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A stunning achievement by Starmer – politicalbetting.com

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  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,747

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,070
    For reference, this is where the Mossad HQ is located and where a lot of Iranian ballistic missiles appear to be aiming at.

    Luckily not in the middile of a densely populated urban area.

    https://x.com/FRHoffmann1/status/1841166363944992869

    From the brief clips I've seen, most of these missiles are being intercepted (FWIW) - though that doesn't mean bits won't still hit the ground and do a lot of damage.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,485
    ....
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,218
    TimS said:

    I was at the Tory conference today. Just a flying visit, did a panel on growth and then left. But it was an interesting anthropological experience.

    The only major Tories I saw on my travels were Tugendhat, doing a panel, dear old Gavin Williams wandering around glued to his iphone, various minor shadow ministers and the ghost of Kemi Badenoch represented by the absolute landslide of branded campaign merch everywhere, which I absently-mindedly forgot to pick up as it would have been an interesting memento of the day.

    But notwithstanding the horrendous weather the people seemed quite chipper. Must be the catharsis of being in opposition as the weight of power lifts from the shoulders. My colleague who's been at all 3 conferences said there's a lot of conviction in Birmingham that Labour is going to be a one-term government and the party will sail back into Downing street come 2029.

    It's an interesting demographic. Much younger than I'd expected. There are plenty of old people of course, but there also are at Labour conferences. A distinct lack of people in the parenting years from 30 to 50, but a lot of young Tories (mainly men but a few women) in their 20s.

    Here's a former Blair adviser saying something similar, but with a catch.

    Five things from last couple of days at Tory conf:
    1. they're surprisingly upbeat - there js a universal assumption that Labour are doing terribly & will survive only one term - even talk of Starmer resigning - no one mentions the Lib Dems at all, as if they don't exist


    https://x.com/theobertram/status/1841043365619470342

    Two hypotheses about the Conservatives right now. One is that they're on track to get out of the hole they were in. The other is that they haven't begun to fathom its depth. No way of telling, but the bit in bold leads me towards the latter conclusion, at least for now.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,485

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    And you need to understand you do not police PB, the Internet, or the world. Or perhaps even your own household. Or your mind.

    FOAD. :)
    Charming.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,485
    Leon said:

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    At least it's not as boring as your "172" monotony, or indeed

    TRUSS
    Has someone hacked your account?
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,578

    Taz said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    As people seem interested in my lunchtime revelations...

    I can say that was the best Dover Sole Meuniere I've ever had. In fact one of the best fish dishes of any kind that I have had recnetly.

    I tried to master this apparently simple dish - sole meuniere - at home, and thought I'd done it, but this.... wow. Whole new level. On the bone, of course

    Nonetheless, FIFTY EIGHT QUID?

    Edit to add: I take it all back. I have just checked the price, a single Dover Sole - enough for 1 - now fetches nearly £30 from a fish market. So that might explain it

    https://thecornishfishmonger.co.uk/dover-sole.html?srsltid=AfmBOopVkIKv93axTK3H5B2SOqHWuqMfSyz51pZjsjABUnq63_GVCcOJ

    The King of fish, except the legendary sea bass, ofcourse.
    I'd raise this above sea bass, and I had a superb wild sea bass recently. Also fantastic carp and trout in Montenegro

    I think the gold metal "greatest fish to eat" is a final bout between Dover Sole and Turbot

    BUT the winner must then go to a kind of global supercup match against Patagonian Toothfish (OMG!)
    I hear and read about people whose opinions I value on food and drink waxing lyrical about fish dishes and wonder why I don't enjoy them. Shellfish, prawns etc I enjoy but not fish as such.
    Is it because when I was a child 'fish' always seemed to have bones in it, especially snoek? Or because I spent part of my late teens dissecting dogfish?
    Or both?
    Did you never enjoy fish & chips back in the day ?
    TBH, no. Not even out of newspaper. I've eaten them of course, but I don't really enjoy them. When we go out my wife often has them, but I just can't enjoy.
    Fish and chips, like any food, can encompass a multitude of sins. Sometimes they can awful, and sometimes they can be heavenly, depending on the shop and time you get them.

    The best I ever had was in Oz. Heavenly, with a slice of lemon, salt, and vinegar.
    Fish and chips would be nice. Feels like it's been ages.
    In Whitby after a walk up,to the abbey and back. Awesome.
    Whitby might be different but generally I find that fish and chips at seaside resorts are rubbish. The worst I ever had was on the north Norfolk coast. The chips were soggy, the landlady was monstrous, and they took only cash (a friend paid and I pinged her the money). I never returned, despite the place itself being rather beautiful.

    The best fish and chips are served in gastropubs.
    I didn't order it, but many moons ago, a colleague ordered fish and chips from an expensive riverside pub in Cambridge. The fish arrived with the batter baking hot, but the fish inside still frozen. It was quite a trick: a fishy baked Alaska.

    (Thankfully the pub has since changed hands, and the food is now more than edible.)
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,664
    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    If there is going to be a power vacuum it would be best not have anything too dangerous lying about.

    Unfortunately the material itself isn't too hard to squirrel away.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,578

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    And you need to understand you do not police PB, the Internet, or the world. Or perhaps even your own household. Or your mind.

    FOAD. :)
    Charming.
    Hang on, I thought your objection was that you didn't understand these abbreviations? But you do. So you are just chuntering on for no reason...
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,585
    nico679 said:

    Sandpit said:

    nico679 said:

    kinabalu said:

    Eabhal said:

    The videos out of Israel look like something in the Dune movies.

    Eeeeek.

    But just what Netanyahu wanted. He'll be happy as larry.

    PS: Why are all the world's worst people getting what they want atm? I hope November 5th marks the end of this tendency.
    Trump will be delighted . The Middle East going up in flames and a dockworkers strike on the east and Gulf coasts.
    Well done for highlighting on here the dockworkers’ strike that most of the media didn’t see coming until it happened.
    Thanks . The strike coupled with events in the Middle East will be a huge concern for the Harris campaign . As long as US troops aren’t harmed then the biggest problem will likely be the strikes as US voters tend to vote primarily on more national issues .

    Yes the port strikes have potential to impact supply chains in the weeks running up to the election, although during the pandemic the shortages never really made themselves known at the supermarket.

    There’s a huge opportunity for local shortages to turn very political though, it only needs a handful of cities in swing states to be affected, and a lot of reason for political operatives within logistics operations to make decisions that steer things one way or the other.

    I still think the swing states are 50/50, and that a lot of people will vote against incumbents because of the economy - even if petrol ‘gas’ prices are now finally starting to fall.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,821
    Leon said:

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    At least it's not as boring as your "172" monotony, or indeed

    TRUSS
    CASH
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,033

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    No worse than your own obsessions

    Cash, Truss, Drake and now 172 majority
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,485
    ....
  • Alphabet_SoupAlphabet_Soup Posts: 3,246
    Sandpit said:

    eek said:

    The post office is once again trying to solve their Horizon problems by offering Postmasters a poor offer with a short deadline and no help on paying for legal advice

    https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2024/10/01/the-post-office-pushing-postmasters-to-accept-75000-compensation-without-legal-advice/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

    The cost getting advice on whether a postermaster should take the offer or not is £10,000 or so and the post office isn't offering to cover those costs...

    Fine them £1m each week, rising a further 5% per week, whilst this is still ongoing.
    Who’s up first in the Private Members’ Bills list?

    Any SPM accused of fraud: £1m
    Any SPM charged with fraud: £2m
    Any SPM jailed for fraud: £5m

    Meanwhile, the PO are happily spending £100m on their own lawyers to make the problem even worse for the SPMs. They’ve learned nothing.
    Isn't the PO a complete basket-case? Twenty years ago my postage bill was £500 a month. Now I spend £20 every Xmas. Isn't this typical? And they've lost all that lucrative Govt. over-the-counter business like car tax and passports. And they've lost most of the fags'n'mags trade too. All they seem to have left is fizzy drinks and cheesy birthday cards. Where are the resources to pay their lawyers and compensate the SPOs?
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,747

    Taz said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    As people seem interested in my lunchtime revelations...

    I can say that was the best Dover Sole Meuniere I've ever had. In fact one of the best fish dishes of any kind that I have had recnetly.

    I tried to master this apparently simple dish - sole meuniere - at home, and thought I'd done it, but this.... wow. Whole new level. On the bone, of course

    Nonetheless, FIFTY EIGHT QUID?

    Edit to add: I take it all back. I have just checked the price, a single Dover Sole - enough for 1 - now fetches nearly £30 from a fish market. So that might explain it

    https://thecornishfishmonger.co.uk/dover-sole.html?srsltid=AfmBOopVkIKv93axTK3H5B2SOqHWuqMfSyz51pZjsjABUnq63_GVCcOJ

    The King of fish, except the legendary sea bass, ofcourse.
    I'd raise this above sea bass, and I had a superb wild sea bass recently. Also fantastic carp and trout in Montenegro

    I think the gold metal "greatest fish to eat" is a final bout between Dover Sole and Turbot

    BUT the winner must then go to a kind of global supercup match against Patagonian Toothfish (OMG!)
    I hear and read about people whose opinions I value on food and drink waxing lyrical about fish dishes and wonder why I don't enjoy them. Shellfish, prawns etc I enjoy but not fish as such.
    Is it because when I was a child 'fish' always seemed to have bones in it, especially snoek? Or because I spent part of my late teens dissecting dogfish?
    Or both?
    Did you never enjoy fish & chips back in the day ?
    TBH, no. Not even out of newspaper. I've eaten them of course, but I don't really enjoy them. When we go out my wife often has them, but I just can't enjoy.
    Fish and chips, like any food, can encompass a multitude of sins. Sometimes they can awful, and sometimes they can be heavenly, depending on the shop and time you get them.

    The best I ever had was in Oz. Heavenly, with a slice of lemon, salt, and vinegar.
    Fish and chips would be nice. Feels like it's been ages.
    In Whitby after a walk up,to the abbey and back. Awesome.
    Whitby might be different but generally I find that fish and chips at seaside resorts are rubbish. The worst I ever had was on the north Norfolk coast. The chips were soggy, the landlady was monstrous, and they took only cash (a friend paid and I pinged her the money). I never returned, despite the place itself being rather beautiful.

    The best fish and chips are served in gastropubs.
    Maggies at Hastings just by the toy railway, chip throwing distance from the fishing boats please
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,714

    TimS said:

    I was at the Tory conference today. Just a flying visit, did a panel on growth and then left. But it was an interesting anthropological experience.

    The only major Tories I saw on my travels were Tugendhat, doing a panel, dear old Gavin Williams wandering around glued to his iphone, various minor shadow ministers and the ghost of Kemi Badenoch represented by the absolute landslide of branded campaign merch everywhere, which I absently-mindedly forgot to pick up as it would have been an interesting memento of the day.

    But notwithstanding the horrendous weather the people seemed quite chipper. Must be the catharsis of being in opposition as the weight of power lifts from the shoulders. My colleague who's been at all 3 conferences said there's a lot of conviction in Birmingham that Labour is going to be a one-term government and the party will sail back into Downing street come 2029.

    It's an interesting demographic. Much younger than I'd expected. There are plenty of old people of course, but there also are at Labour conferences. A distinct lack of people in the parenting years from 30 to 50, but a lot of young Tories (mainly men but a few women) in their 20s.

    Here's a former Blair adviser saying something similar, but with a catch.

    Five things from last couple of days at Tory conf:
    1. they're surprisingly upbeat - there js a universal assumption that Labour are doing terribly & will survive only one term - even talk of Starmer resigning - no one mentions the Lib Dems at all, as if they don't exist


    https://x.com/theobertram/status/1841043365619470342

    Two hypotheses about the Conservatives right now. One is that they're on track to get out of the hole they were in. The other is that they haven't begun to fathom its depth. No way of telling, but the bit in bold leads me towards the latter conclusion, at least for now.
    Even if it is only one term they are still facing a grinding five years in the opposition wilderness when they are used to being in government.

    It is all rather weird. Labour win a landslide but get no honeymoon whatsoever. Tories have worst result since 1906 and yet seem to be in some kind of honeymoon of opposition phase.

    I suspect grim reality will soon arrive once they elect tory-boy Jenrick.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,070
    Couple of terrorist attacks in Tel Aviv, too.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,578
    moonshine said:

    Taz said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    As people seem interested in my lunchtime revelations...

    I can say that was the best Dover Sole Meuniere I've ever had. In fact one of the best fish dishes of any kind that I have had recnetly.

    I tried to master this apparently simple dish - sole meuniere - at home, and thought I'd done it, but this.... wow. Whole new level. On the bone, of course

    Nonetheless, FIFTY EIGHT QUID?

    Edit to add: I take it all back. I have just checked the price, a single Dover Sole - enough for 1 - now fetches nearly £30 from a fish market. So that might explain it

    https://thecornishfishmonger.co.uk/dover-sole.html?srsltid=AfmBOopVkIKv93axTK3H5B2SOqHWuqMfSyz51pZjsjABUnq63_GVCcOJ

    The King of fish, except the legendary sea bass, ofcourse.
    I'd raise this above sea bass, and I had a superb wild sea bass recently. Also fantastic carp and trout in Montenegro

    I think the gold metal "greatest fish to eat" is a final bout between Dover Sole and Turbot

    BUT the winner must then go to a kind of global supercup match against Patagonian Toothfish (OMG!)
    I hear and read about people whose opinions I value on food and drink waxing lyrical about fish dishes and wonder why I don't enjoy them. Shellfish, prawns etc I enjoy but not fish as such.
    Is it because when I was a child 'fish' always seemed to have bones in it, especially snoek? Or because I spent part of my late teens dissecting dogfish?
    Or both?
    Did you never enjoy fish & chips back in the day ?
    TBH, no. Not even out of newspaper. I've eaten them of course, but I don't really enjoy them. When we go out my wife often has them, but I just can't enjoy.
    Fish and chips, like any food, can encompass a multitude of sins. Sometimes they can awful, and sometimes they can be heavenly, depending on the shop and time you get them.

    The best I ever had was in Oz. Heavenly, with a slice of lemon, salt, and vinegar.
    Fish and chips would be nice. Feels like it's been ages.
    In Whitby after a walk up,to the abbey and back. Awesome.
    Whitby might be different but generally I find that fish and chips at seaside resorts are rubbish. The worst I ever had was on the north Norfolk coast. The chips were soggy, the landlady was monstrous, and they took only cash (a friend paid and I pinged her the money). I never returned, despite the place itself being rather beautiful.

    The best fish and chips are served in gastropubs.
    Maggies at Hastings just by the toy railway, chip throwing distance from the fishing boats please
    Crab sandwiches at Southwold. Yummy.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,485

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    And you need to understand you do not police PB, the Internet, or the world. Or perhaps even your own household. Or your mind.

    FOAD. :)
    Charming.
    Hang on, I thought your objection was that you didn't understand these abbreviations? But you do. So you are just chuntering on for no reason...
    Well I have this thing called google and looked it up. Crass and nasty.
  • ScarpiaScarpia Posts: 69

    Last time the US got Israel to show restraint in the face of the Iran attack. You wonder if that might not be possible this time.

    If we really do see retaliation from Israel and a wider ME war, all bets are off from the economic perspective back here. We could be seeing inflation jumping again and rates back up.

    Sky expecting huge response from Israel

    I expect Tehran will be in the crosshairs
    It was interesting that Israel struck the Houthis in Yemen a few days ago. Though it is in a different direction from Iran, they must have flown over at least Saudi Arabia to get there. In Iran's case, it's Iraq and/or Jordan/Syria.

    Are air defences in the region that poor? Particularly considering distances and the need for refuelling.
    I think the Iran Air Force is pretty antiquated. No match for Israeli planes. Don't know about the state of ground defences.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,485

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    No worse than your own obsessions

    Cash, Truss, Drake and now 172 majority
    Don't forsake The Drake.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277
    The Iranians are shitting themselves. It is obvious

    And who can blame them. When you might, any moment, be assassinated by the Jewish djinn in your airfryer
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,083

    TimS said:

    I was at the Tory conference today. Just a flying visit, did a panel on growth and then left. But it was an interesting anthropological experience.

    The only major Tories I saw on my travels were Tugendhat, doing a panel, dear old Gavin Williams wandering around glued to his iphone, various minor shadow ministers and the ghost of Kemi Badenoch represented by the absolute landslide of branded campaign merch everywhere, which I absently-mindedly forgot to pick up as it would have been an interesting memento of the day.

    But notwithstanding the horrendous weather the people seemed quite chipper. Must be the catharsis of being in opposition as the weight of power lifts from the shoulders. My colleague who's been at all 3 conferences said there's a lot of conviction in Birmingham that Labour is going to be a one-term government and the party will sail back into Downing street come 2029.

    It's an interesting demographic. Much younger than I'd expected. There are plenty of old people of course, but there also are at Labour conferences. A distinct lack of people in the parenting years from 30 to 50, but a lot of young Tories (mainly men but a few women) in their 20s.

    Here's a former Blair adviser saying something similar, but with a catch.

    Five things from last couple of days at Tory conf:
    1. they're surprisingly upbeat - there js a universal assumption that Labour are doing terribly & will survive only one term - even talk of Starmer resigning - no one mentions the Lib Dems at all, as if they don't exist


    https://x.com/theobertram/status/1841043365619470342

    Two hypotheses about the Conservatives right now. One is that they're on track to get out of the hole they were in. The other is that they haven't begun to fathom its depth. No way of telling, but the bit in bold leads me towards the latter conclusion, at least for now.
    I cannot get a handle on what position they are coalescing around. Whether its how to interact with Reform, or deal with LDs/Greens in the Shires, or how confident to be Labour messing up may help them directly, I'm unsure where they will end up.
  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 6,813
    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    Yes. There will be huge pressure in the Israeli government to go now. Iran has now stepped up to the plate. Israel will calculate it is not worth the risk of a nuclear-armed Iran taking the same actions in future.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,860
    Sandpit said:

    nico679 said:

    Sandpit said:

    nico679 said:

    kinabalu said:

    Eabhal said:

    The videos out of Israel look like something in the Dune movies.

    Eeeeek.

    But just what Netanyahu wanted. He'll be happy as larry.

    PS: Why are all the world's worst people getting what they want atm? I hope November 5th marks the end of this tendency.
    Trump will be delighted . The Middle East going up in flames and a dockworkers strike on the east and Gulf coasts.
    Well done for highlighting on here the dockworkers’ strike that most of the media didn’t see coming until it happened.
    Thanks . The strike coupled with events in the Middle East will be a huge concern for the Harris campaign . As long as US troops aren’t harmed then the biggest problem will likely be the strikes as US voters tend to vote primarily on more national issues .

    Yes the port strikes have potential to impact supply chains in the weeks running up to the election, although during the pandemic the shortages never really made themselves known at the supermarket.

    There’s a huge opportunity for local shortages to turn very political though, it only needs a handful of cities in swing states to be affected, and a lot of reason for political operatives within logistics operations to make decisions that steer things one way or the other.

    I still think the swing states are 50/50, and that a lot of people will vote against incumbents because of the economy - even if petrol ‘gas’ prices are now finally starting to fall.
    If our experience is anything to go by, the shortages will arise not from the strike but from a false rumour that something is running out, thereby prompting panic buying...
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,585

    Sandpit said:

    eek said:

    The post office is once again trying to solve their Horizon problems by offering Postmasters a poor offer with a short deadline and no help on paying for legal advice

    https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2024/10/01/the-post-office-pushing-postmasters-to-accept-75000-compensation-without-legal-advice/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

    The cost getting advice on whether a postermaster should take the offer or not is £10,000 or so and the post office isn't offering to cover those costs...

    Fine them £1m each week, rising a further 5% per week, whilst this is still ongoing.
    Who’s up first in the Private Members’ Bills list?

    Any SPM accused of fraud: £1m
    Any SPM charged with fraud: £2m
    Any SPM jailed for fraud: £5m

    Meanwhile, the PO are happily spending £100m on their own lawyers to make the problem even worse for the SPMs. They’ve learned nothing.
    Isn't the PO a complete basket-case? Twenty years ago my postage bill was £500 a month. Now I spend £20 every Xmas. Isn't this typical? And they've lost all that lucrative Govt. over-the-counter business like car tax and passports. And they've lost most of the fags'n'mags trade too. All they seem to have left is fizzy drinks and cheesy birthday cards. Where are the resources to pay their lawyers and compensate the SPOs?
    Postage is paid to Royal Mail, not the Post Office. Fizzy drinks and birthdays cards are the business of the SPMs rather than the Post Office itself, which only runs the much larger dedicated POs.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,714

    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    Yes. There will be huge pressure in the Israeli government to go now. Iran has now stepped up to the plate. Israel will calculate it is not worth the risk of a nuclear-armed Iran taking the same actions in future.
    How long before Putin starts to meddle?

    Brace.
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,747
    Leon said:

    The Iranians are shitting themselves. It is obvious

    And who can blame them. When you might, any moment, be assassinated by the Jewish djinn in your airfryer

    They’re actually in a real hole aren’t they. Boisterous young population opposed to them. No clear succession plan. Realisation that their military systems aren’t any good. And the loss of their key proxies.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,714
    Leon said:

    The Iranians are shitting themselves. It is obvious

    And who can blame them. When you might, any moment, be assassinated by the Jewish djinn in your airfryer

    "They don't like it up 'em, sir"
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,070

    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    Yes. There will be huge pressure in the Israeli government to go now. Iran has now stepped up to the plate. Israel will calculate it is not worth the risk of a nuclear-armed Iran taking the same actions in future.
    That's assuming they have the capability to take out Iran's weapon development sites, without US help.
    That might, or might not be the case.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,083
    edited October 1
    Leon said:

    The Iranians are shitting themselves. It is obvious

    And who can blame them. When you might, any moment, be assassinated by the Jewish djinn in your airfryer

    If you cannot defend or help your proxies you look weak. And that has to be one of the biggest worries to a regional power which is also a dictatorship.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,821
    One set of willy-mutilators versus another :lol:
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,585

    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    Yes. There will be huge pressure in the Israeli government to go now. Iran has now stepped up to the plate. Israel will calculate it is not worth the risk of a nuclear-armed Iran taking the same actions in future.
    How long before Putin starts to meddle?

    Brace.
    Putin doesn’t even have an army that can retake 1,000km^2 of Russian territory from the Ukranians.

    His last attempt at testing an ICBM resulted in a massive explosion that took out the whole silo and ground facility around it.
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 26,589

    Cookie said:

    On Radcliffe-on-Soar's closure. Amazing news that we are moving away from coal, but I can't help feeling a little conflicted. I spent ten years living in Nottingham and RoS was one of my favourite landmarks. Cooling towers in the late afternoon sun, in a foreground of August crops, are an amazing sight. But my favourite memories of them are on still, cold, bright winter mornings, when they would create impossibly huge mountains of cloud in a clear sky. Glorious monsters.

    Just out of interest does anyone know if there are plans to retain any of the cooling towers of any of the power stations in England? It would be nice to see just one retained somewhere as a reminder of what was once the backbone of our electricity supply.
    Calls have been made to save the cooling towers at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station after the plant went offline for the last time on Monday.

    The 374ft (114m) tall towers were described as "concrete cathedrals" by Nottinghamshire-born TV writer James Graham as he suggested that they should be preserved.

    Monday's closure marked the end of 142 years of UK coal power, as the nation became the first G7 member to completely phase coal out from its electricity mix.

    Michael Shanks, minister for energy, told the BBC he appreciated the site's industrial heritage, but said that moving on with the site is "really important".

    A petition has now been launched to preserve some of the cooling towers as a monument to the country’s industrial past.

    Mr Graham said on X (formerly Twitter): “Some might think they’re ugly. I think they’re majestic. Concrete cathedrals.


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy9l57nk0qo

    James Graham is correct - the cooling towers at Ratcliffe and Drax are as much a part of the heritage of this country as the cathedral towers at Lincoln and York.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,191
    Nigelb said:

    For reference, this is where the Mossad HQ is located and where a lot of Iranian ballistic missiles appear to be aiming at.

    Luckily not in the middile of a densely populated urban area.

    https://x.com/FRHoffmann1/status/1841166363944992869

    From the brief clips I've seen, most of these missiles are being intercepted (FWIW) - though that doesn't mean bits won't still hit the ground and do a lot of damage.

    From the clips I'm seeing they're being intercepted extremely low to the ground if that's the case
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,714
    I topped up on Cleverly about an hour ago.

    I see he is now 2nd fav on BF.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,083
    edited October 1
    Sandpit said:

    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    Yes. There will be huge pressure in the Israeli government to go now. Iran has now stepped up to the plate. Israel will calculate it is not worth the risk of a nuclear-armed Iran taking the same actions in future.
    How long before Putin starts to meddle?

    Brace.
    Putin doesn’t even have an army that can retake 1,000km^2 of Russian territory from the Ukranians.

    His last attempt at testing an ICBM resulted in a massive explosion that took out the whole silo and ground facility around it.
    Maybe so, but how much mess can he still cause with a little bit of meddling, even if he cannot achieve all that much?

    And from some reports it sounds like several allies are getting to the burnt out phase sadly.

    Ukraine is facing its darkest moment in the war. And President Zelensky faces increasing pressure from western allies to pursue negotiations, despite skepticism about Russia’s willingness and concerns over Kyiv’s weak position.

    Although Zelenskyy’s victory plan restated old objectives, its real significance is that it shifts Ukraine’s war aims from total liberation to bending the war in Kyiv’s favour, says the senior Ukrainian official. “It’s an attempt to change the trajectory of the war and bring Russia to the table. Zelenskyy really believes in it.”

    https://nitter.poast.org/ChristopherJM/status/1840981465514774570#m
    https://www.ft.com/content/2bb20587-9680-40f0-ac2d-5e7312486c75
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,033

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    No worse than your own obsessions

    Cash, Truss, Drake and now 172 majority
    Don't forsake The Drake.
    No need to - his party has done that already and handed him the hospital pass of health minister
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,714
    edited October 1

    Cookie said:

    On Radcliffe-on-Soar's closure. Amazing news that we are moving away from coal, but I can't help feeling a little conflicted. I spent ten years living in Nottingham and RoS was one of my favourite landmarks. Cooling towers in the late afternoon sun, in a foreground of August crops, are an amazing sight. But my favourite memories of them are on still, cold, bright winter mornings, when they would create impossibly huge mountains of cloud in a clear sky. Glorious monsters.

    Just out of interest does anyone know if there are plans to retain any of the cooling towers of any of the power stations in England? It would be nice to see just one retained somewhere as a reminder of what was once the backbone of our electricity supply.
    Calls have been made to save the cooling towers at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station after the plant went offline for the last time on Monday.

    The 374ft (114m) tall towers were described as "concrete cathedrals" by Nottinghamshire-born TV writer James Graham as he suggested that they should be preserved.

    Monday's closure marked the end of 142 years of UK coal power, as the nation became the first G7 member to completely phase coal out from its electricity mix.

    Michael Shanks, minister for energy, told the BBC he appreciated the site's industrial heritage, but said that moving on with the site is "really important".

    A petition has now been launched to preserve some of the cooling towers as a monument to the country’s industrial past.

    Mr Graham said on X (formerly Twitter): “Some might think they’re ugly. I think they’re majestic. Concrete cathedrals.


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy9l57nk0qo

    James Graham is correct - the cooling towers at Ratcliffe and Drax are as much a part of the heritage of this country as the cathedral towers at Lincoln and York.
    He also is proposing iirc, as a compromise, that one is saved and the rest of the site is battery farm or low carbon whatever as proposed.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,191

    One set of willy-mutilators versus another :lol:

    Circumnavigating the middle east
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,275
    The concern for the west is if there’s a blockage in the Straits of Hormuz .

    And the WH doesn’t want oil and gas prices going up in the run upto the election . If I was being cynical or a conspiracy theorist Netanyahu is doing his very best to help Trumps election campaign .
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,834
    Sandpit said:

    Sandpit said:

    eek said:

    The post office is once again trying to solve their Horizon problems by offering Postmasters a poor offer with a short deadline and no help on paying for legal advice

    https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2024/10/01/the-post-office-pushing-postmasters-to-accept-75000-compensation-without-legal-advice/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

    The cost getting advice on whether a postermaster should take the offer or not is £10,000 or so and the post office isn't offering to cover those costs...

    Fine them £1m each week, rising a further 5% per week, whilst this is still ongoing.
    Who’s up first in the Private Members’ Bills list?

    Any SPM accused of fraud: £1m
    Any SPM charged with fraud: £2m
    Any SPM jailed for fraud: £5m

    Meanwhile, the PO are happily spending £100m on their own lawyers to make the problem even worse for the SPMs. They’ve learned nothing.
    Isn't the PO a complete basket-case? Twenty years ago my postage bill was £500 a month. Now I spend £20 every Xmas. Isn't this typical? And they've lost all that lucrative Govt. over-the-counter business like car tax and passports. And they've lost most of the fags'n'mags trade too. All they seem to have left is fizzy drinks and cheesy birthday cards. Where are the resources to pay their lawyers and compensate the SPOs?
    Postage is paid to Royal Mail, not the Post Office. Fizzy drinks and birthdays cards are the business of the SPMs rather than the Post Office itself, which only runs the much larger dedicated POs.
    You have to pay extra to send post over the counter at the PO, so far as I can make sense of the RM's charging structure ...

    (And our PO also sells birthday cards and sweeties.)
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,218

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    No worse than your own obsessions

    Cash, Truss, Drake and now 172 majority
    Don't forsake The Drake.
    No need to - his party has done that already and handed him the hospital pass of health minister
    Very droll, Big G, very droll.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,578

    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    Yes. There will be huge pressure in the Israeli government to go now. Iran has now stepped up to the plate. Israel will calculate it is not worth the risk of a nuclear-armed Iran taking the same actions in future.
    How long before Putin starts to meddle?

    Brace.
    He already is meddling.

    Unless you think his intervention in Syria and his getting loads of weapons from Iran is solely a one-sided transaction.

    One of the mahossive mistakes Netenyahu made was not being on Ukraine's side in 2022. His ambivalence - perhaps understandable considering Israel's Russian-heritage population - weakened Israel.

    To be clear: the west is at war. We don't realise it, and it's mostly a Cold War, but we're at war nonetheless.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277
    DavidL said:

    BBC is re-running Threads. BBC4 Weds 9th Oct 22:15

    Brace.

    Looks like its going to be a slightly out of date documentary by that time.
    From next week, the original Threads will be known as the "famously more upbeat" original, with its "optimistic take on nuclear war" and it's "feelgood ending", and a newer, much darker version will have to be commissioned
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,860

    I topped up on Cleverly about an hour ago.

    I see he is now 2nd fav on BF.

    High roller, eh?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,834

    Cookie said:

    On Radcliffe-on-Soar's closure. Amazing news that we are moving away from coal, but I can't help feeling a little conflicted. I spent ten years living in Nottingham and RoS was one of my favourite landmarks. Cooling towers in the late afternoon sun, in a foreground of August crops, are an amazing sight. But my favourite memories of them are on still, cold, bright winter mornings, when they would create impossibly huge mountains of cloud in a clear sky. Glorious monsters.

    Just out of interest does anyone know if there are plans to retain any of the cooling towers of any of the power stations in England? It would be nice to see just one retained somewhere as a reminder of what was once the backbone of our electricity supply.
    Calls have been made to save the cooling towers at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station after the plant went offline for the last time on Monday.

    The 374ft (114m) tall towers were described as "concrete cathedrals" by Nottinghamshire-born TV writer James Graham as he suggested that they should be preserved.

    Monday's closure marked the end of 142 years of UK coal power, as the nation became the first G7 member to completely phase coal out from its electricity mix.

    Michael Shanks, minister for energy, told the BBC he appreciated the site's industrial heritage, but said that moving on with the site is "really important".

    A petition has now been launched to preserve some of the cooling towers as a monument to the country’s industrial past.

    Mr Graham said on X (formerly Twitter): “Some might think they’re ugly. I think they’re majestic. Concrete cathedrals.


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy9l57nk0qo

    James Graham is correct - the cooling towers at Ratcliffe and Drax are as much a part of the heritage of this country as the cathedral towers at Lincoln and York.
    He also is proposing iirc, as a compromise, that one is saved and the rest of the site is battery farm or low carbon whatever as proposed.
    Perhaps more to the point, I wonder what the lifetime of the concrete is? It's one thing to preserve a pottery oven in the Seven Towns, but another to do a whole cooling tower full of steel rebar in a more or less acidic working environment.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,218
    DavidL said:

    BBC is re-running Threads. BBC4 Weds 9th Oct 22:15

    Brace.

    Looks like its going to be a slightly out of date documentary by that time.
    It was War of the Worlds as a radio play that sent the public scared because they thought it was true, wasn't it?

    Now imagine a showing of Threads, interrupted by a Special Announcement...
  • Alphabet_SoupAlphabet_Soup Posts: 3,246

    Cookie said:

    On Radcliffe-on-Soar's closure. Amazing news that we are moving away from coal, but I can't help feeling a little conflicted. I spent ten years living in Nottingham and RoS was one of my favourite landmarks. Cooling towers in the late afternoon sun, in a foreground of August crops, are an amazing sight. But my favourite memories of them are on still, cold, bright winter mornings, when they would create impossibly huge mountains of cloud in a clear sky. Glorious monsters.

    Just out of interest does anyone know if there are plans to retain any of the cooling towers of any of the power stations in England? It would be nice to see just one retained somewhere as a reminder of what was once the backbone of our electricity supply.
    Calls have been made to save the cooling towers at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station after the plant went offline for the last time on Monday.

    The 374ft (114m) tall towers were described as "concrete cathedrals" by Nottinghamshire-born TV writer James Graham as he suggested that they should be preserved.

    Monday's closure marked the end of 142 years of UK coal power, as the nation became the first G7 member to completely phase coal out from its electricity mix.

    Michael Shanks, minister for energy, told the BBC he appreciated the site's industrial heritage, but said that moving on with the site is "really important".

    A petition has now been launched to preserve some of the cooling towers as a monument to the country’s industrial past.

    Mr Graham said on X (formerly Twitter): “Some might think they’re ugly. I think they’re majestic. Concrete cathedrals.


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy9l57nk0qo

    James Graham is correct - the cooling towers at Ratcliffe and Drax are as much a part of the heritage of this country as the cathedral towers at Lincoln and York.
    He also is proposing iirc, as a compromise, that one is saved and the rest of the site is battery farm or low carbon whatever as proposed.
    Passed through Didcot on the train this morning and there's nothing there at all. Would have missed it completely, were it not for that nice new curve on the Oxford-Bristol route previously advertised here.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,578
    kle4 said:

    Sandpit said:

    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    Yes. There will be huge pressure in the Israeli government to go now. Iran has now stepped up to the plate. Israel will calculate it is not worth the risk of a nuclear-armed Iran taking the same actions in future.
    How long before Putin starts to meddle?

    Brace.
    Putin doesn’t even have an army that can retake 1,000km^2 of Russian territory from the Ukranians.

    His last attempt at testing an ICBM resulted in a massive explosion that took out the whole silo and ground facility around it.
    Maybe so, but how much mess can he still cause with a little bit of meddling, even if he cannot achieve all that much?

    And from some reports it sounds like several allies are getting to the burnt out phase sadly.

    Ukraine is facing its darkest moment in the war. And President Zelensky faces increasing pressure from western allies to pursue negotiations, despite skepticism about Russia’s willingness and concerns over Kyiv’s weak position.

    Although Zelenskyy’s victory plan restated old objectives, its real significance is that it shifts Ukraine’s war aims from total liberation to bending the war in Kyiv’s favour, says the senior Ukrainian official. “It’s an attempt to change the trajectory of the war and bring Russia to the table. Zelenskyy really believes in it.”

    https://nitter.poast.org/ChristopherJM/status/1840981465514774570#m
    https://www.ft.com/content/2bb20587-9680-40f0-ac2d-5e7312486c75
    The war cannot end, and will not end, until Russia decides it is over. As such, bringing Russia to the table with realistic expectations is the first step. The emphasis being on 'realistic expectations'.

    For Putin, and sadly some on here, 'realistic expectations' appears to be 'give Russia the territory it wants at the moment', with minimal assurances to Ukraine.

    The end of this war is in Putin's hands, as was the start. It is one of the reasons why so many of the 'Stop the War' fuckwits are concentrating their ire at the wrong target.
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,664
    edited October 1
    Carnyx said:

    Cookie said:

    On Radcliffe-on-Soar's closure. Amazing news that we are moving away from coal, but I can't help feeling a little conflicted. I spent ten years living in Nottingham and RoS was one of my favourite landmarks. Cooling towers in the late afternoon sun, in a foreground of August crops, are an amazing sight. But my favourite memories of them are on still, cold, bright winter mornings, when they would create impossibly huge mountains of cloud in a clear sky. Glorious monsters.

    Just out of interest does anyone know if there are plans to retain any of the cooling towers of any of the power stations in England? It would be nice to see just one retained somewhere as a reminder of what was once the backbone of our electricity supply.
    Calls have been made to save the cooling towers at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station after the plant went offline for the last time on Monday.

    The 374ft (114m) tall towers were described as "concrete cathedrals" by Nottinghamshire-born TV writer James Graham as he suggested that they should be preserved.

    Monday's closure marked the end of 142 years of UK coal power, as the nation became the first G7 member to completely phase coal out from its electricity mix.

    Michael Shanks, minister for energy, told the BBC he appreciated the site's industrial heritage, but said that moving on with the site is "really important".

    A petition has now been launched to preserve some of the cooling towers as a monument to the country’s industrial past.

    Mr Graham said on X (formerly Twitter): “Some might think they’re ugly. I think they’re majestic. Concrete cathedrals.


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy9l57nk0qo

    James Graham is correct - the cooling towers at Ratcliffe and Drax are as much a part of the heritage of this country as the cathedral towers at Lincoln and York.
    He also is proposing iirc, as a compromise, that one is saved and the rest of the site is battery farm or low carbon whatever as proposed.
    Perhaps more to the point, I wonder what the lifetime of the concrete is? It's one thing to preserve a pottery oven in the Seven Towns, but another to do a whole cooling tower full of steel rebar in a more or less acidic working environment.
    Put one in a steel and glass box. :)
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,625
    kle4 said:

    Sandpit said:

    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    moonshine said:

    Leon said:

    Fairly pathetic from Iran so far. I reckon the Iranians are terrified and this is gestural, and Hezbollah are on the run

    The Israelis should take this to the end now. Finish Hezbollah and take down the Iranian regime, and nukes, in toto

    No great lover of the Iranian regime here, but (a) war has a habit of being a unifier, at least at the start and (b) the end of the regime in Iran (if that is what transpires) potentially creates a vacuum that we have to hope is not filled with even more malign actors.
    Kushner was trailing the takedown of Iranian nuclear sites at the weekend. Feels fairly imminent doesnt it?
    Yes. There will be huge pressure in the Israeli government to go now. Iran has now stepped up to the plate. Israel will calculate it is not worth the risk of a nuclear-armed Iran taking the same actions in future.
    How long before Putin starts to meddle?

    Brace.
    Putin doesn’t even have an army that can retake 1,000km^2 of Russian territory from the Ukranians.

    His last attempt at testing an ICBM resulted in a massive explosion that took out the whole silo and ground facility around it.
    Maybe so, but how much mess can he still cause with a little bit of meddling, even if he cannot achieve all that much?

    And from some reports it sounds like several allies are getting to the burnt out phase sadly.

    Ukraine is facing its darkest moment in the war. And President Zelensky faces increasing pressure from western allies to pursue negotiations, despite skepticism about Russia’s willingness and concerns over Kyiv’s weak position.

    Although Zelenskyy’s victory plan restated old objectives, its real significance is that it shifts Ukraine’s war aims from total liberation to bending the war in Kyiv’s favour, says the senior Ukrainian official. “It’s an attempt to change the trajectory of the war and bring Russia to the table. Zelenskyy really believes in it.”

    https://nitter.poast.org/ChristopherJM/status/1840981465514774570#m
    https://www.ft.com/content/2bb20587-9680-40f0-ac2d-5e7312486c75
    The people who brought down Ukraine's most steadfast Western ally in the middle of the war have a lot to answer for.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,384
    Looks like the Iranian attack is over.

    Looks like it was as pathetic as the first one.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,578

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    And you need to understand you do not police PB, the Internet, or the world. Or perhaps even your own household. Or your mind.

    FOAD. :)
    Charming.
    Hang on, I thought your objection was that you didn't understand these abbreviations? But you do. So you are just chuntering on for no reason...
    Well I have this thing called google and looked it up. Crass and nasty.
    As are your complaints about the plebs who still need to use cash, or those who use abbreviations.

    Suck it up, loser.
  • FossFoss Posts: 1,019
    edited October 1

    DavidL said:

    BBC is re-running Threads. BBC4 Weds 9th Oct 22:15

    Brace.

    Looks like its going to be a slightly out of date documentary by that time.
    It was War of the Worlds as a radio play that sent the public scared because they thought it was true, wasn't it?

    Now imagine a showing of Threads, interrupted by a Special Announcement...
    Try Special Bulletin from 1983. It actually holds up quite well.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,075
    Pulpstar said:

    One set of willy-mutilators versus another :lol:

    Circumnavigating the middle east
    Circumscribing it, even :)
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,664
    Taz said:

    Looks like the Iranian attack is over.

    Looks like it was as pathetic as the first one.

    That much was inevitable.

    Last time Israel were persuaded to do very little in response.

    This time?
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,485

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    And you need to understand you do not police PB, the Internet, or the world. Or perhaps even your own household. Or your mind.

    FOAD. :)
    Charming.
    Hang on, I thought your objection was that you didn't understand these abbreviations? But you do. So you are just chuntering on for no reason...
    Well I have this thing called google and looked it up. Crass and nasty.
    As are your complaints about the plebs who still need to use cash, or those who use abbreviations.

    Suck it up, loser.
    Another crass and nasty post. Although not as sinister and creepy as your first one.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,485

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    No worse than your own obsessions

    Cash, Truss, Drake and now 172 majority
    Don't forsake The Drake.
    No need to - his party has done that already and handed him the hospital pass of health minister
    10/10 for wordplay.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 3,883
    Taz said:

    Looks like the Iranian attack is over.

    Looks like it was as pathetic as the first one.

    I think this was yet another "agreed" exchange.

    More a firework display for the media and their respective populations.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,384

    Taz said:

    Looks like the Iranian attack is over.

    Looks like it was as pathetic as the first one.

    That much was inevitable.

    Last time Israel were persuaded to do very little in response.

    This time?
    Given how feeble Iran have been so far they may go in hard on them. I doubt it will be as token as the last time.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,578

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    And you need to understand you do not police PB, the Internet, or the world. Or perhaps even your own household. Or your mind.

    FOAD. :)
    Charming.
    Hang on, I thought your objection was that you didn't understand these abbreviations? But you do. So you are just chuntering on for no reason...
    Well I have this thing called google and looked it up. Crass and nasty.
    As are your complaints about the plebs who still need to use cash, or those who use abbreviations.

    Suck it up, loser.
    Another crass and nasty post. Although not as sinister and creepy as your first one.
    LOL. You should read your own posts if you want sinister and creepy...

    You pretend to be left-wing, but have f-all care for those who might still need to use cash. I find those positions odd.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 11,052
    nico679 said:

    The concern for the west is if there’s a blockage in the Straits of Hormuz .

    And the WH doesn’t want oil and gas prices going up in the run upto the election . If I was being cynical or a conspiracy theorist Netanyahu is doing his very best to help Trumps election campaign .

    Netanyahu has said he’s doing his best to help Trump’s campaign.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,485
    edited October 1

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    And you need to understand you do not police PB, the Internet, or the world. Or perhaps even your own household. Or your mind.

    FOAD. :)
    Charming.
    Hang on, I thought your objection was that you didn't understand these abbreviations? But you do. So you are just chuntering on for no reason...
    Well I have this thing called google and looked it up. Crass and nasty.
    As are your complaints about the plebs who still need to use cash, or those who use abbreviations.

    Suck it up, loser.
    Another crass and nasty post. Although not as sinister and creepy as your first one.
    LOL. You should read your own posts if you want sinister and creepy...

    You pretend to be left-wing, but have f-all care for those who might still need to use cash. I find those positions odd.
    Give over.

    Why do you patronise the old and call people who want to use cash "plebs"? – your words not mine.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,631

    NEW THREAD

  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,033

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    No worse than your own obsessions

    Cash, Truss, Drake and now 172 majority
    Don't forsake The Drake.
    No need to - his party has done that already and handed him the hospital pass of health minister
    Very droll, Big G, very droll.
    Drakeford has been compromised on the implementation of his 20mph scheme by his own government, and has also been slapped down by his colleagues after he suggested the Welsh labour government should ignore UK labour and increase income taxes in Wales

    They have appointed him as Health Minister which under his leadership the Wales NHS have utterly failed

    The conservatives had a big win over labour last week in Rhyl of all places

    So not droll, just as it is to those of us living here in Wales
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 32,521

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    And you need to understand you do not police PB, the Internet, or the world. Or perhaps even your own household. Or your mind.

    FOAD. :)
    Charming.
    Hang on, I thought your objection was that you didn't understand these abbreviations? But you do. So you are just chuntering on for no reason...
    Well I have this thing called google and looked it up. Crass and nasty.
    As are your complaints about the plebs who still need to use cash, or those who use abbreviations.

    Suck it up, loser.
    Another crass and nasty post. Although not as sinister and creepy as your first one.
    LOL. You should read your own posts if you want sinister and creepy...

    You pretend to be left-wing, but have f-all care for those who might still need to use cash. I find those positions odd.
    Give over.

    Why do you patronise the old and call people who want to use cash "plebs"? – your words not mine.
    He is just putting a label on what is clearly your attitude to these people. Your scorn oozes through every word you write on the subject. Attacking Josias simply for putting a name to your shame is rather desperate.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,218

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    No worse than your own obsessions

    Cash, Truss, Drake and now 172 majority
    Don't forsake The Drake.
    No need to - his party has done that already and handed him the hospital pass of health minister
    Very droll, Big G, very droll.
    Drakeford has been compromised on the implementation of his 20mph scheme by his own government, and has also been slapped down by his colleagues after he suggested the Welsh labour government should ignore UK labour and increase income taxes in Wales

    They have appointed him as Health Minister which under his leadership the Wales NHS have utterly failed

    The conservatives had a big win over labour last week in Rhyl of all places

    So not droll, just as it is to those of us living here in Wales
    I was praising your neat combination of health minister and hospital pass. That was all...
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,496
    TimS said:

    I was at the Tory conference today. Just a flying visit, did a panel on growth and then left. But it was an interesting anthropological experience.

    The only major Tories I saw on my travels were Tugendhat, doing a panel, dear old Gavin Williams wandering around glued to his iphone, various minor shadow ministers and the ghost of Kemi Badenoch represented by the absolute landslide of branded campaign merch everywhere, which I absently-mindedly forgot to pick up as it would have been an interesting memento of the day.

    But notwithstanding the horrendous weather the people seemed quite chipper. Must be the catharsis of being in opposition as the weight of power lifts from the shoulders. My colleague who's been at all 3 conferences said there's a lot of conviction in Birmingham that Labour is going to be a one-term government and the party will sail back into Downing street come 2029.

    It's an interesting demographic. Much younger than I'd expected. There are plenty of old people of course, but there also are at Labour conferences. A distinct lack of people in the parenting years from 30 to 50, but a lot of young Tories (mainly men but a few women) in their 20s.

    If you are aged between say 15 and 30 and want a career in politics, the Tory party is a serious place to be scrambling your way up the greasy pole. While extinction and never being in power again are possible, they are not probable; and statistically there is no better group to join if you are interested in power. Labour is full up and more. LD, Ref, Green - possible but not probable.

    I don't envy them, but I am glad they are there.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,585
    IanB2 said:

    Sandpit said:

    nico679 said:

    Sandpit said:

    nico679 said:

    kinabalu said:

    Eabhal said:

    The videos out of Israel look like something in the Dune movies.

    Eeeeek.

    But just what Netanyahu wanted. He'll be happy as larry.

    PS: Why are all the world's worst people getting what they want atm? I hope November 5th marks the end of this tendency.
    Trump will be delighted . The Middle East going up in flames and a dockworkers strike on the east and Gulf coasts.
    Well done for highlighting on here the dockworkers’ strike that most of the media didn’t see coming until it happened.
    Thanks . The strike coupled with events in the Middle East will be a huge concern for the Harris campaign . As long as US troops aren’t harmed then the biggest problem will likely be the strikes as US voters tend to vote primarily on more national issues .

    Yes the port strikes have potential to impact supply chains in the weeks running up to the election, although during the pandemic the shortages never really made themselves known at the supermarket.

    There’s a huge opportunity for local shortages to turn very political though, it only needs a handful of cities in swing states to be affected, and a lot of reason for political operatives within logistics operations to make decisions that steer things one way or the other.

    I still think the swing states are 50/50, and that a lot of people will vote against incumbents because of the economy - even if petrol ‘gas’ prices are now finally starting to fall.
    If our experience is anything to go by, the shortages will arise not from the strike but from a false rumour that something is running out, thereby prompting panic buying...
    That can definitely happen as well, one local radio host or online rumour…
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,860
    Taz said:

    Looks like the Iranian attack is over.

    Looks like it was as pathetic as the first one.

    Except for a significant cost for both attacker and defender
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,578

    Sir Keir will simply have to console himself with a working majority of 172.

    A working majority is only useful if he can:
    a) Put forward useful (to Labour...) policies/votes.
    b) Get his side to vote for them.

    Both of these are somewhat in doubt, given the last three months.
    Well it's been summer/recess/conference as you know full well.

    There is a budget on 30 October.

    You might have heard about it.
    Some of the scandals/messes/stories that Labour and (particularly Starmer) have got themselves into are zero to do with a budget.

    But if that's your copium, enjoy.
    You were talking about policies – that is literally what you wrote.

    I pointed out that there will be a raft of policies in the, er, Budget in 29 days' time.

    You then spaffed on about something else. As you often do.
    I'm not sure that's correct.

    But your copium is to spam " 172" to any criticism of Labour.

    Perhaps you should reconsider that approach.
    Is 'copium' your new buzzword? Another one to add to the dismal oeuvre of internet cliches!!
    And you need to understand you do not police PB, the Internet, or the world. Or perhaps even your own household. Or your mind.

    FOAD. :)
    Charming.
    Hang on, I thought your objection was that you didn't understand these abbreviations? But you do. So you are just chuntering on for no reason...
    Well I have this thing called google and looked it up. Crass and nasty.
    As are your complaints about the plebs who still need to use cash, or those who use abbreviations.

    Suck it up, loser.
    Another crass and nasty post. Although not as sinister and creepy as your first one.
    LOL. You should read your own posts if you want sinister and creepy...

    You pretend to be left-wing, but have f-all care for those who might still need to use cash. I find those positions odd.
    Give over.

    Why do you patronise the old and call people who want to use cash "plebs"? – your words not mine.
    Good. We are making progress. But it is not just the 'old' who 'want' to use cash; and it is not just a desire, but a necessity.

    These people generally come from certain segments of society, such as those who do not have bank accounts, who you would normally be up in arms to protect.
  • AnthonyTAnthonyT Posts: 70
    Sandpit said:

    eek said:

    The post office is once again trying to solve their Horizon problems by offering Postmasters a poor offer with a short deadline and no help on paying for legal advice

    https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2024/10/01/the-post-office-pushing-postmasters-to-accept-75000-compensation-without-legal-advice/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

    The cost getting advice on whether a postermaster should take the offer or not is £10,000 or so and the post office isn't offering to cover those costs...

    The PO can FO.
    And what is the current Business Minister doing? Would the square root of fuck all be the answer?
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,355
    Iran is making ballsy claims for the success of its missile attacks - 20 F35s, Nevatim base, tanks, a gas platform. How credible on a scale of 0-10?

    Meanwhile there is video of Israelis standing up Iranian ballistic missiles.
This discussion has been closed.