutching to be disappointed by the way Starmer has trashed the idea that he's better than the Tories.
The problem for Lab is that regardless of the morality aspects, they were trying to build a media narrative that the problems in the country are all the Tories fault, and this story has disrupted that. It's an unforced error as they can't blame the Tories for taking freebies. The Sue Gray story is the same.
What exactly is the Sue Gray story? Beyond some people in the No 10 system disliking her and her approach to work enough to do briefings to the papers?
Surely the point is that The Boss wants her there and if you don't like that the exit is over there?
"Inside her department Reeves asked for her personal donor to be handed a senior Civil Service job. She compounded the error by failing to declare his donation. The Chancellor also seemingly asked for her former Parliamentary staffer to be promoted. Treasury eyebrows have been raised about her lack of judgement."
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
Saying "they're not as bad as the other lot" just doesn't cut it. Starmer's Labour got in largely because they're not the Tories and Starmer is supposed to be boringly competent and steady and the Labour government a serious one. Turns out Labour loves a freebie as much as the clownshow they've just replaced. It's not pearl clutching to be disappointed by the way Starmer has trashed the idea that he's better than the Tories.
The problem for Lab is that regardless of the morality aspects, they were trying to build a media narrative that the problems in the country are all the Tories fault, and this story has disrupted that. It's an unforced error as they can't blame the Tories for taking freebies. The Sue Gray story is the same.
The first 80 days have been one long unforced error.
Last week was a smorgasboard of bad news for the Government, so I am now just catching up with the news that they did have an impact assessment for the Winter Fuel changes, despite Starmer outright denying that they did. This is a tough one in a number of ways. He now looks like a liar, or an incompetent. But we must assume that worse is on the way with the contents of the assessment bound to be made public. If the assessment found the change would have minimal impact, it seems unlikely that its existence would have been denied. If it contains a significant number of frozen grannies, in today's febrile and emotive political climate, that looks catastrophic for a Government that has been forced to defend its use of free designer clobber, penthouses in New York, and significant expense claims for energy.
I don't really support that outrage (about policies resulting in some deaths) because I think it leads to things like lockdown, where many more lives are blighted (and actually lost) in the cause of a few, but it is where we are, and it is the emotional landscape that Starmer and his team have been making hay with for the last 5 years.
Single Person Discount, Winter Fuel Payments, Bus passes for the elderly all seem to be for the chop or scaled back to those who are on existing means testing. So UC or PC. Many local councils have council tax discount schemes (put in place when council tax benefit was ended and responsibility handed to the local councils) these also seem likely for the chop. A lot of people currently not paying any council tax, or derisory amounts are going to start getting bills.
Council tax benefit was rolled into the universal benefit payment so I can see why that is going - the local council schemes are there for transition issues and with the final people shifting to universal credit in the next few months it shouldn't be necessary for much longer.
As for single person discount - it didn't exist before council tax and was only created because the poll tax meant you couldn't give single people an increase from £200 to £900...
Council tax benefit was not rolled into UC. It needs to be applied for separately. And they rarely inform anyone if its existence.
I dont' think CT benefit exists at all and was completely abolished, replaced with a non statutory discount schemes by local councils, some elderly aspects of CT were retained as mandatory though.
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
Saying "they're not as bad as the other lot" just doesn't cut it. Starmer's Labour got in largely because they're not the Tories and Starmer is supposed to be boringly competent and steady and the Labour government a serious one. Turns out Labour loves a freebie as much as the clownshow they've just replaced. It's not pearl clutching to be disappointed by the way Starmer has trashed the idea that he's better than the Tories.
I’m disappointed with Labour but mainly on other issues . I really don’t care much if they got some freebies and have no problem with Starmer being given an executive box at the Emirates . Labour should just tell the Tories to stfu and refer them to Partygate and the cesspit Bozos government became . The media have cremated the story .
It's been a while since we've had a politician as poor as Jenrick. He hasn't a single quality to distinguish him: no moral centre, no trace of intellectual substance, no microscopic hint of charisma, no presentational ability.
Last week was a smorgasboard of bad news for the Government, so I am now just catching up with the news that they did have an impact assessment for the Winter Fuel changes, despite Starmer outright denying that they did. This is a tough one in a number of ways. He now looks like a liar, or an incompetent. But we must assume that worse is on the way with the contents of the assessment bound to be made public. If the assessment found the change would have minimal impact, it seems unlikely that its existence would have been denied. If it contains a significant number of frozen grannies, in today's febrile and emotive political climate, that looks catastrophic for a Government that has been forced to defend its use of free designer clobber, penthouses in New York, and significant expense claims for energy.
I don't really support that outrage (about policies resulting in some deaths) because I think it leads to things like lockdown, where many more lives are blighted (and actually lost) in the cause of a few, but it is where we are, and it is the emotional landscape that Starmer and his team have been making hay with for the last 5 years.
Single Person Discount, Winter Fuel Payments, Bus passes for the elderly all seem to be for the chop or scaled back to those who are on existing means testing. So UC or PC. Many local councils have council tax discount schemes (put in place when council tax benefit was ended and responsibility handed to the local councils) these also seem likely for the chop. A lot of people currently not paying any council tax, or derisory amounts are going to start getting bills.
Gosh. How did you, and the Telegraph, get a copy of the budget so far in advance?
It could be expectations management. But there are multiple sources. For the WFP the chancellor, the prime minister and every member of the parliamentary labour party (minus a few who abstained), for SPD the chairman of the LGA, a labour councillor submitted a report requesting the Treasury abolish SPD and have the discretion to raise CT without referendums. The bus passes seems to be off the record briefings given to multiple journalists. It is now at the point when I'll be surprised if not in the budget.
It's been a while since we've had a politician as poor as Jenrick. He hasn't a single quality to distinguish him: no moral centre, no trace of intellectual substance, no microscopic hint of charisma, no presentational ability.
"Inside her department Reeves asked for her personal donor to be handed a senior Civil Service job. She compounded the error by failing to declare his donation. The Chancellor also seemingly asked for her former Parliamentary staffer to be promoted. Treasury eyebrows have been raised about her lack of judgement."
"Inside her department Reeves asked for her personal donor to be handed a senior Civil Service job. She compounded the error by failing to declare his donation. The Chancellor also seemingly asked for her former Parliamentary staffer to be promoted. Treasury eyebrows have been raised about her lack of judgement."
It's been a while since we've had a politician as poor as Jenrick. He hasn't a single quality to distinguish him: no moral centre, no trace of intellectual substance, no microscopic hint of charisma, no presentational ability.
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
Saying "they're not as bad as the other lot" just doesn't cut it. Starmer's Labour got in largely because they're not the Tories and Starmer is supposed to be boringly competent and steady and the Labour government a serious one. Turns out Labour loves a freebie as much as the clownshow they've just replaced. It's not pearl clutching to be disappointed by the way Starmer has trashed the idea that he's better than the Tories.
I’m disappointed with Labour but mainly on other issues . I really don’t care much if they got some freebies and have no problem with Starmer being given an executive box at the Emirates . Labour should just tell the Tories to stfu and refer them to Partygate and the cesspit Bozos government became . The media have cremated the story .
Starmer and Gray being in the same hospitality box as those behind the breakaway European Super League is definitely an actual story.
“The largest organization representing the Christian faith in Ohio issued a scathing letter in defense of Haitian migrants in Springfield.
“The letter released Friday evening by the Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) decried the false statements from Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. JD Vance and running mate, former president Donald Trump, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets and wildlife.”
“The Catholic Conference of Ohio, which represents bishops from diocesan groups across the state, published a letter Thursday asking for the public to treat Haitian immigrants in Springfield with respect and dignity, warning against "unfounded gossip" and "scapegoating."”
Setting the bar for scathing a bit low.
These guys have a biological imperative to eat protein, a religious imperative to sacrifice small animals, and no money. How do *you* think they might solve these problems?
Mercator, the claims of pet-eating Haitians have been thoroughly debunked. It never happened. Republican politicians took someone repeating an urban myth on Facebook and just invented a new blood libel. Why are you holding on to the idea? It is pure racism.
They haven't been debunked, statements have been made that there is "no evidence" for them, misunderstanding the meaning of "evidence." Perhaps you think vodou or the requirement of animal sacrifice is an urban myth? It's an official religion.
Animal sacrifice is huge in the US. I can't say I am particularly fussed, I am irreligious but religion tolerant and if I eat animals I am cool with humanely conducted sacrifice. I also agree that talking about it on US facing social media is an uncontroversially bad thing. But truth is independent of how we would like things to be.
Well, I've just watched the Kuenssberg-Rayner interview in its entirety. This will be a minority view in the prevailing PB zeitgeist, but I thought Rayner was pretty impressive given the context - coherent and unflustered. Apart from a reference to being 'overly transparent' (!), she dealt with the tricky stuff pretty well.
It was just fun to watch within 12 hours of watching Andrew vs Maitlis, matched pair of BBC blonde women giving grandees a hard time about visiting the Uber rich in NYC.
I note that where Andrew was too honourable, Rayner was overly transparent. We are very fortunate both in our royal family and our politicians.
“The largest organization representing the Christian faith in Ohio issued a scathing letter in defense of Haitian migrants in Springfield.
“The letter released Friday evening by the Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) decried the false statements from Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. JD Vance and running mate, former president Donald Trump, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets and wildlife.”
“The Catholic Conference of Ohio, which represents bishops from diocesan groups across the state, published a letter Thursday asking for the public to treat Haitian immigrants in Springfield with respect and dignity, warning against "unfounded gossip" and "scapegoating."”
Setting the bar for scathing a bit low.
These guys have a biological imperative to eat protein, a religious imperative to sacrifice small animals, and no money. How do *you* think they might solve these problems?
Mercator, the claims of pet-eating Haitians have been thoroughly debunked. It never happened. Republican politicians took someone repeating an urban myth on Facebook and just invented a new blood libel. Why are you holding on to the idea? It is pure racism.
They haven't been debunked, statements have been made that there is "no evidence" for them, misunderstanding the meaning of "evidence." Perhaps you think vodou or the requirement of animal sacrifice is an urban myth? It's an official religion.
Animal sacrifice is huge in the US. I can't say I am particularly fussed, I am irreligious but religion tolerant and if I eat animals I am cool with humanely conducted sacrifice. I also agree that talking about it on US facing social media is an uncontroversially bad thing. But truth is independent of how we would like things to be.
More notably, it’s now more than two weeks after the debate and everyone is still talking about immigration, which can only help the Republicans. The story itself has enough plausibility, and people’s actual experiences don’t match with those saying it’s a racist lie.
I see a lot of this stuff in the media. I would never vote for someone like Trump but I do wonder about this strategy of "look at this stupid thing Trump said isn't it ridiculous laughs in middle-class" is counter-productive. I say this as a middle-class person who votes left. I've seen the reaction of working-class people to this type of humiliation and they resent it.
It seems to me the Democratic party and their supporters don't get this. It looks to me like the Harris campaign is heading over a cliff and attempts to correct course are treated as pro-Trump denial. This very much reminds me of 2016.
(You probably meant to post something light-hearted and inconsequential but I thought this point was worth making nonetheless, you'll have to forgive me.)
Quite. It's all jolly good fun but meaningless
And I wouldn't bet against a Musk Potus team getting someone to mars in 4 years anyway.
I'm always curious about posts that have to establish the posters neutrality 'I say this as a middle class person who votes left'. It's becoming endemic on here particularly with regard to Trump. Darkage who is the doyen of this particular technique said the other day that he loathed Trump and everything he stood for and ended with the punch-line 'but if I had the vote I'd be voting Trump'.
“The largest organization representing the Christian faith in Ohio issued a scathing letter in defense of Haitian migrants in Springfield.
“The letter released Friday evening by the Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) decried the false statements from Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. JD Vance and running mate, former president Donald Trump, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets and wildlife.”
“The Catholic Conference of Ohio, which represents bishops from diocesan groups across the state, published a letter Thursday asking for the public to treat Haitian immigrants in Springfield with respect and dignity, warning against "unfounded gossip" and "scapegoating."”
Setting the bar for scathing a bit low.
These guys have a biological imperative to eat protein, a religious imperative to sacrifice small animals, and no money. How do *you* think they might solve these problems?
Mercator, the claims of pet-eating Haitians have been thoroughly debunked. It never happened. Republican politicians took someone repeating an urban myth on Facebook and just invented a new blood libel. Why are you holding on to the idea? It is pure racism.
They haven't been debunked, statements have been made that there is "no evidence" for them, misunderstanding the meaning of "evidence." Perhaps you think vodou or the requirement of animal sacrifice is an urban myth? It's an official religion.
Animal sacrifice is huge in the US. I can't say I am particularly fussed, I am irreligious but religion tolerant and if I eat animals I am cool with humanely conducted sacrifice. I also agree that talking about it on US facing social media is an uncontroversially bad thing. But truth is independent of how we would like things to be.
A few Haitian immigrants practising voodoo is not 'huge in the US'
"Inside her department Reeves asked for her personal donor to be handed a senior Civil Service job. She compounded the error by failing to declare his donation. The Chancellor also seemingly asked for her former Parliamentary staffer to be promoted. Treasury eyebrows have been raised about her lack of judgement."
“The largest organization representing the Christian faith in Ohio issued a scathing letter in defense of Haitian migrants in Springfield.
“The letter released Friday evening by the Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) decried the false statements from Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. JD Vance and running mate, former president Donald Trump, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets and wildlife.”
“The Catholic Conference of Ohio, which represents bishops from diocesan groups across the state, published a letter Thursday asking for the public to treat Haitian immigrants in Springfield with respect and dignity, warning against "unfounded gossip" and "scapegoating."”
Setting the bar for scathing a bit low.
These guys have a biological imperative to eat protein, a religious imperative to sacrifice small animals, and no money. How do *you* think they might solve these problems?
Mercator, the claims of pet-eating Haitians have been thoroughly debunked. It never happened. Republican politicians took someone repeating an urban myth on Facebook and just invented a new blood libel. Why are you holding on to the idea? It is pure racism.
They haven't been debunked, statements have been made that there is "no evidence" for them, misunderstanding the meaning of "evidence." Perhaps you think vodou or the requirement of animal sacrifice is an urban myth? It's an official religion.
Animal sacrifice is huge in the US. I can't say I am particularly fussed, I am irreligious but religion tolerant and if I eat animals I am cool with humanely conducted sacrifice. I also agree that talking about it on US facing social media is an uncontroversially bad thing. But truth is independent of how we would like things to be.
A few Haitian immigrants practising voodoo is not 'huge in the US'
The link is Dominicans practising Santeria in NYC.
"Inside her department Reeves asked for her personal donor to be handed a senior Civil Service job. She compounded the error by failing to declare his donation. The Chancellor also seemingly asked for her former Parliamentary staffer to be promoted. Treasury eyebrows have been raised about her lack of judgement."
First day of the Labour conference going well then!
Who was it who first said that Labour scandals are usually about money, and Tory scandals usually about sex?
They've been in office just 80 days.
Phileas Fogg it ain't.
I dont get the Phileas Fogg reference...
He’s the character from Jules Verne’s Around The World In 80 Days.
Of course, I knew who he was, and I knew about the book and it's title, but rather stupidly i didnt put it together.
FOGG, I'M THE ONE WHO MADE THE BET AND I KNOW WE'LL BE EXACTLY RIGHT ON TIME FOG IS MY NAME AND I COULD PLAY WITH MY LIFE IN MANY WAYS THAT'S WHAT THEY SAY
HERE I AM - A RIGADON I'M A TICO - D'MASCOTA IT'S MY TURN - THE GENTLE TOUCH A ROMY THEY LOVE ME SO MUCH
HEY NOW THEY STORY MUST GO ON 'CAUSE A LOT OF TIME HAS GONE WE MUST BE READY TO GO AWAY
80 DAYS AROUND THE WORLD WE'LL FIND A POT OF GOLD JUST SITTING WHERE THE RAINBOW'S ENDING TIME WE'LL FIGHT AGAINST THE TIME AND WE'LL FLY ON THE WHITE WINGS OF THE WIND
80 DAYS AROUND THE WORLD NO WE WON'T SAY A WORD BEFORE THE SHIP IS REALLY BACK
ROUND, ROUND, ALL AROUND THE WORLD ROUND, ALL AROUND THE WORLD ROUND, ALL AROUND THE WORLD ROUND, ALL AROUND THE WORLD
Jason Groves @JasonGroves1 · 36m Education Sec Bridget Phillipson tells @SkyNews that £14k birthday parties funded by Labour donor Lord Alli were 'in a work context'. I seem to remember someone else trying this defence one...
@cazjwheeler covers our latest polling which shows how quickly the Govt’s honeymoon vanished. 17% of Labour voters regret voting for the Party & the public are slightly more likely to think they are exaggerating the state of public finances than being honest
This feels more and more like all the parties the Tories had during COVID. Voters are going to become completely poisoned towards the government very early and it's going to be long five years for Labour. I think at the next election Labour could finish under 20% if this stuff continues to stick. The question is where the voters go, will it be to Reform, the Tories, Greens or Lib Dems.
quote....Andy_JS Posts: 31,268 11:35AM I'm interested in the history of religion, but can't say I believe anything religious myself. ........... I've had to do it this way because when I try to use the Quote button under Mr JS's post something else comes up. Weird.
Anyway, for many years I was religious, and increasingly struggled with what I was, apparently supposed to believe ..... even allowing for the fact that I was CofE ...... until I eventually decided that no, I wasn't, I didn't believe any more and everything seem ed to fall into place. Sort of reverse of St Paul's reported conversion experience. As a consequence I'm interested in the 'what and why' of belief and I'm increasingly tending towards a sort of secular Buddhism.
"What is at stake over [the WFA] issue and what needs to be set out politically, practically and rhetorically in the speeches of Reeves and Starmer at the conference this week is: what is the project of the Labour government? It has to be more than balancing the books — if the country had wanted that, they would have appointed book-keepers to take over from the Tories."
"Labour’s mandate at the election was to rebuild public services, not to rebuild the public finances at any cost"
Jason Groves @JasonGroves1 · 36m Education Sec Bridget Phillipson tells @SkyNews that £14k birthday parties funded by Labour donor Lord Alli were 'in a work context'. I seem to remember someone else trying this defence one...
@cazjwheeler covers our latest polling which shows how quickly the Govt’s honeymoon vanished. 17% of Labour voters regret voting for the Party & the public are slightly more likely to think they are exaggerating the state of public finances than being honest
This feels more and more like all the parties the Tories had during COVID. Voters are going to become completely poisoned towards the government very early and it's going to be long five years for Labour. I think at the next election Labour could finish under 20% if this stuff continues to stick. The question is where the voters go, will it be to Reform, the Tories, Greens or Lib Dems.
All of the latter list. If that happens in the right places as required then it is curtains after one term.
Jason Groves @JasonGroves1 · 36m Education Sec Bridget Phillipson tells @SkyNews that £14k birthday parties funded by Labour donor Lord Alli were 'in a work context'. I seem to remember someone else trying this defence one...
@cazjwheeler covers our latest polling which shows how quickly the Govt’s honeymoon vanished. 17% of Labour voters regret voting for the Party & the public are slightly more likely to think they are exaggerating the state of public finances than being honest
This feels more and more like all the parties the Tories had during COVID. Voters are going to become completely poisoned towards the government very early and it's going to be long five years for Labour. I think at the next election Labour could finish under 20% if this stuff continues to stick. The question is where the voters go, will it be to Reform, the Tories, Greens or Lib Dems.
All of the above plus the SNP and Plaid Cymru. Labour will go the way of the mainstream centre-left parties on the continent.
It's the sort of vibrancy which Welby and the CoE lack
Pentacostalist worship is certainly fun and celebrational, and in the UK drawing crowds too. There are a number of "Big Shed" churches near me, the retail park being the UK equivalent of the US shopping Mall. It isn't just the African diaspora either. There are fellow travellers too, with Holy Trinity in Leicester getting 500 on a Sunday, CoE though not always approved of by the hierarchy because of its informal liturgy.
Pentacostalism has moved a long way from the homespun Appalachian church in the video clip, to the razzmatazz of modern mega-churches. The key is that personal relationship with Jesus, and an acceptance of modern consumerist lifestyles.
I'm sure there are bits of the hierarchy that wince at what goes on, much like the Anglo-Catholic ordinands I saw the day after they had an educational trip somewhere similar.
But one of Welby's big ideas has been a hefty expansion in That Sort Of Thing, by getting Holy Trinity Brompton (and its children and their children) and others to plant new congregations into struggling parishes.
And one of the people behind that is Paul Marshall. Yes, that Paul Marshall.
Except that HTB and it's network of churches is now on its way out of the CofE sphere over the "Prayers of Love and Faith" (that's CofE speak for gay marriage in church). As are virtually all the evangelicals - which are the only bit of the CofE that isn't in free fall decline.
My CofE church is actually voting today* on whether the congregation agrees with the leadership that we should leave. We're a bit unusual, because we're an old congregation that's not a parish church, and own our own building, so we can pretty much tell the Bishop "so long and thanks for all the fish", but that is true of a lot of the new churches planted by outfits like HTB and St Helens Bishopsgate.
Incidentally, I've no real problem personally with gay people being gay. I think it's sinful, active homosexuals are called to repent like all sexual sinners, but ultimately it's God's job to make them give an account of their lives, at his judgment, not mine.
My problem with the CofE blessing gay marriages is that this is the leadership blessing something their doctrine teaches is sinful. I'd say the same if they wanted in church blessings for adultery, gluttony, lying or greed. It's just that in our context, homosexuality is a fashionable sin, unlike the others.
*actually, electronically, over the next two weeks, starting today
Why is "homosexuality" sinful? I can see arguments for "adultery, gluttony, lying or greed" being sinful, but I can't see how homosexuality can be added to the list?
Being homosexual isn't sinful, same sex sexual acts is sinful if you read certain Biblical or Koran passages, just as admiring a beautiful woman isn't sinful of itself unless you have sex outside marriage with them
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
The reason this has legs is because Labour came in promising not to be like the last lot and yet here we have them partying away on donor funds who then get plum jobs at the treasury or passes to Number 10 etc...
In fact Labour ran their whole campaign on how they were different to the Tories but to voters they now look just as crooked. If they'd run on policies rather than character it wouldn't be as bad for them, they could just come out and say no more donations from these people and it would be the end of it.
"Inside her department Reeves asked for her personal donor to be handed a senior Civil Service job. She compounded the error by failing to declare his donation. The Chancellor also seemingly asked for her former Parliamentary staffer to be promoted. Treasury eyebrows have been raised about her lack of judgement."
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
That's not how this works. They're the government so they get shit about everything, all the time.
If SKS has any sense, which on all available evidence he doesn't, he should leak some shit about somebody in the cabinet he hates and let them be the ritual sacrifice.
One of the groups who are most supportive of Trump are non-churchgoing evangelicals.
Being evangelical once suggested regular church attendance, a focus on salvation and conversion and strongly held views on specific issues such as abortion. Today, it is as often used to describe a cultural and political identity: one in which Christians are considered a persecuted minority, traditional institutions are viewed skeptically and Mr. Trump looms large...
But as Mr. Trump gained ground in the early primaries, his growing strength among white evangelical voters became clear. Polls showed that the future nominee was most popular among one group in particular: white evangelicals who seldom or never went to church
Beyond even the buzz of the megachurch, there is the buzz of the televangelist, which manages to line up with MAGA even more.
Reminiscent of the non-churchgoing Reagan who managed to convince voters he was more religious than Jimmy Carter, a president who even taught Sunday school from the White House.
Carter won evangelicals in 1976 against Ford but lost them in 1980, he is the only Democrat though to have won evangelicals at a presidential election
It depends a little on definition, but Carter was perhaps the second "Born Again" President, with Garfield being the first.
Considering the large number of Evangelicals in the USA, it is a surprisingly small number. Nearly all other presidents have been either traditional denominations or not particularly interested in religion at all.
I think some of the mutual antipathy we see between MAGA Republicans and coastal Democrats arises from this lack of Evangelical representation and priorities on the national stage. Trump being a businessman with no political hinterland prior to 2016 helps him ally with this anti-elite mindset.
Bill Clinton was a Baptist, Trump is Presbyterian. There hasn't been an Anglican President since Bush 41, Bush 43 was Methodist, Biden is Catholic, Obama was congregational United Church of Christ
Jason Groves @JasonGroves1 · 36m Education Sec Bridget Phillipson tells @SkyNews that £14k birthday parties funded by Labour donor Lord Alli were 'in a work context'. I seem to remember someone else trying this defence one...
@cazjwheeler covers our latest polling which shows how quickly the Govt’s honeymoon vanished. 17% of Labour voters regret voting for the Party & the public are slightly more likely to think they are exaggerating the state of public finances than being honest
This feels more and more like all the parties the Tories had during COVID. Voters are going to become completely poisoned towards the government very early and it's going to be long five years for Labour. I think at the next election Labour could finish under 20% if this stuff continues to stick. The question is where the voters go, will it be to Reform, the Tories, Greens or Lib Dems.
No party to receive more than 30% at the next election feels pretty likely to me, at which point all sort of wild results are possible. Lib Dems are 100/1 to be most seats at the next election.
Jason Groves @JasonGroves1 · 36m Education Sec Bridget Phillipson tells @SkyNews that £14k birthday parties funded by Labour donor Lord Alli were 'in a work context'. I seem to remember someone else trying this defence one...
@cazjwheeler covers our latest polling which shows how quickly the Govt’s honeymoon vanished. 17% of Labour voters regret voting for the Party & the public are slightly more likely to think they are exaggerating the state of public finances than being honest
This feels more and more like all the parties the Tories had during COVID. Voters are going to become completely poisoned towards the government very early and it's going to be long five years for Labour. I think at the next election Labour could finish under 20% if this stuff continues to stick. The question is where the voters go, will it be to Reform, the Tories, Greens or Lib Dems.
All of the latter list. If that happens in the right places as required then it is curtains after one term.
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
The reason this has legs is because Labour came in promising not to be like the last lot and yet here we have them partying away on donor funds who then get plum jobs at the treasury or passes to Number 10 etc...
In fact Labour ran their whole campaign on how they were different to the Tories but to voters they now look just as crooked. If they'd run on policies rather than character it wouldn't be as bad for them, they could just come out and say no more donations from these people and it would be the end of it.
And there was already a terrible, sullen mood in the country that "they are all the same", "just in it for themselves", "nothing gets done" etc etc.
Labour turning out to be exactly as people feared now seriously opens the door to populist challenge of throwing the whole bloody lot of them out.
Also, the news about rich people leaving the UK is now international, we had dinner with some American friends who are over for the week last night and they brought it up as it's made their news cycle in the last couple of weeks that British millionaires and very high earners are leaving for the US, Dubai and parts of europe. My wife did nothing to disabuse them of that impression when she mentioned that she's begun looking for a house in Switzerland.
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
The reason this has legs is because Labour came in promising not to be like the last lot and yet here we have them partying away on donor funds who then get plum jobs at the treasury or passes to Number 10 etc...
In fact Labour ran their whole campaign on how they were different to the Tories but to voters they now look just as crooked. If they'd run on policies rather than character it wouldn't be as bad for them, they could just come out and say no more donations from these people and it would be the end of it.
And there was already a terrible, sullen mood in the country that "they are all the same", "just in it for themselves", "nothing gets done" etc etc.
Labour turning out to be exactly as people feared now seriously opens the door to populist challenge of throwing the whole bloody lot of them out.
LibDem/Green Government with Reform the Opposition?
It's the sort of vibrancy which Welby and the CoE lack
Pentacostalist worship is certainly fun and celebrational, and in the UK drawing crowds too. There are a number of "Big Shed" churches near me, the retail park being the UK equivalent of the US shopping Mall. It isn't just the African diaspora either. There are fellow travellers too, with Holy Trinity in Leicester getting 500 on a Sunday, CoE though not always approved of by the hierarchy because of its informal liturgy.
Pentacostalism has moved a long way from the homespun Appalachian church in the video clip, to the razzmatazz of modern mega-churches. The key is that personal relationship with Jesus, and an acceptance of modern consumerist lifestyles.
I'm sure there are bits of the hierarchy that wince at what goes on, much like the Anglo-Catholic ordinands I saw the day after they had an educational trip somewhere similar.
But one of Welby's big ideas has been a hefty expansion in That Sort Of Thing, by getting Holy Trinity Brompton (and its children and their children) and others to plant new congregations into struggling parishes.
And one of the people behind that is Paul Marshall. Yes, that Paul Marshall.
Except that HTB and it's network of churches is now on its way out of the CofE sphere over the "Prayers of Love and Faith" (that's CofE speak for gay marriage in church). As are virtually all the evangelicals - which are the only bit of the CofE that isn't in free fall decline.
My CofE church is actually voting today* on whether the congregation agrees with the leadership that we should leave. We're a bit unusual, because we're an old congregation that's not a parish church, and own our own building, so we can pretty much tell the Bishop "so long and thanks for all the fish", but that is true of a lot of the new churches planted by outfits like HTB and St Helens Bishopsgate.
Incidentally, I've no real problem personally with gay people being gay. I think it's sinful, active homosexuals are called to repent like all sexual sinners, but ultimately it's God's job to make them give an account of their lives, at his judgment, not mine.
My problem with the CofE blessing gay marriages is that this is the leadership blessing something their doctrine teaches is sinful. I'd say the same if they wanted in church blessings for adultery, gluttony, lying or greed. It's just that in our context, homosexuality is a fashionable sin, unlike the others.
*actually, electronically, over the next two weeks, starting today
HTB isn't leaving the C of E at all, there are a few conservative evangelical churches like St Ebb's or All Souls Langham Place withholding parish share over PLF but they remain in the C of E. PLF also isn't gay marriage in church, just prayers for same sex couples in churches which want to which evangelical churches can still opt out from. Indeed a few pro same sex liberals like Jayne Ozanne left the C of E for the Methodists after Synod rejected full same sex marriages in its churches as the Methodists do now perform same sex marriages in their churches.
All C of E churches are owned by the diocese and C of E and any church which tries to break away and take the building would likely lose a legal battle as happened with conservative in North America Churches which broke away from the Episcopal church.
It is also not true to say that only evangelical churches have big congregations, there are some Anglo Catholic churches which are growing eg St Bartholomew's and of course the C of E has £1 billion in annual income which it can and should put into its Parishes
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
The reason this has legs is because Labour came in promising not to be like the last lot and yet here we have them partying away on donor funds who then get plum jobs at the treasury or passes to Number 10 etc...
In fact Labour ran their whole campaign on how they were different to the Tories but to voters they now look just as crooked. If they'd run on policies rather than character it wouldn't be as bad for them, they could just come out and say no more donations from these people and it would be the end of it.
And there was already a terrible, sullen mood in the country that "they are all the same", "just in it for themselves", "nothing gets done" etc etc.
Labour turning out to be exactly as people feared now seriously opens the door to populist challenge of throwing the whole bloody lot of them out.
I think the refusal to admit that, yes, maybe we shouldn't have showered ourselves in donor cash is really hurting them. I understand that the MPs don't want to turn the taps off but they need to do it quickly or the party is finished. They've got a big majority but only 33% of votes, the way down is very, very steep.
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
The reason this has legs is because Labour came in promising not to be like the last lot and yet here we have them partying away on donor funds who then get plum jobs at the treasury or passes to Number 10 etc...
In fact Labour ran their whole campaign on how they were different to the Tories but to voters they now look just as crooked. If they'd run on policies rather than character it wouldn't be as bad for them, they could just come out and say no more donations from these people and it would be the end of it.
And there was already a terrible, sullen mood in the country that "they are all the same", "just in it for themselves", "nothing gets done" etc etc.
Labour turning out to be exactly as people feared now seriously opens the door to populist challenge of throwing the whole bloody lot of them out.
Hopefully the Stella and Silk Cuts will have worked their inevitable magic on Farage by the next GE.
(When I like a government it's a sure sign that the voters will kill it and bury it in a hole at the first opportunity they get.)
Except this is the same idea that they have come up with for at least the last 20 years. It sounds like something is happening but then the 'default permits' have so many caveats that it is no different to the existing system. It basically reveals that the government itself have been swallowed up by the blob. Expect no change at all, business as usual.
Yes, the follow through is the key. I love the sound of it but I've been burned before, and things like reducing housing figures in London make me suspicious about seemingly positive stories about change.
In planning the usual position is no change, or an overegged tweak which does little more than add yet more bloody paperwork.
The press release was heavy on asinine alliteration (who now builds bungalows in Bermondsey ?) and light on defining detail.
“The largest organization representing the Christian faith in Ohio issued a scathing letter in defense of Haitian migrants in Springfield.
“The letter released Friday evening by the Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) decried the false statements from Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. JD Vance and running mate, former president Donald Trump, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets and wildlife.”
“The Catholic Conference of Ohio, which represents bishops from diocesan groups across the state, published a letter Thursday asking for the public to treat Haitian immigrants in Springfield with respect and dignity, warning against "unfounded gossip" and "scapegoating."”
Setting the bar for scathing a bit low.
These guys have a biological imperative to eat protein, a religious imperative to sacrifice small animals, and no money. How do *you* think they might solve these problems?
Mercator, the claims of pet-eating Haitians have been thoroughly debunked. It never happened. Republican politicians took someone repeating an urban myth on Facebook and just invented a new blood libel. Why are you holding on to the idea? It is pure racism.
They haven't been debunked, statements have been made that there is "no evidence" for them, misunderstanding the meaning of "evidence." Perhaps you think vodou or the requirement of animal sacrifice is an urban myth? It's an official religion.
Animal sacrifice is huge in the US. I can't say I am particularly fussed, I am irreligious but religion tolerant and if I eat animals I am cool with humanely conducted sacrifice. I also agree that talking about it on US facing social media is an uncontroversially bad thing. But truth is independent of how we would like things to be.
It is a loathsome, barbaric practise and belongs in the past.
(When I like a government it's a sure sign that the voters will kill it and bury it in a hole at the first opportunity they get.)
All wind. The current system is already default permission. You have to prove that there are valid reasons why houses should not be built. The issue of course is who decides what reasons are valid.
So this changes absolutely nothing in prcatice whilst sounding like they are doing something.
Other bits are better - high density is good if it means building 4 and 5 stories rather than 2. Copy the Europeans or the way we used to build pre 20th century.
"What is at stake over [the WFA] issue and what needs to be set out politically, practically and rhetorically in the speeches of Reeves and Starmer at the conference this week is: what is the project of the Labour government? It has to be more than balancing the books — if the country had wanted that, they would have appointed book-keepers to take over from the Tories."
"Labour’s mandate at the election was to rebuild public services, not to rebuild the public finances at any cost"
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
The reason this has legs is because Labour came in promising not to be like the last lot and yet here we have them partying away on donor funds who then get plum jobs at the treasury or passes to Number 10 etc...
In fact Labour ran their whole campaign on how they were different to the Tories but to voters they now look just as crooked. If they'd run on policies rather than character it wouldn't be as bad for them, they could just come out and say no more donations from these people and it would be the end of it.
And there was already a terrible, sullen mood in the country that "they are all the same", "just in it for themselves", "nothing gets done" etc etc.
Labour turning out to be exactly as people feared now seriously opens the door to populist challenge of throwing the whole bloody lot of them out.
Hopefully the Stella and Silk Cuts will have worked their inevitable magic on Farage by the next GE.
“The largest organization representing the Christian faith in Ohio issued a scathing letter in defense of Haitian migrants in Springfield.
“The letter released Friday evening by the Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) decried the false statements from Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. JD Vance and running mate, former president Donald Trump, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets and wildlife.”
“The Catholic Conference of Ohio, which represents bishops from diocesan groups across the state, published a letter Thursday asking for the public to treat Haitian immigrants in Springfield with respect and dignity, warning against "unfounded gossip" and "scapegoating."”
Setting the bar for scathing a bit low.
These guys have a biological imperative to eat protein, a religious imperative to sacrifice small animals, and no money. How do *you* think they might solve these problems?
Mercator, the claims of pet-eating Haitians have been thoroughly debunked. It never happened. Republican politicians took someone repeating an urban myth on Facebook and just invented a new blood libel. Why are you holding on to the idea? It is pure racism.
They haven't been debunked, statements have been made that there is "no evidence" for them, misunderstanding the meaning of "evidence." Perhaps you think vodou or the requirement of animal sacrifice is an urban myth? It's an official religion.
Animal sacrifice is huge in the US. I can't say I am particularly fussed, I am irreligious but religion tolerant and if I eat animals I am cool with humanely conducted sacrifice. I also agree that talking about it on US facing social media is an uncontroversially bad thing. But truth is independent of how we would like things to be.
It has been debunked. We know how the story started. There was a Facebook post: we know who made that Facebook post and on what evidence (a friend of a friend of an acquaintance said… stuff). I.e., nothing. Defenders of the idea then rushed to find evidence. There was the bodycam video of someone being arrested for killing and eating a cat… and this turned out to be some mad woman, not in Springfield, not Haitian, not an immigrant, not a vodou practitioner. There was the photo of a guy with two dead geese… not an immigrant, not a Haitian, not in Springfield, he hadn’t killed the geese but was carrying them away from a car accident and there’s no evidence he was intending to eat them.
What we do have evidence for is how MAGAts have used this falsehood for propaganda and a long history of racist propaganda that takes the same form, othering people by connecting them to some disgusting food source and a threat they pose to the family.
That's the part I don't understand. Not the cake, but how an ordinary person can spend £14,000 on a birthday party. Billionaires might spend six figures to have Oasis sing happy birthday, I see that, but if your first 39 birthdays have been normal, how do you suddenly splurge five figures? Fire insurance on the cake?
Also, the news about rich people leaving the UK is now international, we had dinner with some American friends who are over for the week last night and they brought it up as it's made their news cycle in the last couple of weeks that British millionaires and very high earners are leaving for the US, Dubai and parts of europe. My wife did nothing to disabuse them of that impression when she mentioned that she's begun looking for a house in Switzerland.
If Harris and Walz get in with their tax raising plans for CGT too I would also expect some rich Americans to move to the Bahamas, Dubai, Switzerland, Singapore etc too.
Though as a more Federal system you can also see shift from high tax states like Massachusetts and California to lower tax states like Texas
“The largest organization representing the Christian faith in Ohio issued a scathing letter in defense of Haitian migrants in Springfield.
“The letter released Friday evening by the Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) decried the false statements from Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. JD Vance and running mate, former president Donald Trump, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets and wildlife.”
“The Catholic Conference of Ohio, which represents bishops from diocesan groups across the state, published a letter Thursday asking for the public to treat Haitian immigrants in Springfield with respect and dignity, warning against "unfounded gossip" and "scapegoating."”
Setting the bar for scathing a bit low.
These guys have a biological imperative to eat protein, a religious imperative to sacrifice small animals, and no money. How do *you* think they might solve these problems?
Mercator, the claims of pet-eating Haitians have been thoroughly debunked. It never happened. Republican politicians took someone repeating an urban myth on Facebook and just invented a new blood libel. Why are you holding on to the idea? It is pure racism.
They haven't been debunked, statements have been made that there is "no evidence" for them, misunderstanding the meaning of "evidence." Perhaps you think vodou or the requirement of animal sacrifice is an urban myth? It's an official religion.
Animal sacrifice is huge in the US. I can't say I am particularly fussed, I am irreligious but religion tolerant and if I eat animals I am cool with humanely conducted sacrifice. I also agree that talking about it on US facing social media is an uncontroversially bad thing. But truth is independent of how we would like things to be.
More notably, it’s now more than two weeks after the debate and everyone is still talking about immigration, which can only help the Republicans. The story itself has enough plausibility, and people’s actual experiences don’t match with those saying it’s a racist lie.
What actual experiences? No-one had had an experience of an immigrant eating their pet.
Incidentally, I've no real problem personally with gay people being gay. I think it's sinful…
This reads a bit like “I’m not a homophobe, but…”. What are your specific reasons for thinking that homosexuality is sinful?
I dont like eating salmon, it doesnt make me salmon-phobic. The OP clearly said they felt it was for God to judge it, but that is how they seem it.
That’s a false analogy, unless you also think that salmon eaters are sinful. In which case, I’d argue that is definitely salmoneaterphobic.
Anyway, never mind your taste in tinned fish, I’m much more interested in the specific reasoning behind non-homophobic @theProle thinking homosexuality is sinful and whether it amounts to any more than “I read it in a book” or “the man in the white dress said it so it must be so”.
But that's a pretty complete (if childish) definition of "sinful". If he buys the book and the man, Why else? is a meaningless question.
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
The reason this has legs is because Labour came in promising not to be like the last lot and yet here we have them partying away on donor funds who then get plum jobs at the treasury or passes to Number 10 etc...
In fact Labour ran their whole campaign on how they were different to the Tories but to voters they now look just as crooked. If they'd run on policies rather than character it wouldn't be as bad for them, they could just come out and say no more donations from these people and it would be the end of it.
And there was already a terrible, sullen mood in the country that "they are all the same", "just in it for themselves", "nothing gets done" etc etc.
Labour turning out to be exactly as people feared now seriously opens the door to populist challenge of throwing the whole bloody lot of them out.
I think the refusal to admit that, yes, maybe we shouldn't have showered ourselves in donor cash is really hurting them. I understand that the MPs don't want to turn the taps off but they need to do it quickly or the party is finished. They've got a big majority but only 33% of votes, the way down is very, very steep.
It seems to be just the one donor which ought to simplify matters.
Last week was a smorgasboard of bad news for the Government, so I am now just catching up with the news that they did have an impact assessment for the Winter Fuel changes, despite Starmer outright denying that they did. This is a tough one in a number of ways. He now looks like a liar, or an incompetent. But we must assume that worse is on the way with the contents of the assessment bound to be made public. If the assessment found the change would have minimal impact, it seems unlikely that its existence would have been denied. If it contains a significant number of frozen grannies, in today's febrile and emotive political climate, that looks catastrophic for a Government that has been forced to defend its use of free designer clobber, penthouses in New York, and significant expense claims for energy.
I don't really support that outrage (about policies resulting in some deaths) because I think it leads to things like lockdown, where many more lives are blighted (and actually lost) in the cause of a few, but it is where we are, and it is the emotional landscape that Starmer and his team have been making hay with for the last 5 years.
Single Person Discount, Winter Fuel Payments, Bus passes for the elderly all seem to be for the chop or scaled back to those who are on existing means testing. So UC or PC. Many local councils have council tax discount schemes (put in place when council tax benefit was ended and responsibility handed to the local councils) these also seem likely for the chop. A lot of people currently not paying any council tax, or derisory amounts are going to start getting bills.
Council tax benefit was rolled into the universal benefit payment so I can see why that is going - the local council schemes are there for transition issues and with the final people shifting to universal credit in the next few months it shouldn't be necessary for much longer.
As for single person discount - it didn't exist before council tax and was only created because the poll tax meant you couldn't give single people an increase from £200 to £900...
It also recognised the fundemental idiocy of charging for council services used by individuals via a system based on property values. We will return to the arguments about a house of 4 adults being charged the same amount as a single person even though they cost the local council far more.
Jason Groves @JasonGroves1 · 36m Education Sec Bridget Phillipson tells @SkyNews that £14k birthday parties funded by Labour donor Lord Alli were 'in a work context'. I seem to remember someone else trying this defence one...
@cazjwheeler covers our latest polling which shows how quickly the Govt’s honeymoon vanished. 17% of Labour voters regret voting for the Party & the public are slightly more likely to think they are exaggerating the state of public finances than being honest
Ironic because the truth is that rather than exaggerating the state of public finances they are severely understating the problem because it is simply too difficult to fix. The £22bn black hole is largely nonsense but the £100bn black hole of a deficit is undisputed fact. The problem Labour, and the outgoing Tory government had, is that they wanted to pretend that wasn't a problem because the implications for what they wanted to do were simply horrendous.
George Osborne grins and reminds everyone he has already done it once and if it wasnt for the splurge of his successors we wouldn't need to be doing it again.
Yeah, and he was more than smart enough to know that although it absolutely needed to be done, doing it meant that the top job was always going to beyond his reach. Which is quite heroic, when you think about. Will Reeves do the same? We shall find out next month.
Good joke david, we know already whose next will.be feathered
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
That's not how this works. They're the government so they get shit about everything, all the time.
If SKS has any sense, which on all available evidence he doesn't, he should leak some shit about somebody in the cabinet he hates and let them be the ritual sacrifice.
Correct.
Sack Reeves because she's useless and because the Corfield thing is the only example we currently have that freebies bring rewards. Appoint Tulip who looks nicer and has already done something positive and useful (suspending disclosure requirements for investment trusts). Tulip's first act is bring the budget forward to the Wednesday after next so as we can all get on with life.
And it's not the Tories making a huge deal, it's the country.
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
The reason this has legs is because Labour came in promising not to be like the last lot and yet here we have them partying away on donor funds who then get plum jobs at the treasury or passes to Number 10 etc...
In fact Labour ran their whole campaign on how they were different to the Tories but to voters they now look just as crooked. If they'd run on policies rather than character it wouldn't be as bad for them, they could just come out and say no more donations from these people and it would be the end of it.
And there was already a terrible, sullen mood in the country that "they are all the same", "just in it for themselves", "nothing gets done" etc etc.
Labour turning out to be exactly as people feared now seriously opens the door to populist challenge of throwing the whole bloody lot of them out.
Hopefully the Stella and Silk Cuts will have worked their inevitable magic on Farage by the next GE.
That's Prime Minister Farage to you.
and how much cash has Farage trousered over the years from that Banks guy?
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
The reason this has legs is because Labour came in promising not to be like the last lot and yet here we have them partying away on donor funds who then get plum jobs at the treasury or passes to Number 10 etc...
In fact Labour ran their whole campaign on how they were different to the Tories but to voters they now look just as crooked. If they'd run on policies rather than character it wouldn't be as bad for them, they could just come out and say no more donations from these people and it would be the end of it.
And there was already a terrible, sullen mood in the country that "they are all the same", "just in it for themselves", "nothing gets done" etc etc.
Labour turning out to be exactly as people feared now seriously opens the door to populist challenge of throwing the whole bloody lot of them out.
LibDem/Green Government with Reform the Opposition?
LDs and Greens are too middle class to win a majority, Reform too working class to win a majority. Only Labour and the Tories at present of the UK wide parties can still win working class and middle class voters in almost equal numbers
It's the sort of vibrancy which Welby and the CoE lack
Pentacostalist worship is certainly fun and celebrational, and in the UK drawing crowds too. There are a number of "Big Shed" churches near me, the retail park being the UK equivalent of the US shopping Mall. It isn't just the African diaspora either. There are fellow travellers too, with Holy Trinity in Leicester getting 500 on a Sunday, CoE though not always approved of by the hierarchy because of its informal liturgy.
Pentacostalism has moved a long way from the homespun Appalachian church in the video clip, to the razzmatazz of modern mega-churches. The key is that personal relationship with Jesus, and an acceptance of modern consumerist lifestyles.
I'm sure there are bits of the hierarchy that wince at what goes on, much like the Anglo-Catholic ordinands I saw the day after they had an educational trip somewhere similar.
But one of Welby's big ideas has been a hefty expansion in That Sort Of Thing, by getting Holy Trinity Brompton (and its children and their children) and others to plant new congregations into struggling parishes.
And one of the people behind that is Paul Marshall. Yes, that Paul Marshall.
Except that HTB and it's network of churches is now on its way out of the CofE sphere over the "Prayers of Love and Faith" (that's CofE speak for gay marriage in church). As are virtually all the evangelicals - which are the only bit of the CofE that isn't in free fall decline.
My CofE church is actually voting today* on whether the congregation agrees with the leadership that we should leave. We're a bit unusual, because we're an old congregation that's not a parish church, and own our own building, so we can pretty much tell the Bishop "so long and thanks for all the fish", but that is true of a lot of the new churches planted by outfits like HTB and St Helens Bishopsgate.
Incidentally, I've no real problem personally with gay people being gay. I think it's sinful, active homosexuals are called to repent like all sexual sinners, but ultimately it's God's job to make them give an account of their lives, at his judgment, not mine.
My problem with the CofE blessing gay marriages is that this is the leadership blessing something their doctrine teaches is sinful. I'd say the same if they wanted in church blessings for adultery, gluttony, lying or greed. It's just that in our context, homosexuality is a fashionable sin, unlike the others.
*actually, electronically, over the next two weeks, starting today
Why is "homosexuality" sinful? I can see arguments for "adultery, gluttony, lying or greed" being sinful, but I can't see how homosexuality can be added to the list?
Being homosexual isn't sinful, same sex sexual acts is sinful if you read certain Biblical or Koran passages, just as admiring a beautiful woman isn't sinful of itself unless you have sex outside marriage with them
It's been a while since we've had a politician as poor as Jenrick. He hasn't a single quality to distinguish him: no moral centre, no trace of intellectual substance, no microscopic hint of charisma, no presentational ability.
“The largest organization representing the Christian faith in Ohio issued a scathing letter in defense of Haitian migrants in Springfield.
“The letter released Friday evening by the Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) decried the false statements from Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. JD Vance and running mate, former president Donald Trump, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets and wildlife.”
“The Catholic Conference of Ohio, which represents bishops from diocesan groups across the state, published a letter Thursday asking for the public to treat Haitian immigrants in Springfield with respect and dignity, warning against "unfounded gossip" and "scapegoating."”
Setting the bar for scathing a bit low.
These guys have a biological imperative to eat protein, a religious imperative to sacrifice small animals, and no money. How do *you* think they might solve these problems?
Mercator, the claims of pet-eating Haitians have been thoroughly debunked. It never happened. Republican politicians took someone repeating an urban myth on Facebook and just invented a new blood libel. Why are you holding on to the idea? It is pure racism.
They haven't been debunked, statements have been made that there is "no evidence" for them, misunderstanding the meaning of "evidence." Perhaps you think vodou or the requirement of animal sacrifice is an urban myth? It's an official religion.
Animal sacrifice is huge in the US. I can't say I am particularly fussed, I am irreligious but religion tolerant and if I eat animals I am cool with humanely conducted sacrifice. I also agree that talking about it on US facing social media is an uncontroversially bad thing. But truth is independent of how we would like things to be.
More notably, it’s now more than two weeks after the debate and everyone is still talking about immigration, which can only help the Republicans. The story itself has enough plausibility, and people’s actual experiences don’t match with those saying it’s a racist lie.
What actual experiences? No-one had had an experience of an immigrant eating their pet.
“The largest organization representing the Christian faith in Ohio issued a scathing letter in defense of Haitian migrants in Springfield.
“The letter released Friday evening by the Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) decried the false statements from Republican vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. JD Vance and running mate, former president Donald Trump, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets and wildlife.”
“The Catholic Conference of Ohio, which represents bishops from diocesan groups across the state, published a letter Thursday asking for the public to treat Haitian immigrants in Springfield with respect and dignity, warning against "unfounded gossip" and "scapegoating."”
Setting the bar for scathing a bit low.
These guys have a biological imperative to eat protein, a religious imperative to sacrifice small animals, and no money. How do *you* think they might solve these problems?
Mercator, the claims of pet-eating Haitians have been thoroughly debunked. It never happened. Republican politicians took someone repeating an urban myth on Facebook and just invented a new blood libel. Why are you holding on to the idea? It is pure racism.
They haven't been debunked, statements have been made that there is "no evidence" for them, misunderstanding the meaning of "evidence." Perhaps you think vodou or the requirement of animal sacrifice is an urban myth? It's an official religion.
Animal sacrifice is huge in the US. I can't say I am particularly fussed, I am irreligious but religion tolerant and if I eat animals I am cool with humanely conducted sacrifice. I also agree that talking about it on US facing social media is an uncontroversially bad thing. But truth is independent of how we would like things to be.
More notably, it’s now more than two weeks after the debate and everyone is still talking about immigration, which can only help the Republicans. The story itself has enough plausibility, and people’s actual experiences don’t match with those saying it’s a racist lie.
What actual experiences? No-one had had an experience of an immigrant eating their pet.
sandpit has denied it, but the story that he eats cats definitely has enough plausibility
It's the sort of vibrancy which Welby and the CoE lack
Pentacostalist worship is certainly fun and celebrational, and in the UK drawing crowds too. There are a number of "Big Shed" churches near me, the retail park being the UK equivalent of the US shopping Mall. It isn't just the African diaspora either. There are fellow travellers too, with Holy Trinity in Leicester getting 500 on a Sunday, CoE though not always approved of by the hierarchy because of its informal liturgy.
Pentacostalism has moved a long way from the homespun Appalachian church in the video clip, to the razzmatazz of modern mega-churches. The key is that personal relationship with Jesus, and an acceptance of modern consumerist lifestyles.
I'm sure there are bits of the hierarchy that wince at what goes on, much like the Anglo-Catholic ordinands I saw the day after they had an educational trip somewhere similar.
But one of Welby's big ideas has been a hefty expansion in That Sort Of Thing, by getting Holy Trinity Brompton (and its children and their children) and others to plant new congregations into struggling parishes.
And one of the people behind that is Paul Marshall. Yes, that Paul Marshall.
Except that HTB and it's network of churches is now on its way out of the CofE sphere over the "Prayers of Love and Faith" (that's CofE speak for gay marriage in church). As are virtually all the evangelicals - which are the only bit of the CofE that isn't in free fall decline.
My CofE church is actually voting today* on whether the congregation agrees with the leadership that we should leave. We're a bit unusual, because we're an old congregation that's not a parish church, and own our own building, so we can pretty much tell the Bishop "so long and thanks for all the fish", but that is true of a lot of the new churches planted by outfits like HTB and St Helens Bishopsgate.
Incidentally, I've no real problem personally with gay people being gay. I think it's sinful, active homosexuals are called to repent like all sexual sinners, but ultimately it's God's job to make them give an account of their lives, at his judgment, not mine.
My problem with the CofE blessing gay marriages is that this is the leadership blessing something their doctrine teaches is sinful. I'd say the same if they wanted in church blessings for adultery, gluttony, lying or greed. It's just that in our context, homosexuality is a fashionable sin, unlike the others.
*actually, electronically, over the next two weeks, starting today
Why is "homosexuality" sinful? I can see arguments for "adultery, gluttony, lying or greed" being sinful, but I can't see how homosexuality can be added to the list?
Being homosexual isn't sinful, same sex sexual acts is sinful if you read certain Biblical or Koran passages, just as admiring a beautiful woman isn't sinful of itself unless you have sex outside marriage with them
Comments
Is that what Trump did?
As for single person discount - it didn't exist before council tax and was only created because the poll tax meant you couldn't give single people an increase from £200 to £900...
Remember, this is a guy who once flooded the entire world in a fit of pique. Who ruined a guy's life for a bet. Who demanded a guy kill his own son in order to show how much he liked him. Who - if we are to believe that God is all powerful - is responsible for pretty much every arbitrary little event which happens: the Putinbotswhich turn up on Saturday, my cat being sick in the spare bedroom, the inevitable death of the blameless snail stuck in the green bin. Arbitrary rules on where you can or can't stick your dick, what meats you can eat when, or what clothes can be made of seem perfectly in character.
Cabinet has accepted more than £800,000 in donations and freebies this year
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/09/21/cabinet-more-than-800000-donations-freebies-this-year/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/21/whitehall-is-fast-losing-confidence-in-rachel-reeves/
I have a suspicion this is a common tactic by MPs.
Who was it who first said that Labour scandals are usually about money, and Tory scandals usually about sex?
Phileas Fogg it ain't.
Does someone end up resigning or are the media going to keep delivering these daily pearl clutching stories until the end of time.
It’s not a good look for Starmer and others but really I’m sure I’m not the only one who is now bored to tears of the whole thing.
And the Tories who are making a huge deal should stfu given what went on during their time in government . Freebiegate is nothing compared to the corruption under Bozo .
Jenrick has made his stance on immigration very clear. It is central to his vision. It is appropriate therefore to ask Jenrick about how he sees immigration fitting into his vision of an English identity. The interviewer gives Jenrick plenty of time to lay out his position. The interviewer never suggests English identity doesn’t exist.
So the next story could be even less consequential.
Turns out Labour loves a freebie as much as the clownshow they've just replaced.
It's not pearl clutching to be disappointed by the way Starmer has trashed the idea that he's better than the Tories.
That's all we need to know, everything else just falls very naturally from this.
(MexicanPete mode off)
Surely the point is that The Boss wants her there and if you don't like that the exit is over there?
Ian Dunt
@IanDunt
It's been a while since we've had a politician as poor as Jenrick. He hasn't a single quality to distinguish him: no moral centre, no trace of intellectual substance, no microscopic hint of charisma, no presentational ability.
Ian Dunt
@IanDunt
I'm increasingly convinced he'll end up as leader. He is by far the worst candidate and therefore very likely to succeed.
https://x.com/IanDunt/status/1837460345247416771
https://nypost.com/2024/09/14/us-news/agencies-to-increase-enforcement-in-jamaica-bay-over-animal-sacrifices/?utm_source=reddit.com
Animal sacrifice is huge in the US. I can't say I am particularly fussed, I am irreligious but religion tolerant and if I eat animals I am cool with humanely conducted sacrifice. I also agree that talking about it on US facing social media is an uncontroversially bad thing. But truth is independent of how we would like things to be.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/rachel-reeves-interview-chancellor-labour-autumn-budget-tax-vnhcqcrxt
I note that where Andrew was too honourable, Rayner was overly transparent. We are very fortunate both in our royal family and our politicians.
I blame Edward De Bono
FOGG, I'M THE ONE WHO MADE THE BET
AND I KNOW WE'LL BE EXACTLY RIGHT ON TIME
FOG IS MY NAME AND I COULD PLAY WITH MY LIFE IN MANY WAYS
THAT'S WHAT THEY SAY
HERE I AM - A RIGADON
I'M A TICO - D'MASCOTA
IT'S MY TURN - THE GENTLE TOUCH
A ROMY THEY LOVE ME SO MUCH
HEY NOW THEY STORY MUST GO ON
'CAUSE A LOT OF TIME HAS GONE
WE MUST BE READY
TO GO AWAY
80 DAYS AROUND THE WORLD
WE'LL FIND A POT OF GOLD
JUST SITTING WHERE THE RAINBOW'S ENDING TIME
WE'LL FIGHT AGAINST THE TIME
AND WE'LL FLY ON THE WHITE WINGS OF THE WIND
80 DAYS AROUND THE WORLD
NO WE WON'T SAY A WORD
BEFORE THE SHIP IS REALLY BACK
ROUND, ROUND, ALL AROUND THE WORLD
ROUND, ALL AROUND THE WORLD
ROUND, ALL AROUND THE WORLD
ROUND, ALL AROUND THE WORLD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp8fg5G7jbc
11:35AM
I'm interested in the history of religion, but can't say I believe anything religious myself.
...........
I've had to do it this way because when I try to use the Quote button under Mr JS's post something else comes up. Weird.
Anyway, for many years I was religious, and increasingly struggled with what I was, apparently supposed to believe ..... even allowing for the fact that I was CofE ...... until I eventually decided that no, I wasn't, I didn't believe any more and everything seem ed to fall into place.
Sort of reverse of St Paul's reported conversion experience.
As a consequence I'm interested in the 'what and why' of belief and I'm increasingly tending towards a sort of secular Buddhism.
"What is at stake over [the WFA] issue and what needs to be set out politically, practically and rhetorically in the speeches of Reeves and Starmer at the conference this week is: what is the project of the Labour government? It has to be more than balancing the books — if the country had wanted that, they would have appointed book-keepers to take over from the Tories."
"Labour’s mandate at the election was to rebuild public services, not to rebuild the public finances at any cost"
https://www.ft.com/content/eddb615c-17ac-4890-9c16-80016c87aa3f
In fact Labour ran their whole campaign on how they were different to the Tories but to voters they now look just as crooked. If they'd run on policies rather than character it wouldn't be as bad for them, they could just come out and say no more donations from these people and it would be the end of it.
If SKS has any sense, which on all available evidence he doesn't, he should leak some shit about somebody in the cabinet he hates and let them be the ritual sacrifice.
Labour turning out to be exactly as people feared now seriously opens the door to populist challenge of throwing the whole bloody lot of them out.
All C of E churches are owned by the diocese and C of E and any church which tries to break away and take the building would likely lose a legal battle as happened with conservative in North America Churches which broke away from the Episcopal church.
It is also not true to say that only evangelical churches have big congregations, there are some Anglo Catholic churches which are growing eg St Bartholomew's and of course the C of E has £1 billion in annual income which it can and should put into its Parishes
So this changes absolutely nothing in prcatice whilst sounding like they are doing something.
Other bits are better - high density is good if it means building 4 and 5 stories rather than 2. Copy the Europeans or the way we used to build pre 20th century.
Springfield police investigated and found nothing. Claims that pet-eating is a common feature of vodou are just urban myths. Vodou involves sacrificing familiar food animals, like chickens and goats, but definitely not cats: https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-how-the-stigmatization-of-haitian-vodou-led-to-a-disinformation-campaign/a-70200764
What we do have evidence for is how MAGAts have used this falsehood for propaganda and a long history of racist propaganda that takes the same form, othering people by connecting them to some disgusting food source and a threat they pose to the family.
Though as a more Federal system you can also see shift from high tax states like Massachusetts and California to lower tax states like Texas
Sack Reeves because she's useless and because the Corfield thing is the only example we currently have that freebies bring rewards. Appoint Tulip who looks nicer and has already done something positive and useful (suspending disclosure requirements for investment trusts). Tulip's first act is bring the budget forward to the Wednesday after next so as we can all get on with life.
And it's not the Tories making a huge deal, it's the country.
Intense travel is tiring, it turns out. Feel quite rested now, tho